includes recordings of Earth , Wind & Fire , Linda Ronstadt , Little Feat , Lyle Lovett , Aaron Neville , Mary Chapin Carpenter , Natasha Bedingfield , Herbie Hancock , Arlo Guthrie , Billy Joel , the Dixie Chicks , and many more .
George has won four Grammys ( including the Grammy for Technical Achievement in 1998 ), the first Grammy awarded for Best Immersive Audio Album ( in 2022 ), and numerous Mix Magazine TEC Awards .
Check out George ’ s credits . They , too , are incredible !
I ’ ve learned a lot from Mr . Massenburg . Herein , I ’ d like to highlight George ’ s intense passion to get it right , down to the smallest detail . George , not one to hold back his opinion in the least , can definitely turn your head if you aren ’ t used to that approach . He turned mine for minute . However , I quickly came around . I realized that I — a guy who , at the start of my recording career at a studio in the Seattle area , couldn ’ t imagine even talking to George Massenburg or any of the METAlliance or any of the other giants I ’ ve gotten to work with at this level — had been given the honor and privilege to see what makes this passionate genius tick . I ’ ve been handed the great advantage in experiencing the reason that George Massenburg is one of our industry ’ s most prized talents . I ’ ve gotten to pick his brain about recording and mixing drums , plus his take on most everything that surrounds recording and mixing drums .
recognize his uncompromising approach and intense attention to every single detail .
Yes , I ’ ve learned a lot from George . I ’ ve learned the importance of being uncompromising , of never settling for less than the best in what you do , and in standing up to anyone and everyone who wants you to settle for less than perfection . I ’ ve also learned that , although George is a genius at design and recording fantastic music , he cares much more about the emotional impact of the music he works on than technical perfection . Good lessons . Thanks George !
HERE ’ S WHAT I LEARNED FROM NIKO BOLAS Niko Bolas is an award-winning music producer and recording engineer with credits that include work with such artists as Neil Young , Boz Scaggs , Sheryl Crow , Toto , KISS , Billy Joel , LeAnn Rimes , The Mavericks , Prince , Los Lobos , Jewel , Zedd , OneRepublic , Johnny Cash , Melissa Etheridge , Herb Alpert , Stan Getz , and The Verbs .
Biographer Steve Kurutz , describes Niko this way : “ The L . A ./ New York native goes against the main tenet of Tinseltown in that he eschews publicity and prefers to be judged solely by his work . That work includes Neil Young ’ s exceptional Freedom and This Note ’ s for You , Billy Joel ’ s River of Dreams , as well as Warren
Zevon ’ s Sentimental Hygiene — a record that inspired the R . E . M ./ Zevon collaboration Hindu Love Gods , which Bolas also produced .”
Niko is a protégé of Al Schmitt . Actually , Niko is a protégé of Val Garay who was a protégé of Al Schmitt , so when Niko had a chance to show his drum recording sensibilities in a session that Al was engineering , Al instantly saw greatness in him .
Niko is an extremely no-BS guy . He calls it like he sees it . Enough said . He ’ s also one of the kindest and most thoughtful people you ’ ll meet . When things get tough , its Niko who ’ ll give you a call and make sure you ’ re still on track .
I ’ ve been online with Niko several times , talking about his chapter and a question will come up about a recording or an artist and he ’ ll stop right there and call the rock star to find out the answer ! That ’ s Niko . He gets right down to it .
What did I learn from Niko ? I learned that simplicity is beauty . I learned that you don ’ t need to approach a recording task in the way that you heard someone else did . I learned that you can use three Shure SM57s on a drum set and get a world-class drum sound !
In our interview sessions for the book , there were non-stop sidebars about anything that our intended topic triggered . It was amazing fun ! I still have all of those sidebars on file just waiting for the perfect place in another book in this series .
Just look at any of George ’ s designs , whether the Atmos room at Blackbird Academy ( Studio C ), The Complex in Los Angeles , his Massenburg Design Works outboard gear , his elegant and precise compression and EQ plugins , and especially his benchmark work with Little Feat , Lind Ronstadt , Earth , Wind & Fire , and on and on . In all of his work , you ’ ll quickly