Audio Engineering

I was blessed to be awarded the opportunity while interning at Fantasy Studios to assist legendary Bay Area engineer/producer John Cuniberti (the mind behind Re-Amp and lots of awesome albums), and recorded his project of an entirely spoken-word album version of the cult-classic prog-rock opera, The Shaming Of The True, by the late Kevin Gilbert.

We used a simple VO setup: classic U87, run through John’s favorite Focusrite Red 3 compressor and then into Pro Tools. The vocal talent, Jamie DeWolf (who is also a performer, writer and director), was phenomenal! So dynamic. Besides this spoken recording, directing and performing his material, he also hosts the acclaimed Oakland variety show Tourettes Without Regrets.

A powerful video of one of Jamie’s performances:
Youtube: Jamie DeWolf Slam Poetry Performance

Another invaluable experience while at Fantasy (on my last day, no less) was being called in to track vocals with San Francisco-based outfit Drop Apollo. HUGE thanks to Adam Muñoz and Jeffrey Wood for the opportunity. Drop Apollo were a blast to work with! Cool sound, great talent, and still somehow all really down-to-earth guys. Please go check them out!

“The Holdup” on iTunes

By the time I joined the session, they’d already laid most of the instrumentation. We tracked vocals, backup vocals, and joked together for hours…to my wife’s dismay, practically all night.  Good times!

His name is Hando Nahkur, and he’s easily one of the most talented pianists I’ve ever met. Couldn’t be a nicer guy to work with too.

Our projects included several tracks on this album, mostly small EQ/mastering enhancements, as well as more intense editing, mixing, effecting and mastering on a Christmas album and some other recordings. Some of the tracks we have worked on were recorded at SMU’s famed Caruth Hall where many artists have performed/recorded over the years as students, faculty and even professional acts.

Check out the “Waltzing Mephisto – By the Danube” here:
http://handonahkur.com/shop/

So…Let’s talk about gospel bluegrass.  Over the years I’ve mixed these guys (my father is the banjo player) countless times for their live performances. They have a classic sound and are in high demand, performing around the North Texas gospel circuit.

For this project, we recorded in a day, knocking out 14 songs in something like 8 hours. The following couple of weeks I took the songs home, edited them down, mixed and mastered for a few hours a day and what do you know!? Boom.  My first fully engineered and produced album credit, completed from start to finish.

More info on the album and all their other escapades at www.crosstimbersband.com

Space Rock group from Dallas, Tx, Fantasma is at once unique and intriguing. I couldn’t wait to get their eclectic mix of ballistic drums, big guitars and heavy synths tracked and recorded.

For a modern rock sound, we recorded each instrument separately starting with drums, then bass and guitars, with vocals last. Over the course of several weeks we got the tracking days in, around 20-30 hours, with all kinds of experimentation from church bell harmonies to group chorus vocals with everyone in the room taking part at once.

It was a blast! Can’t wait to hear what they end up with once it’s mixed and mastered.

In the meantime, you can find their previous album available on ReverbNation here: Fantasma Songs.