Sebastien Grainger
(Death From Above 1979)
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In 2004 Toronto's own Sebastien Grainger stirred critics into a frenzy as the drummer/singer of the dance duo Death From Above 1979. Four years later, Grainger is back, solo, and with a new musical direction. After the dissolution of DFA 1979 in 2006, the mohawked rocker has been busy putting together a band and readying his first solo LP, Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains, which hits shelves October 21st with the Saddle Creek brand. Contributor Natalie B. David gave Grainger a ring to discuss the new album, his recording studio, what's up with his multiple music personalities, and if he would ever be a chef (it makes sense, we promise). Read here.
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SBD T-Shirts Are Here!
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Only $12 USD Postage Paid "Shut up and Listen" on black, 100% cotton T's  |
Recent Clients
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Hans' Recent Playlist
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1. The Black Keys "Attack & Release"
2. NIN "Ghosts"
3. Baby Huey "The Baby Huey Story"
4. Spiritualized "Songs in A & E"
5. Mudcrutch s/t
6. The Hold Steady "Stay Positive"
7. Aimee Mann "@#%&*! Smilers"
8. Carbon/Silicon "The Last Post"
9. Poster Children "RTFM"
10. Sly & the Family Stone "Fresh"
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Musician's Resources
(Useful Links)
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 Hola. I've often thought that the more you see an engineer hanging out on blogs and forums, the more obvious it is that they're not working (or as my friend Bryan Cook says, "never trust an engineer with a tan").
Well, I'm busy, look like Casper the Ghost, and have been blowing through our ezine deadlines like a kid who's homework keeps being eaten by the dog but I want to keep doing the e-zine as long as it's fun and people care. In an effort to improve we've added comments and a poll section and have some new, very talented contributing writers and interviewers as well. Feel free to post your thoughts, either good or bad. And I promise to only delete the ones that are stupid. Seriously.
One more thing and then I'll get back to work. I received a threatening letter from the ass clowns over at Hitt Music Group for posting a friend of mine's negative experience with their company. HMG asked that I remove the review, which I did, and immediately replaced with their letter. After a little research and a consultation with my lawyer, I determined that name calling AND customer reviews are still protected free speech under the first amendment (Go USA!). So there it is. Do your research people.
Client News: On top of working with some amazing artists over the last couple of months, I wanted to share the news that SBD client American Weapon will have a song featured on MTV's "Making the Band" Sept 16th at 9 pm.
Music News: The RIAA is now lobbying Congress for performance and copyright royalties from US terrestrial radio (performance royalties are already paid by internet, satellite and most terrestrial radio in the rest of the world). US artists currently only see royalties from radio if they are the songwriter or publisher... forfeiting performance royalties because they should feel honored to have their song promoted on such an esteemed format. It has been like this since the dawn of radio. The irony is that the major labels pay to have artist's songs on the radio anyway (albeit indirectly through intermediaries known as "indies" because it's otherwise illegal) and artists don't see any royalties until they have recouped their labels... So, long story short, either way, this legislation probably won't help artists, but will ensure that record companies and radio stations continue giving each other cash.
Ah, when indie goes large; Disc Makers, the CD and DVD manufacturer has acquired CD Baby. Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby will stay on as a consultant. Not sure what this means to you and I... feel free to weigh in.
Speaking of acquisitions, I wish I had an extra 24 million dollars... that was the one and only winning bid for Death Row Records which went on the auction block after Suge Knight declared Chaper 11. The label is now owned by Susan Berg who undoubtedly knows tons about hip hop and running a record label because she's a former facialist. Not to be confused with turntablist... I'll say it again, she use to do facials. I'm sure we have more posthumous releases to look forward to by 2 Pac as well as the repackaging of all of Snoop and Dre's greatest hits...
Last and maybe not least, the FBI is looking for the source of the leaked, unreleased Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" album. They have already arrested "Skwerl" (aka Kevin Cogill) the owner of the Antiquiet blog who had originally posted and streamed the songs from his website. It's one thing to break copyright; it's an entirely different matter when you break street dates. Some folks not only get understandably surly, but it's also a felony in California. Needless to say, the files are still floating around out there and my guess is that the FBI is really looking for the original source of the leak (ie somebody over at the recording studio, mastering studio, Axl's entourage or label). Hear that interns of the world?
