Unstoppable Recording Machine Podcast

Andrew Wade is a recording engineer and producer who has worked with A Day To Remember, Motionless In White, The Ghost Inside, Neck Deep among many others. He’s also established himself as one of the top audio educators: he’s done two CreativeLive courses and holds the honor of being the only person to appear on Nail The Mix three times!

He joins the podcast today to talk about his new URM course, Ultimate Guitar Production. Years in the making, this is the most comprehensive and detailed course ever made about guitars, covering every single variable that goes into guitar tone: setup, gear selection, tracking techniques, recording tricks, editing, reamping, mixing, and of course, working with the player to get the best possible performances that he or she is capable of.

To find out more and get a sneak preview of several chunks of the course, go to http://ultimateguitarproduction.com

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URM Academy: https://urm.academy/

Nail The Mix: https://nailthemix.com/

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MixCritMonday is the show where we crit YOUR mixes! Mixcritmonday returns with a brand new co-host, John Maciel! We’re thrilled to have him join us to break down URM student submitted mixes of “365” by Amaranthe and “Iron Strengthens Iron” by Dyscarnate.

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyalleviurmaudio/

YouTube Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2Fc87nX

URM Academy: https://urm.academy/

Nail The Mix: https://nailthemix.com/

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JF Dagenais is the guitarist for Kataklysm and an award winning record producer. He dishes on getting his start in the studio, how he approaches dialing in and tracking such punishingly deadly guitars, and how he used his career in the band to feed his studio work, and vice versa. If you love learning about how producers get genre specific tones, this is the episode for you!

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Leave us a 5 star rating and review please!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyalleviurmaudio/

YouTube Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2Fc87nX

URM Academy: https://urm.academy/

Nail The Mix: https://nailthemix.com/

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Seth Munson is a producer with credits ranging from Drake Bell, Christina Grimmie, and a whole lot more.This episode is a testament not only to our ability to overcome tremendous odds, but at a much more mundane scale, it shows that we can transcend whatever genre we think we are trapped in. Seth Munson successfully transitioned from a roster of all local metal bands to working with some of the most recognizable acts in popular music.

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Leave us a 5 star rating and review please!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyalleviurmaudio/

YouTube Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2Fc87nX

URM Academy: https://urm.academy/

Nail The Mix: https://nailthemix.com/

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We’re thrilled to have Benny on the podcast for a lengthy discussion on what it takes to be a partner in a studio, why client comfort is so crucial yet often overlooked, why unsigned bands are often more profitable than big name clients and many more insights from his lengthy career.

“When you get older and you start looking back over your career, you realize there were opportunities that you didn’t even know were there at the time. It’s all about having the right disposition to go for it and make it happen.” - Benny Grotto

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As you can imagine, he’s accumulated a priceless wealth of knowledge from his decades in the trenches and he shares a ton of it in this episode including: what it was like to work with legends like David Bowie and Sting, transitioning from fully analog to a hybrid setup, some sage advice for anyone who’s just starting out in the audio business, and much more.

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Donning multiple hats over the years ranging from working for Barack Obama, to labels Century Media Records, Artery Recordings, and Outerloop Records, as well as his work as a director, Shan Dan has seen what this industry has to offer. We discuss what bands should invest in early on in their careers, how he made the jump from the corporate world to the music industry, and unpredictable nature of the business. This is required listening for anyone wanting to pursue a career in a creative field.

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Fredrik Nordström has worked with heavy hitters like At the Gates, Bring Me The Horizon, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Opeth, Soilwork, and the list of who’s who top tier extreme metal bands just goes on and on and on. Of course we cover the making of some of those legendary records and his world known “Fredman technique” for miking guitars, but we also delve into topics such as how to give credits, who deserves those credits, the challenges of mixing metal with an orchestra, Fredrik’s multi-amp slaving technique, and much much more.

“What I’ve noticed when I do stuff is I never tell anybody that I’m trying new stuff here. I just do it. Because if you cannot try new stuff, then you cannot develop.” - Fredrik Nordström

ON THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

1:59 - What Fredrik thinks of the production landscape now versus a decade or two ago

6:46 - How the At the Gates album had a tight sound and how long it takes for Fredrik to work on albums

14:26 - How it’s not necessarily the tech you have that allows you to make a great record

23:26 - If Fredrik imagined that he was working on albums that would define the next decades of metal and how much time you need to dedicate to your craft

28:29 - Artists needing a leader who is outside of their group to show them the right way to do things

32:30 - How people are shifting away from digitizing everything and how not every little thing needs to be perfect for music to be great

