#341 Bobby Owsinski- Mixing Engineer, Podcaster, Author and More!
This week’s guest is Bobby Owsinski. Bobby Owsinski is an American audio engineer, producer, musician, and author based in Los Angeles.
He is best known as author of over 20 books in the field of music, music recording and social media, and audio engineering, especially in surround mixing with credits including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pantera, Weird Al Yankovic, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Neil Young, Iron Maiden, The Ramones, Chicago and more!
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to Daniel de los Reyes! Daniel was born into a family that for three generations has been making a living at banging and shaking things to make music. His grandfather, Walfredo de los Reyes II, laid the family musical foundation by co-founding the famous Cuban orchestra, Casino de la Playa. His father, Walfredo de los Reyes III, went on to become one of Cuba’s most successful drummers/percussionists before moving to Puerto Rico and then the United States. As one of the first drummers to incorporate the drum set with congas and other percussion, Walfredo III blazed a wide path that many would follow. He continues to wow crowds with his drumming and percussion ability, extensive musical history, and incredible enthusiasm at the ripe young age of 79. Daniel and his brothers, Walfredo Reyes Jr. and Kamar de los Reyes, keep the torch burning brighter than ever as they consistently stamp the de los Reyes name all over the percussion and entertainment landscape.
Currently on tour with the Grammy award-winning Zac Brown Band, Daniel has performed with a virtual who’s-who of artists including Don Henley, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sting, The Killers, Sheryl Crow, Patti LaBelle, Peter Frampton, Jennifer Lopez, Don Omar, Stevie Nicks, Louie Vega, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Lionel Richie, Kenny Ortega, Steve Winwood, and many more.
Gig Alerts
The Eagles have added six new dates to their “Long Goodbye, Final Tour” with Steely Dan as the supporting act. The Eagles have enjoyed a 52-year career, performing for fans worldwide, and now the band is announcing their final tour, “The Long Goodbye.” More dates will be forthcoming. Presale tickets and VIP packages will be available beginning Wednesday, July 12, for all announced shows, while the general on-sale starts Friday, July 14, at 10 AM local time. -Article
Global Citizen has announced headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ms. Lauryn Hill for this year’s Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, with performances from Megan Thee Stallion, Conan Gray, and Stray Kids.
International advocacy organization Global Citizen has announced the 2023 Global Citizen Festival on Saturday, September 23, at the Great Lawn of Central Park in New York City. The free, ticketed event will drive action to end extreme poverty, headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ms. Lauryn Hill, with performances from Megan Thee Stallion, Conan Gray, and Stray Kids. -Article
Live Nation is launching a summer tickets deal, offering a quartet of concert tickets for just $80. Here’s the latest.
The annual Summer’s Live promotion offers the possibility to get tickets for thousands of shows taking place across the United States. The promotion runs from July 19 through August 1 or while tickets last. As always, there are presale events for advertising partners, including Rakuten and Allegiant Allways Rewards. -Article
Damon will be playing at Cisco Brewery at the Village in Stamford, CT with Billy Ruegger on Saturday July 22nd from 2-5pm.
Educational Spotlight
PASIC registration is now open for November 8th-11th. The ticket price went up a little as of June 30th. Hotels are going fast. Get your tickets today!
The evening concerts have been announced as well.
Damon found Bobby from the Studio Builder’s Handbook.
Iconic Recording
Bobby chose the artist for the iconic recording in Steely Dan. Damon chose the track in “Do It Again” from 1972.
The Personnel is:
Donald Fagen – lead vocals, electric piano, plastic (YC-30) organ
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – guitar
Denny Dias – guitar, electric sitar
Walter Becker – electric bass
Jim Hodder – drums, percussion
Victor Feldman – percussion
Music News
The Top Secret Drumline was featured in the new Mission Impossible movie throughout the full score. Composed by Lorne Balfe.
Sheila E, the “Queen of Percussion” (aka Sheila Escovado) was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Universal Music Group calls on Congress to enact stricter artificial intelligence protections during the latest Congressional hearing on AI — ‘You have an opportunity to establish legal clarity.’
Universal Music Group called for the introduction of a nationwide publicity right during the latest Congressional hearing on artificial intelligence, also setting out the agenda of the Human Artistry Campaign and stressing the importance of transparency around generative AI — seeking clarity on when AI has been used to generate content and what data was used to train any one AI model. -Article
A new study performed by the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) found ticket resellers earn an average cumulative profit of $41,000 per show.
The NITO study focused on tickets sold and resold for 65 random shows by artists represented by NITO members. It sheds light on predatory reselling practices and price-gouging that consumers feel at ticket checkout. Venues in the study ranged from 1,500 to 20,000 capacity venues. One single show from the study netted $365,000 gross profit for resellers from just 2,491 tickets at an average resale price of $210 on tickets with an average face value of $65. -Article
Bobby Owsinski Interview
The song leading into the interview Bobby worked on. It is “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden from the ‘Live at Donington’ album.
Bobby talks about the difference between tracking, mixing and mastering.
Bobby wrote a bunch of different books.
Bobby talks about some of the basics of building or insulating a home studio.
Damon brings up Mitch Zlotnik and his company, Audimute, as a solution to treat the inside of your studio.
Bobby suggests for something more permanent, to get an acoustician and design your studio. Bobby mentions John Brandt.
If you don’t own your space, you might want to investigate less permanent solutions.
Bobby talks about HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) in your studio. Damon just got a new portable air conditioner. It is a Whynter dual hose.
If at all possible don’t have a square studio, have a rectangle.
Damon mentions the Glyn Johns micing technique.
Bobby talks about many mics vs. minimal mics. Also the importance of checking the phase.
Bobby recommends spending more money on the preamp vs. the mics if you have to make a choice.
If money isn’t an option for preamps, Antelope Audio or Universal Audio or Neve make really good ones. If you are more of a tinkerer, you can piece together what you would need in a rack with the help of this article.
Below is a list of inexpensive mics to get you started, recommended by Aaron Sterling.
If you would like to get something more substantial, you can check out this article. For recording hand drums and auxiliary percussion, Damon uses a combination of dynamic mics (Sennheiser 421) Condenser mics (AKG 414/Sennheiser MK4) and ribbon mics (AEA R92/N22). You can use whatever you want, and feel free to experiment.
Bobby talks about how to treat your loop and one-shot libraries to have the greatest success.
Bobby played guitar and some keys. He talks about how he got into electronics.
Bobby talks about his upbringing in Minersville, PA. This excerpt is from his Bio.
I grew up in Minersville, a small town in Eastern Pennsylvania of around 5,000 and, at the time, about as far away from the music business as you could imagine. As the name implies, Minersville was built around coal mining, and I grew up with coal dust in my back yard.
I started playing in bands when I was 13, and was playing in clubs pretty much non-stop by the time I was 16. Eventually I was asked to play in the best band in the region, the band that I grew up listening to and idolizing (they were together for 10 years before I started with them) – The Other Side.
Bobby attended Berklee College of Music. He ended up being a student and a teacher at the same time.
He left and moved to Los Angeles. He chose that city because it was the warmest.
Bobby chooses the iconic recording and why it is Steely Dan.
Shout-out to the late Roger Nichols.
Bobby talks about being a live sound engineer vs. working in a studio.
Shout-out to Dennis Moody.
He talks about building a mix and what to focus on. Bobby recommends getting the newest edition of The Recording Engineer’s Handbook.
Bobby talks about how the 80’s gated drum sound came to be and what song was responsible for that.
You can follow Bobby on his Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube.
The song leading out of the interview is “Highway Star” by SNEW and Allan Holdsworth.
