Questions and answers

[Danny Danzi]

This is kinda hidden within the site, but I felt it might be good to put it here as well. I'll be updating this periodically so check back often.

Jeff Clarkson from the UK asked: Hi Danny, I missed you at the Z Rock gigs but happened to catch your show at The Corporation in Sheffield, UK. It's a shame there was a mix-up in the times when the load of punters came AFTER your show and thought you had not gone on yet. You put on a show that night like there were 20,000 people in the audience mate! What really surprised me was how humble you were and you actually hung out with us like a normal person after the show. That really made an impression on me and my mates and we thank you for that. I'm the guy that wanted to run home and get you a guitar so you could play a little more after the back-line had been broken down. Hopefully you remember me. Anyway, do you think you'll be on this side of the pond any time soon? We sure would love to have you back! By the way, what the heck was that gold rack effect you had that night? What an awesome sound you got out of that piece of kit! Wish you all the best Danny!

Danny Danzi: Hi Jeff, Ah I soo remember that gig and yes I remember you too! That really was a shame, wasn't it? Is that place even still around? I'll tell ya, though that gig was one of the smallest I had ever done, the 50+ people in the crowd made enough noise like there were way more! Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.

Well, the humble thing is just me being me. I'm not in any of this to compete with anyone or be the best player in the world. My competition is within myself to be the best that I can be, not to be the best there is. I also love to hang out with fans and friends at the end of a show whenever possible to show some appreciation. Without people supporting me, what do I have? So it was just as fun for me as it was for you.

Ya know, you don't know how close I came to letting you go home and get that guitar for me! I just didn't want to see you leave and go all the way home to get it. I felt bad for those people that got there late due to the time mix up. I still can't believe how they all came after I was done hoping to see me. At least I got a chance to hang out with them up close and personal...which is sometimes even better than playing to be honest. I'll have to redeem myself someday and make it up to them.

As for me coming back over there, I'm sure it will happen at some point, there just isn't anything in the works right this second. Actually, there might be, but I can't say right now.

The gold rack you are referring to is my Digitech 2101 processor. It goes where I go, and I'm glad you dug the tone, thanks! Take care Jeff, and thanks for the question...tell everyone I said hello!

[Danny Danzi]

Joe Martinez from Santa Cruz Cali asked: Hi Danny This is Joe Martinez from the home recording forum. I have been reading your posts and first off I want to thank you for all the great info I do the mixing and mastering for my band and was wondering if I could send you a file just for some feedback. Our music is getting good reviews and has gotten put into some of the biggest Movie and TV admins out there. So I feel I and my partners are doing a good job. But with you being a pro I was wondering if I could ask you to listen to our songs on my space and see what you think of the mixes. I am truly trying to learn this field due to the fact I would like to make a living doing mixes and mastering. II hope I'm not out of line asking this. Again thanks for the great information and I am truly glad to read your posts over at home recording forums. Joe Martinez Crystal Palace. http://www.myspace.com/crystalpalacerocksagain

Danny Danzi: Hi Joe,

Thanks for the kind words and for checking me out over here. I had a listen to the songs on your myspace page just now and I think the songs themselves are quite good. Arrangements were well thought out and the hooks were present as well. That said, I know that the myspace encoder wreaks havoc on everyone's material, but it's also pretty easy to listen past that and concentrate of the core of the mix. My advice from what I've heard would be to maybe tighten up your mixes in the sonic, stereo field a bit. The very first tune that I listened to (Sit on It/I love You) was the best from a production stand-point. It wasn't overly spacious like some of the others. The only thing I would change in this one is I would either double the dirty guitar and pan it slightly outward or keep the single guitar track and take it out of the center pan field. It just sounds like there are a few too many center panned instruments in that tune, but everything was completely audible and well done.

