RPM Direct Newsletter - February 4, 2002 - Record Producer and Engineer & Recording Studio News

The RPM Direct Newsletter

February 4, 2002

Hello all - happy (belated) New Year to you! This is the first newsletter of 2002 and we're thrilled to be back in action. Thanks to everyone who wrote in back in January expressing concern for our whereabouts. Aside from taking a while to get back up to speed after a long and relaxing holiday, we've been busy producing the first ever RPM Direct compilation CD. It sounds kick ass so be sure to keep your eyes open for info on how to get your copy. Also, a few new features for RPMDirect.com will be announced shortly so stay tuned for that news too. In the meantime, prepare thyselves for an all new and improved RPM in 2002! A long overdue transformation is coming and we're sure it's going to be a pleasant surprise. Do you ever think to yourself, "Why isn't there a regularly scheduled RPM newsletter in my inbox?" If you do, simply visit the archive to see what you may have missed. If you happen to have interesting or newsworthy items we should consider for this newsletter, please send an email with all the details to News@rpmdirect.com. All demos, music for review and other media materials should be mailed to the attention of Jerimaya Grabher at the RPM Direct headquarters. Be well...

News Headlines

Please Take Some Time And Visit Our Generous Sponsors

Final Selections Made For RPM Direct's Unsigned Artist Comp. After a few months of intense screening and lots of noise complaints from the neighbors, RPM has finally made selections for it's first ever compilation CD featuring unsigned artists produced by RPM Direct producer/engineer members. The 13 track CD spotlights new and some familiar talent as well as the "behind the boards" chops of some of today's hottest producers, engineers and mixers. The CD should be ready in just another week or so, please contact us for information on how to receive a copy or watch this newsletter for more information. We are quite pleased with the final outcome and think it sounds pretty kick ass. We encourage you to check it out when it's ready. Also, this project would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship support from Extasy Recording Studios, DNA Mastering, Crest National, Lon Cohen Studio Rentals, Music Business Registry, Studio Referral Service, Gig Design and Eastlink Graphics. There are good people behind these companies, if you have an opportunity to work with them, we encourage you to do so. More to come... ^BACK UP^

Check Out These Producer, Engineer & Mixer Grammy Noms! These are just a selection of some of the exciting nominations involving our producer/engineer pals. There are many more, be sure to visit Naras for the whole list. In the meantime, nominations in the Producer of the year category are: T-Bone Burnett ("Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", Sam Phillips), Dr. Dre (Busta Rhymes, Bilal, Eve feat. Gwen Stephani, Xibit), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis), Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Sting) and Gerald Eaton & Brian West aka Track & Field (Nelly Furtado). In the Best Engineered album category the nominees are: Al Schmitt for "The Look of Love" by Diana Krall, "Bassy" Bob Brockman & Martin Brumbach for "Life On A String" by Laurie Anderson, Josiah Gluck for "Ballads - Remembering John Coltrane" by Karrin Allyson, Tony Castle, George Massenburg and Jim Robeson for "Time*Sex*Love" by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Gary Paczosa for "New Favorite" by Alison Krauss & Union Station. Nick Didia engineered Train's "Drops" of Jupiter" nominated for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance By A Group, and Best Instrumental Arrangement; Rich Costey mixed Rage Against The Machine "Renegades Of Funk" which is nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance; Mark Bell produced and Steve Fitzmaurice mixed Depeche Mode's "I Feel Love" nominated for Best Dance Recording; Don Gilmore produced Linkin Park's debut which was nominated for Best Rock Album, and Best New Artist. Joe Chiccarelli recorded Elton John's "Songs From The West Coast" which was nominated for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album. Dave Schiffman recorded System Of A Down's "Chop Suey!" which was nominated for Best Metal Performance.E-Smoove's remix of Sunshine Anderson's "Heard It All Before" along with Steve "Silk" Hurley's remix of Bob Marley's "Soul Shakedown" and others are nominated for Best Remixed Recording. For a complete list of the nominees in all categories click here: 44th Grammy Awards. And be sure to tune in for all the fun on February 27. ^BACK UP^

