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The Barron Studios experience has been upgraded. New flat panels? Check. State of the art D-Command console? Check. Pimp new shag carpet? Check. All this upgrading has led to a number of phone calls about us upgrading our rate. Not a chance. Barron Studios still offer an incredible studio experience for $50/hr - no hidden fees.

Come by the studio October 10, 2009 6pm-9pm and check out Barron’s new look. We’ll be shut down this Thursday and Friday. But open to everybody Saturday night. Here are couple of pics to satiate the curious.

Barron Studios is proud to announce we’re undergoing some pretty wicked upgrades to your studio experience! Say good bye to the window between the booth and control room - and say hello to 1080p HD cameras and monitors flown from the ceiling. Barron is also proud to announce the adoption of the DigiDesign D-Command! We’ll be opening our doors Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 6pm-9pm for everyone to swing by and check out the new look and feel.

HOUSTON, TEXAS, August 17, 2007 — If you name your electro/punk band “Living With Cancer” you are certain to anger people. “I get MySpace hate messages weekly, telling me how not funny it is,” said Nick Hansen, the one-man band’s founding member. But if anyone knows how serious cancer is, it is Nick. Doctors diagnosed him with cancer on Christmas Eve two years ago, at age 20. Ever since, Nick has been living with and fighting the disease to stay alive. His band, “Living With Cancer” released their newest single, ’Weather in Life’, Wednesday, August 15, 2007.
Nick began “Living With Cancer” to spread the message of hope and dreams, in the face of difficult life situations. ”To me, music is the best medicine. It creates a mood, an emotion, a way of life and unifies people. When done right it can impact someone’s life. I put as much emotion into each song so each listener can feel the passion and interpret it for themselves - kinda like getting lost in the music”.

“Living With Cancer’s” songs are dominated by Nick’s emotional and gritty vocal performance. His thousands of MySpace fans compare it to a Tom Delonge of Blink182, or Max Bemis of Say Anything, but neither artist has sung with such conviction. He combines his vocals with heavy guitars, atmospheric keys, and programmed drum beats from a 1980’s model Casio keyboard to achieve a blend of punk, electro, pain, and hope. Nick’s energetic song writing, coupled with the production techniques of his engineers at Barron Studios, keep his songs fresh, dynamic and emotional.

“We actually spend the least amount of time tracking his vocals,” said Barron Studios engineer and GM Todd Macek. “The emotion Nick throws into the microphone is just incredible. It’s beefing up the drums off that pawnshop keyboard - that is where our creativity comes in.”

Doctors pronounced Nick cancer free early this year after enduring months of chemotherapy. “I have been cancer free for half a year, which is a blessing; however I still get checkups every month and still have to fight it,” he said. It was a scare after one of these checkups in this May that prompted “Living With Cancer’s” whole concept and first single ‘Save Me’. “I go to the doctor, only months after chemo, to hear they have found some sort of tumor in my chest. I remember driving home so mad, sad, confused; I felt lost. So I started playing on this old keyboard and out of nowhere I’m singing. I felt calm and relaxed. Everything felt right in that moment. I arranged the song, took it to my friends at Barron where we made this powerful song come alive.”

After the release of his second single, ‘Hope is Sweet’, “Living With Cancer” became one of MySpace’s top ranked artists on their Healing and Easy Listening charts. “People started telling me ‘Wow dude, your voice and lyrics are strong and very real, I can really relate.’ More and more people started catching on through word of mouth. With constant promoting, a fan base has built, and I found myself at the top of the MySpace charts, which is pretty sweet,” said Nick.

“In the three months since this all started, more than I could ever imagined has happened. I’m excited to make music, help others and provide hope and inspiration to any and all through the power of song. I just released my latest song ‘Weather in Life’ and can’t wait to see what happens!”

About Barron Studios

Barron Studios is a recording studio located in Downtown Houston. Barron focuses on providing clients an intimate and personal recording studio experience while providing superior sound. Barron Studios has worked with the best of Houston’s independent artists and is quickly growing to be the recording studio of preference for businesses on either coast needing reach Houston’s extensive talent. Past clients have included The Cartoon Network in Burbank CA, Audio Godz in Los Angeles, CA and Hyphen Health in New York, NY.

If you would like more information about Living With Cancer or to schedule an interview with Nick, please call Nick Hansen at 832.367.9265 or email him at redstar44n@aol.com.
www.myspace.com/livingwithcancer

If you would like more information about Barron Studios, or to schedule an interview with Todd, call Barron Studios at 713.225.1846 or email him at todd@recordwithbarron.com
www.RecordWithBarron.com

New 47’s

So what’s a vintage U47 sound like anyway? I haven’t the foggiest - never heard one in person. Even if I did, how would I know if it sounds like it did during the prime of it’s life? Talk to engineers at studios today possessing several of these classics, and they will talk about the “best sounding” U47 of their bunch. As a small studio owner, I don’t have the budget for multiple vintage U47’s. I also don’t have the luxury of a microphone not functioning properly or requiring repair that is worth more than my Hyundai. So for those of us that are looking for “that” sound (and who isn’t?), we bring you a shootout of 5 “New” 47’s.

We were able to test drive 5 of these microphones. Some of them claim to be exact recreations of classics. Another states it’s a refurbished classic. Others claim to be their own creation. As an working engineer, I could care less about the label, I need the sound. Let’s meet the contestants.

Lawson L47

Telefunken U47 rebuilt by Blue

Telefunken U47m VF14k tube/M7 capsule

Telefunken U47m EF14 tube/M7 capsule

Wunder Audio CM7

AKG C414B/XLS for a point of reference

Oktava MK219 w/premium modification by Joly @ OktavaMod included just for fun

The Capture

Each mic captured a separate performance. Performances were monitored for consistency. Signal path remained constant with the gain at a set level. RMS of each take has been matched using Digi’s gain plug.

Microphone
Mogami Quad Gold Cables
Neve 1073 DPA
Apogee Big Ben
Aurora Lynx Converters
ProTools | HD

The Test

We ran two tests, but have three listening options. Files for each test are in .zip files with 16-bit .wav’s. A text file within the .zip will reveal the microphones. In each test the takes were matched downwards for RMS and were recorded through the same preamp with identical boost on each pass.

1.) Male vocals accapella - Download Test 1

Straight vocal capture, cardioid, 12 inches back without pop stopper. The vocals are completely unprocessed. (Mic 1 has a slight distortion. This is our local tejano station blasting away. It didn’t effect the other mics.)

2.) Vocals in mix - Download Test 2

Same capture as acapella but placed in a mix. The first half of the vocal there is slight (1-2db) compression. The second half peaks as high as 7-8db of reduction. Compression added using McDSP CB4 La2A TDM. No EQ has been added. The entire mix is run through McDSP ML4000 ML1 TDM for a 2-channel limiter to raise levels.

3.) Vocals & acoustic guitar on one mic in cardioid -
Download Test 3

We hadn’t planned on doing this test, so not all the mics were used. But after packing everything up and listening back through, this test shows a different side of these mics. See the pics for the mic placement. No processing. Two mics were NOT used during this test.

Conclusion

All these microphones are bad ass. Of course we had our favorite. But it’s not about our favorite, its about yours. Use your ears. Enjoy the results.

Thanks!

Special thanks must be given to a few folks.

Allen @ Telefunken|USA
Matt Weaver for lending us his Lawson for an afternoon.
Mike @ Wunder Audio
Guitar Center Houston for the U47/Blue.

And our performer, J.D. Tate, for allowing us to mic him up and share in his fun. Have fun with your new mic J.D.!!