On the others, there are times when your drum kit spaciously speaking, is wider than the rest of your mix. Meaning, snare verb that is flairing out further than it should be, cymbals spreading a bit wider than they should be etc. This can make for a loose mix because it literally sounds like the instruments are inside the drum kit, and you don't want that. This of course is subjective as all mixes have different purposes and everyone hears things differently. But, I tend to create a soundstage with my mixes just the way a listener would hear them at a show. Drums are in the middle of the stage. However, that doesn't mean I pan them all center. I don't let my drum pans on toms and cymbals exceed a 50% left/right pan field. This gives me enough drum pan, yet keeps the kit tight so it doesn't sound so separated with all the other instruments. We have guitars on either the left or right of a stage...if there are 2 guitarists, you have one left, one right. But, we don't need to pan those guitars hard left or hard right because in my opinion, they too can become too separated from the mix. I leave hard pans for specialty instruments or special effects this way when they are present, they leap out at the listener and it makes go "holy hell, that was cool!"

See that's the thing with panning. Under-use and you have a monotone mix. Over-use and you have a mix that is too separated and loose. Use pans just right and don't over do it and you have a nice tight mix that is spacious enough yet will not beat the wide pans to death giving the listener fatigue. Many guys hard left/hard right too many things and you can almost get a mono sound this way. Or guys that are hell-bent on panning toms to where they sound like they go all over the place. That just sounds too separated to me. Sure we want our toms to pan, we want our crash cymbals to bounce on the sides, we want our hats a little off center and guitars or keys panned slightly outwards, but we don't want things so far they pull themselves out of the mix.

Panning is just as important as the right eq curve and the right amount of compression. Each time you pan (and remember, you have 200 different pan fields per song...use them.) you are literally giving an instrument it's own space to have it's own voice and identity. Too many center pans, and instruments can walk all over each other and sound one-dimensional, stale, lifeless and mono. Too many hard pans to the extreme and you're so loose, you're falling apart with each second of the tune that goes by. So it's best to have a good separation, but not to the extreme. For example, I like to run kick, snare, bass guitar and lead vocals down the middle for the most part. I *may* pan a kick 2% left and a snare 2% right (which isn't much off of center, but it's still not center) pan the bass 2% right so it's not where the kick is and the lead vocals straight down the middle. Or, all of the above instruments straight down the middle and I allow effects to control how wide they may spread out so they are not walking on top of each other. There are no rules really and everyone will give you a different critique for every song. The best bet in accepting what a person says is to push your bias and love for the material to the side first.

Then, it's best to really listen to the mix and try to hear what the person mentioned to you. If you can hear what they are talking about to where a light bulb goes off in your mind and it makes you think "wow, he's right, I never heard it like that before" you know that advice was something you may want to consider. If what you hear from someone is something you can't hear that you don't agree with, it's more difficult to accept and you might be better off chalking that advice up as "well ok, thanks but I don't hear that at all." Knowing what to listen for is the most important thing in this field. You can't make the right calls if you don't know what you should be listening for. You also can get way too close to the material to where you can't hear the obvious. This is why there are engineers, producers and mastering engineers. As our music goes through each phase of these individuals taking part, they go into it with fresh ears. They spot things you can't even think of because you are so close to the stuff, you just don't see it or hear it as they do.

This is another reason why I am so against engineers and artists trying to mix or master their own material. I know in these times everyone wants to save money, but if you are releasing something you put hard work into and you will be selling it or shopping it to a label, TV, jingles or whatever, why half-ass it and not make it the best that it can be? How can you make the right calls mastering something when you just recorded the tunes, mixed them, produced them etc. You listened maybe 5000 times to each song. When you press the export button out of your DAW and go to master it, how do you even know what to add or take away? If you felt there were things that needed to be fixed, you wouldn't have clicked that export button, right? This is what I try to stress to everyone. It's nearly impossible (for myself included) to make the right calls or hear the right stuff if I have just spent 8 months in engineer/producer mode and then try to make the calls of a mastering engineer. It's not that easy to turn off and just put on another hat and pick up where you left off.

At any rate, those are the best suggestions I can give you about your material. I think you and your partners did a nice job. In my opinion, what you have delivered would be what I call "a solid demo". To make it pro, there would have to be a few things re-recorded, better eq curves, more spaciousness on the right instruments, tighter space on others and a good mastering job from someone that isn't so familiar with the material that knows how to get the best out of the mix you have presented. Best of luck and I hope this helps.

