Where legends make records: Blackbird Studio Tour with John McBride Nashville, TN

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

Find Vance Powell recording at Blackbird Studio in our latest Start To Finish series www.puremix.net/start-to-finish-series-with-vance-powell-the-weird-sisters-blackbirdstudio.html

[@leyley7384]

Um. Inibindo bk

[@sac1936]

15:00

[@genivalmoral7695]

@@leyley7384 ....m.mio99

[@jorgelopez.official]

Ñp pñ P Pp No Moo o Pñ ññpñp lo ñ o Men lo pñ Pñ o p nomas ñ no p o p ñpñp ñ pppp Pool O o pñ No m ñ P o pp no pñ pp o p Ppp no Moo o pppp ñ no ñ o Ñp no p o 👎 P no p pñ p pñ no pppñ Ñ Pool no P pñ o p ñpñp ppñ no p no ñ no lo ñ P Pñ pa p No pp pp Ñ Moo p Pool mí pñññpñpñ me Si P lo pñ ñññ pñ o p P pñpññ lo p loo p ñpñp pññp no p pñ ñ Moo pññññ pññ

[@nickstewardvilchezcanales4189]

@@leyley7384 7 jiji 7 un juouojoookojjjjjknnkl

[@kylebsongs]

Hey, that’s my song and session at 23:22. Great place to make a record, enjoyed every minute of our time in there!

[@bergamMNE]

"The higher quality at which you experience the music, the more emotional it becomes", well articulated John

[@jayarecordsofficial]

a 100% Motivation VIDEO for all AudioManiacs

[@johanrautenbach]

I still can not believe that I had the opportunity to see and experience Blackbird for myself. Coming from South Africa I never thought that would happen. It really is a magical place.

[@srupp9271]

Amazing ! The comment you made : "The higher quality at which you experience music the more emotional it becomes". I think nobody could have said it any better!

[@francoisberkinjr5088]

Gee! These two are so fun to watch! Their passion for what they do is off the chart! Love it!

[@pvampman]

My GOD!!!!!!

[@fiddlefolk]

The Wizard of Oz of recording studios! Thanks John McBride! One day my goal is to record there....Vance Powell is a legend!

[@jeffreysnedeker1965]

I was lucky enough to be on the electrical crew that did the grounding grid on this studio!! This place is amazing! They thought of everything. And they are correct when they say about it felling like a house. Amazing job John!!! I remember going to their house and taking down the chandelier in their dining room over the table. Martina had bought a beautiful medallion for the ceiling! Then we put the chandelier back up. Talk about such pleasant people to work for… Nothing like having a great time during your day time gig!

[@bwall615]

First 2 minutes and I’m thinking I was basically neighbors with these 2 guys. Being from Miami, Ok, I was a stone throw away from Joplin and Galena. Now, I am again here in Nashville. I love all those areas. These guys are legends!

[@X976V3T]

It's good to see you John, still kickin after all these years. Your work is music is quite remarkable. In late 2022 still wishing you all the best - Mitch Hylton (basketball and baseball) circa 1970. Peace brother.

[@bothr3261]

You guys should open a museum. It really blows my mind! I can't even imagine every being able to use all that gear in a lifetime of recording. I wish I could fly over from Australia just to attend The Blackbird Academy and soak up all that knowledge. Unreal!!

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

😜😚😜☺😜😊😘😊😚😜😜😗🤪☺😝☺🤫☺☺😘😝😘

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

A😘😗🐆🐅🐮🐴🦝🦊🐅🐄🐎🐴🦝🦝🦝🐪😑

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

🌤🌫🌫☂️🌫🌫☂️🌩⭐⛈🌪🌪⛈🚠🚠🚢🕝🕕🕡🕡🕡🕡🕖🕖🕖🕖🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎🛎🚢🪂🪂

[@infinaneek]

Wow. A ten thousand page XL spreadsheet

[@KlayaR__]

A couple of kids just loving what they do. That's amazing

[@gregcotter6992]

Well I’m 1/4 of the way thru this and you’re good old boys for life. Excellent.

[@M.Holland]

Visited Blackbird Studios several years ago. Did a studio tour. When we was at Studio C, we listend to a unpuplished mix of Thriller by Micheal Jackson. It was an unreal expirience. That whole Tour blew my mind.

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

what a great story, thanks for sharing this with us !

[@DaveElke]

This gave me a whole new appreciation for these two guys. I mean, how can you not love how excited John is, how Vance has all that shit memorized, how they pulled all this off even. I really wanted to see the Copper Star power thingy.. That part blows my mind.

[@vedranbaotic]

This is not the first time I heard the story about Gordon and the mic stand, but for some reason, I still get goosebumps when I hear it. Absolutely astonishing.

