Nice Guys Finish FIRST!

I was inspired to write this entry after meeting Jesse Leach, the formal vocalist for Killswitch Engage and current vocalist for both Times of Grace and The Empire Shall Fall.

Anthony and I went to the Kearny Irish (a fantastic little venue in NJ) to see The Empire Shall Fall a few weekends ago. I wanted to say hello to Jesse but as usual, I was feeling very shy and didn't want to approach him throughout the night (even though he was hanging at the bar being a normal dude). Eventually, I worked up the courage to say hello and tell him how awesome the show was.

And guess what? He was REALLY NICE!

We chatted for a bit, got a photo together, and that was that. All in all it was a very positive experience.

My heart explodes a little more for all things Jesse Leach since our meeting. Not just because of his talent or music, though.

Because he was nice to me.

Unless he's a douche to me at a later date (highly unlikely!), I'll forever associate this happy memory to him and his work.

This even works on me for bands/artists that used to be great but are starting to suck (I'm not naming names because I'm not that mean)! Even though their new stuff blows, I still find myself buying the CDs and seeing the artists perform because the artists were just so damn genuinely nice to me.

Crazy how that works, right?!

The opposite happens when an artist is mean to me. I'll forever have that shitty memory tied to their work. I may not completely stop supporting the artist's work but I definitely lose some passion and end up not going out of my way to support them like I used to.

Kind of like that time I met Richard Patrick from Filter and he was a rude douchester for no good reason, even though I waited outside in the rain to say hello to him for over an hour. Or that other time I ran into a member of local band The Oval Portrait at Taco Bell and he was a dick to me when I said I liked his band's music.

I think I've only purchased 1.5 Richard Patrick-related albums after that awful meeting (the .5 is the Army of Anyone CD, which was $6 and terrible). And I never supported The Oval Portrait after my impromptu meeting.

One band is gone. The other isn't nearly as successful as they used to be.

It would be unfair of me to say these bands folded and/or became irrelevant because members were jerks to me...But I can say this...Maybe if those guys weren't such assholes to me (and other fans, I'm sure), things would be different.

You could argue that I caught these guys on "off" days. That they were in shitty moods and just couldn't help being dicks. But I say fuck that.

If you're serious about being a musician, then it's your JOB. Be a professional and don't let your crappy mood interfere with your livelihood. I can tell you right now that I have had plenty of shitty days at work but I'be been sure to keep my mood in check for the sake of my career. It's tough to do some days but it's certainly well worth it in the end.

And honestly, fans don't really give a shit if you're having an off day or not. Why? Because it is your JOB to make them happy REGARDLESS of whatever bullshit you're going through! They're holding up their end of the bargain by seeing your shows, purchasing your merch/music, and spreading the word about your greatness in hopes of recruiting more fans for you.

So there you go...This is why it's important to be nice as an artist when a fan approaches you. It's your time to create that happy memory and make a fan for life. It's also an opportunity to make your dreams of playing music for a living a reality.

So...What do you think?

Best Albums of 2011 (in Gina's Humble Opinion)

I tend to suck at introductions but in the words of little Kevin McCallister, "I'll give it a whirl."

Hi there. I'm Gina, the photographer for RO3 Audio. And this is my first blog entry here! *confetti*

Since 2011 is now a mere memory, we at RO3 Audio figured it would be a good time to list out some of our favorite albums of the year. I'm up first!

Gina's Top 5 Albums of 2011

Born of Osiris "The Discovery"

I haven't stopped listening to this album since it came out. The whole album flows together beautifully and truly proved to me that these dudes have some chops. I remember seeing BOO for the first time in late 2010 and being extremely underwhelmed. Everything from the set to their stage presence was lacking something to me. Even though they were playing to a packed house at the Best Buy Theater in NYC, their performance felt like something I'd see at an NJ VFW hall on a Saturday afternoon. "The Discovery" paired with an explosive live set at the 2011 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival changed ALL of that for me. BOO has definitely found their musical mojo, both live and in the studio. They were also a whole lot of fun to photograph (especially their bassist, who did a lot of splits). I hope the trend continues for them into 2012 and beyond.

Times of Grace "The Hymn of a Broken Man"

Jesse Leach is back! This album has just the right mix of heavy and light, making it nice to listen to on a Sunday morning without looks like a giant wuss. It's also another one of those albums that flows so well from start to finish. Definitely not an album I like picking and choosing songs off of. When I listen to this, it's start to finish or nothing. Times of Grace is another band that blew me away at the 2011 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. Jesse seemed right at home on stage while Adam D. kept his usual on-stage antics to a bare minimum. They were another band that was fun for me to photograph. Definitely not as insane as BOO was at times, but still interesting. My hope for 2012 is that they play some more live shows but with an rumored new KsE album in the works and Jesse's other band The Empire Shall Fall, we can't be so sure.

