Matt Holsen -- Music Production

Music Production and Recording

Background and approach
Examples of my work
Facilities and gear
A few more words about gear
One last demo: One way to record a song

I don't do much recording/production work anymore, except in connection with arranging projects. I no longer have a full studio with iso rooms. I do have a project studio where I can do a nice job on guitars or vocals (everything else is usually sampled, anyway).

I'm still happy to produce a project if it's something I'd be good at, but if it requires an iso room (drums, or several people playing at once) it will have to be done at a commercial studio. Of course, real horns and real strings, if you want those, would also have to be recorded in a commercial studio.

This page has some samples of work I've done in recent years, in my studios in Arlington and Herndon, VA

My background and my approach to recording/producing

I did my first commercial recording way back in 1975, of Harbison Bond and Goddard, a DC area acoustic rock trio. We recorded at a bar, after closing, with a Tascam 1/4" 4-track. One cut, "Thank God it's Friday" was still a steady on WHFS in the mid 90's. I've recorded and produced a lot of music since then. The gear has gotten better, but what I learned in those 6am sessions in the Pour House Pub still holds: Recording and producing is, first, about getting the best possible performance, and you adapt the recording process to the performer, not the other way around.

An experienced producer, besides knowing how long it takes to do this or that and what session players are good at what, has to know about countless things, large and small, that can affect the performance. First on my list is the headphone mix. I work on that constantly. If we're using session players I make sure the charts are flawless. Also, everyone has a talkback mic, and it's always on. Especially during playback. Clear communication, keeping up the pace and keeping focus, even the lighting and the coffee. They're all the producer's concern.

So... here are some examples of my work. (You'll notice that they are all in what people call the Acoustic Singer/Songwriter genre. That's the music I know best, from 30 years of performing it, and I tend to stick to what I know.)

How this thing works: It requires the Flash plugin. If you don't have it and don't wish to install it, you can still download mp3's on the Listen Page. Assuming you have the Flash plugin: Click a "Listen" button to select a demo. It will start playing as soon as it's downloaded. You can listen to one demo while you are downloading another. Blinking red means it's downloading, green means it's downloaded and Amber means it's the onecurrently playing (or stopped).

Some notes on the cuts above and my part in making them: The Tom Prasada-Rao cuts are from his CD, "I Hear You Laughing," recorded in my old studio in Herndon. The Lea cuts are from her third CD, "Great big World," recorded in my studio in Arlington. The Lisa Taylor cut is from her 1st CD, "Sibling Rivalry," recorded in Herndon. The Sara Landymore cut is from her CD "Corner of the World," (Herndon). Tom Prasada-Rao made all the musical decisions on his project. I just tried to make him sound as good as he sounds. Sara Landymore didn't require any musical decisions. She just sat down and did twelve first takes, then had John Previti do a bunch of first takes. Lisa Taylor gave me sole production credit but she was actually more responsible for the music than I was. Lea's CD was a true collaboration. She had the last word, as she should, but she gave me a lot of latitude and trust. (In fact, many of the sessions happened while she was away on tour.)

Facilities and gear [ top of page ]

I no longer have the full studios (two iso rooms) in which most of the above was recorded. I have a project studio suitable for recording vocals or acoustic or electric guitars. Three people (including me) can work at once, but that's about it.

I have a few good mics that I've found do the job: Neumann KM84i's for guitars & such, AKG C414 for vocals (although sometimes I use an old CAD Equitek E-200. Cheap, but a magic mic!) Crown PZM's for percussion (one tabla player used them and went straight out and bought a pair.) and assorted other mics, including some specialized ones like Crown GLM 200's for mounting directly on acoustic guitars to record vocals and guitar at the same time. (Many people simply perform better that way. Mounting the mics on the guitar gives you more isolation and lets the player move around a bit. Like I said, you adapt the recording process to the performer....) A couple of Klark Teknik and a couple of FocusRite preamps. The console is a Yamaha O1v (a scaled down O2R) and it's mainly for routing. I do pretty much everything in the box. I use an Echo Layla interface, Steinberg Nuendo for tracking and mixing and WaveLab for mastering, with assorted Waves plugins. For monitors I use Event 20/20's. Those are near-field monitors. You can hear OK everywhere, but the sweet spot, with true EQ and image, is only at the console.

A few more words about gear: [ top of page ]

The best thing you can say about a recording rig is that you don't think about it. I know my rig like an old shoe, which means I give full attention to the music. Also: you have to have a clean signal path and good mics, but it's all useless without a good ear. If you hire me to make your recording, it will be for my ear and my experience, not my equipment.

One Last Demo: "One Way to Record a Song"

Here's a quick demo of how I put together one recent recording. Hope you enjoy it...

Like the other demos, this one requires the Flash plugin. If you don't have it and don't wish to install it, you can download an mp3 of the audio on the Listen page. It won't have the comments, but you can hear how the song was put together.