Author: Irving

Whoa! Totally haven’t updated in a while! What a difference two years can make – it’s been quite a wild ride.

I recieved my second RIAA certified Platinum award in the mail for recording the Megan Thee Stallion’s vocals on Captain Hook. Since I recieved this plaque, both Captain Hook and the other track I recieved an award for, Hot Girl Summer have been certified double-platinum.


Emily King released a video from her live recording at Bowery Ballroom. This was recorded in September 2021, and it was a blast, and the crowd was absolutely electric, and Emily and co. are always a real pleasure to work with. Check it out here:

I brought the rig to the historic Cafe Carlyle to record Isaac Mizrahi and his jazz ensemble. Isaac was joined by guest vocalists including Lea DeLaria and Suzanne Vega . The full videos are available on Broadway Now, but here’s a short clip featuring the performances I also mixed and mastered.

Experimental group Pryncess Tiger released their multi-media blitz many many years in the making “Fyte or Die”. The album sonically runs the gambit with electronic produced sections, mixed with two drum sets recorded simultaneously. Pryncess Tiger and I have been working on mixing this album for years, and it was mastered by the incomparable Joe Lambert.
Oh and it’s accompanied by an incredible video production.

West-coast group The Pile released their album “The Slump” – the album features very well written songs that I was very fortunate to master. Streaming now!

Brooklyn Duo DYM released live video performances of their track “Home”. Recorded in a loft in Brooklyn, this was a super fun recording to be a part of. This song was also mixed and mastered by myself. More on the way =)

Rap/Soul duo Orange Planet released their debut album, “Group Therapy” in 2021. This self-produced album features very well constructed songs with soulful vocal arrangements, and thoughtful verses. It was a blast to mix and master the album.

Brooklyn artist Rue Snider and I have been working on mixes for his music, mastered by Justin Coletti. So far, Hot Summer Nights has been released, and it was great to use all sorts of types of distortion in my bag of tricks for this – look out for more of his releases.

Rock quartet Bindy released Love Your Son – this first of a handful of tracks we’ve been working on. Recorded at Mighty Toad with Craig Dryer, and mixed by myself and mastered by Joe Lambert.

This past month I celebrated five years of one of my favorite passion projects, recording live shows at Pete’s Candy Store. Since 2017 I’ve recorded over 100 live sets from artists all over the world. I’m very thankful to the artists for having me record there, and to Pete’s for allowing me to bring in my rig and record these sets. Here’s a couple highlights from the past year:

Outside of music, I’ve had a blast recording live comedy across the country. Here’s some recent releases I’ve recorded:

During the pandemic, while there wasn’t much recording going on, I used my time to take some college classes online in electrical engineering. My admittedly ambitious goal is to design and sell my own professional audio gear commercially, and I’ve been hard at work designing a unique 500-series microphone pre-amp. I’m hoping to have a working prototype in my hand by the end of the calendar year.

COVID-19 has no doubt decimated many industries, including the arts. However, I’ve been lucky enough to work on a handful or projects during this tough year.

The multi-platinum Dutch duo, Nick and Simon filmed around NYC for their series Homeward Bound. Their performance on top of a 50+ story rooftop in midtown Manhattan became one of my most memorable location recordings. I always say I can record anywhere with a power outlet, and I proved it with this recording.

I got a few awards in the mail! Hopefully not my last plaque!

Some new releases that I worked on came out – Kaash Paige’s Teenage Fever, Amine’s Limbo, and Megan Thee Stallion’s Captain Hook

I mixed a few local artist records: Nadir Samara’s Tacoma Park, and A Crystal O’s West End, and I mastered Sabrina Chap’s Postcards From The Rearview Mirror

Lots of live comedy I recorded got released!
Dave Hill – The Pride of Cleveland
Chinedu Unaka – Mostly Kidding
Jeff Simmermon – Why You Should Be Happy
Dan Pearlman – Emergency Contact
Robert Dean – Entertainment
Various Comics – Mothers Know Best: Sometimes

I built a few new pieces of audio equipment that I’m very excited about. First, I built an Audio Maintenance Limited ez1073 preamp, a JLM audio LA500a optical compressor, and a Microphone-Parts S-47 large diaphragm condenser microphone. I also redesigned the circuit for all of my balanced splitters to include an inline, phantom powered, low gain amplifier on the transformer isolated output. This amplifier is designed to help offset the inherent -3db gain loss when splitting a signal.

