enginner
Andrew Scheps on the Waves Masters Tour at the Village Studios on March 13, 2011.
Visit Andrew’s site at http://www.scheps.com/
Photography by Brian Petersen at www.brianapetersen.com
Email Brian Petersen for licenses regarding this image.
© 2010 Brian Petersen
After graduating from the University of Miami’s music school, Andrew Scheps worked for Synclavier. Following that he toured with both Stevie Wonder as a keyboard tech and Michael Jackson as a mixing engineer. Eventually Andrew began concentrating on recording, and he found himself engineering for some of the most successful producers in rock: Don Was, Rob Cavallo, and Rick Rubin.
Andrew has recorded such diverse artists as Audioslave, Green Day, Johnny Cash, Jewel, Neil Diamond, Limp Bizkit, Alanis Morissette, The Rolling Stones, and Linkin Park. Artists such as U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, and Camp Freddy featuring Scott Weiland have taken advantage of Andrew’s talents as a mixing engineer.
Read more: http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=3545#ixzz1ItJYDgGL
Andrew Schep’s Discography
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Project
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Role
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The Duke Spirit
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Production, Engineering, Mixing
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Favez
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Production, Engineering, Mixing
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Audrye Sessions
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Production, Engineering, Mixing
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U2
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Mixing, Engineering
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Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Mixing, Engineering
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Metallica
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Mixing
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International Noise Conspiracy
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Mixing
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Weezer
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Engineering
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My Brightest Diamond
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Mixing
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Gogol Bordello
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Engineering, Mixing
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Our Lady Peace
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Mixing
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The Rolling Stones
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Engineering
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Street Sweeper Social Club
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Mixing
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Manu Chau
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Mixing
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Justin Timberlake
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Mixing
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Johnny Cash
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Mixing, Engineering
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Cass McCombs
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Mixing
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Blood Red Shoes
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Mixing
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Jay Z
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Mixing, Programming
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Linkin Park
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Engineering
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Neil Diamond
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Mixing, Engineering
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Audioslave
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Engineering
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Howard Tate
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Engineering, Mixing
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Iggy Pop
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Mixing, Programming
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The Mars Volta
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Engineering
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Toots Hibbert w/No Doubt
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Mixing
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Slayer
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Engineering
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Alanis Morissette
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Engineering
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Sub-bionic
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Production, Engineering, Mixing
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Robbie Robertson
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Mixing, Engineering, Programming
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Tom Morello/Wu Tang Clan
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Engineering, Programming
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Sum 41
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Remix
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System Of A Down
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Engineering
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Andrew WK
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Engineering
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Michael Jackson
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Mixing, Engineering, Programming, Touring
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Nil Lara
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Production, Mixing, Engineering
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The Ben Taylor Band
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Mixing
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Mike Ness/Social Distortion
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Engineering
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Ringo Starr
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Engineering
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Limp Bizkit
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Engineering
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Bjork
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Remix
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Rickie Lee Jones
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Pro Tools
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Alien Ant Farm
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Engineering, Trumpet
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Green Day
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Remix programming
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P.O.D.
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Engineering
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Pedestrian
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Production, Engineering, Mixing
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Wendy & Lisa
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Mixing, Engineering, Programming
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Doyle Bramhall
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Mixing, Engineering, Programming
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Ekova
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Trumpet
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Ziggy Marley
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Engineering, Programming
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Stevie Wonder
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Remix, Programming, Touring
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Nightwatchman
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Engineering, Mixing, Trumpet
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Barry Manilow
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Mixing, Engineering, Programming
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Sheila Nicholls
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Mixing, Engineering
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Beth Nielson Chapman
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Mixing, Engineering
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Automatic 7
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Production, Engineering, Mixing
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Garth Brooks
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Programming
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Douglas Fir
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Additional Production, Mixing
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The Picture
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Engineering, Mixing
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Plane Of Mine
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Mixing
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Randy Coleman
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Additional Production, Engineering, Mixing
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Chris Lord-Alge at NAMM 2010
Chris demonstrates his new fader style channel series of Waves plugins coming for drums, vocals, and guitars.
Quoted from the Waves Web Site
When Waves first released its SSL 4000 Collection, we wanted input from an experienced SSL user. Who better to turn to than master mixer to the superstars, Chris Lord-Alge? After hearing our plug-ins, Chris said, “I’m proud to share my secret presets with SSL 4000 users. These are the best models I’ve ever heard.”
