Michael Winger Music Producer / Audio Engineer

Universal Audio Video Feature Cannons and Clouds, Michael Winger, Matt Boudreau and Broken Radio.

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 07:32:43 -0700

A few weeks ago Universal Audio debuted their impressive new UAD-2 processing card and when they asked me to help them find a band to help demonstrate its power, I suggested Cannons and Clouds whom I’ve been producing over the last year and a half.. Matt Boudreau, who runs the downstairs big room at Broken Radio, engineered while I produced the track. You can see videos of the whole process at http://www.uaudio.com/media/videos.html

I couldn’t get the sharing links to work, so scroll down to the Tracking, Mixing and Mastering videos to see Matt, me and mastering engineer, Michael Romanowski talk about the card and the project. Matt also talks about it all in the artist interview.

I’ve been a big fan of Universal Audio ever since I started working as a producer. The first mic preamp I ever bought was their 2610 tube preamp which I used to record Four Year Bender, Beth Waters and Tim Bluhm. The new card is pretty amazing and I can’t wait to upgrade my computer to start working and playing with it.

West Coast Songwriter Conference Panel

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 19:03:15 -0700

I will be a panelist at the West Coast Songwriters conference on Sept 12 at Foothills College in Los Altos Hills, CA.

I’ll be speaking on the “New Directions in the Music Industry” panel with Derek Sivers (founder of CD Baby), Morty Wiggins (Formerly of Bill Graham Presents among other things), Jocelyn Kane (head of SF entertainment commission and Motogirl Productions) and Michael Aczon (SF entertainment attorney)

Judging by the lineup, it should be a really interesting panel and the conference features lots of great songwriters and workshops to get feedback on songs from publishers and licensing folks. Worth checking out at www.westcoastsongwriters.org

Cannons and Clouds Video

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:11:54 -0700

We shot this video at Broken Radio last week with Cannons and Clouds as part of a documentary for Universal Audio. The band is performing this monday night at the Elbo Room in San Francisco with Super Adventure Club and Weather Pending.

Super Adventure Club wins band of the month on The Deli Magazine SF

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 16:22:01 -0700

It’s been a busy month working on Super Adventure Club’s new album and we were also just chosen as band of the month. Thanks to everybody that voted for us.

We’ve also got a video on the works which we filmed with director Matt Ward who has worked on some obscure films like the Matrix Reloaded, Star Wars 2 and Beowulf. More on that later...

Lots of Mixing: Gayle Lynn and the Hired Hands, Fish For Spliffs, Karaoke Revolution and VIA

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:36:55 -0700

It’s been a busy month of mixing, mixing and more mixing. I worked for a while with the alt country / folk artist Gayle Lynn and the Hired Hands for a new album they’re putting out this fall.

Mixed East Bay Pop phenoms Fish For Spliffs debut album which I tracked several months ago. My Super Adventure Club cohort, Jake Wood is producing the album which I recorded in the big room at Broken Radio last April.

Helped out Matt Boudreau on some finishing touches for “Karaoke Revolution” a massive project he was working on right around the time he just had his second baby, Emerson(Congrats Matt!)

I worked for a few days with Vision Into Art (VIA) luminary, Paola Prestini on a few pieces for their next album. Her first album which I worked on a few months ago will appear soon on John Zorn’s label, Tzadik.

Super Adventure Club Plays the Apple Store this Friday

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:25:29 -0700

I’ll be playing several shows in the next few weeks

Friday, July 25
Super Adventure Club at the Apple Store in Union Square
630pm
Come and get your geek on!

Friday, August 1
Francesca Lee and the New Believers at Broadway Studios
8pm
I’ll be playing bass with Francesca and Co. A really cool venue in North Beach on a Friday night.
 Sat, August 2
Super Adventure Club at Blake’s in Berkeley
ALL AGES

Mon, Aug 25
Super Adventure Club at the Elbo Room

EQ Magazine article on Super Adventure Club

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:42:40 -0700

In our first national press interview, Super Adventure Club is featured in this month’s EQ magazine. Guitar Player editor, Michael Molenda, interviewed Jake and I about our keyboard and recording tricks that we use in the multi-tasking adventure that is our power duo.

Also featured is Death Cab for Cutie on the cover, who recorded their latest (#1) album at my friend John’s studio here in San Francisco.

Josh Redman and the St Lawrence String Quartet at Broken Radio

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:56:55 -0700

Last week, I recorded Joshua Redman, an amazing saxophonist with NoneSuch Records. Joshua was recently nominated for a Grammy for his trio album “Back East”. At Broken Radio, we recorded an arragnement of “Autumn in New York”, arranged by Stephen Prutzman.  
Joshua is an incredibly talented sax player with a great tone and delivery. Also a super nice guy, as are all the players in the St Lawrence String Quartet who are currently in residency at Stanford University. It was a huge treat to work with such amazing people on beautiful arrangement of a classic song. I’m hoping we get to do more of it...

June 18 - Cafe Du Nord with Super Adventure Club, Francesca Lee and Cannons and Clouds

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 15:03:51 -0700

A night of music featuring almost all the artists I’m currently producing.
Wednesday, June 18 at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco... (listed in order of appearance)

Cannons and Clouds
I met Zach Blizzard, the songwriter / lead singer for Cannons and Clouds more than a year ago as well and we’ve been steadily working on his band’s debut album. We played a show together a few months back at the Hotel Utah.

Francesca Lee and the New Believers
I’ve been producing her new album for the better part of a year now. I’ll also playing bass with her on this show along with Super Adventure Club drum god, Jake Wood.

Super Adventure Club
My band and pet project. Lots of exciting things happening with the band and it’s great to get back on stage again after a few years off focusing on studio work. Super Adventure Club has lots of exciting stuff in the works, including a new album we’re recording at Broken Radio.

Promises to be a great night. You can buy advance tickets at cafedunord.com

Mixing JL Stiles

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:46:07 -0700

After a few months of tracking all kinds of incredible musicians in the big room at Broken Radio, we put the finishing touches on the mixes last week for JL Stiles forthcoming EP.

Check out the JLStiles.com website for updates on shows and all things Stiles-ish.

Recording Kaboom

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:57:48 -0700

Flying Kitchen spent the day on Pier 30-32 this weekend recording KFOG’s annual Kaboom concert.

It was a lot of fun, although a bit windy and foggy at the end when they lit off the fireworks. Boone and I are going to release a podcast of the tracking at some point on ProToolsOp.com once we get out from all the mixing and so on...

Words of Winger -Music Marketing Blog

Thu, 8 May 2008 08:13:36 -0700

A good friend of mine pointed out that I’m rather opinionated and know a bit more than I like to admit (but not than I like to share) so, like much of the rest of the world, I’ve got a blog that I’ve started.

It’s called Words of Winger and I’m resolving to start updating it more frequently. Subscribe to it on RSS if you’re into that sort of thing (which you should be if you’re not...) and if you don’t know what that is, read this http://www.whatisrss.com/
Feel free to comment on the blog and start up some conversation, that’s what makes blogs interesting. Or send me an email...
mc {at} michaelwinger {dot} com

Also, thanks to everybody who came out to the music industry forum panel at CHOPS last night in Santa Rosa, I had a great time and it was a fun discussion.