From the archives: Riverbeast

Assistant engineer is a rare job in the Netherlands. Only in big productions and big studios do the engineers have assistants. Often the engineer does everything themselves: from setting up the microphones, connecting cables, preparing the console and recording software… to tidying up at the end. Having an assistant engineer means that the engineer can focus solely on the sound and communication with the musicians. The assistant engineer takes care of all the technical things, and listens closely to what’s happening in the studio. A good assistant picks up on possible ideas and makes sure everything is technically prepared. The recording process becomes seamless then, without the musicians having to wait for equipment to be set up. And yes, the assistant also serves coffee and arranges lunch - anything to facilitate that the others can stay “in the zone”.

I consider myself lucky to have been an assistant engineer at Wisseloord Studios for some years. I got to see - and hear - different engineers at work with each project I was hired for. Listening closely and asking the right questions at the right time, one can learn a lot. If you do your job well, the engineers will request you back. You become intimately familiar with their process, learn their favourite ways of doing things (and how they have their coffee) and learn to anticipate better, taking care of things just the way they like it. You sometimes also become friends. 

Chris Weeda is one of them, in my case. I assisted him on many big recording sessions. One day he called me, asking whether I was up for recording day 2 & 3 on a project. It involved calendars of busy musicians from abroad - and me stepping in would be the only solution for him to have the project go ahead. Of course I said yes. It involved a three day recording session at Wisseloord, for an album of Dutch harmonica player Hermine Deurloo, accompanied by three stellar American musicians. The drummer for this session, Chris mentioned, was none other than Steve Gadd. Honestly, I hadn’t heard his name before. A quick search online taught me that he played for Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Chick core and Eric Clapton. 

Something is being discussed….

Being an engineer in a recording session like this, doesn’t require much creativity. In this case Chris was responsible for the mic choices, although he did include me in making the final setup. The musicians are such professionals, they produce themselves so to say. Creative or not, recording on such a high level is highly exhilarating. It requires that you finely tune into the process of the musicians, and make sure the way you work the recording software & equipment doesn’t interfere with their flow. If you do it well, it could even enhance it! This also counts for the way you communicate with them. Knowing what to say, how to say it and definitely also when not to say something is a skill you hone over many recording sessions.

At the beginning of me taking over as the engineer, I had used the first day with Chris engineering, to observe their process. Taking over was fairly easy, but soon I realised I was too careful. The band was playing a quieter track. After the first take all four of them came into the control room to listen. To my dismay, Steve Gadd said he could hardly hear himself play. In all of my vigilance, I hadn’t even thought of adjusting the microphone gain to facilitate the whispers he played on the snaredrum. 

Photographed through the glass of the control-room

I’m glad to say the rest of the recording session went amazing and it is still among one of my most cherished recording experiences. 
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It’s such a pleasure to take the trip down memory lane and remember what experiences made me into the producer I am today.