I can’t believe that I am already into session 7!  This is a landmark session because it’s time to put in my request for Pro Tools and my interface. I am very excited to be able to start working with this equipment at home. If there is one thing I know about myself, it’s that I am extremely hands-on and learn best when I am able to practice what I learn in the studio at home. The timing couldn’t be better - I am in the process of writing the material for my first record, so I am going to be able to immediately apply what I learn with David on my own album when it comes time to record "for rea"l. These are very exciting times and I am soaking up as much as I can.

In this session David gave me a very good overview of the console. One thing I have always noticed about David his how efficient he is when working in Pro Tools. He has made it very clear to me that his efficiency is not an accident - this is a critical component of the service he offers to his clients and is what they pay for. No one wants to pay someone to “fumble” their way around a program that they could "fumble" around on themselves. Our goal in future sessions is going to be making me extremely efficient using keyboard shortcuts and as well as familiarizing me with the different menu screens in Pro Tools right away. I am going to pick up a new keyboard to hook up to my laptop for working at home because I need a "ten key" number pad to be able to execute a lot of the shortcuts quickly. A new mouse is also going to be essential to help me move more efficiently.

Since this week’s reading was heavily focused on amplifiers, we spent time discussing David’s Preamps and his Summing Amps. Shine On Studios uses a "Dangerous Music D-Box" along with a "Dangerous Music 2-BUS LT" with analog summing. Using analog summing is critical to the sound that we achieve when recording. Because we use a digital console, a lot of the character of the tone can be lost. Summing the tracks in analog helps bring a lot of character back into the sound waves.

As far as PreAmps are concerned - no two preamps are the same. Our studio uses several different preamps - some are tube preamps (Blue Microphone Preamp) while others are solid state (Focusrite ISAtwo). Tube Preamps tend to be used for vocal tracks because they help to bring out a lot of texture in the sound. Solid state tends to be a the go-to for recording drums because they produce a dry, consistent tone. Some microphone models we use in the studio don’t match up very well with certain preamps and this has been determined just by trial and error. Over the years David and his team have found the pairings that work the best for the sound they are looking for.

I am looking forward to the next session because I am going to start working on the console on a track from start to finish. Should be a great learning experience and will give me a lot of things to practice at home afterwards.