Who is this guy??? Hi Folks, My Name is Mike Birkemeier. I've been playing bass since 1977 and have been into doing my own recording since 1991. I have been building up to a 24 track studio for the past several years and finally have enough gear to be comfortably satisfied. I could always use more compressor/limiter/gates and mics/stands/cables, but other than that, I'm quite pleased. I'm really into Melodic Metal/Hard Rock music. I enjoy the technical challenge and the satisfaction of being able to shred with finesse. A not so brief history 1977 Started Playing Electric Bass and B-flat Trumpet 1977-1985 Practiced mostly to albums by Rush and Iron Maiden, played in several local bands doing original and cover songs. Started playing in clubs at 16 years old. Played trumpet in high school marching and concert bands. Played bass in jazz and pep bands. 1985 I saw Billy Sheehan http://www.billysheehan.com while he was in Talas. All the rules changed and no longer would "bass be felt and not heard". 1985-1986 Attended B.G.S.U. in Bowling Green, Ohio as Music Performance and Education Major. Played trumpet in marching and concert bands and several solo performances before University Professors. Took upright bass lessons with a few performances before University Profs. I desired to play bass exclusively and was referred to Musicians Institute by my upright bass instructor. Thanks a million, Bill Hones!! 1986-1987 Attended and graduated from Musicians Institute (Bass Institute of Technology) Hollywood, CA. While at M.I., I played in many live performances and performed at the 1986-1987 Graduation Performance in front of the entire student body and staff. I was in the only two bands chosen to represent rock music that year. Very Cool! The two groups were named "Acconda" and "The Strangers". We were the only two rock bands chosen to record on the 1986-87 M.I./Tommy Tedesco Student Album. Also, very cool. Acconda nailed the song on our first take! 1987-1988 I relocated back to Sidney, Ohio to play in the metal missionary band "One For All". We played a few gigs and then disbanded. Quite unfortunate, but thems the breaks. The lead singer is now the Pastor at the church I attend! 1988-1991 Wrote several originals and experimented with four track recording. 1991 Auditioned for Sparrow Records Recording Artists "Whiteheart" in Nashville, TN., though I didn't get the gig. It was a really cool experience. I should've done some vocals. Hey Billy and Mark, do y'all need a bassist??? I sing now. 1991-1993 Wrote more originals and did more four track recording. 1993-1995 I relocated to Hamilton, Ohio to perform and record with "Aberrent". We played the Cincinnati club scene and recorded two albums. The second was more technical than the first (which was really cool to fret-blaze), but the audio was recorded with some serious phase problems. 1995-1996 Aberrent reformed and changed the name to "Needful Things". We mostly played covers by Mr.Big, Alice In Chains, S.T.P., and Extreme. While that was pretty cool, we only performed two originals. I never liked the name of the band and the new line up thrilled me about as much, so I relocated back to Sidney, OH to do eight track recording with the goal of reaching 24 tracks. 1996-1999 I recorded several songs with my favorite guitarist of all times, Rod Middleton. 1999-2000 Rod and I teamed up with some local Piqua, Ohio musicians to form "Outer Limits". We wrote several songs and recorded an album on my 16 track gear. We changed the name of the band to "Soul Of Pigs" and released 'Enigma'. 2000-2002 I did some experimentation with computer recording and found that I like to use computers for the mastering process. I like recording "old school". I'm finally up to my goal of 24 tracks. I've been buying oodles of studio and live gear to ready myself for any musical opportunities in the future. Gear: Amplification: 1 Ampeg B4R (1000wattRMS-Solid State) 1 Ampeg SVT II Pro (300wattRMS-Tube) 1 Ampeg AP3550 (350wattRMS-Solid State) 1 Ampeg B-410 (1973 vintage 120wattRMS-Solid State) 1 Crown XLS 602 Speaker Enclosures: 1 Ampeg SVT810 (1968 vintage) 1 Ampeg SVT810EN 1 Ampeg BSE410HS 1 Ampeg SVT410E 2 Carvin V410T 1 Gallien-Krueger 115 (EV loaded) Electric Basses: 1 Tobias Growler (4 string) 1 Fender Precision (4 string - custom Alembic P/J     & DiMarzio Model P pickups) 1 Galveston (12 string) Processing: 1 Korg AX3000B Modeling Signal Processor 1 Pearce BC1 Preamp 1 Alesis 3630 Compressor/Limiter/Gate 1 Aphex 104 Aural Exciter w/ Big Bottom 1 Yamaha SPX90 1 Yamaha SPX90II 1 Hush Systems IICX Noise Reduction 1 Behringer Composer MDX2000 Dynamics Processor 1 Nady Audio CL-5000 Compressor/Limiter/Gate 1 Alesis MicroVerb4 Miscellaneous: 1 Mackie SR24-4 VLZ Mixing Console 1 Sennheiser 421 microphone 1 Shure SM58 microphone 1 Furman PL-8 Power Conditioner/Light Module 1 Samson SR-22 True Diversity Wireless System 1 Sabine RT-1601 Rack Tuner 1 SKB 8 space rack 2 SKB 12 space racks Recording: 3 Fostex D-90 Digital Hard Disk Recorders 1 Tascam 238S Syncaset Analog Recorder 1 Sony 300ES DAT Recorder/Player 1 Sony MZ-R55 Minidisc Recorder/Player Recording Misc: 2 Alesis Monitor One MK2 reference monitors 1 Roland R-5 Human Rhythm Composer 1 JLCooper PPS-2 Synchronizer 1 Fostex TS-15 Tape Sync Unit