you could — and bask in its amazingness . The song was “ Let the Good Times Roll ” from Q ’ s Jook Joint produced by Quincy Jones . That was Al Schmitt using almost all omnidirectional mics , along with a few bidirectional ribbon mics ! Thanks Al !
Al Schmitt
energetic as any of his piers and loved his life , his work , and his wife Lisa and the family .
At seven years old , Al began taking the train from New Jersey into downtown New York City to spend the weekend with his uncle Harry ’ s who owned Harry Smith Studios . Harry ’ s studio was one of the best in New York , so Al grew up seeing all of the Jazz greats record the best music of the day . Les Paul was his uncle ’ s best friend — and Al ’ s Godfather . Al started strong and stayed at the top of his game right to the day we lost him . His life story is incredible and his impact on recorded music was profound .
Check out his credits . They ’ re unbelievable . And , to be inspired by his life , check out ,
Al Schmitt on the Record : The Man Behind the Music . Al won 21 Grammy Awards , two Latin Grammys , and a Trustees Grammy for Lifetime Achievement .
Here ’ s one of the many things about Al that blew me away .
Al came up through the earliest days of recording . At that time , the entire musical ensemble was recorded live and mixed straight to a single mono tape recorder or record . Engineers had to get really great at learning a musical arrangement and at feeling a musical flow . Al kept that approach through each technological development , all the way from the mono recorder to his latest work with hundreds of tracks .
He always said he used very little compression , if any . That ’ s because his mix faders controlled the level going to tape — and later to the DAW . He manually rode the mix levels so the tape captured the level he was setting during the tracking session . There are so many advantages to working that way , but there are a lot of tight turns and icy roads if you don ’ t have benchmark instincts and golden ears .
In the foreword to Al ’ s book , Al Schmitt on the Record , Paul McCartney said that Al was the only engineer he ’ d ever worked with that , when he went from the studio to the control room to hear a take , Paul heard a finished mix !
Al was also known as the being the best at recording large orchestras with strings , brass , and percussion . There was something he did in those recordings that blew me away . I discovered this when I was interviewing Al for a Recording Academy event in Seattle a number of years ago , but Al used almost all omnidirectional mics on those large groups ! There was one recording of a big band that I always thought was so good that you wanted to just walk into the middle of it — and it felt like
HERE ’ S WHAT I LEARNED FROM CHUCK AINLAY Chuck lives in Nashville and is known as a leader in cutting-edge technology , engineering the first all-digital recording released out of Nashville . His pioneering efforts in 5.1 mixing have been recognized by his peers , culminating in a Grammy for Best Surround Sound Album for the twentieth anniversary release of Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits . He has recorded boundless hits in the Country , Rock , and Pop markets .
Check out Chuck ’ s credits . They ’ re unbelievable .
Chuck is the master of many microphones . Some of his colleagues are very minimalists , choosing to use as few mics as possible . They might use three mics on the kit whereas Chuck uses four mics on the snare drum ! And , his drum sounds are spectacular ! But everything is quite controlled when Chuck uses four mics on the snare , two mics on every tom , a stereo overhead and maybe also a mono overhead , a hi-hat mic , two or three sets of room mics , and
Chuck Ainlay