[@MrMemyselfandi415]

LOL! @13:55 I love these guys! "Where's the property line? build to there!" haha.. Same thing with the mics..."want a 251?...here's 35 of em..have at it!" Damn it if I don't LOVE "bigger better stronger faster". World Class studio and engineers.

[@tedallmen1646]

they are so used to seeing otherwordly mics that they didnt show us the classic beauties we all wanna see haha. incredible studio. seem like great guys too

[@EricRabb]

My mind is blown! All Audio Engineers need to share this video! Point blank period!

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

it's such a great place! thank you for the kind words

[@owenfolsom9875]

Went to a summer camp here, this studio is immaculate and everything is thought through and laid out perfectly. Being in the control rooms and getting to handle all those rare microphones and just everything there in general is so cool to experience. They do scheduled tours I believe, I’ve gotten to look at both their facilities. Definitely worth checking out tho if you’re a sound fanatic like myself, it’s unreal.

[@myworthlessbox]

Love that you mentioned TL (Tim LaMoy). I got to work with him for a few years at IEP (became PRG) in DC. He had tons of great road stories and spoke highly of John McBride.

[@REBELDONOG]

Awesome studio. Thank you Mr McBride

[@mokan18]

😍😍😍😍Amazing!!!! THE DETAIL!!!! THE GEAR!!!😍😍😍😍

[@murraywebster1228]

Amazing quick run through a dream place

[@adamwakelymusic]

AMAzing !!!🤩

[@tymiklic6463]

ive seen a number of great blackbird docos and you have totally impressed me with this one....words fail me...if only the world had a lot more people like john and martina in their field.....what a world it would be!!!!!....outstanding vid..cheers...Ty from s.oz

[@gmusichi2400]

Amazing video! Thanks for sharing this important part of audio recording history and seeing that this book of history is still being written and far from being closed. I'm blown away by some of the narrow minded comments of some peeps here - crap i just answered my own question!

[@dunsinakingbolasan]

This is insane

[@wilmervalles1509]

LOL. I love this studio. I would love to record there one day. It's not a studio it's a friggan museum. lol. This studio has EVERYTHING!

[@ArtGuitarLTX]

Damn, awesome conversations and killer tour/video. Love this stuff!!!! well…now i gotta start collecting mic’s 😅

[@TehSyneS]

What an interview with just legend people. Respect!

[@toploadtele]

5-Stars! ★★★★★ Video of the year

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

cheers!

[@iamcasonwix7622]

Blessed I got to go to school here a learn from the best and use the best gear

[@cryptotex420]

Insane collection. UA makes a lot of those pieces of gear as plugins, but the real thing... also having all that under one roof, or 7 🤯

[@taylorcliff6609]

ive always seen that as a problem with these modern studios. back in the day, you needed all this equipment to make anything half good, and the price of studio time was adjusted accordingly. now fast forward to today, no one needs all of this, yet studios are still buying it and using the fact that they have millions of dollars worth of gear as justification for charging $1000+ a day for a b room and maybe use of an engineer thats so out of touch with todays sound. studios are really only set up for the people already making a decent amount off music and record labels. most of the hits in the last 10 years have come out of DYI home studios not some $3m set up. rick rubin been making hit after hit, out of his back yard studio so all this extra gear is just a gimmick at this point. most of the producers i know, arnt formally trained and have 0 idea how to use any of this. give them FL on a 20 yr old laptop and they will make a diamond hit in 15 mins.

[@Aldorelaxingguitar]

OH MY GOD! STUDIO HEAVEN, THANKS FOR SHARING!

[@kofimawutor]

Insane !!!!!

[@2011Rollsroyce]

Love this Studio. GOD BLESS.

[@ozty2000]

This f……ing insane. Love it. Speechless.

[@frankpaws]

Al. Worked with him briefly said to me, "All 4 of my wives were great house keepers". Legend on 2 levels.

[@jasongreathouse1827]

This is so fantastic! Lots of fun!!

[@bigkickleo]

Fkng brilliant!! I LOVE that he gave that Beatles LP to Emmerich!!! Total fkng CLASS! 🤘🏻😍

[@kikohurtado1]

Watching this tour while debating if should buy a $25.00 plugin

[@PuremixAudioTutorials]

It's Black Friday tomorrow!! you know what you gotta do

[@lewbaldwin]

Ha! hear that….

[@vicio6498]

@@PuremixAudioTutorials pañlqpññqñqp

[@vicio6498]

@@PuremixAudioTutorials ñ

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

@@lewbaldwin uu3uelbjhhhjxhdjizjkduxididisihdusid

[@kayakbandits9894]

That was insane!

[@iworshipkhmer]

A million studio , awesome and awesome ❤️ love it

[@ndavies8]

My goodness. This is a life, well lived.

