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JO-MUSIK is an independent, full service recording and production facility. In operation since 1991, we have recently relocated from Los Angeles to Dallas, just minutes from downtown. As well as recording, we have extensive experience in all aspects of the writing and production of songs, as well as music for film and TV. We can assist you with the writing, playing, and/or mixing of your project. We also do custom writing jobs such as jingles, promos, industrials, and of course, songs and score.
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STUDIO NEWS UPDATE - JANUARY 2008
HOWDY. A big change has come to JoMusik - we have moved to Dallas, Texas. Family has compelled me to return to my native Texas, and I must say, it feels great!
I love the music scene in Texas. In fact, people actually go out for no other reason than to hear music (what a concept). Bands sometimes even play for fun.
I have already met many talented players, and produced a surprising number of songs. Country and Gospel are bigger here, but I must confess that I often felt like Nashville West in LA, probably because guitar and harmonica are part of the in-house arsenal.
I have also kept a large number of my LA clients (ah the wonders of technology), and have established means of bulk data transfer, as well as online camera, etc., to facilitate long distance relationships. That has worked out particularly well, because a good chunk of my business has always been by mail. Now those folks can participate more directly in the production of their songs.
The existing facility we bought is working out well, and we have added a lot of new software stuff to compliment the protools hd format that continues to be the core of the recording platform. We still tend to stay ³out of the box² for the majority of our work, and I notice that one of the hottest selling items in 08 is the stereo analog summing amp. I would put my super-tweeked console summing up against any stand alone unit, times 80. It also really adds life to midi and software tracks. Sometimes though, ³in the box² is the best way to go, especially for portability, which includes a lot of film and TV stuff. Plug-ins get better every year, and big bundles can be a great way to amass hd plug-ins.
So hello Texas - we will miss all our great friends in LA, but its nice to be home.
JOE MILTON
STUDIO NEWS UPDATE - JANUARY 2007
It's time for another newsletter. I find that of all the stuff there is to do, maintaining the websites is the hardest thing to keep up with.
Today my song "YOU DON'T" is posting into an episode of Desperate Houeswives, as a feature instrumental -that is, a band will play it on the show, which airs this Sunday, Jan 21st. It's available on my album Reel 7 -with words. The time since my last newsletter has brought some cool stuff through the studio - J D Fortune of Rock Star Fame was in to create a tune for a TV theme - I'm hoping to see him again soon when INXS gets off the road.
My buddy Howard Drossin was in to work on "THE PROTECTOR," a Weinstein movie starring Tony Jaa. Howard was working with THE RZA, Of WU TANG CLAN fame. RZA was also in for a session, which was fun - he and his crew know how to get it done, as does Howard, who also orchestrates for Terence Blanchard, and is a great composer in his own rite. Howard's wife, Jessica, did the artwork for my new album,"LULLABIES FOR DADS," which is getting great response.
Wally Minco, keyboardist extraordinaire, has been in producing 2 albums - a Christmas Album for himself, featuring all kinds of monster players, and an album for singer/songwriter Mike Lane, both featuring Greg and Matt Bissonette, and Wally, as the House Rhythm section. Pete Christlieb played a fantastic solo on Silent Night, which he did before even the first take. Glad the mics were hot! Killer Traks! Look for both of those in '07. Mikes Album is called "Little Pink Rat." Mike brought in the legendary Tommy Morgan to do some Harmonica work - what a treat to hang and work with him. Being a professional harp player myself, it was like being part of history - just looking in his Harmonica case! Now I know how they got some of those classic sounds.
Some new songs by yours truly have been seeping out since the Lullaby album wrapped - 2 featuring the vocals of Janelle Sadler - which are up on the websites. One Latin pop thing called "HOW COULD YOU," has my new bud Kieth Jones on Bass and Adrian Areas on percussion - WHAT A CONGA PLAYER! I'd use him on every song!
Well, time to wrap it up - 2006 was a fun year. I found after writing a whole album of lullabies, it seems really easy to write lyrics to other stuff.
Bring on 2007!!
