URBAN METHOD

At first, I read the news that The Sing Off was cancelled and didn’t think much of it.  TV shows come and go these days like Congressmen, Styles of Jeans, and Pop Stars.  Then I got to thinking…  I was on that show with amazing musicians, and more importantly, amazing people as the contestants.  Then it started to sink in and the reality (no pun intended) of the situation started to hit home.

I had to step back from being on The Sing Off and the opportunity given to Urban Method by the shows executive  producers, Sam, Debbie, Josh and  Joel.  I realized that the show was so much more to me than the excitement and success of Urban Method and being on national TV.

Here’s where I get emotional…  (just a warning)

As soon as the show aired, I found that the show had an immense effect on young people all over the country.  I travel quite a bit mixing a cappella shows for Take 6 and every time I would walk into a concert hall, a young person would call out to me, “Tony from Urban Method”!  In talking to each and every one, I found that they were inspired by the show in so many ways.  By the competition.  By the characters in each group.  By the personal stories told on the show.  By the music, being so raw and from the heart.  By the diversity of the groups and individual members.  By the family friendly language and content.  By the hard work that it took to do each episode.  And by the talent that would come across their television every Monday night for 2 hours.  (Now I’m totally choked up) 

Not only were they inspired by our performances, I was inspired by their obvious new drive toward music and life.  I think the contestants were pushed to succeed as a group, conquer fears, and work hard to a goal, and that came across loud and clear to everyone watching the show.  We made it through each week with pure passion for music and life.  Now to meet these children and young adults that looked up to us, makes me realize that the show is much more than what it seems to the NBC Executives that pulled the plug.  I bet if they look back at television shows that were legendary, they would find that most of them started off with lower ratings.  But the best shows of all time became legendary because they showed heart (I’m reminded of *M*A*S*H* here).  The Sing Off showed heart and I see it every time I talk to a student, or child, or fan about it.  They have passion for the show that goes beyond the ratings.  It affected people to change.

The Sing Off wasn’t just a reality show that showcased talent, it inspired people to chase their dreams no matter who they are and where they are from.  That’s what good entertainment and good TV should be.  I know the Executive Producers of the show would agree, it was incredibly inspiring.  I’m sure they wanted the show renewed.  NBC Execs did not.  My hope is that the show will be bought out by a new network and land on your TV again soon.

Make sure to go and sign the petition to show your support of television like The Sing Off.  Also, read with the judges have to say.

As I tell the students at the schools I’ve visited…

“If you have a dream in life, chase it because you love it and never stop.  Your dream will soon become your reality and your future!”

Tony Huerta

Urban Method and Sonic Audio

You know, I must speak from the heart for a moment and take the time to tell you what’s on my mind.  First of all forgive the spelling and grammar errors in the post, I’ll be writing exactly what flows from the heart.  I’m in my hotel room in LA after a long day of rehearsing with Urban Method and have to get some things off my chest…

I had 3 experiences lately that put my professional career and life of music into perspective.  First of all, a little history of some personal things I’ve been through…

6 years ago I got a divorce, I was unemployed, and barely making my child support payments.  That left me with not much to eat.  I supported myself by pushing hard to make my passion of a cappella music and studio recording make money.  It wasn’t much income and I continued to lose weight except that I got to eat bowls of soup at The Olive Garden where I was a part time server…  I was almost homeless but relied on music to pull me through by mixing the Groove Society project that came out in 2004.  I think they have no idea how grateful I was for being hired to do their CD!  2 years later, I met the woman of my dreams.  Not because she was the most beautiful person on the outside, although she’s pretty cute, but for who she is on the inside.  She had a way of bringing confidence and focus to my career.  No matter what, I knew that she loved me for who I was, and more importantly, for what I had a dream of becoming.

Experience #1

For those of you who don’t know, I mix Take 6, an a cappella, gospel, jazz group that I’ve been a fan of since 1989.  It’s been a blessing to work with such fine, strong, christian men for the last 5 years.  I found myself last month on a treadmill, running 3 miles, while looking out from the 33rd floor of a building in Shanghai China.  I thought to myself, “How did I get here”?

Experience #2

I put together this group called Urban Method to audition for the NBC Sing Off.  I have had a dream for about 3 years of putting some of the best talent in Colorado all in one group.  Finally, this was the time and opportunity to do it.  I put out a Facebook message to 7 of the best singers I knew.  But more importantly, some of the best personalities I knew.  We formed the group, I arranged a few songs, along with Richard, and we taped a video to send to Sony Pictures.  A week later we got the contract, and 3 weeks later, learned we were on the show.  Now we are in the top 4, have been taping episodes in LA for a total of 9 weeks, and have the chance to win it all.  We worked 7 days a week, 12-15 hours a day rehearsing, for 9 weeks with no days off.  And it was worth it!