Worlds End Mgmt. Absorbs Real Producers, Opens NYC Office Paul Adams, a ten year UK producer manager veteran previously running his own company, Real Producers, recently merged with Worlds End (America) Inc. and has taken the helm in New York. With this recent announcement, Worlds End producer management now likely has the best coverage of any producer management company in the industry. When asked to comment, Paul tells us, "The company already has it's head office in Los Angeles in addition to offices in London. The idea behind setting up Worlds End New York is simple: provide a better service to our East Coast producer, engineer & mixer clients and to our East Coast record company clients. Worlds End has always maintained a street level connection with new developments and signings and the New York office allows the company to build on that foundation." Coming with Paul from the Real Producers roster is: Mike "Spike" Drake, John Fryer, Donal Hodgson, Machine and Ed Raso. Open up your rolodex, the address of the new Worlds End NY office is: 1650 Broadway, Suite 410, New York, NY 10019. Ph: 212-397 4100 Fax: 212-397 1441. For more information contact Sandy Roberton or Paul Adams. ^BACK UP^

Unsigned Tony Lucca To Open For N*Sync On Spring Tour
Los Angeles singer/songwriter Tony Lucca has signed on to open for N*SYNC on the March and April dates of their "Celebrity Tour 2002". Tony is unsigned and has written and produced two solo releases and has had his music featured in TV including on the WB's "Felicity". He recently received the award for "Male Singer/Songwriter of the Year" at the 2001 Los Angeles Music Awards. You can check him out at venues around LA or join in the throng of screaming girls as he opens 27 dates of N*SYNC's tour, starting March 18, in Houston, TX. For more info on Tony, check out his website, www.tonylucca.com or go to www.mp3.com to hear more music. Contact: Tovar & Cohen at 310-302-0770 for additional information. ^BACK UP^