Bury Your Dead "Mosh 'N' Roll"

This is one of those albums I'm sort of ashamed to love so much (probably because it's total meathead mosh music) but I can't resist including it in my top 5. I remember the first time I heard this album. I was having an awful day at work due to my now ex-supervisor's supreme acts of douchebaggery. I saw that this album was streaming on AOL for free that day and decided to give it a spin. "I dressed myself for my own funeral tonight. C'mon!" screamed Mat Bruso on the opening track "Slaughterhouse 5," and I was fucking HOOKED! The album doesn't let up from start to finish AND includes a more moshtastical version of the greatest mosh song of all time, "Mosh 'N' Roll." Sadly, the first (and maybe last) show they played with Bruso back on vocal duties after a 4 year hiatus was at (surprise surprise!) the 2011 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. They put on a hell of a show and were a lot of fun to photograph. I'm not usually afraid of the talent I photograph but something about these guys made me uneasy. I loved it!

Texas in July "One Reality"

I fell deeply and madly in love with this band around Christmas of 2011 (so maybe 2 weeks ago?). While I was warming up my car, one of their songs came on WSOU (Seton Hall University's metal radio station) and it had a very Misery Signals vibe to it. Throaty vocals with gorgeous guitar arrangements gliding throughout the song. I can't remember the name of the song I heard that day but it did hit me hard enough to go listen to their 2 full-lengths (with "One Reality" being the newest one), which is something I don't do very often to be quite honest. Their sound is like August Burns Red meets Misery Signals while they were recording "Controller" (which is one of my favorite albums) so I was instantly in love. They're touring with (another surprise surprise) August Burns Red and will be in the NJ area next week. I may try to harass their management for a photo pass but don't want to come off as the scary fan I truly am.

Mastodon "The Hunter"

I wasn't too sure about this album at first to be honest. I remember hearing "Curl of the Burl" on WSOU in late 2011 without knowing it was Mastodon. The song didn't blow me away and I got really sad when I learned it was a Mastodon song. Eventually, the song grew on me (along with the other single played on WSOU "Black Tongue"). I listen to this album a lot at work, especially when I need to focus on big projects, and it keeps me entertained. I like that "The Hunter" isn't a concept album like "Crack the Skye" was and the songs are fairly short. This album may have been higher on my top 5 if I was able to see them perform tracks from it on their recent tour with Dillinger Escape Plan. Unfortunately, Anthony's car broke down right outside the venue so we had to be towed home to NJ immediately AND miss the show. Womp womp. Good thing those tickets were free!

Honorable Mentions

The Human Abstract "Digital Veil"

The album itself isn't incredible to me HOWEVER the most awesome song of 2011 IS on this album. That song is the title track "Digital Veil." You have NO idea how many days a week I hum the, "Pull me to the gallows!" to myself. The song is just plain infectious! Too bad they broke up a few days ago...

Between the Buried and Me "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues"

I personally don't count this as an album since it's just 3 tracks but the total length of this album DOES clock in slightly over 30 minutes which sort of makes it an album, right? It's your standard fare from BTBAM on this one which isn't a bad thing at all. I just don't think these guys will ever blow me away again. Again, not a bad thing since they're consistently GREAT but yeah...Damn I'm jaded!

2011 Albums I STILL Have Not Listened To That Probably SHOULD Be In My Top 5

Darkest Hour "The Human Romance"

Suicide Silence "The Black Crown"

2 bands I sweat like no tomorrow released albums in 2011 and I still haven't listened to them?! What the fuck is wrong with me?! I ask myself that every day. But I do resolve to listen to them soon AND update this little blurb soon with what I think!

So now, dear readers, let me know your thoughts. Do you agree/disagree with my choices? What do you suggest I check out in 2012?

Eurodesk MX2442A Restoration: Part 1 - Disassembly

The next step was my favorite, and probably easiest; the Disassembly. I brought the board up to my kitchen table, the only place I had enough room, and even that's not enough! I started by removing each fader and knob one by one and placing them in a container. I thought that would be fast, but you soon realize there are more knobs and faders than you think! Finally I got everything off.