Good Links: An interesting article regarding promotional advance-copies and stemming piracy. And whatever you do, if you find yourself in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and need a recording studio, don't hire these guys.
R.I.P. Bo Diddley. Isaac Hayes. Jerry Wexler. Don Helms. Donald Erb. Richard Wright.
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Net Neutrality and Why it Matters
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 The Internet has been one of the most important inventions benefitting musicians in our lifetime. The Web allows artists to share their music with the world, whether they're a Top 40 super-group signed to a major label or an independent songwriter who records on a 4-track in their basement. And because setting up a Web page is free and gives musicians a forum to distribute their songs, emerging artists have a better shot at "making it" than ever before. The concept of net neutrality is based on the belief that protecting this online democracy is paramount.
Certain telecommunications companies want to allow Internet clients to pay for Web sites that load much faster than others. Net neutrality supporters say this would compromise the ability of site-holders that couldn't afford to pay the fees to share their information. It could become virtually impossible for indie artists without the financial muscle of a major label to upload their music to the Web, or for fans to download their music. The worst-case scenario, critics say, would be a new form of payola, in which Internet service providers teamed with major music businesses to ensure that their content was the easiest to access.
The government, so far, has protected net neutrality. Earlier this month, the FCC ruled against Comcast, which had been slowing traffic to certain peer-to-peer sites. The Commission said the practice-which consumers complained was making it difficult to upload and download legal files on certain "throttled " pages-was unlawful. Despite this recent win, the issues of net neutrality remain hotly contested, and big telecomm is still fighting to regulate the accessibility of sites. All musicians deserve a presence on the Web-not just those who can afford to pay big bucks for one.
To learn more and get involved, check out the Future of Music Coalition's Rock the Net website and campaign.
Lindsay Miller
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Q & A: How is my mix supposed to sound?
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 Ha ha. The $64,000 question. Nobody can tell you that... especially when they haven't heard anything. Here's a few tricks to help you until you start feeling more confident.
1) Perspective. If you're comparing your mix to a commercially released song in a similar musical style; import that track into your session, drop it's volume by 6 or 7 db and roll the hi-end and low-end off a tad (-1 db or so). After that, the commercial mix should sound pretty dull. That's generally what an unmastered, balanced mix sounds like (sans the extra compression added during mastering). Then you can bounce back and forth between that track and yours and start training your ears to hear the differences. Also, bare in mind that if you've got any processing on the master fader... it will also be applied to the commercial track. Best to keep that stuff off your master until you're nearly done with your mix (if it's even needed at all). This technique may sound cheesy, but it's a great way for you to learn your room, speakers, etc.
2) EQ. It doesn't hurt to learn the dominant freqs of particular instruments. Generally speaking, the "bang" of a drum is found around 1 khz. The body of an electric guitar is between 100/500 hz and 3 khz. Of course these examples are completely dependant on the instruments themselves, the tuning, how they are mic'ed, and what you're going for. You also don't want to eq everything the same way... complimentary freqs are fun and help with clarity. And when you're tempted to turn your mix into a giant smiley face (boosted highs, boosted lows, and a valley in between), keep in mind that 3 khz is the frequency that humans hear the best, but if you over do it, can cut your frick'n head off.
3) Distortion. And I'm not talking about the "good" kind.... I'm talking distortion caused by exceeding your input/output limits. Do not, I repeat, do not clip the inputs/outputs of your session on any fader (that includes mic pres, converters, virtual faders, plug-ins and anything else you might be piping audio through). If you see red, that's bad. If you're recording in 24 bit, there's no reason why your faders can't be fairly low (peaks at -10 dbfs or less)... if you need to hear things louder, turn your monitor volume up. I've said this before but it's worth repeating, even a Neve sounds like shite when you over do it. Ultimately, your mix's clarity, power, and dynamics depend on this... trust me.
Love ya,
Hans DeKline
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