David, who is an accomplished multi-platinum record producer, engineer, musician, and studio manager, had to make sure his company Addiction Studios<\/a> wouldn\u2019t miss a beat. Working with artists like Carrie Underwood, Meghan Trainor, Keith Urban, Tenille Townes and The Fray, there was no room for any technical hiccups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had the opportunity to meet with David over Zoom and discuss how his workflow had changed throughout the year<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re not set up like a commercial studio. It\u2019s a creative space, it is a collaborative space,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe\u2019re in a big studio with grand pianos, three drum kits, synthesizers, and there are seventy guitars just hanging around the walls. To make a record, you have a whole team of people working together. Obviously, that\u2019s changed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As quarantine lockdown measures started, the day-to-day life did as well. \u201cAt first, we really did shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As measures continued, work started up, and the lights slowly came back on. David explains that now \u201cWhen I am working with an artist, I\u2019ll create a bubble with that artist. So we\u2019ll get COVID tests, and form a bubble. It will just be us, and some session musicians. The producers can join us virtually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The size of his facility helped make all of this happen. \u201cI can still work with the talent; we\u2019ve got lots of lines of sight. The vocal booth is here (behind the mix room) so we can see each other.\u201d Like many of us working from home, David started using the conferencing app Zoom daily. \u201cI\u2019ve got iPads in every room; I\u2019ve got an iPad next to the mic-stand in the vocal booth. So, I can isolate from the talent and we\u2019re all still working together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re still learning and evolving our workflow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with spacing everyone out at the studio, not everyone would jump into a session at a whim. David regularly works from home, while his mix assistant and engineer work in the main studio. With David running Pro Tools Carbon<\/a> and the main studio running Pro Tools HDX systems<\/a>. This means that the different hardware interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools and there are no translation issues with plug-ins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this to work, David utilized the OWC Envoy Pro Elektron<\/a>, an ultra-fast and ultra-portable SSD based on NVMe technology and USB-C for connectivity. \u201cWe mixed and matched all the technology and kept the ball rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The OWC Elektron is not only fast (more than 1000 MB\/s sustained), there is even bandwidth to spare. David drives his Pro Tools sessions directly off of the Elektron rather than his internal hard drive for speed and convenience. \u201cIt\u2019s got more space than my laptop, I can easily keep everything together than I\u2019m working on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of running Pro Tools in a latency-free environment, thanks to Carbon, multiple cloud storage backups of the Elektron were happening in the background. \u201cMy Dropbox lives on the root of the Elektron drive. When I connect the drive it automatically syncs with my studio. Studio A, Studio B, my laptop, they are always up to date. I also have Amazon storage setup to backup everything on a minute to minute basis using ArcAgent. So, I always have a double cloud backup system in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With work in the music industry and the film and television industry picking back up, David is prepared: \u201cWe were already working on some remote projects. We used to use Source Connect. So, we weren\u2019t completely new to working remotely. But doing it every day has been new, it\u2019s been a great learning curve. I did a session for Disney with a singer in the studio and the producers sitting in on the session from LA and Tokyo. And we\u2019re all streaming high-quality output straight from Pro Tools and speaking as if we\u2019re in the same room over Zoom on an iPad. And it was great, it was like we were all in the same room together. I can send out different feeds, different mixes, different outputs all from Pro Tools and decide how they all get routed for each audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For David, having all his current sessions backed up and with him is extremely important. Between work and home, he could find himself jumping into a session at any time. \u201cThis drive is clearly superior to any spinning disk I\u2019ve ever owned in my life. This is the fastest drive I have ever owned. I can put it in my backpack and not worry about it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July, while lockdowns were still in effect, David Kalmusky recorded Billboard chart-topping musician Carrie Underwood and multi-platinum producer Greg Woodford-Wells, in-studio. Their song Let There Be Peace<\/a><\/em>,<\/em><\/a> \u201cmakes quarantine feel like Christmas on many levels.\u201d A full-length album of their summertime sessions together is underway and is at the mixing stage now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the pandemic drags on, David is cautiously optimistic. Modestly, he shares, \u201cIn some ways, we\u2019re getting more work than we may have. It\u2019s people getting creative during covid and figuring out how to work with the studio and the musicians. I\u2019m doing a lot of remote guitar work; I\u2019ll sit here and plug in a guitar and send a stream over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflecting on the tools of the trade and products like the OWC Elektron, he notes, \u201cIf this were five years ago, we couldn\u2019t have done this. Technology is just in such a great place right now. Because of OWC, my work environment is incredible. It allows me to be creative, with no limits\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPortable Drives\u2026 With Server Speeds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Instrument](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/pro-tools-carbon-284x284.jpg\")
<\/a>Remote Recording<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/amy-peters-remote-recording-square-284x284.jpg\")
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\n\n\n\nLet There Be Light<\/h2>\n\n\n\n