A podcast exploring the art and craft of sound. Featuring conversations with engineers, producers, and musicians.
Episode 010 - Gordon Van Gent/Overneath Creative Collective
Gordon Van Gent is co-owner and head audio engineer at Overneath Creative Collective. a full-service audio, video and photography facility in Kalamazoo. Gordon is a sound engineer, producer, composer andmusician, working across the spectrum of audio from album production with independent artists, to live performance video recording, to music creation and sound design for internet and TV broadcast. We talked in May of 2017 in Overneath's main control room, right on Burdick streetin the heart of downtown Kalamazoo.
Recorded 5/29/18 at Overneath in Kalamazoo, MI
Neumann TLM49s > True Precision 8
Featured Recording "Looking For You" by Anna Joy Tucker
Episode 009 - Jim Roll/Willis Sound
Jim Roll has been at the controls for many of the most creative and influential albums to come out of Michigan, including works by Frontier Ruckus, Chris Bathgate, BreatheOwl Breathe, Matt Jones, Gifts or Creatures, and many more. His former studio, Backseat Productions, was a cornerstone of the Ann Arbor music scene for years,before Jim joined Willis Sound, a brand new full-service facility stocked with vintage gear and centered around a 32-channel API 1608 console. We talked in Willis' spacious and beautiful control room in May of 2018.
Willis Sound
E-Current Article on Jim
Recorded 5/6/18 at Willis Sound in Willis, MI
SM7s > API 1608 Console
Featured Recording "Be The Song" by Friends With The Weather
Episode 008 - Joe Hettinga/Third Coast Recording Company
Joe Hettinga is the head sound engineer at Third Coast Recording Company, a multi-room facility in Grand Haven, Michigan. Joe is an accomplished keyboardist and engineer, with over 20 years experience in playing, arranging, tracking, producing and mixing. His credits include Umphreys McGee and Megadeth, Liquid Soul, Digital Tape Machine, Strange Arrangement, Max Lockwood, The Turnips, and Todd Kessler. We talked in April 2018 in Third Coast's Studio B.
Recorded 4/27/18 at Third Coast in Grand Haven, MI
Audio Technica 4055's > Soundcraft Series 4 Console
Featured Recording "Jon Bon Brovi" by The Turnips
Episode 007 - Geoff Michael/Big Sky Recording
Geoff Michael, owner and engineer of Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor. Geoff has been a cornerstone of the Michigan music scene for decades, working with artists such as Joshua Davis, The Great Lakes Myth Society, Dick Siegel, Peter "Madcat" Ruth, Jill Jack, Laith Al-Saadi, Hot Club of Detroit, and Whitey Morgan. Geoff has also recorded hundreds of live, in-studio performances for Michigan Radio's Acoustic Cafe, featuring internationally known stars like Iron & Wine, Suzanne Vega, Death Cab For Cutie and Dar Williams. We talked in March of 2018 in Big Sky's main tracking room, among his collection of beautiful instruments and classic microphones.
Big Sky Recording
Slice Ann Arbor Feature
Current Magazine Feature
Acoustic Cafe
Recorded 2/14/18 at Big Sky in Ann Arbor, MI
Geoff: Blue Kiwi > Chandler 1272
Ian: Neumann U48 > Telefunken V76
Featured Recording "This Too Shall Pass" (Live on Acoustic Cafe) by Anderson East
Episode 006 - Bryan Heany/37.ent (Part Two)
Part two of my conversation with Bryan Heany. Bryan is a recording and live sound engineer, as well as musician, educator, archivist, and radio producer. A prolific contributor to the Kalamazoo music scene for over 20 years, Bryan is an soundperson of diverse tastes and skills, from wildly inventive indie albums, to pristine classical recordings. We talked in December 2017 at his own Studio 37, set up in the second story of a quiet barn on the outskirts of town.
37ent.com
37ent Soundcloud
37ent Brochure
Recorded 12/27/17 at Studio 37 in Kalamazoo, MI
Shure SM58's > Crane Song Spider
Featured recording "Water Spider" by The Ents.
Episode 005 -Anthony Gravino/The Drake
Anthony Gravino, an independent engineer, producer, and musician from Chicago Illinois. Anthony does tracking, mixing and mastering, working in a wide range of genres, including Rock, Jazz, Folk and R&B. A go-to collaborator for some of the most skilled and creative independent musicians in the city, his credits include The Claudettes, Davy Knowles, Hood Smoke, Bunny Pattootie, and Matt Ulery. Anthony also has a lot of sonic ties to Michigan, including mastering albums for Red Tail Ring, Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, Stephen Lynch, Sky & Signal, and my own group The Red Sea Pedestrians. We talked in February 2018 at his private studio, The Drake, nestled into a a quiet neighborhood in Logan Square.
Anthony Gravino & The Drake
Shirk Studios
Recorded 2/23/18 at The Drake in Chicago, IL
Shure SM7s > Custom Neve 31105/1081 > Urei LA3A
Episode 004 - Jen Shangraw/Michigan State University
Jen Shangraw is Director of Recording Services at Michigan State University. Jen is an expert classical and jazz sound engineer who handles concert recordings and sessions in a number of performance spaces throughout MSU's campus.
From Jazz orchestras and chamber music in the 440-seat Fairchild theater, to symphony orchestras in the 2400-seat Wharton Center, to the Spartan Marching Band playing halftime in the 75,000-seat Spartan Stadium, Jen is skilled at creating world-class recordings in a wide variety of scenarios, often on the fly and without a net.
MSU Recording Services
Article on Jen from MSU Today
Recorded 3/7/18 at Michigan State University
Neumann U87s > Millennia HV-3D-8
Featured recording by Suren Bagratuni
Episode 003 - Bob Benson/ARU Chicago
Bob Benson is a sound designer at Audio Recording Unlimited, a 4-studio facility in downtown Chicago. Bob is a veteran post-production engineer who has spent decades recording, editing and mixing sound for film, TV, radio, and internet broadcast.
Recorded February 3, 2018 at ARU in Chicago, IL
Bob: Neumann U87 > Hardy M-1
Ian: Sennheiser 416 > Amek 9098
Episode 002 - John Campos/Western Sound Studios
John is Director of Western Sound Studios, the recording facility at Western Michigan University, and has managed this classic Kalamazoo studio for over 30 years. As WMU's recording techniques instructor, John has also helped generations of successful engineers get their careers started in audio.
Western Sound Studios
Article of John from WMU Website
John's group The Corn Fed Girls
Recorded 12/27/17 at WSS in Kalamazoo, MI
Neumann TLM49's > True Precision 8
Featured song: "Exactly Like You" by the Susie Parr Trio.
Episode 001 - Bryan Heany/37.ent (Part One)
Bryan is a Kalamazoo sound engineer with eclectic experience in all things sonic, including studio engineering, live sound, archiving, radio production, equipment repair, and audio education. As a musician, Bryan has played with a long list of groups, including Guitar Up!, Zed Zeppelin, The Nwe Spryghts, The Roman Invasion Suite, The That's, and his own 37.ent projects, among many others. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation in a future episode.
37ent.com
37ent Soundcloud
37ent Brochure
Recorded 12/27/17 at Studio 37 in Kalamazoo, MI
Shure SM58's > Crane Song Spider
Electricians and Madmen is produced by Ian Gorman at La Luna. Interviews are recorded on location, with each featured engineer choosing the microphone and signal chain. Theme music, "Roswell (JH24 Version)" was written and performed by Brian Koenigsknecht.