Chris Lord-Alge is not only known for his talent, speed, and efficiency when mixing a record but also his passion for music, sense of humor, and personal approach. Today, Chris is one of the most successful, in-demand mixers in the business. Along with his brother, Tom, Chris has become a mixer to Rock & Roll royalty; their combined credits are a virtual catalog of hits from the past 20 years. His long list of credits include artists as varied as Sheryl Crow, Hoobastank, Tim McGraw, Audioslave, Snow Patrol, Brian Setzer, and Eric Clapton.
According to Chris, “It’s in our blood. We have the gene.” Chris grew up in New Jersey, the son of musical parents. At an early age, his mother got him an apprenticeship at H&L Studio. According to Chris, the moment he stepped in the studio, he was hooked.
As his success grew over the years, he began producing as well as mixing. After producing several albums, including classics by Joe Cocker and Peter Frampton, Chris realized he just wanted to mix: “There’s definitely less grief with mixing than with producing.”
When Chris looks back on his career, some of his personal favorites include his work with Tina Turner and Jude Cole, as well as Green Day’s Grammy®-Winning American Idiot album.
Rob Cavallo, Sr. Vice President of A&R at Warner Brothers, says of Chris, “He listens very well. You ask him to try something on a mix, and he’s reaching for the EQ before you even stop speaking.”
Tina Turner once commented, “[Chris’] mixes have saved many of our tracks. It’s a pleasure to work with Chris, and he has a great sense of humor and self-confidence.”
Antelope Isochrome OCX external clock with a Digidesign Digi 002 pro tools interface.
Posted on July 28, 2009
by Brian Petersen 
0 
It’s no doubt that the Digi 002 is now an industry standard interface and has been featured on numerous records. Its smaller size combined with the ability to portably record to pro tools makes for a win win combination. The units come in either a 3U rack mount version or a table top automated mixer version that I personally prefer. The only problem is that the stock A/D converters and the clock in the unit are not the same quality that would you hope to have on a major record using a more high end pro tools studio interface. Some companies provide modifications on the clock and the converters with the digi 002 units, but you can also do well by making these modifications yourself. I use higher end vintage mic pres and nice large diaphragm mics to compensate for the stock pres and the converters on the 002. More on the converters later, but one way to overcome the clock issue is to use a high end external master clock for your interface. Many clocks are available and widely discussed, but I have gone with the recommendation of engineers that are much more skilled and discerning than I am in the studio world. This article is a brief detail of how to use an Antelope Isochrome OCX external clock with a Digidesign Digi 002.
Just a brief side note here but the main connection used for the external clock with the Digi 002 is a RCA S/PDIF port on the back of the interface. Later Digi 003 models came with upgraded stock BNC clock connections. S/PDIF = Sony/Phillips Digital Interchange Format
Step One
Acquire a Digi 002 interface, an Isochrome OCX clock, and a S/PDIF cable from your favorite dealer, studio, or music buddy. I bought my clock from Joe Gilder at Sweetwater. You will also need the necessary gear and connections for setting up your monitor mix, computer, mic pres, and so on. This is assuming you already have your studio setup.
Step Two – Warning
I would highly recommend turning off your gear and muting your monitors before you start any of this. Also a warning here as I found that my interface and monitor setup emitted loud white noise when I tried to set the clock to a sample rate above 96k. The 002 unit does not work above 96k even though your clock will be able to go up to 192k. Do yourself a favor and mute your monitors.
Step Three
Connect a S/PDIF cable from your clock to your Digi 002 interface. You do this by plugging in the S/PDIF cable to the S/PDIF OUT on the OCX clock and connect the other end of the cable to the S/PDIF IN on the Digi 002 RCA S/PDIF port. It’s recommended that you keep your clock within 10 ft (3 meters) of your interface when using a S/PDIF cable.
Step Four
Connect the IEC power cable to the OCX and power it on. Set the sample rate by pressing the rectangle buttons just to the left of the main red LED readout.
Step Five
Connect the IEC power cable to the Digi 002 and power it on. Open pro tools. Choose Setups on the top right tab. Under Setups choose Hardware Setup. Now select the S/PDIF clock source in the lower box on the left side. Click OK.
Your external clock should now be setup. Make sure that your sample rate on the clock matches your pro tools session sample rate. Begin making beautiful music.
