Audio Engineer & Producer, Bob Bullock, is no stranger among music industry legends. Over the last 40 years, he has engineered, produced, and co-produced many of music’s greatest stars. Bob began his career in Los Angeles where he quickly rose to the top of his field working with artists such as Aretha Franklin and The Temptations.
Since moving to Nashville in 1984, Bullock’s engineering credits boast over fifty gold and platinum albums. Among those include Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr., Glen Campbell, Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire, Patty Loveless, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, and Jimmy Buffet, to name a few.
We spoke with Bob about his recording process and learned how OWC products play a large role in the success of his workflow.
A peek into the studio
Today, Bob enjoys being able to record, mix, and produce music right from his home studio in Nashville. “I feel like I can shape music any way I want to. We used to have to travel to go into a studio to get that sound. Now I can capture it, right here,” said Bullock.
Surprisingly, he said the recording process really hasn’t changed that much over the years with the exception of recording to digital audio—specifically Pro Tools.
“The process of working with large format consoles, and the microphone technique are all exactly the same. But the mixing process has changed dramatically. Instead of being in the large format mix with analog tape, now I’m working with a digital workstation and a lot of plugins,” said Bob.
It’s still really exciting for me to go into a studio with musicians and capture what may have started off as a work tape—a scratch of a piano or guitar vocal, and then to see something born out of all that.
Bob Bullock
Game-changing tools
Throughout his career, Bob has recognized the importance of having the right tools at his fingertips. “Using all of these products for audio recording and mixing has made me recognize that ‘these are my tools’ and I can’t really skimp on things—so I look to OWC to customize products for my particular needs,” said Bullock.
Having recently updated his studio system, Bob has turned to the following OWC solutions:
Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD
Bob uses the Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD, an OWC Solid State Drive that is known for its high-performance storage, powerful processor, high speed, and data reliability.
With the help of OWC, he recently moved to a Mac mini and easily upgraded from 16GB to 64GB OWC RAM, and was surprised by the amount of power he has with the device.
“My background with OWC has developed over time since I’m a loyal Apple product user. I regularly go to OWC for things as I need them. Whether it’s a hard drive or hubs, I know I’m getting quality products and professional advice. When I call OWC customer service I know I’ll speak to a professional who understands what my needs are,” said Bullock.
Thunderbolt Hub
Bob also invested in the OWC Thunderbolt Hub, which includes 5 ports, USB-C connectivity, and 60-watt charging power. He shared with us that this tool is perfect for his workflow as he needed more ports with all of his peripherals.
When working with lower budgets, Bob needs the ability to get from the beginning to end much quicker, and OWC’s technology solves that. “As I’m expanding things and have faster speeds, I can transfer files faster—and that all contributes to me being able to get the job done and to fit it into the budget,” said Bullock.
The technology has changed and the abilities we have for doing things have changed, but the excitement of being able to build music hasn’t changed at all for me. I can’t think of anything else that I’d rather do.
Bob Bullock
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