fantasticsound Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 My wife picked up the mail when my May, 2005 issue of Mix Magazine arrived and it was lost in the car for the past 2 months. I opened it up yesterday and flipped through a few pages to find one of my teachers from Columbia College had died. Marty Feldman owned Paragon Studios in Chicago and was, among other things, a mentor to Ed Cherney. In fact, Ed, Bruce (Swedien) and several others eulogized Marty in the half page obit. My own experience of Marty was of a jolly, opinionated mixer (Aren't we all? ) who demanded his students think. Not just learn. Think. My favorite Marty Feldman quote was this: Everything is exactly how it was yesterday.. until it isn't. Marty was all about taking what was in front of you, applying what you knew, but not being guided by the dogma that just because something worked yesterday, it would work today. He was the teacher that, in the context of a mixing class, made us figure out the most efficient way to troubleshoot a signal path. (Using the hypothetical; "If your gear breaks down in the middle of a $200/hr studio rental, will you be the guy that finds the problem and addresses it in 10 minutes or an hour?") His classes were equal parts mixing and studio smarts. But I'd be remiss if I didn't take this moment to warn people to be mindful of finding a mentor. I, along with hundreds of other Columbia students took classes from Marty at Paragon, as well as Malcolm Chisolm, a legendary engineer at Chess Records prior to teaching at Columbia. Malcolm, like Marty, challenged people to take a bit of information he gave them and figure out for themselves how to use that knowledge. But though I gleaned a lot of information, advice, and shared experience from these two men in those classes, I now regret that I didn't hound the both of them to mentor me. Both men loved teaching. Both felt it their responsibility to share all they had learned in long, successful careers. Somehow I treated my education as though it ended the day I graduated. That was 1991, and I hadn't spoken to either man since. Please, let this be a warning, especially to those of you who are young and right now have knowledgable teachers who love what they do. Whether in school, in studios or otherwise... Remember to (and I'll borrow a phrase from Walt Whitman courtesy of The Dead Poet's Society) suck the marrow out of life from your mentors' hearts and minds. The greatest success you can achieve demands you grab every last drop of their life experience and wisdom while they have it to give. Don't let it happen to you. Don't say, 15 years on, "Why didn't I push harder to make a connection with someone so valuable who opened themselves to help novices grow?" Marty Feldman, RIP And to all of you who have jumped at the chance to interact with Bruce Swedien. He's a gentleman, an expert, and has been so much more than forthcoming with his opinions and knowledge in only a few months of posting here. Bruce, your presence here is certainly a gift and I, for one, intend to be grateful but also grab as much of that gift as you'll share with us. Someday, if you are willing, I'd like to hear more of your experience with Marty. Peace, It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idiotboy Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Bruce Swedien? Wow. (checking through postings) Good grief, perhaps I should check out the other topics around here that don't have my name in them. Bruce Swedien's abundant offerings on this forum are invaluable. I was actually fortunate enough to meet the man during my Westlake days, as he was promoting Westlake Audio monitors at one time. Truly great monitors, but the demographic was aimed at people with more money than Bill Gates. As a continuing student of production techniques (as we all should be) I've been privileged to lose myself between the speakers of Mr. Swedien's lush audio landscapes. What a treat to find his postings and learn directly from someone who has carved out a hefty credit list of some of the best sounding albums available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curve Dominant Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 posted by fantasticsound: My wife picked up the mail when my May, 2005 issue of Mix Magazine arrived and it was lost in the car for the past 2 months. I opened it up yesterday and flipped through a few pages to find one of my teachers from Columbia College had died. Marty Feldman owned Paragon Studios in Chicago and was, among other things, a mentor to Ed Cherney. In fact, Ed, Bruce (Swedien) and several others eulogized Marty in the half page obit. My own experience of Marty was of a jolly, opinionated mixer (Aren't we all? ) who demanded his students think. Not just learn. Think. My favorite Marty Feldman quote was this: Everything is exactly how it was yesterday.. until it isn't. Marty was all about taking what was in front of you, applying what you knew, but not being guided by the dogma that just because something worked yesterday, it would work today. He was the teacher that, in the context of a mixing class, made us figure out the most efficient way to troubleshoot a signal path. (Using the hypothetical; "If your gear breaks down in the middle of a $200/hr studio rental, will you be the guy that finds the problem and addresses it in 10 minutes or an hour?") His classes were equal parts mixing and studio smarts. But I'd be remiss if I didn't take this moment to warn people to be mindful of finding a mentor. I, along with hundreds of other Columbia students took classes from Marty at Paragon, as well as Malcolm Chisolm, a legendary engineer at Chess Records prior to teaching at Columbia. Malcolm, like Marty, challenged people to take a bit of information he gave them and figure out for themselves how to use that knowledge. But though I gleaned a lot of information, advice, and shared experience from these two men in those classes, I now regret that I didn't hound the both of them to mentor me. Both men loved teaching. Both felt it their responsibility to share all they had learned in long, successful careers. Somehow I treated my education as though it ended the day I graduated. That was 1991, and I hadn't spoken to either man since. Please, let this be a warning, especially to those of you who are young and right now have