While I love working in proper recording studios, I also do a fair amount of recording in less than ideal spaces at an artists request. It can be wonderful having the luxury of all of the best equipment, treated rooms, and isolation in the studio, but I put the artist’s comfort, creativity, and inspiration first, which has taken me to a lot of very interesting places.
From recording @jonbatiste in 18th century barns with an old 8-channel mixer, to a live performance at Carnegie Hall with a 24-track tape machine, to a meditation record in a historic church, to a rock band in their living room, I use and the space to my advantage and let it guide us to the sound we will create.
The space in which you record has such a strong influence, not just on the tone, but on the energy of the performance. Even when I am working in some of the top studios in the world, I use principles of feng shui to arrange the space in a way that allows myself and the artist to feel completely at ease.
No matter where I record, it’s all about cultivating and capturing a moment in time that holds a magic that will never be recreated.
‘Out On The Road’, joint single by @zivirecords + @mwhitmore___ goes live this Friday 4/4/25. Video premiere on YouTube, song streaming everywhere. #makemusic #newsingle #collab
Behind The Board: Exploring The Sound of ALKEBULAN II. Thank you to @angelavbenson@jettgalindo and @mwhitmore___ for sharing your experiences through creating our GRAMMY nominated album. I am grateful for you all, and our entire team, for your hard work, dedication, and contributions to making this album what we all hear today. 🙏🏽 #ALKEBULANII
Step ‘Behind the Board’ this Tuesday, December 10 at 12 PM PST on Instagram Live, as we uncover the creative and technical brilliance that shaped @mattbworld ’s GRAMMY nominated album ‘ALKEBULAN II’. Don’t miss this deep dive into the sound of a masterpiece 🌍🎶 #ALKEBULANII
New Teleporter music out today! Door & Windows 95. Recorded up in the hills at Marc’s new place. @mwhitmore___ was asking about Teleporter tunes so I sent him some demos. He pulled them from the grave, we recorded them, and here they are, hope you enjoy!
Produced by me and Marc
Mixed and Mastered by Marc
Inspired by the high desert of Santa Fe, NM, songwriter John Francis performs “That’s What I Knew”. Recorded by Grammy winning audio engineer Marc Whitmore at his foothills studio. The recording features a trio of #beyerdynamic microphones including an M600 on vocals and an M130 and M930 on acoustic guitar.
I have a great appreciation for the skill and intention it took to record a good song in the era of fully analog recording. You were limited on time in the studio, the amount of tracks you could record, how many takes you could do, and how much you could manipulate your sound in mixing.
I describe the sound that I go for as “early 1970’s.” I love the sound of most recordings from this era, regardless of what kind of music it is. To me, it is because there was just the right amount of technology and fidelity to get the perfect result. By the 80’s, however, things got a little more sterile in the studio.
I’ve observed that most engineers today work in a much more post-1980 mindset. They may put something like 20 microphones on the drum kit to have every possible option later, while I believe you should be able to record a band with 8-12 microphones total and commit to what you want while everyone is in the studio digging it. It comes down to personal preference, and what the band wants, but I’ve found that the artists that I connect with have a similar vision and love for classic records like me. There is definitely a “by-the-book” way to do everything in the studio, but I think if you go that route, your music is going to sound more unoriginal.
While highly proficient in Pro Tools, when possible I prefer to work in a traditional studio with a large mixing console. I’ve found that avoiding the computer screen and being limited to just the knobs and faders in front of me always cultivates a better and more natural vibe in the studio, and it comes through in the final product. I’ve done a handful of sessions with producers/engineers who just plug in a laptop and ignore all of the equipment in a studio that is crucial to getting a rich sound, which takes away from the music in its truest form.
📸: @recordingacademy
Been on a very fun tour mixing Tennis for the last few weeks and we only have a few shows left! This was last night at the amazing @theaztectheatre in San Antonio