More about the OCX clock…
Antelope’s Isochrone OCX emerges as the new quality standard in professional master clocks. A master clock is the heart of the digital studio, essential to maintaining stability and preserving sonic integrity. It is crucial that a master clock be flawless, and the Isochrone OCX exists to meet this need. Uncompromised design has created the most stable, best sounding master clock available.
Oven Controlled Discrete Transistor Crystal
Oscillator for lowest jitter
Atomic clock input resolves to Rubidium clock for perfect stability
Jitter Management Module improves sonic performance
Sample Rates 32-192 kHz
Factory calibrated to better than +/- 0.02PPM accuracy via Atomic Clock
Can be recalibrated in the field to an Atomic Clock for better than +/- 0.02PPM accuracy
W/Cx256 “Superclock” output for Digidesign Pro-Tools systems
Outputs multiple, divisible sample rates
8 Word Clock outputs
2 AES/EBU outputs
2 S/PDIF output
http://www.antelopeaudio.com/en/products_iso_ocx.html
More about the Digi 002…
Digi 002 combines the features of a high-quality audio interface, a MIDI interface, a touch-sensitive control surface, and a stand-alone digital mixer, all in one unit.
Digi 002 provides the following input and output capacity:
• 8 analog audio inputs (4 with mic preamps), with A/D converters supporting up to 24-bit, 96 kHz audio
• 48V phantom power on mic preamps, switchable in channel pairs
• –10 dBV input pair for direct monitoring of tape or CD input sources
• 8 analog audio outputs, with D/A converters supporting up to 24-bit, 96 kHz audio
• Monitor Output pair (+4 dBu) mirrors Main Outputs 1–2 with dedicated volume control for direct connection to powered speakers
• Alternate Main Output pair (–10 dBV) mirrors Main Outputs 1–2 for direct output to –10 dBV devices.
• Stereo headphone output with level control
• Optical connectors for 8 channels of ADAT I/O (up to 48 kHz) or 2 channels of Optical S/PDIF I/O (up to 96 kHz)
• RCA connectors for 2 channels of S/PDIF digital I/O supporting up to 24-bit, 96 kHz audio
• 1 MIDI In port and 2 MIDI Out ports, providing up to 16 channels of MIDI input and up to 32 channels of MIDI output
Control Surface Features
Digi 002 provides an integrated control surface for software control that includes the following:
• 8 touch-sensitive moving faders and dedicated solo, mute and channel select/record arm controls
• 8 multi-function rotary encoders for operating pan, send, and plug-in controls
• Transport and navigation controls
• 10 scribble strips for channel information display
• Footswitch jack for punching in and out while recording
Brian Scheuble
Producer / Audio Recording / Mixing Engineer
Online Mixing available email for details: bscheuble@mac.com
homepage.mac.com/bscheuble/disco/Personal18.html
See another pic here
flickr.com/photos/bpbp/2742195121/
Brian Scheuble – Audio Recording / Mixing Engineer / Producer Credits
Need To Breathe – Record & Mixing (upcoming releaes)
Crosby Loggins – Record & Mix (upcoming release)
Dave Matthews “Live” – Mix (upcoming release)
“Yes Man” Jim Carrey – Mix – New Movie (upcoming)
Brett Dennen – Record & Mix (New record)
Serena Ryder – Record & Mix (upcoming release)
Tyler Hilton – Record & Mix (upcoming release)
Lenka – “Knock Knock” – Single Mix – New Record
Robbie Robertson – Mix
Ben Lee – Record & Mix
A Fine Frenzy – Record & Mix
Sheryl Crow – Record
Aimee Mann – Record & Mix
(Magnolia soundtrack) & Bach. #2
Matt Nathanson – Recording
Rachael Yamagata (new record) – Record & Mix
Bethany Dillon – Record & Mix
Edie Brickell (new record) – Recording
Brendan James – Record & Mix
I Nine – Record Strings
Trevor Hall – Recording & Mixing
John Mayer Live – Mixing
New Found Glory -Recording
Dave Matthews – Record & Mixing
Meika Pauley – Mix
Stone Temple Pilots “Revolution” – Record
Liz Phair – Recording & Mixing
Five For Fighting – Record
Eric B. & Rakim – Mix
The Last Goodnight – Record
Michelle Branch – Record
Kate Voegele – Record
Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband Band – Record
George Stanford – Record & Mix 2 songs – new record
Train -Record
Lisa Marie Presley – Record
Year Long Disaster – Mix
Megan McCauley -Record & Mix Song on, Dr Phil Show
Chantal Keziazuk – Record
Stage – Record
Dishwalla – Record & Mix
Elton John – Record
MC Solaar Live – Record & Mix
Fiona Apple “TIDAL” – Record
Amy Carriea “Carnival” – Record & Mix
Stevie Nicks (soundtrack) – Record
Five For Fighting “America Town” – Record & Mix
