Over the last three years, there are two artists that I worked with. Each artist had very different music marketing paths. Both bands were well funded internally, but didn’t have much of a local draw. They were both great bands, and had the potential to create equally successful careers from a music standpoint.
One band scraped and fought for a record deal. It was a small deal, with a label that no one had ever heard of, but they “had a deal”.
The other band hired a publicist and released their record pretty much on their own.
The result?
I never hear about the first band. The second band I see in national papers, blogs, and opening for major label acts all of the time. They are selling records and getting noticed.
The first band “got signed”. The second band “got smart”.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: getting signed, how to get signed, music marketing tips, music publicist
On Saturday I recorded bass for 9 songs for the new Kelli Eagan record with session bass player Andrew Dow. Andrew is a great bass player, with subtle 70’s style feel and vibe.
We worked out of The Moontower Recording Studio in Somerville Ma.
For a DI signal we ran the bass through a Neve 33421 mic pre with no compression. The DI sounded very present and accurate, but lacked a beefy and thick low end.

We also ran the bass through a West Filmore tube bass amp. Andrew borrowed this amp from a friend, and I had honestly never heard of this beast before plugging it in. We ran it into an Ampeg 4×10 cabinet with an AKG solid tube mic about 6 inches away from the grill pointed at the center of the speaker cone. The mic was amplified with the No Toasters Nice Pair mic pre.
This amp signal, in combination with the Neve DI sounded stunning. It was the perfect balance between amp tube distortion and clean Neve DI sound. The great part about getting an awesome bass sound from the source is that the player reacts positively to a great sound. Andrew really opened up and started playing in the pocket once we had the sound locked in.


Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: AKG Solid Tube, Ampeg Bass Cabinet, Andrew Dow, Neve Mic Pre, No Toasters Nice Pair, The Moontower Recording Studio, West Filmore Tube Amp
Derek Sivers, former owner of CD Baby wrote a great blog post about the smoke and mirrors of how the music industry works. HERE
Is it how good you are, or how GREAT you are perceived to be?
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: blog, cd baby, derek sivers, greatness, Music Industry
Shane O’Connor Recording Presents:
Showcases @ Obriens
www.obrienspubboston.com
all shows start at 9pm $7
www.shaneoconnorrecording.com
August 5th
Technoir
Tech Noir Myspace
- I recorded a 3 song EP with Technoir with winter at The Moontower Recording Studio in Cambridge. I would describe this band as an updated mixture of Echo and The Bunnymen crossed with New Order or Sonic Youth. Very Noisy and hypnotic, yet occasionally sparse and dancey.
Yes Giantess
Yes Giantess Myspace
-Boston dance rock
Treehorn
A sad singer songwriter moping in his own beer, but in the best possible way. A full band show. Treehorn and I recorded an EP in the spring of 2006.
Treehorn Myspace
Road Apples
The road apples are one of my favorite bands in Boston right now. I would consider their sound a more aggressive and dark version of David Byrne.
Road Apples Myspace
August 12th
Birds In The Woods
I finished a full length album with Birds In The Woods this spring. The record will be released this fall. I would describe Birds In The Woods as incredibly skillful modern soul/ rock.
Birds In The Woods Myspace
Robert Gillies
Berklee singer/ songwriter.
Ian Schwartz and the Sour Candy Orchestra
Crazy acoustic string band thing. super pop melodies.
August 19th
De Osos
Quickly becoming a juggernaut of Boston indie rock dominance. We finished mixing “Collider” their second EP this spring.
De Osos Myspace
Love Connection
its funny, you have to see it.
The Red Royal
Boston 70’s style indie rock
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Birds In The Woods, Boston, De Osos, Love Connection, Obriens Pub, Technoir
I tend to shy away from gear reviews with my blog, in that there are so many blogs who do just that. In the past, I have reviewed free plugins, or odd recording devices that I find interesting. Since I started engineering out of Barefoot Recording Studio in Brighton Massachusetts I have been using more high end gear on a regular basis.
This month I will be reviewing a few pieces that I find extremely interesting.

Shadow Hills Mono Gama in API 500 Series Format
The first remarkable thing about the Shadow Hills company is their keen attention to aesthetic design. This mic pre looks like a cross between an Orwellian toaster oven and a crappy NASA experiment. The knobs and switches all feel very solid and have a classy brushed black coat of paint.
The purpose of this pre is certainly not to come anywhere close to clean. In a similar manner to the No Toasters Nice Pair, which I reviewed a couple of months ago, the Gama is a character piece that is meant to be used for instruments that need to stand out in a mix. There are three options of selectable transformers to choose from. The unit that I regularly use is an eight channel version with 4 channels modded for a descrete, transformerless pre. The options are described as Nickel, Iron, Steel, and descrete. Although I have read other reviews that claim on transformer is clean and one is dirty I find this to be a bit of a misnomer.
Depending upon how hard the pre is driven, and what the source microphone is, I find that any of the options can sound “clean”. This is the magical aspect of the Gama. It is very colored, but changes with microphones. I still find new colors and textures coming out of this box every time I plug it in. A U87 in Nickel may sound very smooth and classic with acoustic guitar, but with a growling electric guitar, the same signal chain can appear totally clean.
If this is a preamp you are interested in, I would be happy to bring you into the studio and show it to you. just send me an email: shaneoconnorrecording@gmail.com
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Barefoot Recording Studio, Mic Pre Review, Mono Gama, Neummann U87, recording engineer, Shadow Hills Industries, Taylor Barefoot