Mic'ing things up is a dying art. Amps, drums, you name it. What is your mic technique?

I would say the first thing is I try not to get too close to the instruments as it tends to choke the sound. I like to give it a little bit of space because the tone opens up a bit for me. Of course, depending on the room. If it's dead or a live room. I hate to always say, "you can't do that" because you can do anything really, it's about experimenting with mics and developing different styles. I get more of choked sound up close which is more of a 70's style but generally I want more tone so I'll back off a bit.

What about compression?

I usually do some sort of compression, again depending on the song, tempo and artist/band. How much I do, also is depending on the players. Some players are very even and some are very dynamic. I want to handle the dynamics and help the player hear everything he needs to & hopefully get off on the sound. A guy who doesn't have much dynamics, you can help by dialing in sound using a little more or less compression. I also like to give compression to the band in the headphones while tracking. Hopefully get everyone excited more and deliver a better performance.

What parts of a kit do you mic? How many mics do you use?

The first thing I think about is the song. The type of music it is. And how important the drums are. If the singer/songwriter was using them for keeping time, then I would probably go in and say "you know, let's use some creative mics" and do "less is more." Creative mics, like cassette mics, bullet mics, different mic placement & then concentrate on getting the overall back up of the singer/songwriter. One of the things I do is record all the "normal" mics, just in case someone else is working on the record after me. The last thing I want to do is have somebody put up the faders and go "where's the hat mic, where's the tom mics?" So I record a lot of mics that I don't necessarily want myself for options & safety. With Pro Tools now, you're not limited to any number of tracks (unless your rig is limited). So you can record a large selection of sounds & have fun with it. Later, either get rid of it or not use it. I'll go a little on the excess side of recording, but the idea generally, with a singer/songwriters, is trimmed down. I use to not have mics on the toms. I'd use the overheads in close. That minimum set up is great, 4 mics; kick, snare, and 2 overheads. I use to get away with it, then I was working on a session where somebody said "Where's the tom mics?" We didn't need them but they were bugged by it. So just by that fact, I thought, I better start recording them.
Also there's sessions where the drums are really important. I would have top and bottom mics on everything, it's pretty cool too. There's a lot more phase to work with & it takes more time, but it's a big sound. It's all whatever the music calls for.

I've always thought that half of engineering is bedside manner, and being attentive to a producer or musicians needs.

I think that's a big part of it also. If it's just me mixing, I'm gonna do what I can to please me & making sure everyone involved, the band, record co. is pleased. But when tracking or overdubbing, the last thing I want to do is get in the way of someone singing, performing, or producing and all they're thinking about is "I can't believe that guy's not using a hi-hat mic." I don't need that. I record everything the way I feel is best and listen to input from others. I try and measure how much or little input is needed from me that feels comfortable. I never want to step on toes. My job is to make a great sounding record.

Sometimes creative people are very sensitive, so it doesn't take much to throw them off.

I'm mixing a guy right now who sits right next to me while I'm mixing and it's very difficult. He wants to know "what's that plug in? What's it do, can't we use this? Take it off. OK, put it on, now back it off". The other thing is; use your ears, don't look at the screen. One problem with Pro Tools; the screen, everyones looking and thinking about it. I want to say, "it's good, now, let's record."

So you end up having to teach him while you're mixing, which is double the work.

Yeah, we're remixing everything now because I listened to him. Funny thing is the first two songs are good and he likes them, and those songs he had little to do with. Then he started speaking up & changing things. He had me take all compressors off, and "you don't need to eq that." At the end of the day, the mixes are "dark." And I'm saying, well, maybe because there's no eq on it?

What plug-ins do you like?

I have a lot. I love the Sound Toys stuff. I love the Waves SSL.

You use the Chris Lord-Alge presets do you? (laughter)

Not usually. No. I've checked 'em out, but no.

The URS API EQ, the Echo Farm, Sans Amp. I love the Sans Amp pedal too. I have a console with all of my pedals plugged in and a lot of times I'll run things through it and then re-record it, with different processing. I'll put guitars through a NEVE just to beef it up. I just mixed this band and all the guitars sounded like they used Native Instruments Guitar Rig. I put it back through the NEVE and overdrive it. Everybody seems to be recording stuff the "quick & same way." Which is a drag because things are starting to sound more and more alike. I would think with more technology, people would want to experiment more and try to come up with new sounds. But there's a nice thing about convenience, "just plug it in. Ah there it is." Instead of setting up a mic, amp, a cable and it's in a different room.

