Exclusive interview for the ES2A

Mark Johnson Co-Founder of

Playing For Change

José Mujica

In Spanish

The Foundation

The success of Stand By Me

ES2A.-How did you get the new singers is U.S? Just in the streets? MJ.-5 years ago I was walking on the streets in Santa Monica, CA and I heard the voice of Roger Ridley singing, “Stand By Me”. He had so

ES2A.-How do you contact artist in the countries? MJ.-The way we connect with or discover musicians in the places we visit depends a lot on the songs we are recording at that particular time. We try to record and film diverse musicians from different cultures and musical styles to create something new, the world playing music together. A small crew and myself show up to each location with a mobile recording studio and cameras searching for musicians to join the movement. So far we have recorded and filmed over 500 musicians in approximately 50 countries around the world. The musicians range from street musicians like Roger Ridley, Grandpa Elliott and Roberto Luti to native musicians such as the Aztec and Lakota Indians as well as famous musicians like Keith Richards, Manu Chao, Bono, Stephen and Ziggy Marley

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much soul in his voice and I approached him and I said if I come back with some recording equipment and cameras I would love to record and film you playing “Stand By me” and take the song around the world adding different musicians to the track. He looked at me like I was crazy but he said if you come back, I’ll play the song. When I returned Roger was in a set break and I said with a voice like yours why are you playing in the street? He said, Mark: “I’m in the Joy Business”, I just like to come outside and be with the people. When you combine this energy with a song like “Stand By Me” – We knew we had a great start to connect the world. A small crew and myself put together cameras and a mobile recording studio powered with golf cart batteries, then car batteries and eventually small battery packs and traveled from city streets and subways to Indian Reservations, African Villages and Townships to the Middle East and the Himalayan Mountains. Along the way we built a global family through the power of music and inspiration.

ES2A.-All the recording was done outside? MJ.-We record and film all the music for our Songs around the world live outside. We record live in the moment with no separation between the musician and the outside world. This process gives the musician more spontaneity and it gives the audience a deeper connection to the performance.

ES2A.-What DAW did you use? MJ.-We record the music with pro tools on our Mac laptops. We have used Nuendo in the past as well.

ES2A.-¿Which dynamic process did you use to avoid the background noise?

etc…on and on and on, as Keith Richards says, “Playing For Change, that’s the way music was meant to be.”

ES2A.-Is Grandpa Elliott a Symbol to Playing For Change today? MJ.-Grandpa Elliott is very important musician for Playing For Change as he is symbol of conviction, soul and perseverance. He feels every note he sings or plays on his harmonica and he has been performing on the streets of New Orleans for over 60 years!! From the streets, to the stage to the hearts of the poeple. Playing For Change

ES2A.-Is easy to get song rights for a nonprofit foundation? MJ.-Playing For Change is a social project with both a for profit business supporting musicians around the world and a separeate non-profit organization building and supporting music programs around the world. The best way for us to get song rights is through personal relationships with the songwriters or to sahre our work once complete and hope they are willing to suport our project.

ES2A.-If an artist want to get involved or to be in your choice, what must do? MJ.-We invite all musicians to sign up on our website – playingforchange.com and send us a message with any link to hear / see them performing. We also have an ambassador program to offer more in depth ways of supporting Playing For Change and this is another good way to meet the PFC team and discuss collaborations. Our Fifth annual PFC Day, this September 19th, is another great way for musicians and fans of music everywhere to get involved in the PFC movement. Last year we hosted over 430 concerts in over 60 countries on

Get this wonderful Music, or just,

give a gift

Go to play or attend an event on

sunny days

MJ.-The only process we use to avoid background noise is with the combination of our Schoeps CMC-5 mics with hyper-cardioid capsules and wind-screens. We don’t record with any compression.

ES2A.-The microphones use with Stand By me on the streets, are? MJ.-Schoeps CMC-5, Shure SM57’s, Shure Beta 52.

ES2A.-Where was more difficult to record? Why? MJ.-The most difficult places to record are places with lots of wind such as Mountaintops and beaches. But these places are great to record anything with a direct line (Keyboard, Guitar, Bass etc…), as the wind is not a factor.