Experience #3

I have been working with the choir teacher at Douglas HS (Randy Gifford) for about a year, helping him get good sound equipment for his students.  I drove up there soon after finishing the Sing Off episode 10 taping to talk to the kids and work on the sound system. We talked for a few hours about life, career, and music. After working all day with the kids, I had a nice long drive back to Denver, about 3.5 hours.  I had a lot of time to think….. and think….. and ponder those kids and their future.  I enjoyed seeing their faces light up with intrigue about music and what I had been part of.

What was I thinking after all that?

After looking in those kids eyes in Douglas, Wyoming, feeling the emotion of being in China, and the utter exhaustion of being on the Sing Off, this is what I think…

The moments in my life I realize had the most impact on my life and career are:

1.  The times when I looked up to someone older (more accomplished) than me and wanted to be in their shoes.  ie, Take 6, my brothers Juan and Marco, My High School choir teacher Mr. Roberts, and the 17th Avenue Allstars.

2.  The many hours of sitting in symphony rehearsals, piano lessons, choir rehearsals, and recitals with my Mom as she taught and played music.  I was bored out of my mind but realize now that the music and drive to achieve my dreams was planted in my soul then.

3.  When I heard for the first time from Claude McKnight and Mark Kibble about how they prepared for the opportunity of launching Take 6 and getting the record deal with Quincy Jones.  Then, knowing that if I want to make it in music, fully committing myself to my dreams and putting in the countless hours regardless of the outcome.

The Conclusion

Go, define what makes you tick.  Next, find what you really love to do!  Study those who you are inspired by and learn from them!  Chase your dreams tirelessly by putting in the thousand of hours to master the skills necessary to be successful!  When you find success, be the one who inspires those around you to make their dreams come true.  I will continue to drag my kids to rehearsals and countless concerts.  I will continue to talk and work with young musicians to inspire them to chase their dreams.  I will continue to work hard with Urban Method knowing that success is the direct result of hard work focused on a heart felt passion.  I’m not trying to brag about my success in my career.  I’m making sure people around me can see where I’ve been, how hard I’ve worked, and what I’ve become.  I want everyone to know that they can do it too.  If you focus on affecting the people around you, you will become successful and happy regardless of income and status.

Ahh, now I can sleep!  I have a long day of rehearsals tomorrow doing what I love.  Goodnight….

Tony

A short look into how Urban Method gets our arrangements and work done.
Watch the Process
The Process

Prior to Week 6 Taping:  Hip Hop Week

I’d like to start off by saying that I’m so proud of Urban Method and how far we’ve come on the show!  When I chose the members of the group and asked them to try this “Sing Of” thing, my hope was that we would make it on the show.  That was it.  Make it on the Sing Off.  Then, as we started to rehearse for the first times, I realized that we had more than a shot to do well in LA.  People probably don’t know that the first time we actually sang together as a group, was the shooting night of our audition video for the show.  Find it on Youtube under Urban Method Video.

Now that we are past week 5 where we ripped up some Poison and got the audience dancing, I found that the group is pulling together in new ways.  We were shoved into working on the show and with each other 12-15 hours a day and sharing rooms in the hotel after starting the group only 2 months earlier.  We have started to find a balance of power and personalities.  It’s amazing to sit back and watch as the different personalities and talents just flow during our rehearsals.  I’ve found that the quality of our performance improves when everyone gets their voice heard and has input toward our arrangements.  So, GO URBAN METHOD!  I hear the feed back we are getting on Facebook and continue to be proud of how hard the group works, how hard they want to win the show, and more importantly, how they remain professional and have become friends with a common love of music as our direction.  We let the music direct us and it flows from the heart every time we get on stage.  Hopefully that is what sets us apart, not only on the Sing Off, but in the future as we move forward.

Tony Huerta

As I performed on the show in Urban Method as a singer, I was always yearning to be on the other side of the mixer. It was odd for me to be singing again. With that said, let me fill you in on the production side of TSO3!

First, the stage mix and microphones. We used Sennheiser 5000 series mics which enabled the crew to use 48 wireless channels at once. They’re about $2500 a piece and compete with the Shure UHF-R KSM9. They’re awesome for normal vocals. Our monitors were run on an M7CL Yamaha digital mixer through 12 monitors under the grates of the stage, as side fills in the “box” walls, and flown. With a large stage, it could be hard to hear, but Andre the monitor engineer gave us exactly what we wanted.

Next, the front of house:
We had a JBL VerTec Line Array and subs under the audience. We had a hard time feeling the subs since they were under the bleachers not under the stage. We were mixed on a Yamaha PM5D. Although this is usually the most important part of a production, actually it’s not… The most important feed is the recording feed to the TV truck outside the soundstage. That is where the show is tracked and mixed later for airing. It takes the mix engineers and video production crew about 6 weeks to mix and edit the show.