[Danny Danzi]

Now a few that came in through private mail that are being used with permission

Darren Schultz from from Toronto Canada asked: Hi Danny, I've been meaning to ask you a few questions for some time now about your internet presence if I may? One thing I admire about you is you always take time to talk to fans and are easily accessable. Why do other famous people make it a point to stay away from discussion forums and chat programs? Also, have you ever gotten into disputes on forums or lost yourself freaking out on someone?

Danny Danzi: Hi Darren. This is a great question actually! Long answer ahead, get some coffee! I've always had issues with famous people for not getting more involved. But the more I do this internet thing, the more I realize why. I was always the guy that wanted to just be a normal person...a bud, not someone with a star status of any kind. I'm not a star at all really, just a man who has had some success in this business, made a few connections and is making a decent living from it. But to answer your question, yes, I get in heated arguments, debates and other horseshit all the time. This is what happens when you put yourself out there. The net is used by people for many reasons. For quite a few, there is an entertainment factor and I seem to draw those people wherver I go. I hate it, it pisses me off, I have a few I would fly to meet and settle the score with and there are others who are such cowards, they wouldn't DARE say the things they type to my face or any other living being without getting their lights punched out.

Also, when you are experienced in a field, your knowledge is then classified as pompous or arrogant. No matter how many people I have helped or how much advice I have given away for free, there always seems to be an asshole that wants to take a shot at me so he can save the text and show his little buddies he fought with me. For some reason they feel it looks good when they stand up to me or make me lose my composure. I even have one guy who liked to fight with me so much, we took it in private and he copied and pasted all the stuff I said to him leaving out what he said to me to make me defend myself. His way of making me look bad...however, if I wasn't who I was, he wouldn't have wasted his time. I'm the only semi-famous person he has ever had contact with...so it makes him feel like he's accomplished something yet made himself look reDICKulous in the process.

I've had many battles and with each one, it takes a piece of me away to where I wonder why I get involved. This is why real stars stay away from stuff like this. They claim it's because they are too busy when in reality what they mean to say is "I can't be faced with this drama". So at this point in my life, I can't say I blame them a little bit. I share knowledge and information about music, the business, recording, guitar playing, amps, sounds etc...and some joker will come along and start some crap because he's envious. That's all it is. If I didn't have a bit of a name, they'd never take the shot. See, the downside to all this is, in my position, I have way more friends and fans than I do enemies. I can't make the good people suffer for the bad and that's what I'd be doing if I stayed out of discussions. The bad guys win, ya know? And we can't have that. But I go through spells where I just want to totally stop doing the stuff I do on the net.

The problem for me is, because I work so much with all the music stuff behind the scenes, there is no time for a real social life. Especially at the times I have a little free time. Where else can you go at 3 am? So the net has become my social life. Some might consider that hopeless. I consider it another way to live and be active with people while communicating. Why go out into the real world where prices are astronomical, people are killing each other, and drink prices in bars are outrageous?! LOL!!! I'd rather sit home and have a few beers or a scotch, light up a smoke and help a few young kids out on a guitar site...or some people interested in recording on the various music sites I belong to. I really enjoy helping people and making a difference. I feel I've done just that for many people in this world. Of course I've made a few enemies as well along the way, but I came into this world without them, I'll leave that way. Hope this answers your question, thanks!

[Danny Danzi]

Marie Coultier from SC USA asked: Hi Danny, my son Stephen has talked about you so much and told me how many times you've been helpful to him. I first wanted to take the time to thank you for that but I also had a question for you. I have noticed in your posts on other forums that you are very set in your ways on some things to the point of where you will not budge. Do you feel the need to exercise that strength in your posts due to someone annoying you or is your passion really that intense? From what I read, I would guess passion. But have you ever felt the need to defensively be a bit tougher than normal based on the posts that may question you?

