About Cantankerous Monk Productions
Services
My specialty is helping people develop their musical ideas into a complete vision, then co-producing a body of work that everyone is eager to share!
- Musical Collaboration and Lyric Writing
- Accompaniment on Bass, Guitar, Drums/Percussion, Keys/Synth, Voice, and other miscellaneous instrumentation for getting the desired texture/color/vibe
- Mixing - bring your stems or we can create them from scratch!
- Recording - up to 32 tracks of portable, on-site recording!
- Restoring and transferring old/damaged recordings
Equipment
Stationary Setup
- Custom/Dedicated Recording/Mixing Computer: Intel i9 with 64 GB RAM and over 10TB space
- Robust Plugin and Soft Synth Library: Plugin Aliance MEGA; Superior Drummer 3; TH-U Overloud; Two-Notes Genome; Analog Lab PRO; Izotope Mixing Suite; Waves Horizon; Waves Restore; plus many more
- Softube Console and Fader hardware with all of Softube's channel strip emulators (+ some other bells/whistles)
- Arturia AudioFuse 16rig with 16 channels of ADAT expansion:
- Audient ASP800 (8 mic-pres from ASP8025-HE recording console used by Russ Russell, Cenzo Townshend, etc.)
- Midas XL48 (8 mic-pres from the XL4, the "Neve of the live world" used by Tool, Muse, Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, AC/DC, etc.) These are Great on drums!
- Capable of 32 Simultaneous Inputs (16 Mics + 16 TRS)
- Strong Mic Collection including Slate ML-1 & ML-2, Sputnik Tube, 2 AKG C214s, Shure SM81, Sennheiser e935, plus misc other Blue, EV, and Shure utility mics
- Korg 88-key weighted digital piano/controller
- Arturia KeyLab 49 mkii & Minilab mkii
- Antique Hammond Church Organ
- Story & Pond Upright Grand Piano
- Mapex and Odery Acoustic Drums
- Alesis Strike 5-piece Electronic Drums
- Taylor c214 Acoustic Guitar
- Music Man Stingray 5
- Several Electric Guitars and Basses
- Lots of fun instruments for textures/effects including: vintage lap steel, accordion, trombone, trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, obo, clarinet, flute, congas, djembe, misc noise makers.
Portable Setup
I have 3 options for on-location recording (Small, Medium, Large); an MSI gaming laptop with 64 GB RAM and 2 TB recording space +
- Small: Audient id14 or Audient Sono I/O (stereo mic/line) expandable to up to 8 additional mic/line inputs via ADAT
- Medium: Arturia 16Rig + Presonus DigiMax FS (10/16 mic/line)
- Large Arturia 16Rig + Presonus DigiMax 16 + Audient ASP800 + Midas XL48 (32 total inputs in 24/8 or 16/16 mic/line configuration)
Plus plenty of instruments and amps to equip a live rock band!
My Story
I started making and recording music as an ambitious 12-year-old in '87 with a "Realistic" mic and a garage-sale tape deck, then graduated to a Fostex 4-tracker in '92, then to a Tascam reel-to-reel in '94. Through the 90s, I was in a variety of bands and recorded a bunch of demos. By the early '00s, I was assisting in a professional Pro Tools studio in Tulsa.
Since then, I've been upgrading my equipment and skills, and have moved a couple times chasing my I.T. career. I relocated to Vermont in Jan 2021 and just started rebuilding my music production side-hustle after a several year hiatus.
My personal musical tastes vary widely but I tend to gravitate toward heavier stuff (punk, alt rock, metal, etc.). I also really enjoy jazz, funk, R&B, Indie, Pop, and most things in between ...and beyond!
How I work
I like to start with a conversation to see if we click. If working together seems like the right fit, I'll happily provide some up-front services for free just to earn your trust. Only after earning your trust will I propose a fee-for-service moving forward; however, I prefer to work for "points" (credit for my contributions so that I may earn royalty percentage) ...like a producer minus the upfront costs or lengthy contracts. For me, this is the best/fairest way to work; it's the least stressful for everyone and has the best chances to lead to mutual success. I'm an ASCAP member as both Writer and Publisher and am registered with MLC - so, I can help ensure our efforts are rewarded!
Also, I have a day job - for me, this is a hobby/passion :)