Jeremy Toback – Record & Mix
Liz Phair (single) – Record & Mix
Crash Test Dummies – Record & Mix
Wallflowers (Godzilla soundtrack) -Record
Wallflowers (Virgin) – Record & Mix
Ringo Starr & The All-Starrs – Mix
Marilyn Manson – Record
Nine Inch Nails – Mix
Butthole Surfers – Mix
Ice Cube – Record & Mix
Don Henley “End Of The Innocence” – Record & Mix
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Record
X – Record
Wild Colonials “This Can?t Be Life” – Record
John Hiatt -Record & Mix
Mel Torme “Joe’s Garage” Soundtrack – Record & Mix
Wayne Shorter “High Life” – Record o/d’s
Barbara Streisand Rehearsal
Charlie Haden/Hampton Hawes – Mix
Beth Nielsen Chapman – Record & Mix
Soul Mission – Record & Mix
Robben Ford “Handful of Blues” -Record
Lili Haydn – Mix (2 songs)
Paul Thorn – Record
3 Mile Pilot – Record
Jon Bon Jovi “Blaze of Glory” – Mix & co-record
Fantasia “American Idol” – Record
Otep – Record & Mixing
Backstreet Boys – Record
Dandy Warhols (new record) Mix 1 song
Teddy Thompson (new record) – Recording
honeybird – Mix
ALSO-Recording & Mixing – iTunes Originals
Death Cab For Cutie
Liz Phair
Melissa Etheridge
Under The Influence Of Giants
Papa Roach
CONTACT INFO:
Management: Jim Phelan & Jerimaya Grabher @ GPS | Global Positioning Services
3435 Ocean Park Blvd., Ste. 107-191
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Tel – 310.828.1350
Fax – 310.828.1352
How to get great sounding drum tracks for your recording
By Brian Petersen at brianapetersen@gmail.com
Here is a video that has some shots of recent recording sessions.
Recording drums can be a daunting task and can even strike fear in the heart of any audio engineer. Most musicians have done some kind of recording with even a basic software program, but few have successfully recorded so many tracks at one time. That is what separates drum tracking from vocals, guitars, and other individual track recordings. A vocal recording requires one microphone, going into one mic pre, into one track in your software. A drum session requires eight microphones, going into eight mic pres, and to eight tracks into your session.
Before you start, you need to make sure that you have a software program with an audio interface that can record at least 4 to 8 channels of audio. XLR inputs with phantom power would be required unless you are using an external mixer and run your inputs as a line in level input with a tip/ring/sleeve ¼ inch connector from the mixer to your interface.
I begin the recording process by working within my software program. I prefer to work in pro tools but any professional software application or analog tape will work. I then set up the mics, cables, and pres while getting good sounds from the kit itself. Setting levels and getting a good monitor mix happens before your record, edit, mix, and master.
Set the meter and tempo in your session
This is often the part of the recording session that can take place before the drummer does anything, and the engineer can get to work far before any actual recording takes places. The engineer would make sure that the song session is set up properly and that the tempo and meter is in agreement with what the producer desires. This often happens in pre production when the producer works with the engineer to set the feel of each song and both set the tempo for each track. This is pretty important to get right up front so that you avoid re-recording your drums at another desired tempo at a later date.
Click track
Make sure that you create a click track that your drummer can hear during the recording process. This will also be used by other people who need to hear the tempo of the song during breaks and the acapella sections when the drums aren’t being played. I highly recommend that you record with a click so that all of your tracks are locked to a grid that can be easily edited throughout the production process. You can also use a loop or other support tracks that you created in pre-production. I try to get click tracks to my drummer before each session so they know the tempo and roadmap of the song that they are recording. This will help so that they can familiarize themselves with the song before they sit down to record at the session. The producer or songwriter will normally have charts of the songs before the recording session, and all you have to do is ask to get a copy of them. I mostly record with drummers that I know well and this also helps to streamline the process.
