In preparation for Thursday’s “Making Made in Aurora” open house at Backthird Audio, I asked Kyle to give us his perspective on recording and mixing the second Made in Aurora volume.
There’s a whole “man behind the curtain” perspective that comes with being the recording engineer. I get a unique point of view. I get to see the project take shape from start to finish, and watch each song grow from a basic idea to the product that goes off to the record plant.
My favorite part – and the biggest challenge – is the task of understanding the vision that a band or artist has of the song they are recording, then to help make that vision reality in the form of a complete record. In my mind, instruments and performers become colors on a paint brush, and my job is to blend those colors into a masterpiece that people will want to listen to over and over. Recording the songs for Made In Aurora Vol 2: City of Lights was a special treat: Great musicians, great songs, and great performances. Once those pieces are in place, my job gets easier – and a lot more fun.
Several groups contribute songs to each Made in Aurora project. With many musicians on this album returning for a second time, there was a lot more collaboration than on Volume 1. Everyone had become friends and fans of each other’s music. I’m pretty sure Greg Boerner managed to sneak in and play or sing something on almost every song, whether that meant standing in the corner shaking some jingle bells on HOSS’s “Snow Days” or getting in on the choir for “We Three Kings.” And Greg wasn’t the only one making his way onto several songs. Lisa Gloria peppered her ukulele into several songs, Kevin Trudo took lead vocals on a few numbers and played mando on a couple more… and there are many other examples I could tell you about, but you’ll just have to read the liner notes for that.
One of the most memorable moments for me was the recording of “Merry Christmas Baby” with Mary Lou O’Brien on lead vocals. Both her vocal and all of the instruments were tracked live in a single take. The recording was just a magical intersection where the song, mood and performance all met with perfect harmony. It was definitely a moment that everyone in the room said, “Yeah, man – that was special.”
My job starts with choosing the right microphones to capture the best sounds, listening to the player’s performance, and then finding any holes in the production that need to be filled with additional instruments or voices. The latter is also a role shared by Benjie as producer – and by anyone else that happens to be hanging out in the control room at the time!
Once all the recording was finished, it was time for me to get down to the dirty work of mixing all 16 of the songs recorded. At this point I always feel like I’ve been given a bunch of paint on a canvas and the picture is recognizable – but it lacks definition. It’s my turn to get out that fine-tuned paint brush and do all the touch-up work to bring the recording to life.
Mixing some songs is pretty straightforward – there doesn’t have to be a lot done beyond appropriate EQ, compression, slapping some reverb on the vocals and guitars and then getting all the volume levels right. But there are other mixes where you think, “This song needs something interesting to happen.” The rendition of We Three Kings by Dick Smith was that kind of mix for me. While I was listening, I suddenly had the picture in my mind of a grainy black-and-white film where there was no verbal dialog, just a musical back drop. I wanted to show that picture to the listener by starting the song with a “lo-fi” feel using EQ effects and automation, then slowly bringing in the higher quality sound once the signature melody of the song began. It’s these little things in production and mixing that make the difference.
In the end, I really enjoyed the community vibe of this project. I’ve made a lot of new and closer friends through these albums, and that’s ultimately the kind of feeling we want in our local music community. With any luck this will continue to grow across multiple genres and really prove that there are great musicians all around us, and you don’t have to hear a cover band at a bar to enjoy local music.