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If you’re looking for a killer conga player, mixer, or producer and the budget for flying them into your studio doesn’t exist, look no further than that mouse on your desktop. Esession.com, in the works for years and about to officially launch this winter, is not only the place to find the session personnel your project needs—it’s also the portal through which you’ll record and pay them. eSession founder, producer, engineer, and musician Gina Fant-Saez owns Blue World Music in Austin, Texas, and calls many of the world’s top session players “friend” after the hundreds of sessions they’ve worked together. She was also a big part of the Digidesign-developed Rocket Network in the late ‘90s, but eSession is a very different new road on the online music collaboration paths originally paved by Rocket. The new site is built around an ftp-based model that, unlike Rocket, allows a person on either end of the connection to send and receive digital audio with any DAW anywhere in the world—just punch “play” or “record”, do your thing, and let Gina take care of routing the checks and all the messy connectivity issues. Fant-Saez’s musician, producer, engineer, and mix/remix credits include Sting, U2, Nelly Furtado, Jimmie Vaughan, King Crimson, and Walt Disney Pictures. She’s also written Pro Tools For Musicians and Songwriters, a book for Peachpit Press currently being edited by former Keyboard senior editor Jim Aikin.
GINA: I believe that a microphone should capture the pure essence of whatever I am recording. If I want to color the sound later, I’ll most likely use a plug-in to do that. I’m more of an artist/producer rather than a technical engineer, and I tend to jump right into the music and use a mic that I know works. So I don’t spend that much time stressing over microphone choices. I tend to choose an industry standard microphone that I know works. I’ve seen some engineers spend hours changing kick and snare drum mics and changing mic pres so much that by the time the session starts, the drummer is burned out and frustrated. My biggest concern for mics is usually with a vocal because, for much of the music I work on, that’s the focus of the song. So, I tend to only be picky with mics when recording a vocalist. The vocals are the most intimate part of a song, and it’s the most intimate part of the recording process, as well. The most important thing to me is that the vocalist feels safe and comfortable. I tend to think of my first job as “Keeper of the Vibe,” my second being an engineer. Overall, my approach when recording a new vocalist is to be prepared before they walk in the door. First, I have their favorite beverage, maybe some candles and low light. Then, rather than wear a vocalist out switching mics, I will have 2 or 3 pre-selected mics and pres set-up and ready to go so they can walk into the booth and sing. I’ll record a few phrases of the song with each mic and then A, B or C them with the artist until we agree which mic is best for their voice.
GINA: I usually do use compression with a vocal. Depending on the drummer and the song, I will record a kick or snare with compression. Whether I record with compression really depends on two things: the song and how dynamic it is, and the player and how consistent they are. I very rarely record with EQ.
GINA: First, I like a mic that’s versatile—something that I could use not only for a vocal, but also for a harmonica or cello—and I tend to like warmer mics that make the sound fuller rather than thinner. If I need to, I can add high end later. I really have to say that it’s important to choose a mic that my clients will like as much as I do. Since I have a commercial studio, it’s important for my mic choice to appeal not only to me, but to other engineers, as well, which use my studio.
GINA: I’ve been recording a lot of vocals lately. My current favorite mic for vocals is a cardioid mic that’s especially great for female vocals. I always use a popscreen and I usually ask the vocalist to remain about 5-6 inches away. That way, if they move into the mic, it’s more for an effect or to give a certain phrase intimacy and presence. I tend to go back and forth between using the Manley VoxBox or a Neve 1073 with an LA-2A as the mic pre and compression for vocals. I always insist that a vocalist keep one ear of the headphones off and the headphone volume as low as possible, and I ask them NOT to listen to themselves in the headphones, but rather listen to themselves in the room and use the headphone level to simply maintain pitch and tempo. I get resistance from the vocalists at first, but when I play them their vocal track recorded while monitoring through headphones, and then one without, they are usually amazed how much better the latter is. BLUE: We like to ask about crazy sounds you've gotten in the studio, maybe you planned them, or maybe they were accidental. When have you tried a weird idea that seemed like it absolutely wouldn't work, technically or creatively, but it did?
GINA: I love using reverse cymbals, but I didn’t want to overdo it on this one project. I decided we needed to get the sound of bowling pins crashing and reverse that, too, so somewhere I found the sound effect of bowling pins and reversed it. It was one of the funniest but most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
GINA: That’s easy – two words - Fragile Egos.
GINA: Hmmm, there are two types of memorable sessions for me. Laid back sessions working with the people I know and love are the most memorable for me. I can be myself, make mistakes, and feel open to be more creative and sometimes try crazy things. But in terms of working with clients, let me see…OK, here’s a good one for you: Disney did an animated film a few years ago called Home on the Range. One of the characters in it is a cattle rustler who steals cattle not with rope, but by yodeling. Randy Quaid was the voice of the character in the film. Disney came to Austin and I had the incredible honor of recording the world’s most famous yodelers for an entire day! They showed up at my studio every two hours; I think we recorded 5 or 6 yodelers singing the same song. I mixed the final files and put them on my ftp server for Allen Menken, the composer, to review and choose the best yodeler for the film. They recorded the album in L.A. and flew the yodeler—or is it yodelist?—there for the final tracking, but it was a great, memorable session for me. ~ Visit Gina Fant-Saez and dozens of online “distance session” musicians, engineers, editors, and producers available. www.esession.com
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