I hope everyone is staying safe out there!

Megan Thee Stallion’s hit Hot Girl Summer that I recorded the vocals for was certified platinum in December. It’s my first platinum record, and I look forward to putting that plaque on my wall soon. Megan was also featured on Chance the Rapper’s album, a feature that I recorded as well.

Jacquees released his sophomore album “The King of R&B”. I recorded all his vocals for the track “All You Need” ft. Bluff City and Quavo.

Live recordings are still going strong – from concert halls, to comedy venues like Caroline’s and the Comedy Cellar, basements, rehearsal spaces, living rooms and video shoots atop skyscrapers in Manhattan. Even a 4-day stint at a theater in SoHo to record the audio for a live sitcom pilot. The rig is certainly making it’s rounds.

Here’s a finished video for Damn Tall Buildings that I recorded at Sony Hall in midtown, mixed and mastered.

Another series of videos featuring the incredible Lucy Yege from a living room in Bushwick.

The cornerstone of my mobile multi-track rig, my home-made balanced microphone splitters, got a bit of an upgrade. I printed new circuit boards to include a very low gain, fixed gain pre-amp (think like a Cloudlifter) on the transformer isolated output. The idea is that it offsets the inherent 3db of signal loss when splitting, and means I don’t have to push my pre-amps when recorded live, quiet sources.

The Beastie Boys audiobook was nominated for a Grammy for best spoken word album. It didn’t win, but I’ll be getting a certificate for recording parts of it with my mobile rig. That will also be going on my wall.

Looking forward to 2020 and seeing what the upcoming year has for me.

Follow me on Instagram via the link on the right. I have to say that.

Summer 2019 has been my best yet!

I recorded Megan Thee Stallion’s vocals for her hit song Hot Girl Summer which peaked at number eleven on the Billboard hot 100. The track featured Nicki Minaj, and Ty Dolla Sign. This is the first time something I’ve worked on reached the Billboard Hot 100, and will most likely be certified gold very soon. Looking forward to that plaque!

I’ve been recording a fair amount of live comedy shows at some great venues. At the historic Friar’s Club, I recorded Turner Sparks’ debut album. It released in September, and quickly the second best selling comedy album on iTunes. The staff at the Friar’s Club told me that although there have been several TV broadcasts done at the venue (Comedy Central Roasts), it was the first comedy album recorded at the venue.

I was also lucky enough to record several comics at the Village Underground at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan for a program to be released later this year. Lastly, I recorded Dave Hill and his band live at Union Hall for his comedy album to be released by 800 pound Gorilla Records. More to come!

Jason Bembry released the finished video of his live performance recorded at Mighty Toad Recording in Brooklyn. All things video done by Sound and Color Media.

The mobile rig has mostly reached it’s final form. I built and added in a CAPI 312, an API style microphone pre-amp to the collection. The rig now has a tube pre-amp from Five Fish Audio, a Jensen 990 style pre-amp from Hairball Audio, and the CAPI 312.

And as always, I’ve continued recording at Pete’s Candy Store – the total number of sets recorded has reached the 50 mark! I’ve updated the Pete’s info page with some released recordings.

Back at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, I used my rig to record a live performance of Cage the Elephant, supporting their new album Social Cues. The set was also shot for video, so be on the lookout for that. My rig was firing on all cylinders, recording all available inputs, and using 20 channels of balanced microphone splitters.

Another top five highlight of my career was engineering a session Earthquake Lights with the Shattered Glass Orchestra in 2018. Whole rock band, Steinway piano, and strings – the works. This month they released the videos from these sessions. Both were mixed by Grammy Award winning engineer, Andrew Maury.

