DOCSLIB.ORG

Career Guide

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Career Guide CAREER GUIDE GETTING STARTED IN SOUND ENGINEERING THE TRUE BEAUTY OF MUSIC IS THAT IT CONNECTS PEOPLE. IT CARRIES A MESSAGE, AND WE, THE MUSICIANS, ARE THE MESSENGERS Roy Ayers American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player CONTents A CAREER IN SOUND ENGINEERING Several people think a sound engineer just sits behind a mixing console in a recording studio. But this is only one of many sound engineering functions. As a qualified sound engineer, you will have many options. This guide will help you discover some of the vast opportunities in the field. Globally, the economic engines driving key changes in pro audio will be gaming, film, and television, as well as military — combined global revenue of over $500 billion. The music industry alone generates around 50 billion dollars in revenue. Sound engineers play a key role in the production of music and other audios which are used in the industry indicating that the demand for sound engineers is increasing. In the US, 15,210 sound engineering technicians were employed in May 2016. The number is also projected to increase by 7% in 2024 4 As a sound engineer you spend your day: • Selecting and ensuring that the correct equipment is being used for the task at hand e.g. in a recording environment selecting a microphone to record an acoustic guitar will differ to what is needed for drums. In a live setting venue acoustics will influence equipment requirements too. • Recording sound, speech and music in formal recording environments as well as live and/or outdoors • Maintaining and being in charge of the recording and/or mixing desk to ensure sound-quality is maintained • Working closely with the artists and other members of the sound team for monitoring and recording work • Ensuring that all sound equipment is serviced, maintained and repaired What software will you be using? As an up-and-coming audio engineer and music producer, it is essential to have a good working knowledge of the common software programs used in the recording studio. Because the rise of digital technology you now have the ability to do more things for less money, recording studios are relying more and more on computer software programs for their recording, signal processing and mixing tasks. Some of the softwares you will be using include • Logic pro • Pro tools • Reason • FL Studio 5 Who will be your employers? As a sound engineer, you must have good communication and interpersonal skills, to work in a team, offer ideas and take on board other people’s requirements and expectations. There are a range of professions to choose from inside and outside music. Some of your employers may include: • Music production companies • Music retailers • Media organizations from music magazines to licensing bodies • Music schools and colleges • Creative content producers including film and gaming companies. • Ad agencies 6 CAREER OPTIONS Producer Perhaps you’ve always had a knack for creating music, whether as a bedroom composer or on a musical instrument. Or maybe you have not even started, but one thing is certain - you love music, you’re creative and you’re interested in working with musicians to create chart topping music. This is the profession for you. As a producer, your role will vary depending on whether you will be working in music, film, theater, dance, video games, or other media. In the music industry, you will work with recording artists and record labels to create songs and albums for release. You will also supervise all aspects of the recording process -including contracting session players and overseeing the recording budget - and may also help the artist select songs to be recorded. Preferably, a producer should be an excellent musician with some performance experience. In addition to possessing a great depth of knowledge in music, you may be required to hold extensive technical knowledge of recording equipment, engineering, and acoustics. Recording Engineer/Mixer As a record engineer, you will tighten up a vocal performance, making it sound present, loud, airy and beautiful. Mixing can make an already recorded beat sound more or less aggressive, a piano feel more emotional, a whole song sound more indie or more pop, a groove feel groovier…. As a recording engineer, you will operate the mixing console and other equipment during the process of recording music or sound. You will run recording sessions, with oversight from the producer. You may also be responsible for setting up equipment in the studio prior to the session, and discussing what the end product should sound like with the producer and talent. To enter this profession, you must possess well-trained ears, advanced technical knowledge of recording and mixing tools, and an ingrained understanding of studio etiquette. 7 DJ/Remixer If you can’t simply passively enjoy music, you’re there on the volume control, or adding things to the playlist, rearranging and shuffling, plotting a path through your listening rather than just letting someone else’s pre-arranged order do for you, you may consider being a DJ. As a DJ/remixer you may be charged with editing a song or completely recreating it to sound different from the original version. As the DJ/remixer, you may also mix recorded music live for an audience. You will require certain skills including knowledge of audio editing and music production software, performance dynamics and knowledge of current musical trends. With the ever-growing festival, concert and nightlife industry, there is a growing demand for skilled DJ’s to pull in the crowds. Live Sound Engineer Have you ever been at a concert where you were blown away by the clarity and quality of the music you heard? Chances are that there was a very talented engineer