JOE MILTON
STUDIO NEWS UPDATE - JUNE 2006
IT'S JUNE 06, and here's a little news addendum. The websites have been revamped, with a new look and more information. jo-musik.com, joemilton.com, and lullabiesfordads.com are all linked. If you need to hear more music, its good to visit all the sites. Ralph Torres continues to do a great job for me in the field of web everything. I feel fortunate to be hooked up with a real professional (thanks to my old bud Dan Kimpel) in a field where many folks think they are professional cause they have the latest web-design software. (kinda like a lot of "recording studios").
Been doing a lot of acoustic recording-strings, horns, etc. for various folks. It seems that more and more, I do various things to enhance what people are doing themselves. In this world of increasingly compatible audio systems, I welcome those sessions, whereas not long ago, one never knew what file was going to open up.
I did some pre-records for Disney's "DESPARATE HOUSWIVES." I know Disney has many places they can record, and I thank music supervisor David Sibley for using JO-MUSIK. The stuff came out great, and a good time was had by all. I hope do be doing more soon, and its great to work on something you actually watch. Pre-records are pieces of music, usually songs, that are recorded ahead of picture, and then picture is shot to the music. In this case, we did tunes that a live band played to on camera. It can be quite difficult to record a band properly while you are shooting picture.. Takes a whole different kind of gear, etc., and can really complicate the process.
Recording Lullabies For Dads has been a great learning experience. One voice, one guitar can be some of the most difficult stuff to make sound good. The size and type of guitar, distance, and mic choice means so much to the overall ambience of the recording. Smaller guitars, smaller mics, and greater distance are three things I made much greater use of as the project progressed-we now have ten tunes for the CD. Might be all.
Several questions I try never to answer on other peoples stuff - What should the order be for the CD, how many tunes, how long does it need to be - these questions should be answered by the artist, cause everyone has an opinion, and unless they are paying for it, they don¹t matter.
Time to sign off. Best on a latter 06!
JOE MILTON
STUDIO NEWS 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR. The latter half of the new decade has arrived. 2006 promises to be a great year, as we try to stay ahead of the constantly morphing music business. 2005 was a year of wide variety - 2 rock CDs, 3 country CDs, 2 jazz CDs, and a slew of other tunes, tv and film cues, and plays. I've been doing a lot of music to lyrics, and some lyrics to music for several long distance clients.
The year ended with a quick Christmas album, piano and vocal. I brought in my friend Wally Minco to play keys-he never ceases to amaze me with every aspect of his playing. Sometimes its hard to make old Christmas tunes sound fresh, but with each tune, Wally's ideas flowed into something new, which inspired the vocal performance and was lots of fun to record as well as very fast. I find most of the time when you pay for a great musician the end product is better and cheaper.
I continue to record with PRO TOOLS HD-I'm very happy with the sound of it, as well as the sound of my various paths to it. I added some great guitars and mics to the arsenal, and 2005 included a lot of guitar playing. I've learned that the size of the acoustic you choose to play is perhaps the most important aspect of getting the right sound.
David Anderson, piano tech extraordinaire, spent a couple of days on my Baldwin baby grand, and it plays and sounds like a different piano. So many things to maintain in a studio! Just keeping 15 guitars strung seems like a constant struggle!
'The NIGHTCRAWLERS' a Bakersfield based band, made it down to cut a cd at the recommendation of one of my regulars-Dan Reed. High school age with an original blend of rockabilly and metal with a gothic overtone-I call it 'metalbilly'. It was tons of fun. Its based around twins-one plays slap upright bass, the other guitar, and both sing. Keep an ear out for such tunes as 'ZOMBIES ATE MY HOMEWORK'.
Singer Songwriter Dan Reed, alias D' Parker, recorded about 30 tunes in '05, giving him the award for most prolific client. He's a country-folksy
storyteller type guy who is assembling a children's Christmas cable show with some of the tunes, coupled with original pictures and some narration. Now's the time to get it together for Christmas '06!
Check out lullabiesfordads.com, the website for an original project that my wife thought up-she said there isn't any tunes for dads to sing to their kids (my daughter is three). Well, now there is. Hopefully about 10 lullabies by February or so. Time to sign off. All the best in 06!
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