RSR002 - Vance Powell
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RSR EP002 - Vance Powell
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\\nIntro:
\\nVance Powell is a Grammy award winning producer, engineer and mixer from Joplin, MO. who\\u2019s impressive list of credits include Keb\\u2019 Mo\\u2019, Jars of Clay, Jack White (Third Man Records), Buddy Guy, Kings Of Leon, Sturgill Simpson, and local Nashville artists such as Jeff The Brotherhood, Moon Taxi and Bobby Bare Jr. He made his start in live sound, touring with local Missouri bands as a front-of-house engineer and in 2002 John McBride asked him to run Blackbird Studio. Vance is now also co-owner of Sputnik Sound.
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\\nEarly Life:
\\nVance was introduced to electronics early in his childhood, as his grandfather was an electrical engineer and miner. He later attended electronic school while in high school. This helped him to land a job as a second audio engineer in a local studio \\u2013 Massey Studios \\u2013 in Missouri where he worked for $5/hour learning and teaching himself the arts of mixing, and other tools of the trade like tape duplication (i.e. mastering). This marked the beginning of his successful career as an audio mix engineer.
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\\nReference Monitors:
\\nAuratone Monitors are speakers designed to listen to mono mixes. Yamaha NS10\\u2019s later became the replacement for Auratone reference monitors.
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\\n\\u201c\\u2026I use NS10s (Yamaha) because they sound cool\\u2026 and they will translate well in any situation.\\u201d \\u2013Vance Powell
\\n\\u201cIt\\u2019s all about your reference\\u2026 It doesn\\u2019t matter what your speakers are,\\u201d says Powell. \\u201cI have definitely made changes to a mix based on a mono iPhone speaker.
\\nWhen asked how one is able to hear the bass on a mono iPhone speaker he says simply \\u201cturn the bass off and then back on.\\u201d
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\\nJam Session:
\\nQ: What is the best advice you have for someone just starting out?
\\nA: You have to be fearless to make it in this business. If you are a person who is afraid of change, or afraid of failing, or afraid of losing your house\\u2026 you\\u2019re normal, but if you are afraid and act upon it because you are afraid, you\\u2019re not going to last.
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\\nQ: What was a time where you feel you hit a real point of failure or a time you felt like giving up that turned out to be a valuable learning experience for you.
\\nA: A year after I moved to Nashville, I did my first session and I had no idea what these people were wanting or doing. In some ways that was an interesting failure but I\\u2019ve been very lucky in that I don\\u2019t have anything I can really point out and say, \\u201cthat was a disaster.\\u201d
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\\nQ: I definitely know you for working with a lot of artists that like to push the boundaries and really get to the heart of what makes something great. You want to tell us a little bit about that?
\\nA: Obviously, I\\u2019ve spent 8 years working with Jack white and that\\u2019s been an incredibly eye-opening thing because he\\u2019s pretty amazing. He\\u2019s probably the most talented person I\\u2019ve ever been around. He\\u2019s one my favorite drummers\\u2026ever. He\\u2019s my favorite keyboard player, pianist and organist. He\\u2019s the easiest artist I\\u2019ve ever had to get a guitar sound for. It doesn\\u2019t matter what amp he plays, it doesn\\u2019t matter what guitar, it doesn\\u2019t matter how old the strings are it doesn\\u2019t matter what microphone you put in front of it, it sounds just like him. It\\u2019s all in his hands. He\\u2019s an amazing vocalist.
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\\nQ: What is a tip about the process of recording that you learned while working with artists like Jack White?
\\nA: Learn to be fast. I think anybody learning this business should do live sound. Live sound teaches you a bunch of things. You have to put a mix together in a very short period of time. You don\\u2019t have all day. You have one song to put a killer 48-channel mix together; otherwise you\\u2019re going to lose people.
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\\nQ: If you were dropped into a strange city and you were going to start out in recording or live sound, what advice would you have for someone who\\u2019s willing to take on that challenge?
\\nA: If you want to record, the first thing you need to do is purchase some way to record such as a laptop and an interface or port-a-studio. Then go find a band that you are willing to do what ever it takes to help them out. That means cart their gear around, do live sound for them, or record demos in your basement. Get yourself 4 good microphones. You can pretty much record a band with 4 or 5 good microphones. Don\\u2019t let the technology get in the way of creativity. I have a rule for my own productions and that is: my entire record has to fit inside 32 tracks. Don\\u2019t be afraid to make a decision; that\\u2019s the number one thing I\\u2019d say to anyone first starting out.
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\\nWebsites:
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\\nTwitter - @Vancalot
\\nSputniksound.com
\\nCredits - Allmusic.com
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\\nSo if you have any questions or suggestions for the show please email me
\\nlij@recordingstudiorockstars.com
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\\nAlso you can check out more at recordingstudiorockstars.com to follow the blog or watch the free videos. If you dig the show and find it helpful I would be honored if you would leave a rating and review in iTunes. You can tap through right on your phone from the podcast search page or go to recordingstudiorockstars.com/review for easy instructions.
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\\nAnd if you want to get on the email list for free content full of videos, tips, studio tricks, and special offers just text RSROCKSTARS to 33-444 from your phone (super easy and I promise you won\\u2019t get spammed!)
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\\nCheers!
\\nLij
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