But here I am, with some time, thoughts and pics to share with those that might be interested. Scroll down below the pictures for more words

Here’s the studio in it’s complete state:

I’m so happy to now have a room that is neutral and allows me to edit, mix and master with confidence. There still may be a a few minor acoustical tweaks in order to even out one small bump. A big thanks to Iain Cocks of Cocks & Delaney and Dan Séguin from Dan Audio for their part in the realization of this studio. Also thanks to Erin Donovan for her patience and support through the process.

So far I’ve mixed and mastered Scott Benson‘s new album, done some post editing and mixing for Tafelmusik’s Baroque educational videos with RH Thompson, Vernon Regehrs upcoming solo cello CD, Helen Pridmore’s upcoming CD release, and the recording of Erin Donovan’s composition for Yvonne Ng’s next dance to be premiered in Toronto in March. Next up: Tafelmusik‘s complete Messiah post production, Robert deMaine‘s Haydn cello concerto CD, Paul Buchanan’s next solo project, and the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelon ensemble.

On an aside, it’s interesting to note that our business here on Woodstock Road continues the tradition here at this address. The previous owners ran a Yoga Studio / B&B and the family that built the house ran a store selling primarily oyster bags (whatever those are!) and sails.

If you’re in Nova Scotia, give me a call and drop by for a visit.

Right away I got on the phone to my builder Iain and hired him again. First thing was to order all the materials required for the acoustic panel fabrication. The wall and ceiling treatment uses 2″ Owens Corning 703 fiberglass insulation framed by 1.5″ strapping. The suspended Bass Trap panels design specified 1.5″ Roxul acoustical fire batts. The local building supplier didn’t stock either the 2″ Owens Corning 703 fiberglass insulation or the 1.5″ Roxul acoustical fire batts so Iain order this up. I also had to come up with an aesthetic plan as all of the acoustical panels are covered with fabric. Thanks to my lovely and supporting wife Erin for pretty much making these decisions. We ordered the special “acoustical panel” fabric from Gilford’s of Maine.

Next task was to remove the small closet and open up the room. I was planning on using this as my “machine room” and for extra storage but I quickly let that one go. Oh and remember all that Primacoustic foam paneling I first put up in the room? I had to take it all down. It doesn’t feel very good undoing work, but it just didn’t do the job.

Iain recommended I blow cellulose insulation above the ceiling of my room to reduce the heating costs and hopefully dampen the influx of exterior noise into my space. Iain manned the machine and lucky me, i ended up in the attic. I was reminded why I didn’t become an insulator, but I’m very glad I did this.

We started with the ceiling and let me tell you, working with fiberglass overhead sucks! After completely covering the ceiling with the 703, we put the fabric up. It made a huge difference to the feel of the room and the height of the ceiling.

Next up, the wall panels which were also put together using the 2″ 703 fiberglass. These went up fairly quickly but we were constantly trying to think ahead to the next steps so our installation wouldn’t hit any hurdles. There’s nothing worse than undoing work!

Determining how much fabric we needed took some careful measuring and planning. Janet Adams (Mom) and Susan Sayle who are both experts in working with fabric put their heads together to come up with a plan. Sue is a busy violist so I booked to to come to the studio to help with devising a plan to wrap the bass trap panels. Working with Janet, and Erin, Sure jumped in a we started putting these units together: twelve 18×60 panels and six 18×72 panels. Roxul is a faily loose insulating material so care had to be taken to not disturb the integrity of it’s surface so the panels would have a clean look to them.

This process takes a significant amount of time and resources to make happen. The motivation of course is that in the end I’ll have an excellent studio with a solid sound, so i can continue delivering my work with the precision and detail my clients expect.

Stay tuned for the next post when I’ll hopefully have some photos of the finished studio.

Our Mahone Bay location is currently undergoing an important renovation giving our main mixing room a physical infrastructure specifically for sound mixing and mastering.

The design is complete (by Dan Séguin at DanAudio in Montreal) and over the next two to three weeks the installation will be taking place. For fun and the interest of whomever, I post progress reports and pictures and things move along.

Design by DanAudio

I’ve recently had two concert going experiences that revitalized my excitement for live music.

1. I had the privilege of attending a concert of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra performing Mahler’s 2nd Symphony at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. We’re talking a 100 piece orchestra, 200 member choir, 2 solo singers and an organist. Cram all those performers and their passion for music in one room with a sold out audience and you have the makings of an interesting evening. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire 1.5 hours of this non stop performance. I was completely blown away by the dynamic range, the textures the genius orchestrations, the expert direction (Roberto Minczuk) and the superb performances. Mahler and the Calgary Philharmonic took me on a journey and at the time I had no idea where it was going. Amazing.