Set up tracks in your recording software
I set up tracks and signal flow inside of my session in this order:
Kick
Snare
Snare bottom (optional)
High hat
Tom
Tom
Tom
Stereo overhead mics
Room mic(s)
Set up mics, cables, mic pres, and get your sounds
Signal flow is so important! You must be able to follow the signal path from the instrument, to the mic, down the cable, to the mic pre, down that cable, to the input, and into your software session. You must then be able to route that sound through a drum buss, out of your interface, out a headphone mix for your drummer, and also a monitor mix for you the engineer. This has to be down with little or no latency in your computer software all while making sure that your levels are within their operable range. This is before you record anything.
I normally run each microphone through a high end mic pre before sending that signal into a recording interface. This gives a warmer or fatter sound to most of my inputs while reducing noise.
Have your drummer begin playing so that you can set your levels on the mic pres and on your interface inputs. Be sure that your drummer is actually playing the style and volume that they will be playing for the song that they are recording. Most drummers seem to sound check levels by playing something they did in the club the night before or play an epic drum groove that they learned recently. Make sure that they are actually playing the style and volume that they will be playing for the song that they are recording. It feels a bit odd to ask but few drummers actually play the style and volume that they will be playing for the song that they will be recording.
I normally rely on the drummer to get the sound from their drums that they like.I get asked about drum heads, tuning, and playing style, but I trust the drummers for all that. Sure I have my opinions and preferences, but I prefer to rely on the musician to setup and play their instrument well. As an engineer, I can also change/replace any of their sounds in editing or mixing at a later time.
I prefer to get the best sound possible while placing the overhead microphones and then add in the kick and snare. I will then add in the tom mics and pan them across the stereo spectrum while checking for phasing issues in a mono mix. I find that I don’t really use the high hat mic as it comes through the overheads, but I make sure that I have a good sound for that as well in case it is used in the mixing process. I add in my room mics for monitoring and continue to check levels and solo various tracks to make sure that nothing is clipping unless desired. I find that my best drum sounds can come from the room mics, overheads, kick, and snare. I prefer to not use any plug ins or reverbs while tracking and to monitor the inputs without any effects. Normally I only compress my room mics through a tube mic pre and compressor, while leaving my other tracks uncompressed.
Record
I record the sound check and continue to readjust levels throughout the process. When everything is setup and the producer and drummer are ready, you can start with your pre roll and begin recording. This is an important time to let your producer run the session and get the performance that everyone wants. You can stop and start at any time while make punches across your recorded tracks. Continue to watch your levels and check your monitor mix while recording. I make sure to pay special attention for soft passages in the performance where the drummer’s headphone mix might bleed into the overhead or room mics. I will also play back the whole drum take after the performance and carefully listen to make sure that everything is recorded as desired with no clicks or hit mics. It’s a great time to make sure that you recorded everything on the appropriate tracks and that all your sounds are properly routed in your session. It might be hard to explain to the producer and drummer that you recorded three tracks of the same tom because you forgot to route your inputs properly.
It seems that while recording to click tracks during sessions, most drummers seem to rush heading into drum fills and choruses, and slow down coming out of them.I make sure that the drummer sticks to the click as much as possible without me irritating the producer or drummer. This will help in editing the drums and while tracking all the other instruments that will be placed on top of the kit.
The Room
There are so many techniques on how to record drums and even more on the locations that can be used to record them. I prefer to record drums in a large “live” room with high ceilings. Churches are my favorite locations for numerous reasons. Make sure that there is no slap delay in the room and you can find this out by clapping your hands a couple times near the location where the drummer will be playing. You can use sound baffles or any kind of absorbent material to block such delays and tailor the sound to your desire. Check for crickets and other buzzing before you start recording.
Editing and Mixing Drums
After the initial recording session I listen back to the tracks and make any adjustments as needed. I trim off the beginning and end of the recorded tracks that could have the drummer or producer talking. I also fix any punches that might have been made and try to get the take to sound as natural as possible.
I like using samples for the kick and snare for most recordings. I find that I can get a better sound from a sampled kick or snare from logic than I can through a recorded microphone. This happens by using a pro tools plug-in to swap the originally recorded sound with the new sampled sound from an audio file.
There are many other ways to record drums, but I hope this is a start to getting great sounds while recording your session.