StudioPros

Many songwriters have their own home recording studios and double as the producer, engineer, songwriter, and recording artist.  Most songwriters don’t also fall into the category of “studio drummer”, and that’s where Studio Pros comes in to save the day (or the album you could say). 

 

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 Don’t waste time struggling to knock out a midi drum track on your song when you can have our studio drummer come help you!  As many of you may have realized, getting drum tracks recorded may be the most difficult step in getting your album finished.

 Aaron Frisbee, a Kentucky based songwriter, fits the above description to a tee.  He was in the process of recording his album “ReDISCOVERY” and found the drums to be the hardest part to master from his pro recording Studio640 in Louisville.  Frisbee’s songs, simple and lyrical with textures that include organic guitars, pianos, strings, anolog synthesizers and layered vocals were screaming for organic live drums to compliment the sound.

“I found the Studio Pros session drummers after working endlessly to try to sequence drums with a “human” feel. I found working with the pros studio drummer was great.  We talked about the style and approach I had in mind for the album. I sent some songs to give him an idea, a vibe (Beck’s Sea Change meets Abbey Road). Many of the drum ideas were original and the recorded sounds were great. It really made it easy to for me to bring them into the final mix.”
 
Aaron found the pros to be very approachable in the collaboration process of his drum recordings, “I would discuss revisions with the drummer and try different versions until we got it right.  I wanted ReDISCOVERY to have a classic analog sound but with modern touches – it just made sense to record live drums on most of the songs.”
 
Once Aaron had a drum track that he approved and downloaded, he had no problem importing the tracks into his Pro Tools set up from his Louisville, Kentucky home recording studio.  “It was easy. In many cases I would continue to arrange the song even after the drums were cut because we were working with a click. I would also choose my favorite fills and move them around in the song. In the case of “Believe”, I reversed some drum parts for cool transition effects.”

“Drum parts are usually really hard for singer songwriters and getting quality performances and well recorded parts can take a tremendous amount of energy if you don’t work with pros. The problem is most people can’t afford to put together a team (drummer, studio and engineer) to get their drum parts. Studio Pros makes it easy and affordable and their live drum parts definitely raise the bar of the production allowing performing producers like me to focus on one or two input recordings like vocals, guitar and keys when finishing the songs.”
 
So follow Aaron Frisbee’s lead and send your album’s tracks on over to the Pros.  We are here to help you finish your album with a professional touch! 

To buy “reDISCOVERY” go to Aaron’s website: http://www.frisbeemusic.com/

Frisbee will be touring this year as well, so check up on tour dates and locations on his site.

Click here to order Studio Pros drum tracks.

The Studio Pros musicians are still shaking the sand out of their flip flops after working on a music production for talented singer/songwriter Sean Murphy.

 

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Born in Lanikai, Hawaii and later relocating to Laguna Beach, California, you can hear the sound of the ocean in Murphy’s voice and the influences of his laid back beach lifestyle. Sean got in touch with us at Studio Pros and needed to add a more professional edge to the demo of his latest work of art “Dream To Be”.

First finding out about Studio Pros in a recording magazine, Sean took the plunge and sent out his song to the Pros. The studio musicians layed down the backing tracks to support his Jack Johnson-esque vocals which he recorded at his home studio, “I thought the musicians made very creative yet tasteful choices in keeping with the spirit of the song.”

Collaborating with the Studio Pros production team and studio musicians was Sean’s first try at producing his music online, “I actually was very surprised about how easy this was to do, and how great my music has turned out. It is very efficient in comparison to going to the studio.”

Sean didn’t stop at just letting the studio musicians come in and lay down the instrumental tracks, he also turned to our one and only Racquel Roberts to compliment his laid back melodies with her soothing backing vocals.

Sean is currently working with a New York based record label, and has continued to work with the Studio Pros on more productions. Keep your eye out for Sean in the future, as he has high hopes of hitting the road with his songs and bringing a bit of sunshine to your town.

You can check out more of Sean’s music at: www.myspace.com/seanmurphyguitar

Click here to learn more about Studio Pros music production package.

Matt Ryd, a Chicago based singer-songwriterjust recently finished up a 3 song EP with Studio Pros and took a few minutes to let us know the artist behind the song.

 

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 All Would Change [3:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Check out more of Matt’s music at: http://mattryd.com

How did you discover Studio Pros?
I actually saw a small advertisement and was immediately intrigued. I’m a multi-instrumentalist, so I’ve previously recorded all of the different parts on my songs. But I’m also a huge perfectionist, and the “one-man-band” approach led mostly to a lot of stress and unfinished projects that were never deemed “good enough.” The funny thing is that it’s a lot easier for me to be satisfied with recordings of my songs when there are other people playing the backing parts. And the Studio Pros musicians are extremely talented, so I can feel very confident about handing the reins over to them. It’s nice, because it lets me focus on my singing, my guitar part, and especially the overall feel of the song.

Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I was born and raised in the Chicago-land area (first in the suburbs, then finally moved to the city), and I’m really just a midwestern boy at heart – I can’t walk through a door without holding it for someone else, and I’ve got a total Chicago accent. My two favorite things in life are music and books, so it’s only fitting that I’m finishing a degree in English while continuing to write and record music. I absolutely love this city and got a street performer license just for the fun of busking among the amazing architecture.

How long have you been writing songs?
There’s definitely some home videos of me singing made-up songs at the tender young age of “4-ish.” The first song I remember writing happened when I was 9 or 10, and was called “Riding in the Car with the Ryds” — a first-person narration from the point-of-view of two Beanie Babies that my sister had just purchased.