Earthquake Lights also released their album Distress Signals
I engineered bits and pieces of this album at Douglass Recording along with some of my good friends. The album was mixed and mastered by the Grammy Award winning duo, Andrew Maury and Joe LaPorta.

One of the coolest projects I’ve been a part of is She’s Got Jazz – a music movie showcasing profiles of some awesome women in jazz. Specifically, the profiles of Veronica Swift, Bria Skonberg, Brianna Thomas and Grace Kelly are featured. My rig was used to record some of the live performances, and I mixed all of the musical performances for the whole film. The film came out great, and you can view a 14 minute preview here.

2019 has been pretty wild so far.

  • I recorded an interview with Future for Beats One Radio that aired for his on-air album release event last month. You can listen to the entire interview on Apple Music, and some excerpts here.
  • Samaria, an artist signed with Republic Records released my mix of “Useless”. She’s a young artist with a promising career ahead of her and I was flattered that she put out the “rough mix” at the end of the session.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwno1JXkGRk
  • SAFE also dropped a single I recorded. He’s a rapper from Toronto signed with Bando Records who built quite a following.
  • Although I rarely record audiobooks, some books I recorded last year have gotten a good amount of attention. The Beastie Boys Book was released late last year with the audiobook featuring lots of incredible narrators including Steve Buscemi, Elvis Costello, Chuck D, Michael Diamond, Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell, Adam Horovitz, LL Cool J, Spike Jonze and many others. My location recording rig went on it’s longest journey yet to Rev Run’s house to record his contribution to the project. It has since been nominated for Audiobook of the Year by the Audio Publisher’s Association. In fact, a handful of books I recorded last year were nominated for Audies, including: The Tattooist of Auschwitz, narrated by Richard Armitage, nominated for Best Fiction, Sadie, narrated by a very large cast (including myself!), nominated for Best Multi-Voiced Performance, and Best Young Adult Work and Black Star Renegades narrated by Dan Bittner, nominated for Best Science Fiction.
  • B Boys released their live performance at Rough Trade that I recorded last year in partnership with Brooklyn Brewery and their label, Captured Tracks. They were gracious enough to send me one of the 500 vinyl pressings of the album. It’s the first time a project I’ve worked on has made it to Vinyl. It’s a cool feeling for sure.
Blue vinyl!
  • I used my location rig as a digital FOH console for a live event at Douglass Recording with performances by Jukebox the Ghost, and Earthquake Lights! Digital consoles for FOH normally aren’t my thing, but I actually really enjoyed it. Of course, it always helps when there’s a fun group on stage. You can watch the performance which was streamed live on Youtube here.
FOH mixing on the computer
  • I was back at Birdland recording a live album by Ann Hampton Callaway singing the songs of Linda Rohnstadt. Keep an eye out for that release!
I got my own table!
  • The rig now has tube power! I built Five Fish Audio’s VT-73 – their discrete microphone pre-amp that uses a combination of tube and solid state for gain. It sounds great, and was a pretty simple build. The DOA didn’t scare me away.
  • And as always, I’m always at my usual haunt Pete’s Candy Store for live recordings.
  • Braulio Cruz and Dexter
  • Blythe Gruda
  • Casper Television

Looking forward to the rest of the year!

Party band The Barnstorm released their 2018 promo video that I recorded on location and mixed. Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YBAwr7FSgo

I was in some unique locations with my mobile rig lately. Recording B Boys at Rough Trade NYC for a limited vinyl release (only 500!) with the Brooklyn Brewery Presents series,  Iris Lune at H0l0 in Ridgewood for a live performance video, and Sirintip at the YouTube Space NYC for another live performance video. All of these acts are super exciting and deserve a listen. And of course, live recordings at Pete’s Candy Store continue, with avant-guarde duo, Wit and Daniel, rock group A Crystal O, and Pete’s new monthly series Crypto Conversations which is released as a podcast here.

I’ve stepped away from recording audiobooks to devote more of my time recording music – but some more books I recorded were awarded Audiofile Magazine’s earphones award! The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley, read by Susan Bennett won for September 2018. It’s a modern take on Beowulf, and frankly, one of the best books I’ve ever read.