Grammy's Host “Producers Soundtable” at 9th Winter NAMM Four Grammy Award-winning producers debuted their new 5.1 surround sound projects through SLS Loudspeakers at the 9th Annual Grammy Producers SoundTable, held during last month's Winter NAMM Convention in Anaheim, Calif. SLS S1065 (3-way dual 10”, 6.5” mid and PRD 500 ribbon, studio monitor active 2-way) Loudspeakers provided the surround sound capabilities for the event, which featured producers Roy Thomas Baker (Queen), Alan Parsons (Pink Floyd), Toby Wright (Korn) and Danny Saber (U2) and moderator Howard Massey, a veteran audio journalist and author of Behind the Glass. The highlight of the event was the first public listening of Baker’s recently completed 5.1 remix of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ which stunned the audience and drew a standing ovation. “We couldn’t have been happier with the way our loudspeakers performed, especially during the emotionally charged ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ which is an ideal song for 5.1 listening,” said John Gott, president, SLS Loudspeakers. Pictured at the Grammy SoundTable, with the SLS center channel loudspeaker, are (l-r): Baker, Parsons, Massey and Wright. The Grammy SoundTable was held in cooperation with the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. and NAMM.
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Producer Tim Bomba Records Wilco Live For Documentary Producer/Engineer Tim Bomba was recently behind the boards for the band Wilco, recording the band live for an upcoming film documentary "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" directed by Sam Jones (Fusion Films). Sam is one of the country's top photographers with his work featured in GQ, Vaity Fair and more. The film covers the last year and current status of Wilco - from their getting dropped by Reprise, to changing band members, to getting picked up by Nonesuch/Elektra. The documentary is being filmed entirely in black and white, super 16 mm. To date it features live footage from shows in Minneapolis, Chicago, and the three that were recorded/filmed at the Fillmore in San Francisco Dec 1, 2, and 3, 2001. Film distribution should have been settled by end of Jan 2002. Should be a good one - keep your eyes open for this project. In the mean time, contact Tim Bomba for more information.
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Subscribe Now To Access RPM's Producer/Engineer Directory RPM Direct has compiled updated discography and contact info. for 2,200 top US, UK, Canadia and Australian record producers, engineers, mixers and more. This database was built by creative people for creative people who need a reliable source for crucial contact information for recording personnel. This directory is available only through subscription and if you ask, we'll happily offer you our friendly dept. rate. We also offer indie subscription rates for smaller labels, publishers and managers. Tired of constantly searching for real producer discographies or trying to locate their contact info? Do you need access to this information on a daily basis? Have you realized that All Music Guide is a bunch of garbled album credits full of so many inaccuracies it's not funny? Yes?! Well it's time you took a good look at the RPM Direct database. If you don't already have your own password, send email to Info@rpmdirect.com to request one. Or get in touch with Jerimaya Grabher to learn more or click here to sign up today.
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New FMI Course-Fundamentals of Orchestration For Film & TV
Film Music Institute offers a new 2-day concentrated course designed for composers who are interested in learning the fundamental techniques of orchestration for live players specifically as it applies to film and television music. Included in the course will be over 200 pages of composer sketches and scores from a wide range of projects. This course will also serve to prepare students for FMI's advanced orchestration course taught by Scott Smalley (now available exclusively from The Film Music Institute) which will be held on April 13-14, 2002. Fundamentals of Orchestration for Film and Television is designed for composers who want to learn specific techniques of orchestrating and writing for live instruments, from writing for single instruments to augment electronic tracks to writing and orchestrating for full orchestras. The course will cover topics including: The collaborative role of the orchestrator in the film production process; The art of working from and interpreting composer sketches; Stylistic issues when working as an orchestrator for a composer; Working with instruments of the orchestra; Writing and orchestrating for sections of the orchestra; Orchestration considerations when working with live instruments mixed with synth/sampler tracks; The role of the orchestrator in working with copyists and what is needed for the maximum play ability of those parts at a recording session; Exploring the orchestral styles of major composers for film and television; Orchestration considerations regarding dialogue and sound effects. Fundamentals of Orchestration for Film and Television Music is taught by noted Hollywood orchestrator BOBBY MUZINGO (Last of the Mohicans, The Santa Clause, Dance With Me, and Jungle2Jungle) Special VIP Industry guest speakers are scheduled, including a Music Editor and a Music Mixer. The course will be held at: The Beverly Garland Holiday Inn Beverly Garland Theater 4222 Vineland Studio City, CA, Saturday March 30 - 9am-5pm (registration 8am-9am) and Sunday, March 31 (Easter Sunday) - 9am-4pm. Course fee of $225 includes over 200 pages of sketches and scores plus all course materials and handouts. Discounted room rates are available at The Beverly Garland Holiday Inn - mention "Film Music Institute." A limited number of seats are available for this course - to register for this course click here.
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EAT'M Adds Impressive List of Industry Pros To Conference Multi-Academy Award-winning composer Elmer Bernstein and Mick Fleetwood, founder of legendary rock group Fleetwood Mac have been chosen as this year's EAT'M Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees. Fleetwood will also be one of a select few delivering Industry Perspectives to EAT'M registrants. EAT'M, scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, 2002 through Friday evening, May 31, 2002 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will address all genres of music, incorporating moderated panels, expanded mentoring discussions, marathon demo critiquing sessions, industry perspectives, CLE (Continuing Legal Education) and artist showcases. Aside from Mick Fleetwood, the aforementioned "Industry Perspectives" lineup includes Jay Samitt, Senior VP, New Media, EMI Recorded Music, Miles A. Copeland III, CEO, ARK21 Records, Artists Management, Gregg Latterman, Owner/President, Aware Records, Fred Rosen, Chairman and CEO, Key3 Media and Alan Light, Editor-in-Chief, SPIN Magazine. These 30-minute sessions are scheduled throughout the three days and include a 15-minute presentation, followed by15-minute Q&A's. Other key participants include Emmy award-winning/Oscar-nominated composer James Newton Howard; Minister Benjamin Muhammad, Executive Director of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network; Universal Music Group Soundtrack President Kathy Nelson; Dave Adelson from "E" Entertainment Television; Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman of 4 Fini, Inc.; Buzztone, Inc. CEO Liz Heller; Michele Bernstein from the William Morris Agency; Rod Essig (Creative Artist Agency, Inc.); Dr. Jim Halsey; Ted Cohen (EMI Recorded Music); Harvey Leeds (Epic Records); Lou Mann; John Madison; John Grady and Linda Edell Howard, Esq. (Stokes Bartholomew Evans & Petree P.A.). Artist evening showcase stages confirmed to-date include multiple stages at
the MGM Grand, New York, New York's Empire Bar and Brooklyn Bridge (which overlooks the famed Las Vegas Strip), three stages at the House of Blues and the Hard Rock Cafe. As an opportunity to give developing artists the best possible forum to "strut their stuff," a new dimension has been added to EAT'M with Marathon Demo Critiquing. Being overseen by Guy Marshall, president of Tutt and Babe Music, a total of six separate sessions totaling 15 hours will be given to those who wish to have their recorded music critiqued by label representatives, managers, agents and the like. These sessions will culminate with the Producer's Panel on Friday, May 31, moderated by legendary producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Nine Inch Nails, 30 Seconds to Mars, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed). For complete EAT'M information, including artist submission forms and panel updates, please visit www.eat-m.com.
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Ray Maxwell Joins Rocket Network as Dir. of Business Dev. Congratulations to Ray Maxwell, former General Manager of Digibid.com, who will be spearheading Rocket Network's efforts in the eastern US by establishing a presence in New York. Prior to joining Digibid in January of 2000, Ray served as Director of Sales for Lexicon in New York as well as Canada and concurrently managed the Studer Regional office in New York City. Maxwell represented Lexicon in New York since 1987 for an independent rep firm, PSI, until joining Lexicon in 1991. For more information about this and other Rocket Network news, contact Carrie Harvey and be sure to visit www.rocketnetwork.com ^BACK UP^

