February Finds
Music, musings, & more...
Thank you for letting me open about about the, sometimes conflicting, relationship between joy and music. I think it’s important to acknowledge these changes (mostly as a reminder to myself) of it’s cyclical nature…
This note serves as just that, a reminder of different finds this month that brought me a moment of joy. Hopefully, something in here does the same for you:
Songs of the Month:
Mole in the Ground - John Francis Flynn |||| There is a repressed anxiety in this record that is so captivating. Throughout the entire album, Look Over the Wall, See the Sky, the vocal tones have a richness and clarity to them that almost distract you from the rest of the production. Almost being the key word, because the sound design on this album is incredible; it features some really haunting textures that are chaotic and reserved at the same time. It’s also definitely not the case on this song, where the chant-like delivery is near buried underneath the instrumentation (kind of like a mole in the ground).
God is Keeping Me - Parchman Prison Prayer |||| I came across this album simply because I was so drawn to the photo on the album’s cover. The album, Another Mississippi Sunday Morning, was recorded in the Mississippi State Penitentiary by producer Ian Brennan and features twelve inmates ranging in age and serving sentences. The prison has a notorious history, and an interesting legacy in music, and all of this comes through in the recordings. Made with minimal gear (one article mentioned an interface, two shotgun mics, and only a handful of dynamic mics for when the band was in) and careful mastering (Michael Romanowski), the Parchman Chapel becomes part of the production itself. Most notably in God is Keeping Me (L. Stevenson, C. Jackson), where the natural panning and dynamic changes in the voices are a symbolic of how we move, change, and grow over time. That it is possible to move on and not be defined by our past, and that our conditions do not always have an impact on our (creative) potential.
muffled screams - Ambrose Akinmusire |||| Sonically, Ambrose Akinmusire’s latest album honey from a winter stone is a case study for space within a modern production. Each instrument is tangible and just within grasp, though they are trying to blow beyond the speakers. Grounding them is the combo of synth bass (chiquitamagic) & bass drum (Justin Brown) which creates a menacingly heavy 808. The vocals (Kokayi) sit perfectly within the band, poking out and hiding behind the neighboring sounds in a way that nicely complements the punchlines. The engineers (Jason Orris [recording], Adam Muñoz [mixing], and Dave Darlington [mastering]) were able to preserve & enhance the depth of sound field while still allowing each instrument to punch and grab attention with an elegant combination of patient mic placement, compression, and eq. I am saving this album as a reference for modern jazz/acoustic based music.
Southern Nights - Sullivan Fortner |||| In this Allen Toussaint cover, the sounds dance to the New Orleans groove. The production feels so open & free. With seemingly minimal mic technique, the playful air around the drums (Marcus Gilmore), the present though slightly distant bass (Peter Washington), and the brief moments of distortion in the piano (Sullivan Fortner) all combine to make the recording feel like home (a feeling amplified by knowing that Fortner is from New Orleans, playing a cover written by another NO musical legend) and is a great reminder of what makes a recording “good”. (I usually try to avoid Spotify, but this album isn’t on Bandcamp and seems like I can only get Bandcamp & Spotify to embed nicely here. Let me know if you know how to fix this.)
Blood on the Boulders - Squid |||| I’ve never listened to Squid before, but I think I found their new album, Cowards, because Heba Kadry mastered it and I’m a fan of her work. When listening, I feel like I’m listening to this song through a glass veil, and I don’t mean that negatively - it’s not harsh or bright by any means (is that tape hiss I hear?). I mean it because there’s a fragility in the sounds and I’m bracing for everything in front of me to shatter. I think it’s because of the dimensions created through volume and the preservation of dynamics (Marta Salogni & Grace Banks [recording] John McEntire [mixing] Heba Kadry [mastering]). Nothing, aside from the opening guitar riff (that tone!) stand firmly in the mix, but yet everything still has so much weight (that must be tape hiss I’m hearing). This strange paradox of heavy yet fragile carries with it some really interesting questions.
Discoveries & Musings
What are the biases we carry when we label things “good” & “true”? Are they based off of some version of “truth”? Can our biases be tricked?
This fascinating essay by Phil Hebblethwaite explains the (infamous) legacy of pianist Joyce Hatto and her husband, William Barrington-Coupe in a Catch Me If You Can style story that highlights the great lengths and consequences we can go through for the ones we love.
Craft & the infinite pursuit
One of the biggest challenges to teaching, and probably most frustrating, is establishing a sense of deep care into the students. An embodiment of care within the craft is something I’ll go lengths to establish in the studio, and it is a trait I’d really like to pass down to students. I recognize that not all see audio engineering this way, but I think that it is part of the legacy. It’s also a cycle of the “infinite practice.”
To me, the idea of “better” is a lifelong pursuit. There is no definable goal, so long as there is growth. Every mix, a practice, and every session, a test, all with outcomes hopefully growing from the last.
This BTS video of Rainer Maillard and Sidney Claire Meyer of Emil Berliner Studios remastering Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker through Anton Bruckner’s symphonies epitomizes pinnacle craft.
Devotion, Beliefs, and Superstitions
What does it mean to be devoted? What happens when you become fully committed in the pursuit of something greater than yourself?
In To A God Unknown, John Steinbeck reveals potential answers through the trying times of Joseph Wayne.
John John Florence, family, branding, & how the surf industry and music industry are alike
JJF - one of my favorite surfers to watch - brings an interesting dynamic to the surf industry as he both challenges the norm while setting its standard. The multi-time world champ started a brand (Florence Marine X) where it’s primary riders are himself and his brothers (Ivan and Nathan). Though a joint venture with Bob Hurley (of Hurley brand corporate stature) the branding is still very family oriented.
Lately, surfers are gravitating more and more to social media, YouTube in particular, for their brand building due to changing financial/corporate structures and funding within their industry (sound familiar fellow engineers, musicians?)
JJF is not above it, and in fact he and Nathan both have ridiculously strong YouTubes, both with slightly different feels. All of, or most, of John’s videos (see the one below) are shot incredibly cinematically on RED cameras, whereas Nathan’s feel a little more like high-level DIY vlogging with more raw editing and POV camera shots.
I’m far… far… far from a marketing expert, but I do find personal branding/marketing interesting as it relates to my own current endeavor with the studio. I’ve also just been thinking of this, yet additional, overlap between one of my hobbies (surfing) and profession (music). If you’re curious about how they’re already related, wait until I show you some clips of Mikey February.
‘til the wheels fall off,
Jason
P.S. The first Sip & Spin is happening March 23rd! We’ll be listening to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and drinking some delicious tea/coffee. DM/Email if you’d like to attend!