[@albertofurtado2038]

That's just INSANE! So much gear and knowledge

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

Jjjjhujxgdtruifiurjxjxuchchhxhdhjxhkkxkkfkgjkfkfkkjgjfjgjkfjfjfjtjtjtjgjxjjgjfjfjcjfjgkfjfjkcjfjgjfjjfjgjfjgjg

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

☺😘☺😛☺☺😘😘😇😛☺😘☺😘😚☺😘☺😘☺☺😘☺☺☺🙃☺🙃☺😘☺☺🙃☺

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

☺☺🤩😗🕋😚😘😚☺😛☺🙃☺🙃☺😉☺🙃☺🙃☺😘☺🙃😚🙃☺🙃☺🙃☺☺🙃☺😊☺😘☺😘😗☺☺😘yá

[@pablovaqueirocardosocardos1122]

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[@fross1203]

What a great video. “Ya gotta do what ya gotta do…..”

[@ozorg]

In 45:10 i spotted 4 (!) Tube Tech SMC2B's ... flexing on another level ... haha ... great video!! ;)

[@varqay]

it,s like your studio is a compressor love it

[@mrfleamino9350]

Amazing Studios

[@rickbluelake1]

I don't know if it's the universe talking to me or it's just a happy coincidence but I want to share this with you. You seem like a straight up guy......I wrote a couple Beatlesque sounding songs a few months ago that sound like the early Beatles. I just finished watching Peter Jackson's "Get Back" and then I happened to get on KZbin afterwards. I'm not sure why, but this awesome video showed up in my "suggestions" panel to watch. So I clicked on it and I was intrigued from the very beginning and watched it in it's entirety. I was floored to find out that you have the mic's from the Beatles rooftop concert and that you were so heavily into the Beatles. I was in the front row in 2018 when Geoff Emerick gave a very compelling presentation and all the "back room" stories about recording the Beatles albums up until Abbey Road and he graciously signed my "White" album afterwards. Sadly, he passed away about 6 months later. If you are interested, I'd like to share the songs that I wrote. I'm pretty sure you might like them. In any case, what a terrific walkthrough of your Studio "Complex". You are quite a guy. Rick

[@skriptico]

oh shit really incredible place... jeez :O

[@TehSyneS]

I wonder if there are enough sessions left for us to try all that gear haha! Cant wait to visit!!

[@chvna_za]

RESPECT!!!!

[@echoesandnoise]

Amazing

[@DaasmangiDIGBYHoleong]

Perfect!! Dream!!

[@zakaroonetwork777]

Very inspiring.

[@miserablesod1]

Wonderful stuff 😉

[@RyanWilliamsMusic]

Pretty sure the Neumann anechoic chamber mic and the QM69 came out of Southern Tracks Studio in Atlanta where I worked in the 90's

[@AlexCornier]

Drooling

[@jackguy7551]

Bucket list

[@neve2254e]

Very cool

[@buzzsmith8146]

Enjoyed it. I admire John’s dedication. I can’t help but wonder what the dollar value is for those hundreds of vintage mics, pres, gear, etc. 🤔

[@brianmclendon1647]

This is the best tour of blackbird yet, thank you!!!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this video!!

[@andrewarbogast1]

What a crazy mic collection! I wonder how many of those mics never get used.

[@robertw1871]

Damn that’s impressive

[@markussagichnicht5494]

46:05 I was fascinated until I noticed THAT silver piece of equipment on top of the shelf :DDD

[@FOH3663]

It appears like Behringer, no?

[@markussagichnicht5494]

@@FOH3663 It is ;-) I was hoping that Blackbird is a studio, that avoids Behringer equipment.... but I was disappointed ;-)

[@FOH3663]

@@markussagichnicht5494 Scenario; a client's tagalong brought it in, an engineer intercepted it, politely explained the signal shouldn't pass thru that piece ... lack of transparency, etc. Engineer retrieves a superior piece from their legendary inventory, and all involved happily proceeded thru their session. Schooled and somewhat embarrassed, the client simply left it behind, and loved every minute of Blackbird.

[@markussagichnicht5494]

@@FOH3663 yes maybe. but blackbird should not store such a sh*t besides some other legendary high end equipment. maybe removing the upper lid of the case and using it as an ashtray would be acceptable :D

[@twitchbook-1]

Cheers

[@mohokian]

as a mix enginner, only one wish in my life is someday working at here... even as a sweeper

[@ianmcgranaghan9888]

Great video!!!!

