Ditch Road Records Recording Studio in Simi Valley, California

Kevin Pugh In Studio this Week

Ryan Canestro — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:21:41 +0000

Kevin is back in the studio today and Wednesday. The album is really coming close to the end. There are already a few tracks that will be going on the next album in production. Always a great session with Kevin and what makes it even better is that he brings beer that he himself has brewed. That is how recording sessions are meant to be done!

New Equipment

Ryan Canestro — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:37:07 +0000

I just picked up an old digital reverb unit. It is an ART 01A Model 191 unit. This is not really considered to be a great reverb, but that is not why I wanted it. There are some reverb sounds that are interesting that certainly have their uses. I have plenty of great reverbs, now I want fun and different sounds to play with to add a little something different to tracks that may need it.

I have also re-acquired several microphones that I had in my childhood. Two of the originals that I had made their way back into my collection. There are two more that I will be getting next week that are not the actual ones that I once used, but they are the same exact make and models. There is only one more out there that I am still searching for. The problem is that I have no idea who made the thing and only a vague idea of exactly what it looks like. I am sure that it will find its way home one way or another.

Travis Jay in Tomorrow

Ryan Canestro — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:58:29 +0000

There is a good chance after tomorrow’s session, we will be done with basic tracking and will enter into final instrumentation, final vocals, and then off to mix. There are a few tracks that will need some edits, and two that need bass. After that, we are off and running to the next stage of the project. The songs have really taken their final shape and feel already. It is exciting to see it all come together.

Maurice Moore in the AM, Travis Jay in the PM

Ryan Canestro — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:41:23 +0000

This morning Maurice Moore came in the studio to do some voice over work with an actor to be used on an upcoming short film. The session went smoothly and we got everything that we needed from the session. I look forward to seeing the finished project.

Later this evening, Travis Jay will be coming by to finish the editing from the last session that we had the full band in here working on the album. We have a lot of work to do, but the project is coming together and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. When you start a 16 track project, you can never quite estimate how much work it will take to see it through.

Ribbon Microphone Transformer Modifications Finished

Ryan Canestro — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:15:17 +0000

Last night I preformed the transformer modifications on my pair of Apex 210 ribbon microphones. I decided to use the Lundahl LL2914 replacement transformers. The reason that you would do this is to make a considerable difference in the sound and performance of the microphone. In this case, the difference was huge. I will talk about it and play before and after clips in the next show at Home Recording Show. That show will be out on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Here is what the microphones look like:

Apex 210 Ribbon Microphone

I purchased the transformers at K & K Audio. They were very easy to work with and they shipped the parts out immediately.

There is a great article on how to mod these mics with Cinemag transformers at Morph Productions. It was a very similar operation. Make sure that you get the little circuit board with the Lundhals. It made the installation very easy.

Studio Fliers Are Ready To Go

Ryan Canestro — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:31:38 +0000

I designed and had the studio fliers printed up. I just picked up the first 100 today. Look for them out there in the real world.

Ditch Road Records Facebook Page

Ryan Canestro — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:42:00 +0000

I finally got around to putting together a Facebook page for the studio. You can find it here. I have had a MySpace page for much longer. You can find that one here. Please if you get a chance, become my friend and say nice things about me! Any help is greatly appreciated.

HB Back For 2nd Session This Week!

Ryan Canestro — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:57:13 +0000

On day two this week we added guitars, strings, and percussion to his rework of an old tune. I am still floored by the pace that we are able to work comparing it to the old session. The next session of this song will be vocals, edits, some minor instrumentation here and there, and then it will be time to mix. I am excited to see the finishe product on this one more than most to put the old version up against the new.

Theme Music For New Podcast

Ryan Canestro — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:15:47 +0000

I recently put together a podcast with most everyone I could think of in the audio recording podcasting world. The group included Ronan, Dave Chick, Slau, Big Al, and Jon and Jesse from The Home Recording Show. I hosted the show and got to do all the editing. I thought it would be cool to make a theme song in the 70’s game show genre, so this is what I came up with.

Here is a link to the finished show. It is a long one, but it is worth the listen.

HB Back To Rework A Song We Did Over 2 Years Ago

Ryan Canestro — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:27:32 +0000

Henry was back in the studio on Monday to start a song that we started over two years ago. He wanted to change the tempo and completely rewrote the lyrics. We started from the top again. This time I used Superior Drummer 2.0 to lay down the drum tracks. We got them down better than ever much quicker than ever before. I then laid an acoustic and bass track. Two passes at each and we had a complete take on both after edit.

On the next visit we will drop strings, electric guitars, and vocals. The first time around the whole process took about 4 days, this time I think that we can do it in half that time. It is amazing how much things have changed over the past couple years and how much faster I can work and get better results in less time.