Reference Masters You Use

[Jared ShermanParticipant]

Hello Adam;

Thank you so much for giving of your time to answer these questions. It is very helpful to all of us.

Do you have a routine for listening to reference masters before a session? If so a) how long do you usually spend doing that and b) what tracks do you go to as references? If the answers are a) no and b) whatever the artist gives me, then a) did you ever do that in your earlier years and b) what would be some songs of your personal choice that you would reference?

[Adam AyanParticipant]

Hi Jared,

Great questions!

I do not normally listen to references before a session, I usually dive in and do my thing. There are of course exceptions:

- if I've done a record with the producer or artist before I might pull up something we've done and they've already approved, just to get my head in the game.

- if they specifically ask me to check something out I will, but I don't always put a ton of stock into it, as I try to treat their recording the way that works best for it.

- if I'm really having a difficult time trying to get a mix to sound good (a bad mix, for example) I might pull up something I really love sonically (and in the same ballpark in terms of genre) to regain perspective.

Of course early on I had several favorites that I knew very well and listened to often, and they are as follows:

Foo Fighters "The Colour and the Shape"
Sheryl Crow (self titled)
Should Coughing - all 3 of their records
Madonna "Erotica"

As for recordings that I have mastered that I go back to often for sonics, I mentioned them in another post, but I'll copy and past here as well:

Some sonic favorite masters of mine are:

Pearl Jam “Vs” and “Vitalogy” remasters that I did in 2010
Augustana (self titled album)
The Dandy Warhols “This Machine”
Mavis Staples “Livin’ on a High Note”
Rascal Flatts “Me and My Gang”
The Band Perry “Pioneer”
Carrie Underwood “Blown Away”
Trevor Hall “Kala”
Blakroc (self titled)

Thanks!

Best,
Adam

[Jared ShermanParticipant]

Thanks Adam; I love The Colour And The Shape as well, I remember buying that CD the day it came out and being completely blown away how great it sounded, especially compared to the first album that basically sounded like a demo, to be generous. As for "Should Coughing" I assume that was some kind of autocorrect weirdness and you meant "Soul Coughing"?

My favorite band of all time is Pearl Jam and I think Vitalogy is one of the greatest recordings I have ever heard. That record rocks so hard but it's also so intimate and they kept all these mistakes in but they all just sound so cool. I've probably listened to that record a million times; and VS. is great too of course. That is so cool that you got to work on the remasters. Those do sound great as well.

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Jared Sherman.
• This reply was modified 8 years ago by Jared Sherman.

[Warren HuartKeymaster]

Aw shucks thanks Adam for including Trevor Hall's Album 'Kala' in that list that I Produced! You Rock!!

[Adam AyanParticipant]

Hi Warren!

No need to thank me, you made "Kala" sound amazing!!

[Adam AyanParticipant]

Hi Jared,

You are correct - I meant Soul Coughing 🙂

[Jared ShermanParticipant]

Kala does sound great. I have been a fan of Trevor Hall's for quite some time since I heard the song "Volume" right around the time it came out. That's a great song. Kala is really cool too; though sometimes I kind of wish he would do a song here or there that was a little more rocking like "Volume" - of course I am sure he is just going where his creativity takes him and there is nothing wrong with that!

[Johnny SommererParticipant]

Just listened into Kala! Didn't know about Trevor before! Wow, great work, all of you! 😉

[Jared ShermanParticipant]

I went back and checked, Volume was on Trevor's first record from 2009. That's, you know, the one where the cover is him doing his best Kurt Cobain impersonation (hehe). Wow time goes by fast. Didn't seem like it was that long ago.

[Adam AyanParticipant]

Jared - Glad you liked "Kala" - it's so good!

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