Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

My guest this week is Michael Walker, who’s the founder and energy behind the Modern Musician program. You can hear all about his journey on Episode 411 from March 2022, but this time our discussion centered around Ai and how it can help or hurt the music industry in the future. Modern Musician recently incorporated its own Ai-driven helper bot, so Michael has a lot of hands-on experience on the subject. During our interview we spoke about integrating ChatGPT into Modern Musician, his experiences with Apple’s new Vision Pro headset, what spatial music and spatial picture mean to each other, how sometimes Ai image generation is creating more what a dream might look like, what future AI technology might hold for us, and much more. I spoke with Michael from his studio in Florida. On the intro I looked at the ELVIS Act bans unauthorized voice use, and the best DAWs of 2024. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 98313823, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is engineer Alan Meyerson, who many believe is the top scoring mixer in film today. With more than 200 credits, Alan has worked with leading film score composers like James Newton Howard, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Danny Elfman, and has a particularly long-standing working relationship with the great Hans Zimmer that continues to this day. Alan’s credits as a scoring mixer include blockbuster movies like Man of Steel, Iron Man, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Inception, The Dark Knight, Kung-Fu Panda 1 & 2, Despicable Me 1 & 2, The Last Samurai, Gladiator, and Hannibal. In addition to this, he also has a number of music mixing credits that include Bryan Ferry, New Order, Etta James, and OMD. During our interview, Alan told me about being a part of the first wave of dance music, making the transition to film work, his approach to orchestral recording, why he isn’t into vintage microphones, how he tailors his reverbs, dealing with 750 tracks of orchestra, his adventures at Abbey Road, and much more. I spoke with Alan from his studio in Los Angeles. On the intro I looked at the possible TikTok ban in the United States, and the Caesar’s Palace console finds a new home with UA. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97908956, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

