Costa Mesa Studios
Two weeks ago, I recorded a new “The Grey Mage” song at Costa Mesa Studios. I was requested to make a song for an upcoming compilation album about the great city of Whittier, California. I am not going to disclose the title of the song, because it is a cryptic mystery…and to do so would ruin the upcoming surprise. Since I was asked by the venerable, Doobie McDonald to create the work, I knew that I needed to do the vocal recording and mixing at a place that I could trust. I couldn’t mess this one up. Creating the music on my computer was fine. But doing a home recording for the vocals just would not cut it. I needed to know that I was working with an engineer who had both the expertise in Pro Tools to get the logistics right, and a professional with an ear who could assist me in giving my song the “Low-End” that I was looking for. The place that I required to achieve this goal was, Costa Mesa Studios. And the man who could make this happen, was Nick Fainbarg.
I have been friends with Nick Fainbarg for over 14 years. And one thing that I have learned about this man is that not only does he have passion for engineering, mixing, and recording music. But he has mastery of making an artist feel comfortable in a creative setting. I came to Costa Mesa Studios to record my last song for “The Grey Mage” called, Time in Horizon. This song was an entrance into the Hip-Hop/Healing genre. I found Costa Mesa Studios to be very welcoming. But since the song was dealing with issues like Truth and Mathematics, I knew that I was going to need a pro to help me get the best vocal sound out of myself.
For the new (undisclosed) song that I just recorded at Costa Mesa Studios, I wrote the music on Reason software and arranged and organized the musical orchestration and beat using Adobe Audition. So I ended up bringing the song in individual one shot extended original samples. This was extremely efficient because we didn’t have to worry about looping the samples. They were ready to go, we just needed to arrange the project into Pro-Tools. The entire process was excellent because Nick was able to equalize and mix every instrument and drum individually. Giving the beat the most optimal sound.
One problem that Costa Mesa Studios encountered with my song was that I had a tremendous amount of sonic information happening in the Low-End or Bass. This was partially intentional because, my plan was to create a Hypnotic-Hip-Hop track. But what Nick said was that if we properly EQ’d the piece, then there would be more dynamics and people would have that “Bass Kicking” effect when they played the song on their car stereos or home theaters that had sub-woofers. I definitely wanted the track to kick hard, so I drank my tea and worked with Nick on the bass lines. The process was exciting and although it took emotional energy to dissect each individual sound and maximize the bass potential without drowning the bass. I was extremely glad that we did it.
Costa Mesa Studios’ patience and pleasant tact in mixing the track was so evident and appreciated that I felt energized when it was time to record the rap. We used one of these mic’s to record the vocal parts. I felt pumped and ready to go when the time came to record the rap. And having the mix sound so good, really increased my energy level and focus even more. The whole process was so enjoyable, that I am itching to work on the new brainstorm tracks that I have in rough stages in order to get back into the studio.
Another sweet part about cracking beats at Costa Mesa Stuidos, is that the entire effort of mixing and recording is catered to the individual needs of the artist. I went into the session saying, “Nick, this is a bumping Hypnotic Hip-Hop track. So have fun and make any kind of suggestions on how to juice it up. And even though I want this to maintain its underground sound, I welcome any ideas that you may have.” And he did just that. Throughout the day Nick Fainbarg would give input and put himself out on a limb occasionally with ideas or effects. And even though I only ended up going with about 15% of the suggestions, I was glad that he made them. And the very subtle effects that were chosen, felt good and consistent with the vision of the song.
Overall, this new song was about 45% faster vocally than my previous song of “Time in Horizon.” And since none of the verses repeat, there amount of text is quite high. So I had to be very careful with how the rap sounded. If it was too aggressive, it wouldn’t get the listener to stick for the whole track. Too passive, and the Hypnotic element would fade into ambiance. Therefore I had to do a lot of takes and choose the voice that really fit the music and emotional context of the track. And doing it at Costa Mesa Studios invigorated me make every line count.
I would really love to show you the new song right now…but I’m waiting for the compilation album to be released by Doobie McDonald. But I will make sure to let everyone know when the album is released.
-Tyler
