AES Student Blog

JT: The recording session was a single day with two 3-hour periods. Editing/mixing for the album took only about 6 hours as there were only a few takes for each piece.

SDA: Tell us about the production. Stories? Inspirations?

JT: We only had about 30 minutes to sound check and get the choir warmed up, but the group (Seraphic Fire) is so talented that 2-3 takes was enough for each song. I took a slightly more "produced" sonic approach, while still remaining true to traditional classical recording simplicity. This gave a more "movie score" kind of sound that envelops the listener. The tactics paid off and the album hit #12 on the iTunes Classical list!

SDA: What initiated your passion for audio?

JT: My parents introduced me to singing, piano, and saxophone at a young age. I discovered the electric guitar at 14, which led me toward sonic exploration. Bootlegging shows back in high school started my passion of location recording.

SDA: Funniest experience as an engineer so far?

JT: At the Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas, I ended up in a conversation of puns with music director Richard Rosenberg for 2-3 minutes. While we both managed to remain stoic, pretty much everyone around us was in stitches.

SDA: Biggest mistake you made during a production?

JT: During a brown-out at a live gig in Miami, I lost sync between my console and my CD recorder and missed about 25 seconds of audio. Fortunately the conductor also noticed the lights dim and was understanding. Now I always travel with a battery backup!

SDA: Favorite frequency?

JT: 1k of course. I'm surprised you had to ask!

SDA: Favorite mic, outboard box, or plugin?

JT: My RME Fireface takes care of all of my routing and is super versatile. I also could not live without Sequoia. It does everything. The Germans make a fantastic DAW!

SDA: Best recording of all time?

JT: There are so many. I love the gramophone recording of “Sibelius Symphony No. 2” with the Berlin Philharmonic from 1970, or pretty much anything else conducted by Herbert von Karajan. He knew sound!

SDA: Do you play any instruments?

JT: I mostly dabble these days, but I continue to play and build jazz guitars from scratch. I also play fretless/fretted electric bass and sing.

SDA: Any other hobbies?

JT: Rock climbing and mountain biking. I crave my time away from technology and being a dedicated road-tripping dirt-bag suits that need quite well.

SDA: The best part about AES?

JT: Free stuff, paper sessions, and presentations by people like Jim Johnson, who is really steeped in AP and neuroscience. Alex Case's technical talks are also a great fresh perspective on everyday challenges.

SDA: Where do you want to be in 10 years?

JT: Surrounded by people who are smarter and more experienced that I am, developing new technologies, and making great recordings in rooms with awesome acoustics.