As Tate Music Group and the rest of the world music industry closed their books on 2008, we can now look back at some of the 'better' songs of 2008.
With a new year brings fresh vision and passion! Know that we're behind you every step of the way, and we look forward to seeing your faces in our studio throughout the year.
Hopefully we see some of our Tate Music Group artists in the 2009 mash-up video!
I know that this is almost a month late, but may 2009 be another successful year for all of our Tate Music Group artists...
A friendly practice reminder...
Just a reminder to practice before coming into the studio...
Or, your CD might sound a little like this.
Or, your CD might sound a little like this.
1 comments
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Frosted Flakes over Post Toasties...
No, this isn't a blog about cereal... (sorry to disappoint!)
Had a discussion the other day with a gentleman in regards to our choice of vocal microphones and other equipment in the Tate Music Group studios...
A pretty common misconception in the recording industry is the choice of equipment used in the studio. Similar to product placement in a grocery store, a lot of people tend to remember, and therefore, stick with the names everyone is buying or talking about. Choosing "Frosted Flakes" over "Post Toasties" if you will...
In the recording industry, it is obviously different, as certain pieces of equipment do certain things, and you pay a price for ones that do it better than others. Many would purchase ProTools over Logic, Gibson over Epiphone, Neumann's over Rode's, DW over Pacific... the list goes on. It's the same reason we buy Betty Crocker over Sure Fine's best cake mix on the market. The name we've learned to trust.
However, the biggest misconception is 'how much' a studio spends on that equipment. This was the discussion on the phone. Why we didn't spend $2000 dollars for a single mic rather than spending $400 for one mic. My honest answer was "because it wasn't necessary to spend $2000 dollars on a single mic, when our choice of microphones work extremely well with what we do."
If you were a studio owner/manager/producer/stay-at-home-dad/mom-recording engineer, and were setting out to purchase equipment for a new studio endeavor, you would most definitely research the product before buying it, right? At least I hope so.
To quench the rumor-mill on why we've chosen the Rode NT1-A Condenser microphone for our studio, here's a few things that will help explaining our research:
1. My favorite! The RØDE NT1-A is the winner of the Electronic Musician 2004 Editor's Choice Award and the world's quietest studio condenser microphone with only 5 dBA of self-noise.
2. The circuitry is phenomenal, and is actually a little "flatter than that of most large-diaphragm mics, as the presence peak is less pronounced and quite broad, but there's also a hint of low-end lift at around 120Hz, which gives the mic a very subtle 'smile EQ' characteristic, the practical outcome of which is that the sound is mildly flattering but still very natural sounding"
3. It's a great mic for the 'Cartoid-mic' fans... here is a diagram from the Rode website.
4. They are incredibly affordable!
5. Who can complain, its an inexpensive mic and is very versatile for both vocals and for general instrument mic'ing. We've used the RØDE mics for anything from drum overheads to guitar mics to mic'ing up an acoustic session. A great, well-rounded sound that's quite a bit lighter on the pocketbook.
6. Is it safe to say, we just like them?
I found an article about these mic's on the soundonsound.com website, and Paul White summed it up pretty clearly for us here at Tate Music Group.
As an all-round instrument mic, the NT1A has a brighter, more articulate high end than the original NT1, but the low end remains well balanced, resulting in a clear, believable sound. However, I suspect most users will buy the NT1A predominantly for use as a vocal mic, where it delivers a very modern sound, balancing transparency and airiness with a supportive lower mid-range. There's certainly nothing budget or second class about the sound of this microphone, and where you do need to emulate the somewhat warmer, more middly sound of the original NT1, a little high-end EQ cut gets you pretty close.
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In the end, the argument on how much you pay for a microphone is irrelevant if it gets the job done and you know what you're getting into. This mic does a fantastic job for the numerous vocal sessions we're running every month!
Just because you spend less than $1000 dollars on a microphone doesn't mean it's worthless. You can get a good deal on a car, get it for $5000 dollars off the original asking price, and at the end of the day, it gets you from home to work to home again just like the car that was $10,000 dollar more. It just may not have that retractable rooftop you wanted, the spoiler on the back, the bose sound system or a GPS system (all bells and whistles that, while nice, may not be necessary for your need of getting to work and back), but it still gets you where you're going.
All of those analogies to say, check out the RODE website for more info on these mics!
Had a discussion the other day with a gentleman in regards to our choice of vocal microphones and other equipment in the Tate Music Group studios...
A pretty common misconception in the recording industry is the choice of equipment used in the studio. Similar to product placement in a grocery store, a lot of people tend to remember, and therefore, stick with the names everyone is buying or talking about. Choosing "Frosted Flakes" over "Post Toasties" if you will...
In the recording industry, it is obviously different, as certain pieces of equipment do certain things, and you pay a price for ones that do it better than others. Many would purchase ProTools over Logic, Gibson over Epiphone, Neumann's over Rode's, DW over Pacific... the list goes on. It's the same reason we buy Betty Crocker over Sure Fine's best cake mix on the market. The name we've learned to trust.
However, the biggest misconception is 'how much' a studio spends on that equipment. This was the discussion on the phone. Why we didn't spend $2000 dollars for a single mic rather than spending $400 for one mic. My honest answer was "because it wasn't necessary to spend $2000 dollars on a single mic, when our choice of microphones work extremely well with what we do."
