THE GEEKS (Producers/Engineers/Post-production)

 

Having worked now on several music and video projects, I now understand it is whom you don’t see and hear that makes the difference between a good recording and a great recording. There were several very special folks who worked behind the scenes on this project.

 

Paul Scholten  -  Pre-production/Leader/Production.  I worked with Paul for a few months via SKYPE before tracking to tweak song arrangements, identify important elements of each song, and decide upon instrumentation.  Paul was able to identify, contact and secure the PERFECT musical ensemble for this project.  He also charted each song for each of the musicians.  Finally, Paul served as the “band leader” during tracking, handing everything from organizing the players, to in-song decisions, to all the administrative tasks associated with the studio.  On County Q’s website, Paul is identified as Guru.  I think that sums up his role on this project.

 

Danny Ellis (Image 1)– Vocal Production/Post-production.  We recorded all the vocals at Danny’s studio outside of Asheville, NC.  In addition to the actual recording of all those vocal tracks, Danny did most of the arrangements.  But he was also his own engineer.  We spent six days recording and four days mixing the vocals for this record with Danny sitting tirelessly at the DAW.

 

Nick “Ace” Lutz (Image 2)at the board during tracking at County Q.
Nick “Ace” Lutz – Engineer (tracking/mixing).  Ace is…well, an Ace!  While he is only 25 years old, he is a very seasoned engineer with multiple album credits.  During tracking, he was consistently out in front of the band, anticipating every need, patch, and request.  He made certain that everything worked seamlessly while squeezing every ounce of aural excellence from each of the musicians on each of the songs during the two days of tracking.  As we worked through those two days, Ace became progressively jazzed about the project.  Having had several friends from his past who suffered with addiction, he was excited to work on this project.  When we finished the two days of tracking and before I left, Ace pulled me aside and said that he really wanted to mix this album.  I talked with Paul extensively about this decision—I was a little bit anxious about putting into the hands of a 25 year old the mixing of this album.  I am really, really glad that I did.  There is no one else who could have done what Ace did for this album.  His mix is honest, sincere, with minimal adornment.  He found the perfect balance for each song.

 

Ace and I spent 10 days together mixing this album.  The first day was a disaster.  We spent most of the day trying to tame the beast that Crawling was before mixing.  The tunings were out and the vocal timings were off.  When he finally bounced the rough copy and I listened to it, I was crestfallen.  It sounded awful.  I despaired and was struggling with a bleak vision for the project that put me in a very foul mood (Thank God, Mason came to Nashville to hold my hand through this process. I was in a deep funk after that first day).  When I came back the second day, Ace and I discussed some base-line tasks that needed to be completed for the record to work (i.e., tuning and timing) and we got busy working on it.  As these issues resolved, the songs began to come more and more into focus.  Ace has such a great ear and was able to add some minimal effects to sweeten the sound while remaining true to the spirit of the songs.  None of the songs are over-produced, instead Ace was able to “Goldilocks” them.

 

During the ten days of sitting together at the DAW in The Church at County Q, Ace and I shared about our lives with each other.  We found that we worked very well together and by the end of the mixing process I had made a lifelong friend with Ace.  This record and my life are much richer because of him.

 

When Paul and I were discussing my decision of whether or not I was going to use Ace for the mixing process he said:  “If you use Ace you’ll be able to say one day ‘Ace Lutz mixed my album,’ and that is going to mean something.”  That cinched it for me and, after working with him; I see that Paul was absolutely right.  I have no doubt that Ace is going to end up being one of the best engineers in the business.

 

In addition to being an excellent engineer, Ace is also a great guitarist/songwriter.  He shared some of his recordings with me when we were waiting for songs to bounce and they were excellent.  I was a little envious of his playing and writing skills.  Check out this song for which Ace wrote and played the guitar part.  The lyrics, melody and vocals are by Rio, another producer/engineer at County Q.  The song:   So You Say.

 

Adam “Pink” Fox (Image 3) – Mastering.  Adam has been my friend since I moved to Sarasota in 2004.  One of his projects for graduation from the International Academy of Art & Design in Tampa (B.S. in Sound Engineering) was the recording of an acoustic version of my song Martha in 2007.  Adam is now a wizard of live sound at ESI Audio where he sets up and runs Pas and boards for large festival concerts.  We have worked together of several projects and I have always trusted Adam and his great ears.  So when it came time for a new set of ears to master this project, Adam was my first choice.  It took us several passes to get dialed in on the compression but he ended up doing a very nice job of sweetening these tracks without going over the top.  The very cool thing that Adam did was to re-master Second Best from an MP3.  It sounds significantly better than it did on Grace and Grit in 2008 (Second Best is the only song from that album that is also on this one in its original form).  That was a feat of engineering.  Thanks, Pink!