Blumpy: A Logical Way to Musical Freedom
Blumpy is a freelance programmer, engineer, mixer and producer — the guy who crafts raw sound into release-ready songs. A Detroit native, he’s been playing keyboard, guitar and bass and recording music since his early teens. “I knew guys like Kid Rock and Eminem when they were just starting out,” he says. He learned the techniques of reel-to-reel at recording school and went pro in the early 1990s. “Slowly I got connected with the major labels,” he recounts. “Then I started doing programming and remixing with Ben Grosse,” another Motown homeboy who’s made a name for himself.
Nowadays Blumpy works with Grosse at The Mix Room in L.A. and produces his own projects, too. Over the years he’s engineered recordings for an impressive roster of clients, including Sheryl Crow, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eric Clapton, Kid Rock, Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind and Tom Petty — plus a rash of lesser-known artists.
“Logic levels the playing field for recording engineers and musicians because you don’t need all that expensive stuff to make a good record.”
Artistic Freedom
Now, with Logic on a Mac, Blump has more freedom than ever to focus on artistry rather than stressing to deliver record sales in the millions. “Now you can be successful way before hitting those huge numbers because the investment isn’t so high,” says Blumpy. “You don’t need to go platinum or diamond to have your record make it. This is the direction the music biz is heading in.”
Small, independent labels have formulated a new math for musical success. “To the big labels, a gold record [500,000 in sales] means nothing unless it really keeps selling,” explains Blumpy. “But some small labels can make a profit selling 10,000 records.”
Competing with the Big Consoles
Not that he intends to turn down a project just because “the artist has a nice big recording deal,” Blumpy admits. “And sure, world-class commercial studios that rent for $2500 a day are great to work in. But they’re no longer necessary to make a professional recording. The whole studio thing is kind of dead. DAWs [Digital Audio Workstations] have killed it, because you can mix right on your computer.
“Using my G5 and Logic is a much smarter way of working,” he continues. “I can make it sound like I’m working with $3 million of gear and compete with the guys who have the big consoles.”
He adds, “Logic levels the playing field for recording engineers and musicians because you don’t need all that expensive stuff to make a good record. What you do need is a working knowledge of how to engineer music and a few good microphones and mic pres [preamplifiers]. Now, it comes down to the guy making the record, rather than the equipment.”
Ethereal Rock
Blumpy’s latest endeavor is a collaboration with musician Joe Hedges, a former member of the band July for Kings. For the new record Hedges plays guitar and keyboard with accompaniment on bass, drum and cello. “The cello gives Joe’s group, and this record, a unique sound,” says Blumpy. “We’re doing some very unusual things on this project, and Logic is involved in every step.”
Asked to describe Hedges’s sound, Blumpy hesitates. He clearly resists slotting musicians into categories, especially on this still-evolving project. “I guess I’d call it ethereal rock,” he finally says. “It has a very emotional element to it, but it’s not emo-rock. He’s not writing pop songs. It’s diverse and different, with songs that have unusual chord structures and melodies.”
The Wrong Mics
Hedges’s style is ideally suited to Blumpy’s no-label, no-studio approach. “This record is going to be avant garde, experimental, organic,” he says. “We’re not going to limit ourselves by asking, ‘Will it get radio play?’ We want people to understand that you can make a major-label-sounding record now, without major label dollars.”
Blumpy ticks off some of the ways his approach departs from the norm. “We’re using the ‘wrong’ mics — like soft ribbon mics on acoustic guitars — to play with how things are traditionally done.” As an engineer and producer, he’s always experimenting with sound. “Modern records all have a similar sonic quality,” says Blumpy. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing because as engineers we’ve perfected the sonic curve. But it also makes for duller records.”
