Mike Shipley passed away. My industry friends know his legend.. for my non industry friends, he was one of the great minds responsible for fantastic sounding records by Queen, AC/DC, Shania Twain, Maroon 5, and so many more. But some might not realize that he was also greatly responsible for launching my career in the audio industry. Because before all the touch screens and analog modeled plugins.. I was just the 'drum sample dude'.
I got a call from Mike in 2006. I assumed he got my number from one of the drum sample CD's that was floating around town with my number on it, but I never asked him. Either way, I was ecstatic. Mike Shipley was calling me. I'd made it to the big time. Mike wanted me to come to his studio and bring some drum samples, claiming that a good engineer could never have enough options. His studio was not far, so I headed right over. As I walked up to the door (his studio was built in a residential house), my heart was pounding. His assistant let me in, and guided me to the left which led to Mike's mix room. And there he was. It was surreal moment for me.
His assistant started copying my drum samples onto his system as we chatted. I'd love to tell you more about our conversation but all I can remember is trying not to soil my pants. Until then, Mike was a name on a record jacket. "Mixed By Mike Shipley" was one of the most inspirational things to me at that time. I had bought so many records that he mixed and studied them, trying to figure out what it was that made them sound so big and godly!
When the samples were loaded, he listened to a few of them right there in front of me. After hearing some of the snares, his face was rather apathetic. I was worried. But then he listened to the kick drums and smiled. "These sound great. I love the low end" he said. If I was a dog, my tail would have been wagging a mile a minute after hearing that. Before I left, Mike casually described his ideal snare drum sound. "Thick, fat, low tuned," he said. The very next day I was in the studio with several large snare drums that were all thick, fat, and low tuned. In two weeks, I called him up and told him I had new snares, and he said "Bring em over". And so I did. This time he didn't listen to them in front of me, so I went back to the studio and waited several days before calling him. "How'd you like them Mike?" I asked. He immediately responded, "Now these I love. They're great. Wonderful attack, fat sound, and the room depth is wonderful. I've already got a few of them in this Santana mix I'm doing." Success. I'd never felt it so strong until that moment.
The drum samples I had made for him were called "Snare11" and "Snare12A". These samples became some of my most popular, and have since been used on countless records. But I made them for Mike.
But here is why I consider Mike to be one of the driving forces for my career: You see, back then, mixing in drum samples to enhance drum tracks was still a bit taboo. My drums were being used by several other successful engineers, but none of them allowed me to reveal this in my marketing. And I didn't think I'd have a chance when I called up Mike one day and asked him if I could put his photo up on my new website along with a quote about his use of my product. I literally practiced and rehearsed how I was gonna ask him several times before actually making the call. But I finally got the courage. "Hi Mike. I've got a new website up and I'd really love to have you be an official endorser of the drum sample product. Do you think I can get a press photo and a quote?" There was silence. It was probably a second or two but it felt like ten years. "Sure man. I'll email you something this week." And he did. And within seconds of that email arriving, his photo and testimonial quote was on my website, since I was the webmaster back then! I reloaded my page and stared at his photo, and read his quote aloud. It was a monumental moment, and I knew it.
It was no coincidence that sales started to boom after that. I got calls from more great mixers who needed some drum samples, like Ross Hogarth and Jay Baumgardner who have become close and personal friends. 'Steven Slate Drums' was soon being sold in major retail stores, and I expanded the company rapidly over the next few years before meeting Fabrice and starting Slate Digital. But 'SSD' as the product came to be known, will always be very special for me, and I am forever indebted to Mike Shipley for helping it become a success.
Mike has inspired so many audio engineers all around the world, and the one comfort that I have is knowing that his sound and his legacy will live on in his famous records. I will miss you Mike. Thanks for giving a kid a chance.
Steven Slate