Comment with your questions…

Tony

Now, Vocal Bass!
In the last blog, I went over the tricky essentials of mixing vocal percussion.  Now, how to build the ultimate rhythm section by adding the bass vocalist.  First, I send their low end to the subwoofer on an Aux send and brighten the track. Think of tracking the bass as though it were a real bass. The goal is to make the bass huge without being muddy at 100 Hz or 200 Hz through 400 Hz.  Never put a high pass filter on a vocal bass.  The human voice is so dynamic and even though most basses can’t sing notes down to 50 Hz, they have natural sub-harmonics that will sound and ring down there.  Let it thump and be sonically low.  I prefer the Shure’s Beta 58, or the Sennheiser 965 Hyper-cardoid microphone.
The key to mixing bass is not the sub-low end of the spectrum.  Sure, they must have a low and large presence; but, it’s actually the low mids and highs that define the performance.  I EQ out frequencies that create a muddy mix.  100 Hz is a culprit to many bad mixes since it takes over so much sonic room and covers the rest of the group.  Also, I take out 200-300 Hz to clear up the mud of the mix.  Then I brighten 4.0 Khz and 12Khz and above to create the perception of the bass cutting through the mix.  Vocal basses don’t have strings to pluck, so you have to provide the EQ to overcome that.  With your bass mic being routed through the subs via an Aux, you are in a win/win situation.
Watch for the next sound for A Cappella installment, effects!
Tony (Urban Method)

In mixing a cappella, there are several ideas and sound techniques that stray from what most engineers learn and practice in the industry.  I thought I’d start a blog that addresses these differences to help groups get a more full and clear sound.

Lets start with the ever important and most widely misunderstood vocal percussionist (VP) or beatboxer.

I start by using a “Y” split cable to bring his/her channel into two channels on the mixer. You can also use Whirlwind three-way splitter or internal buss on a digital mixer. This opens up the opportunity to EQ and place effects on the upper drum parts without affecting the kick channel and vice versa. The three channels are as follows: one being the kick (KK), the second being the snare and over-head channel (SNOH), and the third as a vocal channel in case they sing on the same microphone. That gives you the ability to effect and EQ each channel differently for swift mid-song changes to that vocalist by muting the vocal channel and opening up the Kick (KK) and Snare/Over-head (SNOH), of vise versa.  Just mute and open the channels as needed.  Never have all three open at once, that defeats the purpose.

Second, I EQ the KK channel to sound like a kick drum.  Have the artist do a kick sound and adjust only the KK channel to have a good amount of 60 Hz, almost no mids, and a peak at 5 KHz.  I also put the subwoofer send on an auxiliary out and route the kick channel to it.

Then mute the KK channel and open up the SNOH channel alone with the artist doing snare and hat sounds.  EQ it to handle all of the low-high mids  and highs.  I usually put a HP filter up to 150 Hz, bring up 250 Hz, put a peak at 3.0 KHz, and a shelf EQ at 11KHz and above.

Then bring the two channels together by bringing them both up.  Have the artist do their “full kit” and blend the two channels until it sounds good.  The best part is that you could put a little reverb only on the SNOH channel to give it some room.  During the show, the engineer can use either channel more or less to create atmosphere in the mix, ie. Dance tunes get more KK, slow songs, more SNOH.

For microphones, I prefer dynamic microphones that can handle high sound pressure levels (SPL’s) I use the Shure Beta 58 on on most beatbox, since it can be wireless. The Sennheiser EW100 with the 965 hyper-cardiod capsule is also a good choice. Small EQ differences can be heard by sending the signal through the airwaves so I prefer the wired models if I can get away with it.  Also, if you want a huge kick sound, use the Audix D6!!

Remember, you can always email your sound questions to tony@sonicaudiopro.com

Hey guys, Tony here from Urban Method. Wanted to take a quick second and throw out a few tips about mixing live sound. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to mix some amazing a cappella groups including Take 6, Nota, and the House Jacks. Here are 5 things to remember to take your sound up a notch:

1. Make sure that your equipment and sound person remain invisible to the audience.  Not in a literal sense, but in a sound sense.  For example, you have feedback during your performance, everyone will look over at the sound person and not watch the performance.
2. Learn how to use a graphic EQ so that you can eliminate all feedback every time you perform.
3. Use the graphic EQ on your house mix and every monitor mix.  It is a very inexpensive piece of gear that will help you with #1 above.
4. Get comfortable with using microphones and how each one sounds on your voice.  Every artist that is successful in the business is a master of using their vocal instrument, which includes their microphone.