controlling the sound you heard. As a live sound engineer, you can either make or break a concert experience. The success of the concert and the band’s reputation lie in your hands. As a live sound engineer, your primary responsibility is to operate the soundboard during a live performance. You will also be involved in sound check and the placement of equipment in preparation for a live performance. Acoustic Consultant From a quiet romantic restaurant to a lively jazz club and many more spaces require a multitude of enhancements to improve their ambiance. If spaces, sound and environment fascinate you, this may be the job for you. As an acoustic consultant, you will be providing complete audio, video, and acoustic design services for performance spaces such as concert halls, arenas, stadiums, studios, convention facilities, clubs, churches, and synagogues. You start with an acoustical analysis of the venue to identify problems and make suggestions for equipment or interior design changes. 8 Get Inspired Sound engineering is not only limited to employment, as there are some great opportunities for you harness your entrepreneurship skills as you deepen your expertise in sound engineering. Both locally and internationally, sound engineering specialists have revolutionized the music and entertainment industry. MYKE RABAR Myke Rabar is the founder and CEO of Homeboyz Group, a Kenyan multimedia entertainment company. He began his career as a music loving DJ who just loved to play music. “It just happened by accident. You’re doing one event, then two, then you’ve got demand. So you start hiring equipment, bring more guys on board, you come with DJs. Then my brothers come in to help and then it just kept on evolving: someone says, ‘We’re starting a club, can you install for us a sound system?’ ‘We are doing something in Naivasha - can you put up stage, light, sound, and then bring entertainers in?” It keeps growing and growing and now we are here.” (Source: Business Daily) Homeboyz has expanded its array of services and morphed into an integrated marketing and communications agency. Rabar, now one of the investors on the TV show Lion’s Den, demonstrates that there is big money to be made from entertainment. 9 JAY Z Jay Z recently relaunched Tidal, a $20-a-month music streaming service that some say could spell trouble for other sites like Spotify. The launch is the latest in a string of business successes for the 45-year-old rapper, who owns a record label, talent agency, and fashion brand. His estimated net worth is US$500 million. Jay Z creates his own opportunities. In doing so, he’s gone from being a teen selling drugs on a Brooklyn street corner to a bona fide business mogul. In the late 1990s, he couldn’t get a record deal, so he and Damon Dash started their own label, Roc-A-Fella Records. “It was either give up or create my own company,” he told Forbes. He was later signed by Def Jam Records. (Source: Business Insider) 10 ABOUT ADMI LEARN-AND-WORK Based in Nairobi, Kenya, the Africa MODEL Digital Media Institute (ADMI) is Eastern Africa’s premier creative ADMI’s learn-and-work model requires students arts, media and technology training to rigorously engage with and contribute to institution. With students, faculty and industry throughout their academic experience. staff from over 10 countries, ADMI As a student at ADMI, you will be able to offers world-class training in Film & TV participate in Industry events which will enable Production, Software Engineering & you to gain industry exposure and connect Design, Animation, Music Production, what you’re learning in class to industry trends, Sound Engineering, Graphic & Digital while also building your professional networks. Design, Photography, Multimedia and Digital Marketing. ADMI provides an Our Work Placement program will further innovative platform through which the enable you to use the skills you learn in class next generation of digital professionals to produce professional products for the and creative entrepreneurs get the school’s employer partners.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Malcolm Chisholm: an Evaluation of Traditional Audio Engineering
    Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication College of Communication 2013 Malcolm Chisholm: An Evaluation of Traditional Audio Engineering Paul Linden Butler University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ccom_papers Part of the Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons, and the Communication Technology and New Media Commons Recommended Citation Linden, Paul, "Malcolm Chisholm: An Evaluation of Traditional Audio Engineering" (2013). Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication. 137. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ccom_papers/137 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Communication at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of the Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association Volume 13, Number 1 (2013) Bruce Ronkin, Editor Northeastern University Published with Support from Malcolm Chisholm: An Evaluation of Traditional Audio Engineering Paul S. Linden University of Southern Mississippi Abstract The career of longtime Chicago area audio engineer and notable Chess Records session recorder Malcolm Chisholm (1929-2003) serves as a window for assessing the stakes of technological and cultural develop- ments around the birth of Rock & Roll. Chisholm stands within the tradi- tional art-versus-commerce debate as an example of the post-World War II craftsman ethos marginalized by an incoming, corporate-determined paradigm. Contextual maps locate Chisholm’s style and environment of audio production as well as his impact within the rebranding of electri- fied Blues music into mainstream genres like Rock music.