New Neve 88R Generates Nice Buzz At Conway Open House Over 200 engineers, musicians, producers and studio owners from across the USA and Canada filled Conway Recording Studios when AMS Neve and the prestigious LA facility hosted an all-day open house event to showcase the studio and its new 72-channel Neve 88R. The event was the first opportunity for many people in the US to get a glimpse of an 88R in action as both Conway and The Village have seen their 88Rs booked solid since installation. Conway’s 88R has been playing host to artists Laura Pausini, Seal and Amanda Ghost as well as tracking and mixing the television show Ally McBeal, while the desk at The Village has been locked out by a top rock act. AMS Neve Product Specialists Paul Christie and Jeff Goodman simultaneously demonstrated the all-new Neve throughout the day and night. John Hart, Vice President of the Western Region for AMS Neve, reported, “It was great to see so many people from the industry at this event at Conway. We gathered a huge amount of people to go through the console with informative and exciting demonstrations. Overall, everyone involved will attest to the success of the event and to the industry buzz circulating around the 88R.” Conway Recording Studios has a 72-channel VR console in Studio B, and each of its three rooms have Neve 33609J compressors and 1081 mic pre amp equalizers. Conway Recording Studios has been the recording home to such famed albums as Dave Matthews Band’s Everyday, Blink 182’s Enema of the State, Christina Aguilera’s self-titled album, Hole’s Celebrity Skin, Marilyn Manson’s Mechanical Animals, Beck’s Odelay, Fleetwood Mac’s The Dance, Eric Clapton’s change the World, Bonnie Raitt’s Luck of the Draw and U2’s Rattle and Hum. The 88R is the first all-new Neve large-format audio console in almost 20 years. It enables recording at the best conceivable quality onto any format at any sample rate, capturing all the energy and atmosphere of the original performance as perfectly as possible. Other renowned facilities who have committed to the 88R include Air Studios in London, PLUS XXX STUDIOS in Paris, Sony Music Entertainment in Japan who have three consoles and Tim Misner’s Studios 301 in Australia. ^BACK UP^