If you were a studio owner/manager/producer/stay-at-home-dad/mom-recording engineer, and were setting out to purchase equipment for a new studio endeavor, you would most definitely research the product before buying it, right? At least I hope so.
To quench the rumor-mill on why we've chosen the Rode NT1-A Condenser microphone for our studio, here's a few things that will help explaining our research:
1. My favorite! The RØDE NT1-A is the winner of the Electronic Musician 2004 Editor's Choice Award and the world's quietest studio condenser microphone with only 5 dBA of self-noise.
2. The circuitry is phenomenal, and is actually a little "flatter than that of most large-diaphragm mics, as the presence peak is less pronounced and quite broad, but there's also a hint of low-end lift at around 120Hz, which gives the mic a very subtle 'smile EQ' characteristic, the practical outcome of which is that the sound is mildly flattering but still very natural sounding"
3. It's a great mic for the 'Cartoid-mic' fans... here is a diagram from the Rode website.
4. They are incredibly affordable!5. Who can complain, its an inexpensive mic and is very versatile for both vocals and for general instrument mic'ing. We've used the RØDE mics for anything from drum overheads to guitar mics to mic'ing up an acoustic session. A great, well-rounded sound that's quite a bit lighter on the pocketbook.
6. Is it safe to say, we just like them?
I found an article about these mic's on the soundonsound.com website, and Paul White summed it up pretty clearly for us here at Tate Music Group.
As an all-round instrument mic, the NT1A has a brighter, more articulate high end than the original NT1, but the low end remains well balanced, resulting in a clear, believable sound. However, I suspect most users will buy the NT1A predominantly for use as a vocal mic, where it delivers a very modern sound, balancing transparency and airiness with a supportive lower mid-range. There's certainly nothing budget or second class about the sound of this microphone, and where you do need to emulate the somewhat warmer, more middly sound of the original NT1, a little high-end EQ cut gets you pretty close.
-----
In the end, the argument on how much you pay for a microphone is irrelevant if it gets the job done and you know what you're getting into. This mic does a fantastic job for the numerous vocal sessions we're running every month!
Just because you spend less than $1000 dollars on a microphone doesn't mean it's worthless. You can get a good deal on a car, get it for $5000 dollars off the original asking price, and at the end of the day, it gets you from home to work to home again just like the car that was $10,000 dollar more. It just may not have that retractable rooftop you wanted, the spoiler on the back, the bose sound system or a GPS system (all bells and whistles that, while nice, may not be necessary for your need of getting to work and back), but it still gets you where you're going.
All of those analogies to say, check out the RODE website for more info on these mics!
3
comments
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Music Sales Boom in 2008, although, albums fizzle...
An article I found in the USA Today... we're definitely headed digital! Good thing TMG is on top of it all!
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By Ken Barnes, USA TODAY
Americans bought more music in 2008 than ever before, but album sales — the music industry's main source of revenue — dropped for a fourth year.
According to the Nielsen Co.'s year-end figures, music purchases — CD, vinyl, cassette and digital purchases of entire albums (grouped together as total albums), plus digital track downloads, singles and music videos — attained a new high of 1.5 billion, up 10.5% over 2007.
More than 70% of those transactions were digital track downloads, a record total of 1.07 billion that swamped 2007's previous high of 844.2 million by 27%. Last week's track downloads set a record of 47.7 million, and 71 songs exceeded 1 million downloads this year, compared with 41 last year (and just two in 2005). Track downloads outsold albums by a ratio of 2.5 to 1.
Total album sales dropped to 428.4 million, 14% fewer than in 2007, and have fallen 45% since 2000. Even combining album and track sales (by a formula that counts 10 track downloads as one album sale), the 535.4 million total is still down 8.5% from 2007 and more than 30% below 2000's physical album sales of 785.1 million.
Music purchases are "astronomically high," says Rob Sisco, Nielsen's president of music, "but it's a marketplace in transition from physical to digital." He sees promise in the rise of digital purchases of entire albums, which reached a high of 65.8 million in 2008. New albums by big acts bring the market up, he says, but "there hasn't been a steady stream of high-profile releases." Other '08 results:
•Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love was the year's top-selling digital song with 3.42 million downloads. Lil Wayne's Lollipop also topped 3 million, by 160,000. Rest of the top five: Flo Rida's Low, Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl, Coldplay's Viva la Vida.
•Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III was the No. 1 album, selling 2.87 million copies. Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Taylor Swift's Fearless and Kid Rock's Rock 'n' Roll Jesus were the only other albums to sell 2 million in 2008, compared with eight in 2007.
•Swift, whose self-titled first album was No. 6 for the year, behind AC/DC's Black Ice, sold 4 million albums overall, tops for any artist. Rihanna was the leader in track sales with 9.94 million.
•Low is the all-time best-selling digital song, with 4.53 million downloads. The only other track above 4 million is Timbaland & OneRepublic's Apologize, at 4.01 million.
•Garth Brooks lost ground to The Beatles but is still by far the best-selling artist of the SoundScan era (post-1991, when Nielsen began tracking album sales electronically), leading the Fab Four by a tally of 68.1 million to 57.1 million.
•Although vinyl albums gave way to CDs years before SoundScan launched, it's worth noting that vinyl sales hit a 17-year high in 2008 with 1.88 million, up dramatically from just under a million in 2007. Radiohead's In Rainbows was the top vinyl seller with 25,800 copies.
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Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
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