Bomb Shelter Blog

Ricky Lawson 

Bomb Shelter is sad to lose one of our dear clients and friend Ricky Lawson. He passed away Dec. 23. We are sorry to see such a talent. mentor, teacher leave at a young age when he still had so much to give. He was 59, which is not old. We were blessed with his presence, his music and his generous nature while we was here. Google him and learn what a talented man he was. God speed. we will miss you.

 

Simple Steps and Tools that will help you get A+ Results in the Recording Studio 


The audio recording market is saturated with Digital Audio Workstations, plugins, and gear that does everything except make coffee for you. In this day and age it's easy to spend a great deal of time and $$ on a recording project. It's not always about how much gear you have, or how much money you spent to purchase it. There are plenty of talented and skilled engineers out there who may not have major artist credits to their name, who can record and put out amazing product. Choose your gear, your engineer, the studio, and your songs wisely, and you can maximize your time and budget to get A+ results in the studio.

Do your "homework."
The old saying, practice makes perfect definitely applies. So, practice, practice, practice! This step alone will save you $ in the recording studio. Rehearsing at home, in the garage, or at a professional rehearsal studio is always cheaper than paying for time and being on the clock in a recording session while trying to figure out parts or arrangements. Let's say your band has 10 original songs, but you only want to record 5--practice those 5 songs until you can play them in your sleep. The fewer takes, and the fewer fixes you have to do in the studio can also save you big bucks on your tab!

Evaluate your songwriting skills and song arrangements.
This is really where your song begins. Start with a well written song and a great arrangement and it is more likely that everything else will fall into place. Not everyone is a great songwriter from the get go, and everyone has the opportunity to learn and grow into it. If you have the chance to work with a producer, they can help you fine tune what you already have as you get ready to go into the studio. If you are more of the DIY type, there are many songwriting organizations both locally and on the internet. Many have meetings where you can play and have your songs critiqued. Play your songs for friends, family, on a street corner, and ask for feedback. Reactions from people can be crucial, and can tell you if you hit the mark you were aiming for with the songs you wrote. Don't be afraid of a little constructive feedback, it will help you become a better songwriter!

Find an Engineer/Producer that you "click" with.
This is another crucial part of the recording equation. Meet with and interview your potential engineer. It's like a job interview, only you get to ask the questions! Listen to music they have recorded and produced. Ask if they have recorded other projects similar to yours. Remember--you might be spending a lot of time with this person, make sure it's someone you can stand to be around!

Remember, nothing is perfect in the creative process. Give yourself the tools and the opportunities to create great music. We hope you find these helpful. Feel free to comment, we welcome your input!

Written by:
Britt-Marie Trace

2010 Here We Come! 

 We are pleased to announce that we have made it to our 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  We have been open for business 10 years, and an amazing 10 years it has been.  From humble beginnings, we started with only four rooms and not many amenities.  We have since added two more rooms and are continuously improving the surroundings here at the studio.  We have lots of things planned for this year, lots of things we hope you'll like too!  

A message from Britt:
"I would like to take a minute and personally thank everyone who has graced the rooms and halls here over the last decade.  Wow, it really sounds major when you use the word "decade".   I have seen amazing music, met fantastic friends, and have many many stories to tell my kids (when I get around to having some!).  I wouldn't be here without musicians.  I am fortunate to be able to make a living in the music industry--a tough nut to crack into by any stretch.  I have been blessed with opportunities and am truly grateful for the experiences I have had that will carry me forth into a new decade."

We will continue our successful Client Rewards Program this year, if you don't know what this is--where the heck have you been? (hurry up and ask us!) We are setting up a brand new Referral Program, designed to really reward you for telling others about Bomb Shelter.  We are making some changes, our longtime resident guitar repair tech is moving his shop to a larger one just across the parking lot.  We will be adding some basic content creation for musicians, (photo/video/design) helping you get your music and your message out to the masses, at a reasonable low cost.  We can now offer "Authorized" repairs on all major brands of guitars and basses to Bomb Shelter clients.   Need a quick fix for your axe and have a show coming up--no problem, we can offer FAST turnarounds exclusively for you.   Check back with us as we get more details up on the web site.  We hope you will like the new offerings, let us know--give us your feedback.  Here's to an absolutely amazing 2010!




