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  DyvaNaye (westside314) 6-Zenith Username: westside314 Post Number: 983 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.138 |
Just who are these people? Have we given them the credit they deserve? In some cases they were as popular as the artist themselves...but stood in the position as the 'ghost writer' so to speak, the person behind the scenes. Usually on an album/cd cover these are the names that follows all the credits of the other folk, but usually stands alone like a powerful 'high plains drifter'. Just for another armchair discussion and information, Id like to dedicate this thread to the skills and know-how of the men/women behind the scenes in the studio 'The Recording/Mix Engineer'...who are the best? who are the worst? who still exist? whats their best work? who is of the 'who's who' listing? So not to sound like an owl...lets talk about it SDF...I know there are some engineers on this forum...in particular 2 brothers...uh...I forget their name...(code name GOD FEATHER)...uh....lol I'll note a few later who caught my attention from some of my favorite albums... DyvaNaye Peace! | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 1705 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.138 |
In my opinion, a great recording engineer should take the time to study the past recording history of an artist they are going to record, that is of course, if they have a track record. On the other hand, when dealing with a new artist, they should make the performers feel at ease and take the time to get to know their individual personalities and isiosyncracies, if any. A good engineer should also be a musician, or one with great musical knowledge. Some of my personal faves are: Bruce Swedien who has worked extensively with Quincy Jones on al of his hits. IMO, he is the master of "spatiality" and proximity in the mix with what he has dubbed "The Accusonic Process". He records all tracks in stereo, using three of four multitrack machines in the process. Roger Nichols, who engineered all of the Steely Dan albums. He is a master of the tight, punchy and sonically well rounded soundscapes, and one of the first engineers to experiment with digital recording way back in the late seventies.. Tom Dowd, unquestionably the granddaddy of r&b, soul, deep soul and southern rock recordings as well as one of the first independent Nyc engineers, and later responsible for the "Atlantic Sound" Geoff Emerick, the Beatles engineer who pioneered many recoring innovations commonly used today. Stt Pepper, Abbey Road, need I say more. Dave Reitzas, who engineers and mixes all of the David Foster stuff. Al Schmidt..Eagles, Don henley, James taylor, etc. The king of the west coast pop/rock genre. Jack Daugherty, who engineeres al of those luscious Carpenters recordings. Armin Steiner..Bread,Doors, Linda Rondstadt, and Brenda Holloway's Every little bit hurts those are just a few of my faves. More to come. | ||
Chi Drummer (chidrummer) 5-Doyen Username: chidrummer Post Number: 265 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 67.173.156.129 |
Eli, glad to see you back guitarman. You beat me to Bruce, Roger and Geoff so I'll add Barney Perkins, Hugh Padgham and Bob Ludwig (although he mostly does mastering). BTW, Al Schmidt does a great job on Diana Krall's recordings too. | ||
Ralph Terrana (ralph) Moderator Username: ralph Post Number: 721 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 209.240.205.63 |
Not to sound biased, but I have to say my brother Russ is the best all around engineer I ever dealt with. Bobby makes several valid points regarding the qualifications of a competent engineer and Russ has them all down cold. The moment he would walk into the control room and take the coveted engineer's seat you knew you were in good hands and the session was going to move as it should. At times when things might start to go wrong ( as is the case with many recording sessions ) Russ' humor would emerge and get everyone laughing until things got back on track. You couldn't rattle the guy, and when you're dealing with a bunch of creative types that tend to " rattle ". this is a most valuble asset. Yeah...Hands down...Russ Terrana gets my vote everytime. Believe me...I've done some sessions with the guy. | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 1710 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.138 |
Most definitely, Russ Teranna! He does have some of the greatest credits in the universe having been Mr Motown he IS the sound of young America!! | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 2842 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
In the modern Dance music era, I would choose Herb Powers Jr., who was the mastering engineer behind countless dance classics of the 80s. | ||
Garo (gary_james) 3-Pundit Username: gary_james Post Number: 39 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 151.199.246.15 |
I must mention Chuck Britz who worked with Brian Wilson to get that great Beach Boys sound.... at a time when much of the mixing had to be done early on in the recording process. | ||
Ralph Terrana (ralph) Moderator Username: ralph Post Number: 723 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 209.240.205.63 |
Good point Garo, The really good engineers didn't have the luxury of 24 track recording, or 16 or 8 for that matter in those days. So things had to be carefully thought out as the sessions progressed. Making do with what they had only served to hone their skills. | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 1712 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.100.134 |
I believe that the magic that all of those early recordings possessed, probably would not have been achieved if technology was as it is today. Most of the early effects were created by accident while experimenting in the studio. remember, most consoles in the early days, had between six to eight rotary fader inputs going to mono, with a three position toggle switch which controlled e.q., and maybe one send, if at all. So engineers in those days were masters at mike placement and the use of acoustical spaces to color their records. I take off my hat to all of the great recording engineers of days gone by, as your records still hold up today! | ||
Juicefree20 (juicefree20) 6-Zenith Username: juicefree20 Post Number: 2847 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 24.46.184.162 |
Garo, Ralph & Bobby, Those are very excellent points. I feel that the earlier engineers had to do more with less. They really had to have some ears & a real understanding of the aural landscape. Today's producers have so many toys at their disposal, that I believe that they're hindered by them. I don't think that they have mastered the nuances of sound & damn near everything sounds overprocessed & similar. If I hear one more damn drum that sounds like it's rattling around in a garbage can, I'm gonna slap somebody. Whatever happened to crisp, clean bass anyway??? | ||
Davie Gordon (davie_gordon) 5-Doyen Username: davie_gordon Post Number: 271 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 81.157.113.220 |
"Today's producers have so many toys at their disposal, that I believe that they're hindered by them." Couldn't agree more, Juice. Seems to be there was far more creativity in the sixties, The records I play most frequently were probably recorded on less than 4 tracks. I remember seeing some studio recording sheets printed on a Pacific Gas and Electric album showing the instruments allocated on a sixteen track machine and thinking "how do you visualise that in your head ?" And that was in the early seventies. I wonder if a good deal of the problem now, and why it takes so long and costs so much to record, is that there's just too much damn data to deal with. In the good old days it would've been a case of "does it sound right" and " how much of the two hours we've got for this session left ?" As the old proverb goes "Necessity is the mother of invention" and we've got a lot to be grateful for to those largely unheralded craftsmen who gave us such marvelous music in the sixties half the time using consoles held together by string and chewing gum. Davie ps Bobby, thanks for name checking Al Schmitt - he was the producer for what is quite probably my favourite album ever - Jefferson Airplane's "After Bathing At Baxters" |
