todd burke is a record engineer

New blog post! Anyone else going crazy going back and forth between Logic and ProTools? Here’s your answer. LINK

Apr 24

Finally! After a long string of singles, looks like the Various Cruelties record is about to drop. You”ll want to know about this. Really. Myself and Tony Hoffer again.

Mar 20

Mar 05

Any of you that have travelled through Colorado and New Mexico have no doubt landed in a mexican restaurant and been asked if you’d like your food “smothered”. Being adventurous, maybe you agreed and found yourself in the midst of absolute greatness in the form of Green Chile. I’ve been working on this recipe for a while now, trying to get my fix even though I’m at least 800 miles away from the nearest place that sells this stuff. Enjoy! And yes veggies, the pork MIGHT be considered optional by some.

4 Pork Chops
3 27oz Cans of Ortega Whole Chillies
2 27oz Cans of Diced Tomato
2 Bundles of Green Onions
8 Anaheim Peppers, Sliced Longways
2 Bags Cherry Tomatoes
1 Jalapeno
1 Yellow Onion
2 tablespoons Minced Garlic (From Jar)
4 ounces Chicken Base
2 teaspoons Black Pepper

On the barbeque, grill the hell out of the green onions, the anaheim peppers, the cherry tomatoes, and half of the yellow onion. Basically half-burnt…you’re going for blackened chili skins, onion stalks, and tomato skin. Pull the tomatoes off the grill once they split.

Next, throw your pork chops on the grill. I usually cut them off the bone and trim most of the fat. While they are cooking, take the canned Green Chilies and slice them longways in strips about an inch wide. Remove as much water from the can from the chillies as possible. Put them in a 6qt crock pot with the canned diced tomatoes. Cube the other half of the yellow onion (dice sized) and add to the crock pot. Add the blended fire roasted goodness to the crock pot. When your chops are done, de-bone them, trim the fat, and cube the pork (dice sized) to be added to the crock pot. Add the chicken base to taste, we usually use about half the 8 oz jar of the Better than Bullion brand stuff. Slice the Jalapeno in to thin rings and add to taste. Black pepper to taste. This is best cooked for at least 12 hours. The green chillies will eventually start falling apart and partially disintegrating and you’ll know you’ve arrived.

Optional: In Greeley, we serve in a large bowl and add a 1/2 cup of Rosarita refried beans, a 1/2 cup of ground beef (crumbled and fried in a pan with water to seperate the grease from the meat) and call it a “Bowl of Garbage.”

Mar 04

Here it comes! Various Cruelties, recorded by yours truly, Produced and Mixed by Tony Hoffer.

Feb 23

Alright audio nerds…..I’m starting a series of equipment shootouts over the next few weeks, the goal being a smartening of my workflow and perhaps an upping of the fi. So, let’s start with a simple one. Here’s a verse and chorus of a song printed through 3 different SSL clone stereo buss limiters. Rate them in order of preference please.http://dl.dropbox.com/u/114935/GearTests/StereoLimiterShootout48k.dmg

Feb 10

Dipping my big toe in to a second batch of songs with The Drowning Men. This will complete the much anticipated LP for their new label, Borstal Beat. My pal Billy Mohler producing.

Nov 26

Knee-deep in rock with Tony Hoffer and The Temper Trap (@thetempertrap) for several weeks here in LA. Most excellent….

Nov 25

Nov 20

Poor Abbey. A few days ago, taking a break from mixing the Chasing Kings record, spotted a skunk on the backyard and instinctually pounced. What followed was a long evening of me, the hose, and a horrible concoction of Dish Soap, Hydrogen Peroxide, Vinegar, and Baking Soda. Rough week for the poo. (Taken with instagram)

Nov 09

With the Matt & The Mainstream record knocked out of the park and quickly mastered by my old pal Gavin Lurssen, getting underway mixing the debut album for my new favorite unsigned band Chasing Kings. Quite a week this one.