Dream Weekend at Avatar: Lessons Learned At METAlliance
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN: Dream weekend. I spent February 19th and 20th with the METAlliance at the historic Avatar Studios in New York City.
Who is this Alliance, you ask? Al Schmitt, Phil Ramone, Chuck Ainlay, Ed Cherney, George Massenburg, Frank Filipetti, and Elliot Scheiner — the absolute elite top recording and mix engineers in the music business, committed to providing real-world product reviews and endorsements and sharing their years of experience with up-and-comers through events like the one I attended.
METAlliance at Avatar: Elliot Scheiner leading a recording session. Photo by Guillaume Chadalliac.
If you don’t recognize some of these names, go to allmusic.com and look them up to identify all the records you grew up with that these guys recorded and mixed. It’s very humbling.
We spent the weekend tracking two artists – the delightful Kat Edmonson and the rocking Lazer Cake and attended a mix class with George and Frank “In the Box” and Chuck Ainlay on a J-series SSL.
I own and operate Outloud Audio, a three-room music and post facility in New York City. Even with my 10+ years in the business, I leaped at the chance to spend some time with guys who defined the sound of great music and see if I could tap into their magic.
I quickly learned why these engineers are the tops. Their work is absolutely amazing and each one displayed an enthusiasm for our business that brought me right back to the first time I heard a guitar and wanted to be a part of the world of music.
While much of what I learned I want to keep in my personal arsenal, here are some nuggets from the seminars.
First, some of these guys work in the box, and some work on analog boards. Most work with Pro Tools, some with Nuendo. All of their work is world class. So I learned if I can’t make it sound good, it’s the driver, not the car.
Second, check phase! Every one of them checked and rechecked phase on their mics and in some cases on the wiring throughout the systems – identifying incorrect wiring at any point in the chain!
METAlliance at Avatar: The group in session with Phil Ramone. Photo by Guillaume Chadalliac.
Third, every one of them eschewed pitch correction and timing correction in the face of what was a compelling performance. Focus on how it sounds, not how it lines up on a grid.
Chuck Ainlay provided terrific perspective to help get us away from looking at the computer. He noted that we are all visually trained and yet our eyes are fooled by 30fps; they convince us that we are seeing motion, whereas it takes 44,100 samples per second to convince our ears of a natural sound. And, in some cases, even that fails.
So turn off your monitor, don’t take visual cues, and listen to the mixes. Our ears are our most sensitive instruments.
In addition to these observations, I also met and made music with people I greatly admire. All in all, if you have the money and the time, I urge you to run to one of the METAlliance events.
With so many of the big studios closing in recent years, access to engineers like these is becoming scarcer. This is the closest you can get to a mentor opportunity inside of a weekend, and if you are serious about your music, this opportunity is a must.
Mark Kondracki is a composer, recording and audio post engineer. He owns and operates Outloud Audio, a studio that provides original music, sound design, mixing for TV, film records and radio, VO and ADR, and audio book recording. Visit http://www.outloudaudio.com to get in touch!
The METAlliance 7 with Kat Edmonson and Lazer Cake's Robby Sinclair. Photo by Guillaume Chadalliac.