RECORDING November 2024 - 24

Compositional Worlds
of
The
Michael Whalen
Michael's
Current Studio
How do you craft, compose
and collaborate on albums like
What about when you are composing
or conceiving the music? Do you
have a genre or style in mind?
That said, Watercolor Sky was written
and conceived using New Age music
from the 1980s as my guide. [Both laugh]
In the '80s, the Windham Hill Record label
was my jam-so was ECM and a few other
things-but Windham Hill Records was
my favorite. So not only did I do this record
with that style in mind, but I got five people
from that time period and even that label who
were incredibly important to me in terms of
my own development to play on it.
So, it is similar to your album
Our April Tigers, which I think is
your most ECM-influenced and has
some actual ECM players on it?
Yes, on that album, Michael Brook played
guitar, Michael Manring played bass, Jeff
Oster was on flugelhorn and trumpet, and
Karsh Kale played percussion and samples.
24 RECORDING November 2024
these, especially when most of
it is done remotely with people
working in their own studios?
You will notice that most of the people
I work with, whether it's Watercolor Sky
or Our April Tigers, or whatever, in almost
99% of the cases, the people I'm working
with are also composers.
I'm having a conversation with them as a
composer. Our April Tigers was written by
five people. Sure, it was my album. I had
the initial ideas, and I started the tracks; I
hired everybody, and I mixed it. However,
each player brought a lot to that project,
especially regarding the music.
I wanna work with people who are going
to carry the water creatively. I am very
specific about my expectations on a project,
but I don't tell anyone what to play.
To be more specific, on Watercolor Sky,
I had a really good idea of what I wanted,
so I am not necessarily co-composing with
people, but I really wanted that player to
do what that player does. To paraphrase
Quincy Jones: a good producer hires great
players and lets them do what they do.
I think a lot of producers today hit the
wall when they hire somebody but don't
really know who they're hiring and what
that player does. Then, they spend the
whole time trying to finesse or shape that
player's performance the way the producer
wants it versus letting that player's
organic expression come through. You've
gotta let the player be the player.
That was certainly the case with Mark
Isham. I mean, the guy is working on four
TV shows at once and other projects. I
can't even believe that he made time to
even play on the record, but I was absolutely
sure in my mind that he was the
guy that I heard on this project. He heard
the tracks and heard himself on it, too. He
was like, " Oh yeah, I got this. " It wasn't
simply a session gig because he knew that
I wanted him to be him.

RECORDING November 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of RECORDING November 2024

Fade In
Fast Forward
Focal Lensys Professional Headphones
Plugin Outlet: Toontrack EZmix 3
The Compositional Worlds of Michael Whalen
IK Multimedia ARC Studio
Plugin Outlet: KIT Plugins BB F66/67 Compressor
Studio 101— Audio Repair
Arturia AudioFuse X8 IN & X8 OUT
Plugin Outlet: Black Rooster Audio OmniTec-436C & VTC-2
Lauten Audio Rim Mount
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby Creating a Vibe
Shure SM4 Home Studio Microphone
Readers’ Tracks
Plugin Outlet: Imaginando BAM
PhantomFocus Master Engineer Series eChair™ - Raven Chrome
On-Stage SMS7500, MS7550 & MY230
RECORDING Field Notes Everything but the Gear
MCAudioLab LUNA
Barefoot Sound Footprint03
Plugin Outlet: Strymon Echo Plugin Bundle
Fade Out
RECORDING November 2024 - Intro
RECORDING November 2024 - Cover1
RECORDING November 2024 - Cover2
RECORDING November 2024 - 1
RECORDING November 2024 - 2
RECORDING November 2024 - 3
RECORDING November 2024 - Fade In
RECORDING November 2024 - 5
RECORDING November 2024 - 6
RECORDING November 2024 - 7
RECORDING November 2024 - Fast Forward
RECORDING November 2024 - 9
RECORDING November 2024 - Focal Lensys Professional Headphones
RECORDING November 2024 - 11
RECORDING November 2024 - 12
RECORDING November 2024 - 13
RECORDING November 2024 - Plugin Outlet: Toontrack EZmix 3
RECORDING November 2024 - 15
RECORDING November 2024 - 16
RECORDING November 2024 - 17
RECORDING November 2024 - The Compositional Worlds of Michael Whalen
RECORDING November 2024 - 19
RECORDING November 2024 - 20
RECORDING November 2024 - 21
RECORDING November 2024 - 22
RECORDING November 2024 - 23
RECORDING November 2024 - 24
RECORDING November 2024 - 25
RECORDING November 2024 - 26
RECORDING November 2024 - 27
RECORDING November 2024 - 28
RECORDING November 2024 - 29
RECORDING November 2024 - IK Multimedia ARC Studio
RECORDING November 2024 - 31
RECORDING November 2024 - 32
RECORDING November 2024 - 33
RECORDING November 2024 - Plugin Outlet: KIT Plugins BB F66/67 Compressor
RECORDING November 2024 - 35
RECORDING November 2024 - Studio 101— Audio Repair
RECORDING November 2024 - 37
RECORDING November 2024 - 38
RECORDING November 2024 - 39
RECORDING November 2024 - Arturia AudioFuse X8 IN & X8 OUT
RECORDING November 2024 - 41
RECORDING November 2024 - Plugin Outlet: Black Rooster Audio OmniTec-436C & VTC-2
RECORDING November 2024 - 43
RECORDING November 2024 - Lauten Audio Rim Mount
RECORDING November 2024 - 45
RECORDING November 2024 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby Creating a Vibe
RECORDING November 2024 - 47
RECORDING November 2024 - 48
RECORDING November 2024 - 49
RECORDING November 2024 - Shure SM4 Home Studio Microphone
RECORDING November 2024 - 51
RECORDING November 2024 - Readers’ Tracks
RECORDING November 2024 - 53
RECORDING November 2024 - Plugin Outlet: Imaginando BAM
RECORDING November 2024 - 55
RECORDING November 2024 - PhantomFocus Master Engineer Series eChair™ - Raven Chrome
RECORDING November 2024 - 57
RECORDING November 2024 - On-Stage SMS7500, MS7550 & MY230
RECORDING November 2024 - 59
RECORDING November 2024 - RECORDING Field Notes Everything but the Gear
RECORDING November 2024 - 61
RECORDING November 2024 - 62
RECORDING November 2024 - 63
RECORDING November 2024 - MCAudioLab LUNA
RECORDING November 2024 - 65
RECORDING November 2024 - Barefoot Sound Footprint03
RECORDING November 2024 - 67
RECORDING November 2024 - Plugin Outlet: Strymon Echo Plugin Bundle
RECORDING November 2024 - 69
RECORDING November 2024 - 70
RECORDING November 2024 - 71
RECORDING November 2024 - Fade Out
RECORDING November 2024 - Cover3
RECORDING November 2024 - Cover4
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