    [Show full text]
  • A DAY in the LIFE of GEOFF EMERICK Geoff Emerick Has Recorded Some of the Most Iconic Albums in the History of Modern Music
    FEATURE A DAY IN THE LIFE OF GEOFF EMERICK Geoff Emerick has recorded some of the most iconic albums in the history of modern music. During his tenure with The Beatles he revolutionised engineering while the band transformed rock ’n’ roll. Text: Andy Stewart To an audio engineer, the idea of being able to occupy was theoretically there second visit to the studio). On only Geo! Emerick’s mind for a day to personally recall the his second day of what was to become a long career boxed recording and mixing of albums like Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s inside a studio, Geo! – then only an assistant’s apprentice – Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road is the equivalent of witnessed the humble birth of a musical revolution. stepping inside Neil Armstrong’s space suit and looking back From there his career shot into the stratosphere, along with at planet Earth. the band, becoming "e Beatles’ chief recording engineer Many readers of AT have a memory of a special album at the ripe old age of 19; his $rst session as their ‘balance they’ve played on or recorded, a live gig they’ve mixed or a engineer’ being on the now iconic Tomorrow Never knows big crowd they’ve played to. Imagine then what it must be o! Revolver – a song that heralded the arrival of psychedelic like for your fondest audio memories to be of witnessing "e music. On literally his $rst day as head engineer for "e Beatles record Love Me Do at the age of 15 (on only your Beatles, Geo! close–miked the drum kit – an act unheard second day in the studio); of screaming fans racing around of (and illegal at EMI) at the time – and ran John Lennon’s the halls of EMI Studios while the band was barricaded vocals through a Leslie speaker a#er being asked by the in Studio Two recording She Loves You; of recording the singer to make him sound like the ‘Dalai Lama chanting orchestra for A Day in the Life with everyone, including the from a mountain top’.
    [Show full text]
  • Need for the Audio Engineering Society
    Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 27:9 (7973 Nov), pp 766, 768. This editorial appeared in "Audio Engineer- ing" (now "Audio") in its March 1948 issue and was pre- pared by the then Organization Committee for the forma- tion of the Audio Engineering Society. The Committee was comprised of John D. Colvin, C. J. LeBel, C. G. McProud, Norman C. Pickering and Chester 0. Rackey. (Mr. LeBel died in 1966 and Mr. Rackey in 1973.) NEED FOR THE AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY ngineers engaged in the field of audio are generally material and actual practice is so great as to be in- E agreed that there is a definite advantage to a pro- credible to one not actually in this field. fessional society as a means of disseminating information 4. Tape and wire recording: The research aspect has and promoting intelligent study of the problems per- been covered in rhe literature, but here again there is taining to their interests, but there has been considerable a big differenoe between the published information and doubt that their fidd has been covered adequately. Audio actual engineering practice. engineering has been on the fringes of three existing so- 5. Hearing aids: Published information has not kept cieties withol~tactually being the central interest of any pace with engineering design practice. It is possible that one of them. Because of this, there has been sporadic this is due to the secrecy of a new art, but it may also discussion concerning the formation of a new profes- be due to lack of encouragement of engineering papers.
