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Don't know who follows The Late Late show, but James interacts with all the crew and the band is no exception. Last night he had fun with Steve the keyboard player. At one point, the producer says "he's the only keyboard player that has to look at his hands to play".....the whole bit is hilarious. Check out the video at Go to 4:00

My solution for exactly that when building a new studio this past year was the Nord Stage 3 Compact. Great Piano & Organ Sounds, complete with Drawbars and Leslie choices. For the organ, I purchased the "Half Moon Switch" for that old school interaction... Throw in a synthesizer as well and you have a complete keyboard that should see you through most gigs.

Now is the time to think about your electrical distribution and ensuring they all share the one circuit.using the "star" method. You might want to invest a few extra pennies and invest in commercial grade receptacles as well. Lighting is something else you will want to think about and the use of dimmers. I think you have this given your other comments. I just built my studio last year and while it was a lot of work, the hours of planning and research paid off. You are on the right track. Good luck with everything.

Wal-Mart! As previously mentioned...they likely take the CR series lithium type. Easily found. My hope would be the batteries are sitting in battery holders and not soldered into the board. You won't know until you look!

This is very cool....expensive, but cool. Lego Piano

Upscaling 720p or any other HD format to 4K does not result in higher resolution. You are stuck with the original resolution as recorded. Upscaling simply resizes the video to fit a 4K screen. For Audio, Melodyne will certainly do what you are looking for and is expensive. If you insist on using Melodyne, have it as a plugin on whatever DAW you are using that also accommodates video. After your audio fixes, export to 4K (if possible) or convert final file to 4K using a third party tool.

Another new wrinkle when recently wiring a studio, was encountering ground loops caused by USB connections. With new keyboards now all having USB ports (pretty much all), I encountered ground loops where never before existed. Sure enough, you can now purchase something like this.

I That's the kind of response I was looking for.....some kind of feedback given how the Grammy have become controversial over the years, and for all the wrong reasons. As a Canadian for example, our own Weekend was snubbed and has now joined the chorus of artists who now boycott the awards. For those that didn't watch, I can tell you that this year's show was unique on so many levels and may be a move in the right direction. It just struck me odd that his forum which is arguably the largest forum on the planet for musicians, by musicians, made no mention of the industries biggest event. But kinda know why.....

Nobody? The highest accolade a musician can receive. Am I missing something? Grammy boycott?

Sound Imaging is something I think all engineers need to embrace and as the name implies, visually imagining the stereo field and where things are eventually placed. A recent new tool in the studio that I'm finding helpful is the Flux Program that includes a unique Spacial Spectrogram that provides you with a visual representation of all frequencies in the stereo field. I find myself looking at it all the time...

For a live broadcast, I think they did an amazing job. A diverse selection of acts, despite travel restrictions. It was all about the music performed with little chat. Worked for me.

Don't have a "favourite" per se, but check on as many sources possible. My final mixes use the Behringer Truth's (Active) for the most part, but I am always checking on the twenty yr old NS10M Studio monitors (driven by a Bryston 2B) and what I call the "shi**y" speakers - a pair of Creative speakers, including AKG 240D headphones. I also put the track on a USB stick and listen in my Jeep. At the end of the day, your monitors are only as good as the room they are in and how they are positioned. Still practised by a few, is using a FM transmitter (common in studios in the 80's 90's) and listening in car. Many top engineers and artists still check mixes in the car!

How to I record drums? Depends on what resources are available. If one microphone, overhead behind player. Two microphones, overhead + kick. Three microphones, overhead, snare, kick. Four microphones, , snare, kick, hihat.....etc. I remember working on a live daily television show that featured live music as one of the segments. We would go to air live at 12noon and the band(s) would typically show up around 10a..m....sometimes later! Given the short turnaround, I used three microphones only on the drums and usually had just enough time to do a sound check. One day the "artists" showing up contradicted the production notes that were handed to me earlier (no drummer listed), they showed up with a drummer and we were running late. I made the decision to have the drummer wear a lavalier microphone on his shirt.....nothing more. It sounded "good enough"!

