Making Records with Eric Valentine - Questions and Comments Episodes 27 & 28

[@Stormsurf001]

The new color looks sweet! And of course the whole thing (studio) is beyond insane. Great work Eric and thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[@nicholasstarrantino6405]

nailed my name pronunciation, thanks for the story Eric!

[@cornerliston]

Great Eric, thanks for taking your time doing this.

[@mattzitzer7607]

I have noticed a lot of drummers turn into audio engineers, like you, and so many others, I have noticed this trend. I always hated recording as the drummer in the band because I would be the first person to finish my parts and then be bored for the rest of the process. I would love to hear your take on this. I think drummers have a good brain for engineering and production because of the way we think about song structure and feel and timing. I also bought a sugar percussion kit because of you!! Thanks for all you do to give back to all of us!❤

[@marmaladecreammedia]

It also takes a lot of engineering skill to make recorded drums sound good. Guitar and bass by comparison are much easier to get good sounds, esp with modelers!

[@TheDigitalVillain]

Love following this project. You could write a research paper with all of these charts/tables !

[@mykllynyrd]

Hope the Q&A is still going to happen along with the music deconstruction, everything is great! Has what your learned in the control room journey informed your thoughts about the booth with the scalable roof? Have you changed your mind on a drumbrella?

[@orsi]

Soundsource by Rogue Amoeba is a great mac sound utility for outbound digital EQs if you go that route again.

[@Matthewgenovese]

Hey Eric! Would it be possible for you to upload the full REW file for the final room readings, maybe Fuzz measure too? It would be incredibly educational! I'm about to demo a pair of MF4 in my studio this week - cant wait!

[@recordthechord]

Woohoo!! Music stuff!!!!! The studio build has been amazing and inspiring to follow along and learn from your experiments/process. But I am definitely excited for you (and all of us who love your channel) to get back to more music making! A couple of music questions for you: 1) In all the albums you’ve produced, could you predict which songs would be the hits vs. b-sides (given that all the songs on the record were presumably written and performed generally by the same sets of folks). If so, what were the clues or characteristics of the hits that the b-sides didn’t have? (I know this is a presumptuous question, but what do I have to lose 😊). 2) TLDR - apologies that this question needs a little context. I have a GB-Tracker (that I love, BTW), and I also love the sound of older 50s/60s records that used minimal mic’ing and used proximity and bleed to get the mix/blend between the band. Many of us multi instrumental producers often overdub many of the parts separately (whether we are performing ourselves or working with one or two other performers). The thought that I’ve been having recently is that with the GB-Tracker workflow (or any session where re-amping from edited DI tracks), you essentially end up with a potential virtual band of all your DI’d tracks that you could pump out simultaneously to amps arranged around a limited set of microphones. You could then use proximity, amp settings, and minimal microphone positioning to your hearts content with the “band” (your edited DI tracks) playing perfect takes until you are blue in the face. Even better, you could then setup your drums (or vocalist…or both) to track along in the same room with your virtual “band” and really mix/dial in all the sounds/bleed/mic positions. Unfortunately for me, my studio isn’t very big and I currently only own one GB tracker (although I could use standard reamp boxes in a pinch). Whew!! So the question is this: Have you used multiple reamps simultaneously (not the GB satellite workflow) to record different instruments/parts together in the same room in this fashion, and does it make sense that there might be a certain desirable sound that could only be captured when all the parts/sounds are interacting with each other simultaneously in the same room/air and captured with more minimalist micing techniques? (I am not good at the TLDR one sentence questions, and I apologize 😂).

[@toddpurnick5848]

Oh, man. The recording of Love Is Love is so emotional.

[@dweeebazoid]

Hey Eric, your content is very helpful and I really value it. Thank you! When the time comes for another video on tracking, I would really love your perspective on how you address multi-mic phasing (of course on drums). If I use All-Star as an example, You have mics facing all different directions. 3 kick mics up front and a K/S mic facing opposite, then a tube 47 + 2 OH and a Coles as distant mics. I’d love to try out your techniques, but how you make this all cohesive makes my head spin. I know you’ve done drums mixing before, but a video directly on PHASE relationships is something I havent had taught in detail. Thanks if you can get to this!

