Hi guys,

This is Pete Wurthy, CEO and Lead Mix Engineer of Microcosm Expansion Music. I have made the decision to start blogging about things I’m learning in the audio realm that I can pass on to other home recording enthusiasts and aspiring mix engineers. One of the greatest rewards of learning is sharing and/or possibly teaching others. I’ve learned a lot about mixing in the last few years and plan to learn plenty more in the years to come. I find it necessary to pass this information along to you guys.

Before I begin, a lot of the information I will be talking about was found through practical experience and experimentation. You can read about audio for days, but the real learning begins when you get off the internet, get into the studio, and start mixing. Experimenting in the studio is when things really started coming together for me. I originally thought that reading about ‘how to use compression’ or ‘how to use automation’ was just as good as experiencing it for myself. I was completely wrong. You really won’t learn and be comfortable with many things, including your own personal mixing style, until you get your fingers on the faders (or on the mouse and keyboard if you stay “in the box” like me).

Without further hesitation, I will begin my first blog about ‘HOW I MIX’.

The first thing I want to touch on is getting into the mind frame of how a mixer thinks when they hear a song. Since beginning my tenure as an engineer, I listen to music completely different now than I used to, even when I was just a musician. I’d like to think that everyone starts out listening to music much the same way. There is something that sticks out in your mind about a particular song: either a guitar riff, or a catchy lyric, or something else that sticks in your head. You just listen to the song as it is. You don’t necessarily know why you like it, but you do. You listen to the song as ‘the song’.

As a fan of music, we don’t always analyze songs to a “T”. We just like the songs. However, as an engineer, you are forced to break the song down into the tiniest micro-elements such as pitch, timbre, frequency, amplitude, etc. (more about these elements and more in future blogs). You’re not used to examining the sonic landscape of a song when you first start. This can make it frustrating at times. For example, a common mistake for beginners might be mixing the bass, kick, and guitars but forgetting to leave room for the vocal, snare, keyboards, and more. So what do you do? You start listening to songs that come on the radio to examine how the pros mixed them. The only problem is, you’re still used to hearing the song as ‘the song’, not the individual instruments and elements that you have to consider in mixing a song.

Here is what I suggest:

1. Block off several hours a night for a few evenings a week (whenever you have free time or would be mixing).

2. Go into your CD collection, iTunes, etc. (somewhere you can play your music library on your monitor speakers).

3. During this time, go through all the songs in your library from beginning to end. Get out a pen and pad, write the Artist and Song Title of each song, and underneath that write down every thing you hear . Write down the genre, tempo (is it fast or slow?), and all the instruments that you can pick out. Which instruments drive the song and which support it?  Don’t worry about being wrong, but practice!

4. As you start practicing more and more, try to point out the elements of a mix that are a little harder to notice. Is the vocal up front and “in your face” or is it back in the mix? Do any instruments have noticeable effects like delay or reverb? What instruments are panned hard left and hard right? Which are in the center? etc.

5. The more you do this, not only will you better learn your room and your monitors, you will also gain an ear for analyzing songs and a better understanding of how songs are structured both from sonic and arrangement perspectives. This will pay HUGE dividends in the long run, trust me.

Thanks for reading my first blog about HOW I MIX. Until next time.

Pete Wurthy

This month marks my ten year anniversary in the game.

It’s tough to be a young artist:

I remember the struggles of not having enough money to go to a big studio. Recording tracks for myself on entry level equipment late at night because that was the only time I had to do it (with school and all sorts of other obligations); also waking up my family members. Practicing my live sets enough so I wouldn’t run out of breath and voice after the second verse of the second song. There is a lot of energy and passion that goes in to making music (notice I didn’t even mention standing out and being noticed). But, through it all, this has been my number one creative outlet; my favorite endeavor that captured my interest the first time I laid down my first verse on a cassette tape recorder. We all have humble beginnings.

It’s funny how your passion can take you on a journey and make you learn many things without your conscious intent. What began as a foray into emceeing lead to a will to produce melodies and compositions. That will to produce lead to a ‘want’ or a ‘need’ to get better at engineering my craft. Of course, none of this can happen overnight. Even ten years deep, I still learn an array of new things EVERY DAY. I would be lying to you if I said most of my growth didn’t come in the last two or three years when I started educating myself on audio engineering. That decision to pursue the mechanics of what I’m doing as an artist has strengthened my love and my taste for music.

I’m well aware that as an artist, I haven’t created or published any new rap songs in several years. The Pete Wurthy namesake has been merely surviving off of past accomplishments and merits that took place years ago. My live performances have been very sparsely thrown together over the last few years, going from doing shows monthly in 2005-2006 to doing goose-egg in 2010.  That has left many of you wondering if I am still in it or have I (must I dare say it?) fallen off. The answer is yes, I am still in it! And what I can tell you, is that the things I did in the last few years were to fuel my interest in music for YEARS to come. While I want to help others make better music, my main motive for bettering myself in all areas of this music business was to provide you guys with better sounding material. I want to OWN what I do. I want to achieve the sound that I want, and be just as knowledgeable as the guy on the other side of the glass. It’s a wildfire passion that has spread to the point where I couldn’t put it out. I wonder if anyone or anything could put it out at this point.