Use the internet like never before...incredible opportunities for bands and businesses. 

So many things have changed in the last 10 years since I've been in the music industry.  A relatively short amount of time, but we've seen some incredible things happen.  I am most impressed these days by the leaps and bounds of information you can find on the internet, as well as the climbing numbers of free networking sites that are available.  There are ways for all of us to take advantage of these opportunities, especially us musicians.  I like finding ways to get my name out there without spending a buck! 
The way we do business has changed forever due to the internet.  No longer a slave to our geographical locations as we once were, bands can have fans all over the world who have never seen them in person.  Businesses can appeal to customers anywhere, I've had artists from across the US, South America, Europe, Pacific Islands, the UK--all due to the internet.  These free sites can really work wonders for you if you take a little time to nurture them, learn how to maximize your potential on them and with them.  I've just started to scratch the surface using some of the social networks, but there are just as many free places to just list my business.  (and just as many places to add your band) 
I will post a list of some of the helpful sites, you may already be familiar with some.  With some effort, determination and a "can do" attitude you can make amazing things happen for you, your band, your friends' band, your son/daughter's band, your business, etc.  Good luck, happy findings and here's to a rip roarin' no holds barred, pedal to the metal, full throttle, wide open 2009!


www.twitter.com
www.twitter.com/ocrehearsals  (our twitter page)
www.facebook.com
www.yelp.com
www.linkedin.com
www.reverbnation.com
www.purevolume.com
www.myspace.com
www.gogirlsmusic.com
www.songsalive.org
www.craigslist.org
www.backpage.com
www.wordpress.com (blog site)
www.blogger.com (blog site)
www.femmuse.com
www.loudbytes.com
www.gigmasters.com
www.sonicbids.com
www.bandzoogle.com

We WON a microphone...Telefunken! 

We had a great time at the NAMM show this year.  We became members last year and finally had the opportunity to go with passes that had our own names on them!  We took some NAMM University classes which were all offered for free during the weekend.  We did a little walking around and visiting with people we knew.  We didn't have an agenda or any specific place to be this time, which was really nice.  James decided to enter as many giveaways at the booths as he could.  We filled out a multitude of slips at the Universal Audio booth, they were giving away an expensive card for your computer that was worth several thousand dollars.  James entered a text giveaway at the Telefunken Microphone booth, where you had to text something to a particular number to be entered to win a microphone.  We went back to the Universal Audio booth and each won a t-shirt during the drawing, then a good friend of ours acually won the jackpot.  Later on in the day James got a text message telling him that he had just won a microphone!!  It said to come by the Telefunken booth to claim our prize. Way cool!  We almost didn't believe we had actually won something.  So, a big thanks to the guys at Telefunken--we are looking forward to using this beautiful handheld mic on lots of stuff! 



Follow us on the new networking site www.twitter.com...(but why??) We promise it's cool! 

 Because we will be spreading some LOVE to our friends and clients through our twitter page!!! That's why, please read on...

Twitter is a new social networking site (or "socnet"--one of our friends coined the phrase), among the many out there these days.  It is far easier to use and update than pages like myspace or facebook, which just add lots of clutter.  The premise is by asking the question, "What are you doing?" you get a box that lets you type in a 140 character reply.  You can create a page and find and follow other people.  So the only thing you see is a running list of your short updates and updates of those you are following.  Lots of people are using it, and we've found it to be really fun.  You also have the option of getting your twitter updates on your mobile phone.  Check out the twitter home page and let them explain it some more...www.twitter.com.

