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 ON THIS EPISODE

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 DISCUSSED

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.

STRONG MERCH

Visit the Strong Songs merch store for some cool t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more: store.strongsongspodcast.com

KEEP IT SOCIAL

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And you can find Kirk on Twitter @Kirkhamilton and on Instagram at @Kirk_Hamilton: https://www.instagram.com/kirk_hamilton/

NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST

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STRONG PLAYLISTS

Kirk has condensed his Strong Songs picks into a single list, which you can find on Spotify and Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!

This episode was made possible by Strong Songs' lovely Patreon backers. For more on how to become a patron and support the show, go here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs

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