Upgrading to Pro Tools 8 HD!

Vibe 56 has upgraded from Digidesign's Pro Tools HD 7.4 to 8
Last week we braced ourselves for the long-awaited upgrade to Pro Tools version 8. It's difficult to know when the right time is to make such a significant upgrade. We had heard from a number of Nashville's highly respected engineers who were giving the upgrade their own thumbs-up. We were getting antsy ourselves as we looked forward to using some key new features built into the new version.

We were fortunate to have Marc Meeker from Meeker Audio in the driver's seat for the upgrade process. Marc has been at the helm of hundreds of upgrades for pro audio folks all over the Nashville area. Marc was on hand four years ago at the studio, as we were assembling the equipment before we had even opened the doors for business. Even after all that time, I still spelled his name with a K in my address book. That changed too last week. Special thanks to Marc with a C for all his help in getting this upgrade rocking on our system.

The studio's house engineer, Scott Velazco, decided to take the new upgrade on a test drive by using it on a 6-piece band demo the very next day! Most demo sessions use a band consisting of A-list session players who are tasked with knocking out at least five songs within a three-hour session. This session was no different, and in this environment a well-seasoned engineer is the only way to keep up with the rapid-fire pace. We found the upgrade to be very intuitive, with no major changes in the actual functionality of what we depended on with the previous version. The new changes are there, and wonderfully customizable, but the default interface is calmingly familiar and functional.

For the time being, we are still able to boot into our old system with version 7.4 installed, although we had to commit to some of the plug-in upgrades that are now only available in 8.

Social Networking?
You can now find Vibe 56 on both Facebook and Twitter! Friend us! Follow us! (respectively) Thanks!

Sometimes Leslie is More

Murph Wanca
Maintaining the Leslie cabinet.

We recently had a visit from Murph Wanca from Nashville Pro Hammond. He was here to add a half-moon switch to our Hammond organ. He also installed a new relay inside the leslie cabinet itself to help reduce the clicking noise when flipping the tremolo back and forth.

Murph has been our go-to guy for both our Hammond B2 and also our Wurly. He recently repaired the sustain pedal on the Wurlitzer that lives at the studio as well.

Maintaining our gear at the studio is a never-ending cycle. If you stop to consider just how many components are involved in making one full-band tracking session successful, it can add up quick.

Wasted Rain

David Leonard, Dani McCulloch, Tony Harrell
Mixing "Wasted Rain"

Last year we were fortunate enough to have Dani McCulloch completely track and mix her song, "Wasted Rain" here at Vibe 56. It was also a treat to have David Leonard come in and engineer the mixing. Tony Harrell, co-owner of Vibe 56, not only played keys for the tracking session, but had a hand in writing this song as well.

A few months ago Dani released a music video for the song, which is directed by John Paul Clark. The video and single are available via iTunes.

Floating Sessions

During tracking sessions for new recordings by The Floating Men, photographer Ed Hade took dozens of photos that come as close to documenting the actual creative atmosphere as I've ever seen. As Ed states, "The creative juices were so thick they were making puddles on the floor." It sounds messy, but really it's all good. We have a wet-vac. You can view Ed Hade's photos from the session via this link.

The Floating Men, which consists of Jeff Holmes and Scot Evans, were recording a new project entitled "No Clocks, No Calendars, Act 1". Engineered by Shane Wilson, the album / opera has just debuted on their MySpace page. The entire project will be available on iTunes this Valentine's Day!

Special thanks to The Floating Men for hooking me up with a special "No Clocks No Calendars" calendar. I'm looking forward to "Official Temporary Insanity Day" which falls on February 19th this year.

Wasting Your Time

Producer / engineer Jason Gantt has tracked a number of uniquely special projects at our studio over the last few years. Recently he started an all-encompassing blog featuring funny antidotes, audio shows, and interviews.

Vibe 56's house engineer, Scott Velazco, was interviewed for a segment entitled "3 Questions With A Music Professional". You can hear the interview via this link:
3 Questions with Scott Velazco
Additionally, Scott was featured on another segment called "Liner Notes" which can be found via this link:
Liner Notes with Scott Velazco

What makes this all blog-worthy now is the fact that I had a chance to contribute to Jason's blog via my own interview for "3 Questions". Since I was there during the actual recording of the interview I can attest to Jason's complimentary editing work. Listen in for yourself via this link:
3 Questions with CJ Sorg

There are several extra snippets from these interviews and much more goodness available via Jason Gantt's Wasting Your Time, which is regularly updated every Monday and Thursday regardless of your level of interest.

Around the Piano Room

Jason Gantt just sent us this awesome collage photo taken during one of our first tracking sessions of 2009! Jason was producing a project with Chris Ayer. This is a wide photo, so it's best to click on it to experience the excellence of it's width. Some might even call it a little sideways.