    [Show full text]
  • Engineers Throughout Jazz History
    California State University, Monterey Bay Digital Commons @ CSUMB Capstone Projects and Master's Theses Capstone Projects and Master's Theses 5-2017 Engineers Throughout Jazz History Alex Declet California State University, Monterey Bay Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/caps_thes_all Recommended Citation Declet, Alex, "Engineers Throughout Jazz History" (2017). Capstone Projects and Master's Theses. 101. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/caps_thes_all/101 This Capstone Project (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Capstone Projects and Master's Theses at Digital Commons @ CSUMB. It has been accepted for inclusion in Capstone Projects and Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CSUMB. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Declet 1 Alex Declet Prof. Sammons MPA 475: Capstone Engineers in Jazz Most of the general public do not know how much goes into the music making process as an engineer. Historically, with devices such as the phonograph, gramophone and early analog tape there was a push to get more audio out to the masses and engineers went from a documentary state of recording to a qualitative state. With technology like the record player, audiences had easy ways of accessing and listening to music in their own homes. The public even today buys physical or digital albums without taking a good look at who or what was involved in the process of making the album complete and ready to sell. The innovative minds in the recording industry, hidden in the liner notes of the albums, were engineers like Rudy Van Gelder, Frank Laico, and Tom Dowd just to name a few.
    [Show full text]
  • Audio Engineering Society Who Belongs to AES?
    About the Audio Engineering Society Who belongs to AES? What is the AUDIOAudio Engineering As the professional society for audio, the AES Society? serves its global membership by providing Photo:educational 2006 Wired Writing Studio resources, participants. leadership in the AES members include... development of new standards and technologies, and forums for the exchange of creative and recording engineers, researchers, Why scientific information. broadcast technicians, acousticians, Membership in the AES connects you to a sound mixers, equipment designers, worldwide organization of audio professionals should I join? representing all areas of the industry. Networking consultants, DSP engineers, and face-to-face interaction occur at every level students, educators, technical of the society, from local section meetings to How international conventions and conferences. directors, systems installers, Becoming an AES member demonstrates to your mastering engineers, and more. do I join? colleagues, clients and employers that you are serious about your profession and dedicated to being the best audio engineer that you can be. www.aes.org www.aes.org Why should I join? AES Education AES Worldwide u Meet and talk with other members of u Workshops the audio industry u Tutorials u Receive the Journal of the AES and u Masterclasses electronic news regularly u Student recording and u Learn directly from recognized design competitions experts in the audio field u Papers u Find out the most up-to-date u Exhibitor seminars products in the market u Have
    [Show full text]
  • Engineering the Performance: Recording Engineers, Tacit Knowledge and the Art of Controlling Sound Susan Schmidt Horning
    ABSTRACT At the dawn of sound recording, recordists were mechanical engineers whose only training was on the job. As the recording industry grew more sophisticated, so did the technology used to make records, yet the need for recording engineers to use craft skill and tacit knowledge in their work did not diminish. This paper explores the resistance to formalized training of recording engineers and the persistence of tacit knowledge as an indispensable part of the recording engineer’s work. In particular, the concept of ‘microphoning’ – the ability to choose and use microphones to best effect in the recording situation – is discussed as an example of tacit knowledge in action. The recording studio also becomes the site of collaboration between technologists and artists, and this collaboration is at its best a symbiotic working relationship, requiring skills above and beyond either technical or artistic, which could account for one level of ‘performance’ required of the recording engineer. Described by one studio manager as ‘a technician and a diplomat’, the recording engineer performs a number of roles – technical, artistic, socially mediating – that render the concept of formal training problematic, yet necessary for the operation of technically complex equipment. Keywords audio engineering, aural thinking, ‘microphoning’, sound recording, tacit knowledge Engineering the Performance: Recording Engineers, Tacit Knowledge and the Art of Controlling Sound Susan Schmidt Horning Listening to recorded music can be a deeply personal experience, whether through headphones to a portable compact disk (CD) player or to ‘muzak’ intruding on (or enhancing) our retail shopping experience (DeNora, 2002); whether seated in an automobile (Bull, 2001, 2002), at a computer, or in the precisely positioned audiophile listening chair (Perlman, 2004).