Audio Engineering Society's Electronic Library Now Avail On CD The Audio Engineering Society has published a 17-disk electronic library containing most of the Journal technical articles, convention preprints, and conference papers published by the AES since its inception through the year 2000. The approximately 9,000 papers and articles are stored in PDF format, preserving the original documents to the highest fidelity possible, while permitting full-text and field searching. The library can be viewed on Windows, Mac, and UNIX platforms. You can purchase the entire 17-disk library or disk 1 alone. Disk 1 contains the program and installation files that are linked to the PDF collections on the other 16 disks. For reference and citation convenience, disk 1 also contains a full index of all documents within the library, permitting you to retrieve titles, author names, original publication name, publication date, page numbers, and abstract text without ever having to swap disks. Click here for additional technical information about the AES Electronic Library. For price and ordering information send email to publication_order@aes.org, or call any AES office at: +1 212 661 8528 (USA);+44 1628 663725 (UK); +33 1 4881 4632 (Europe). ^BACK UP^

Alexis Markowitz Looks To Jump From Film To Position In Music "Hello, my name is Alexis Markowitz and I am looking for a challenging creative position within the music industry. I have a background in Film and TV but am interested in making a move into music." Got a job for Alexis? Click here see her resume click. ^BACK UP^

NYC Based Engineer/Mixer Mark Mitchell Seeks Management Engineer/Mixer Mark Mitchell has worked with artists ranging from Prince, Macy Gray to LL Cool J, Kid Rock and Soulive. Looking to take his career to another level, Mark is currently seeking representation. Mark is based in New York and can be contacted via email at markmitchell5@home.com ^BACK UP^

Feel Like You're Missing Out? Don't Stress - Visit The Archive Feel like you're missing out on what we do? Then visit the RPM Direct Newsletter Archive to catch up on reading you may have missed. If you'd like to browse our producer database but you aren't a subscriber, request a password for access. ^BACK TO TOP^

Missing Producers

Due to constantly changing management rosters, we have lost touch with the folks on the list below. If you know where they are or are able to reach them, please ask them to get in touch with RPM Direct. We are currently trying to make contact with:

Aaron Zigman
Andy Baker
Andy Metcalfe
Anjali Dutt
Ben Kape
Boilerhouse Boys
Bonzai Jim Caruso
Bruce Brody
Bruce Lampcov
Bug City
CC Groove
Chad Bamford
Charles Bouis
Charlie Calello
Chris Arvan
Da Lata
Darkman
Dave (Deptford) Pine
Dave Hillis
David Castell
David Hemming
Doug Olson
Eric "E.T." Thorngren
Eric E. Garten

Eric O'Brien Garten
Haig V. (Vartzbedian)
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Maher
Jason Coreare
Jeff Bova
Jessica Corcoran
Jim Goodwin
Jim Monroe
John Gosling
John Lee
John McEntire
John Siket
Ken Lomas
Ko-Jo
Laurence Jay Cedar
Lee Curle
Lee De Carlo
Lindsay Gravina
Loren Israel
Mak Togashi
Marc Waterman
Marco Pirroni

Mark Arnell
Mark Wilkin (Solo)
Martin Bisi
Micajah Ryan
Michael Andrews
Michael Koppelman
Michael Schlesinger
Mike Hoffman
Mike Stewart
Mykaell Riley
Nick Addison
Ollie Marland
Paul Schroeder
Paul Taylor
Peter Coleman
Peter Denenberg
Phil Chill
Phil Ek
Pop Rox
Randy Pekich
Ray Martin
Reggie Lucas
Rich Wermerling
Rob Christiansen

Roger Greenawalt
Roli Mosimann
Ronnie Champagne
Sam Williams
Sandy Linzer
Scott Hackwith
Shad Scott
Simon Gogerly
Simon Vinestock
Skold
Steven Dubin
Studio 7
Tim Russell
Todd Burke
Tom Frederikse
Tom Grimley
Tom Scott
Tommy D Daugherty
Tony Visconti
Tosh
Vincent Jones

If you have interesting news items for this newsletter, demos for us to hear, ideas for us to consider or other industry related things we should know, please send email to News@rpmdirect.com or mail to:

RPM Direct, Inc. PO BOX 3328 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 USA

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