"The Are" Recreates Tracks for the Canibus Album

"The Are" arrives at Laughing Tiger Studios in San Rafael CA to mix the two tracks he produced for Canibus. After realizing our session still consisted of the two track beat, "The Are" quickly came to the conclusion it would be easier to re-make the tracks on the spot, since the tracked out versions would be impossible to retrieve, being that they lived back home in NY. After some setup of the drums and loading sounds from Reason, he was able to recreate the tracks in no time.

The drum set was a custom Gretch jazz kit that we set up in the large live room. I only placed a few mics on the kit. I went for a different approach on the snare. I put a senheiser 421 with a akg 251 next to it, with no space between the two. The kick drum was set up with the head off and filled with a temperpedic pillow with a d112 placed close to the inside head. Another Akg 251 was placed on the Hi Hat and a small cap condenser as my mono overhead. Knowing we would probably throw some sample drums under the existing recorded take, I figured I would take a simple approach. I ran all the mics threw the SSL4k using the onboard compressor and inserted some outboard compressors on the kick and snare. After we record a few takes, we sampled 8 bars and looped for the remaining time. "The Are" then put some extra drum samples underneath and played out the rest of the track on the midi controller with sounds from his bank.

After the track was finally recreated I then mixed the track threw the SSL doing the majority of automation and fx in Pro-Tools.

To see "The Ares' story of the session visit.

http://theare.wordpress.com/

FlapJacks and Waffles Mixtape by Fever and Lapotic

Give it up to some hardworking Hip-Hop heads out of San Rafael and Richmond. I've been working with these guys for the past year. Both stunned me with their ability to hold down so much personality in their music. The mix tape is filled with some slapping tracks and poured on swag. "Fever" definitely has the lines to make you keep repeated in your head. "Lapotic" has a naturally rhythm that just hugs the beat. Both are a great fit for this project. I can see some real progress threw the project and expect big things from this crew. Check it out - R

Hit up Fever for more info:
http://www.myspace.com/fivemusik

Tanya Morgan's New Video "So Damn Down" on mtvU

Tanya Morgan's New Album Brooklynati mixed by Rick v.

PopWorks is proud to be apart of the new album "Brooklynati" by Tanya Morgan. This Hip-Hop group is headed toward big things. A really talented group, with great focus towards their music and respect for their fans. Don't sleep on this album please. - Rick V.

To see where the album got mixed, check out LaughingTiger.com, home base for iM Recording and mixing. And see what projects are currently being wrapped up to hit stores near you.

Laughing Tiger Studios

Ari, this studio you have here is a beautiful baby. I'm glad to have discovered you. I'm loving the Big Room's tone on my guitar!
We'll definitely be back! - Carlos Santana, Recording Artist


I have never heard the lows and highs of Carlos' guitar tone captured so accurately as they were in Laughing Tiger's "A" room. - Ed Adair, Santana's guitar tech. of 18 years.

I don't know what you did recording my vocals, but they sound amazingly present and crystal clear! - Ledisi, Recording Artist

Laughing Tiger allows you to take your mixes out of the box and onto an SSL. You get the tactile feel of a mixing console and it's so much faster grabbing faders and knobs instead of scrolling up and down your session in Pro Tools. The vintage outboard gear selection gives you
that sound you can only get with analog gear. - Tyler Crowder, Engineer

New Album from Donnie Walden " Colors"

I recorded and mixed this album a few months back. I knew when I first heard Donnie's material that it would be a great album. I work with a lot of bands over the years, but this would have to be one of the best. Donnie Walden III is straight out of High school, I literally had to wait till the parents left to pop a beer... His natural talent to sing and play guitar really took me by surprise. We maybe recorded a song in two or three takes tops. The whole album is a feel good vibe, I can see any age picking up this record. The Album is entitled " Colors" and you can find it on iTunes. Just type Donnie Walden in the search..spread the word. - R

http://www.myspace.com/donniewalden
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1300793529&ref=ts

PopWorks gearing up

Starting to finaly launch some work. Well Adam C. more than me...but we are getting our act together in a more collaborative way. We are currently finishing up "Distant Relatives" new album. I would say 80% of the material is ours. 100% if we had any say. The album is a collection of tracks from Adam and myself. Distant Relatives are definitely bringing some heat making this album sound better every day.

Well post new material very soon. - Rick V.