The first I paid attention to Nirvana was on the day Kurt died. The radio played every song of theirs as a tribute. The distorted-filled guitars and feedback lay a foundation in my brain that would never be replaced. Kurt was tortured and led the way for teenage angst. His lyrics hit home, the emotion in his voice struck a nerve in me. Part of me turned into a socially conscious punk. The desire to play guitar grew stronger everyday to the point where I finally got a guitar for my 19th birthday. My love for alternative music as a whole is attributed to Nirvana.

BUTCVIG: Nevermind The Garbage. (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/people/butcvig-nevermind-garbage

Oblique, short song structures, screaming guitars, manic vocals and often disturbing lyrics, the Pixies influenced almost every guitarist in the ‘90s. Punk, heavy metal, pure pop, surf rock, the Pixies combined these components to phenomenal effects and paved the way for the indie/alternative/grunge eruption of the early 1990s. I was one of those guitarists who just admired the Pixies. I was a chick playing bass in a band, now I'm an audio student. I realise how you have to use your knowledge but to a certain extent you have to try different things. Never get complacent. You must reflect on your work. 

Classic Tracks: The Pixies “Monkey Gone To Heaven.” (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-pixies-monkey-gone-heaven

My dad loved The Cure therefore I did too. There was no choice but to listen to the cassette in the car on family road trips and holidays. The first CD I ever bought was The Cure’s Live In Berlin album where they played Disintegration, Pornography and Bloodflowers live, one after another. I’ll always be inspired by The Cure. I’m beginning to understand just how important experimenting is when it comes to recording with mics, amps, kits, plug-ins. But so you don’t waste too much time/energy/money having a vision of how you’d like the final product to sound is also key.

Classic Tracks: The Cure “A Forest.” (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-the-cure-a-forest

Pack full of attitude, balls and honesty, The Sex Pistols create music out of poverty and anger. A symbol of social and political turmoil in the United Kingdom. Song ideas may be slightly different to Nirvana but the potency of the messages are the same. Like Nirvana they are complicated but The Sex Pistols are more chaotic, and raw, and take their casualties. Both have songs that are full of riffs and have great hooks, real edgy rhythmic music. They are both pioneers in their genres just decades between the movements. As an engineer, I feel like you have to be flexible. If the U47 isn’t working, it’s not working. Something always goes wrong and things don’t go to plan. Experimentation is vital to getting something new and unique.

Classic Tracks: The Sex Pistols “Anarchy In The UK.” (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-sex-pistols-anarchy-uk

““That way Iggy could be comfortable and have the live sound experience he was used to, and he didn’t need headphones. We absolutely wanted everything to bleed. That gave us the much-needed natural sound quality and the familiar aural environment the band wanted,” Gallucci says. “I think some of the best recordings-at least in terms of fatness, texture and warmth-were made with one microphone at the back of a bar, so I thought it was at least worth a try.”” (Rudolph & Rudolph, 2000b)

Rudolph, E., & Rudolph, E. (2000, June 1). Rocking in the Studio With The Stooges: Inside “The Complete Fun House Sessions” Mixonline. https://www.mixonline.com/recording/rocking-studio-stooges-inside-complete-fun-house-sessions-372032

Neil Young took a chance on working digitally. So he thought about this new technology. I’m learning it all depends on the project. What do we want to achieve? Planning is vital with room to experiment. 

Rogerson, B. (2022, December 26). Neil Young says that “nothing is real” when you take the “dark step” into digital music production, as Rick… MusicRadar. https://www.musicradar.com/news/neil-young-rick-rubin-digital

Ken Scott, production expert talking about The Beatles. “Young engineers were challenging the established ways of doing things in the 1960s, is the story of how Geoff Emerick had to break house rules about placing a mic too close to a kick drum, in this case actually inside it to get the sound. This close miking approach was incorporated into the recording of acoustic instruments, notably the strings in Eleanor Rigby which were miked close, giving the famous quartet arrangement its characteristic immediacy.”(Rodgers, 2023) 

Ken is quoted to say, “However damping of the toms by draping tea towels over them to give Ringo’s characteristic use of the toms even more uniqueness.” (Rodgers, 2023) 

They broke barriers. Very inspiring. Those of us who have taken our band into the studio to record, you’re thinking and creating and you come up with ideas on how to make your music unique. If you experiment, you might get a different sounding result. There is just so much music out in the world, especially since the Digital Age with artists recording themselves in bedrooms and home studios. The key is to find some way to differentiate your music from the others. Experimentation. But planned, thought out experimentation. Think about the physics of sound. Think about what it is you want to achieve. Take all your knowledge and experiences with microphones, instruments, genres of music, the music industry, EQ, compression and harmonics and deliberately experiment with the process of recording and producing music.

