The Producer's Philosophy, with Brian Bender

Kirk sits down with producer, composer, and master mixer Brian Bender to talk about the state of the recording art.

Brian Bender has been making records since the early 2000s, from slinging cable at legendary NY spots like Electric Lady and the Hit Factory to running his own studio, The Motherbrain, in Los Angeles. He’s worked with countless artists and worked on dozens of films and TV shows. He’s also the guy who taught Kirk how to play Street Fighter back in grade school.

On this episode, Kirk reunites with his old buddy to talk about the producer’s role in the studio, Al Green's cookies, common mix misconceptions, how to mic drums, and how to get a good handclap sound.

Follow Brian (and check out his studio) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bdbender/
Brian Bender's (Partial) Discography: https://www.discogs.com/artist/361112-Brian-Bender
Film & TV Credits: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4685996/

REFERENCED/DISCUSSED:

TERMS

A/D or D/A: Analog to digital conversion
“In the Box”: Making music entirely digitally with no outboard gear
Stems - Submixes of like tracks (e.g. the strings, the guitars) which an engineer can work with instead of individual tracks in order to streamline workflow

MUSIC

“Stop” by Joe Henry from Scar, 2001
“A.D. 2000” by Erykah Badu from Mama’s Gun, 2000 (mixed by Russell Elvado)
“Lay It Down” by Al Green from Lay It Down, 2008
“Mother Brain” by Minako Mamano from Super Metroid, 1994
“If You Hear Me,” “Promised Land” by Ben Williams from I Am a Man, 2020
“Super Bad” by James Brown feat. Jabo Starks on drums, 1970
“Nobody Knows My Name” by José James feat. Laura Mvala & Kris Bowers from No Beginning No End 2, 2020
“Church Girl” by Laura Mvula from Pink Noise, 2021
“Elevator" by Gavin Turek from Madame Gold, 2021
“Guilty” by Barbra Streisand w/ Barry Gibb, 1980

GEAR

Drums:

C&C Custom Drum Set
Ludwig Supraphonic Snare Drum

Studio Gear:

Studer 2-inch 24-Track Tape Recorder
Ampex 602 2-Track 1/2-Inch Tape Recorder
Otari 2-inch 16-track Multitrack Tape Machine
Teletronix LA-2A Compressor

Microphones:

AKG 414 (The OG)
Shure SM57 (The GOAT)
Electro-Voice 642 Cardiline Dynamic Shotgun Mic (Kick Batter)
Neumann U47 FET (Kick Head)
Inverted Yamaha NS-10 Woofer (Sub Kick Mic)
Sennheiser 421 (Toms)
Coles 4038 ribbon (Overheads, the other GOAT)
Lomo 19a19 tube condenser (Secret Russian mic)

OTHER THINGS

Tate’s Bake Shop
George Massenburg explains the GML8200 Parametric EQ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kBFqHo2z9Q
The movie “Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar,” 2021

Correction: Kirk initially erroneously described Bender as having won multiple Grammys and Emmys, but he has only been nominated (so far). The episode has been edited to remove the error.

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JULY 2021 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS

Rob Bosworth - Josh Pearson - Kyle Cooke - Donald Mackie - Melissa Osborne - Christopher Miller - Tim Byrne - Patrick Funston - Jamie White - Christopher Kupski - Christopher McConnell - Joshua Jarvis - Niko - Joe Laska - Laurie Acreman - Ken Hirsh - Jez - Jenness Gardner - Simon Cammell - Guinevere Boostrom - Narelle Horn - Nathaniel Bauernfeind - Bill Rosinger - Anne Britt - David Zahm - Erin - Aidan Coughlan - Jeanneret - Manning Family Four - Doug Paton - Robert Paul - Viki Dun - Dave Sharpe - Christer Lindqvist - Sami Samhuri - Craig J. Covell - AccessViolation - Ryan Torvik - Merlin Mann - Fraser - Glenn - Jim Chokey - Andre Bremer - Mark Schechter - Dave Florey - Dan Apczynski

JULY 2021 HALF-NOTE PATRONS

Paul McGreal - Karen Arnold - Natalie Mistilis - Josh Singer - Phino DeLeon - Schloss Edward J., MD - Rhyanon Murray - Amy Lynn Thornsen - Adam W - Kelli Brockington - Stephen Rawlings - Ben Machta - Victoria Yu - Kevin Rivers - Gray Dyer - Brad Clark - Christopher - Michael J. Cunningham - Kari Kirk - Mark Boggs - Mino Capossela - Steve Paquin - Mary Schoenmaker - Sarah - David Joske - Emma Sklar - Spencer Stanford - Bernard Khoo - Marc - Andrew Shpall - Robert Heuer - Matthew Golden - Brian Meldrum - David Noah - Geraldine Butler - Richard Cambier - Madeleine Mader - Fernando Rodriguez - Timothy Dougherty - Jason Pratt - Stewart Oak - Abbie Berg - Sam Norton - Nicole Schleicher - Doug Belew - Dermot Crowley - Achint Srivastava - Ryan Rairigh - Michael Berman - Stephen Matthews - Bridget Lyons - Olivia Bishop - Jeremy Schwartz - John Gisselquist - Elaine Martin - Kouroth - Sharon Tree - Belinda McGrath-Steer - Eoin de Burca - Kevin Potter - M Shane Borders - Pete Simm - Shawn McCarthy - Dallas Hockley - Jana J - Jason Gerry - Rich Roskopf - Melissa Gallo - Nathan Gouwens - Will Dwyer - Alethea Lee - Lauren Reay - Eric Prestemon - Cookies250 - Spencer Shirley - Damian Brady - Angela Livingstone - Jeffrey C. Yarnell - David Friedman - Phillip Dalton - Sarah Sulan - Diane Hughes - Kenneth Tiong - Jo Sutherland - Michael Casner - Michael York - Barb Courtney - Derek Bender - Jen Small - Don Hutchison - Lowell Meyer - Etele Illes - Stephen Tsoneff - Lorenz Schwarz - Becca Sample - Wen - Jack Sjogren - Benedict Pennington - Geoff Golden - Robyn Fraser - Alexander Geddes - Pascal Rueger - Randy Souza - JC - Brendan Jubb - Clare Holberton - Diane Turner - Tom Coleman - Mark Perry - Dhu Wik - Mel - Eric Helm - Jake Roberts - Briony Leo - Bill Fuller - Jonathan Daniels - Steven Maron - Michael Flaherty - Jarrod Schindler - Zoe Little - Albukitty - Caro Field - Michael Bochner - Duncan - David Cushman - Alexander - Jeremy Dawson - Chris K - Gavin Doig - Sam Fenn - Tanner Morton - AJ Schuster - Jennifer Bush - David Stroud - Amanda Furlotti - Andrew Baker - Chris Brown - Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua - Matt Gaskell - Jules Bailey - Eero Wahlstedt - Bill Thornton - Brian Amoebas - Brett Douville - Jeffrey Olson - Matt Betzel - Mueller - Nate from Kalamazoo - Melanie Stivers - Richard Toller - Alexander Polson - Earl Lozada - Jon O’Keefe - Justin McElroy - Arjun Sharma - James Johnson - Andrew Lee - Kevin Morrell - Kevin Pennyfeather - Nicholas Schechter - Emily Williams

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