With the bit of success I’ve achieved in the last ten, it hurts me to think that I’ve let some people down. Years later, no new Pete Wurthy album in your CD Player or iPod. But believe me when I tell you, through the ups and downs, the good memories and the heartaches, the relentless education I’ve received in my pursuit of succeeding with this music thing, I feel better now than ever. This point in time looking forward will see a lot more growth and God willing, me doing what I love to do most: making music.

God bless you fans and thank you for all of the support over the last decade. The music is still for U, and that’s why the U is in my name! Here’s to the next ten. It will be exciting!

Yours,

Pete Wurthy (The Rap Mechanic)

Hey fans,

Wurthy here. Wanted to give everyone a brief update on what’s been going on!

The mixing side of things… still going strong. Right now I am scheduled to work on a full album for a local Spanish Gospel artist in Charlotte. More information on that project to come.

In the studio, I am proud to announce that I have installed several bass traps from GIK Acoustics (gikacoustics.com). I will be adding several more before the summer’s end, but a drastic improvement in my studio’s acoustics is already notable, especially in the low end.

My Avalon 737 was in the repair shop (in California) for the last couple weeks because of an electrical failure. I am proud to announce that all of the issues with it have been fixed and it has been shipped back. As soon as it arrives back here at my studio I will be recording the first tracks for Project W. That’s right guys, the first released Pete Wurthy song in more than three years is a close reality. Please come back soon and often to check on the progress with this!

- PW

Hey fans,

Here’s a little update for the beginning of summer 2o11. I’m hard at work on more mixing projects and writing again.

This past month I wrapped up mixing a project for Jocelyn Ellis (JocelynEllis.net). The track is straight bananas!  On top of that, I finished doing a vocal mix for Em Daht (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAdKjPMSyyc&feature=player_embedded) and I’m also mixing a track for Benie Beatz (http://beniebeatz.com).

I’m working on writing a remix of “Living on the Run” with The James Younger Gang (https://www.reverbnation.com/thejamesyoungergang). I performed a preview of it at Easy Eddies in May. You can check that out here: http://vimeo.com/23429032.

As far as my tunes, expect to see them on here later this summer. I’m currently working on negotiations for acoustic treatments in my studio. As soon as that is all taken care of, expect the flood gates to be raised! A new EPK video is in the works as well.

Cheers.

PW

What’s up fans?

Hope everyone has had a prosperous 2011 thus far. Wanted to take a minute to update you guys on the progress with everything Pete Wurthy!

First of all, it is worth mentioning that I have started producing mixes for my imprint Microcosm Expansion Music (or MEM for short). If you are not familiar with MEM, hold tight and I will catch you up to par:

Microcosm Expansion Music officially started back in February 2010. On the surface, it is a production engine that will function as a ‘label’ for Pete Wurthy music (the term label is used very loosely here; just for examples sake). However, it will be more than just the name that publishes all Pete Wurthy albums; it will also be a recording studio and marketing tactics provider for other independent artists as well. At its core, MEM will strive to help artists on budgets record, mix, and market themselves effectively. The main goal for MEM is to make the gift of music and the expression that comes with it affordable for anyone. I am currently President and CEO of this imprint, and plan to take it as far as I can.

A large part of this experience has been practicing my mixing skills and getting better at them. I’ve dedicated the last three years of my career to finding out what makes a record sound great. It has helped me appreciate the finer details that goes into making a record sparkle. Learning the basic theories of producing and mixing took a while, but was well worth it. I am still learning new things every day, and what is facilitating my learnings now is getting hands on practice. Check out some of the mixes I’ve done this past month below:

I can’t lie, at the front end my main motivation behind these efforts was to make my records sound better. Now, I want to use my abilities for more than myself and help other cats that care about the quality of their sound. I am currently charging $20 per track to do a mix. Most studios will charge at least $40 an hour to mix a song and with all of the tweaking that comes along, it could cost an artist hundreds of dollars to polish just one song. While I understand engineers need to make a living and pay bills, I also understand that artists shouldn’t have to pay a fortune just to have a record with sufficient quality. With that said, if you are reading this and would like for me to mix your record, don’t hesitate to email me at PW@PeteWurty.com with a request. For all first mixes per client, I will knock the price down to $10 per track. Also don’t hesitate to contact me about individualized marketing campaigns. I plan on adding recording services for solo artists in the near future too so stay tuned.

On the PW side of things, I am still gearing up to release ‘Project W’. Here are some brief updates:

• This EP will be the first of five EPs released in a short span of time.
• It will be available digitally as a FREE download on PeteWurthy.com.
• Autographed limited edition hard copies of the CD containing a secret bonus track will be tossed out at shows (the CD + bonus track version will only be available at the shows).
• Lyrics for all songs will be included in the download.

That is all that can be reported for now. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@PeteWurthy) and like my page on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/petewurthy). Fan of the Month will resume starting May. If you leave a lot of comments on the Pete Wurthy Facebook page you will up your chances for FOTM. Jus’ sayin’ .

Peace,

PW

Greetings fans,

Sometime in 2011, hopefully in the earlier part, I will be releasing a five track EP available online exclusively at this very website. It is my intention to release a series of short EPs, easing my way back into this underground Hip Hop scene that we all love so dearly. Project W will be the first release in this series and while I can’t offer more information than has already been said, I can assure you that the wait will be worth it. Keep it locked to PeteWurthy.com in the coming months and keep your ears wide open.

- PW