Then it was time to take the plastic trim panels off the sides and the small machine screws holding the circuit boards to the faceplate. I started left to right taking all the #1 screws out, and was having no problems. THEN I got to the screws by the master section. NONE of them would come out. All the screws started stripping. I finally did get one out, and I saw it wasn't a machine screw, but a self-tapping screw; like you'd use in wood. Like this:

So right there a red-flag went off. Why were every one of the screws a machine screw that threaded in nice and easy, then have a random self-tapping screw? Something was wrong.

So then I stood the unit on end to remove the screws holding the top of the board to the chassis. I put the mixer back on the table and the unit slid out of the chassis. So now I can see the back of the circuit boards, and I noticed this:

There were a total of 5 connectors unplugged! So basically channels 1-16 weren't getting any power. My first thought was, "That's it!! I am gonna plug these back in and it will work!". No. I did get some normal functionality back when I turned it on, but still nothing on the output or in the headphones. I can now get signal IN on channels 1-16, so that is a start. I also tried putting an AUX source in through the tape input, and I can hear it through the headphone jack, but it is extremely distorted. So at this point it is time to do two things. 1) get the screws out holding in the master section, and 2) start troubleshooting.

Next up, part 2 - troubleshooting.

Eurodesk MX2442A Restoration: Prologue

During my daily cruise through the Craigslist, Musical Instruments section, I stumbled upon an ad for a 12 year old Eurodesk MX2442A. The seller was asking $50, because the mixer no longer had any output on the mains and they didn't want to invest in fixing it.

I can completely relate to the cost of repair / replacement. She might have spent a few hundred dollars in repair for a mixing board that is only worth maybe that in working condition, so it is a slippery slope. With that being said however, I have had decent luck in repairing Pro-Audio equipment in the past, especially pieces that are out of warranty and aren't a necessity to the studio. In this case, the mixing board was definitely NOT a necessity; more of a side-project. So my confidence was high, having just repaired an Alesis RA-300 studio power amp (also bought off craigslist), I thought I'd give this a go.

Now some background on the unit. It is a 24 channel Behringer Eurodesk MX2442A. It has 16 XLR inputs, 4 stereo inputs, 4 sub-groups and a Main out. It came with an external rack-mountable power supply and the original owner's manual (which has no value as far as repairs go). The chassis is in good shape and all the faders seem smooth. The knobs and plastic pieces are a bit worn, but if the repair is successful, they can be replaced for little cost and really give the board a fresh look.

So here is the initial diagnosis. I set up the board on a keyboard stand I had in the control room, plugged in the power supply and flipped the switch. All that happened was the clip and signal lights (red and green respectively) for channels 17-24 stayed illuminated, no matter what buttons were pressed, or knobs turned. Next I plugged in a microphone to channel 1 to see if I could get any signal on the channel. Nothing. Moved it down the line from channel 1 to 2 and repeat. Nothing. 3 to 4; nothing, and so on down the line. So no signal on any mic channel. So next step is to open this thing up and take a look at what surprises await inside.

Where Have All The Talented Artists Gone?

The other night I forced myself to watch the MTV VMAs.  Now I know what some of you might be thinking... What is MTV? What is a "music video"? Why would you do that to yourself?  Well I don't know what MTV is anymore, I didn't know anyone knew music videos still existed, and I don't know what made me actually sit through the almost two and a half hours of the "awards".  I did, however, learn quite a bit from watching the show.

I learned quite a bit about what the majority of the culture thinks about music as an art and what they think talent really is.  The majority of performers, groups, bands, "artists", or whatever you want to call them make me sick.  What happened to the days where artists actually CREATED their art?  Now we've become so complacent with what we get we don't even care if the person actually had a hand in crafting it or even perform it!  What we get is a bunch of bullshit thrown together that, by the end of the musical process, might not even be real.  Now I'm not an expert on pop radio, but I would venture to guess that almost 90% of the songs on pop radio don't have elements or instruments that people would say are "actual" musical instruments.  What we get is garbled samples that some other musician tolled over to make a great song or some electronic mess that is made to fake the sound of a real instrument.  Let's not forget that we then get auto-tuned vocals with so much studio magic put on them that we can't even tell if they are vocals to begin with.  Now don't get me wrong.  I like sampled hip-hop music and electronic music.  There is a place in music for electronic instruments, samples, and auto-tuning, but to get complete products by "artists" out there today full of this is complete crap.

