In the studio

Producing

Yes, okay, the definition of producer is a tricky thing to pin down these days. But there are producers and then there are Producers.

A Producer helps an artist capture a musical vision from concept to shrink wrap. This can include writing the song, arranging the instruments, organizing the production budget, hiring (and firing) musicians, directing the recording sessions, coaxing vocals, encouraging the artist to do his best and whatever else needs to be done. Some Producers are also engineers who set up all the mics, position the instruments and amps, engineer the tracks, edit the tracks on the fly, make the coffee and burn the roughs.

The best Producers do all the above without the artist really noticing. That's what it's like when artists work with Producer Michael Woodrum. Things come together quickly. Drums and bass are balanced and keyboards blend in seamlessly. Guitars sound good right away. Vocals sit in the track even while the vocal is being recorded. The artist seems to be laughing a lot. Work looks a lot like play. Hmmm. Why wasn't it this easy before?

Michael Woodrum is a Producer who's also an accomplished engineer. To be honest, he's a freak. He gets sounds faster than you can think them up. You won't sit around waiting for something to sound right.

Michael's a songwriter, too. He understands what's going on when you're doing your best to express your heart and soul.

Finally, Michael Woodrum is a Producer who dreams about music and gets excited when songs, sounds, and performances add up to real magic. In other words, he's you.

Mixing

Of all the technical stages in music production, mixing is perhaps the trickiest and most artistic.

A great mixer is truly a wizard who can create magic out of noise. Forget about your precious guitar part for a second and consider the giant pile of frequencies and elements all competing for your attention when you hear a piece of music. Only a great mixer can please everyone in the room by creating space in the sonic spectrum that allows all the best bits to shine. It's an art.

Michael Woodrum is that kind of “radio ready” mixer. He knows that your song, every single note of inspiration, needs to kiss your ears and blow your mind.

He knows that every sonic event from the intro to the coda will effect the emotions of the listener and has to be perfect. Luckily for you, Michael knew that at the start of the session. That’s why your track sounded good from the get-go, and that’s why Michael’s mix is killing you right now.

Recording

Dudes versus Engineers

Okay, yes, digital recording on your laptop is amazing. BUT: there’s a huge difference between “a dude I know who has ProTools” and a technically brilliant producer/audio engineer with twenty years experience who works in ProTools HD in a studio crammed full of classic analog gear.

The first is an amateur and the latter is Michael Woodrum.

There’s nothing wrong with recording yourself at home – if you don’t mind taking twenty years to learn what Michael Woodrum already knows about capturing and engineering sound. But if you’d rather be an artist and play music while an expert records it, contact Michael Woodrum. You dream, you play, you create. Michael will take care of the rest.

HOME versus STUDIO

Bedroom studios are great but today’s best music is still recorded in studios for a simple reason – studios are designed to capture sound, not sleep.

Michael Woodrum’s SoundMoves Studio, newly located in the heart of Burbank’s Media District, has been tweaked to perfection by sound designers. You’ll record vocals in an iso-booth, not your friend’s bathroom. You’ll hear the vocal you’ve dreamed of – without overdubs by the neighbor’s dog.


CONTROL ROOM

Ever taken a demo mixed in your bedroom out to the car for a listen? Did you wonder why the bass was huge and the vocals dull? Hmmmm. It sounded different when you listened in the house, right?

Listening to your recording is the easiest part of the recording process to take for granted. You record something and you listen back to it. Simple. Not really. Everything effects the sound when it’s played back – where you sit, the speakers, the amps, the board, the shape of the room. The control room is called “the control room” for a great reason. It’s where you control the sound of your music.

Michael Woodrum’s control room at SoundMoves Studio is acoustically treated for ultimate accuracy. What you hear is what you get. When you take a mix out to the car, you won’t get fooled again.
 

LIVE ROOMS

SoundMoves has three isolated, soundproofed rooms. That means the singing on your vocal track won’t mysteriously contain drums and the cymbals on your drum tracks won’t feature the distant buzzing of guitars. Nice, right?

Whether you’re a solo artist or a full band recording simultaneously, SoundMoves Studio can handle all the instruments separately and bring your sound together in perfect shape.

MONITORS
Adams PS22A’s

DAW / COMPUTER Pro Tools 9.x/HD6 system
with a zillion plugins from WAVES, URS,
Audio Ease, McDSP, Antares, Bomb factory,
Celemony, Crane Song, Digidesign,
Trillium Lane Labs, Eventide, Focusrite,
FXpansion Audio, IK Multimedia, iZotope,
Line 6, Massenburg Design Works,
Serato Audio Research, SoundToys,
Spectrasonics, Synchro Arts,
TC Electronic, WaveMachine Labs
[2]192 I/O’s with 24 analog channels in/out &
24 digital channels in/out
Pro Control with Fader pack
Apple Dual 2.66 6-core Intel
Hot Swap drives & bays

OUTBOARD
Manley custom 16 channel tube console,
Massive Passive and Vari-Mu, Neve 1073 [2]
Universal Audio 2-610, Millinia HV-3D,
DigiDesign 8 channel pre, Tube Tech CL-2A,
Empirical Labs Stereo Distressors with
British mod, Alan Smart C2 duel/stereo
compressor, dbx 160,
TC Electronics Finalizer 96k, Waves L2,
Apogee Big Ben 192 Master Digital Clock,
Digidesign SYNC I/O up to 192k,
Digidesign MIDI I/O Player / recorders
include Alesis Masterlink 9600/96k,
Tascam DA 45HR 24 bit DAT,
Panasonic 3800 DAT

MICROPHONES
Neuman M149, Sennheiser MD421 II,
Audio Technica 4060 Tube,
4047 [2], 4033, Shure SM57 [7],
AKG 451CB Stereo Matched Pair, D112,
Audix SCX25 Stereo Matched Pair, D4 [3], I5,
Cascade Fat Head II - Ribbon Stereo
Matched Pair, X-15 Stereo Ribbon, Yamaha Subkick

SYNTHS/INSTRUMENTS
Keyboard & Synth Modules include
Korg Triton,
E-MU MO Phatt with expansion cards,
E-MU Audity 2000 with
expansion cards, Roland XV-3080
loaded with expansion cards,
Stylus RMX Vinyl Groove Module,
Trilogy, Recycle, Reason 4 Minimonsta,
Native Instruments Akoustik Piano, B4,
Elektrik Piano, Pro-53, BFD ver 1 & 2,
Drum-A-Gog, Akai S-5000 sampler, Live, enough Drum & enough Synth samples to choke a horse
DW Drum Kit: 22″ kick, 8″, 10″, 12″, 14″ Toms,
Ludwig Black Beauty Snare (re-issue),
Sonar Snare, Zildjan “A” custom Hats &
Cymbals, Sabian hats & cymbals
Wurlitzer 140B Original Electric Piano -
this is the real deal - sounds amazing!
Guitars: Fender Stratocaster,
Taylor 314-CE Acoustic 6-string,
Musicman Knockoff Bass
Amps: VOX AC15 Heritage Hand Wired Head & Cabinet,
Bogner Line 6 Spider Valve 112