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Congratulations to Paul Oakenfold and TC Spitfire who found themselves at #3 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs this past week with the track Surrender.
The track was written by Paul, TC and J Hart who also sang the track. TC Spitfire who is a passionate SONAR X1 Expanded user co-produced and mixed the track using a combination of all the ProChannel modules. “This new era with the ProChannel and X1d [Expanded] is on a serious elevated level. The combination of the modules has me staying more and more inside SONAR natively,” TC told us.
On a daily basis, TC is very busy individual. Between writing new music, producing, mixing and remixing, he finds himself a bit overextended these days and “taking it and enjoying it while it’s there.” Most recently, he has worked with artists such as Cher, Matt Goss, Matt Morris and Jean Baptist – and that is just in the recent past. “On a daily basis I will jump from remixing a track for 4 hours, to writing in another studio for 4 hours, and then back to our lab for another however-long-it-takes-session – for the next barrage of musical craziness.”
For the track Surrender which is currently charting on the Billboard Dance Club Chart, TC collaborated with both Paul Oakenfold and J Hart on the writing side and then built and mixed the song completely in SONAR X1 Expanded.
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CW AR: This vocal sound is huge in this track. What was some of the processing involved?
TC: On the vocal track I used the new Hybrid mode in the ProChannels QuadCurve EQ. I cut quite a bit of the low end off and had quite a bit of mids popping for this track around 1.8k. I was able to surgically cut out some other frequencies in the mids to get the vocals away from other keyboard parts in that range.
On top of that, I used the PC4K channel compressor along with a slight touch of the Softube Saturation Knob with the switch on the “high” setting. I also sent multiple lead vocal tracks out to a lead vocal bus which had the PCCL Limiter on it for a slight boost and some tightening.
CW AR: This track and all your tracks for that matter are really tight, what are the main factors for you in achieving this sound?
TC: It’s pretty simple, but it’s also pretty complicated. It’s simple, because most of it has to do with compression, EQ and limiting, which are 75% from the ProChannel in my tracks. It’s complicated because carving the frequencies, making the decisions on where to compress and how much, and what to use a limiter on – all factor in. Sometimes, over compressing and using too many limiters will just make a song sound flat-lined and not breathing. I think another factor is not using too many of the same compressors or EQ’s on every single track. I really like mixing up my inserts. On some tracks I will use the 76 and others I will use the Softube compressor. I even use the PC4K bus compressor on tracks – call me crazy – haaa. There are no rules in the digital world and use my ear and the tools SONAR X1 Expanded provides to get the sound to where I need it to be.
In the next year you will be hearing a lot more from Paul Oakenfold and TC as a new deal was just signed with Sony Records. As soon as the details are released on that we will keep you posted. Until then, you can check out SONAR X1 for free here.
SONAR X1 is the most intuitive D.A.W. on the market today. It’s easy to get up and running, and it’s just as easy with practice and experience to become an advanced user. If you are running windows, and you are a musician, now is a great time to pull the trigger with the SONAR X1 Advanced Workshop Giveaway Promotion.
“SURRENDER” [Completely recorded, mixed and mastered in SONAR X1 Expanded:]
Each Spring the Musical Instruments world descends upon Frankfurt, Germany for the planet’s largest MI trade show; Musikmesse. Cakewalk’s had a presence at the Frankfurt Musikmesse for decades and with one small exception this year was no different. This year I was a part of the crew. And this year I wrote a blog about it!
Some artists spend more time trying to catapult their image into the status spotlight than they do actually creating music. Some artists lay low under the radar diligently doing their thing. In this day and age, there really is no right or wrong way to be an artist in the music industry, you just have to do what you do best and run with it. If the content is great, it will find its way.
A great artist example of this notion in my book is SONAR X1 Expanded user Jon Lee. Working and residing in Santa Monica, Jon Lee lays low under the radar while creating music and sound-scapes for some of today’s most popular “verite” style TV reality shows. If you have seen the show Cops, than you are probably familiar with one of the most prominent production companies in the biz, “Langley Productions.”
V-Control Pro provides a fully-featured, multi-touch control surface for SONAR. V-Control Pro uses WiFi to control transport, editing, and mixing functions. V-Control Pro provides advanced control of sends, automation, groups, auditioning, plug-ins, jog/scrub/shuttle, I/O assignment, and other controls within an easy-to-use interface.
The success of SONAR X1 user Chris Standring’s groundbreaking 2010 CD Blue Bolero, which topped several year-end lists and produced a No. 1 single, made it tough for him to create a follow-up record; but all early indicators are showing that he managed quite nicely with the new Electric Wonderlandrecording which came out yesterday.
