Tracking

Mar

2015

Drum Recording Ninja Workshop!

Want to learn how to record better drums?
Want to learn how to tune your drums for better recordings?
Do you have a limited budget or limited amount of channels?

If you answered YES to ANY of these questions then the Drum Recording Ninja Workshop is for you!

There are only 8 seats open and this WILL sell out, so you’ll need to REGISTER NOW if you want to reserve a seat for just ~~$69~~ $49!

The Drum Recording Ninja Workshop is for engineers, drummers, recording enthusiasts of all levels, and of course, ninjas. Our goal is to teach you how to get the BEST sounding drums and the BEST tones for your recordings no matter what your situation is.

We’ll be covering tuning and easy-to-use techniques for tuning, microphone types and how they can be used to make better recordings, and minimal miking setups so you can get GREAT tones with just a few microphones.

“Drums are my passion. I want to share that passion with you and help you understand drum recording better by showing you some of my techniques.” Producer/Engineer Charlie Waymire.

Engineer Charlie Waymire with Chad Smith & Kevin Chown

Charlie Waymire

Besides being an accomplished drummer himself, engineer Charlie Waymire is extremely adept at working with drummers to get the best possible performance and in turn, the best possible drum recordings. This is one of the many reasons that Ultimate Studios, Inc has become a home for drummers to record their drum tracks. Charlie is the tone master when it comes to drums!

Some drummers that Charlie has recorded at Ultimate Studios, Inc. include:

Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Ray Luzier (Korn), Josh Freese (Perfect Circle), Benny Rogers II (Mariah Carey), J.R. Robinson (Michael Jackson), Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper), Mike Avenaim (Scott Weiland), Jeff Bowders (Paul Gilbert), Greg Garman (Selena Gomez), and Nick Adams (David Cook), among several others.

He is also the host and co-creator of FullOnDrums.com; a show dedicated to the art of recording drums.

Kurt Berger

When it comes to tuning, there are few people on the planet that know more about the workings of drums than drummer & tuning guru Kurt Berger. He has taught hundreds of drummers how to tune and has worked with some of the biggest drummers in the biz.

He is the resident tuning guru for FullOnDrums.com and works closely with Charlie at Ultimate Studios, Inc to build fantastic sounding drum kits. He keeps the clients that record at Ultimate Studios Inc. extremely happy with his bar-none tuning tricks!

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Mar

2015

Record Your Drums Tracks Here!

Bring On The Drums!

Getting great drum sounds is more than just “getting a great drum sound”. It’s about getting a sound that is right for the song. Context is EVERYTHING! Our specialty at Ultimate Studios, Inc is getting each and every artist the perfect sounding drums for their songs. Continue reading →

Jan

2015

Live Tracking Brings Music To Life

There is no better way to breathe life into your music than using real, live musicians. That happens to be our specialty here at Ultimate Studios, Inc! Producer/Engineer Charlie Waymire has built up a long list of the best players in LA with the sole intent of helping YOU create better music. Adding live instruments to your music will make it groove better and give it a timeless appeal.

One recent session included drummer Real Drum Tracks Now drummer Mike Avenaim (Emblem3/Scott Weiland), Bassist Kevin Chown (Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats), and guitarist Christ Vazquez (Daniel Powter/Andre Cymone). Working with Charlie this uber talented group worked with a new pop artist to add a real, live, band to a rock track. The benefit of using a group a musicians like this is they all bring years of music experience to the music. That makes these tracks special!

“My goal is to always have the most talented group of people in the room, at the same time, recording on your music. That way I know the artist is getting exactly what they need for their songs. I take great pride in my work and so do all of the musicians I work with.” says Producer/Engineer Charlie Waymire.

What ever you need we can deliver. Full band tracking, real drum tracking, adding live musicians to your programmed songs, mixing, mastering, and video, we can do it all! Contact us to get your next session started and come by and see the studio!

A video posted by @ultimatestudiosinc on Dec 17, 2014 at 9:21pm PST

Jan

2015

Good Vibrations Debuts On DrumMagazine.com! (w/video)

I am stoked to announce that “Good Vibrations”, a new column on DrumMagazine.com, has officially launched! In each installment I’ll discuss how I work with drummers to get a great sound in the studio. “Good Vibrations” is designed to give you a quick look at how I go for a particular sound to fit a session or song. I’ll be working with different artists in each installment, including some familiar names in the industry.

