Artist Blog: James Finnerty

Just wanted to share some thoughts on the session I had this week with mastering engineer Harris Newman. Over the last few years I’ve started listening to material that was mastered at Greymarket by Harris and recorded at Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango (both studios are located in the same building in Mile End MTL). The recordings contain such an incredible dynamic and the kind of depth where you can pretty much hear the character of the room that the musicians are playing in. Each instrument rings out as if it were arranged right in front of you in your living room (and it sounds just that much better on vinyl). Using a creative environment, the proper gear, magnetization to analogue tape, physics and an open mind results in an ear-opening experience unique to the combined efforts of the H2T and Greymarket. So… on to mastering my little DAW project. It was a quick and painless session. The change in tone, clarity and resonance of the songs was immediately noticeable once Harris started tweaking the signals through his outboard equipment. We spent about three and a half hours listening back to the four songs I chose for the EP in order to make sure that the overall feel and tone of the recordings was right. I had recorded the material both at home and at the McGill Studio, and although the mixes were not perfect, I was still VERY happy with the way they were sounding post-master. We were able to augment some of the more pleasing qualities of the mix and revive the warmth and clarity that was missing from the guitar parts. From the start, I realized that this would be a great learning experience for me more than anything else. I say this not to undervalue the production of the recordings, but simply because each step of the process presented a particular challenge that I had to figure out. From settling on a final mix, setting sample rate & resolution, bouncing the files, storing & transporting the data, and finally trying to maintain objectivity (at this point I had probably listened to each track over 100 times in the last month). Each step became a tiny lesson for me. Many things went wrong along the way, so it helped to have someone at the end of the process who could receive the work and make sure everything was in its right place. I never fully understood the process of mastering a recording and after seeing what it entails, I am looking at the whole process of recording, playing and even writing music much differently. There is a reason why certain recordings sound great and others don’t; and I’m starting to realize that it has less to do with luck than it has to do with process. Most importantly, with a good master you can hear EVERYTHING! That being said, even the things I thought might be hidden in the mix started to ring out and make themselves heard. I started to accept the material we had to work with, (even if it wasn’t exactly how I thought it would turn out) and started to REALLY appreciate the elements that stood out and made the songs special. So on to working with an artist and packaging the EP… I look forward to releasing it. In the meantime, here are some recommendations for recordings made at the Hotel2Tango and mastered by Greymarket: Vic Chesnutt North Star Deserter (Constellation 2007) Triple Burner Self-Titled (Madrona 2006) A Silver Mount Zion He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts Of Light Sometimes Grace The Corner Of Our Rooms (Constellation 2007)