Recording philosophy, processes, equipment, and samples
My recording philosophy
One of the most provocative phrases I have ever read relevant to recording is, "It takes a surprising amount of processing to make things sound natural." This rule does not apply when recording in big, magnificent spaces which are custom designed for music, such as recital auditoriums and concert halls. However, in most cases, recordings need to be made in less-than-ideal spaces. And it is in these more typical scenarios that the judicious use of equalization, compression, reverb, delay, noise reduction, and other such processes can really make a recording sound terrific.
Additionally, different genres of music have their own rules. It has been said that "compression is the sound of rock music." There is a lot of truth in this statement. By contrast, highly compressing a string quartet would probably sound awful. There are no set rules: we must bring all of our judgment, experience, and good taste to the recording process.
"By whatever means necessary" is the rule I adopt. In the final analysis, a great sounding recording of a competent and passionate performance is what matters, even if that "passionate performance" is compiled together from hundreds of takes, time-stretched, pitch-corrected, and dramatically processed.
The process of making a recording with me
The three most important aspects of a successful recording are preparation, preparation, and preparation. We must know beforehand dozens of details, from the obvious (like the number of musicians) to the more subtle (how many bass drums and tom toms will the drummer play?).
Where will the recording be made? Do we need baffles for sound isolation? Do we need to be alert to and overcome any problematic frequencies in the room?
How experienced are the musicians at recording? Recording and live performance, one quickly learns, are very different animals. It takes some experience for musicians to understand how much output can reasonably be expected from a session.
In summary, I work with my clients through lots and lots of questions. I'll often attend a rehearsal as well. When all of this preliminary information is understood, we can design a recording scenario that will be efficient and yield high results.
Recording equipment
Great care is taken in selecting the proper recording equipment for the task at hand. For instance, orchestral and other classical recordings often sound best when using neutral microphones (like AKG 460 mics) and preamplifiers (like the True Systems Precision 8). On the other hand, rock guitars or basses can often use the added euphonics that come from using a transformer-based preamp like the Great River MP2NV and a classic old microphone like the Shure SM57. Another favorite preamplifier for me is the Aphex 1100 mk II, which has a wonderful mix of tube richness and deep clarity.
Currently, I maintain a range of twenty preamplifier channels and about the same number of mics and cables and stands. Additional equipment can be rented from one of the fine rental houses available in Los Angeles.
Top-notch digital conversion is a necessity. Generally, I use either Apogee AD-16X converters or, when budgets are smaller, the built-in converters of either the Aphex 1100 mk II preamplifier or those of the RME Firefaces which I use for firewire connectivity to my computers.
More important even than the recording equipment is monitoring. Each musician must be comfortable hearing himself/herself and also the rest of the ensemble. For this reason, I have a number of different Oz Audio headphone amplifications systems that, combined with low-latency digital mixing and good-quality headphones, allow for customized, individual mixes for each musician and producer.
I generally mix in the box using either Cubase or Pro Tools. These tools are augmented with a number of the top-notch plugin effects available today, including a Universal Audio UAD-2 Quad Omni Pack and a TC Powercore.
Samples of my work
Note that the following samples are high-bit-rate MP3s. They take longer to download, but their fidelity is better.
(Each sample will open in a new window.)
Water is a spare electric guitar-based song, with sprinkles of percussion as well as electric bass.
(courtesy of Joe Kolacheck)
The Prelude from J.S. Bach's Partita #3 for solo violin is a solo vibraphone recording.
(performed and recorded by Fred Morgenstern)
Sabor A Mi is a classic Latin ballad. The instrumentation is female and male vocals, trumpet, keyboards, electric guitar, electric bass, drums and percussion.
(courtesy of The Brotherhood Band)
In The Dark is a song from Inkplot that combines a great many real, sampled, and synthesized instruments with multiple vocal overdubs.
(courtesy of Inkplot)
Runaway is a much more stripped-down performance, also from Inkplot. The acoustic bass is played on a keyboard using samples.
(courtesy of Inkplot)
Beautiful Love is from a jazz trio session. The instrumentation is electric guitar, electric bass, and jazz drums.
(courtesy of Marcus Horn and Fabian Fernandez)
My Old Farm is an Americana piece featuring multiple acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, and percussion.
(courtesy of Joe Kolacheck)