Universal Audio has been working on LUNA for over a year. The illustrious company known for their unparalleled analog hardware, UAD line of interfaces and plugins unveiled that the mysterious LUNA was the companies first DAW at NAAM 2020. I had seen advertisements on the internet and in Tape op magazine for months before I knew what it was. To be completely honest I thought they were going to be unveiling some kind of new digitally controlled tape machine but I was wrong. Universal Audio boasts LUNA’s deep Apollo interface integration with zero latency while using the UA plugins during recording. In a world of DAWs this is very important. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I started messing around with a plugin after an artist did a take only to be greeted with horrible latency when they wanted to punch in a word or two. LUNA’s interface bears some resemblance to other DAWs but to me feels a bit more inspiring like Ableton. I really like that some of the shortcuts that I am used to using in Pro Tools also translate to LUNA. In the same vain similar editing concepts also exist. After downloading LUNA I imported some tracks from a session I knew very well. This was a song from a record I had recorded and mixed in the fall that had just been released. I wanted to test out the mixing workflow. I started without watching any of the tutorial videos that are easily accessible right in LUNA. I was able to work for quite some time without getting stuck not knowing how to do something. I had a lot of fun working in LUNA, I don’t think it’ll replace Pro Tools for me but I can see myself using it for pre production, or a situation where Im doing a mobile recording with just my Apollo. Let me know your experiences and thoughts about LUNA!

A few days after Thanksgiving this year I went on a trip to record my third record with one of my favorite bands Daisybones. When we started talking about making this record we discussed doing it outside of my current studio.  We made both of their previous releases there and were all extremely satisfied with the results. We all wanted this album to be different from their others, and we wanted to get away from our lives to work for a week straight. We ended up booking some more sessions about a month later to finish up overdubs, but the majority of the album was made during our weeklong recording retreat.  

We packed up our gear and went to a beautiful residential studio located on a horse farm in Middleborough Massachusetts.  Making a large mobile rig, and moving a portion of my gear to set up in a room I had only worked in a handful of times was a daunting experience. Thankfully it yielded some amazing results.  Working in a place I wasn’t comfortable in caused me to push myself, I know exactly how to dial in sounds at my studio. I’ve been working in that room for years and am extremely comfortable there.  I really enjoyed taking my self out of my comfort zone, it was exactly what I needed to do to make this record. We lived in the studio for 7 days, sleeping on air mattresses carefully set up in the control room, live room and lounge.  We would wake up in the morning and dodge mics and gear to make it upstairs for coffee. We ate, slept (barely), and breathed this album. We didn’t go home at night to our cozy homes and significant others, we didn’t sit in traffic on our way to the studio, we didn’t look at the clock at 8 pm and say “it’s getting late we better wrap up”.  We worked around the clock recording idea after idea, most days we would record for 15 hours. A snowstorm caused us to be locked away in the studio for 3 days straight, cabin fever started to set in. We quickly realized this and ventured into the small town closest to the studio for a hot meal. We then started making daily trips out of the studio for a small adventure each day.  The trips into town were an amazing and refreshing break, and a chance to take stock of what we’d been doing. 

Having no outside distractions while making an album is an amazing thing. I truly believe that because of the way we made this album it makes it that much more special. We isolated ourselves from the outside world and cultivated memories and inside jokes that will last us a lifetime.  I’ve made a few other albums this way and even brought another band to the horse farm a few weeks after my week with Daisybones.  

I love making records and exploring new ways to make them.

Often times as artists and creators we run into that terrible wall known as writers block. It happens to all of us and can be extremely disheartening and debilitating. When i’m having a hard time working on getting a song finished or struggling with new ideas, I take a step back and create something different. My newest source of inspiration has been visual art. I’ll come home from the studio after a long day of recording, mixing or making music and sit down and create. Our creativity wells are just like muscles, the more we exercise them the stronger they’ll be. I’ve found that creating something every single day is the best way for me to stay inspired and keep my ideas fresh. Being in a constant state of creation also induces creativity. Id rather come home after a hard day and flex my creative muscle than mope around and get down about myself. Shoot me an email and let me know how you flex your creative muscles.

Over the past few years i've been constantly adding to, perfecting and changing my mix template.  I remember when I used to work on a console I didn't have a template, I just put if the faders, started patching gear and ran with it.  There were things that I would do every mix, and pieces of gear Id always use but it was never as simple or detailed as my mix template.  Every song, every album and every artist all come with their own challenges and they all need different elements of my template.  After every project I tent to update my template, it grows as I grow.  My template has audio tracks and aux tracks. The tracks all have plugins I know ill want once I start mixing, the tracks are also routed to the various busses they need to go to.  I keep all the plugins and busses inactive or deactivated so that when I start theres no processing going on and I can quickly turn on a bus or plugin to do what I want.  It may not seem like it at first but having all the routing and plugin assignments done before I even hit play is a HUGE timesaver for me.  I update my template vigorously so its always stocked with my new favorite plugins.  Another huge timesaver for me has been making my own presets in plugins.  For example I have a preset in one of my favorite eqs the Fabfilter Pro Q2 called ZB E Gtr, This preset has a high pass filter starting at 120HZ, a cut at 400HZ and a boost at 4K.  I cant just pull up my preset and say the guitar is done, but its quick way for me to start working on the guitars in the track. 

With shrinking budgets and demanding clients I need to be able to work very quickly and thats exactly what my template has allowed me to do.  For anybody thats interested in taking a look at my template id be happy to share it with you, click the contact page on my website and send me a message!  

I recently purchased a new pair of speakers to use at home and on the go.  At my studio I have  pair of Dynaudio Bm15As and a pair of Neumann Kh120s, I love both of these sets of speakers! Sharing my current studio space with another engineer has its challenges.  At the studio we each have our own control rooms with a shared live room, this means every once in a while one of us has to take a forced day off so the other can track in the main live room.  I honestly kind of enjoy having to take some time off away from the studio. This is also great opportunity to do editing or tuning at home on my laptop.  I don't know about other engineers but I struggle working on headphones sometimes which is why I was really excited to learn about the I Louds.  Upon first listen I was blown away by how much low end and energy these little things were able to put out,  listening at quiet levels they still pack a punch.  The speakers come in a super convenient bag that can fit in a backpack or suitcase easily.  Not only are these things super small and easy to move around they're really fun to listen to, I find myself dragging them into my kitchen all the time to listen to while cooking or cleaning.  Just for fun I brought them to the studio to put up against my mains and near fields and I was not disappointed.  Retailing for $299.99 you cant go wrong! The speakers have a stereo RCA input as well as an 1/8" input, and you can connect via bluetooth which is perfect for checking mixes i've emailed to myself on my phone.  I can see myself bringing these with me when I travel and work out of other studios so that i have a consistent set of speakers while freelancing. Check these out!