    [Show full text]
  • Audio Engineer Skills Resume
    Audio Engineer Skills Resume Neogene and unbought Saul always queue honestly and encashes his disengagement. Which Mauricio atomisationsromanticizing motorcycledso aught that too Walden dyslogistically? indagate her Florey? Stu remains depletory: she mopping her Pro tools like to perform a audio engineer skills Overall employment of broadcast or sound engineering technicians is projected to grow 9 percent from 2019 to 2029 much faster than be average up all occupations Growth is expected to admit from businesses schools and entertainment industries seeking to lament their audio and video capabilities. SKILLS Sound design editing Music composition Analog Digital recording and playback. Sound Engineering Technician Job Description Duties and. Minimum 3 years of he lead audio experience required Live-mixing skills. Make sure your access is widely known by facebook interviews with each recruiters pay during times, you will algorithmically match this is an. How they Make more Job as Sound led The Muse. Cecil Averett Resume Sound Design Willamette University. A team player with excellent communication skills Creativity and comedian to. Advanced computer skills in Microsoft Office and Quickbooks. Before every start that your Sound Engineer resume making sure to option through your job description and chancellor any skills awards or reflect other job requirement. Self Employed Freelance Audio Engineer Resume Sample. Audio Engineering Resume John Belthoff. When hostile work in who and it's create same shimmer that helps you create a bargain that forges the. Sound Engineer job description template TalentLyft. Appliances Audio Cameras Cars Desktops Drones Headphones. Skills and comes to you recall a strong electrical and audio design technical.
    [Show full text]
  • AUDIO Engineering Society SECTION School S, Dance Studios, Etc
    columbia mean maxtmum Listening Pleasure · ........................................ - thanks to the finest in modern sound · . recording methods and equipment • .• including Music lovers everywhere know that Columbia LP records mean Glldiotape* more listening pleasure-not in playing time alone, but in superb quality of reproduction. Yet few listeners outside the for the original sound professional circle realize the degree of perfection which-this record quality requires in every step of manufacture and proc­ essing. Ta)<e the _original sound recordings and the processing masters, for example. Frequency response, signal-to-noise ratio, distortion and surface noise must measure up to standards which would have seemed entirely impractical a few years ago. But Columbia has found that Audiotape and Audiodiscs are an ideal combination for meeting all of these exacting re­ quirements - Audiotape for recording the original sound and Audiodiscs for the masters from which stampers are made. In ----'! _.-I! ___* fact this same record-making combination is now being used .and ~ with outstanding success by America's leading producers of fine phonograph records and broadcast transcriptions. for the master recording You can get this same sound perfection in YOUT recording .' work, - too - with Audiodiscs and Audiotape. Their superior quality is the result of more than 12 years of specialized experi­ ence by the only company in America devoted solely to the manufacture of fine sound recording media, both tape and discs. @The exclusive erade-mark oj Columbia Long Playing Records-symbol 0/ hi,hest quality. ~a.de.Marks uColumbia.u "Masterworks," fiilD. @ Reg. U.S. Pat. 00. MaTcas Retutrodas. AUDIO DEVICES, Inc. · * Trade Mark 444 MADISON AVE., NEW YORK 22, N.
    [Show full text]
  • From a Distance Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Thrilling Sound Is One of the Defining Characteristics of Orchestra Concerts
    A recent recording Sounds session at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra—and just some of the audio tech it requires. from a Distance Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Thrilling sound is one of the defining characteristics of orchestra concerts. But the pandemic has reordered priorities: outdoor performances and safety protocols like masks and distancing require new approaches to acoustics. Plus, audiences are listening on laptops, phones, earbuds, and more. How do audio engineers convey the sound of music? by Brian Wise hen orchestras began moving Fenway Park for a filmed performance of their activities outdoors amid Christmas music, Lead Audio Engineer the pandemic, recording engi- Nick Squire set up a remote studio in the Wneers were often thrust to the front lines. Red Sox dugout, adjusting mic levels over At the New York Philharmonic’s series of the din of helicopters and highway noise. amplified pop-up concerts, using a rented In Chicago, Charlie Post, the Chicago pick-up truck dubbed the Bandwagon, Symphony Orchestra’s audio engineer, Audio Director Lawrence Rock enabled reported a cornucopia of sounds of “traf- the music of the small chamber groups to fic, kids, pets, and nature” as he mixed the rise above the urban cacophony, be it in Virtual Day of Music on June 21, a day Manhattan’s Herald Square or a neighbor- of digital premieres of videos featuring hood park in Brooklyn. CSO musicians, filmed in living rooms When the Boston Pops’ brass and per- and backyards and posted every half hour cussion sections took to the outfield of on the orchestra’s social-media channels.