There are plenty of articles all over the internet that talk just about the gear. I want to focus on “why” I choose to use something and how it relates to the other pieces in the setup and, more importantly, the song. Don’t get me wrong, gear is great and I a super gear nerd but at the end of the day the song is most important and that’s how I’m approaching this column. From the perspective of the song, not the recording gear.

The first episode of “Good Vibrations” features a great friend of mine and an awesome Drummer/Producer Mike Avenaim. We filmed this while working together on a new artist that he’s producing named T’Lark. I hope you enjoy!

Charlie

Go to DrumMagazine.com to watch the episode and see complete session notes.

Watch “Good Vibrations” EP1 below!

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12

Nov

2014

Marty O’Reilly Live in Studio! (w/Video)
I love working with bands live in the studio. It’s such a wonderful way to record. It’s not always easy when you have drums, amps, and vocals in the same room playing at the same time but I love the challenge. When it works it’s just fantastic! Recently I got to work with Marty O’Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra. They were on tour and had a day off after their show in LA. Derek from PMI Audio had worked with them before and wanted to get them in the studio to track through the Trident 88 console and shoot some video.

Our goal was to capture true live performances of Marty and his band with no overdubs whatsoever. Marty has such a cool vibe and the band really felt comfortable playing together in the room with no monitoring or headphones. Very, very organic.

For this session bleed had to be my friend because everything was bleeding into everything! Because of that I wasn’t too worried about getting a lot of separation and decided to use as few mics as possible. The drums have 4 mics, guitar has 1 mic, vocals, 1 mic, the upright actually had 3 mics but I only ended up using 2. I had 2 room mics, one in the middle of the group about 2 feet off the ground set to omni, and a spaced pair of condensers facing the wall behind the band. Getting the mic placement correct was imperative since I wouldn’t have a ton of control after the fact.

Everything was recording through the Trident 88. See below for a complete list of mics used.

Enjoy the music!
Charlie

Kick: Audio-Technica AT4047
Snare: Audio-Technica Pro63
Overheads: Studio Projects C4s
Guitar Amp: Cascade Fathead II
Bass Amp: Audio-Technica AT4047
Clipped to Bridge: Audio-Technica ATM350
Mounted on bass: Troll Ribbon Mic
Room 1: Audio-Tecnica AT4047MP set to Omni
Stereo Rooms: Audio-Technica AT4050

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Enjoy some photos!

Posted by Charlie in Charlie's Big Mouth Blog Entries!, News, Recording Tips, Tracking, Video Posts, 0 comments

10

Oct

2014

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!!!

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Posted by Charlie in Mixing, News, Tracking, Video Posts, 0 comments

07

Oct

2014

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

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Posted by Charlie in Mixing, News, Tracking, Video Posts, 3 comments

03

Oct

2014

Recording Strings w/Sandesh Nagaraj (w/video)
Sandesh Nagaraj (aka. The Sonic Chameleon) is no stranger to Ultimate Studios, Inc and is an immensely talented musician, composer, arranger, and conductor. There is a reason he is known as the Sonic Chameleon. Sandesh has recorded at Ultimate Studios, Inc for many years now and no two sessions have been alike. From rock, metal, and jazz, to indian and classical. Sandesh moves through styles with ease and always brings top notch musicians with him.

On this session Sandesh is conducting a string quartet, featuring Mary Keating & Jordan Slocum on Violin, Brandon Encinas on Viola, and Billy Tobenkin on Cello, recording on a track for MTV in India. Here’s a little video from the session.

Charlie gives a rundown of the gear used

“We were going for a very natural and open sound and the class A mic pres on the Trident 88 are perfect for this. They sound absolutely wonderful and did a fantastic job of capturing a smooth and open string sound.”

