WCA #599 with Alex Newport – Three Decades of Production, a Studio in the Desert, Engineering at Tiny Telephone, and Why Unique Always Beats Good

For episode 617, Matt welcomes back Anthony Gravino, musician and recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, nearly a decade after his first appearance on WCA 137. In 2020, Anthony sold The Drake, his Chicago studio of 14 years, bought a converted 1940s horse barn just outside Urbana, Illinois, and turned it into High Cross Sound, a 2,100 square foot studio and home. They talk about why he left Chicago, what drew him to the barn, tracking 14 straight days with Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter three months after moving in, the Champaign-Urbana music scene, and the business side of owning, living in, and working out of the same building. In This Episode, We Discuss: 14 Years in Chicago: The Drake Studio on Drake Avenue Why Anthony Left: Gentrification, Property Taxes, the Pandemic, and Seeing the Right Property at the Right Time The Old Horse Barn: 25-Foot Peak Ceilings, Curved Wooden Walls, and Listening to Drums Before Signing Building High Cross Sound: Control Room, Isolation Booth, and Wiring a Former Home Into a Studio Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter: 14 Straight Days, Three Months After Moving In The Psychology of Vertical Space and Natural Light on Musicians Champaign-Urbana: REO Speedwagon, the Rose Bowl Tavern, and a Music Scene Bigger Than Its Studio Supply Moving During the Pandemic: Every Session Canceled in March, Perfect Time to Be Out of Commission Selling the Chicago Building After Buying in 2006, Financing at 2.5% Interest Dropping the API Console, Going to a Small Mixer and Outboard Preamps Keeping the Rate, Then Raising It When He Saw What Others Were Charging Isolated Ground, a Private Transformer Shared With Three Houses, and a Quieter Noise Floor Living and Working in the Same Building: Tax Advantages When 80% Is Studio Space Music Videos, University Work, and the Snowball Rolling Down the Hill The Pool: More Romanticized by Clients Than Actually Used

Sylvia Massy returns to Working Class Audio for the first time since Episode 14 back in 2015. She joins Matt from her studio in Ashland, Oregon to talk about her new book, The Great Book of Vintage Microphones, co-authored with Chris Johnson. To write it, Sylvia and Chris acquired the entire estate collection of Milwaukee radio legend Bob Paquette: 3,500 microphones kept together rather than cherry-picked apart. The book covers 100 years of microphone history, from David Edward Hughes's 1877 burnt-stick carbon transducer to the ribbons and condensers most engineers grew up with. In This Episode, We Discuss: The Studio in Ashland: Converted Radiator Shop, Five-Bay Garage, Concrete Construction Chris Joshnson: Co-Author, Life Partner, and the Man Who Negotiated a Microphone Museum Bob Paquette's Collection: 3,500 Mics, Milwaukee Radio History, and Keeping It Together The First Microphone: David Edward Hughes, 1877, a Burnt Carbon Stick Crystal Mics, Carbon Telephone Elements, and Technology That Lasted Into the 1990s Condenser Development: From a Wooden Box Power Supply Down to the Pencil Condensers We Use Today The First Directional Microphone A Condenser That Went to the South Pole With Admiral Byrd The Glow Discharge Mic: Plasma Between Two Electrodes, Banned After 1928 Art Deco Mics That Looked Like Spaceships and Sounded Worse Because of Their Cases Western Electric Birdcage, Tadpole Mics, Bakelite, and the 1947 Astatic 600S The ChicLet: Color Options Pearl Mics From Sweden and the 6102 RFP Sylvia's Favorite Mic for Female Vocal Microphone Seeds: Ribbons, Dynamics, and Condensers