knowledgable teachers who love what they do. Whether in school, in studios or otherwise... Remember to (and I'll borrow a phrase from Walt Whitman courtesy of The Dead Poet's Society) suck the marrow out of life from your mentors' hearts and minds. The greatest success you can achieve demands you grab every last drop of their life experience and wisdom while they have it to give. Don't let it happen to you. Don't say, 15 years on, "Why didn't I push harder to make a connection with someone so valuable who opened themselves to help novices grow?" Marty Feldman, RIP And to all of you who have jumped at the chance to interact with Bruce Swedien. He's a gentleman, an expert, and has been so much more than forthcoming with his opinions and knowledge in only a few months of posting here. Bruce, your presence here is certainly a gift and I, for one, intend to be grateful but also grab as much of that gift as you'll share with us. Someday, if you are willing, I'd like to hear more of your experience with Marty. Peace, -------------------- NeilNeil, Thanks for posting that. Your post was inspirational in itself. You may not have "hounded" your teachers as much as you now may wish to have, but you certainly learned the most important things from them. I've been producing for an important young artist here in Philly lately, and repeating to her something Bruce posted here, telling us something Duke Ellington said to him: "Don't follow the crowd." We have to appreciate these gems of wisdom, and the importance of passing them along. Eric Vincent (ASCAP) www.curvedominant.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 Thanks, Curve. (BTW - Is she here at the CMA Country Music Fest this weekend?) It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Life is certainly for the living. Each studio engineer has something to give with the learning curve and each has a different way to get from point A to point B but every once in a while, an "Einstein" of the recording arts will pass our way and this is the prime oppurtunity to learn like a spounge. I remember very clearly in the late 70's that Bruces mixdowns were set "apart" from many others and learn indeed is what I did then..and now. We are blessed to have mentors who are forthright in this day and age, freely sharing their wisdom and experiences. In all the clouds of billowing BS that is spewed all over the web and the copycat bandwagon crowd of seeing how loud they can make a song, it is most refreshing that the truly talented amongst us are quick to tell us to "throw away the rulebook, use some known guidelines of science to maintain a quality signal path and most of all, GO FOR YOURSELF!" Heres to all of our mentors and may we all be mentors to the less experienced. Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Swedien Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Oh!!! Wow!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Swedien Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 How about a true, incredible, very funny little story about Marty Feldman, Robert Moog, Bruce Swedien, Eddie Harris and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans? All of the above in the control room at the same time at Paragon Studios in Chicago in the summer of 1974.... I'll have to write it carefully. It's a killer!!!! And there's quite a bit of detail.... Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 Please... be as forthcoming as you like! Sounds like it must've been a hoot, Bruce! I miss Paragon. It was probably already the deadest of live end/dead end rooms in '74. I've mentioned in the past how Tim Powell of Metromobile recording couldn't bring up a decent mix of a 24 track he recorded in his truck because Tim's system consisted of NS-10's driven by Carver magnetic field, power-supply amps and Paragon (In 1990) had huge Urei speakers powered by hefty amps. (I don't recall the make, but they certainly had better slew rate than the early Carvers.) Tim's truck was inherently light on bass and Paragon was a giant bass bin. We ended up sampling Tim's mix a few at a time as we toured the truck. On a sad note, I lost a guitar out front and across the street from Paragon. My car's leaky roof held my attention as I left Paragon. I put the guitar down by the driver's side, rear wheel while removing the ineffectual plastic I had inadvertently placed in such a way that it guided water to the leak in the windshield/roofline. In the darkeness I forgot to pickup the guitar... and drove off. Only went 3 blocks to another studio for several hours of night-time fun recording, playing Risk, etc. (Zenith/dB Studios.) I was almost home (25 miles away) when I realized what I'd done. It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Swedien Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Neil...... It'll take me a minute. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 That's ok, Bruce! I may not see it right away, but you can bet I'll find it! Any story that involves one of my favorite teachers, the original analog synth for the people genius, a viking mixer, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans has to be one for the books! Are you sure Stephen Hawking, Mohammed Ali and Charlie's Angels weren't in attendance, too?? (I await your tale.... ) It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Swedien Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Bob Moog flips Bruce Swedien the "Bird"! by Bruce Swedien The following is a true Studio Tale. Some of the dates may be off a bit, but every attempt was made by the author to be accurate. The places, locations and the participants are absolutely precise! It happened during the summer of 1970 (I think!).... I was recording an album at Marty Feldmans great studio in Chicago - Paragon Studios. I was working with the incredible Saxaphone Virtuoso Eddie Harris. Robert Moog was working with us. Bob made some very extraordinary electronic devices for Eddie. Bob and Eddie had done a lot of experimental stuff that never went into production. Bobs favorite was a four-oscillator synthesizer for Eddie. Eddie used it for years and we made several records with it. It was unique! But then, everything that Eddie, Bob and I did for those recordings was unique! Paragon was a walk-up three story recording studio. You came in at the street and then walked up one