To their credit, people may not know what a good sound is. They hear a Native Instruments guitar thing and they go "wow, that's awesome" and then you click another button and "oh, it's totally 60's. Sounds like a Fender to me." But if you had the same Fender and pedal, plug it in. it's night and day.

Have you had a situation where an album you had worked on came back from mastering sounding worse? Not asking for names.

Well, one situation, the label was bound or determined to use this one guy. Everybody sort of had their guy they wanted to throw in. And I had a guy I wanted to use as well. I said "Let's do an A/B with 2 guys and see what we get back, and choose who to use based on the test." The "record" guy came back sounding really bright, harsh & not very musical, and my guy came back (and I'm not saying this just because he's my guy) sounding really big, warm & great. Everybody, hands down, knew he was better. And yet they still went with the other dude. It had nothing to do with the music. Unfortunately, there's a lot of that in the music business. Has nothing to do with music.

My hero's always been Tchad Blake and we would hang out a bit before he moved to Europe. At his house he was upset about a record he just did, he played me, "this is what it sounded like before and then here's the master." It was night and day also. It was incredible the differences. And you ask yourself "What are they doing?" The only thing that comes to mind is that people have to let go of what they know is right musically, in order to please somebody.

Definitely. And I've often thought too, some of these mastering guys have been working for 30 or 40 years and you have to wonder about how much of the top end they're actually still hearing.

One of my favorite guys is Doug Sax and he still hears amazingly well. I hope I can be like him. One important thing I've always noticed is he always has good assistants with him. Always has guys he is comfortable with asking "what do you think?" He's really good on his own but he definitely wants to hear the opinion of his assistant & the producer and artist. Which I think is important. When you have a good one (assistant) they can be a huge plus in the making record process. He or she is freeing you up to focus on what you need to or they're adding their ears and all the good old hard work. That's what an assistant is, if he's your assistant, use him. I always ask "so what do you think, do you hear anything, would you do anything different?"

Who are some other producers you dig?

I like to hear what T Bone Burnett is doing. His records all have a sound to them. I don't necessarily want a "signature sound" in the mixes / recordings I do, I'd rather it be more of the artist's vision than mine. I think the artist goes to Tchad, for instance, because of what he does, which is fantastic. Tchad will be creative with it, like no one else, and I really like that. I try to add & still retain what the band wants to hear, unless they say, go crazy. And I love to go crazy. I did a shoot out mix recently. I didn't get the gig because I went too far. The A&R guy said they like "crazy". After hearing the "winning mix" my mix was really the wrong thing. His mix was very straight ahead. I went too far out.

John Alagia is amazing. We work over at the Village, great great studio. We did the Ben Lee record that just came out. I really like that record. Also a Liz Phair record & a few more. He's a songwriter / musician, so the most important thing is the song, period. He pretty much leaves the engineering to me. He will sit down at the console and tweek a bit, which is great, 'cause he has great ears and it gives me a break. Generally, he's focused on the overall. He's old school, which is kind of rare these days.

Being in a room w/ all the band, tracking songs, is the very best. Record making should always be fun.

Mr. Seo is a Japanese producer I love. I've been fortunate enough to work on several Japanese records with him. Mr. Seo sessions run very smooth and organized. Everybody has a job. They totally respect the other person and what they do. So if you need a little more something on your voice, you go to the engineer. Mr. Seo doesn't look at one thing too deeply, rather move on, stay on track and look at it a bit at a time as we're working. Pretty smart, I think. Never getting stuck and keeping the schedule. No one gets bored.

How did you get into engineering?

I moved here from Illinois. Came here and started working in the aircraft industry, building airplanes on the night shift. That world is always up and down depending on economy & who's buying airplanes. I was laid off for the second or third time. During the day I was going to school, so when I was laid off I was home practicing guitar, looking at all the music and seeing Cherokee Studios, Wally Heider's, Record One, Record Plant, and the Village and I'm thinking "these are all right in my neighborhood." So I hit the street. I went to two studios and Cherokee was the studio that called me back. When I got in the door and saw what was going on in the control rooms, I knew "I gotta do this." I was always a curious kid, figuring out how to record this and that, turn the recorder into a microphone, etc. Being a music fan first and foremost.. The stereo was like a big toy; "oh, all this eq, and you can do this, enhance that."