Visit to Daddy’s Studio
Mar 20 at 12:51 pm
2 posts
joined Mar 11, 2008
joined Mar 11, 2008
Visit to Daddy’s Studio
I have a studio.
Like so many musicians, producers and engineers nowadays, I built my own music sanctuary, complete with Pro Tools setup, mics and the necessary peripherals to do most aspects of a music production. It cuts down on outside studio costs, time and the commute.
I also have a family with small kids. The proximity of my studio? Well, it’s in my backyard, which is great for juggling the professional and family life. Family dinners, help during the bath and bed time battle are possible, and after everybody is in bed I can jump back in the studio and keep working.
The music business and family usually are like two magnets polarized the same way, they have a very hard time getting along. Most of the producers and engineers I have worked with are divorced or can’t maintain a relationship. That’s pretty sad.
Having my own place close to home helps a lot, and besides being able to take a break to pick up my daughter from school or have a meal with everybody isn’t so bad. It also comes with frequent visits from the kids to daddy’s studio to hang out.
My daughter is 5 years old and she, thank God, is into music. But of course, she is into High School Musical. I know, being the audio professional, I should have done a better job guiding her towards better music, but peer pressure and Disney Channel are pretty mighty forces I and resigned to just being happy that she likes music, no matter how much I disagree with it. After going through intense phases of Blues Clues, The Wiggles, Gwen Stefani (I received an explicit CD after doing a remix for her, but fortunately, she was too young to pick up on all the s-bombs and sexual innuendos she planted all over that record), Kelly Clarkson, and Natasha Bedingfield, I knew she would move on to next thing eventually.
Cool studio daddy (I think she still considers me cool) eventually introduced her to the microphone, headphones and reverb and the ability to record her sing her favorite High School Musical tunes karaoke style. She did that for a while until she figured that singing her own songs is way cooler. So we did a rendition of “I grow up” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (listen to mp3 below) where I recorded her 5 times over, creating a choir of her self. It was pretty funny to hear your daughter five times all at once, especially if usually one is plenty.
After she found out that I can actually make a CD of the stuff she records and she can listen to it at her leisure, the sky was the limit. So now she comes to the studio announcing that she wants to record a CD, which means she’ll lock herself in the studio singing and talking about her schoolmates, stuffed animals, and of course, her sister and parents for about an hour (anybody heard about Pro Tools being a great babysitter?). Naturally, she’ll need the CD next day, which leaves me having to edit and bounce the whole thing for about an hour that night. And being a curious parent, I listen to the whole thing all the way through. It amazes me every time to hear what goes through a Kindergartener’s mind. It’s like spying on your kid. It’s great.
Now she listens to the CD in her room all the time, which freaks me out because I keep thinking she’s talking to me from the other room. And she also makes all her friends listen to her talking about Christmas Rabbit, her best friend.
Well, at least it’s not High School Musical any more.
MP3: Twinkle.mp3
________
I'm a Bay Area Producer/Mixer/Engineer that likes to mix too loud and still needs to fix the floor at his studio.
Currently listening to: Hairspray Soundtrack (involuntarily. Yes, the HSM phase is over)
Like so many musicians, producers and engineers nowadays, I built my own music sanctuary, complete with Pro Tools setup, mics and the necessary peripherals to do most aspects of a music production. It cuts down on outside studio costs, time and the commute.
I also have a family with small kids. The proximity of my studio? Well, it’s in my backyard, which is great for juggling the professional and family life. Family dinners, help during the bath and bed time battle are possible, and after everybody is in bed I can jump back in the studio and keep working.
The music business and family usually are like two magnets polarized the same way, they have a very hard time getting along. Most of the producers and engineers I have worked with are divorced or can’t maintain a relationship. That’s pretty sad.
Having my own place close to home helps a lot, and besides being able to take a break to pick up my daughter from school or have a meal with everybody isn’t so bad. It also comes with frequent visits from the kids to daddy’s studio to hang out.
My daughter is 5 years old and she, thank God, is into music. But of course, she is into High School Musical. I know, being the audio professional, I should have done a better job guiding her towards better music, but peer pressure and Disney Channel are pretty mighty forces I and resigned to just being happy that she likes music, no matter how much I disagree with it. After going through intense phases of Blues Clues, The Wiggles, Gwen Stefani (I received an explicit CD after doing a remix for her, but fortunately, she was too young to pick up on all the s-bombs and sexual innuendos she planted all over that record), Kelly Clarkson, and Natasha Bedingfield, I knew she would move on to next thing eventually.
Cool studio daddy (I think she still considers me cool) eventually introduced her to the microphone, headphones and reverb and the ability to record her sing her favorite High School Musical tunes karaoke style. She did that for a while until she figured that singing her own songs is way cooler. So we did a rendition of “I grow up” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (listen to mp3 below) where I recorded her 5 times over, creating a choir of her self. It was pretty funny to hear your daughter five times all at once, especially if usually one is plenty.
After she found out that I can actually make a CD of the stuff she records and she can listen to it at her leisure, the sky was the limit. So now she comes to the studio announcing that she wants to record a CD, which means she’ll lock herself in the studio singing and talking about her schoolmates, stuffed animals, and of course, her sister and parents for about an hour (anybody heard about Pro Tools being a great babysitter?). Naturally, she’ll need the CD next day, which leaves me having to edit and bounce the whole thing for about an hour that night. And being a curious parent, I listen to the whole thing all the way through. It amazes me every time to hear what goes through a Kindergartener’s mind. It’s like spying on your kid. It’s great.
Now she listens to the CD in her room all the time, which freaks me out because I keep thinking she’s talking to me from the other room. And she also makes all her friends listen to her talking about Christmas Rabbit, her best friend.
Well, at least it’s not High School Musical any more.
MP3: Twinkle.mp3
________
I'm a Bay Area Producer/Mixer/Engineer that likes to mix too loud and still needs to fix the floor at his studio.
Currently listening to: Hairspray Soundtrack (involuntarily. Yes, the HSM phase is over)
Mar 25 at 12:28 pm
3 posts
joined Apr 1, 2007
joined Apr 1, 2007
RE: Visit to Daddy’s Studio
super cute. i used to nanny for a family and their little girl (now 7) loved so many of my itunes songs, i made her a mixed CD. her parents say she plays it all the time still, even tho that was two years ago. luckily it's got some good stuff on there - kid-friendly songs by Green Day, the Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire, Rilo Kiley etc. start em young! :)
Mar 25 at 9:24 pm
9 posts
joined Dec 19, 2006
joined Dec 19, 2006