George Massenburg
From The Invention of 'Q' To CanadaBy Randy Alberts
It's easy to start stories like this with raves about the credentials of a respected studio talent. We'll get to that part in a minute, but what really stands out when researching the 400-plus music and movie credits for this piece are all the return customers found therein.
No less than half of the approximately 50 artists he's worked with have recorded two or more records with producer, engineer, and mixer extraordinaire George Massenburg. That fact speaks volumes about what it's like to work with the Grammy-, Mix TEC-, and Academy of Country Music-awarded studio great. That he's recorded nineteen Linda Ronstadt records, four Little Feat albums, and every pre-1981 Earth, Wind & Fire record and worked with artists as varied as Philip Glass, James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, Weather Report, The Emotions, Martina McBride, and Art Garfunkel says even more.
For The Music & The Industry
Focusing too much on past credits, platinum records, and awards, though, often shields readers from a producer's present and future goals and, in this regard, Massenburg's story is no different. His exemplary ongoing devotion to the advancement of recording technology is supported by his own manufacturing companies (GML, Massenburg DesignWorks) and his current positions as Adjunct Professor of Recording Arts and Sciences at McGill University in Montreal and as a member of the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. He's also a visiting lecturer at UCLA, USC, and MTSU in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. And, he delivered a 1972 AES white paper that defined parametric equalization for the first time and resulted in, among other things, the definition of the modern 'Q' knob on most mixing consoles and DAWs.
"Selling it was tough. We showed people that first working parametric EQ and most of them asked, 'But where are the detents?'," recalls Massenburg. "I'd tell them that's kind of not the point and that you can listen to the music and tune the frequency you're going after. We ran into a lot of resistance to the concept for years. But at the end of the day it really helps you to use less EQ even though that idea flies in the face of the 'intentional corruption' that modern pop recording is all about. In the beginning it was about making things sound better and more natural. We've all got to make a living in the pop world, but what I really like to hear to begin with is a very clean recording."
To wit, Massenburg has been using BIAS Peak since toting around his first Apple PowerBook in 1998. Be it for doing scratch mixes, creating bandwidth-efficient mix approval files, or handling remote recording sessions from Tucson to the great wilds of northern Canada, he relies on Peak every day he works in a studio, at home, or on the road.
"I use Peak in so many different, unique ways. It simply fills all the gaps in my professional life. It's the credible, reliable Mac editor and I've felt that way about the program for years. It's some of the most reliable software I've ever run and it has been my editor of choice ever since I've had a laptop. I use it professionally and I use it all the time, so it's important to me that it works as well as it does."
Peak Approvals
Massenburg's home studio and Sony Oxford, the latter which he uses for multi-channel audio work, all live far enough from Nashville to render in-person or messenger-delivered mix approvals difficult. He has audio delivery networks at his disposal, such as DolbyFax (EdNET), but those options aren't exactly commonplace among his clients and artists. The good ol' MP3 format shines then even brighter for him with Peak around.
"I carve MP3s every week with Peak for mix approvals," he continues. "I send them out and have people listen to and make essential suggestions. I have a PowerBook with large hard disks, so I can keep all the mixes in AIFF format for a project on my PowerBook. They can tell me what they like and don't like and then I spot assemble a new sequence and cut it from wherever I am in the world, even on an airplane. Or, if I'm out doing a remote multitrack, for instance, I will set up my computer and run Peak on the laptop to do the 2-track scratch mixes. I'm then immediately able to sequence it, edit tunes together, or to get around a playlist really quickly. If somebody wants to hear something right away, I just make the changes, post it, and boom, it's done."
We couldn't resist asking George what he thinks of the BIAS EQs found in Peak and other products. Given the opportunity and his importance and place along the hardware and software EQ lineage, it was a little bit of a stretch but one worth taking.
"BIAS Peak has got a really good EQ, "Massenburg says. "Although I haven't used SuperFreq yet, I'd bet it's pretty good, too. Steve [Berkely, BIAS founder] and his coders do a good job and I love what they do. I'm obviously a fan of their software, and I think their business model is right, as well. The world is going more and more towards the virtual production environment. Having a really professional editor and having it up on a PowerBook that you can fly with anywhere in the world is phenomenally powerful. Peak and BIAS are right in line with the great virtual audio world that we're in. Having said that, I'd also love to see our Massenburg DesignWorks EQ on Peak some day."
North of the Border
Peak flies everywhere with Massenburg and was especially pivotal last year for a PBS and CBC (Canadian Broadcast Centre) television special. The gorgeous rainy wilds of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, provide some of the Earth's most beautiful scenes but are hell on a remote recording session when climates misbehave. Sony Classical was promoting Canadian artist Aselin Debison and George was on hand to oversee everything audio for the local recording in Glace Bay. He returned to his and his wife's relatively warm cabin on the west coast of Cape Breton after the remotes.
"It was just a nightmare gig," Massenburg recalls. "The weather was awful and the director's vision inflexible, which all made it a tough project both technically and logistically. I did the rough scratch mixes for the whole project with Peak and that helped a lot. Anytime we needed additional parts flown in we just called back to the home studio, netted the many MP3 files in and brought the parts into Peak to use."
Massenburg has been active in Canada for years. He worked with producer Ben Mink, who is from Vancouver, B.C., at Metalworks in Mississagua on a great project for Susan Aglukark, a popular artist as well as a spokeswoman for the Intuit Nation and cause. He also continues to work with his good friend Wieslaw Woszczyk at McGill University where he's taught for nine years.
"Wieslaw is spearheading a new music faculty building that includes a music library and research facility for McGill. There's also a very large sound stage and control room complex and a very well-equipped research facility included with this big project. My wife is from Cape Breton and I love Canada, so I wouldn't mind at all doing more there."