The Producer's Philosophy, with Brian Bender

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/DISCUSSED:

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

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.

----LINKS-----

💰 SUPPORT STRONG SONGS! 
Patreon | Paypal

 🏠 HOMEPAGE
strongsongspodcast.com

 👚 MERCH
strongsongspodcast.com/store

 📬 KIRK'S NEWSLETTER
newsletter.kirkhamilton.com

📷 SOCIAL MEDIA 
Instagram: @Kirk_Hamilton
Bluesky: @kirkhamilton.com

💬 STRONG SONGS DISCORD SERVER 
strongsongspodcast.com/discord

🎧 STRONG SONGS PLAYLISTS 
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

🎸 KIRK'S GEAR & INSTRUMENTS 
kirkhamilton.com/gear

🎶 KIRK'S MUSIC 
kirkhamilton.com/music

🎨 SHOW ART 
Tom Deja, Bossman Graphics

--------------------

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