Rodgers, J. (2023). Ken Scott And PureMix - History Of The Beatles Recording Techniques | Production Expert. Production Expert. https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/ken-scott-and-puremix-history-of-the-beatles-recording-techniques

Eddie Kramer, Engineer on the track All Along The Watchtower when asked about the techniques used to record Hendrix's guitar. “When the songs we'd recorded at Olympic had been transferred from four-track half-inch to 12-track one-inch, Jimi had said 'Wow, man, now I've got eight more tracks to fuck around with. Cool!' and of course they all got filled up.” (Classic Tracks: Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower,” n.d.-b)

Hendrix liked experimenting with sound. If you are into creating music, don't we all. I recently bought a Boss BR-600 recorder and I’ve done the same thing. Now I play around with Pro Tools Studio. Your imagination is your limitation. 

I think Hendrix is a bit of a legend. But personally, the way my brain is going… I find at this point in time, writing music and riffs is getting more of a challenge. Maybe because I stopped playing guitar for ten years. Sold all my gear. Now I've bought it back but I haven't taken the time to shake off the rust. Instead, I thought I would go back to college to attain a qualification to enable me to help artists record their music as a professional. Or maybe to help artists get a good sound at their gigs as a professional. I’m not a performer anymore. My goal is to become a sound engineer. Music is life. I have a passion like Hendrix, like Robert Smith… I’d like to help people pull a good sound. 

Classic Tracks: Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along The Watchtower.” (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-jimi-hendrix-experience-all-along-watchtower

I have seen this done on LinkedIn Learning. Reading up all these influences has given me a greater understanding of the audio world… like I’m slowly getting a clearer picture. I appreciate just how much Bowie likes to redirect and find a new focus. Art is his passion. Music is life. Visconti goes on about miking the drums from the same album, “I wouldn't have two kick drum mics, but I did try a little experiment where I had a bass amp in the drum booth and ran one of the kick drum mics through that. That made the kick really loud and it sounded good, so I used it on a few tracks.” (David Bowie & Tony Visconti, n.d.) Don’t be afraid to experiment with mics or mic placings… it just might be the sound the song is needing. Research and learn all you can. Always learning, it never stops.

My personal motto is Use It Or Lose It and I refer to the brain as a muscle that needs to be used. Learn, grow, evolve. Always and forever. Music is such a good tool for our brains to use. Sure I listen to music… Now I’m critically listening to music. And my world has opened up. Is this how Bowie feels? I used to live on a mountain. Mt. Stupid. Since my father died three months ago I’ve been lost and alone, wandering in the Valley Of Despair. Now I’m getting educated about a passion of mine. The changes I’ve made to my life in just the past three weeks as a result of this education and the support I've recieved has been unbelievable. It’s hard work but such is life on the Slope Of Enlightenment. 

David Bowie & Tony Visconti. (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/david-bowie-tony-visconti

Lou Reed explains: “What I did is I had a bunch of 4x12 amplifiers, and I would set them up with various repeat and tremolo units, and then I would tune all the strings to a certain note, and then I would figure out a good distance to have the guitar in proximity to the cabinet, and then it would start feeding back naturally. And then I would have another guitar doing the same thing from another 4x12. And then these harmonics would hit one another, causing a third one. And I would be playing another guitar over those, while I was recording it.” (Lou Reed & Zeitkratzer, n.d.) 

Experiment yes but do what you love, no matter what others might think. Create something you’ll be proud of now and in fifty years time.

Lou Reed & Zeitkratzer. (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/people/lou-reed-zeitkratzer

I know that it also takes talent to create a good sounding record.  These musician’s have talent. I’ve been playing every artist on my stereo as I’ve been researching them. The Velvet Underground songs are very effective at getting the story across. Their songs have moods and feelings. Emotive creations. Definitely an artist I’ve added to my library. I can hear the Pixies in them. In songs I’ve written in the past, I could hear the Pixies in me. Yes, I can hear how I have been influenced by The Velvet Underground, indirectly, in my old songs. I never thought to create a Genealogy Tree of musical influences but I’m glad I did. I will continue to ask artists and colleagues, family and friends who they are influenced by the most and build a Genealogy Tree in my mind, trying to link together their inspirations and perhaps get to know where they want to go and what they want to create. Interpret their vision better and in turn deliver a superior final product. Making me an influential sound engineer.

Classic Tracks: The Velvet Underground “Heroin.” (n.d.). Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-velvet-underground-heroin

Video: How to Get The Cars’ Densely Layered Backing Vocals. (n.d.). reverb.com. https://reverb.com/news/video-how-to-get-the-cars-densely-layered-backing-vocals