ES2A.-what recording studio do you work with? MJ.-We have mixed our music at a lot of various studios around the world but in Los Angeles we have used the Village Recording Studio as well as Groove Masters Recording in Santa Monica. Most of our music is mixed by an amazing sound engineer named, Greg Morgenstein, at his studio in Los Angeles: Enormous Sound.

the same day all to support global music education!!!

ES2A.-¿Where is the next school? MJ.-We are currently preparing to open our 11th Music program in Curitiba Brazil!!

ES2A.- Playing is changing the world? MJ.-Playing music is one of the greatest tools we have to change our world from the inside out. With music we create forgiveness, inspiration and hope and these parts of humanity are essential to changing the world for the good of everyone. Music brings us back to our humanity and reminds us that no matter how many things in life divide us they are never as strong as the power of music to bring us together.

ES2A.-You have a Grammy, Isn’t it? The song? MJ.-I received a Grammy as an Recording and Mixing Engineer for Keb’ Mo’ Blues album of the year, “Keep it simple”. 2004 ES2A.- One Anecdote? Advise for the new generations? MJ.-The best advise I ever heard comes from Bob Marley: And I share it with you…“The Greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires but in his integrity and ability to affect those around him positively. “ _ Bob Marley

High level style

Everybody must know you are in music and with us

email:escuelasuperiordeaudio@cantv.net

in Spanish

Exclusive Interview for the ES2A

Don Casale on recording In A Gadda Da

Vida

José Mujica

Let's play some

In A Gadda Da Vida They were going to be in Woodstock 1969, but the

helicopter never came to pick up.

Vanilla Fudge (You keep me Hangin' On) Accepted to be an influence on the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Uriah Heep and Van

Halen is all they need, and Don was there.

What is the story behind In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida?

Ironically, it is a session for which Casale was not even credited on the album that is one of his, and one

ES2A.-About the RCA, custom made means that was before Consoles like RCA BC’s and doesn’t has model number?

DC.-Yes, there was no model number on those early

consoles.

ES2A.-Special recording?

Aretha Franklin - YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK Vanilla Fudge - VANILLA FUDGE, THE BEAT GOES ON, RENAISSANCE Rascals - FREEDOM SUITE, SEE, SEARCH AND NEARNESS Delaney & Bonnie & Friends - TO BONNIE FROM DELANEY Tiny Tim - AM I JUST ANOTHER PRETTY FACE Cufflinks - TRACY, THE CUFF LINKS Lloyd Price - NATURAL SINNER Beverly Bremers - DON’T SAY YOU DON’T REMEMBER Planet Patrol - PLANET PATROL Petula Clark - WARM AND TENDER

Iron Butterfly - IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA

Protools is here. In 2000, Casale took a leap into the digital world of ProTools, eliminating most of the tape splicing and editing work he had been accustomed to for years. His RCA console, however, still remains in constant use.

Thanks to Mr.Bob Brennan, a good

friend of Don, some comments here were

done from his work at:

http://www.perpetualtoxins.com/

of rock's, most defining moments: Iron Butterfly's monumental In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Butterfly drummer Ron Bushy recalls Casale's part in the historic session at UltraSonic on May 27, 1968: "We were setting up in the studio and Don said, 'Why don't you run through a song, so I can get some levels.' We started Vida and did not stop until the end, 17:05 later! Then, he called us into the control room. We had no idea that he had pushed the record button.

What is the legacy and impact of this song?

In an era of three-minute pop songs, the 17-minute Vida recorded by Casale proved a watershed moment in rock history. Coinciding with the arrival of FM radio's new, freer format, the psychedelic hit opened the floodgates for extended recordings by Cream, Mountain, Pink Floyd, the Allman Brothers and countless others. Vida became the top-selling album in the world at that point, spending an amazing 140 weeks on the charts, including 81 in the Top 10. The platinum designation was created for it. ES2A.-What model tape recorder was used with Iron

Butterfly?

DC.-Scully 8-track one-inch.

ES2A.-Which microphones were used for the Iron

Butterfly session?

DC.-Neumann U-47 and Altec 633C “salt shakers”.

ES2A.-What was the model number of the RCA Console you purchased from Kingdom Sound studio when they decided to replaced it?

