Episode 47
Show Notes
Live with Matt Rad - Episode 47
April 6, 2021
w/ Cian Riordan - Week 2
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Matt and Cian have known each other for many many years. They worked together for years at Barefoot Recording
Cian started interning in a studio once he got out of college.
Then he cold moved to NYC.
He left a music network in the Bay Area.
Eventually he moved back to Santa Cruz when NYC wasn’t working for him.
Your network is so important.
Its not just people you are in constant connection with, it’s also those people that you once played a show with and have a similar connection.
He learned an amazing amount by building a studio from scratch with two other people.
For many years he was a working-class engineer in Santa Cruz. He eventually got the call from Matt to come down for a weekend and help on a record.
It was his first time to see a session working at a higher level, compared to what he was experiencing in Santa Cruz.
He then cold-emailed Eric Valentine and was given a position as an assistant.
He basically assumed Matt’s old job as Matt transitioned to more production work.
There’s no good route to building your network.
It can be your local folks, or your internet connections
————
Cian has just completed a personal home studio for himself.
Being able to work under Eric and with such high talent was a great way to build up their confidence.
Working in a great studio like Barefoot can provide a certain level of gravitas for those coming into it. The short answer is that you don’t need to be in a great studio to get clients. They will come to you if you’re good.
———
Matt:
As you’re coming up, you need to make committed decisions with full confidence, but at the same time be very flexible.
Be able to switch when it doesn’t work out.
When you start out, you should be throwing yourself out there and try everything.
Be a writer, mixer, producer, artist, player, etc.
Be able to then switch if it doesn’t work out.
You need to be flexible and you need to keep your overhead down while you persevere through that hardship. Ultimately something will catch on, the longer you stay in it.
Cian:
The thing he hears the most from fresh new students/engineers is the idea that there will be a job waiting for them when they graduate.
A lot of careers do have that path, but a career in music is not that.
He tries to shake them out of this idea and tell them that “This is going to be really hard” and you need to readjust your thinking and set the rest of your life up like you may never make money.
You need to set up your life around that assumption. Whether it’s your relationships, your job, or other things.
You need to keep your overhead down and be flexible.
The longer you keep your heard down and persevere, the more something will come along.
Working for Eric involves spending 3-6 months on a project. You really lived the records with him for 14hrs a day for 6 days a week.
———
Cian would like to be in a position to allow other people to use the studio to make their own records. The same opportunity that Eric was able to give them.
He would allow them to borrow great gear when they had to go off and do their own offsite recordings.
Matt:
Watching someone like Eric be that committed to the process is beneficial.
It’s an insane lifestyle to sustain. It is extreme.
Even Eric has transitioned over to a family life after decades of sustained hard work.
Being around people all the time who are working at a high level will keep your head in the game.
Keeping your head in the game is more important than a lot of people give it credit for.
You don’t want to be in a position where you’re saying “I should really spend more time doing this.”
The people around you and your habits keep you thinking about, talking about, and making music.
Matt doesn’t know anyone who’s successful who doesn’t have that level of total psychological investment in the process.
Cian:
These people around you become your crew. They become your network.
Surrounding yourself with these people allows you to stay motivated when you’re constantly thinking about it.
Matt:
A lot of people think networking is about meeting the right person who is going to give you your shot.
Sometimes it’s like that.
Moreso, it’s more about building your community of people who make you want to make stuff all of the time.
More often than not your network are the people that you make music with every day who will motivate you.
It’s not about finding a lucky opportunity. It is about building out your group of people and your psychological approach, and your peer group to make music.
Networking is about you making things and having people that you can bounce stuff off of.
Cian:
It’s not just about big breaks. It’s equally about small breaks.
You have to be open to them when they come.
And be nice, thoughtful, and friendly.
Matt:
In an age where gatekeepers are going away and everyone can participate, kindness goes a long way
Q: What’s more important? Mic or preamp?
Both:
Mics. All the way. Always more important.
Matt:
When buying gear. There is diminishing returns after a certain budget point.
A $10k microphone with an Apollo preamps will give you a greater sound.
Cian:
We’re coming up in an era where even the budget stuff sounds pretty good for what you pay.
Having a bin full of XLR cables when you need one is extremely valuable and will save you a lot of time.
Matt:
The workflow aspect is so much more important than people give it credit for.
Make sure your gear isn’t crapping out. That the headphone mixes are right. That all your cables work
People underrate workflow so much.
Get a monitoring setup that sounds good.
Getting a computer that doesn’t crash and is fast enough to handle sessions.
With Eric, when a piece of gear didn’t work he would take it outside and smash it.
Why are we spending any time trying to rehabilitate it?
Then it’s gone and you have to replace it and not have it disrupting your session.
Remove it from the equation.
Cian:
A nice mic-pre isn’t going to matter until you’re already 20 steps into the game. If your speakers aren’t good enough to hear the difference it won’t matter what your pre is.
Sweetwater and Reverb are part of a huge industry to get people excited and spending money. This will often hype up gear and place an unwarranted emphasis on needing to have the best.
Converters
Cian:
Converters are ranked very low on the list of priorities.
It’s hard to know whether there is a difference between two converters because it’s hard to separate them from so many other variables.
Matt’s Hierarchy of Gear:
1. Computer - Good and stable.
2. Monitoring - Quality speakers and a room that sounds good.
3. Microphones and Instruments
Converters are very low on the list as long as they are solid and basic.
Cian:
Unless you’re a mastering engineer and doing very critical listening these things don’t require nearly as much thought.
Mic Pre’s
Cian:
Mic Pre’s used to be just “you get what you get with the mixing board”.
Moving a mic position 1” to the left is going to make waaaaay more of a sonic difference.
Having good mic placement and mic technique is far more significant than your choice of pre. Especially if you’re recording conservatively.
Now if you’re driving a pre really hard to get the color, then the choice of pre can come into play more. But working-class audio engineers will likely want to record conservatively on the day-of and mix in the vibe/saturation later.
———
Q: Thoughts on the C800, 1073, CL-1B vocal chain?
Cian thinks the 1073 is not a flattering pre for pop vocals.
Putting a C800 into a Focusrite is still gonna make it sound like a C800.
A C800 is like a 251 which will rip your head off with brightness if not done right.
Cian leans towards recording dark and brightening things later, if necessary.
This is why they both love ribbon mics, which record dark and capture a lot of hi-end info.
Coles 4038 is a desert island mic for Matt
Cian likes the Mojave condenser mics.
Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done for a sound?
Matt:
On the Dredg record: Recorded in missle silos. Claps and vocals
The Mowglis: Recorded a buzz saw in a construction site as the high-end for a record.
Cian:
Sleater-Kinney: On ‘The Center Wont Hold’ title song:
An old EHX Mini-Synth
The start of the album is the sound of that device turning on and off as it was amped and echo-chambered in the studio. They got inspired by that sound and composed for it.
