plains. "And that's assuming everything Close -up detail of micing used to cover The is perfectly aligned on the receiving end, Party Band, which featured saxophonist which is not always the case. Beverly Dahlke, a.k.a. "The Tramp" (left). "In terms of stereo panning, I find I've brought things in toward the center echo on a vocal duet with Eddie and more. I've realized that what I'm work- Ronnie Spector. And I got a slap setting ing with here is a kind of 'glorified on a third device to really give it that Phil mono,' rather than true stereo. I'm trying Spector 'Wall of Sound' effect." to get it to sound 'punchy' in both mono and stereo formats." Mixing for stereo The engineer monitors the air mix on a In building his mixes, Wilson says he pair of small Westlake BBSM series ._.: , »' remains acutely aware of the dbx/Zenith monitors. MTS (multichannel television sound) for- "Stereo imaging is crucial and diffi- mat and its practical limitations. cult," he says, "due to the fact that you "At best, there's only 30dB to 36dB of are going through that stereo generator stereo separation for the viewer," he ex- [for MTS broadcast]. Because of the small

Compromises of Stereo Music Production for Television: A Conversation with Mark Hudson As The Late Show's music director Boys' collection of electronic keyboard passage!" and bandleader, Mark Hudson often instruments. Chief among these is a A small footswitch- activated con- finds himself playing a mediator's role. Fairlight CMI series Ill, which is fed to denser mic, mounted on his music For him, the Party Boys & the Tramp the broadcast and house PA consoles stand, enables Hudson to speak to the occupy a "middle ground" between the via the instrument's composite director and camera crew, allowing Johnny Carson and David Letterman monaural output. The Fairlight's prin- him to arrange spontaneous sight gags bands: Doc Sevrinson's Vegas -style out- cipal role is to provide string voicings involving the band and to transmit fit, vs. Paul Schaffer's 4-piece rock and and other orchestral timbres (tympani, other messages. He also has a small roll band. etc.) not available from other band video monitor on the bandstand, "Joan Rivers' personality falls some- instruments. which, among other things, facilitates where between Carson and Letterman Yamaha YCAMS equipment makes smooth, tight endings coming out of and we get an amazing variety of up a significant portion of the remain- commercial breaks. musical guests on the show -from ex- ing synth /keyboard gear used on- "I never liked the way they did it on Plasmatic Wendy O. Williams to Vic stage. Keyboardist Randy Waldman The Tonight Show. Not to be negative Damone. The band has to be able to and guitarist Bruce Gaitsch each play a about Doc, but I never cared for the accommodate all of those styles. DX -7. Hudson plays a third DX-7, way the band would just kind of fall "My concept was to put together a which has been customized by Chicago apart when they came back from a great rock -and-roll rhythm section technician Don Johnson to store eight commercial break. I wanted it tight. with horns-not a big band as we banks of 32 voices each on-board. "During our first run -through shows, know it, but one that is able to cover Mark also uses a Yamaha KX-100 I did it like that and it frightened Joan; that territory as well as the rock MIDI keyboard controller and TX-816 it was too abrupt. They told me: 'We've material." rack. His principal guitars. are a Fen- got to do it like the Carson show, ' and I From an acoustic standpoint, how- der Stratocaster and a vintage Ricken- said, 'Oh please, not that.' ever, Hudson's large group does pre- backer 12- string, which go through a "I've now worked out a method sent some problems. Yamaha G100 backline amplifier. The where-when I see we're coming out of "Monitoring is difficult when you're set -up also includes a Yamaha SPX-90 the break -I bring the band down in dealing with a lot of musicians in a effects unit for processing all these in- volume on a count of four. And small area," he concedes. "We're struments. then-still on beat-I cut them off. It's a working it out slowly but surely, "I was using a different amp for a smooth ending, but not quite as abrupt though. The key is the drums. If the while," Hudson says, "but it didn't as before." horn players can't hear the drums, for seem to be as bright as the Yamaha. Small, tactful compromises like this example, they tend to lag behind. So One of the biggest problems with televi- are a matter of daily routine for Hud- we make sure there're plenty of drums sion, musically, is that it's all mid- son. But musical and audio quality are in everyone's monitor. range-put a guitar and piano together two areas where he tries to avoid com- "The studio's high ceiling is another and it's death. I'm trying to separate promises. area of concern for me. I'm trying to those sounds by making the guitar "1 can recall doing TV appearances get a baffle dropped over the whole crisper. I think that, with Thom with the Hudson Brothers. It would band area, so that the sound doesn't Wilson's help, we're going to be able to sound pretty good in the room; but, keep going up. But here's where the expand that (apparent) frequency when you went home and listened, it politics of my job comes in. Before we range a bit." was terrible. All you'd hear was one can do something like that, I have to While the show is in progress, part of tambourine and one guy singing-all convince the people who say it won't Hudson's role is to coordinate the Par- out of balance. work visually." ty Boys' music with all the other ele- "Because of that kind of situation, a In addition to mediating between di- ments of the show. Accordingly, he's lot of acts have tended to shy away vergent musical styles, Hudson often fitted with an earpiece that ties him in- from live television. What I'm trying to has to reconcile the demands of picture to the talkback system used by the di- do is regain their confidence and get vs. sound. In both these areas, he bene- rector and camera crew. them to do the show by offering the fits from the fact that quite a few of the "I'm hearing that continually, "he ex- best players and the best audio possi- band's instruments are taken direct. plains. "It's murder when you're trying ble." Specifically, this includes the Party to count down a song or play a tricky

28 Recording Engineer,-Producer March 1987