Useless Before Coffee

10/17/2023

Here at Useless B4 ☕️, we believe every room deserves to be a recording studio.

10/16/2023

Pre production with last week. Give him a follow!

12/02/2022

Watch our first ever live session — an acoustic cover of MGMT’s modern classic “Time to Pretend”, featuring on lead vocals.

11/10/2022

Right before a client was coming over the other night, I asked to snap some pics because it was so clean and you never know how long it’s going to stay that way in this biz. You just never know, friends…

10/20/2022

Last night’s session with .

Great artist —> Sweet studio —> Old guitar —> Big mic —> Vibey preamp = a winning combination. I just tried to stay outta the way.

10/04/2022

Want to record a pro sounding organic holiday production? If so, we have to start now so it’s ready in time 🎅 25% discount if booked this month! :) DM for details or email jlong .com

09/26/2022

Prepping the tracks for tonight’s vocal session w/ . You need to listen to his song GOING right this second. (And no I wasn’t even a part of making that)

Further, I’m astonished and humbled by the number of incredible recording spaces in Portland. My primary objective as a producer is to LISTEN and figure out how I can help bring a piece of music to life in a fun, creative and professional way. Sometimes that means taking on a massive role and others it means recording a few parts.

My point is, I have only good things to say about the recording industry in this city. It sounds a little utopian, but can’t we all just work together? 😂 I think the music will benefit from this camaraderie. :)

09/23/2022

Do you want to hear live acoustic arrangements of songs from the ‘90’s / early-ish 2000’s? You may be in luck. Useless Before Coffee Live - Session 1 will be coming very soon (ish). 🤘

08/11/2022

When people ask me what instrument I play, I don’t quite know how to respond. “Ummm… the studio?”

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08/08/2022

Missing my baby while she is in the shop. 🥲 But she will be ready to rock like never before soon enough.

08/01/2022

Should we do it? Should we really track something to tape? 🤩

07/28/2022

Don’t these photos just SCREAM “let’s collab”?

Images by the great

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07/27/2022

I’m taking my rhodes and going home.

07/26/2022

I like the idea of a primitive musical brain: bring things to life + keep them alive. How do you create?


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07/25/2022

CAPTION CONTEST. Tag a friend who might dig this page AND leave your photo caption. My wife will be choosing a winner who gets a $25 gift card sent to their email so you can get that CABLE OF UR DREAMS. 😍 Contest ends at 7:01 PST. GO! (I literally just came up with this all in the spot… brilliant right?)

07/24/2022

How I’m feeling about this week. Who else had a good cup of coffee today?

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07/22/2022

Recording your best music doesn’t have to be stressful - in fact it can be quite relaxing. But it’s absolutely impossible without coffee…

Photo by the stellar

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07/11/2022

Link to my new studio tour / guide to pi***ng off your neighbors is in that good ‘ole bio.

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06/29/2022

Did you know I’ve been documenting my new studio build? Want to see a musician make an attempt at carpentry? Link in bio - it’s getting there! •
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06/03/2022

I honestly don’t buy a ton of gear - I tend to ask myself the question “AM THE PROBLEM?” a lot. 😂 As in, “do I need to get better at piano instead of buying a new keyboard?” 9/10, the answer is usually the one I don’t want to hear. 😭 However, in this case, it is more nuanced. I have played so many keyboards over the years. I have focused more of my attention on being a better musician than getting expensive equipment. I anguished for far too long about whether I should pay the extra $ for a Nord or just get something suitable for 1/3rd of the cost. Ultimately I coughed up the dough. And WOW… the amount of time and pain it has saved me even in the last few months is already worth the investment. Here are the top 7 things I love about this instrument:

1. It has BY FAR the best piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, and Hammond organ samples I’ve ever heard. Playing it inspired me to write more songs.

2. You can EASILY layer and split sounds.

3. It is a sampler. As in, wanna use that patch you love from Logic Pro? Play a note, export it as an audio file, add it to the sampler, and drag it into the keyboard via USB. This process was comically simple… my jaw literally dropped because I braced myself for frustration prior to doing it.

4. It is small enough to fit in an overhead bin on the airplane. Worried about not having 88 keys? Fear not, you can run out of the back of the keyboard with a midi cable to a full sized controller. (But I would question many people about whether you “need” the full 88 keys because that left hand doesn’t always need the pinky AND thumb)

5. The action of the semi-weighted model is perfect for organ, and also works well on piano as it is not as fatiguing to play for long periods of time.

6. There is an incredibly useful FX engine with tremolo, chorus, reverb, delay, EQ, and more.

7. You can save your own presets and create “set lists” in your keyboard.

In summary, “YES” I need to get better and piano and “YES” I also needed this instrument.

Do you have a ?

03/24/2022

02/18/2022

Recorded some real Hammond organ yesterday. Man, there’s nothing like the sound of the real deal. I wish I could convince myself it wasn’t true. I used a 414 like a foot away pointed a little off axis. The SM58 probably won’t get used, I was just trying it. Any other tips on organ recording? I’m pretty new to it.

01/28/2022

Library Sound will now be changing to Useless Before Coffee Productions. 😎 What’s your favorite coffee drink?
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01/28/2022

01/28/2022

01/27/2022

VLOG from last week. and I recorded piano last week to her upcoming single “Cool Creature”. For optimal viewing and listening, please click the link in bio. If you dig this type of content, SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel to get a new video every Friday. 😊 THANKS to the 232 who have already subscribed! Please, let’s land on an odd # though.

11/18/2021

Hire to make you look cool.

11/17/2021

Here’s some quick production / editing advice for fellow keyboardists out there who are looking to make software pianos sound more “human”. :) (Apologies for my unsteady camera hand 🤣)

11/17/2021

Brand new recording VLOG, featuring the legendary - link in bio! There will be many more to come from these sessions. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and leave a comment on the video if you dig what we’re doing. 😎 PC: