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ALAN PARSONS AT RAX TRAX
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Alan Parsons' Master Class Training Session
I
t's not often that musicians and recording engineers get to learn from a master, but uber producer/engineer Alan
Parsons (Dark Side Of The Moon, Abbey
Road) and recording artist (Eye In The Sky,
I Robot), will bring his talents to RAX
TRAX STUDIOS in Chicago on May 31st
for his 1 day-Master Class Recording
Training Session.
The logical spin-off from Parsons' Art
And Science Of Sound Book and DVD,
Parsons and his business partner Julian
50 illinoisentertainer.com june 2015
Colbek created MCTS after considering
ways to compliment their new project. "We
recognized that we needed a way to promote it. I'd done similar events as well
before the book had come out, I'd lectured
at colleges, universities and recording
schools as well," Parsons' told IE." It
seemed like a good idea – to combine a
book and DVDs with Master Classes. I've
always been comfortable doing these
events. People really enjoy it."
MCTS will offer students a chance to
learn proper mixing technique from the
guy who did it for Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side
Of The Moon and Al Stewart‘s Year Of The
Cat. "Some of the attendees are open
mouthed at what goes on. They tend to be
amazed at the mysterious technical stuff,
but also at the human side of it, dealing
with the artist, dealing with performance,
getting it recorded and getting the right
sound balance."
Featured recording artist at Rax Trax
for this event is multi-instrumentalist (lap
steel, dobro, mountain and hammer dulcimers, mandolin, banjo and mandocello)
and songwriter Chris Seibold, who juggles his guitar-playing duties as house guitarist with the iconic radio variety show A
Prairie Home Companion with his all-star
band, Psycles, that features an acclaimed
group of Windy City session players
who'll be accompanying him on the
recording.
Like the writers behind IE's Studiophile
column, Parsons is an evangelist for making records in a professional recording
environment. Rax Trax is the epitome of
that vibe (48 channel SSL 4000G, Pro Tools
HDX system, 32 analog inputs and 40 outputs). A pro studio environment is the last
destination in successful music making
that can"t be captured in laptop recording
software. "We try to encourage that in the
book. There is just an enormous benefit to
recording as a group in a studio. Some
people have forgotten you can record that
way, instead of piecemeal. It"s almost
expected that you record with a drum
loop, a bass and a vocal. I've tried to resist
doing it that way. I prefer recording the old
school way." That said, Alan of course uses
modern equipment – ProTools, plug-ins,
automation, cut and paste etc. "One of the
great bene