Danny Danzi: Hi Marie! You're quite welcome. You did a great job raising that kid of yours and I love him to death. Props to you and your husband. To answer your question, yes I'm very passionate about the things I believe in. As a matter of fact, most of the things I preach to people WILL work for them also. This means the advice is not only credible, but factual. When you believe in a method and it works, you have to stick to your guns. Yes, I'm very opinionated and very set in my ways. But only with things I truly know about and have tried and tested with success. If I don't know something, I won't act as though I do. But if something works for me and it works well, I have to push that point until it's exhausted.

However, there are always other ways to get from A to B. My methods are not the only ones and most of my methods are borrowed from others to where I may have improvised and put my own spin on things. Sometimes you have to be tough on people because they begin to feel threatened and then reach for google or something so they can post text that makes them feel like they knew something. I'm passionate about everthing I do in life. If I'm not passionate about something I can't live it or experience it correctly.

[Danny Danzi]

Mike Haughn from London UK asked: Hey Danny what are things you don't like? I'm asking you this because you always seem to have a positive attitude and see the good in things when the majority may think otherwise. Surely there has to be some things you absolutely hate?

Danny Danzi: Sup Mike, long time!! Well, you're right....I really do try to get something out of everything and everyone. But yeah, I can't lie to you, there are quite a few things that really get to me. I'll give you my list as well as a little insight to each one. I smell a long list!

Voice for the sake of a voice: This may be my number one issue with people in life. They feel because they have a voice or a place to type that they can just say anything they want. Ever read a review about an album that you own that made you think the dude reviewing it either didn't listen to the fookin' thing or he just felt like bashing it? There is no reason for anyone to ever be harsh or use their words as a weapon unless they are backed into a corner and in defensive mode. This category is also for anyone that thinks intellectually stimulating big words are intimidating or make them sound smarter than they really are. It annoys the poo poo out of me to no end!

Peace keepers that blame both parties: I have no love for people that step into a battle and do not enforce a punishment or a lashing on the one that started it. If you piss me off, you suffer my wrath in any way I see fit. No one should tell me to stop anything until I'm good and ready. If I feel attacked or backed into a corner, I go off like a lunatic and am not afraid to die for what I believe in or get my point across. Yes, it's best to pick your battled wisely and I'll talk about that next.....but there comes a time when people that are bothered need to step it up and fight back. They shouldn't be repremanded for their actions when some idiot pushes their buttons.

Keeping it all inside: I wish I had the ability to turn the other cheek like Jesus did. He's really awesome for having that quality, but unfortunately, I am a sinner and am very weak when it comes to holding back emotions. I'll tell you why. If someone does something to annoy me and I hold it in, all I'm doing is pushing it to the back of my mind. I go home, and someone I love may say the wrong thing to me and the next thing you know, I blow up at them for no reason when I should have blown up at the jack-ass that made me upset to begin with. I'm a man that has no problem saying I'm sorry. But it bothers me when I have to say I'm sorry to a loved one for snapping out on them for no reason due to what some asshole did an hour ago. If someone says something to annoy me, I will defend myself and say something back...no matter who it is. If it comes to throwing hands...so be it. I've fought some of the toughest, sickest people around and I'm still alive to talk about it. I might not be that lucky some day, but the world is full of people that like to start trouble. The reason they do it consistently is because no one stands up to them. I fear no one, I'm not a tough guy, but I'm not afraid to die for what I believe in and if it's my time, so be it. I won't owe Visa poo poo then will I? LOL!!

Trash Talkers: I sooo hate trash talking cowards on the net that would never say the stuff they type to another mans face. The sad thing is most of them don't use a real name to where you could track them down and call them on this stuff. I'd have no problems meeting someone to resolve a dispute. As far as I'm concerned, if I go out of my way to do something like that, you better believe I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we have one less degenerate in the world. Yeah, sounds like I'm a sick man...but actually, I'm just frustrated with how people get over on others. If I was a criminal, I'd be a vigilante...without a doubt. The law sucks, our government sucks, and the entire USA needs a complete make-over. We're products of our environment and are forced to be tough and be in survival mode.

