THE STUDIO

Bad Habit Recordings was originally Syklopps Studios and was built by Herbie Herbert.  After selling over a hundred million records while working with artists such as Santana, Journey, Mr. Big, Roxette, Steve Miller and Bryan Adams, Herbie decided to retire.

What do you do when you've sold that many records and laid a course in the Music Business that can only be described as historic?  Well if your Herbie Herbert you become a Blues singer named Sy Klopps.

The studio was originally installed in 1995 to support the Syklopps Blues band.  While the studio is deliberately very "homey" it has always been a "nothing but the best" world class facility.  In addition to supporting the Syklopps Blues band, the studio has been at the leading edge of the internet many times.  Some of the earliest live music broadcasts on the internet featuring some of the biggest talents in the business were performed and recorded here.

Given the history of the studio it really does not seem too surprising that it has been so prominently featured on the front page of iTunes.

In 2006 the studio passed to Gordon Brislawn and was renamed Bad Habit Recordings.  While we are very proud of our history we hope that you will become a part of our future!

GORDON BRISLAWN

Gordon has been making records as a full time professional for nearly thirty years.  Before that he spent a good deal of time entertaining his music teachers.  This went on through college and includes a Bachelors in Music Composition with an emphasis in Piano and Voice.

Born and raised in the international melting pot of Oakland California, Gordon is very capable in a number of styles from Hip Hop to Classical and everywhere in between.  All music is a spectrum but no matter where your project lives Gordon has probably spent a good deal of time at your end of the block.

Gordon and Bad Habit Recordings have had over 42 iTunes front page Exclusives! This work was a small but fundamental part of getting iTunes off the ground.

LIVE IN THE STUDIO RECORDINGS

There is a qualitative difference in the level of musical production between a true "one-off" such as a live show with the band (or a broadcast of a live show on a radio station) and something that the fan purchases and then can play at will.

With the live show the fan has a single opportunity, at a given time, to hear the performance only once.  With a download purchase the fan is buying something that they will listen to repeatedly for many years.  With these repeated listenings the flaws in the performance and the recording become more and more obvious.

If there are too many "blips" on the radar then the whole performance starts to feel cheap and the performer is devalued in the mind of the fan.

Although the iTunes exclusives are labeled "Live" they are nonetheless studio productions that are intended for repeated listening and therefore become fixtures on the individual fan's musical landscape for years to come.  The quality of these studio productions reflects on the perceived quality of the artist as much as any other studio recordings.

The difference is that with the iTunes "Live" sessions we're trying to capture a snap shot of the energy and sound of the band on tour.  We do this in a four hour tracking session (that accommodates the band's touring schedule).  After the band leaves the studio, I continue to produce the tracks to the highest level that my nearly two decades of record production, advanced training as a musician and the budget will allow.

Having an excellent room, a lot of high end gear, tons of experience and a rock solid musical sense, I can often produce these recordings to the level of the original studio recordings but with the feel of the live tour.  This takes a fair amount of work, however the results are very satisfying and will stand the test of time.

THE PROCEDURE

The process in the studio is focused on getting at least two good takes of each song.  We do very little overdubbing (usually just BVs) but rather have the band track just like they were playing it live.

Once the tracking is done the band comes in and reviews the mix that was prepared during tracking.  After cleaning up any initial mix details that the band is concerned with, I'll spend some time getting any performance issues cleaned up (Flubs, Tuning, Timing, etc.)

At this point the project goes into an online review process where the Band, Management and the Label can all comment on any changes that need to be made. Once the recording has received a green light from the approval chain then it goes out to be Mastered!

Hypebot

This is one of the more interesting and useful Music Business news feeds that I've found.  In their own words they provide "Daily news and commentary on the music industry and the technology and social media that drives it, for music industry professionals, indie labels, d.i.y. musicians".

You can link up with them by clicking here Hypebot and Music Think Tank.

This is not exactly typical Hypebot feed but I thought the list of "42 Ways to Make Money as an Independent Musician" was a decent list of 42 potential revenue sources that any music organization should be looking at.  Besides we all know that 42 is the answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything

Future of Music Coalition

One of my own "isms" is "You don't change internet, the internet changes you".  For a multitude of reasons no business has been more transformed by the web than the Music Business.  For those of us who make a living from the sale of music this can be a daunting truth.

The World Wide Web is crashing upon human cultural like a giant tsunami.  If your lucky enough to position yourself on the crest of that wave you can literally surf the web to a bright and reasonably secure future.

If you fail to catch the wave of the internet's expansion, you risk being dragged beneath the waves.  Even if you do surf the crest of the wave, you have to stay on your toes and constantly improve your game to continue forward.  "The internet is an infinite series of missteps, many of which can be fatal.  Welcome to the jungle."

In their own words the "Future of Music Coalition is a national nonprofit organization that works to ensure a diverse musical culture where artists flourish, are compensated fairly for their work, and where fans can find the music they want." (Another personal "ism").

The Music Business is a big pie, go and get your piece.  In the meantime make sure that you got your butt is covered