Unstoppable Recording Machine Podcast

Luck is the meeting place of preparation and opportunity. Nobody knows that better than Josh Newell, who is regarded for his genre spanning work with artists such as Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne, Cynic, Intronaut, Celine Dion, and more. On this episode we discuss how Josh Newell has managed to work his way to the top LA production circles, the difference between producing pop and metal, what it take...

John Douglass shares how he mastered drum editing and quit his day job. What are the #1 and #2 skills and traits that will get and keep your employment as an audio engineer? 1 - You must be reliable 2 - You must be an amazing editor John Douglass has worked his way up from being a kid with a laptop in a bedroom to working with some of the biggest artists in pop and metal. And he did it by becoming...

Finn Mckenty (CreativeLIVE, The Punk Rock MBA) joins us to discuss the inner workings of songwriting, creation of a unique point of view, and effective marketing for bands and producers in the fast-paced, highly competitive creative world of today. To say that today’s recording market is oversaturated would be an understatement. It’s more important than ever for producers to adopt effective and en...

Joey Sturgis shares his In The Box mastering tips and tricks. Out of the three of us, Joey Sturgis has done the most mastering and in fact, he's never had one of his mixes mastered by an outside engineer. He's totally self-taught and responsible for several chart-topping masters. In this episode, he shares some of his most effective mastering techniques. Joey dives into his process, and how goes a...

Joey, Eyal, and Joel are joined by mastering legend Bob Katz for some rousing discussion about the current state of recording and what it actually takes to create professional-sounding mixes and masters. It's really common for people to want presets and templates, however, mastering is always a case of figuring out what specific situations require. You can’t just slap the same plugins with the sam...

Welcome to #MasteringCritMonday, the show where we critique YOUR mastering. Prolific mastering engineer, Maor Appelbaum stopped by to help us critique some listener-submitted mastering work. In this episode you'll learn about: Nice and loud vs fatiguing to listen to What to submit to a mastering engineer Adding low end without destroying the track When to apply a heavy-handed mastering approach Ma...

Alan Douches is one of the most recognizable names in mastering when it comes to any genre of heavy music. With over 6000 mastering credits to his name with artists ranging from Mastodon to Whitechapel to Bowling For Soup Alan Douches has become one of the most in demand engineers in the world. We spoke at length about so many things that it's hard to summarize. Alan shared great advice for up and...

Jesse Cannon, prolific mastering engineer/author/entrepreneur joins the URM Podcast crew to discuss what it takes to become great at mastering and promotion. After all, what good is your talent if you don't develop it or share it with the world? To really win at the game of audio you must learn to master your own motivation. Motivation is the most powerful personal asset you can develop. The same...

Vocal production that sounds amazing requires you navigate the intersection of composition, physical performance, gear selection, and creative coaching with your A-game the entire time! That's why we devoted two podcast episodes to vocal production and mixing. This one is jam packed with info! “If the vocal sucks on the record you might as well trash the entire thing” - Joel Wanasek What you'll le...

Dan Korneff has perfected the process of turning out modern, top-quality mixes on analog gear in an industry that's moving faster than ever. Can you imagine mixing on a massive console with tons of outboard, yet still keep up with modern deadline demands? Dan Korneff does it every day. According to him the keys are in the efficiency of your setup and how well you understand you gear. One of the be...

Welcome to MixCritMonday, the show where we critique YOUR mixes. In the hotseat this month is Caleb Rodriguez. Caleb submitted a metalcore mix for us to crit and after a little investigation we figured out that he was making two major mistakes: He used little to no reference material His source tracks were not ready for mixing, yet he didn't fix them We also discovered that his mixing environment...

"Perfection Is The Enemy Of Progress" - Winston Churchill Imagine if our favorite mixers decided to stop mixing until every single aspect of their control room was perfect... They would never mix, because no control room is ever perfect! No matter how hard you try, you can't get better than best. Sure, there's always room for improvement, and over time, with the right work ethic, anyone can improv...

The most common mixing mistakes up and comers make involve trying to run before they walk. In other words... they try to do the advanced stuff before they conquer the basics. Focusing on the wrong things will keep you from achieving your mixing potential. For instance, you shouldn't even think about Mid Side EQ before you've mastered a simple 4 band. Don't mess with parallel compression when you d...

Legendary producer Dan Korneff (Paramore, The Devil Wears Prada, Papa Roach) joins us for a rapid-fire Tips & Tricks session that will blow your mind. Ever wonder what it takes to produce and mix at the highest levels of the music industry? If you answered yes, then this episode is for you. "I think music exists in octaves. That’s just how it exists. So if you’re doing something in that 3k range c...

We're joined by acclaimed producer Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Neck Deep) to discuss strategies for getting the most out of your sessions. Everyone who records for a living will agree that nothing goes as planned. Entropy always creeps in. That's why it's crucial to set up every aspect of your work environment for maximum efficiency. From your DAW routing to your client booking method, it all...

Welcome to MixCritMonday, the show where we critique YOUR mixes. First on the MixCritMonday chopping block is our longtime subscriber, Jenson Manning (we love you dude). We took him to school on: Bass VIs like Texas Grind Multiband compression Getting the low end of the kick balanced right The dangers of mixing in headphones (and how to make the most of it) Different mastering chains including plu...

"You're translating what people say into what they want."- Joey Sturgis What's a producer's real job? Engineer? Coach? Fearless leader? Psychiatrist? Band member? Chaperone? Friend? Arranger? Songwriter? Session musician? Actually, it's all the above. You must become a musical translator. "They aren't the ones who are the expert. You're the expert, they are the client. They just don't know how to...

What does it take to be successful in audio production? Ask anyone who's made it and there IS a formula. Here it is: 1. Ambition 2. Vision 3. Execution 4. Determination 5. Luck 6. Timing  This episode covers how all six of those factors come into play over the course of a career in audio production, and what YOU can do to harness them. "Successful people get shit done. Period." – Joey Sturgis "My...