Other countries and what they feel about the USA people: This really gets me! How come when we have a natural disaster here, no one comes to our aid? Other countries have typhoons, Tsumani's or earthquakes, the good ole US is there, yet everyone hates us nearly. I love all people but it's time for the US to stay out of everyone else's business. This war we're in right now....total waste of time and US lives not to mention the lives of others in those places. If the USA people had a say on going to war or minding our business, you know it would be unanimous and we'd not be in a war. All you people that live in other countries...please don't hold it against the people of the USA! We do not want to war with anyone nor do WE as people want your oil, your soil or your way of income. We just want to pay our bills and live in harmony. Trust me when I tell you, we don't want any problems with the rest of the world. The USA needs soo much help on its own, it doesnt have the time, finances or intelligence to be the police of the world. We are so far in poo poo, we need to worry about our own first and foremost because it's really bad here and no one cares about us..not even our government. When we vote people in office, they chirp a different tune before they get in. Once they get in, everything changes. So please don't blame us for the stuff that goes down. We don't want to fight you or anyone else. Hate our government all you want, but please don't hold it against us. I don't care what country you're from...whether you are black, white, hispanic, oriental, Indian, or whatever...you're a human being and I'll always treat you like one until you prove otherwise.

Know-it-alls: Ever meet a person that just knows everything? Been there, done that...has an answer for everything....includes themselves in conversations for the sake of attention? Ugggh!!!! Do you know what's the funniest part there? Everytime I run into one of these people, I find out later down the road that they are a Capricorn! I have 2 people in my life that are Caps that I don't have these issues with...all the rest...ugggh!!!

Jazz players with high and mighty syndrome: Ever talk to a jazz guy that is just so full of theory every style of music that isn't jazz is something he downs? Just because someone is well schooled in musical theory does not mean he is God. A true musician is someone that accepts all things music. I'm a one-trick- rock/metal/blues-pony. But I love all styles of music and thank God for the mastering/production work I do that makes me listen to other styles of music. Theory means nothing if you have no concept of songwriting, melody and a good hook that is infectious.

Hey Mike, are you sorry you asked this question yet? LOL!!!

Inconsiderate people: Why do people feel the need to think they are the only people alive? Is it so wrong to be courteous to another human being and treat them like they really are somebody? These types of people do not exist in my world. Once I write them off, they're dead. I remove negativity on a daily basis and have no problems erasing an idiot from my memory.

Cell phones, texting, shaving, putting on make-up while driving: For the love of God...PLEASE STOP IT!!!!!!!! If I was a cop and caught someone doing this, I'd do everything in my power to make up stuff that gave you so many points on your license, you'd not be able to drive. This is worse than drunken driving people!! Stop it!!!! Pull over to the side of the road and text or talk on your phone! Get up earlier to shave dudes and the same for chicks that do their make-up while driving! PLEASE STOP!!!! INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE DYING BECAUSE OF YOU!!

I better stop here before I write a bigger book than I already wrote! See, quite a few things I'm not down with.

[Danny Danzi]

From: phil kaunesis
Location: plympton park, sth. australia

Question: hi danny. i clicked on "downloads" left side of your web page, & 5 or 6 songs inc. your intro came up. I found i was able to dwnld. them to mt hard drive. is that becoz they are freebies? if so, i would like to burn them to a cd & dwnld. a little picture of you and place it on the front of my cd, u know, like a self made cover art. thanks heaps
phil

Answer: Hi Phil,

I'll give you a little info on those files to add to your little booklet. First off, they are freebies, but a bit outdated. I made most of them years ago and haven't had time to upload any other free stuff. Here's a line by line telling you what they are all about.

Greeting: This was what I wanted to be as the site's greeting when you logged on. Unfortunately, at the time, my webmaster "Shell Shell" wasn't quite sure how to do the embedding. She made me like 3-4 different websites in her spare time just kinda learning as she went along. I've always had a pretty killer site thanks to her since 1999 or so. But by the time she knew how to embed stuff, I wanted something else so this little greeting never saw the light of day. The song you hear is actually a pre-production mix of "Just A Matter of Time" which is on the DanziLand album. It's a bit different than this, but very close.

