Phil O'Keefe

Still up in the air Rob, but as soon as I know at my end, I promise you'll be one of the first to know.

Well, I did hand out one guitar recording experiment assignment... so far.

Quit your complainin' Spencer... it took me four and a half years to rack up 17,500 in posts (I was #2 on MP - I try harder, but I could never catch Tedster... ) and now I have to start all over again.

I tell you what: Post three times before dinner and you don't have to eat your brussel sprouts.

And just be thankful I have not started handing out homework assignments again... yet.

Good to have all of you aboard! Now get to talkin' and see if you can't get those post counts back up to your previous levels. You have until supper, so you'd better get busy.

Sean, that '49 sure looks sweet! Unfortunately, I don't think I can afford it right now. More accurately, I don't think I can convince my wife that I can afford it right now. OTOH, back when she was on RCA, she did all of her vocals through a '49, so maybe I could work off of that angle "...hey honey, look! It's the same type of mic you used back in your RCA days! And it's been fully restored... the price seems reasonable... wouldn't it be cool to have one of those? They ARE great mics..."

Thanks for letting me know about that - apparently Verve (my hosting company) screwed up when they moved my site to a new server. You should see a "temp" page up now, and most of the content should be up in the next day or so.

Originally posted by younggunmn PS: Hey Phil, do you know if it's possible to turn on image posting? That can be super useful sometimes, and I miss the .

I was just thinking about that... IMG tags can be turned on or off for individual forums, and IMO, they definitely need to be "on" over here. They're a lot of fun, and for technically oriented topics, they can make explaining things a lot easier - a picture being worth a thousand words, etc. But there will be some rules about their use.... I'll expect people to be responsible about how they use that feature, and be careful about what images they post. Anything profane or obscene will be yanked immediately, and may result in banning of the person who posted it. So yes, I am going to turn that feature "on", but please use it responsibly folks.

Originally posted by Kid Klash Hi Phil, So what's the difference between this forum and the Recording forum?

Click here for the answer.

Hey folks, look! It's Paul Hogan!

Good to see you Nursers...

I see you have more posts than me - that's a switch. We'll see how long you can keep that up.

Do you have something you want to buy / sell / trade? This is the place for it - The Studio Trenches Swap Meet.

Call it a flea market or a yard sale or whatever they call 'em in your area - out here in LA LA land, we've always called 'em Swap Meets. And the cool thing about swap meets is that you never know what you might find... so you browse around the ol' drive-in and when you see something you're not interested in, you keep going... but occasionally...

So, what do you have that's cool that you want to sell me for cheap?

PS No outside spam - HC contributing members only for postings please.

Well, here it is - the "official" share your music thread for The Studio Trenches.

A few guidelines:

1. Please restrict your submissions to this thread only.

2. Please specify what you want - if you're just showcasing your work, this is a good place to do that, but SPECIFY that or you're going to get critiques. If you're asking about the SONG, mention that or you're going to get comments about your mix. If it's production ideas you want, say so. If you're having problems with a specific part of the mix or instrumental timbre and you want to restrict comments to only that, tell us so! You get the idea...

3. When responding, please keep in mind what the poster was requesting and respond with that in mind. And PLEASE, let's keep it civil. Try to find something positive to say. No, don't feel like you have to kiss anyone's butt, but the tendency is to comment about what you'd do differently or what you didn't like - let's try to make an equal effort towards commenting on the things we DO like.

4. It might be wise to give us a general description of your level of professional involvement, experience level and gear you used. A person who is just getting started out on a 4 track and is doing it as a hobby shouldn't be held to the same sonic standards as someone who does it for a living and uses a Studer and a Neve. Please try to keep these things in mind when responding and be encouraging to those who are just starting out.

5. Do the right thing - if you want to submit, this is the place for it - but don't abuse it. If you want others to listen to YOUR submissions, you need to listen to - and comment on - their submissions. As a general guideline, I recommend you listen to / comment on three or four submissions from others for each submission of your own.

6. It might be a good idea to list the playback system / monitoring chain(s) you used for listening to a submission when you respond with your critiques and comments - that info could be helpful to the original poster.

7. Have fun!

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Studio Trenches. My name is Phil O'Keefe, and I am your most excellent host. Like Bill and Ted, I'm originally from San Dimas California. Really.

So what's going on in The Trenches? Our forum description sums it up pretty well: From novice to professional, pre-production to final release, it's all about the recording process -- gear, production, art, arranging, and more. If it happens in a studio - any studio, from the most basic home hobbiest setup all the way up to "big boy (and girl)" rooms, then it's an open topic here. I've got a lot of ideas I'll be sharing with you in the weeks and months to come, but to give you a preview of what's on deck, here's a few sample topics that I hope we can discuss as we go along:

Gear - what works and what doesn't, with a big emphasis on getting the most for every gear investment dollar you spend.

People skills - How to interact with clients, musicians, producers, other engineers, etc. How to "sell yourself", where to locate clients and how to approach them. What to charge. How to insure you get paid (it's always nice to get paid ). How to increase your exposure, "name recognition" and demand. Advertising and promotion for yourself, your studio and / or your services.

Engineering techniques - how do you mic up a orchestral harp? Or a Brazillian Berimbau? How do you get that oh so important kick / bass guitar balance to lock in while mixing? Not just "what's cool" in the world of gear, but how to best utilize it in support of the song so you can get the results you're after.

Production techniques - spotting talent, developing and nurturing it. Budget considerations and project planning. And getting the talent to perform beyond their best when the red light goes on.

Art - musical considerations. How does it "feel"? Arrangements and the mix - how they're important to each other. Promoting the vibe - getting people comfortable and relaxed and performing at their best. Setting the mood and knowing when to push and when to come back to it later. And the Song. It's always about a good song.

Designing a "system" - Making everything "work together". Purchase decisions, acoustical considerations, connecting everything and troubleshooting problems. Workflow and ergonomics. How to get the best results from what you have. Determining where the weak links are in your setup and prioritizing gear upgrades.

I'm just scratching the surface here - like I said, there's a lot we can discuss, and I'll have more to share when we do the official "launch" on Monday. And YOU are a big part of it. So think about the things you want to talk about. Get ready... We're just a few days away from getting started.

And remember: Be excellent to each other.