I first started seriously writing songs in high school. At the time, I only played piano, so I wrote a series of pretty sappy and unfortunate piano ballads. Eventually, though, I picked up an acoustic guitar, and that’s been my primary instrument ever since.

What inspires you to write music?
Everything. My life. Other people’s lives. Stories I read. Cheesy reruns of “Gilmore Girls.” Old movies. Just…everything. I write because I can’t not write.

More than anything else, though, other music inspires me to keep creating. I’ll sit and listen to “The Joshua Tree” or “Revolver” or any great album, and as soon as it’s over, I need to pick up a guitar and start playing. Part of it’s competitive: like an “I want to try to make something like that” attitude. But I think that, really, it’s just that listening to music inspires something in all of us – when you hear a song that really touches you, it connects on a deeper level than almost anything else possibly can. And when that happens to me, I want to turn around and put something else out there to do that to others.

Do you perform your music live?
Absolutely! I can be seen all over the Chicago area, playing anywhere from bars to coffee shops to living rooms to street corners. I love all aspects of being a singer/songwriter, but the live performances are what keep me convinced that this is what I was born to do.

Matt’s MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/mattryd

Learn more about Studio Pros music production service.

Ever feel like your stuff isn’t good enough for other people to hear? Many musicians feel that way, and as a result, their songs just pile up and collect dust.

 

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Mark Ibberson is a perfect example of someone who decided to push through those feelings of self doubt and uncertainty, and get his songs out there to share with the world by using Studio Pros music production service.

He’s from a small village near Lake Geneva in Switzerland and has been songwriting for ten years now, but it wasn’t until 2003 that he decided to release anything. Songwriting is his passion he says, “I can do it whenever I want: Late in the evening, on the train to work… or in one of those boring meetings!” It’s usually in the most unexpected moment that inspiration hits you and you just have to write!

 Having other artists who inspire you is an important part of the songwriting process. Mark’s brother Paul is one of his main influences, along with Seal, Coldplay, Muse, Tori Amos, AaRON and Radiohead.

In 2003 Mark released his first album entitled “Goodbye Mr A” for which he used an old 300MHz PC and Cubase, 2 keyboards that went straight into an old 8 track, and he laid his vocal tracks over the top. Proving to be less than an ideal setup, Mark decided to try Studio Pros for his next album entitled “Imperfect By Design”, and continued to work with us for his EP “Look At It This Way”, which was released January 2008. Regardless of how you do it, the important thing is just to start the process of preserving your music - record it on a tape-recorder if you have to - send us the tape, and we’ll do the rest!

Mark says of working with StudioPros.com, that “it’s addictive! Online recording at Studio Pros means having a group of exceptional musicians, who each bring their own interpretation to the music. The songs don’t always end up how I had imagined when I wrote them, but that’s the beauty of collaborating with studio musicians: The different interpretations become part of the song. There is so much excitement and pleasure to hearing my songs evolve, and evolve fast!”

His advice to songwriters trying to get their album finished, is “don’t spend too much time on any one song. If it’s a good song, people will like it, even if it’s not perfect. Also, get the music out as soon as it’s ready, that way you don’t have time to get bored with the songs and can move on to new, fresh stuff.” Wise words.

So what are you waiting for? Send us your songs! Make yourself heard! We’re here at  Studio Pros  just waiting to hear your stuff!

Learn More About Studio Pros Music Production Service.

 Emily Russo is a Boston based diva on the rise who just recently finished a Studio Pros Music Production Service.

 

 The Price Of Letting Go: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

She has been playing piano since she was five years old, and started songwriting when she was fifteen. She is currently attending The Berklee College of Music in Boston where she is studying songwriting.  Emily draws her inspiration for songwriting from many different walks of life - both her own and other people’s. She worked with us on her song “The Price of Letting Go” and kindly answered some of my questions about her experiences with Studio Pros…

Who would you say are some of your main influences?

The Beatles for sure, but also oldies, motown, and old school metal. I’m not really influenced that much by today’s modern music.

Tell me about your experiences working with Studio Pros.

Honestly, it was great. The track sounds amazing! I was very impressed that they didn’t need a lead sheet or anything like that, they just took my song, and recorded it and arranged it, and it was ready to go!

What was your inspiration behind the track you did with us? And inspiration for your music in general?

Well it was a mix between my grandfather passing away, and how that made me feel, and then it was also about one of my best friends who passed away last year. It was nice to be able to have an outlet to express the emotions I felt as a young girl, as well as how I feel as an adult. And as far as inspiration in general, you never know when it’s going to strike. Last night for example, I was in the kitchen, and I just got inspired, and I went to the piano and had to write a song right then and there. It’s rare that I’ll actually have the patience to sit down and schedule time to write songs, usually it’s just when the inspiration strikes me that I’ll write.

Did you have a particular sound in mind for your song “The Price of Letting Go”, or did you leave the production to the players at Studio Pros?

I just kind of let them do what they wanted to do. There was one time when I asked them to change the guitar part, and they changed it exactly as I wanted them to, and that was awesome! Other than that I just kind of let them do what they wanted to do and it turned out great!

Had you ever heard of recording online before?

No. I was very surprised actually that they could do that. I was amazed that they could just hear the song and then be able to record it, just like that!

Did you have any reservations about recording online?

No. I was all for it, just because I knew it was going to be professional, and because I knew the recording equipment they were going to use was a lot better than the stuff I have, so I was all for it.

Was it an easy process for you?

Yes, it was very easy and I was able to have talented session players produce my song without having to leave Boston.  What more could I ask for?

So there you have it, we loved working with her, and we hope to do so again some time in the future.

Learn more about Studio Pros Music Production Service