Digital Street Studio and Media Productions Update 8.31.12

We're finding more and more that artists need help bringing their music to life. In most cases, they're unable to locate musicians for the instrumentation they require. That's where we try to help. At Digital Street we can provide the client with only the best studio musicians. Sometimes our clients are not musicians at all but have single line phrase or topics they want to express through music. Providing this service is something that makes us unique and gives us great satisfaction. Hope to see you soon in the studio!

Chris and Kevin
Digital Street Studio
and Media Productions

Serving Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Digtal Street Studio and Media Productions Recording Update 8.27.12

I take it for granted sometimes that everyone does not know the inner workings of a recording studio. Techniques, terms, and basic approach can be intimidating to someone coming into the studio for the first time. Thats why it is so very important to communicate a path forward. Explaining how you're going to get from point A to B is good practice. Showing a path forward or schedule is crucial, especially for full length cd projects. The end result will be a good experience for your client and in most cases, more business in the future. Hope to see you soon in the studio!

Chris and Kevin
Digtal Street Studio
and Media Productions
Dover, Delaware

Serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Digital Street Studio and Media Productions Recording Update

While preparing to track your next cd project, don't forget to focus on one key element......TEMPO. Thats right! It's the foundation to everything you do in the studio. If and When someone in the industry listens to your music, the focus will be on key elements like tempo. One of the easiest ways to insure your music is "locked in" is to record to a click track or sample beat. Just recording scratch guitar and vocals at first. Minimal instrument tracking for a percussionist to reference and lock into will be the only tracking needed. Once you have a solid drum tempo recording, all other tracking will be very easy. Not to mention saving time in the mix down sessions. Hope this helps for future sessions.

Chris and Kevin
Digital Street Studio
and Media Productions
Dover, Delaware

Creating The Perfect Mix

First let me say the title is misleading. When it comes to recording, there isn't a perfect mix. Your interpretation of a song mixes "perfection" is yours alone. It will, 99.9 % of the time differ from someone else. It doesn't make it right or wrong it's just opinion. Don't get me wrong, there are some general guidelines and eq'ing practices to follow. However, the rest is up to you.

Chris and Kevin
Digital Street Studio
and Media Production

Serving Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Recording An Album Needs Support

Recording an album needs support. What I mean by that statement is this...After you have the completed album (CD) in hand, you need to get out there and support it. Line up dates, gigs, shows, places where you can sell your merchandise. In today's world, getting signed without playing out or having some kind of a name for yourself is very, very rare. Yes, it still happens but the chances are slim. Also, going down the "high priced producer" road has no gaurantees either. Thats when you pay a producer thousands of dollars to produce your album because he or she has "connections". I speak from experience because I've been there and done that. Where I and so many others fall short is you have to be in it for the long haul.  Most bands and artists that are popular today, play for years before getting contacted by an A&R person. The fact of the matter is labels want to see a following. They want to see a good fan base in place before they will even talk to you. A fan base is developed when you have something to offer. Your music, your songs, your energy. Hope to see you soon in the studio.

Chris and Kevin
Digital Street Studio
& Media Productions
Dover, Delaware

Digital Street Studio - Acoustic Solutions Part 2

Okay, we're going to pick up from where we left off last week. Today we'll be addressing cost effective ways to acoustically treat wall corners. Why do we want to acoustically treat wall corners you ask? Simple...we want to absorb or trap our low frequencies. By placing "bass traps" in our corners, we'll absorb tones that would tend to accumulate in those corners. To get started, we'll need the same material as before (T-111, Carpet runners, staples and drywall screws). The only new purchases will be 6" - 8" foam padding and liquid nail (gorrilla glue). If you have a problem locating this material, visit your home improvement warehouse and purchase 4 x 8 x 4" sheets of insulating board. Next, cut your T-111 to fit the height of your corners. A good width is around 18" but it can vary based on your carpet runner. Once that is completed, staple your carpet runner to the T-111. Now, place the carpeted T-111 facedown with the T-111 on top. Cut your foam or board to match the height of the T-111. However, you probably want your width to be 5-6". Glue your foam cut piece to the center of the T-111. Cut and glue a second piece if necessary to insure there is very little void remaining. Once completed, place in corner. You have just created a bass trap. Hope this information helps.

Chris and Kevin
Digital Street Studio
& Media Productions
Dover, Delaware

Creating Acoustic Solutions For Your Studio

There you are, getting ready click the "buy" button on those expensive acoustic tiles. STOP! There are so many cost effective ways to acoustically treat your studio or sound room. First, what materials are present? If you said drywall, metal or concrete, then we have some work to do. If you said brick, glass, wood or carpet? then we have something to work with. Smooth surfaces such as drywall tend to reflect high frequencies poorly and do not have very good insulating properties. To treat this issue, visit your local home improvement store. 4x8 sheets of T-111 will be on the purchase list, along with drywall screws and commercial grade staples. Next, locate a carpet store that sells inexpensive finished end or pre-cut carpeting. For example, a 4x6 hallway carpet will be your first treatment. We know our dimension are 4x6. With that being said, the cut for the T-111 should be slightly less than the carpet dimension (47"x 71") should be a good cut size. Once the T-111 has been cut, place it where you want it to be located. Screw in place with 12 - 14 drywall screws. Note: try to locate the studs in order to secure mounting. Other wise, drywall sleeves will be nessesary to insure a secure mount. Once mounted, place carpet evenly on the T-111. There should be a 1" overhang of the carpet piece? Staple in place and move on to the next mount. If you know what your sizes will be, outline on the walls before hand where you wish to place treatments. This will give you an idea of coverage. The idea is not to cover the entire wall but to leave some gaps. In most cases some reflection is acceptable, unless your trying to create a "dead" room. Keep an eye out for the next post, we'll be addressing bass traps and materials.

Chris and Kevin
Digital Street Studio
& Media Productions