This year has been great so far!

Live recordings at Pete’s Candy Store has kept rolling on with six more awesome recordings. Acoustic singer-songwriter The Balladeer, released the recording of his performance on all available music purchasing sites and listen on Spotify, mixed and mastered by myself.  Poet/Songwriter Blythe Gruda will be doing the same in the coming months! Other performances included early Beatles cover band, The Giordano Trio, rock group The Witch Ones, solo rock artist Mark Dylan, and rock group Cat Dail.

I recorded on set for party band The Barnstorm‘s music video.  I’ve been busy mixing the tracks, and it’s set to be finished within the next few months.

Working with Douglass Recording on location in the Hamptons, I recorded an abridged performance of Far Travelers, an upcoming opera, AND also ran FOH for the performance. Quite a feat for me. More information can be found on composer/librettist Jeffery Leiser’s website. Check out a video of highlights below!

Far Travelers Opera – Highlights from Jeffrey Leiser on Vimeo.

At Douglass Recording (in Brooklyn this time) I engineered my largest session ever for an upcoming video for Earthquake Lights with the Shattered Glass Orchestra. Look out for that video in the later part of the year.

The back of my head at Douglass Recording, 19-piece, Shattered Glass Orchestra in the live room

I finished my 8 channel, balanced microphone splitter! Based on Jensen’s schematic, I designed the circuit board for it to fit inside of the ART P-16 XLR patch bay. It will live happily ever after in the rig. I’ll soon be making another unit, giving me even more balanced splits.

The rig and I has also gone to a few other awesome places, including the Bushwick Public House to record Reindeer Castle live, the historic Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook to record The Brooklyn Flyers, and even a restaurant basement to record a podcast. It’s been a wild year so far.

In audio book world, two more books I engineered won Audiofile Magazine’s monthly earphones award, bringing my personal total to five! Song of a Captive Bird, a historical fiction novel about the life of Iranian artist Forugh Farrokhzad written by NY Times best selling author, Jasmin Darznik and read by Mozhan Marno, was released by Random House Audio in February. An Irish Country Practice, the 12th book in the series by Patrick Taylor, read by John Keating was released by Macmillan Audio, and won the award in February. Both titles were recorded by myself at John Marshall Media.

Last year, I was a part of many incredible recording projects.
I recorded live sets of some amazing musicians at Birdland Jazz Club, and Ginny’s Supper Club, including Grammy award winning  Kurt Elling, Ann Hampton Callaway, Grace Kelly with the Django Reinhardt Festival All Stars, Rondi Charleston, Brianna Thomas and Veronica Swift. Some recordings will be used for the upcoming documentary She’s Got Jazz by Burns Media Productions. You can hear snippets of these recordings below.

Live recordings have started at Pete’s Candy Store! I’ve had the pleasure to record and mix some amazing sets so far. Most recently, Tim and The Tall Boys (NYC) had an exciting month long residency in January.
Other amazing performances from Erin Kron (Los Angeles, CA), Major Glen (Glendale, CO), Mississippi Cotton (NYC), and Tory Silver (Boston, MA), who released her entire set as an album on her Bandcamp, mixed and mastered by myself.

I’ve been working on a passive, balanced microphone splitter with Jensen transformers. The circuit board has been sent out to be printed, and I’ll be excited to share more info once it’s completed.
I’m always happy to be engineering at my two favorite studios, Douglass Recording, and Mighty Toad Recording Studio. I’m very excited about a few projects that I worked on that will be coming out this year!

 

I engineered over 35 audiobooks in 2017 for some great publishers, including Harper, Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Scholastic and Recorded Books. Two of those won Audiophile Magazine’s monthly Earphones Award, including Windy City Blues, read by Robin Miles, and The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre, read by January LaVoy. Fire and Fury by Michael Wolfe generated a lot of headlines in the news for it’s unique look from inside the Trump White House. I had a blast engineering the audio book version with Holter Graham narrating.