This week I speak with Randall Michael Tobin in Part 2 of our conversation. Randall founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977 and has worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of, he also offers art and graphics, online marketing and promotion, video production and editing, and website design and maintenance. As I said last week, there’s more to Randall’s story than just audio. His interest in artisan cooking led him to baking sourdough bread loafs that he gave to clients and friends as gifts. This eventually led to a side business called Random Acts of Breadness, where as an artisan baker, Randall sells sourdough bread along with raw farm butters, honey spreads, jams and organic extra virgin olive oils. And as I also said last week, I eat at least one piece of Randall’s most delicious sourdough just about every day. During Part 2 of our interview, we spoke about how some house concerts started his side-career in cooking and baking, the similarities between food and music, using guerrilla marketing to start his bakery, the importance of pivoting when opportunities present themselves, and much more. I spoke with Randall from his studio in Burbank, California. On the intro I looked at Warner Music looking to buy Tunecore parent company Believe Music, and the most popular hardware synthesizer by country. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97658673, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Randall Michael Tobin, who founded his Theta Sound Studio way back in 1977. Since then he’s worked on thousands of projects in various genres including Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical, Hip Hop, Country, Ragtime, Gospel, Ballet, Alternative, Film Score and Spoken Word. Besides offering just about every audio service you can think of, Randall also offers art and graphics, online marketing and promotion, video production and editing, and website design and maintenance. But there’s more more to Randall’s story. Along the way his interest in artisan cooking led him to begin baking sourdough bread loafs that he gave as gifts to clients and friends. This eventually led to a side business called Random Acts of Breadness, where as an artisan baker, Randall sells sourdough bread along with delicious compliments like raw farm butters, honey spreads, jams and organic extra virgin olive oils. In fact, I eat at least one piece of Randall’s most excellent sourdough just about every day. During part 1 of the interview, we spoke about how some gear never goes out of style, recording big band, his unique studio clientele, where he got his technical chops, and much more. I spoke with Randall from his Theta Sound studio in Burbank, California. On the intro I looked at some totally unique physical release formats that you won’t believe, and what we know about Western tuning and harmony just might be wrong. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97378487, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is mixing and mastering engineer Nick Squids Squillante, who’s recent immersive mixes include “Rescue Me” by Dirty Heads, which went to Number 1 on the Billboard Alternative charts, and “Psycho” by Asking Alexandria, which also scored a spot at Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. He’s also done other immersive mixes for artists such as Tommy Lee, Papa Roach and Bad Wolves to name a few. Nick began his career working at Electric Lady Studios with 7-time Grammy-award-winning mixer Michael Brauer. During his time at the studio, Nick worked on records for Bon Jovi, Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, and Elle King, to name a few. Since then, Nick has been working with both major label and independent artists, amassing millions of streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and other major platforms. As a result, Nick has worked on records that have charted in the top 10 on iTunes and even more recently was considered for Grammy nomination. During the interview we spoke about his biggest learning moment with the great Michael Brauer, his favorite plugins, how he got into immersive mixing, creating memorable moments in a mix, and much more. I spoke with Nick from his studio in Brooklyn. On the intro I looked at how social media doesn’t monetize fans, and the new huge optical storage format. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 97068155, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is co-founder and CEO of Moises Ai Geraldo Ramos. Moises is an AI-driven application that enables musicians to separate their tracks into stems, identify chords, adjust tempo or pitch without affecting other musical elements, and refine their audio with professional mastering, among a host of other features. Another feature is Voice Studio, which serves as a marketplace for AI-powered voice modeling, allowing vocalists to monetize their own voice models to other music makers. Geraldo invented Moises when he was looking for a better way to practice his drums by playing the drums to songs he liked without hearing the original drummer. During the interview we spoke about interesting uses for source separation, how source separation Ai’s are trained, why some producers are developing private voice cloning models, the reason why Ai audio resolution isn’t higher, where Ai music is going, and much more. I spoke with Geraldo from his office in Los Angeles. On the intro I looked at how many videos are on YouTube, and the $40,000 guitar amplifier. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96735718, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Grammy-nominated producer-engineer-scoring mixer Jason LaRocca, who has recorded and mixed music for major motion pictures, games and television. Known for mixing the score of "The Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power" series, Marvel's "Morbius" and more, Jason recently mixed the Grammy-nominated albums "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and the "God of War: Ragnarok" soundtrack. He has also recorded and mixed for such top recording artists as Jay-Z, CeeLo Green, Fiona Apple, Schoolboy Q and Serj Tankian, of System of a Down. Jason was guest back on podcast #441 a couple of years ago, but I thought I’d have him back to give us an update about what’s going on in television, gaming and film mixing. During the interview we spoke about the enormous number of tracks required to record Sweeny Todd, the differences between mixing a Broadway record and a game soundtrack, whether automation or clip gain is faster, his approach to immersive mixing, mixing trends in film and TV, and much more. I spoke with Jason from his studio in Los Angeles. On the intro I looked at why the vinyl record backlog has decreased, and hit songs that almost didn’t make the album. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96487487, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of legendary guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television composer Wayne Kramer, who passed away recently. Wayne was far more influential than many realize as his band MC5 basically invented punk rock a full decade before it even emerged as a genre. The band and its albums became a model for punk bands on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, The Clash even wrote not one, but two songs about him! A formidable player, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Wayne as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He also collaborated with a who’s who of rock’s most elite artists over the years, and his scoring work can be heard on films like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down, ESPN’s 5-4-3-2-1, In My Own Words, and Under The Lights, and even for the “Unlabeled” Jim Beam commercial. Musical accolades are well and good, but I think what Wayne was most proud of was the fact that he was able to overcome his personal trials with drugs and jail time. He emerged from this darkness transformed, and then went on to save countless lives through his tireless acts of service. He was extremely passionate about his work with Jail Guitar Doors, a program that provides guitars and music lessons for inmates at more than 50 penal institutions throughout the United States. Through the years, he regularly played concerts with an all-star band at prisons around the country. During this interview from January 6th, 2022, we talked about why musicians from Detroit have a special edge to them, why the MC5 was banned from radio, how going to prison saved his life, getting into film scoring, and much more. This is a replay of an interview that I did with Wayne via Zoom from his studio in Los Angeles. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 96191804, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

In this episode I take a big overview of the recent Winter NAMM 2024. Among the things discussed include: A bit of NAMM history Attendance was up but several exhibit halls were empty Big manufacturers that were no-shows The biggest surprises Interesting new products Products that were just more of the same Is a NAMM show (or AES for that matter) even needed? What is the future of NAMM? This is a short but to the point episode that will give you something to think about if you were there, and show you why your FOMO was unnecessary if you weren't. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 95500370, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is a partner at Integral Studios and CEO of SymphonyOS, Megh Vakharia. Since 2016, he’s spearheaded product and data strategy as CTO of Integral Studio, one of the music industry’s leading marketing agencies. At Integral, Megh has worked with every major label and alongside artists of all sizes, from independent creators to today’s superstars, including Travis Scott, SZA, and Future ~ helping them figure out how to most effectively roll out their music in the most creative, data-driven ways. To date, Integral has supported campaigns that have led to 4 Grammy-nominated albums and over a dozen platinum-selling records. SymphonyOS helps creators put their fanbase growth on autopilot with smart, automated marketing. Its suite of apps centralizes the digital marketing workflow, empowering creators with the tools to better understand their audience, engage their fanbase, and increase their revenues. During the interview we spoke about why we’re in a post TikTok era, why artists should consider advertising, how Ai can play into your marketing decisions, why a mailing list is more important than ever for marketing, and much more. I spoke with Megh from his office in Los Angeles. On the intro I looked at the best times during the year to release music, and how much producers make. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 95226015, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };