dbstudios-shanghai.com

Thanks to a great question from sxsyfly (see “comedy of errors…”) I thought we’d give a little attention to kick/bass drum microphones.

Above is a shot of the Shure 57 we used to capture Sara Routh’s foot stomping on Big Yellow Taxi… in this instance it’s a robust “dynamic” microphone with what we could call a good “bass response”… the following diagram will reveal all:

So as you can see… different instruments occupy different frequency zones… so with something like a “foot stomp” or a kick drum… you want a microphone that responds well in the lower frequency ranges and in this instance something that is quite robust cos it may get a kick or two!!!

As you can imagine there is a huge debate as to what the best microphone for the kick drum application is… if you are interested check out:

http://tinyurl.com/an46pw

www.alivenotdead.com/scottdodd

Things just keep getting better as we move into phase 2 of recording Sara Routh’s new project Sitting On My Window… as we are joined today by outstanding acoustic bassist Scott Dodd (pictured above)… violinist “extraordinaire” Peng Fei and my man Yam (Pranayam Aquino) on all things percussive…

What a day… if it wasn’t one malfunctioning lead it was a cellophane covered 9V or ear-splitting Chinese fire-crackers… but when we sat back and listened to what we had laid down damn it sounded good & I thought you might appreciate a quick after-hours shot to see how we rigged Sara’s guitar.

Check out a pair of Lunas, a Sputnik (used on Madonna’s last album) matched Pulsar IIs and a sneaky bass drum mike to catch that stomping foot… as the great man himself said… “all’s well that ends well”!!!

www.coolminiornot.com

For those of you old enough to know that quattro doesn’t just refer to a kick-arse Audi then you’ll remember the bass-toting mini-dynamo that was Suzi Quattro (if not go check her out at www.suziquattro.com) for those of you less advanced in years and fortunate enough to be in Shanghai go check out Anna Lisa Hughes at the Cotton Club’s (1416 huai hai zhong lu/fuxing lu 6437 7110) legendary Tuesday night open mike cos you’re in for a treat and a reminder of just how cool it is when a chick (excuse me all feministas) picks up a bass and more to the point can really play and sing (in Spanish) and speak to the audience in Chinese… damn!!!

Cantautora/Bajista – that’s a singer songwriter and bass player to you & I – she has lived in Chile and has a father living in Nicaragua and is Greg’s niece; more to the point she’s going to be recording at dbstudios so watch this space… or preview some of her tracks at:

www.myspace.com/annalisavozybajo

For those of you not lucky enough to make it down to Jose Herrera & Beili Xu’s CD launch party at JZ last Monday (19th January) here you go… a preview of the album cover (cos i know you will go and buy one – available at JZ Shanghai and all sorts of dodgy pirate outfits all over the city!!!) and some You Tube links to whet your appetite:

Broken glass YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhWpI7tyPog
Funky Cold Weather part 2 You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLFlGxjUhZY
FCW part 1 YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q41rS1j9H1o

After a very sweaty couple of hours trying to work out why our 24″ heart-of-the-studio’s i-mac’s very noisy (and let me remind you we’re a recording studio!!!) fan would not shut off i got to learn all about the System Management Controller (SMC)… damn i wouldn’t recommend it but if you hit the same problem just check out: http://tinyurl.com/6u7eqt

In case you’re too impatient let me explain:

The System Management Controller (SMC) is a chip on the logic board that controls all power functions for your computer. If your computer is experiencing any power issue, resetting the SMC may resolve it. The SMC controls several functions, including:

• Telling the computer when to turn on, turn off, sleep, wake, idle, and so forth.
• Handling system resets from various commands.
• Controlling the fans.

So what better to calm my by now very unsteady nerves than some online late night Windows (or in this case Mac) shopping… you know it makes sense!!!

see it in action at:

http://tinyurl.com/dnj8ts

“the only limitation is your imagination…”

MC DiAMOND was with us at the studio today… he’s a diamond say no more…

Lot’s of ideas on the table we see where we go with them

That would be along with legendary Blues man Sam Hooper…

www.samhooper.com

and Maxime Lenik of LOgO fame…

PS almost forgot to mention my man James who provides all the lovely gear you’ll see at: 

http://dbstudios-shanghai.com/?page_id=2

www.sunnytone.com

OK time to rest!!!

Well it’s been a busy one & i mean a busy one… from starting work on Sara Routh’s album to hosting Snoop’s promoter (though damn we had fun!!!) to putting B6 & Alec Haavik (watch this space) together there’s been no time to tweak a treble let alone boost a bass…

Some new equipment (just somes 57s/a new Audio Matrix splitter and a pile of new cables) with my sound insulation man Eric here on February 7th. means the new live room is just a few decibels away from being ready to launch!!!

For those of you who havn’t listened to B6′s latest album (Post Haze)… do so immediately!!!

You can check him out at:

http://www.myspace.com/b6music

Shanghai’s primetime state-of-the-art digital studio… driven by 3 macs… protools 8 and a host of m-audio peripherals… with a concrete floored drum booth and a 55m2 live room (offering up to 24 simultaneous ins) “the only limitation is your imagination…”

sara routh at a recent session…

http://www.myspace.com/lasongbird

Here it’s late so it just remains to say… “Happy Birthday” to my mum and then hit the hay!!!

PS just got some good press so can’t grumble… 

http://tinyurl.com/8b3d23

“the only limitation is your imagination…”