Hello again!

The year seems to be moving on at a great rate of speed for some reason, I guess being so busy is the main reason why. It seems like only yesterday that the Steel Mill was opened for the first time, again I would like to thank you all again for dropping in at the mill and for your very welcome communication and support.

The U.K has had a dreadful weather this summer, although that actually has suited me fine as I have for the most part been in the studio which sometimes feels like a pharaohs tomb. For those of you who have never been in a studio it may surprise you to know that often there are no windows as privacy, security and sound proofing are the main reasons. So that means all lighting is artificial and you have to rely on air conditioning. Yes, if you are thinking of a fallout shelter maybe it’s not too far off. No, really it is not that bad as things have changed a lot over the years, long gone are the days when you had to play the songs over and over as a band to prepare to go into the studio – then when recording you literally had to play the song from start to finish as you would live. I can remember just concentrating on not being the one to bring everyone to a halt, maybe this was a contributing factor why many bands had trouble capturing their live energy onto their records. Also the problem with this method was that everyone’s instrument bled through on to each others track making things very difficult for the engineer to get clarity and separation between instruments when mixing the songs.

I wonder when was the last time you played through your old collection on cassettes or even vinyl? Well anyway next time you do just listen and compare them to your latest purchase on CD. I think that you will see the vast differences how modern day techniques have improved a bands ability the get their power, energy and volume onto their record thus threatening to blow up your hi-fi at any time splattering smouldering bit of components and speaker cone all over your mothers new three piece suite – COOL!!!! (I feel yet another law suite coming on).

So back in the real world as I was saying the studio environment although can sometimes be fun it is very much a place of hard work, sometimes it can be very intense especially when you are behind and the record company are not happy or the studio bill is getting out of control. Is it any wonder that these days musicians utilise every opportunity to enjoy the benefits that recent computer technology has bought about by allowing the home recording studio to be born. The benefits apart from efficient and economical recording are that many new artists have at last the opportunity to evolve and make themselves heard in the world of music without having to rely on someone from a record label to sign them and give them a financial advance just so that they can record their music. I can remember having to wait for many years to get the yes from a label, it was very frustrating.

Many things are said and written about modern recording technology but as far as I am concerned it may be to this new technology that one day we have to thank for allowing the next Metal Giants to enter into our lives.

Regards from