DC.- These consoles were manufactured for RCA Studios in the USA, and not sold to the public as a retail item.

ES2A.-What songs do you recorded for Aretha?

DC.-On her YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK album: “THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD” and “BORDER SONG”.

ES2A.-Which loudspeakers do you use at home?

DC.-Altec 604D 15 inch Co-Ax speakers. And amplifier, I use today at home various old McIntosh tube amps ES2A.-what music do you like?

DC.-In no particular order … Pop, Country, R ’n B, Jazz, Classical, Soul, and ‘50s. ES2A.-Did you recorded Johnny Thunders, To fast to live too young to die? is a master piece, the melody, the lyric, the video and of course the perfect mix, the elegance of the deep bass. This is the kind of work that catch you since the first time. Well I think only people that end using Altec at home can do this.

DC.-No, I recorded a tribute/cover version of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRG4k-XO2E&feature=youtu.be ES2A.-An advice to the students?

DC.-“Be great at One Thing before going on to another thing”.

email:escuelasuperiordeaudio@cantv.net

Exclusive Interview for the School ES2A

Michael Lang. The man behind the most important

Music Festival in the History, Woodstock 1969

José Mujica

In Spanish

The sequence

Trying to arrive and all the ways

couldn't

Max Yasgur, the farm owner, behind an Altec Lansing Horn over the stage. Altec and JBL were there

together to do the miracle sound.

The Woodstock Nation, as it was

ES2A: After 46 years what does Michael Lang feel about Woodstock? ML: Amazed at it’s staying power. Because of it’s core values it remains relevant all these years later. When Artie Kornfeld, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman and I began this journey we had no thoughts of making history. We wanted Woodstock to be big, and fun and for our generation. We wanted it to be about love and 3 days of Peace and Music.

ES2A: One idea is enough? What else a young man needs? ML:Ideas come from many sources. The idea for Woodstock was a product of it’s time, And for me, an answer to the question “what would we be like if we were in charge and able to live out our values in nature surrounded by our peers

ES2A:The Sound was designed to 50K people and you got near 500K. ¿Did it really was enough to the far seat of the ground? Did it matter? ML: Actually we built for an estimated 200,000 and the system stood up remarkably well when a half million showed up. People in the bowl could hear well and those over the hills picked up the vibe.

ES2A: Woodstoock didn’t give you profit, isn’t it? How much time did it take to all of you understand the history would give the profit or at least the thanks forever? ML: We knew we were in financial trouble early on, but for me the miracle we were experiencing was more than enough reward. It took a year or so to realize the impact we had around the world and many more years to understand it’s historical significance. It also took many years for my partners to recoup their investment.

ES2A: Recently we were in shock at the School when 7 of each 10 of our pupils didn’t know the song Smoke on The water and what Woodstock 69 was. Do you think is the same in the world? ML:You know in most places Woodstock is still very well known as it is referenced very often. There are echo’s of those days in our world today - from Global Warming and organic farming, to Human Rights issues to America having a black president. To quote Carlos Santana, “At Woodstock I saw a collective adventure that still holds true today. When the Berlin Wall came down, Woodstock was there. When Mandela was liberated, Woodstock was

Get your little piece of my heart. Woodstock.com is a world where you can find all about Woodstock, best videos, music and books, but we wanted to show a little more. Those things that maybe you don't think there are. .

Take note. A notebook you will enjoy writing

your own

A must read. His views, his details. The never

told story

called, in all its expression, you still

can feel the magic

Closing the History with Jimi Hendrix

performance gave the perfect end.

The Marker "This is the original site of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fear Held on Aug. 15,16,17 1969 This market erected by the owners Louis Nicky and June Celish 1984"

and a whole lot of great music.

ES2A: ¿Do you believe Woodstock changed the things? If

so, What changed?

ML:I think Woodstock proved to the World that it was possible for people to live peacefully. It gave credence to the to the positions we as a young generation took on personal freedoms, ending a war we felt unjust, respect for the planet, the fight for civil rights, woman’s rights, and human rights in general. The impact on society continues to this day.

