If you share this QA process with
your peers, you will realize that
mixing is not as mystical a task as
we often feel it to be.
THE BENEFITS OF
COLLABORATING
AT HOME
While it can be easy to highlight
the creative challenges that arise
from working in isolation, it’s the
creative pluses I’ll touch on here.
If you are the type of musician
who loves to take their time
when composing parts, chances
are you love the extra time and
privacy that working from home
provides. Being able to put in the
extra hour on your own time without
the pressure of a studio’s operating
hours is often a bonus.
With more free time at home, it
has become easier to strike while
the iron is hot. Having more flexibility
over our work schedules can
have tremendous positive effects
on the quality of our creative output.
More work-life balance has
been a very positive result of the
pandemic in my own household.
Less evening work and less weekend
work has made weekday,
daytime hours far more creative
and productive. Keeping an active
calendar and carving out time for
creative exploration with no real
productive goal has also been a
positive outcome.
I encourage our readers to
reach out to your bandmates,
creative peers, and others in the
community to get the ball rolling
on work you may feel has to happen
with others in the room. You
may be surprised at the level of
productivity we are capable of
from our modest home studios.
Adam Gallant has worked in all
facets of digital audio production,
from music composition to location
and post audio for television and
film. He currently owns and
operates The Hill Sound
Studio in Charlottetown, PE.
to websites like
Twitch, Twitter,
or Facebook. By
using the gaming
platforms, I am
able to output
1080p video and
high-quality audio
for clients so that
they can see and
hear what I am
doing with only
a 10-30 second
delay. This means
that I can execute
mix revisions with
clients without
having to print and
send dozens of
files.
JILL ZIMMERMANN
Working primarily out of
Jukasa Studios in Ohsweken,
ON, Jill Zimmermann has
collaborated with artists including
Alice Cooper, Three
Days Grace, Alexisonfire, and
July Talk, as well as decorated
producers like Bob Ezrin,
Gavin Brown, Mike Plotnikoff,
and Ian Davenport.
www.jillzimmermann.com.
Tools for remote work…
As simple as it is, I found that using
Skype or Zoom during a session where
the producer is not available is a great
tool. This way, you can be sure the session
is going in the right direction sonically
and that the producer gets what
they want out of the artists by being able
to coach them. For this, I believe it’s crucial
that the video program is fed the console
or DAW output and not just picking
up ambient sounds through a laptop mic.
Cool remote results…
I believe that some artists benefit from
recording remotely as they have less
pressure than with a producer that comments
on every single take. I’ve had
several remote sessions where the artists
have a little setup at home to record
backing vocals or instruments and the
musicians seem to have better performances
since they have more room to
be creative and work longer on the perfect
take, as opposed to “watching the
clock” [in the studio.] Usually, the little
uncertainty whether it’s going in the right
direction by not having immediate feedback
makes them record more takes with
different styles to choose from. This has
proven to be interesting at times!
56 CANADIAN MUSICIAN