760.789.3154
RamonaMusicCenter@yahoo.com
Mon-Friday 11am-6pm
Sat 9am-4pm
Sun Closed
1045 Main St
Ramona, CA 92065
[map]
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I have been recalling how difficult it was to be a young musicians in the small town. There really are no directions as to how to promote new music in the band. So here are some tips for starting your new band or for updating your promotion techniques for your current one. (more…)
by Jon Hasz Nov 2011
Headed into the Studio? Try these tips to save time and tighten up your album!
No matter the music scene, it seems that most bands make the same mistakes in the studio. I’ve learned about these mistakes from the bands that I have been recording, and from making them myself in my first band. These mistakes are typically what separates the polished from the amateur band and a lot of these will also help your stage show.
For the guitarists. One of your most important responsibilities in the band is so often overlooked. You have six strings, and they will sound terrible if you don’t keep them in tune. This one can get very complex when the younger guitarists don’t quite know about intonation yet. If you don’t know what intonation is, take your guitar to a qualified technician and have them check the neck.Intonation is adjusting the neck so that it stays in tune all the way up the frets. A cheap guitar will play out of tune the farther you go up the neck. This can contribute to hours of frustration in the studio because you “swear you’re in tune”.
The second oversight for guitarist is the sound coming out of their amp. I see a lot of players out there assume that because they have a brand name amplifier or because the preset on their effect pedal is named after a famous player, that their tone is a good one. This most often means the opposite. Spend the day listening to reference CDs and tweaking your amp while you sit or stand in front of the speaker. Most often guitarists think that they sound great but never realize that a large percentage of the frequencies go flying past their knees on the ground blowing out the audience or mic. If there are two guitarists in the band, you might want to spend some time blending your tones. Find the frequency range where you both shine, but don’t over power each other. Finally, try and practice your parts at either low volumes and/or without the drummer. You’d be surprised how much sloppiness can be covered up with pure volume.
Now for you bassists. Although I have fewer tips for you, they are equally as important. Again, check your intonation. If you don’t know what that is, have a good tech shop look over your bass. There is nothing more unsettling and harder to pin point than an out of tune bass.
A small tip that could solve a lot of problems in mixing sessions would be to think through the kind of pick you use. Harder pics can cause a short treble spike that might not be desirable in certain recordings. As with the guitar, you should think about your tone and what best supports the band. Try to find the frequency that no one else is covering and minimize the frequencies that everyone is in.
For the drummers. Quality drum sounds are a large measure of a good recording. Experiment with tuning and different heads to find the clearest and punchiest tone for the album. Most engineers do not like editing or micing for toms that ring out too long, so do your part to control 
them. This can be some kind of muffling system take or just tuning them appropriately.
Options are king . If you have any extra drums or cymbals, bring those. If you know other drummers, borrow their snares and cymbals. What works live doesn’t always come across the best in the studio.
Ok this next point is paramount. Metronome. We all hate them but the truth is it could save you hundreds in editing. Metronomes prevent speeding up, slowing down, sloppy fills, and sloppy intros and outtros. They are a necessary evil in the studio, so spend your time up front getting use to it. Don’t underestimate how difficult this can be. It might not take much practice to play along with the metronome, but playing naturally can take years.
For the band. Pre-production recordings aren’t always necessary or available but simple recordings of a practice can give you the feedback that you need. A lot of money can be wasted on changing song structure, harmonies, and melodies in the studio.
When you schedule your recording, make sure to allow some time to listen to the recording between sessions. Something that sounded flawless the night before could sound horrible the next day. Ear fatigue, enthusiasm, and anxiety can all color your perception.
The final tip I can give you, is that you should never expect the studio or engineer to “fix it all in post”. Relying on someone’s editing capabilities can kill the performance of the song. You should try for perfection in all takes and in all recording if it is within means. Beware of auto tune and beat detective. They are everyday tools in the industry but can lead to totally sterile recordings and to disappointed live audiences. If you follow these tips, then hopefully you won’t have much need for these tools.
“This is party central,” says 20-year-old Jim Portinga of Ramona. “Everyone you talk to says, ‘Where’s the party?’ There is a big drug epidemic up here. I would say 70 to 80 percent of the kids do drugs.”
Portinga is in two bands, goes to Palomar College, and has a job. He sings and plays guitar in Dueling Dragons, one of five bands playing this Saturday in a rare all-age show in Ramona. It’s the first of a series of outdoor concerts to be held in the roped-off parking lot of Blue Horse Music, Ramona’s only music store. Portinga maintains that authorities in this unincorporated rural town of 15,000 do what they can to prevent bands from playing in public. Jon Hasz, manager of Blue Horse Music, agrees.