ES2A: Which was the Band more difficult to contact and deal with? ¿Why? ML: The Who were the most difficult to book and to deal with at the festival. They were at the end of a tour and really wanted to go home. They were not a part of the “Hippie” thing and Pete Townsand had to be talked into taking the date. Once there, Pete was miserable and nasty to everyone. However afterwards they recognized Woodstock as the most important show of their career.

ES2A: When did you think in the sound and who said “hey, I know a guy that can help us with the sound”? ML: When it came to sound the field was limited. There were few people who had any experience with large outdoor events and it came down to Bill Hanley and Owsley Stanley. Owsley was the Grateful Dead’s sound man and Bill had done sound for the Newport festivals, and other outdoor events. Owsley was also the biggest manufacturer of LSD in America so we went with Bill. This was the biggest outdoor event ever planned so Bill had to build a system from scratch.

there. Woodstock is still every day”.

ES2A: How do you believe we can change this culture fact? We must? ML: I think change comes when people commit themselves and get involved. There are so many problems that face our world today and we must come together to find solutions if we are to survive and ultimately thrive.

ES2A: Does Woodstock.com have to do with this fact? Which was the idea and how is going? ML: Woodstock.com is a work in progress and will hopefully evolve into a site that effectively supports efforts of positive global change. ES2A: What music likes the man who made Woodstock? What you hear today and which amplifier and loudspeakers use? ML: I use JBL equipment and still have some old tube amps. My taste in music is pretty eclectic, from Jazz to Hip Hop and Rock and a bit of EDM, but I’m still partial to classic rock. I think the 60’s and 70’s were an amazingly creative time for music.

ES2A: One Anecdote? Advise for the new

generations?

ML: My best advice is to follow your dreams and embrace the things that inspire you. When we lost our site in Wallkill (which took 4 months to find) a month before Woodstock was scheduled to happen (the town of Wallkill pulled our permit) we went

Let's go to the next

Festival

You can't say they didn't think in everything and

everybody

No more cold and be

cool in the concert

And now to give more thanks to Michael, go to

visit him:

Woodstock.co

public in the press and on radio asking for anyone with a large enough site to get in touch. We never lost faith in our dream and the next day we found Yasgurs Farm in Bethel and the rest is history.

m

email:escuelasuperiordeaudio@cantv.net

Exclusive Interview for The School ES2A

John Leimseider the electronics technician, who is

helping to restore

ROLLING ST NES

Mobile Recording Studio for The National Music

Centre

José Mujica

Spanish

Heaven doors

Dreams. Can you image being inside? What about being inside and having staff show you how it works? OK, and how would you feel if you could record on it, too? Reality. In addition to its exhibitions, NMC has the Artist in Residence Program, providing artists from around the world the use of its unique collection of instruments and recording equipment to create new

and innovative works.

A Youtube Clip

John Leimseider is the technician that is restoring the RSM, and bringing back to its glory days. NMC honours us in our 20th Aniversary with this exclusive interview for our readers.

ES2A: John, we would like to know a little bit about the epic tale of how the mobile came from New York to the National Music Centre.

John: The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio (RSM) was bought from its previous owners in New Jersey. It had been used for a few years in New York, particularly at CBGB's, the famous punk club where the

ES2A: We know the original mixer is a Helios, but what about the loudspeakers?

John: The loudspeakers are made by Klark-Teknik and were modified with Dynaudio speakers by Andy Munro in England. They were installed when the AIMs Project started. Originally, the RSM was for tracking, with little concern for mixing, which would be done in larger commercial studios at a later time. With AIMs, the mixing would also be done in the mobile in addition to the tracking, so the KT speakers were installed.

ES2A: What can you tell us about the MTR (The Machine Tape Recorder)?

John: The latest version of the RSM had two 24-track 2" 3M M79's, a two track M79, and a modified variable speed 7.5 and 15 ips Revox A77 for slap back echo. We are in the process of restoring the tape decks. One of the 24-track machines is working well, but still needs some more work. ES2A: What amplifier is used in the

mobile?

John: When we got the RSM, there was a Crown D60 and a Yamaha amp. We are currently using an old Altec 8 channel amp to drive the tri-amped Klark-Teknik speakers and the Yamaha to drive the JBL 15" subwoofers. ES2A: Did you need to build or rebuild any electronic or mechanical parts?

