We have a group coming into the studio tonight to record a final track for the short demo that they did with us a few weeks back and it reminded me of the conversations that we had with them the first time they were in.

They were discussing with us about their experience of recording a previous demo at a different, somewhat more “professional” or “experienced” studio in the area.  However, the discussion wasn’t one of pleasure and sentimentality, it was one of disbelief.  You see, their experience at the other studio was not one where they were guided and nurtured as young artists.  They were told how they should sound.  The bass player admitted that he had quite a long discussion (i.e. argument) with the engineer/producer about what his bass sound should be, and what the “perfect” bass sound actually is.  This, in our opinion, is no way to develop a relationship and grow a successful product.

Think of it this way.  A gardener growing tomatoes does not expect that every tomato will be the exact same shade of red or grow into what he thinks is the perfect, plump, round tomato shape.  Every tomato is unique, and each one will develop into the perfect version of itself.  All that is needed is the right kind of wisdom, nurture, and care.

Now, granted, the producer in question certainly has experience and expertise in the field.  There is no denying that.  However, we feel that our job as engineers and producers is not to force our opinions or our perception of perfection onto every client.  It is to produce a product that the client can be excited about and proud of.  In order to do that, we make it our philosophy to nurture and encourage their ideals, not our own.

We run a remote business.  We don’t have a permanent location right now and both of us have full-time day jobs.  We’d love to each be able to go full-time with Constant Q in the future, but for now, it’s just not feasable.  So how do we communicate, work, and create remotely?

One of the ways we’ve discovered is to leverage the great resource that is Spotify.  In prepping for new acts in the studio, discovering our favorite sounds, and comparing tracks, nothing beats the availability of almost every song ever recorded!  We especially like the ability to build collaborative playlists, so even if we’re not working together, we can research and share artists and tracks and listen at our own leisure.

This is just one of the ways that we’ve found to be productive during the day or at home when we can’t be at the studio.

Constant Q had the immense privilege of recording with the sweet and talented Sally Rose at George Bowers Grocery in Staunton on Saturday night.  We will be making that recording available to Sally and GBG for limited release.  Check out their websites to stay in touch!

You know that Bitrate Studios loves to experiment. Well, while recording “Hello” for Quenton Clark earlier in the week, he wanted a very raw, overdriven keyboard sound. I played him a track called “All the Poor and Powerless” by All Sons and Daughters in which the keyboard (Wurlitzer?) is captured by micing the speaker on the keyboard itself. Using a vintage microphone that Kevin and I acquired through a friend, we mic’d the keyboard’s onboard speaker and, Voila! What a great tone! Quenton liked it so much that he kept it for the final mix. I just read an article from Joe Gilder (www.homestudiocorner.com)yesterday that said the words “Should I…” should never be in an engineer’s vocabulary. How true! In this day and age with audio recording so cheaply accomplished? Try it! Try it again! If it doesn’t quite work, then try something else, but never stop experimenting.

-D