About Me
- Ira Blonder
- Franklin, TN, United States
- Ira Blonder is the Managing Partner of Sound Kitchen Studios (www.soundkitchen.com)and The Blonder Group, LLC (www.blondergroup.com)
Links
Sound Kitchen Welcomes Brokenheartsville Records!
Sound Kitchen Studios welcomes Brokenheartsville Records and its founder, hit songwriter Randy Boudreaux, to the Kitchen. Randy moved the company's business operations into Sound Kitchen Studios. A few of Randy's hits include "Brokenheartsville" sung by Joe Nichols, "Goodnight Sweetheart" sung by David Kersh, and "Alibis" sung by Tracy Lawrence. Randy also co-wrote the song "Matthew, Mark, Luke and Earnhardt", recorded by former jockey, Shane Sellers.
Boudreaux also won a GMA Dove Award for Country Album of the Year in 1997 for producing Jeff Silvey's album, "Little Bit of Faith".
Sound Kitchen Welcomes Audioease to the Big Boy
"Altiverb 6 is a convolution reverb plug-in for Mac OS X and Windows XP. It uses top quality samples of real spaces to create reverb, ranging from Sydney Opera House to the cockpit of a Jumbo Jet. Altiverb 6 offers the most extensive set of parameters, it supports all professional plug-in formats including protools TDM on the Mac, parameter automation and surround. Altiverb 6 gives you a choice between iLok SmartKey or Challenge/response copy protection, it lets you sample your own spaces (currently Mac only), and Altiverb is efficient on your cpu."
Be sure to pick up the next version of Altiverb to get that "Big Boy" drum sound that everyone raves about.
Sound Kitchen Interviews Producer Skidd Mills
Skidd Mills: Dumb luck. I was playing in a band in a club, and this guy walks up to me and asks me if I want a job at his studio. I was like “heck ya!”. I think he thought it would be easier to record my band if I was working there. So, I worked there for a few years, went to Fullsail for a year, and got a job at Ardent studios in Memphis TN. Just kind of worked my way up the ranks. Later, a producer friend, Paul Ebersold and I opened 747 Studios, and in June of this year, I moved my operation to The Sound Kitchen here in Franklin.
S.K. Who are your musical influences?
S.M. So many….My parents always encouraged anything musical. As a kid, I remember going to listen to my Mom practice organ and piano all the time. That really stuck with me through the years. Lots of classical stuff. And then I heard Moving Pictures by Rush and that blew me away. Then I got into Queen, Elton John, Genisis and then Metal came along and that was it. I liked all the 80’s bands. But I listen to everything….Rock, Pop….whatever.
S.K. How would you describe your role in the studio?
S.M. As a caretaker for songs. My job is to make the song the best it can be. Just serve the song always, on all levels…
S.K. What do you think makes a good producer?
S.M. I think being musical, and being able to bring out great songs.
S.K. What is in your CD player right now?
S.M. The only CD player I have is in my car, and whatever I’m working on now is what’s probably in there.
S.K. How did you get your first cut as a songwriter? Who was the artist?
S.M. My first cut was a song that I wrote with a band called Fighting Instinct. It was called “I Found Forever”. I was producing the song demos, and we just kind of came up with it. It ended up getting them a deal and cracked the top 30 on Active Rock I think.
S.K. What advice would you give to someone who wants to break into the music industry?
S.M. Good luck. Work hard. And…. My advice is that a great song will take you farther than anything. Once you can get past all the technical crap and truly focus on the song, then you can really start moving forward. I’m not saying technical stuff is not important, I’m just saying you gotta get to a point where you're not thinking about it and you are concentrating on the song.
WWE Super Star Mickie James Records at Sound Kitchen Studios!
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