Conversations with Jim Anderson

[Soul Stream]

Jim,

I like the 180 degree angle on top as well. The 90 degree angle seems too narrow for my tastes.

[Jim Alfredson]

Jim, by "the back" are you referring to the actual back of the Leslie (ie, with the removable louvres)? I ask because most players face their Leslie's backwards (with the amp in plain view) when playing and so the "back" would actually be the front (the side of the cabinet with no removable panels), if you catch my drift.

[Aggie87]

Jim -

I just recently picked up "Noisy Old Men" by John Abercrombie/Mick Goodrick/Steve Swallow/Gary Chaffee. Didn't notice it was one of your recordings (and your label?) until I got home with it.

I'm really enjoying this recording, and was just wondering if you had any interesting info to share about this session.

Thanks,

Erik

[Bright Moments]

hey jim--

i just got to listen to david ware's godspelized which i see that you recorded and mixed!

how did you get hooked up with david? can you tell us what he is like and perhaps share some stories about working with him?

thanks!

[jim anderson]

Hi,

Sorry for the break in communications. I just returned from attending Midem in Cannes, last night.

As far as the difference between 90º and 180º depends upon the track and the role the organ's going to play in it. Many times, I find that the 180º works if the organ's a feature (Jimmy Smith, ect.) or if the organ's a pad or an effect (a texture?) such as what I did with D.D.Jackson's latest.

I consider the back of the organ to be the back of the organ with the open parts, where you can get the microphones closer to the sources.

I just spent some time on All Music looking for "Noisy Old Men" but couldn't find it anywhere. Can you provide any more information?

I really like working with David S. Ware and his bands. I first met him when he was recording for the Japanese label DIW. We had recorded many. many albums with David Murray and DIW felt he was a young tenor player to watch. We would record those projects over the course of 2 intense days, direct to stereo. Many times he would concentrate on the upcoming track, centering himself and the band on the upcoming course and then perform the track, one take. Move on the the next track, same proceedure. And then with three tracks recorded, and hour of concentrated listening to playbacks in the control room. The producer for the DIW tracks was Kazunori Sugiyama and it was he who put us together. There was a time when DIW distributed selected titles domestically by Columnbia and David was eventually signed by Columbia by Branford, when he was in charge of jazz, for a short time. Branford came to the session "Godspelized" and would sit and listen, mesmerized. When David moved to AUM Fidelity, Stephen Joerg produced.

The most recent project that I did with David and AUM was the remake of the Sonnly Rollins "Freedom Suite". Recorded in a day, direct to stereo.

One aside by me, I always wanted to hear David with that amazing intensity play an album of the music of Gato Barbier.

All the best.

Jim Anderon

[Aggie87]

Jim -

I didn't see "Noisy Old Men" listed in allmusic.com either. But it is listed on Gary Chaffee's website, as well as Mick Goodrick's website.

Both sites link to cdfreedom.com, for purchasing the disc.

If you need further information, let me know, and I'd be glad to follow up.

[jim anderson]

Thanks.

There is another fine engineer in the Boston area with the unprobable name "jim anderson"

He may have done that.

There are a few albums that have been attributed to me that were his.

This may be one.

Or I'm just getting old!

Best

Jim

[jim anderson]

Always open to questions, here.

Jim

Edited May 2, 2006 by jim anderson

[jazzhound]

Always open to questions, here.

Jim

what did the closing of the Hit Factory mean in terms of the recording studio business Jim?

[jim anderson]

jazzhound

that's a good and complicated question that you ask

and i'll engage in some blunt 'truthiness', as stephen colbert would call it, here

for some, it was a good thing

for many, the oposite

the ownership of the studio didn't understand the importance of the facility to the music industry, the audio community, and even the staff, in general

to the ownership, it really was a business and, ultimately, a piece of real estate to be sold

it was never offered to be sold as a studio, lock, stock, and barrel, which is unfortunate

the studio ironically closed fully booked!

i mixed the final projects in studio 4, 'terry gibbs-feelin' good-live in the studio' and sean jones 'gemini'

the studio wasn't closed wanting for work, it was closed so it could be sold and turned into condos

i hope you're feeling my rage and pain, here

many friends of mine lost jobs that they had for years, some have recovered; others have not

what this meant to the community in general is a mixed bag

avatar studios, and others, have reaped the benefits, with more work coming in their doors

this keeps a great many people happily employed

i've seen a lot of studios close for a great many reasons in my 25+ years in new york

many, like hit factory, a&r, etc. didn't have to close

some, which i won't name, should ('truthiness' can only go so far)

others open, (someone feels the need to loose a lot of money and decides that they should open a studio)

it's like that old joke about how does a jazz musician make a million dollars?

give them two million

hit factory closed and people moved on

that's what essentially it meant, i feel

thanks for giving me the chance to talk a bit,

jim

[Soul Stream]

Jim, I should have know you were involved in the Terry Gibbs live in the studio recording. Great sounding CD, one of my favorites of the last few years. You've got golden ears when it comes to the Hammond B3. Question: How "hands on" is Joey Defrancesco when it comes to getting his B3 sound in the studio. Seems like he would have pretty solid ideas about how he wants it done. True?

And speaking of vibes....ever work with Bobby Hutcherson?

Edited May 3, 2006 by Soul Stream

[jim anderson]

Soul Stream,

Thanks. That was the 2nd of Terry's records that I was involved with.

The first was to mix the "52nd Street Stories" album.