[@matthewthomson1995]

Great vid as always. For your speakers dustcap, use a vacuum and gently get suction on the cap and it will pop right out. You can use a pantyhose or thin sock over the the end to adjust airflow and be more gentle if needed.

[@JonathanWesleyMusic]

Hey Eric! Your efforts in documenting your build and giving us access to them is just phenomenal! I salute you sir! I had a questions - I wanted to know if Ill get similar results if I use a rockwool pipe insulation instead of fiberglass. I dont have access to fiberglass tubes here in India. Would much appreciate your thoughts! Anybody else who has experience with this - please let me know your thoughts

[@ryancrawford9894]

I’m loving the ngLeveler! I’ve got two right now, and I’m really considering the Pyra-Sum if I end up unloading my console.

[@RicardoTolbert]

Thanks for answering my question, I totally forgot I asked that haha thanks so much!

[@onemic-theminimalist]

I'm pretty sure the Neve 1081 amps are A/B. There were discrete and later opamp versions, both plug-in and interchangeable.

[@mrwev]

You are correct! I should have been more specific. I was thinking of the summing amps (1272s) which are Class A. thank you for mentioning that so I could clarify :)

[@EricChesek]

I think you mentioned during a conversation with Andrew Scheps that you would do an extravagant Good Charlotte-type drum recording video at Barefoot before moving out. Did you have time to do that? If not, is it something you could recreate in your new studio at some point?

[@Matthewgenovese]

Hey Eric! Have you ever tried to use the Mic Pre’s in your scully for make up in your UTA Summing mixer? I have an 8 track 284 and a 2 track 280 that I love for tape purposes, but the more I use the mic pres in them the more they amaze me! I’d be curious to hear the difference between those Germanium RCA pre’s you just got, and the scully pre’s which I’m sure you know are also germanium.

[@mrwev]

I first had an 8 track scully and I did use the preamps on that one. They are great. Germanium preamps seem to have this very thick girthy quality to them. At this point it would be very difficult to tie the 16 track scully preamps into the summing mixer. It would be interesting to hear but it would require some cartwheels to make it happen.

[@Journeymanlive]

looks really cool, thanks for sharing! I can build my studio with mineral wall partitions, INSIDE the room, or empty tubes, or full tubes ( the company I know can fill them). I'd love a definitive tube traps clarificartion if we can get to the bottom of it. Like what works best: - tube traps empty vs full mineral filled tube vs low density fiberglass filled tube ?? - one or several mineral 4" partition walls vs 2" tube traps ? ( same mineral depth to travel through yet different ways of spreading it) Hope you make some very cool music soon in that gorgeous place! cheers

[@gregedenfield1080]

wow, looks fantastic. Q; any solution to the "dust cap fiasco" ??????

[@johnvcougar]

Vacuum has worked for me, apply with great care.

[@EricChesek]

I'm in a T-Ride group on Facebook, and someone mentioned they had a Pro Tools demo session of a song you put together called "Dig a Hole." Any chance you have that somewhere? I would love to hear it.

[@chrisdover8507]

Hey Eric, in your sound on sound vid you were saying you ran Slash guitars through an 1176, just wondering how you make this work because the low end on palm mutes etc make the compressor react more sometimes it bottoms out. Is the trick not to have too much low end? Also, I’m looking into possibly crowd funding a venture to create a small desktop or rack mount stereo tape machine that has its own 1/2 inch cassettes, wondering what you think of the idea? I possibly have an electronic engineer interested in the project. I thought it might be a hit with mastering guys and mixers? Also- I’m wondering why you don’t have a studio cat????? Very important that the excess hair coats and protects equipment imo

[@johnvcougar]

I’ve successfully pulled out dented dust caps with a vacuum cleaner and a reducer. A variable suction vacuum cleaner is very useful for this purpose.

