![]() This type of “performance shaping” is reminiscent of techniques used by film directors like Alfred Hitchcock or Roman Polanski. JS: You have stated in the past that you often like to change the environment for an artist in order to get a different kind of performance. That was Spiritual Front and that one worked too. Another time we recorded in an Etruscan tomb with bats outside of Rome. One time we snuck into an art museum in Dresden with a hidden load of recording equipment and recorded creepy vocals in front of Raphael’s giant “Two Angels” painting. And when the actual “punk” recording doesn’t fit on the record it’s still okay because it is incredibly fun and sometimes a bit daredevil. I usually wait until the end of a project for the punk reward. If you want to do this kind of crazy stuff, you need to carefully budget the time so you are not stealing a day or two away from recording your main, foundational tracks. But alas, the cliff guitar did not fit anywhere on their album and we did not use it. That was on Machines Of Loving Grace’s Gilt. On another project, tossing a screaming guitar off a cliff was wild…crashing, sproinging. Smashing pianos was out-of-control and the sounds became the final song “Disgustipated” on Undertow. Sometimes they don’t work or are not appropriate. Sometimes these punk ideas work and are fantastic. SM: I like to approach music production with a punk attitude, and I’ll try to find the most extreme sounds to add into recordings. Williams and the Plasmatics influence that element of aural destruction being incorporated into your music production? Did the final results match the sound you had in your head when you originally envisioned them, and did bands like Wendy O. As a producer and engineer, you’ve recorded the sound of a piano being pummeled with sledgehammers and blown to bits with a shotgun on Tool’s Undertow, and you’ve also recorded a guitar being tossed off a cliff. JS: Your roots as a musician are in punk and metal. Next, if tracks are committed with all EQ and compression, I am ensuring that any future mixer can’t f*ck it up too badly. Next, as the players are performing, the closer to a finished sound they have in their headphones will inspire a better performance from them. First, it is easier to envision the final production if all the parts are in a finished form as you build them. That means committing the EQ, compression, levels and amplification at the time the parts are being recorded. ![]() As close to the final sound I can get is where I want to start. Sylvia Massy: I like to record with the end result in mind. Do you prefer to record a unique sound from the get-go as opposed to manipulating it afterwards? And this is completely opposite the “conventional wisdom” of using the best mics possible. John Seetoo: You have stated in your workshops and lectures that you have used old crystal, dynamic, and condenser mics or even carbon mics from your museum collection on sessions (see article in Copper Issue 128). Sylvia Massy graciously took the time from her busy schedule for an interview with Copper. She has also conducted workshops and taught both in the US and abroad, and her 2016 book, Recording Unhinged, led to her subsequent acquisition of the largest microphone museum in the world (an article about the collection is in Copper Issue 128). Her work with Rick Rubin, Tool, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Lenny Kravitz, Aerosmith, Queens of the Stone Age, Tom Petty, Prince, Seal, and many other artists could fill an entire music library. From her punk and hard rock roots as a musician, Sylvia Massy has risen to dizzily lofty heights and accolades as an innovative and highly-sought producer and engineer. ![]()
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