I like your design and functionality. I also commissioned a woodworker who had experience with broadcast facilities and studios, but for many, it's a financial decision, and simply not affordable. Many options are appearing on-line these days from companies building "studio furniture" and the options are endless. But at the end of the day, you have to settle for something that works for you. A well planned working environment can support your artistic endeavours immensely. I just completed a re-build of my studio recently, but elected to keep the L-shaped desk I had custom made 25yrs ago.

I would like to add my 2cents as a retired sound engineer. Have your band members check their equipment for noise, buzz, hum, crackle...you get the idea. Isolation Boxes, Transformers and Ground Lifts can help combat unwanted noise. Use balanced cables where applicable. If anything uses batteries, make sure they are fresh with backup. If you have a favourite vocal mic, don't be shy and bring it. Respect the engineer! He/She truly wants the best for you and your band.

I belong to, and have used Looperman Two tracks in the last year, were produced as a collaboration between artists.

I'm a big fan of NCH software and use a number of their programs in the studio. All their software is competitively priced. Last year I purchased VideoPad specifically for editing my music videos. VideoPad among its many features can export to DVD Movie or DVD Data (in your case, DVD movie).

Have you considered a controller pedal? Static or variable?

Can't go wrong with any of the Nord Stage 3 products. Overpriced in my opinion, but they will do what you want and more. There is a reason why you see them on stages everywhere. Piano / Synth / Organ, Computer interface (USB), hundreds of free sounds, good technical support, etc...

My Steinberg dongle disappeared when upgrading to Cubase 5 years ago. eLicenser is still used for my current WaveLab and Cubase 9. iLok currently holds the license for my Flux Pure Analyzer. Flux

Got a story to share... Early Eighties...Chick and Gary Burton are performing at "Ontario Place", an outdoor venue on the shores of Lake Ontario, Toronto Waterfront. What was cool about this venue (that sadly no longer exists), was the open air, covered venue with a stage that rotated 360 degrees throughout the show.... My girlfriend (now my wife of 25yrs) and I are attending Chick Corea & Gary Burton in concert. In anticipation, I was determined to go back stage and meet both of them, and brought a recently purchased music book of Chick's recent recordings. After the show, we went to the backstage artist area which of course was fenced off with two security men. I approached one of them, introduced myself in a calm, respectful way and asked if their is any chance Chick could autograph my book. At which time I showed him the music book. He said; "wait a minute, I'll be back". He returns and says "Hey, you are welcome to see Chick, follow me". I went alone and proceeded to enter the dressing room where both Chick & Gary are standing. I'm pissing myself but try to remain cool and respectfully asked Chick to sign my book. Looking back, I recall pretty much ignoring Gary, likely because I couldn't believe what was happening. Chick was gracious and I didn't over stay my welcome. True Story!

Just wanted to chime in as this thread is of great interest. Soon to be 65, I'm fortunate to still hold my own in the studio as a retired sound engineer, but recognize the days are likely numbered that I can make a "sound judgment" (sorry, couldn't resist). That said, it dawned on me that many professionals are using in-ear monitoring. That followed by the day of inserting a hearing aid and you have pretty much lived a life with something stuck in your ears....but I digress. My hope is their are some serious aids out there, albeit expensive, that will allow folks like us to continue to love the music, love the sound, and create while still remaining in tune.

Thanks....now I feel pressure to produce and get back to writing....hardware doesn't make music!

Ha ha.....that rug was a challenge...determined to use it, and it didn't fit properly anywhere, given the fact I still wanted to roll freely in the chair...

Finally Done! After two months, including delivery delays, I received the very last piece of hardware last week, a Moog Subsequent 37, completing the two month studio build. As always, you learn from past mistakes, discover new challenges and implement what you believe are the best choices, given the working budget and personal priorities. While this studio could be considered a turnkey setup, I have taken into consideration visiting musicians, where they would "plug-in" and how the environment would work for everyone. I'm please with the outcome. Take pride in the integrity of the room (no ground loops, mismatched electronics, clean signal paths etc.) and happy to come in just under budget. The two most expensive additions were the Nord Stage 3 (over priced in my opinion) and the Moog Subsequent 37. Pretty much everything else was from the previous studio, however the room was re-painted, new flooring installed with new acoustic treatment applied. Room is 15' x 11' I'm more then happy to share some of the challenges I had including answering any questions, in the hope those considering a similar project, can learn from "our" mistakes. That all said, hardware alone does not make music! Cheers