[@zachgoldstein4411]

I feel weird saying im almost the most impressed by the 1000amp circuit

[@adamkiefel79]

Wow 🤩

[@warnutztheloser]

i wanna live there

[@Justicefordadmom]

52 STUDIOS, INTERESTING. ELIJAH 'S NUMERICAL VALUE IS 52. I HAVE THE ELIJAH ANOINTING. THANK YOU LORD FOR THAT AND JOHN/ MARTINA McBRIDE ❤❤❤

[@LandOfAbundance]

@27:47 🤣🤣🤣 that shit is so funny, had to rewind a few times lol

[@RockmannMusic]

That was all-in-all awesome. Thank you very much. On a side note, I do not believe that "Atmos" will establish in any household but in cars and some home theatres. Sadly, people do not even have a nice stereo system at home anymore

[@CipriPopescu]

A lot of gorgeous gear just standing there, unused and sad...Can I have some?😂

[@KurtDPalmer]

This is crazy

[@rocxNroll]

55:23 how do you clean from dust all this diffurors?!

[@johnmirabile3535]

ID LOVE TO WORK FOR THESE GUYS! GOOD GUYS!

[@charlyloup1928]

CONTROL ROOM!

[@austinduff8833]

dam i cant afford a session but when i go to nashville ima pay you guys to go look at your mic room lol

[@TheStudio49]

Amazing facility absolutely aw inspiring ⁉️ You do know you can get most of that gear is now available in plug-in format you should really check it out 👍

[@ArthurStone]

Great studio, well-presented. Thanks : D

[@biniyamwondwossen]

I wanna be there

[@deivid-nn8jf]

💗

[@TheMonkBeatsOne]

we all are just a bunch of beatles' freaks john : ) ya know, thank you

[@officialpoa3171]

*the facility is AWESOME! .............................. However, all that gear and facility and you all resolve it into PROTOOLS..... Yall do not think something is missing? Cause i question any ones HEARING that can not hear what it does the sound.*

[@FOH3663]

Love this tour but the absolute Hallmark of the facility, Studio C's acoustics, wasn't explained very well at all. Yes, surface detail about the wood diffusion elements, the 10,000 page document, the steel beam support, etc. ... aside from the very cool anecdote about the blind individual, nothing about 𝙬𝙝𝙮 the approach they took was the 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡 approach. It would've only taken a minute to explain... inspiring others to focus on "the room" ... as it is vital. Still, dig the content. Much appreciated.

[@e.w.3233]

And also, they're diffusors, not absorbers.

[@christopher6673]

I thought it seemed pretty self explanatory, they said it makes it like mixing outdoors without walls. The absorbers aren’t like diffusers, diffusion scatters. These gulp up the waves kill them

[@FOH3663]

@@christopher6673 Well, outdoors without boundaries would emulate an anechoic space... that's not at play here. This is exactly why I expressed they missed the mark explaining, ... sharing the premise of the acoustic path they pursued. It's genuis in both effectiveness and simplicity. Engineer Massenburg and acoustic physics guru D'Antonio, examined each 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩 breakthru in studio acoustic's evolution over the past several decades. Beginning with Hidley's designs incorporating flush mounted mains and bass trapping from the 60's. With Newell, Hidley went the Non-Environment approach in the 70's, around the same time Davis' introduced LEDE room design. The 80's Hidley brought us flush mounted Kinoshita monitoring in Non-Environment criteria w/infra-sound sub extension. Then Massenburg intros RFZ rooms.... Then Dr Toole illustrates data that perceptually sidewall reflected energy can be beneficial. Ultimately, D'Antonio and Massenburg implement Blackbird's Ambechoic environment ... whereby the space operates diffuse down to 100hz, w/trapped, tightly controlled decay below that point. For 50+ years, designers have addressed sidewall energy in a progressively advanced manner driven by greater experience and understanding. Blackbird is such a step forward in this regard... I felt it warranted greater explanation.

[@ambroselockerman1115]

I know you guys are like the best in the world and Im basically just a decent live guy but I’ve found kind of shockingly so, that when ive board taped shows, sometimes ive gotten the best sound of some of the crappiest gear. Just to say that one set of gear, that an engineer is tasked to work with can be made to sound acceptable or amazing even if it does limit a vision of one’s creativity. Sometimes i wonder if the restrictions of old gear and studios made better music. Sometimes I wonder about gear. Like if ill ever hear anything like all those vintage mics.

[@payman.amini1]

Fucking awesome!

[@NewHopeAudio]

lol I was not expecting this to feel and sound like a Martin Scorsese movie.

[@buhlir]

I was wondering where all the good gear went.

[@randomguy2243]

i dont think my brain can fully comprehend what i just witnessed.

[@Fix_My_Mix]

Sure yeah, but do they have a Boss Metal Zone?

[@simonjanetzki5556]

He probably has serieal #0000001

[@Fix_My_Mix]

@@simonjanetzki5556 Totally lol!!

[@ChristianIce]

I see 50 class AAA recording studios dismantled and collecting dust.

[@prOkrEAt]

Jesus. Seriously no excuses can be made here. 😳😵