emblem3

Lots Of Great Music Happening @ Ultimate Studios, Inc!

Lots Of Great Music Happening @ Ultimate Studios, Inc!

The best way to make great music is to work with great musicians. And that’s exactly what’s been happening at the studio! In our ongoing quest to bring great music to music lovers all over the world we’ve been trying to capture as many performances on video as possible. This is just the beginning!

 

 

“We’ve been hard at work on some really exciting projects that we’ll be releasing very soon. Both audio and video. I’m extremely excited and can’t wait to get this stuff out to music lovers everywhere!”, says Producer/Engineer Charlie Waymire

We’ve put together a playlist of some recent live studio performances. We hope you enjoy them and feel free to share!!!

 

 

Join Ultimate Studios, Inc on your favorite social media sites!

Ultimate Studios, Inc on Facebook

Ultimate Studios, Inc on Instagram

Ultimate Studios, Inc on Twitter

 

Posted by Charlie in Mixing, News, Tracking, Video Posts, 0 comments
Drew Chadwick Recording Live @ Ultimate Studios, Inc! (w/video)

Drew Chadwick Recording Live @ Ultimate Studios, Inc! (w/video)

Drew Chadwick (formerly of Emblem3) was recently at Ultimate Studios, Inc recording a live version of his song “Jaiden”. He is an amazing talent and is currently working on his first solo release. We’ve been honored to have it at Ultimate Studios, Inc a few times now and captured a great performance, with video, at a session recently. He’s playin’ solo and using a loop box to build his arrangement. It’s pretty cool!

 

 

Charlie’s rundown of the gear!

“I’ve had a blast working with Drew. He is such a talented guy. When we talked about this session it was just going to be a simple acoustic song but he went out of his way to come up with a really cool arrangement using his loop pedal. It’s still just Drew playing acoustic and singing but the use of the loop pedal really allowed him to add some cool rhythmic and vocal layers as the song progresses.”

“For the vocals we used an Audio-Technica 4060 tube microphone. I really like how the 4060 sounds on his voice. We used it on a previous session and loved it. For the vocal that was going through the loop pedal we used a good ‘ol fashioned SM57 and it worked very well. Since it’s not remotely as open and upfront as the 4060 the layered vocals sat well behind the lead without having to do too much to it. We decided to take a direct feed of the guitar instead of a mic since he would be moving around while performing. It sounded good and made it easier for Drew. We split that feed; one direct into the Trident 88 and one to the loop pedal.”

“The loop pedal fed my Bugera BC30 amp. It’s clean and works rather well in a situation like this. We used two mics on the amp. An Audio-Technica 4050 large diaphragm condenser a couple feet away from the amp and an MXL R144 ribbon mic. They provided a nice contrast to each other and blended nicely together.”

“All of the mics and direct signals were recorded through the Trident 88’s discreet class A mic preamps. They are fantastically open and full sounding. Everything just sounds really good through them. I also mixed the song back through the console using a little eq here and there. Not too much but the eq on the T88 is wonderful. A little here and a little there and I get just what I need”

For more information on Drew Chadwick visit him at:
www.facebook.com/truechadwick
www.twitter.com/truechadwick
instagram.com/truechadwick

Join Ultimate Studios, Inc on your favorite social media sites!

Ultimate Studios, Inc on Facebook
Ultimate Studios, Inc on Instagram
Ultimate Studios, Inc on Twitter

Posted by Charlie in Mixing, News, Tracking, Video Posts, 3 comments
Tracking w/The Toft ATB Console (w/video)

Tracking w/The Toft ATB Console (w/video)

Engineer Charlie Waymire talks about the fantastic sounding Toft ATB console and why it’s at the heart of Ultimate Rhythm Studios. That’s great but we all know that talk is cheap so Charlie brought in an awesome group of musicians to put the Toft ATB through it’s paces.