ES2A: Have any artists or bands that have recorded using the RSM talked to NMC in order to help? John: We have been very fortunate to have some great support from Mick McKenna, who worked with the RSM for many years. He has an amazing memory, and some excellent documentation. He is truly a great resource for us and has gone above and beyond to help. We also got an email from Reinhold Mack, a very well known German producer asking if his studio business card was still on the armrest section of the console. It was. So I sent him a picture of it. He used the RSM to record Queen twice. He had an almost matching Helios console in his studio back in the day. We have received a lot of great emails and phone calls from fans all over the world. The positive comments and support has been really exciting. So much amazing music was recorded with the RSM. It changed the way music was made, and we can still see its influence today.

ES2A: Do you have any advice for the next generation? John: I think that anyone interested in modern recording has to take a look and a listen to the older analog recordings. There is a very good reason for the resurgence of vinyl. The sound is just different from digital recording. The process of recording on tape with a great analog board not only sounds great, but also encourages a different approach to making music. There may be less flexibility, but it necessitates making commitments to the music and promotes a certain discipline.

Travel partners

The mobile won't be alone, the National Music Centre has a desirable collection of over 2,000 rare instruments and artifacts, which will be on display at its new facility when

it opens in spring 2016.

Ramones, Blondie, Television, etc. used to play. One of our collection managers flew to New York and tried to drive it back. The engine had problems in the Midwest. It was then put on a flatbed and brought to us. The truck, which is a DAF diesel right-hand-drive vehicle, had been changed many years earlier in England. We did drive it a very small amount after it got here to get it into a garage where we had it parked for a while, but it was very smoky. We have drained all the fluids for safety, and it will be permanently installed in the new National Music Centre (NMC) facility when we open to the public in the spring of 2016.

ES2A: Does the RSM still have all of its original equipment or has anything been changed over time?

John: When we got it, there was a lot missing. We had the console, speakers, four tape decks, Dolby systems, cabling, and some outboard gear. The microphone collection had already been sold. The console—the second Helios ever made—was originally built for an 8-track studio. It was modified with more input channels and expanded to 24 busses while the Rolling Stones owned it. We will be replacing a lot of the missing original outboard gear as time goes on. The issue is that the RSM was continually modified as time went on. This is true of most old studios. There isn't any exact period we are trying to restore it to. We do

John: We decided that we would do a very conservative restoration on the truck and the studio. The truck is going to be built inside of our new building, and will be viewable street side through a window 365 days a year. It is very hard to keep it mobile, because it is such an important artifact. There is no way to keep it truly secure if we drive it around. Our team has done a lot of work to keep the truck and the studio stable. We have no interest in replacing the vintage electronics, except where completely necessary for its operation. Once we start recording with it regularly, we will have a better understanding of any reliability issues. We did have one batch of bad transistors in some of the buffering cards. They had almost a 40 percent failure rate, so we replaced all of them with a better type of transistor. We also had to repair the prototype Bel Flanger. It had a bad IC that I replaced. It sounds fantastic. ES2A: In your opinion, what has been the most difficult part of the restoring process? John: There were lots of repairs and modifications done to the studio over the years. In particular, there was a TT patchbay installed during the RSM's stay in the US. There was a fair amount of missing and incorrect wiring to the patchbay. Since there is very limited documentation, this part was quite challenging. Most studios never do full schematics

The RSM is likely to be the most important historical restoration that I will ever have the privilege to work on. It is very exciting to hear the results. It sounds spectacular! For more information on the National Music Centre, and its collection of over 2,000 rare musical instruments, artifacts, and recording equipment, visit nmc.ca

NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE

134 11 Avenue SE

Calgary, AB T2G 0X5 Canada

403.543.5115

have outboard gear lists and pictures from various configurations. Similarly, the truck is still painted blue, because of the AIMS Project that Bill Wyman started, sponsored by Pernod. The RSM might be remembered most famously as the camouflaged truck as seen in 200 Motels and many pictures, but that was not the original paint job, either.

of the studio wiring, although there may be schematics for the console and each piece of outboard gear. Jason Tawkin, NMC’s Collections Assistant, has been doing extensive documentation on the restoration and will also be writing an operation manual for the console, patchbay, and outboard gear.

