We lost all three of these engineering icons within the last year and a half . In my heaven , they ’ re all back together now , laughing it up like old times . ( L – R Ed Cherney , Al Schmitt , Bruce Swedien ).
Johnny , happy birthday ! Look , I gotta go . I ' m in Tuscany having dinner with Paul McCartney ." Who else could say that ?! And who else would pick up the phone if they were having dinner with Paul McCartney ?! Only Al . Anyone who knew Al has similar only-Al stories . We ' re all heartbroken today . Going to miss you so much Al .
PART TWO : THE MASTER OF MICROPHONES , MIXING , AND MUSIC Al Schmitt started recording when recording consoles just had a few giant Bakelite knobs , there weren ’ t equalizers or compressors , and you had to learn very quickly how to achieve a great sound using mic choice , mic placement , and acoustics . It was a dramatically different
When Al started recording , mixing consoles were nothing like they are today .