music production and audio engineering

Welcome, and thanks for visiting gunnersound. I'm a producer/engineer striving for high-quality audio results while providing a professional recording experience that is comfortable, enjoyable and allows your music and creativity to come first!

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Next Stop -- San Francisco

10.13.2008: I know it's been awhile since I've added anything here, things have just been so crazy busy (which is a good thing) that I simply haven't had time to fiddle around with the website. An interesting chain of events has taken me to Northern California and I'm currently settled in beautiful Marin County, just outside of San Francisco. Right now on the plate I've got audio for the MLB2K9 videogame as well as mixing a record for Steven Jaymes in a cross continental collaboration all the way to Australia.

Yet another scene change: 2KSports

04.17.2007: Here's another interesting adventure I'm undertaking in my audio engineering journey. I've been hired to do audio for the upcoming MLB and NHL videogame releases from 2KSports. I have to say I'm pretty excited about this! It's definitely different than making music, but challenging and fulfilling in a whole other way. These are some serious games, and if you're into baseball or hockey and have access to an xBox360 or PS3, check out the next releases of these games. They will blow your mind! And don't worry, I'm still doing music that's not videogame related. Mixing continues for our favorite San Diego acoustic rock husband and wife duo, Compass Rose, as well as some upcoming tracks for soulful pop rock group JZMN.

Recording Ravi Shankar

02.16.2007: I know, I know, I haven't been keeping up with this blog. Shame on me, but I had to stop by and post this one: I just spent a couple of days recording a song with Ravi Shankar. Yup, that Ravi Shankar. The one who the Beatles when to study with in India for a few months. The guy who brought classical Indian music and the Sitar to the western world. What an amazing experience! And let me tell you, that Sitar is a tricky instrument to capture. I tried a bunch of mics, including a DPA stereo pair that I thought was going to be the bomb. However, after listening in the mix, the mono Royer R121 ribbon really sounded the smoothest and most pleasing, while still representing most of the tonality of the instrument. Who woulda thunk it?

News from the land of gunnersound

07.19.2006: Jamie Varley's "You Ride" is complete -- tracking, mixing, mastering, artwork and everything. Look for it soon on CDBaby and iTunes! There's a great collaboration on here between Jamie and mrDSP which is definitely worth the price of admission! We also recorded a tribute record to the late Tommy Bolan which has yet to be mixed and was produced by Russell Bizzett. Mixing has been ongoing for the Woodrows, everyone's favorite friendly San Diego Pharm Rock band, as well as Daniel Emerson and his hardrocking fellows from Lexington, KY.

mrDSP and Abelton Live

04.25.2006: Ok kids, we've finished assembling and mixing the new record for mrDSP, "Armchair intelligentsia/Dance Floor Superheroes". This was a very interesting album to work on, as it didn't follow any "normal" recording conventions. We spent a week recording "songs" with live drums/bass/keyboards/guitars/sax/flute/etc. Lot's of vintage instruments were used, and over 3 hours of material were captured. The tunes were then chopped into loopable sections, with each instrument separate, and exported into Abelton Live where they were reassembled and remixed to create completely new and different compositions. The musicians essentially played their own loops, and then remixed them. If you have never experienced Live you should check it out. I have long been in the world of ProTools, and simply find it works they way I want to work (for the most part) and does what I need in a professional and reliable manner. When I have used other NLEs, I seem to find that they work well and in some ways excel over ProTools, but I always end up back with our friends at Digidesign simply because it does what I need it to better than anything else. Then I saw Live. This program is AMAZING! The interface is unlike anything I had ever seen, but once I figured it out it simply made sense. The things it allows you to do on the fly with your audio loops is simply mind-boggling. This seems to me to be the ultimate NLE music making tool. I don't think it replaces ProTools, as I still haven't figured out a good way to use it for traditional multitrack recording, but otherwise nothing I have seen even comes close!

Ryan Montana and the Ten O'Clock Scholars

02.28.2006: Today marks the final bit of mixing for "Electric Picture Show," the upcoming release from Ryan Montana and the Ten O'Clock Scholars on SOTA Music. I have to say that I've enjoyed working on this project so much, it's kind of sad to see it come to an end. Everyone involved has poured their heart and soul into this musical snapshot of time, and it really seems to have taken on a life of it's own. It's a throwback rock/soul/funk/folk project that's just bubbling with gritty, organic texture. Please give it a listen!

Production begins on long awaited mrDSP record

02.14.2006: On this date we begin an exciting new musical journey. Here at the SOTA studio we've started tracking a new record for the production team mrDSP. It's a experimental melting pot of jazz, techno, rock, classical, soul, hip hop and anything else you can think of. This is guaranteed to be something you never knew you always wanted to hear!

Gear Pick of the Week: Chandler TG1

02.12.2006: That's right folks, it's time for Todd's Favorite Gear Pick of the Week. (Don't worry, this won't really happen every week...) Anyway, I'm in love with the Chandler TG1 Limiter, and no it's not just because it has my initials. I know it's been out for a long time now, but I've just now discovered it's sonic magic. After running a drum submix through that baby I discovered I was grinning from ear to ear! Those drums pumped out of the speakers with a liquid groove previously only imagined. If you haven't tried one, you owe it to yourself to stop everything you are doing and go check one out.
(This public service announcement is in no way funded by Chandler Limited or it's affiliates.)

Cadence, Final Mix

08.02.2005: Here's a project I'm really excited about, Cadence, "Songs of Vice and Virtue." This record has been in process for a couple of years now, and it's got some truly great stuff on it. My boys Brett Elam and Zach Crowell have really outdone themselves with this one. I believe the album is gonna drop early next year. I mixed a bunch of the songs back in Nashville, and they sent me one last minute tune that I mixed out here in CA for them. East Coast meets West Coast. Definitely lots of fun studio moments on this one: like the time the console completely fried, or discovering the dangers of hammock surfing.

Nashville to San Diego

After 12 years in Nashville, it's time for a much needed change. In the immortal words of Robert Plant, "I'm going to California with an achin' in my heart." So, my wife and I sold our house, some furniture, cars, motorcycle and more, packed everything that was left in this 24 foot Penske truck and hit the open road on 06.06.2005.

Mike and Leo in the Studio

On 02.25.2005 at the Sound Kitchen in Franklin, TN we started mixing the next Mike and Leo record, "66 Steps." This is the second collaborative effort between Mike Gordon (part of the collective genius of Phish) and Leo Kottke (legendary acoustic guitar virtuoso). The tracks were cut in the Bahamas at Compass Point late last year, and then brought here for the finishing touches. David Z was at the helm and Jared Slomoff completed our creative team. I have to say, working with David Z is always interesting. This guy was given his name from none other than Prince and has worked on countless hit records including releases by Prince, the Fine Young Cannibals, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and let's not forget "Funky Town". I had the pleasure of working on "Heavy Love" by Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang's "Wander this World" with Z, and I have to say they were among the coolest projects I've been involved in. Anyway, back to Mike and Leo. This record has been great fun, full of interesting music, and many strange audio experiments. One tune even include a back beat created by none other than a crunching tortilla chip, and there were also some squeaking balloons involved...

Faith Hill Mixes at the Sound Kitchen

01.03.2005: Happy New Year from the Kitchen! Greg Droman, mixmaster extraordinaire, and myself are looking forward to the next couple of weeks. We'll be holed up in Studio A, mixing some cuts for the long awaited new Warner Brothers release by Faith Hill, "Fireflies."