2. While in Toronto for a recording project, I happen to have the evening off that Kurt Swinghammer was launching his new CD/Bluray Turpentine Wind. His band are all stellar musicians, and during this event Kurt involved a visual artist, Justin Stephenson, to create live video imagery to accompany the performance. Last but not least, he hired Michael Wojewoda to do the live mix. Kurt chose the Music Gallery for his performance venue… a sweet acoustic, but not your usual space for pop music. Wow. It was truly a masterpiece of a performance. Of course with the above mentioned participants and Kurt’s crafty song writing, all the elements were in place.

To reproduce the energy and power of musicians performing in a real acoustic space through microphones, cables. analog to digital converters then back out some wires to 2 boxes with big round cones in them, is a feat every engineer and producer attempts to capture. Everyday in my work I try to reproduce it but really, it is impossible.
Recording music is full of compromises. Live music is magic. I didn’t always think this way, however.

When I graduated from McGill University is 1991 I was destined to be a studio engineer/producer. In my mind live music was full of compromises: bad acoustics, mediocre sound systems, sitting in a bad seat. Recording was the only way to get it right: put the listener in the perfect seat, tweak the timbres perfectly and balance it all exactly the way it should be.

Well, it wasn’t too long after I graduated that I got a job working for John Cage and Merce Cunningham in New York City. I was hired to tour around the world with them as their live sound engineer. At the time I was thinking to myself “what am I doing? I’m a studio guy”! But of course the opportunity to have John Cage as my boss was too big to pass by. This wasn’t your ordinary live sound gig. I was primarily in charge of their sound system with consisted of between 8-16 channels of discrete audio with speakers distributed throughout the venue often in locations to activate the interesting acoustic qualities of the venue. I was also asked to regularly perform in the “band”. What turned out to be the most interesting aspect of my job was assisting the late David Tudor in the presentations of his music. Now, here I was working with these pioneering composers and performers who made music which was literally impossible to record, at least in a way that it could be reproduced as it occurred in the venue. Any attempt at recording this music was fraught with compromises. Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to flip my somewhat naive post graduate perspective. Thank you to Merce, John and David for bringing that realization into my world!

I think it is extremely important for anyone working in the music recording industry to go see live music. It reminds us of what we’re striving for… even if the sound is bad (which it is most of the time), it allows us to experience in real time the exciting process of musicians performing for an audience and in turn, an audience giving back to the musicians. This is what music is all about.

Happy concert going.

-John

We’re almost finished editing and mixing vocalist Helen Pridmore’s next CD.

Recording production on cellist Vernon Regehr solo project has just complete. We had a great session in McGill University’s Multi Media Room (MMR). Here’s a link.

We’re heading to Toronto to record Daniel Taylor and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Really looking forward to this session.

Lots more action to share. Come back soon for all the news!

These guys are great.

I just finished a recording in collaboration with producer Carl Talbot and an amazing collection of baroque music specialists put together by oboist extraordinaire, John Abberger (Toronto). In thinking back to the beautiful music and rich sound we recorded throughout the 4 days we spent together, I think about the motivation behind our collective efforts. Firstly, John Abberger had a interesting idea to re-arrange the Bach suites which he did brilliantly for 2 violins, viola, cello, bass, harpsichord, bassoon and 2 oboes. Thank you John Abberger for keeping it fresh and interesting.

Carl and I have worked on many projects together over the years and always approach a recording with an open perspective and wide open ears. We often start with multiple pairs of microphones in order to discern which sound best suits the music, the acoustic and the arrangement. While listening critically, we move the mics and the musicians around in order to optimize our pick up. There are discussions between myself, Carl, and the musicians of balance, timbre and bloom and then we commit (this time to a pair of DPA 4003s without the grids!) We’re keeping it fresh. I think it’s important that all recording be approached with this spirit – like you’ve never done it before. Carl and I approach each and every one of the recording we work together on with the goal to make it sound better then anything we’ve done before. This approach keeps us engaged, and excited about the important job we have of documenting the music making of the musicians in front of the microphones.

Only problem is, it’s a total pain to set-up and calibrate 6 speakers so that the listening experience is indeed what the artistic team involved intended. Well, I set my system up, and yes, it was a pain but boy oh boy was it worth it! Open, dynamic, accurate, immersive: these are some of the words that come to mind when I’ve been listening in surround.

Go. Get frustrated, deal with the cables and interconnection, calibrate the beast. Then sit back and enjoy.

Oh, I almost forgot about Mono. Great if the music really kicks ass… but then again, just think of what that great music would sound like in surround!