KBJ Records

Memphis, TN is a place where music is life! The Memphis Music Scene is among one of the most prosperous in the United States. At the beginning of this year we ran a campaign to honor the Memphis Music Scene. We gave away FREE STUDIO TIME to 20 musicians from around the Memphis and surrounding areas. We called this movement, "The Memphis Music Matters Movement" and we want you to be a part of it. When this promotion returns, we expect to see you there! Here are some video highlights. Enjoy! "By Kelvin Butler" Kelvin Butler is the author of this blog. He also is part owner of KBJ Records.com, a website that caters to the working class musician by offering affordable services in audio mastering, and more. Learn about his very affordable offers at  www.kbjrecords.com

I am not a hater of mastering engines, but I believe that there are times when they make a suitable solution for audio mastering.  But when it comes to online mastering engines, one has to understand that they are robots.  All of the calculations made to your music are based on robotic calculations. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN A ROBOT AND A PERSON? Well, a robot is only as good as the person who programmed it.  Robots will always work within a set of rules and parameters i.e. “If Bass is this db, then turn down by this amount of db” or “If song is this loud in db, then turn down by this amount of db”.  A robot will never make an illogical decision which sometimes, is exactly what your music needs to push it to that next level.  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR MUSIC? A robot will likely only do the safe programmed solution to your mixes’ problems.  Many times you will only get an average result out of this type of process. WHY IS HUMAN INTERACTION IM...

When we designed the studio, we wanted to figure out the most affordable way to drape our soundproofing fabric from the ceiling and still get the classic Middle Eastern look.  Curtain rods were the answer to this problem.  We placed them on the ceilings and the walls and draped our fabric from them.  Check out the pics below! "By Kelvin Butler" Kelvin Butler is the author of this blog. He also is part owner of KBJ Records.com, a website that caters to the working class musician by offering affordable services in audio mastering, and more. Learn about his very affordable offers at  www.kbjrecords.com

There are many ways to mic a drum set.  In this short article we will focus on how to get the most optimal sound out of a drum set with an 8 mic set-up.  To get the best sound out of your drum set, you will need at least 8 mics depending on the size of your drum set.  Two of those mics will be condenser mics while the rest can be dynamic mics.  The mic set up for a drum set is as follows: 1 Mic for your kick drum 2 Mics for hi and low toms (1 for each tom) 1 Mic for your floor tom 2 Mics for your snare (one for the top of snare) (one for the bottom of snare) 2 Mics for Overheads & Cymbals (these will go on the left and right side of set and will hover above the entire set. The diagram below is a close example: diagram credit: drummagazine.com Note that in the diagram above, they are using an eleven mic set-up.  They have additional mics on the high hat, the ride cymbal and inside the kick drum.  If you have the mic ports to add t...

When you place to much gear in the chain you run the risk of over processing and loss of audio integrity.  So when it comes to our audio rack, we keep it simple.  Our audio rack set-up is as follows: PreSonus Studio One Channel This is a killer pre-amp, compressor, and EQ all rolled into one and it will get the job done on all recordings.  We use it on everything! Behringer Tube Ultragain T1953  This puppy is a very warm tube pre-amp.  Not very harsh with a high pass and low pass filter.  It also has phase reversal and frequency altering capabilities. 462 BBE Sonic Maximizer This is basically a phase correcting exciter that lifts the mud off of all recordings. Multigate Pro XR4400 This is a noise gate that we use on live drums.  Used correctly, no noise can penetrate this baby! Ultragraph Digital DEQ1024 If you don't know how to EQ, stay away from this one.  For professionals only.  It is a...