As of this morning, Chris woke up to find out that Electric Wonderland has hit #1 in its genre on the Amazon.com sales chart, as well as #1 on the BDS Radio Tracking Chart (Billboard) for the same genre. I would say that’s a setup for a pretty great day, especially considering the “sales” climate of the music industry in general. Electric Wonderland is a 10-song CD of original songs that fuses elements of the last record Blue Bolero’s orchestral touches with a deft jazz-pop touch that’s been a hallmark of Standring’s stellar career.
One of the changes Chris made on Electric Wonderlandbesides going from SONAR 8.5 to X1 was mixing the record on his own. (more…)
If you thought NAMM was something, wait until next week when Musikmesse 2012 opens itself to the world in Frankfurt, Germany from March 21st – 24th. The planet’s largest Music Industry trade show is looming just over the horizon and we’ll be there to show off our latest wares, gadgets, and goodies, including a new brand new, yet to be released ProChannel module.
We’ll formally announce the new module at the show. In the meantime, check out the picture below to spot the module in action. But don’t tell anyone I gave you the drop, OK?
Hidden in this sea of ProChannels is the new module we’ll announce at Musikmesse 2012
When it comes to SONAR, many of us often just think of recording and creating music for one medium, but there are many people out there using it in other ways. Pristine Productions is a company based out of Philadelphia that has been using SONAR for many years to record Major Label artists; only not in the traditional sense…
Week-in and week-out, Ron Cote and his crew are found working with some of the biggest names in the business such as Shinedown, Disturbed, Stone Sour, Staind, Avenged Sevenfold and most recently, the undeniable Adrenaline Mob who are currently making a huge mark in the rock world. When I say “working with” I am talking about a platform beyond recorded music that extends into the depths of capturing the whole “concert experience” on video. Ron is hired by Major Labels and directly by bands to go into the trenches and capture those moments that give us all goose-bumps; those moments where a guitar solo just sounds way better than it did on the studio version of the song; or those moments where the lead singer delivered an inspirational melody he/she should have put on the studio record. (more…)
Award winning SONAR user – composer/producer Shawn Clement is at an exciting point in his “intense” career:
His credentials and track record have allowed him to open an office/SONAR studio at the heart of Paramount Pictures.
He just had a major successful event at The Kennedy Center in DC where his music was premiered during “A Tribute to the Wounded Warriors.”
On July 29th he will be hosting a score party at Paramount Pictures for his original music in “Quantum Quest, A Cassini Space Odyssey 3D.”
Little did he know, when in 1996 Shawn Clement took on a “gig,” that he would be stapling a movement to the universe’s musical bulletin-board. “Reality TV – what’s that? Who’s going to take interest in that?” These were some of the questions flying around the conference rooms of major television networks back then. Well it just so happens that still to this day 95% of us get sucked into the inevitable antics of The World’s Wildest… The World’s Scariest… The World’s Most… You know, those shows that catch your eye when you’re flicking through the channels and catch a quick glimpse of a Corvette being severed in half by a semi-truck; and there it is – wham – a half hour later and you have neither moved from that channel, nor your seat for that matter. (more…)
A little over a month ago we featured Javier Colon on our blog the day before “The Voice” premiered. I don’t think anyone had a doubt that he would be anything less than stellar on the show, but I don’t think anyone realized the impact he would have on viewers around the world. If you have seen the show you know what I am talking about; Javier’s voice is undeniable, and combining that with his first-class demeanor and composure has authentically gained him millions of fans around the world. Since the premier, Javier has been on a whirlwind ride and we have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with him even though his schedule has changed… just a bit;) (more…)
Congratulations to Paul Oakenfold and TC Spitfire who found themselves at #3 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs this past week with the track Surrender.
When it comes to SONAR, many of us often just think of recording and creating music for one medium, but there are many people out there using it in other ways. Pristine Productions is a company based out of Philadelphia that has been using SONAR for many years to record Major Label artists; only not in the traditional sense…
A little over a month ago we featured Javier Colon on our blog the day before “The Voice” premiered. I don’t think anyone had a doubt that he would be anything less than stellar on the show, but I don’t think anyone realized the impact he would have on viewers around the world. If you have seen the show you know what I am talking about; Javier’s voice is undeniable, and combining that with his first-class demeanor and composure has authentically gained him millions of fans around the world. Since the premier, Javier has been on a whirlwind ride and we have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with him even though his schedule has changed… just a bit;) 