So, in the meantime we have created a page for the studio.  Thought everyone would like us to share the happenings and stuff that's going on here, in small blurbs.  But to make it really fun and cool we also wanted to create some additional stuff that we will be posting on our twitter page...

www.twitter.com/OCRehearsals

We will be doing "plug the band" where we send out a short message about one of the bands here, plug an upcoming show and add a link to the band/artist's website or myspace page.  In essence spreading the LOVE to those who choose to visit us and rehearse here, which we greatly appreciate.  We will also be posting some general "shout outs" to various people and recording clients, etc.  Possibly links to some other cool sites we like, OH and not to forget...some CRAZY specials and discounts on our services here.  You WILL NOT FIND THESE ANYWHERE ELSE.  We will only be posting our CRAZY specials on our twitter page.  So, get with it and check it out.  We will ONLY give you the special if you mention twitter when you book the time.  You never know what else will show up on our twitter page, so make sure to create an account and follow us, heck even add us so you get our updates on your mobile phone.  

Thanks, hope you enjoy!!!

Going High Tech--New Computer System! 

Help us out:
You may be receiving a phone call from us here at Bomb Shelter asking you to provide us with your contact information, first and last name, band name, mailing address and email address.  We would appreciate your help as we get everyone entered into our database.  This information is ONLY for our use here at the studio.  Giving you a call over the phone to get your info will save both of us time once you arrive here, getting you into your room as quickly as possible.

Details:
Ok, we've been doing things pretty much the same way since we opened in early 2000.  But it's now 2008.  We want to step things up.  We want to provide the best possible service that we can to you, our clients.  To do that we needed a software system that could handle a client data base, and all of our booking.  After some lengthy searching we found what we needed.  It's been a process to do all of the initial set up, but the results should be fantastic. 

All of our booking will be done via the computer.  Shortly you will also be able to book your own rehearsals online through our website, 24/7.  We will have specials and package deals with discounts also available to purchase online.  For those of you who like a receipt you will also have the option of having us email you a copy of your receipt.  We will also be offering gift cards, so there will be lots of ways to get more bang for your buck.  We will be able to reduce if not eliminate any scheduling errors.  We can easily keep track of those clients who are on a regular schedulie, (ie., coming in the same day and time each week) as well as keep track of any preferences you may have as far as room or equipment you may need when you are here.

We are excited to get this all up and running and hope that you will enjoy the results as well.  We will keep you updated as we get closer to having everything all set up.  Keep checking back with us, hope to see you soon!
Britt

Stevi Madison  

We continue to be delighted to have Stevi Madison here at Bomb Shelter.  If you haven't checked out her music you should.  At a young age she has had some tremendous opportunities working in Nashville as well as Southern California.  She is a talented writer and vocalist.  She recently did a video shoot here for her song "Beautiful." 

I had the pleasure of stepping in and taking a few photos of Stevi and the group of musicians she uses for her band.  Everyone was fun to shoot and work with.  So, check out Stevi Madison in her video, and don't forget to visit her myspace page too!
www.myspace.com/stevimadison



Britt is interviewed for July issue of Music Connection Magazine 

I almost forgot to mention this altogether!  I was asked to join a number of other music industry people in contributing to an article in the July 2008 Music Connection Magazine.  The article is written by Bernard Baur, "Rip Your Rehearsal Rut to Shreds." 

I was asked to participate in the section called "Get a Little Knowledge."  Here is how it turned out....(they never seem to get what you say exactly right though)

Get a little knowledge--
You should also be aware of your equipment and sound.  If you're planning to have an effective rehearsal, you must be prepared.  Bring extra gear and make sure everything is ready to go to avoid delays.  In that regard, Britt-Marie Trace, owner of Bomb Shelter Rehearsal Studios, suggests that artists should know something about setting up their own sound.  "We'll help when necessary, but it saves a lot of time when an act can make their own adjustments.  A little knowledge goes a long way," she says.  "Knowing your equipment and how to use the mics and speakers can give you more time and better results."
Lastly, Trace reminds artists that they should approach rehearsals in a professional manner.  "Finalize everyone's schedules before committing to the time."

You can check out the article and other cool stuff by going to Music Connection Magazine's main web site. 
www.musicconnection.com