Jody Whitesides

Tag: Utopia Parkway Music

  • Making A Hit Song

    Making A Hit Song

    making a hit songWhat goes into the making of a hit song? This is a curious question. If there was one true answer, everyone would be doing it, and nothing would actually end up being a hit. Right? Conspiracy theorists like to believe that the major labels have some sort of computer algorithm that can predict if a song is a hit or not. As the British say: Bullocks. They don’t know any better than any one else, the different is, they’re in a position of power to sell something.

    While recording Till We Meet Again, George, Jesse, and I get into a quick discussion about things that can help make a song a hit song. In this case, we’re talking about a little trick that Jesse and I did with a particular transition of a song from one part to another. We changed something about the song structure in such a way that it makes people take notice. Watch the video about making a hit song and find out what we did.

    Making A Hit Song

    YouTube player

    Did you catch what we were talking about? Think you can go write a hit song now?

  • Noisy Mouse In The Headphones

    Noisy Mouse In The Headphones

    noisy mouseNothing is more annoying than a noisy mouse in the headphones. Recently in the studio while getting ready to start knocking out vocals for American Mayhem and we had an issue with a hum type of noise going on in the headphones. This makes for unpleasant recording. Not to mention that it also can be an issue if it’s being recorded on to the track in question. Adding noise from an unknown source isn’t always a great idea.

    Find out what was causing the noise to occur. A kind of noise that flares up when the mouse is being moved. Nothing like a bad noisy mouse, however, that was a result of the issue, not a root for the cure. We did find it!

    Noisy Mouse In The Headphones

    YouTube player

    Transcript:

    What are we up for George? What are we looking at?

    I just hear some weird hum.

    Very briefly.

    Yeah, it came and then it kinda went.

    I can kinda hear your mouse moving.

    Yeah well…

    Mouse noise is what I’m saying. Not like the actual physical noise. I’m hearing in the system.

    Somethings tweaked in the system.

    That seems a bit quieter.

    Yeah, well the transformer was on the audio cable.

    Sittin right on the cable? Yeah, that’s bad. Studio badness. Do not put your audio cables right on a transformer.

    Oh yeah. Much better.

    Much better.

    Ok. We’ll be recording now. Shhhh.

    Red light ‘s going on.

    No squeaky chairs. No nothing.

  • Universal Audio Apollo Mic Pre

    Universal Audio Apollo Mic Pre

    Apollo UA Mic PreCome with me as we give the Universal Audio Apollo a shootout at Utopia Parkway studio. My Avalon 737 was at the factory so we decided to give George’s Apollo a shot at being the mic pre of choice. We set up a couple of different channel strips to see which input path would give us the best signal for my Telefunken C-12 and my voice on my song “Thump Thump Thump”. It was down to a Neve with an LA2A and a 610 with an 1176.

    [sarcasm]It’s riveting. So riveting. Especially if you’ve never been in a recording studio.[/sarcasm] Recording isn’t always the fun and games that people think it is. We do actually spend time figuring out exactly what the best course of recording a sound is. Time consuming comes to mind. Office managers determining a project’s work path is probably the best analogy. After that the real work begins. Laying down the musical parts.

    Universal Audio Apollo Mic Pre

    YouTube player

    Thump Thump Thump recording

    Testing mic pre’s.

    Testing the Apollo mic pre. Okay Universal Audio.

    I lie awake in the middle of the night.

    Channel strip two. Well it’s actually one, but I flipped them around.

    Well… we’re. It’s the second take on the channel strip on the Apollo.

    There’s a push and a pull.

    I lie awake in the middle of the night

    There’s a push and a pull. As the gears begin to grind.

    You know what? That, the 610 sounds more… rock-and-roll. If I was to put a… it has more “ah! to it” more ah.

    There’s more meat to it.

    That how, that’s how I would describe it.

    It’s got more protein, more girth to it. Okay whereas the neve LA2A has a bit more of a refined thin thing.

    Yes it’s interesting, I guess there’s a difference in the models. Cause it’s basically the same mic going through 2 different model emulations and they do sound different. Yeah. They are so hard core. I mean really truly. More hard core than most companies are. They want their stuff to be right. and they just really won’t stop until they are.

    It’s the 610 76 that wins.

    Okay, to give us the meat.

    To get the song to ether.

© 1997-2025 ON RECORDS