[@cinamarmagedon]

Plz plz plz make a video about editing di guitar/bass. Both the technical how to but also the theory of when to quantize and how much to quantize, bad feel vs good feel/groove etc

[@cinamarmagedon]

To add: I find myself having difficulty telling when something feels right or not in relation to the grid. I drive myself crazy wondering if I’m hearing flams that aren’t there etc

[@gregedenfield1080]

one more "acoustic" Q; did you give anymore thought to the movable ceilings in the live room ISOs???

[@mrwev]

I love the idea. I want to get to know these spaces better before I start changing them already :)

[@alexherd]

Hey Eric! I have some questions that don't relate to specific episodes per se, so I'm just going to ask them here. 1. You've talked about Hunk Of Shit a lot, but I think I've maybe only seen a picture of the console there. Do you have any pictures you'd be able to share? I'd love to see what it was like. 2. Towards the end of Barefoot the control room had a three-screen panorama camera view of the sound room. It looked really great. Can you share how you achieved that? Would love to do something similar. 3. A few years on, is there any gear you regret selling when you sold off Barefoot? Thanks sir! Keep up the good work! -Alex

[@sticksinhand1066]

I have been using Viuty eyedrops with pretty good success. Usually lasts about 3-4 hours though. Also, Happy Solar Eclipse that is coming up. I think most of Vermont is in the perfect window.

[@hummarstraful]

I was against going all black but now that I see it I think it looks great!

[@voodoochili12]

Avi Bortnick from the Scofield's Uberjam band? 😆

[@seanriley9045]

Protools needs a monitoring fx channel like cubase and reaper. Love protools though !

[@michaelturvey3635]

“Dark Front of the Room” classic album

[@danivalles7638]

Question at 1:20:55 asumption is not correct (about having one problem at 50 Hz implies having it also at 100, 150.... ) That's only the case when the reflection in unfiltered. Erics studio surfaces ae damped, reflections from his walls are heavily low passed and dont't induce comb filter the same way as if the reflection were full range. Hope I'm explaining myself good enough.

[@bigkickleo]

Regarding safely working with and around Fiberglass fibers: Yes - they should NEVER be inhaled, AND one should ALWAYS wear a disposable coveralls with attached hood/ bonnet with goggles/gloves and taped at wrists and ankles. The loose fibers and dust, (yes DUST - Fiberglass insulation breaks and breaks down as it's handled), will cling to/ stick to almost anything, it is very difficult to wash off of skin (gets into your skin), and you would want to wash any clothes twice (hence the disposable coveralls). Not only does it STAY forever in your lungs, it contributes to disease and infection as the foreign material is GREAT at attracting and harboring bad things in your lungs. Manufacturers and regulators will only admit so much, but it's worth reading all the MSDS (material safety data sheets) available for any product comprised of fiberglass materials. Best of luck, and work safer and smarter. 👍🏻

[@idrum.iproduce]

❤

[@TimDolbear]

So much nicer! (The front wall)

[@TomCatSound]

Did anyone else hear the Discord message sound at around 35:34? Lol.

[@amphlett7]

Now we know that was probably the Unfairchild plugin chat

[@TomCatSound]

@@amphlett7 True. A bit of foreshadowing.

[@studiodude1]

Man, I love you but, you are killing my OCD! It's Helmholtz..... HELMholtz..... the L is not silent. (Remedial courses are available for the culturally deprived) Ha ha! Just kidding! Love your content!

[@mrwev]

Haha! thank you for reminding me. I keep forgetting the proper pronunciation on that :)

[@studiodude1]

@@mrwev Ha ha! All in jest! I'm not really a grammer nazi! I truly love and appreciate all the content you so graciously share with us!

[@DanielGlenTimms]

Tubezilla. Must be a great mixing room.

[@UmbrellaPetePlaylist]

Mute your Discord please! I thought I had friends for a second.

[@illbelieveanything]

#IbeatMattNadolski

[@davestanley357]

Hi Eric.. Why did you use the Ng leveler instead of Sum.mation? I’ve been using sum Mation for years and find it great.

[@mrwev]

Sum.mation was great but I switched to the ng leveler for a couple of reasons. ng levler is currently being supported/developed and it is much more highly evolved than sum.mation. The user interface and features are REALLY good. It sounds transparent. I am SUPER happy with it.