Eternity: This was a pre-production release of Eternity which is also on the DanziLand album, but not this particular version. I was writing new material for DanziLand when Z Records wanted me to put a little teaser song on one of their samplers. This came out pretty good, so I put it in there. It's the same arrangement as the actual song that made it to the album, but the difference is in the back up vocals and the production as well as me playing/singing/mixing/mastering everything on this version.

Happy Birthday: This song has an interesting story that I think you'll really enjoy. I met a guy years ago from the Netherlands named Fred Monster. Yeah, that's really his last name...lol...and the dude was as big and tall as a monster, honest to God! 7ft2 to be exact! I've never spoke to a human being that big in my life. LOL!! A very gentle giant though I might add...unless of course, you get him mad. God knows what he's capable of doing to a person. Anyway, Fred and I became really good friends and he did a lot of promoting for me. He is also an awesome writer and had his own website for AOR/Melodic Rock. I played a show in England and actually got a chance to meet the guy. When we talked, he told me it was his birthday in a few days and asked if I could maybe play a little happy birthday on my acoustic guitar and sing to him when I got back home. Of course I said "sure". So when I got home, I grabbed my acoustic as promised and started playing and singing happy birthday the traditional way. For some reason, it just didn't hit me as hard as I was hoping it would. It just didn't seem like it was a good enough birthday present. So, I went off on a tangent and made it something Fred will never forget. The tune was such a success on mp3.com for a while, it beat out Britney Spears for 2 weeks! Then of course Brit got pissed and said "fook you Danny you lil got" and beat me by like 100,000,000 downloads and listens. LOL!!! I had a nice lil run at the top though for a short time! I actually plan on doing a remake of this version and would like to change the lyrics so the song can be sent out to anyone. So this will happen at some point. In the meantime, this version here for my ole friend Fred, will live on this site forever in its current state.

Yippee!: This was a little guitar solo spot that I did using a plugin called "Q Sound". I sent this clip to the company who used it as a demo for a while on their website. Q Sound is a plugin that puts your sound beyond the stereo field. That's the best way I can describe it without getting all technical about it. This little riff was done so long ago, mp3 format wasn't even the "in" thing. Real Audio was...which is why it's in that format.

Endorsement: I got a call from my label that a contact of theirs in Japan needed a little riff done along with some voice work for a product they were selling called a Bandai Cyber Pet. Picture a laptop type computer that was made like a Furby...that's the only way I can tell it. Voice activated...it talked back, cried etc. LOL! Well, the thing never got off the ground but I did the ad for them anyway. The song you hear in the back was a test file of me doing a song I wrote years ago with my band Sentinel. The song was called "Used and Abused' and I love the riff so much, I want to do a remake of it at some point. So you may hear this one in full at some point.

I need an Electric Guitar: When Shell Shell, my webmaster at the time, came to my house for the first time, I was pretty buzzed from drinking scotch. It was around the holidays so there was some fun in the air. She was taking pictures of all my gear for the website and had a video cam with her. She started filming and the next thing you know, I picked up my acoustic and started playing and singing that dumb song. LOL!! I had hoped to post another vid called "I GOT me an Electric Guitar" but I never had the chance to. A little something weird about this video that I have to share with you. Shell Shell and I could never figure out why the heck this happens, but here's the deal. If you click on that video right now and try to view it, you may see 3-5 seconds worth of it and wonder why it was posted up here. LOL!! If you right click and save target as and save it to your hard drive, double clicking on it will give you the same 3-5 seconds of nothing. LMAO!!! Here's the catch. Download it to your hard drive. Then, open up the media player you use to view vids. Click on file and then point it to where you saved the vid file and watch what you see. Totally different vid now, huh? LOL! Is that weird or what? We have no idea why it does that or how it happened. But, now that you know the secret to the creepy video....you'll also see the little show that went on.

That about covers it, Phil. Thanks for the question and I hope this was a fun read with some answers for you.