“GRAMMY Pro Art of the Craft” To Takeover Avatar on 5/19
Avatar Studios will be totally overwhelmed on Thursday, May 19th – but this is a good thing.
This audio assault will be overseen by The Recording Academy New York Chapter and its Producers & Engineers Wing Committee, which will be debuting the daylong event “GRAMMY Pro Art Of The Craft: Sounds Of The City.”
Avatar will be the star on May 19th.
The heavy objective of this immersive gathering will be to introduce artists, writers, engineers, and producers to the art and skills required to record in today’s audio environment. A GRAMMY Professional Development program, it will be held at Avatar from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. RSVP is required, and is free for Recording Academy Members. Non-members must call 212-254-5440 to RSVP, and their admission is $40.
Directed at a wide-ranging demographic of attendees – from novice recordists to seasoned pros – the event aims to underscore the role that proper audio engineering plays throughout the production process. The daylong session will feature the New York Chapter’s P&E Wing Committee Co-Chairs, Ann Mincieli and Scott Jacoby, and a dozen top engineer/producers, including Joe Mardin, Chuck Zwicky, and Bob Power, who will share techniques and insights into every aspect of the recording process.
In addition, GRAMMY nominated mixer Ken “Duro” Ifill will interview GRAMMY-winning hip hop/R&B artist Swizz Beatz, on producing and the evolution of technology.
Two simultaneous live sessions will provide participants with the opportunity to experience the entire creative trajectory, from pre-production and beat-making to tracking, comping vocals, overdubbing, mixing, and mastering.
The program will also include working as teams in Avatar’s studios A and C. Groups will observe separate crews recording the same song in two different arrangements. Attendees will be walked through each stage of these sessions, from tuning instruments and mic placement to sampling rates, importing tracks, and recording with Pro Tools.
The event will conclude with a mastering session by Emily Lazar, one of the first women to be nominated for a GRAMMY for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical category in an hour-long networking event in Avatar’s studio C live room.
“Our goal for ‘Sounds of the City’ is to broaden the knowledge of everyone who attends – whether you’re a novice, up-and-coming, or an established professional,” says Mincieli. “We want to expand the recording community, give people the opportunity to network and build their careers, while inspiring everyone to dig in and learn new ways of recording music.”
In the process, the Recording Academy’s NY Chapter also intends to pay tribute to Avatar itself. “2016 may see the selling or closing of Avatar Studios, which has been such a monument of NYC recording for the last several decades,” Jacoby says. “Of course, in addition to Avatar, other major studios have recently closed or will soon be closing their doors. As these doors close, certain techniques, sound, equipment and lineage close with them. And while there is an amazing rebirth in the NYC studio scene, we wanted to honor Avatar at this particular time.
“Avatar, and formerly The Power Station is one of the finest sounding studios in the city, if not the world,” Jacoby continues. “An incredible array of iconic albums were recorded there, and the studio has nurtured some of the most talented producers and engineers of all time. Doing an event at Avatar looking at the entire process of making a record seemed like the right event at the right time.”
The day’s program may sound ambitious, but the people behind it are driven by an inspired agenda that takes the long view. “Since its inception, ‘Art of the Craft’ has always tried to embrace the diversity of the NYC recording landscape,” notes Jacoby. “Not just in terms of techniques and studios, but in terms of genres as well. Our events have ranged from making beats to tracking vocals, from pre-production to mastering, from jazz to hip-hop, from console to laptop.
“We view the series more like a mirror than anything else: reflecting what people are doing, how they are making records, and why people are making the choices that they are. ‘Art of the Craft’ does its best to honor the time-worn traditions of recording as well at the cutting edge techniques that shape popular music today.”
Visit http://bit.ly/1SHycLO to register.
- David Weiss
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