The VMAs also saw Britney Spears get the Michael Jackson Lifetime Achievement Award.  Now before you think that is a joke it gets better.  Before giving the award out we saw a dance tribute for Brit Brit that was all pubescent girls in skimpy clothes doing her dance moves from all her videos.  So I guess the punchline was that we got little girls, in skimpy clothes, dancing for a woman who has always been criticized for being to sexy as an influence to little girls before she gets a lifetime achievement award named after an alleged child molester... ANYWAY... I am still amazed that anyone can think Brit Brit is an amazing "artist" and pays money to see her live.  She openly admitted that she would be lip-syncing on tour!  Why would anyone pay money to see someone stand on stage and pretend to sing when they could either sit at home and do the same or pay money to see someone ACTUALLY PERFORM THEIR SONGS!

The masses accept so much of what's fed to them that it makes my head spin.  Apparently it's okay to make fun of Rebecca Black (don't worry, I think it is HILARIOUS) but when a record label feeds us Kreayshawn people lap it up and think she's amazing and blow up her video to over 14 million views.  You want me to believe that pale little girl totes guns, steals cars, and smokes weed like a fiend?  IT'S SO FAKE!!!  She's just as fake as wanting me to believe that Chris Brown was singing during his "dance" performance, too.  At least Jay-Z and Kanye performed, but the "real excitement" they were showing just didn't feel real to me... it was BORING.  Lil' Wayne even got involved as his closer to the show saw him using live auto-tuned vocals (or he got an auto-tune implant in his throat so he sounds like that all the time) and even had him pick up a guitar, play some chords, then smash it... however I still don't remember hearing any live guitar.  It is disheartening to see these "artists" get this kind of exposure when others who are truly working, crafting, and perfecting their art get thrown to the curb.  However, there were some bright moments during the show.

I don't know anything about her music, what it sounds like, or how she normally performs, but Jessie J gets props from me.  She was the only one performing all night.  While it wasn't all that long on air, she performed with a live band every time MTV cut to commercial and wasn't auto-tuned... I even heard some rough, sour notes!  Now that's not good, but at least she was REAL ABOUT IT and couldn't hide behind some auto-tuned bullshit.  We also saw a hip-hop artist named Tyler, The Creator win an award for his video for Yonkers that's gotten some media attention.  While his hip-hop might not be everyone's cup of tea, he has been working at it pretty damn hard and he doesn't use all sampled beats.  They're simple, dark, dirty and grimy and he brings his vocals hard and real.  Perhaps some of the best performances of the night would go to Bruno Mars, Beyonce, and Adele.  While I'm not a massive Bruno Mars fan, he performed with Amy Winehouse's live band and sang one of her songs as a tribute; no auto-tune, no sampling, no electronics.  After announcing that she's pregnant earlier that night, Beyonce gets on stage, dances around, and belts out a song without having to lip-sync her way through it... then shows her "baby bump".  Adele got up on the stage with just a piano and belted out a song that was real, meaningful, and passionate.  THEY WERE REAL.  I even had to ask myself why Adele would lower herself to performing at such an event, but I'm glad I got to see someone on that stage perform with some heart and integrity.

All in all I think my beef is the fact that people today lap up whatever is presented to them and that is part of the problem.  So few people actually take the time to look for quality and real art in music and now it is the easiest time to do it.  Don't just accept what you're handed; you have to dig deeper and find the art and meaning behind the music and get the quality we all deserve when the labels and "musicians" want us to fork over our hard earned money for their product.  If the minority can influence the majority at all, there would have to be a change in what we are given.  We have to make the majority demand something more than the pills we're being forced to swallow.  It won't take a day, a week, or even a year.  It will take some time for there to be change, but until people can wake up and realize they're being handed meaningless "art" that has no substance at a poor quality true lovers of the art of music will suffer with what is being presented to the masses.  I've lived in the underground so long that I've dug in, but I'm getting tired of it.  Let's try to make a change.

Which one of these doesn't belong

It has become more apparent to me how important all aspects of your drum mix are when it comes to cohesion. You can have the best kick drum sound in the world, followed by killer, punchy toms, trailed by sweet, crisp overheads, but if your snare sounds flat and lifeless, the whole drum mix suffers. As we are all aware, in metal, the two most critical drum elements are the kick and snare; if one falls short, the other will follow.

I was having just this problem. I had a great kick drum I was consistently happy with, however, I couldn't get the snare to fit the music. Not even having 5 inserts, EQ, 2 reverbs, and parallel bus compression could make this snare sounds like it belongs; and that is KEY word - belong. When I soloed the snare it sounded fantastic, alittle cut on the EQ here, a limiting amp for snap, and a touch of reverb to round it out, but as soon as the solo was taken off, it was like the song fell apart. I tried every combination of plugins, reverbs and EQ, but to no avail. Again, it wasn't that the snare sounded bad in its own right, it just didnt fit the overall mix and vision for the band.