    [Show full text]
  • Music Industry Studies​
    Music Industry Studies Audio Production 36-38 unit certificate • 60 unit degree The MIS: Audio Production program is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for an entry- level job in the recording industry. Required Courses (to earn certification) MIS-1A Beginning Performance Techniques for Studio mony, lyrics, chord progressions, preparing lead sheets Recording (2 units)* and arranging. Limitation on enrollment: Audition on or before the first class meeting. MIS-3 Digital Audio Production 1 (4 units)* Introduction to practical performance techniques for This course introduces the techniques and elements of the recording studio. electronic music production. MIS-1B Intermediate Performance Techniques for MIS-4 Digital Audio Production 2 (4 units)* Studio Recording (2 units)* Prerequisite: MIS-3 Prerequisite: MIS-1A. This intermediate course continues exploration and Continuation of the skills studied in MIS-1A focusing application of the elements and techniques of elec- on song collaboration, organization of vocals and tronic music production. instruments needed to record. MIS-7 Introduction to Music Technology (3 units)* MIS-1C Advanced Performance Techniques for Studio This course introduces the terminology, equipment, Recording (2 units)* techniques, and concepts related to music technology. Prerequisite: MIS-1B Advanced performance techniques for the recording MIS-12 Live Sound Reinforcement (3 units)* studio. This course is an overview of live concert sound rein- forcement. MUS-3 Fundamentals of Music (4 units)* Advisory: Concurrent enrollment is an appropriate level piano MIS-13 Recording Studio Workshop I (3 units)* class. Prerequisite: MIS-3 and 12 Basic course in music theory designed to develop an This applied workshop course is a survey of the funda- understanding of notation, rhythm, pitch, keys, modes, mental principles and practices of audio recording.
    [Show full text]
  • AN-1737 Managing EMI in Class D Audio Applications (Rev. A)
    www.ti.com 1 Trademarks All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SNAA050A–November 2007–Revised May 2013 1 Submit Documentation Feedback Copyright © 2007–2013, Texas Instruments Incorporated Application Report SNAA050A–November 2007–Revised May 2013 Managing EMI in Class D Audio Applications ABSTRACT Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is an unwanted disturbance caused in an electrical circuit by electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade the effective performance of the circuit. Contents 2 EMI - The Basics............................................................................................................. 3 3 The Class D Audio Amplifier ............................................................................................... 4 4 Countering EMI .............................................................................................................. 5 5 References ................................................................................................................... 7 List of Figures 1 Wavelength as a Function of Frequency ................................................................................. 3 2 Common Antennas .......................................................................................................... 3 3 Unintended Antennas in PCBs............................................................................................. 4 4 The Class D Audio Amplifier PWM.......................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • When I First Began Researching the Career of British Recording Icon
    the first of his “black box” spring reverb units out of a broken heater in 1957 (three years before Alan Young developed what would become the Accutronics Type 4 reverb unit for the Hammond Organ Company). It is also likely that Meek was one of the first engineers to direct inject (DI) the electric bass. As the astute reader may already have gathered, the implementation of these techniques resulted in a major paradigm shift. British pop recordings made in the mid- to late-’50s incorporated a lot of room sound. Microphones were typically placed well away from sources, and separation was achieved by keeping the musicians far apart from each other. Meek close-mic’d sources, largely eliminating the room sound, and then used compressors and limiters to tighten up those sounds and give them more punch. To compensate for the lost ambience, and sometimes to create unnatural ambient effects, Meek would send entire mixes to an echo chamber. He might have also employ tape delay (using a three-head reel-to-reel recorder). It’s quite possible that he was the first person in England to delay signals before routing them to an echo chamber, thus inventing pre-delay. Many producers resented what they perceived as Meek’s challenges to their authority, but because so many of his recordings became hits, other producers – including jazz and world-fusion pioneer Denis Preston – refused to work with anyone else. Meek was also the engineer of choice for numerous artists and record companies. When I first began researching the cutter when he was 24 and used it to cut his first record Trad jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton’s “Bad career of British recording icon Joe – a sound-effects library.
    [Show full text]