06/03/03

By Randy Alberts

A music awards show is a sensitive subject to bring up to most Pro Tools engineers, mixers and producers. Most were musicians long before taking the helm behind a console, and they know just what it feels like to have heartfelt music go largely unheard after years of anticipation and toil.

"It's sad that we've all worked for so many great artists the past year who will never even be heard, much less nominated for a Grammy Award." That's mixer, producer, and engineer Serban Ghenea's response to being asked about 10 projects he mixed last year that netted 13 nominations. "I've been lucky enough to work on some great records created by very talented artists, producers, and engineers that made it this far. I'm very grateful for that."

Gratitude is a common thread shared by Ghenea, Tal Herzberg, Jorge Calandrelli, and thousands of their fellow Pro Tools users contributing to hundreds of great-sounding discs, both nominated and non-nominated alike. DigiZine is more than a little pleased for the opportunity to congratulate all Pro Tools users for their great craft-evolving work in 2002, and to say thanks for giving us a glimpse through these pages into who they are, the artists they work with, and the sound craft they do so well.

Taking Digital to the Podium: Serban Ghenea

Ghenea mixed projects that were, among others, up for this year's Best Pop Group Vocal Performance (‘NSYNC w/Nelly), Best Pop Vocal Album (Britney Spears), Best Female (Jill Scott) and Male (Musiq) R&B Vocal Performance and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (Justin Timberlake) Grammy Awards. Attending the show in New York City with his wife, the gracious mixer also let himself get just a little bit nervous when the Best R&B Song, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance (Floetry), Best Rock Gospel Album (Grits), and Best R&B Album (Musiq) awards were handed out, too.

Formerly an analog-only guy, Ghenea has seen a lot of change regarding his own daily audio toolbox and the way his clients perceive Pro Tools in the studio.

"I was a total analog guru kind of guy until three or four years ago," says Ghenea, who has also mixed, recorded, and/or engineered TLC, N.E.R.D., AIR, Jay Z, and Liz Phair, among dozens of others. "I wouldn't have believed it back then if someone had told me I'd be mixing entirely within Pro Tools today. Some artists I've worked with have been reluctant in the past to come in the control room and to see Pro Tools in there, too; but, like me, they're always converted when they hear the first playback."

A Thousand Miles to the Grammy Aisles: Tal Herzberg

"I'm one of the Sound Tools founding fathers," laughs Tal Herzberg, whose deft recording and Pro Tools work alongside producer Ron Fair and engineers Jack Joseph Puig and Michael C. Ross were integral to Vanessa Carlton's Record of the Year and Song of the Year nominations for "A Thousand Miles." "Now it's Pro Tools|HD all the time for me. The sound quality is dramatically improved and I'm hearing a tremendous difference at 44.1 and 48 kHz, too. I'm about to start a new project (Joanna on A&M) that's going to be recorded entirely at 96 kHz, and I can't wait."


"My specialty has been taking live performances and creating a hybrid sound out of them using Pro Tools, such as on Vanessa's record," says Herzberg. "It's a bit of a new sound."

Latin Love Songs, Tango, and Classical: Jorge Calandrelli

Speaking of new sounds, respected producer, composer, and arranger Jorge Calandrelli is more excited about using Pro Tools|HD in classical recording sessions than talking about his awards. He wrote the Oscar-nominated theme song from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the likes of Tony Bennett, Quincy Jones, Ricky Martin, Ettore Stratta, David Foster, and Barbra Streisand have all benefited from his velvet production touch. But today he'd rather talk about the impact a young Pro Tools engineer had during an album's orchestral tracking sessions in London.

"He was amazing and so fast. What a difference that makes when recording a 60-piece classical orchestra," says Calandrelli about the recording of tenor José Cura's song "Esta Tarde Vi Llover" from the album Boleros. The track was arranged and produced by Calandrelli and nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s); the entire album was recorded using Pro Tools at sessions in Madrid, Miami, New York City, and London, the latter which Calandrelli describes here.

"Orchestral recording engineers favor the traditional analog approach. The studio's 24-track machine wasn't working for our session, though, so we were able to use Pro Tools and it was a blessing. I was in the booth and Ettore [Stratta] was conducting for four or five takes. I was telling the Pro Tools engineer what sections of each take I liked as we went along, and right after the last take he asked Ettore to come in and listen. Do you know that by the time he walked from the podium to the console the engineer had already comped those best sections together?! We could listen right away to the rough comp, which I tell you is amazing for those of us who have produced, arranged, and recorded orchestral music for many years."

Bringing Pro Tools|HD into his future classical and orchestral sessions seems a natural fit for Mr. Calandrelli, who himself was tutored while growing up in Argentina by the legendary tango composer, arranger, and conductor, Astor Piazzolla. "Traditional classical producers know in their minds as they go which parts of each take are good and which aren't. But they don't get to hear that right away and just get very good at imagining what the final version will sound like and whether another take is needed or not. I'm more of a contemporary producer because I love to hear those orchestral comps played right back to us there in the studio with Pro Tools."