flight to the Paragon Recording Studio offices. Then up one more flight of stairs to the studio. And what a studio! That walk-up was a real pain-in-the-ass! The interesting thing was that after the initial walk-up, people griped and moaned about it, but then after an hour or two working in those great sounding rooms, with all that great Marty Feldman equipment, there were nothing but smiles and happy faces all around! Marty Feldman was an excellent small airplane pilot! Recording was Martys first love but flying small airplanes was a close second love! The console in Martys studio was a great sounding desk built by legendary audio design engineer Daniel Flickinger. Marty had designed the control room with all the audio outboard gear installed above the engineers head just like the pilots cockpit in an airplane! It worked quite well as I recall.... We had been working all night on the Eddie Harris album. We had started at 8:00 pm the night before. I was burned, but that is the way it is sometimes! Besides the Eddie Harris album was fantastic! That was all that mattered to me.... I was scheduled to start work on a religious record with Dale Evans singing at 10:00 in the morning! Eddie and his crew and Bob Moog were packing up all their stuff. The musicians and the Religious Record Label Folks had arrived at about 10:00 am. Dale Evans was there with husband Roy Rogers in tow. (Interesting side-note - the label folks had warned me not to ask about Trigger, Roy Rogers legendary Palomino horse. They said to me that if Trigger was mentioned in conversation, not to say the he was Stuffed. No, he was Mounted, I think they said to say!) Marty called me on the studio phone and asked me if he could bring them all up into the control room. I said Sure! we were done with Eddies stuff and they were packing up the gear out in the studio. So, picture this - In the Paragon Control Room - Myself, seated at the legendary Flickinger..... Marty Feldman behind me, waiting to make sure our clients were all happy. Three dudes, very restrained, in handsome three-piece suits with ties, from the religious record label. Plus Dale Evans and Roy Rogers waiting for something to happen.... The mood in the control room was somber and prayerful. It was a Religious Record Date. It was almost a prayer meeting, but not quite... All of a sudden, the control room door bashed open and Robert Moog, looking all dignified, (the father of the synthesizer), burst in!!! He ran around to the front of the console directly in front of me, and made a very obscene gesture directly at me. (You know the one! With his right hand and his middle finger up! I think its called Flipping Someone The Bird!) Everyone in the control room froze in abject horror! You could have heard a pin drop!!!! Then Robert Moog, the father of the synthesizer, spun on his heel and left without saying a word!!! Leaving me to explain what had happened!!! Of course behind me, Marty Feldman was absolutely convulsed with roaring laughter!!!! Perhaps you should have been there to properly appreciate the situation. It was incredible!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 That's priceless, Bruce! Especially since I can see the room. It's just as Bruce described it, right down to the damn 2 flight walkup! I'd totally forgotten that was a Flickinger. It was truly an amazing console. I only wish I'd gotten to mix behind it for a real project. One other note. THANK YOU for reminding me of another Marty story, Bruce!! Marty mentioned his love of flying and said he felt it was necessary to learn to skydive just in case his plane should fail and he had to bail out. He signed up for a days worth of lessons. I don't know what it costs to learn to skydive, but it ain't cheap! Marty did his ground training and went up for his first jump. He jumped, waited, pulled the cord and landed. His instructor said, "Ok.. let's get the chute's packed up and go for your next jump." Marty told him, "No." The instructor mentioned Marty wouldn't get his money back, so he might as well jump. Marty's reply was that he only wanted to prove to himself he could jump out of a plane if need be. Now that he had his answer, there was no sane reason for him to jump again! Thanks again for the smile and inspiration, Bruce! It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 Sweet story. He may have flipped you the bird because you did a "fantastic job"!! Skydiving. 150 for the first tandum. training solo, about 400 and subsequent dives around 125. Shute can cost as much as you want to pay, mine was 4200 with drouge and secondary but it is a rather high performance "flyer". The diving game, about 5000 for your own and training (with buddies that care about you and help pro bono) and another 5K a year to keep on jumpin!! They can go for 400 for a decent shute as well. Here is the high tech: http://www.strongparachutes.com/Pages/ramairres.html They can run 10K as well... http://www.strongparachutes.com/DualHawkSystem.html Elberta Alabama is the prime spot to learn...not burn. Bruce, thank you for the story! Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Swedien Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Folks...... I forgot to mention that when my old pal Bob Moog flipped me the "Bird", he stuck his tongue out at me as well!!! The story isn't as dynamic without that detail!!! Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Swedien Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 To you Columbia College,(In Chicago) folks...... Is my old pal James Mack still teaching at Columbia College in Chicago? James is one of the most gifted arrangers, orchestrators and conductors that this industry has ever seen. Plus he's a great humorist as well!!! Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted June 11, 2005 Author Share Posted June 11, 2005 Well.. Jim Mack was there when I graduated. ...In 1991. I don't know if he's still there. The only other teachers from that era I know are still there are Ric Coken (Sound to picture, Sold Zenith/dB studios to Columbia when Univeral Audio went bankrupt to buy their space, though I believe he sold it a few years later.) and, thanks to a current student who posted on the binaural thread, Jack Alexander. (Live sound.) It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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