I guess if Joey had something to say about the sound, he would have said something to me.

The organ at O'Henry Studio in Burbank was in first rate condition, leaving me with a very easy job of capturing the sound. The only thing that I did was to install a DI. Since this was a live recording with audience, I wanted to cover my tracks and have a signal that I could work with, jic (just in case).

The whole session was done at one end of the studio; from left to right: Joey, Guitar, Terry, Conga, Eric with drums directly behind Terry. Only Jerry, the drummer, wore headphones, the remainder of the band could hear everyone acoustically. I had made up a make-shift house for Jerry to give me a chance to get sounds on everyone else, especially the vibes. There were four continuous sets consisting of 2 hours each recorded over 2 days recorded live in front of an audience. I used 3 Coles 4038's for the vibes.

For Joey, I believe that I used my ususual DPA 4007's on top and a Sanken CU-41 on the bottom.

I've recorded Bobby live, a couple of times, but as far as the studio, he's not made many trips to NYC for recording. The one opportunity that I had to work with him was Kenny Barron's "Other Places" for French Verve in February of 1993. Rufus, Victor, Ralph More fill out the band.

It was recorded in a tiny east side studio called East Side Sound over a couple of evenings.

I may have said this before, but as far as vibes go, I'm better off not using condensor microphones. Dynamic microphones, ribbon microphones are the best for me. The condensor is too quick and one hears the leading edge of the note and not the tone. Since changing over to dynamic microphones, my studio life has been easier.

Take a listen to that album, it's one of Kenny's best.

Jim

[AllenLowe]

Jim - when you mention problems with condensors does this apply to all instruments or just vibes? I mention this because I recently did a session at Systems 2 in Brooklyn (engineer was Rich Lamb) at which he used a Neumann U 87 on both my alto and guitar, and I was absolutely thrilled with how natural the sound was on both instruments -

[Jim Alfredson]

Condensors are very quick and sometimes that can get in the way on certain sources. With horns, it can be hit or miss. I've found that big dynamic microphones often sound amazing on sax, or even better, big ribbons like the AEAs. I think our engineer used an AEA on our last record for the horn player, but for our first record with Ron Blake, he used a combination of an original AKG C12 and a Neuman U47 (big tube condensors) and that sounded great as well. It depends on the player.

Just my 2 cents.

[jim anderson]

Allen and Jim,

I agree with both of you.

The U 87 can be the appropriate microphone for many instruments, but it depends on the tone of the player.

For example, with John Zorn playing alto, I wouldn't recommend it.

Even some players such as Michael Brecker think the U 47 is too bright.

Go figure.

That's when I use a ribbon, Coles, RCA, what have you.

I usually don't use a combination of microphones on a player, but I might on an amp.

It's easier to do that technique like that on something stationary, rather than a player. They do tend to move around.

Although, I used to use a combination B&K 4007/RCA DX 77 on Ray Anderson for the edge and the meat of his sound.

Good questions

Jim

[jim anderson]

By the way, say 'Hi' to Rich Lamb for me.

It's been a while.

[Soul Stream]

Jim, percentage-wise how much of the direct sound of the organ do you suppose you used in the final mix of the Terry Gibbs live in the studio recording? Thanks for the responses!

[Bluerein]

Hello Jim,

just wondering how you usually record in Avatar (Powerstation). Many labels (Sony, DIW, Arabesque, etc.) don't list any recording info other than the engineer and the studio/dates. Do you record digitally there or analog (or does this depend on the requests of the producer/musicians).

Cheers,

Reinier

[jim anderson]

Soul Stream,

The percentage of DI was very small. 10% perhaps?

Just enough to support the bottom end, since there was no bass player on the date.

Reiner,

It depends on many things, budget, project, sound, etc.

Ron Carter's project "The Golden Striker" was 16 track 2" analogue with Dolby SR, 15ips.

That's my favorite format (with or without the Dolby SR).

But, if I'm going digital, I'll try for the highest resolution that the budget will allow:

24/96 or 24/48

24/192 is a bit unweildy.

Best

Jim

[jim anderson]

Soul Stream,

I just remembered, if you want to hear how an organ DI can be used effectively, check out Dan Wall's "Off the Wall" on Enja. While mixing Track two (which is such a hit that I really feel it should have been track 1!), and other tracks, Dan kept having me creep up the DI in the mix, over the course of the record (am I showing my age?). He felt it was the first time that he was hearing a real solid 'bass' sound out of the organ. I had hooked it up in the first place from the preproduction conversations that we had. He was looking for a bit more contemporary sound than his past recordings and I felt this might go a long way to helping him find this sound.

Best,

Jim

[Jim Alfredson]

That's a great record... I'll have to listen to it again once I get home. Dan Wall is extremely under-appreciated.

[jim anderson]

I completely agree!

[Rooster_Ties]

Way to let down the Nation last night, Anderson.

You just had to vote for The Decemberists, didn't you.

Thankfully, even without your help, Colbert (well, and Peter Frampton) were still victorious!!!

And what's with that weenie, Elliot Spitzer?? Had to recuse himself? What the hell?? What a wanker.

[Rooster_Ties]

I take it nobody else saw Colbert last night?

As we were watching it, I got to tell my wife...

"Hey, see that guy -- that guy THERE -- he's on my jazz board!!"

[Quincy]

I just read about it in Pitchfork and saw the list of judges. I bet he's the envy of all of his engineering friends.