Creative Process of an Alternative Jazz Album: The Constant

Recording & Production

Presenters:
Amandine Pras, Digital Audio Arts - University of Lethbridge - Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences - Paris, France
Alan Silverman, Arf! Mastering - New York, NY, USA; The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at The Tisch School of the Arts, andNYU|Steinhardt Dept.of Music Technology - New York, NY, USA

Critic Kevin Whitehead (NPR) said that the sound on The Constant has a distinctive edge that “pops out of the speakers”. Recorded, edited and mixed within three days at Water Music Studio by Amandine Pras, and mastered by Alan Silverman, The Constant received the 2016 Best Album Award by critic David Cristol (Jazz Magazine) with a special mention to production. 

This workshop will highlight the design of the recording process, which was based on insights into how to best support creative musical improvisation in the studio, drawn from a two-year study within the New York City alternative jazz scene. Just as the music was improvised, so was the mix. Analog mixing without automation was performed on a Neve 8088 which was, in itself, a musical improvisation mirroring drummer Jim Black’s, bassist Thomas Morgan’s and pianist Elias Stemeseder’s music-making process in the studio. Presenters will also detail the combination of layered stereo ambient pickups to capture the natural acoustics of the studio in time-alignment with the close mics that are typical of an East-Coast jazz production. An outline of the mastering approach and Q&A will conclude the workshop. 

Additional attention will be given to the challenges faced by women producer/engineers in working with an all-male group of musicians.