Report: Remix Hotel Los Angeles Day 3

Dec 29, 2008 8:07 PM, Erin Hutton and Lori J. Kennedy

Day 3 at Remix Hotel Los Angeles 2008 dropped more science than Mr. Bencivengo’s 10th-grade biology class. First up was the U Inc.—Career Strategies for a New Economy panel (presented by the Recording Academy Producers and Engineers Wing), with moderator DJ Moonbaby and panelists Jason Bentley, Carmen Rizzo and Robin Nixon. Taking on the topic of how to make a living as a working producer or engineer, the group discussed the need for raw talent, the challenges artists have in the face of shrinking budgets and the tools to remain competitive in the industry.

“First, when you’re looking at a project, find out what the goal of it is,” Rizzo said. “If you’re going to get paid to work on a project all year, but that project doesn’t end up getting released, then that actually hurts you.”

The day really ramped up with the much-anticipated Digidesign Pro Tools 8 class, which offered attendees a first look at the latest incarnation of the ubiquitous recording platform. Eager to check out the system’s updated interface, new virtual instruments and more, attendees crowded into the Avid room—even Thes One, who arrived early for the Business of Touring panel, squeezed into the standing-room-only theater.

Following the Pro Tools 8 session, Grammy Award–winning producer, engineer, songwriter and founder of Tweaker Chris Vrenna took the Avid stage to discuss how he uses Digi’s flagship studio tool. It was fun to watch him discover new features in Pro Tools 8 while he was taking us through the creation of one of his tracks. He was just plain giddy. “I’m usually at home doing this by myself in the middle of the night for hours,” he said, laughing.

As the evening wore on, a slew of latecomers arrived to check out the Native Instruments master class on using Traktor Pro and Traktor Scratch Pro. (Thanks to NI for getting the word out to its local users!) NI product specialist Moe Espinosa (aka Drumcell) walked the packed class through the basics of the program—sending some serious bass through the classroom wall and into the panel room.

Speaking of which, the final panel of RHLA 2008, The Business of Touring, was a crazy success (despite a bit of bass interference). Moderated by Invisible Records founder and industrial heavyweight Martin Atkins (PiL, Killing Joke, Pigface), this panel featured Thes One (People Under the Stairs), as well as Filip Turbotito and Johnny Love from Guns N Bombs. Armed with info from his new book, Tour:Smart, as well as a superinformative PowerPoint presentation, Atkins offered the audience a ton of real-world advice and hilarious anecdotes to match. Thes One and the others also had much to offer the audience, including the importance of having business licenses and the beauty of merch. Look out for the videos soon!

Day 3 of RHLA 2008 was the final Remix Hotel day for 2008. And what a great year this has been! We’ve had the likes of Deadmau5, Francois K, Pete Rock, Just Blaze and Bryan-Michael Cox, and we’ve had panels featuring everyone from Junior Sanchez and Kandi Burruss to Richard Devine and Needlz. You can check out photos and videos of all of them here at Remixhotel.com.

What’s more, we’re fixin’ to do it all again in 2009, with stops in Miami, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Stay tuned for details!

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