“For microphones I went to my trusted Audio-Technicas. They really make fantastic sounding mics! I always get the sound I’m looking for from them. For the violins I used AT4051b small diaphragm condensers, on the cello I used an AT4047 large diaphragm condenser, and a pair of AT4080 ribbon mics in a blumlein arrangement to capture the entire ensemble. The viola was a little darker compared to the violins so I used an AKG 451b which helped bring out some presence. I really think we captured the perfect sound for the track.” says engineer Charlie Waymire

Mary Keating & Jordan Slocum on Violin, Brandon Encinas on Viola, Billy Tobenkin on Cello, and Conductor Sandesh Nagaraj

Charlie on working with Sandesh

“Working with The Sonic Chameleon is always a pleasure! Besides being a fantastic musician he is a wonderful person too. We have a lot of fun working together. His music is so diverse that I have to treat every session completely different. There is no standard mic setups. He also allows me to experiment and really try to come up with mic/gear setups that will fit his music. We’ve done some pretty strange setups! I’m always looking forward to the next session with Sandesh!”

Enjoy some photos from the session!

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Sandesh Nagaraj discussing chart changes

Sandesh conducting the string quartet

Mary Keating & Jordan Slocum on Violin, Brandon Encinas on Viola, Billy Tobenkin on Cello, and Conductor Sandesh Nagaraj

This area is for strings only! 🙂

Sandesh Nagaraj conduction the string quartet

Posted by Charlie in News, Tracking, Video Posts, 0 comments

18

Sep

2014

Charlie Talks Drum Miking & FREE eBook!
I absolutely love recording drums! There are so many possibilities to create interesting and unique sounding drums to fit a song’s personality. Finding that sound can take some experimenting but when you find it, it’s plain magical. Experimenting is a BIG part of learning how to find that sound. The more time you put into experimenting the better understanding you’ll have about how drums sound, about what your microphones hear, about mic placement. All of this will ultimately lead you to better sounding drums!

That’s one of the BIG goals of “4 Twists On Minimal Drum Miking“; to help you understand the drums better and get great sounds without needing lots of gear. By using less gear it really makes you think about what sounds you’re going after and where you’re placing your microphones. These are just a few techniques that I hope will help you not only get better drum sounds but spark your imagination to come up with sounds that are unique to you and your music.

Remember, it’s not just about recording a great drum sound. It’s about recording the “right” drum sounds for your songs, or for your client’s songs. As you experiment with these techniques give them some sort of context so you can learn how they really sound, how the drums fit into the music and how the music fits around the drums.

The recording process can, and should be, an amazing journey. Be creative and experiment as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to try something different and don’t get stuck just recording one way. Whether it’s drums, guitars, vocals, bass, banjo, or any combination of instruments, remember that it’s art. It’s YOUR art.

Have fun and enjoy “4 Twists On Minimal Drum Miking“!

– Charlie

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Posted by Charlie in Charlie's Big Mouth Blog Entries!, Recording Tips, Tracking, 0 comments

15

Sep

2014

Mike Avenaim & Sun Rai Live @ Ultimate Studios, Inc!
Real Drum Tracks Now recently had it’s launch party at Ultimate Studios, Inc. It was a fantastic night that featured some amazing musicians playing music.

“We had an absolute blast at the launch party. I’m honored to be working with so many great drummers. A few of the guys put bands together and performed for a fun and energetic crowd at the studio. Let me just say that these guys are all awesome!!!” says engineer and Real Drum Tracks Now CEO Charlie Waymire.

We’re still working through some of the video from the evening but we are happy to put out to the world a fantastic performance by Sun Rai and Mike Avenaim. Sun Rai is an amazing keyboard player and songwriter and Mike is one bad ass drummer. If you’ve never seen either perform then you’re going to LOVE this video. Sun Rai is playing moog bass, keys, and singing at the same time!!

Mike’s groove is simply amazing! He’s rock solid and knows how to get a killer sound out of the kit. Because of that skill Charlie was able to capture Mike live with only 5 microphones! Great drummers make recording easy and fun!

Real Drum Tracks Now is the premier service for getting amazing drum tracks. We have 8 amazing drummers on the roster, an amazing engineer (Charlie Waymire) that knows how to record drums, and a studio built for awesome drum tones, Ultimate Studios, Inc! Meet the entire Real Drum Tracks Now Drummer Roster!

For more information on Real Drum Tracks Now visit www.RealDrumTracksNow.com. To hire Mike Avenaim for your next recording visit Mike’s Real Drum Tracks Now profile page and click the HIRE button!

Enjoy the music video!

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Posted by Charlie in News, Tracking, Video Posts, 0 comments

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