SOUND FORGE Artist Feature: Live Sets Chicago

You’ve been involved in the techno scene in Chicago for some time now.

Gus: Actually, we’ve been involved with more then just the Techno scene. We’ve recorded a lot of different genres of Dance Music over the years. I’ve focused mainly on House and Techno posts on the blog so far, but I do have some other stuff in the works on the blog.

Bill: Yeah, I got my start in House music back in 1994 when I first went to a nightclub called RedDog here in Chicago. I also started my recording career there in 1996 after I befriended some resident DJ’s who didn’t have the means to record for themselves and were more then happy for me to be able to do it.

How exactly did Live Sets Chicago start?

Gus: I talked to Bill about starting Live Sets Chicago so we could have a place to post and share the stories behind these live recordings, many of which had never been released before, that we’ve archived over the years. I felt that we had held on to them long enough.

What made you feel the need to take on the role that Live Sets Chicago has become?

Gus: That has an two part answer. Back around 2006, I really got into various DJ mix websites online. After a while, I felt like some sites were only concerned with how many sets they could post up at once. In some instances, the quality of the files they posted were very poor. I thought we could do things a bit different with what we had recorded. I also didn’t really see a site that was solely focused on Live Sets from Chicago so I thought we could start a site and do it the way we felt it should be done. And, for the most part, since we recored them, we can tell the stories behind them.

What have the artists said about your work?

Bill: I feel that over all, many of the artists that we’ve recorded see the value in what we do and appreciate it. We’re basically archiving the night for them. We’ve had both artists and promoters contact us to see if we can come down and record the night for them and others that we’ve had long relationships with that it’s almost a given that we come down to record.

Do you have to do a lot of post-production work after a show before a set can go online?

Gus: It depends on where the mix will be posted. If it’s just getting added to our Mixcloud page, I make sure to include links to the artists and our social media sites and give a little story behind the mix in the “About the show” section. It’s a little bit more involved if the mix will be getting posted on our blog. I begin by writing a little intro to the artist. If Bill or I recorded the set, I write our experiences or story from the night. Write a brief description of the mix and depending on how much material we have, include any photos, flyers or video that go along with the set. And include links to any info we see fit to go along with the artist and post and link to the artists that mixed them.

Can you tell us a little about your recording rig? Which software do you use? Do you “the Datman” still record with a DAT?

Bill: No more recording on DAT for me. My current setup starts with the most important piece, a Focusrite Fote USB Audio card hooked up to an HP Laptop running SOUND FORGE. I have also used Power products made by Shunyata Research, Black Mamba power cables and the Original Hydra power conditioner over the years in my rigs. I used a lot of that stuff back when DJ’s were just playing vinyl, but since it went to laptop DJ’ing, I don’t bring as much out as before. But now with more DJ’s playing vinyl again, I bring some of that stuff back out from time to time depending on the setup for the night.

Gus: No, no more recording with DAT for me either. But I do still have a player. I’ve had people contacted me with tapes they want to donate so I still need to be able to transfer them. Recording-wise now I have an Macbook Pro loaded with SOUND FORGE, An M-Audio Fast Track Ultra sound card, WireWorld Oasis Audio Connectors, and a AudioQuest Carbon USB interconnect.

Can you explain how you get from the recording in the club to the recording you publish onine? What is your workflow like?

Gus: There is one thing that’s in our work flow that we make sure happens even before we start recording. We always try and connect directly to the mixer and have the shortest signal length possible. As far as a mastering workflow, being that DJ’s, for the most, play mastered songs, I really don’t need to do that much to the file. I figure out how long I want the set to be and edit as needed.
I look for any clipped peaks and use the clipped peak tool as needed. I balance any differences between the left and right audio channels and the whole sets as needed. I check the EQ and add or remove, if needed. I then use Volume Maxximizer to bring up the levels. I check the levels and how the file sounds in-between every step to make sure I’m not over doing anything and adjust as needed. I fade in the beginning and fade out the end. I resample, dither and save the file as needed.