Recording - September 2013 - 14

Interview by Mike Metlay

The History And Mystery
Of Monitoring
A chat with JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Peter Chaikin is the Senior Manager for Recording and Broadcast Marketing at JBL Professional. He’s written for us
before and his views on the ups and downs of monitoring in the small studio are both fun and easy to understand.
Peter joined us by phone from JBL’s facility in Northridge, CA, where we started with a bit of monitoring history and background, then took the time machine into the present, and wound up with a tantalizing glimpse at the future.—MM

Peter Chaikin, then and now: in session at Conway Studios, Hollywood, in the late 1970s, and at JBL Professional today.

First, a little history...
You had a long and successful career as an audio engineer
before your tenure at JBL, working with a lot of jazz luminaries, Quincy Jones, this fellow some folks may have heard
of named Stevie Wonder....
Peter Chaikin: There are times when you’re in the control room and you push up the faders, and there’s nothing
to do but enjoy... it’s just coming at you as this beautiful
performance. You can’t be more fortunate than that.
Actually, that project was my first credit, as a Tape
Operator—Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, the engineer/producers, pulled me off my job on the construction
crew at the Record Plant and said, “Come on, kid, you’ll
do”—where “you’ll do” probably meant that they were
14

RECORDING September 2013

working in a very cramped control room and I was probably the only other person who could fit in there. [laughs]
Stevie had a lockout on Studio B at the Record Plant in the
evenings. It was a small recording space with a small control
room. When I worked for them, Bob, Malcolm and Stevie had
35 records in the can, waiting to be mixed... but every night
Stevie would come in and want to record some new tracks!
They’d gotten four Grammys for Innervisions, and we were
working on what would become Fulfillingness’ First Finale,
which would win five Grammys the next year. I think it was
Paul Simon, the year after that, who got up at the Grammys
and said, “I want to thank Stevie Wonder for not making an
album this year.” [laughs]



Recording - September 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2013

Recording - September 2013
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
The History And Mystery Of Monitoring: A Chat With JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Better Sounds From Tight Spots
Do It Yourself: Fix Your Cables—Save Your Money!
Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 Monitors
MOTU Track16
Ashman Acoustics SOM50 Microphone
Sontronics Sonora 2
Stop Sound Leakage!
Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller
Do It Yourself: Build Acoustic Treatment Right Into Your Walls!
From Shed To Studio
Sneak Previews: Apple Logic Pro X and Avid Pro Tools 11
Readers’ Tapes
Plug-In Outlet: FXpansion Bloom
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 21: Equalization—Part 2
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - September 2013 - Intro
Recording - September 2013 - Recording - September 2013
Recording - September 2013 - Cover2
Recording - September 2013 - 1
Recording - September 2013 - 2
Recording - September 2013 - 3
Recording - September 2013 - Fade In
Recording - September 2013 - 5
Recording - September 2013 - Contents
Recording - September 2013 - 7
Recording - September 2013 - Talkback
Recording - September 2013 - 9
Recording - September 2013 - Fast Forward
Recording - September 2013 - 11
Recording - September 2013 - 12
Recording - September 2013 - 13
Recording - September 2013 - The History And Mystery Of Monitoring: A Chat With JBL’s Peter Chaikin
Recording - September 2013 - 15
Recording - September 2013 - 16
Recording - September 2013 - 17
Recording - September 2013 - 18
Recording - September 2013 - 19
Recording - September 2013 - 20
Recording - September 2013 - 21
Recording - September 2013 - Better Sounds From Tight Spots
Recording - September 2013 - 23
Recording - September 2013 - 24
Recording - September 2013 - 25
Recording - September 2013 - Do It Yourself: Fix Your Cables—Save Your Money!
Recording - September 2013 - 27
Recording - September 2013 - 28
Recording - September 2013 - 29
Recording - September 2013 - Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 Monitors
Recording - September 2013 - 31
Recording - September 2013 - 32
Recording - September 2013 - 33
Recording - September 2013 - MOTU Track16
Recording - September 2013 - 35
Recording - September 2013 - Ashman Acoustics SOM50 Microphone
Recording - September 2013 - 37
Recording - September 2013 - Sontronics Sonora 2
Recording - September 2013 - 39
Recording - September 2013 - Stop Sound Leakage!
Recording - September 2013 - 41
Recording - September 2013 - 42
Recording - September 2013 - 43
Recording - September 2013 - 44
Recording - September 2013 - 45
Recording - September 2013 - Drawmer MC2.1 Monitor Controller
Recording - September 2013 - 47
Recording - September 2013 - Do It Yourself: Build Acoustic Treatment Right Into Your Walls!
Recording - September 2013 - 49
Recording - September 2013 - From Shed To Studio
Recording - September 2013 - 51
Recording - September 2013 - Sneak Previews: Apple Logic Pro X and Avid Pro Tools 11
Recording - September 2013 - 53
Recording - September 2013 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - September 2013 - 55
Recording - September 2013 - 56
Recording - September 2013 - 57
Recording - September 2013 - 58
Recording - September 2013 - 59
Recording - September 2013 - Plug-In Outlet: FXpansion Bloom
Recording - September 2013 - 61
Recording - September 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 21: Equalization—Part 2
Recording - September 2013 - 63
Recording - September 2013 - 64
Recording - September 2013 - Advertiser Index
Recording - September 2013 - 66
Recording - September 2013 - 67
Recording - September 2013 - 68
Recording - September 2013 - 69
Recording - September 2013 - 70
Recording - September 2013 - 71
Recording - September 2013 - Cover3
Recording - September 2013 - Cover4
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