So I did what any good engineer or musician would do; got up and walked away. I came back a few hours later and decided to start over. So I went back to the sample we made of the drummers snare (used so there is no cymbal bleed), and thats when I realized you can't make something sound like something it is not. The band wanted a deep snare with body, and the sample I had was of a ringing snare with mostly top end. So I could only take that sample so far. I re-opened the track and popped in another snare sample for fun, and the song came back to life.

So thank you drumagog for saving me and my mix. I was finding it hard to mix anything else when the drums didn't sound together. It was like a roadblock. So after a frustrating evening, we are back on track!

On a side note, I will keep that snare sample in my back pocket for future use!

Why We Do What We Do (At Least From My Perspective)

The other day I was down in a hole... yes, like the Alice In Chains song, and yes, quite literally.  You see I have another part time job doing construction work and this past week was full of digging trenches so I spent a lot of time down in a hole, which gave me some time to think about some of the projects we have going on at Ro3 Audio.  It also gave me a lot of time to think about why we do the things we do, because I honestly ask myself that question every time I go do my construction work.  


For me the construction work is all about the money.  Yea I get some physical activity out of the whole ordeal, but the money keeps me going back to work.  The hours are long, the temperatures always seem really high, the physical toll is incredible... but the money is my focus.  I need it, and without anything other way to pay my bills or rent right now I have to deal with it.  I show up, do as I am asked, finish the job for the day and collect my check at the end of the week.  For me my concern is getting paid.  To be honest I've had a lot of jobs like that over the years and I think that everyone does, but the money is the farthest thing from my mind when it comes to recording with clients.


Before taking on the task of working with Brian at Ro3 Audio, we had multiple discussions about what our goals and aspirations were when getting started.  Over the years I've visited friends at studios and heard others tell stories about their studio experiences.  The one thing I remember hearing from those people are the stories of how their engineer/producer/guy-behind-the-board was that they were simply a button pusher.  Each day they went into the studio the clock started and it was like watching the gas pump click away while you wait for it to stop and see how much you'll owe.  They'd record a take, the engineer would ask if it sounded good, they'd play it back, then when asked for an opinion the engineer would say it's fine and then say those magic three words, "Let's move on."  


That's the thing I find hard as an engineer.  The fact that someone asks how it sounds and an engineer would act so blasé when asked for feedback is mind blowing.  Those engineers were nothing but button pushers, people who couldn't wait for the clock to run out so they could get out of the studio and cash their check.  Those are the people we're trying NOT to be at Ro3 Audio.  While we realize that as engineers we're not there to rewrite a client's music, change their ideas, or force ours on them, we take pride in the fact that we are willing and ready to offer our ideas and opinions when asked from clients... sometimes even when we're not asked by our clients.  Our goal isn't to force ideas or rewrite what is brought to us, we just want to help our clients put the best product out as they possibly can, sonically and musically, because our name will be on that same product.  If our clients take our constructive criticism and use it to make them better, great.  If they ask for criticism, awesome.  If we give an idea and a client doesn't want to use it or even listen to it, that's fine too... it wouldn't be the first time.  We'll tow the line and be the engineers that our clients allow us to be, whether it be engineers/producers/guys-behind-the-board who give honest feedback and ideas or just push buttons.  Our goal isn't about inserting ourselves into a client's project, it's about standing out.


We honestly strive to be better than a lot of other studios out there who just want your checks.  We come from the NJ/NYC music scene and we want to give right back to it.  The whole goal shouldn't be about the money and it isn't.  Don't get me wrong, we do get monetary compensation but we're not looking to get rich.  We sink it right back into what we love by upgrading equipment to improve recordings and help out our clients.  It's really like a donation when it all gets broken down.  We're trying to make amateur bands sound professional on their amateur budgets, and we're more than willing to work with our clients on working with that budget.  We d this to help build back up a scene that seems like it might be dwindling sometimes in the NJ/NYC area, to help bands become better, to try to make a difference in our client's careers as musicians by delivering a quality product, and most importantly because WE LOVE DOING IT.  


We're not like some of the other studios who look to make bank as the engineers sit back and push buttons while the watch the clock.  We want to stand out from the rest by giving you a lot for what you can get in your budget because WE LOVE WHAT WE DO.  Spread the word, Ro3 Audio is here to stay and we're not going anywhere.  If you or someone you know are looking for what we offer please contact us at ro3audio@gmail.com and we'll all benefit.