“It’s terrible,” says Hasz. “I grew up in this town, and kids don’t have healthy places to hang out. There’s a tiny theater with two screens. There’s no bowling alley, no arcades…. There used to be an annual event called Ramonapalooza. The last one in 2001 had, like, 13 bands. It was at the middle-school auditorium, but it got shut down. There used to be a youth center called Sozo that had concerts once a month; that’s gone. Then, last year, these guys tried to put on Ramonastock at the Ramona Rodeo grounds. They got all these permits, then found out at the last minute they needed one more permit that takes six months to get. That killed Ramonastock.”
Elaine Ruff, who owns Blue Horse Music, acquired a special-event permit for the Saturday show from the County of San Diego. She would have preferred to hold it at a larger venue.
“The Ramona Rodeo grounds are perfect, but they don’t want live bands; that land is owned by the Ramona Water District,” says Ruff. “They are afraid kids will cause problems. They told us we could do karaoke. The reason I was given that we could not have bands is they had gang problems at the Ramona Fair. But you have gangs everywhere. That’s why you have security.”
The Drapes, Buckley’s Ghost, Coldfire, Fuzz Huzzi, and Dueling Dragons play from 4 to 10 p.m. at Blue Horse Music (1045 Main Street, in Ramona); $5 admission.
Thanx for taking the time to answer a few short questions. We are at a great place musically in Ramona but have to always move forward! Please share this with anyone in our community!
Click HERE to Listen IN iTUNES!
Jon Hasz has an easy, open smile which must contribute to his success as co-owner of Ramona Music Center and operator of Ramona’s radio station.
“I’m in my dream job,” Hasz, 25, told Ramona Patch recently. “You can only achieve it in a small town like this.”
He clearly loves being the hub of the local music scene, offering a recording studio and music lesson space, as well as instruments and accessories. He has been constructing his own electrical guitar body for months, as time permits. He teaches bass guitar. (more…)
Ramona Music Center: It Starts With A Downbeat
Chuck Preble
Published 10/01/2009 – 1:46 p.m.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chuck Preble
Email:
news@ramonasentinel.com
Jon Hasz and Baylee Strayer, co-owners of Ramona Music Center, had an idea: what would happen if they took dozens of musicians of different ages and playing abilities and put them together in one room? The answer became the Ramona Music Center Blues Jam.
Every other Friday from 6 to 9 p.m., music is not only played, but created in the store at 1045 Main St. The Blues Jam has been an ongoing opportunty for musicians to get together and play since the winter of 2007.
“The original idea was to have an all-ages, free venue to be the steppingstone from lessons to the stage,” said Hasz, who teaches several instruments at the store. “It has been building every couple of weeks. I’m sure we’ve had at least a hundred different musicians attend from every background and skill level.” (more…)
1) Print your tracks DRY without any reverb, delay, etc. Avoid inline processing like compression and EQ as much as possible. If you autotune any vocals, please tell me.
2) Do all of your editing including vocal comps, copying choruses, etc.
3) Consolidate all your tracks. If you don’t know how to do this, there are instructions for most DAW recording programs at the end of this document. They should all start at the exact same place and be the same length so that if you import all tracks at the start of the song they will all play back in sync. All audio files should be the same size, with stereo tracks being twice the file size. The number of files you deliver should be equal to the number of tracks (ie. if you have 68 tracks in your recording, I should get 68 audio files that are all the SAME LENGTH). If you have the option in your program, please try and keep mono files mono and stereo files stereo. (more…)
Local Teenagers Band Together for Fun, Fabulous Music
By Regina Elling 01.MAR.10
Teenagers” and “band practice” are three words that can easily strike fear into the most tolerant of parents. But they are a welcome combination at Tracy Oberlies’ house, so much so, in fact, that “it’s normal and it’s very comforting and the house just isn’t right without it,” she says. (more…)
Ramona Music Fest Lines Up First-Class Entertainment
01.Mar.10
A variety of music artists will light up two stages at the third annual Ramona Music Fest Saturday, March 20 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Dos Picos Park, 17953 Dos Picos Park Rd.
Music from ’50s rock to jazz, country to reggae, and mellow rock to old time band music will be offered.
The outstanding musical lineup will be headlined by Cactus Twang & Whyte, whose sound is reminiscent of Crosby, Stills & Nash. “Cactus Jim” Soldi is a guitarist extraordinaire who played in Johnny Cash’s band, and Marc Twang has long been regarded as a guitar-playing top gun who has performed with Kenny Loggins. The band offers retro rock and beyond. (more…)
We are Inland North County's resource for instruments, accessories, and all sorts of musical support. Great repair techs and inspirational teachers are very important to our growing town and we are certainly here to do our part!!!
Sign up for our Mailing List!
