PROFILES

Mark Bingham here, telling it as I see it. The Hype tells all of us music lovers that anyone who can walk and chew gum at once can now be an engineer, too. Simply purchase the latest versions of planned obsolescence recording gear that the manufacturers and retailers offer up and bingo, you are as good as Phil Ramone, Bob Rock, and Mutt Lange right there in your own home. The good news is that gear costs less, but it really helps to not only know what you are doing, but know it well. Recording music up to standards is still as difficult as always.

Here at Piety Street, we have many available engineers, each with different approaches.

John Fischbach has set the standards for the rest of us. If you hear Songs In The Key of Life on the radio, you will notice just how clean, clear and focused the sound is. John recorded and mixed that in the 70’s and his approach remains unchanged. John chooses the best mikes for the job, places them carefully, uses the best mic pre amps and records almost exclusively to analog. He rarely touches EQ and uses compressors sparingly. John likes to record songs, that is, music with real melodies, dynamics and a performance by a real artist. He makes beautiful sound fields.

Wesley Fontenot came up through the ranks as an assistant engineer. He has now worked in that capacity with many of the world’s top engineers and projects that have been heard globally. This experience has given him a wide range of skills. Wesley also makes beautiful sound fields but he is most happy doing loud music, capturing the heaviest of sounds. On the other hand, he has done some great all acoustic recordings with Peter Stampfel. Wesley is someone you can rely on to provide a great recording environment for you.
He’s an A#1 pro tools jockey as well.

Drew Vonderhaar has also come up as an assistant but is now doing more and more main engineering and mixing. Drew came out of a programming/computer based background and in 2 years at Piety has made remarkable strides learning both music and the recording of real time instruments. Drew will experiment with your sounds but is much like John Fischbach in his pure approach to recording . He is really good with all the various DAW formats and Pro Tools. He loves 60’s country music, too, often using Merle Haggard cd’s as mix references. Go figure.

As for me, I try to deal with each session as a new situation. I rarely use the same drum set-up twice and record the musicians as they are, not trying to obtain any special “sound” of my own. On the other hand, I consider mixing popular music to be more about arranging and often re-composition than about engineering. I will do just about anything with the equipment to find
sounds that work. I enjoy working with inspired amateurs more than jaded pros. Music is what I do nearly every day, whether playing, writing, or recording. I love collaborating.