ES2A: Are you going to use the same acoustical material? John: The acoustical material is the original from at least the AIMS days, as far as we know. This may have to be replaced in the future.

Our Thanks to Julijana Capone, publicity coordinator at the National Music Centre for her support for this interview.

email:escuelasuperiordeaudio@cantv.net

Exclusive Interview for The School ES2A

Mark Needham the Engineer who recorded

Wicked Game

José Mujica

In Spanish

Chris Isaak

His Work of Art

Enjoy this 25 years jewel in this video

Now listen the instrumental version in this classic scene from Wild at Heart Movie with

Nicolas Cage an Laura Dern

ES2A.-Mark, like you know now the song Wicked Game you recorded for Chris Isaak is like an Anthem in our subject Psychoacoustic, to teach the pupils about the elegance and good taste of a deeper bass. Tell us something about how did you record the bass?

Mark.-I should probably answer the drum question first. After MANY live takes we still weren’t getting the hypnotic feel we wanted, so I programmed the

ES2A.-Tell us about how did you mixed it?

Mark.-I mixed the song on a Neve VR console and the biggest issues were dealing with the speaker bleed into the lead vocal mike and the guitar sound. If you listen in the verse, you will hear the room ambience come up when I raise up the vocal fader right before he sings. On the guitar, I was using a long delay going to a stereo chorus and riding the send to the delay, so that the guitar spreads out after he hits a note. The reverb in the vocal was a snare plate setting on a lexicon 480 L.

ES2A.-how much do you think an Audio Engineer must know about tuning

Some Pics from Mark to the School

The RIAA Prize (Record Industry Association of America) Mark won to commemorate th sale of more

than 500.000 copies of Wicked Game.

And here recorded wiht the camera microphone in a demo of the Altec Lansing

Model 19 loudspeakers.

entire drum part on an AKAI DD1000 ( an early digital recorder) with loops I made and quantized from the live tracks.

Then we made the bass track on a Synclavier and synced it with the programmed drums.(all of this running from SMPTE) from analogue tape

ES2A.- Wich microphones did you use?

Mark.-The vocal mic was a Sanken CU 47, the guitar a Shure SM 57, and the Sanken was also on the acoustic and hi strung acoustic.

ES2A.-Wich monitors did you use? In how many

loudspeakers did you hear the master?

Mark.-Estaba usando unas Yamaha NS-10 en esa sesión y grabamos las voces justo en frente de los altavoces.

ES2A.-Did you use analogue tape machine? Why?

Mark.-Yes we were on analogue tape because there really weren’t any other options back then (this track was recorded in 1989). The digital recorder I used for the drums was a 4 track, recording to optical disk, and I just recorded the kick sound , several snare brush loops and a hi-hat on that, and then put together the part.

instruments?

Mark.-I’m a guitar player and drummer, and I think the more an individual knows about music in general, the better mixer that person will be.

ES2A.- Do you think the amount of instruments in a song could always get this deeper sound?

Mark-I believe it’s more about the arrangement of the instruments that you have, rather than how many you put on. Wicked Game was 22 tracks total. “It’s Time" by Imagine Dragons (that I also mixed)) was about 150 tracks, but both songs sound big in their own way.

ES2A.-Do you believe an Audio Engineer can play with the mixing levels to avoid the sound of the music instruments fight. Example, take down the kick drum to avoid the collision with the bass? Or maybe play with center frequencies and range?

The note on the box talks about the SMPTE Code (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) to

synchronize devices.

The 2" open reel 2400 ft with Wicked Game

Mark.-That is what I do. Manipulating the sound, levels, ambience and arrangement of the instruments to make the song build and have space. In addition to helping deliver the emotion of the lyrics.

ES2A.-Anecdote?

Advise for the new

generations?

Mark.-My advice to anyone is to just jump in and start making records! I started my first studio in 1972, with no idea what I was doing! However with my love for music, I’ve made it my life.

ES2A.-In the name of our School, forever Thank you Mark.

For more information on Mark and other projects he has produced and mixed, go to: www.markneedham.com

email:escuelasuperiordeaudio@cantv.net