For episode 615, Matt concludes his two-part conversation with Michael Frondelli, picking up in Los Angeles where Keith Forsey and Richie Zito brought him west. Michael landed at Giorgio Moroder’s Oasis Studios, where he worked on the Breakfast Club soundtrack, Beverly Hills Cop, and the world premiere digital playback of Moroder’s restored Metropolis. He went on to eleven years as Vice President of Capitol Records Studios, where his first artist was Frank Sinatra and he quietly produced Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on a $100,000 investment that grossed $7 million. They also talk about AI and copyright, the importance of pre-production, apprenticeships in audio, network as the real currency of a career, and what Phil Ramone told him about what recording engineers actually do. In This Episode, We Discuss: Moving to Los Angeles via Keith Forsey and Richie Zito Giorgio Moroder’s Oasis Studios: Breakfast Club, Beverly Hills Cop, and Three Films at Once The World Premiere Digital Playback of Moroder’s Restored Metropolis East Coast vs West Coast Recording Culture Keeping an Apartment in Brooklyn and One in LA VP of Capitol Records Studios: How He Got the Job Learning to Run a $5 Million Business The First Business Plan Ever Written for Capitol Studios Frank Sinatra as the First Artist: Phil Ramone, Al Schmitt, and Building a Custom Vocal Booth Union Negotiations, Health Benefits, and Taking Care of the Staff Being Told He Was Too Old to Start a Label at 44 Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: $100,000 In, $7 Million Gross, 500,000 Records by May Crowded House, Gary Stamper, and Don’t Dream It’s Over AI, Copyright, and Why You Must Register Before You Use the Platform Apprenticeships, the Music Producers Guild, and Passing It On Network as the Real Currency of a Career Still Working: James Gadson, Autism Speaks, and Making Records

For episode 614, Matt talks with Michael Frondelli, producer, engineer, and former Vice President of Capitol Records Studios, where he ran the facility for eleven years before going independent in 2001. Michael grew up in Astoria, Queens. Tony Bennett took vocal lessons with his Uncle Sal. The Walken family ran the bakery on Steinway Street. He came up playing guitar in soul bands and rock bands in the 60s, studied business in college, landed a maintenance tech job at Broadway Recording on 1697 Broadway, and from there made his way to Electric Lady in November 1975, where he spent nine years. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. In This Episode, We Discuss: Growing Up in Astoria, Queens Music in the Family and Learning Guitar Soul Bands, Rock Bands, and the 60s College, the Draft Lottery, and Moving to Manhattan Carpentry, Soundproofing, and Finding a Way Into Recording Broadway Recording at 1697 Broadway Learning to Listen, Watch, and Visualize Signal Path Landing at Electric Lady in 1975 Nine Years in the Room: Zeppelin, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Joni Mitchell Working With Eddie Kramer on Song Remains the Same Rebel Yell: Finding Billy Idol a Drummer Keith Forsey, Charlie Sexton, and Don't You Forget About Me Getting Management and Learning the Business Going From $5 an Hour to $2,500 a Mix

For episode 613, Matt talks with Ben Mellott — recording engineer, mixer, and owner of Nothing but Noise studio in Northern Virginia. Ben has been freelance since 2014, balances studio work with live production at churches, farms, and local venues, and runs every dollar through the Profit First system. They talk about building a career on curiosity, the alternative path through cassette manufacturing and church sound, and why the business side of audio doesn't sound like fun until it absolutely is. In This Episode, We Discuss: Northern Virginia, Born and Raised A Dad at Toys R Us and a Mom in the Church Choir Recording Bands on a Tascam Four-Track at Ten Dollars a Song The Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio — Audio Boot Camp Learning Signal Flow Before Hardware Manufacturing Cassettes and CDs at Lion Recording Moving Into Graphics — Quark Express, InDesign, and Terrible Early Websites Roadie and Merch for a Month-Long US Tour With Frodus Getting the Farm Festival Gig Ten Years of Sunday Church Sound — and What He Learned About Temperament The Drummer in the Crowd Who Got Him the Venue Gig Real-Life Social Proof — Likable Enough (For a Live Sound Guy) Curiosity as a Career Strategy Nothing But Noise — The Studio and the Freelance Life Since 2014 Debt, an Inheritance That Didn't Change the Slope, and the Pandemic Implementing the Profit First System Of Every Thousand Dollars, Only $150 Is Spendable — and Why That's the Point Self-Financing Gear and Paying Yourself Back on a Payment Plan The Sweetwater Rep Who Said You've Got a Lot of Gear The Business Side Doesn't Sound Like Fun Until It Is