 

The band features Mike Avenaim (Emblem3) on Drums, Mike Torres (Selena Gomez, Macy Gray) on Bass, and James Kloeppel (Deuce) on Guitar. Charlie Waymire was the engineer, Scott Francisco was the videographer, and Lizzy Ostro was the 2nd Engineer. Everything was captured live in the same room including drums, bass, and guitar. The song was also mixed through the Toft ATB.

Charlie installed a Toft ATB 24 channel console to be the heart and soul of Ultimate Rhythm Studios. “I needed a console that not only sounded great but would be flexible enough to be the hub of my studio. The Toft ATB has exceeded my expectations.” says engineer Charlie Waymire.

When you hire great musicians you also get great gear! And this session was no exception. Here’s the breakdown.

Mike Avenaim's 1965 Ludwig Kit

Mike Avenaim's 1965 Ludwig Kit

Mike brought a beautiful set of 1965 Ludwig Super Classics featuring a 14″x22″ kick, 9″x13″ rack tom, & 16″x16″ floor tom. The snare is a 5″x14″ 1959 Ludwig Pioneer Duco Transition Badge.

All the cymbals are Paiste Cymbals including a 14″ Dark Energy Light Hats, 20″ Twenty Masters Dark Crash/Ride, a 22″ Traditional Light Ride, and a 20″ 602 Modern Essentials Crash.

Drum Microphone setup:

Kick In: Heil PR40
Kick Out: Audio Technica AT 4047
Kick 3: Cascade Fathead II (about 3 feet away from the kick)
Snare Top: Audio Technica Pro63
Snare Bottom: Audio Technica AE3000
Hats: Audio Technica ATM450
Toms: Heil PR30’s
Overheads: Audio Technica AT4047’s
Room Mic: Cascade X15 Stereo Ribbon Mic

 

James Kloeppel's Mesa Boogie Guitar Rig

James Kloeppel's Mesa Boogie Guitar Rig

James’ guitar rig consisted of a 1995 Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 2 channel with a Mesa Boogie Recto Cab. His axe of choice for the day was a 1980 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Man this thing sounded awesome!

Guitar Mic setup:

1: Audio Technica AE3000 towards the edge of the cone
2: MXL R144 Ribbon mic slightly off the center of the cone

 

 

 

 

Mike Torres' Ampeg Bass Rig

Mike Torres' Ampeg Bass Rig

Mike Torre’s was rocking a classic Ampeg SVR VR and a 2×12 cabinet topped off with a fantastic sounding Lakland bass. This rig had some serious mojo!

Bass Mic setup:

Audio Technica AE2500 Dual Element microphone (one condenser element and one dynamic element).

 

 

Enjoy the full band performance video.

 

Have a look at some photos from the session. Enjoy!

Posted by Charlie in Mixing, News, Tracking, Video Posts, 0 comments
From The Control Room w/Mike Avenaim (w/video)

From The Control Room w/Mike Avenaim (w/video)

A few days before hitting the road with Emblem3 for their fall tour, drummer Mike Avenaim stopped by the studio for a quick interview. He talks about why he likes recording his drum tracks at Ultimate Rhythm Studios, how he prepares for sessions, how he developed his sound, and tips for drummers new to the studio. Mike has some good advice about working in the studio!

Mike has done several records with engineer Charlie Waymire at Ultimate Rhythm Studios including: Jordan Millar’s “Cold Lights On Curious Minds”, heart.beats.mind debut self-titled EP, and Reese Mastin’s “Beautiful Nightmare”, to name a few.

“Mike is a fantastic drummer and is very easy to work with. He comes in the studio very prepared and has all of his sounds pretty much dialed in. All I have to do is capture his sound without missing anything. It makes for some fun sessions!” says Charlie.

Visit www.MikeAvenaim.com for more information about Mike including tour dates.

Be sure to visit the Ultimate Rhythm Studios YouTube channel and subscribe!

From The Control Room w/Mike Avenaim

 

 

Posted by Charlie in In The Control Room, News, Video Posts, 0 comments