In the studio with The Pursuits
I’ve been working with Nashville based Alt Rock band, The Pursuits. Good songs, interesting guitar textures, thoughtful vocal performances…. Read the rest of this entry »
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” — Confucius
Musicgamestudio.com is off to a great start. As of today we have 10 confirmed songs to author for MTV/ Viacom’s new Rock Band Network®. It is difficult work requiring many man hours for each song authored, but we are still having a great time doing it!
This tree has endured much
For many, 2009 was indeed the year of survival. Jobs were lost, business slow or non-existent, health care a bloody mess.
I’ve always told my kids that challenges, mistakes and accidents are there for us to learn from; so I wondered, “what have I learned from 2009?”
5 Mistakes I've made and the lessons they've taught me
We all make mistakes, it’s just human nature. Here are a few I’ve made and the hard earned lessons they taught me. I hated living through each one of these, but freely admit that they’ve made me better at my job, and hopefully a better person too.
5. When introduced to the artist’s wife, don’t say “Sorry I didn’t get to meet you when you dropped (the artist) off here last week”.
with Brian Schmidt, GSC founder and presenter
Who wants to work in game audio? Well, I do.
Game audio (every sound and musical element in a video game) has grown exponentially from its humble beginnings just a couple of short decades ago. It has become the area of the audio industry that is most driving technological innovation, consumer electronics development and attracting some of the most talented people working in audio today.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Dan Rudin
In part 1, I talked about how to approach a first job opportunity. In this installment we’ll look at what is expected of you in your new job and, more importantly, how you might exceed those expectations. Read the rest of this entry »
by Dan Rudin
Here are some questions that I am often asked with, I hope, some helpful answers….
What do you do?
As a producer, I help the artist or songwriter decide the best way to record a performance of a song in a way that fits their vision of what the song should be. This help ranges from helping to choose what songs to perform or what style to do a particular song in, to hiring the best musicians and studio for the particular job. I book studio time, players, and engineers (if not myself), rehearse the band if needed, and guide the vocalists and instrumentalists through their performances to make professional recordings.
Producer's Round Table Article
Last spring I hosted a producer’s round table discussion about drum recording for Drum magazine. The feature article, written by Glen Caruba, is in the July 2009 edition (with Chad Smith on the cover). Richard Dodd, Reid Shippen, Denny Jiosa and myself answered Glen’s questions about our drum session experiences, recording techniques and trade secrets.
If you have the chance to see it, it’s a fun read. Along with the brilliance of Richard, Reid and Denny, Glen really captured the spirit of the discussion (including us frequently interrupting each other) here at my studio. Check it out!
For as long as I can remember, being signed to a major label was the only way to get good, high-profile commercial radio play. For indie artists the quest for radio airplay often still leads them backwards toward the broken model of “the major label deal”, thinking that this is their only path to big time recognition.
I’ve had a lot of conversations with friends and clients about this (I think it’s an important subject for anyone trying to keep a career in music) and was putting some ideas together for a post, when I came across this excellent blog post on cdbaby (their new site looks great, by the way) about this very thing, and I think it’s full of great insights. This is a must-read for anyone trying to be heard.
diymusician.cdbaby.com/2009/07/radio-promotion-why-you-wont-get-commercial-airplay/
by Dan Rudin
How to get an internship that becomes a job offer
Each week, I get dozens of emails from people who are starting a career as an audio engineer. Most have just finished a school program and are looking for entry level jobs or internships; some haven’t gone to school and are just looking for an opportunity to be in a studio and learn what they can. Here are some thoughts on making that first step painless and successful.