37:54 - How long it took for Fredrik to do Death Kult Armageddon by Dimmu Borgir and what it is like working with orchestras 

48:22 - How orchestral instruments can sound weird next to a metal band

50:56 - Whether or not Fredrik automated like crazy on the Death Kult Armageddon mix 

52:04 - How good arrangements help when working on an album

58:05 - How there were two camps when it came to Nick Barker and the drum sounds on Death Kult Armageddon

1:03:59 - How Fredrik handled vocal effects for Dimmu Borgir

1:08:31 - If Fredrik knew how big Death Kult Armageddon would be

1:12:03 - How Fredrik started getting work with American bands and expanding out to work with companies

1:17:10 - Why starting a studio could be a bad investment

1:18:37 - Fredrik’s process for training the people who work with him and giving credit where credit is due

1:24:46 - Working with the Architects on Lost Forever // Lost Together and getting good guitar tones on various albums

1:28:42 - What Fredrik’s breakdown is for the cab slaving, multi-amp technique

1:33:40 - The popularity of the Fredman technique for mining guitars and how it’s impacted Fredrik

1:35:19 - What it was like working with Bring Me The Horizon

1:37:44 - Whether or not age matters in an audio environment and why you should keep trying new things in the studio

Click here to learn more about Studio Fredman

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Nick Rad is a mixing engineer, producer and musician who has worked with Skillet, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and Jason Mraz among many others, in addition to playing in Hangnail and Acceptance. His career began in the 90s, which means he brings plenty of insight to the podcast where we talk about how he decided to work in production, how not to network, and a host of other lessons he’s learned from over two decades in the music industry.

It might take me 10 hours to do one song, but it’s going to be epic when it’s done. That’s my thing.” - Nick Rad

2:35 - What it’s like working with artists from very different genres and how Nick ended up working in those genres

6:12 - How most producers don’t have a huge record and it’s a myth that you need one to make production work

9:35 - What drew Nick to the polished sound in his work and knowing who he is as a producer

12:36 - If Nick ever regretted sending a band to someone else

16:33 - How long Nick played music before diving into production and how his touring experience helped him

19:31 - How working with Aaron Sprinkle influenced his decision to work in production

21:33 - If Nick still had hope for playing in a band to work out after Acceptance broke up

24:54 - Making the transition from the band to producing

28:00 - Nick’s work on The Color Morale’s “Prey For Me” acoustic release

29:37 - What advice Nick would give on networking in socially fruitful situations and how it can lead to future clients

37:13 - How his work leads him to working with Hilary Duff

40:18 - If there’s more pressure when working with a big pop budget versus working on a rock album with a smaller budget

42:06 - What Nick’s fine-tooth comb process consists of

45:52 - What some of the common issues Nick comes across when working with vocals

51:49 - How to avoid losing recordings should an accident happen

58:05 - How Nick’s work with Stone Sour came about

1:03:49 - Nick being in a place where he can say no to projects he doesn’t want to work on

1:05:51 - Getting work through word of mouth instead of advertising and how not to network

Click here to find out more about Nick Rad 

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Grammy nominated producer, Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Loma Prieta) joins the podcast to discuss the critical importance of creating repeat clients, why producers need to be involved in their community, and how NOT to promote yourself and your work.

“When I’m tracking a band, I would say 80 plus percent of the processing on the recording is happening on capture. So like EQ and compression, often times distortion, like whatever it might be, that’s all happening as part of the capture. Which I think always sounds better.” - Jack Shirley

ON THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

4:07 - What got Jack Shirley into recording

7:15 - Production styles for various genres hadn’t landed yet when Jack first started recording

10:30 - Jack Shirley’s dealings with black metal

13:19 - The high quality production with Deafheaven still being able to sound raw and if that poses any challenges

14:28 - What point computers come in during the process of making an album

18:38 - What happens when a band wants to sound a certain way, but doesn’t record in a way that’s conducive to it

23:28 - Great production being built on a thousand little decisions

30:11 - How you win with the better you get as a band and finding the equipment that suits you

35:59 - Having bands come in that want your sound, but don’t want to do things your way

39:34 - How Jack would earn a band’s trust

47:10 - Wanting to leave some of the human aspects in a take and weighing your options to figure out what’s most important

51:53 - How fast Jack moves with the recording process

55:00 - Working with people who you’re on the same page with and having repeat clients

57:48 - Living in your studio and dealing with the people who stay with you

1:09:38 - Being part of the music scene in order to get work by word-of-mouth and taking advantage of opportunities where you can

1:15:23 - Having a deeper connection with the bands because of also having experienced being on tour

1:16:57 - Why producers shouldn’t market themselves the way companies do

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