“A good friend of mine and I had managed to scrape together enough for a basic project studio. Nothing more than a mixer and an ADAT, but it was enough to get me hooked for life… I recorded a friend's band playing live at a local club, the 13th floor. I spent three months mixing the record, every day researching recording online, teaching myself as best as I could. The band managed to get it into the hands of a local college radio DJ. And then one night, I heard a song from that demo on the radio…My mix was beamed through radio waves into my car stereo and then played back at ridiculous volume, the whole time I had a maniacal grin on my face and perhaps the greatest feeling of accomplishment I have ever had. And still I thought "The Rhodes is a hair too loud...etc...etc."
BIO
I think it all started with a drum machine. I got this funny little drum machine, no more than a toy really, but I could not stop playing with the thing and recording simplistic beats onto a tape deck. At that point I had had some musical training in piano and voice, but there was something about the capturing of sound that somehow interested me more than any of the music I was learning at the time.
My junior high and high school years were spent doing technical theatre - building sets and focusing lights, all the behind-the-scenes activity during school plays and concerts. Every year the music department did a musical revue of popular music from the 60's to the 80's. It was my first introduction to amplified sound reinforcement. I think that was when the seeds were really planted, but I went through a few detours before I fully realized what I wanted to do with my life.
My first two years at college were a resounding disappointment. I started at UMBC as a mechanical engineering major. For years I had wanted to go into Engineering. I had always had a technical leaning, an interest in science and technology. But without some kind of spark, some kind of creative output, all that science and technology just didn't motivate me. A friend of mine introduced me to the Theatre department at UMBC and I changed my major the next week.
I spent an incredible three years in the Theatre department, stage managed many productions, including a show that won a national competition that allowed us to perform our production at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. During my years in the Theatre Department I stumbled onto something called Sound Design. That's when I started to really figure things out.
That, and once after I graduated with a BA in theatre, I went into my parent's basement, turned my little fender tube practice amp as loud as it would go and discovered tone.
I graduated school in 1997 and worked for a year doing sound for a local theatre. I enjoyed my time doing sound, but something was still missing. I found that something in recording a demo for a local band. A good friend of mine and I had managed to scrape together enough for a basic project studio. Nothing more than a mixer and an ADAT, but it was enough to get me hooked for life.
I recorded a friend's band playing live at a local club, the 13th floor. I spent three months mixing the record, every day researching recording online, teaching myself as best as I could. The band managed to get it into the hands of a local college radio DJ. And then one night, I heard a song from that demo on the radio.
My mix was beamed through radio waves into my car stereo and then played back at ridiculous volume, the whole time I had a maniacal grin on my face and perhaps the greatest feeling of accomplishment I have ever had. And still I thought "The Rhodes is a hair too loud...etc...etc."
Basically I'm addicted to tone. When I listen to records, I deconstruct everything sonically, sometimes before I even listen to the MUSIC. I follow recording engineers and producers like most people follow football players. I research the equipment the pros use, and collect interviews in magazines like TAPE OP and MIX. I recognize the microphones that sit on the desks of late-night talk show hosts...
Basically I need to record. I have managed to teach myself a few things over the years, but I need to learn more. So much of my time is spent squeezing the internet like a sponge to learn what the best mics and preamps and mixers and tube amps etc etc are. What can I say, I'm obsessed!
I will do whatever it takes to hear another of my mixes on the radio again. There really isn't anything else for me to do.
1/28/04
Hello Phillip!
This is Carlos Guillen here, hoping you are well and sending you an update on my recording apprenticeship with Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios.
Right off the bat Don had me assist on a recording for a local punk/ska band. The band had the ambitious goal of completing a full-length record in just 5 days. Don's professionalism and mastery of the studio, combined with the band's well rehearsed material, led to achieving that goal! I assisted on the recording from start to finish, and on two days Don let me take the reigns and record some vocals and percussion.
I am still digesting all the things I learned from those marathon recording sessions!
I can't thank you enough for the program. While we were recording, so many of the sounds I was hearing reminded me of my favorite records produced in that same studio by Don. This is exactly the experience I needed. Now that the holidays are over, I will be back in the studio with Don to go over some more technical matters with textbooks in hand.
That's all for now, thanks again and take care!
Carlos Guillen
November 17, 2007
Progress Report for October 2007
This year I was able to acquire a position at Baltimore's yearly HIGH ZERO FESTIVAL, as live sound engineer and associate recording engineer. As live sound engineer, I was responsible for all necessary sound reinforcement for the entire festival. The High Zero festival is a festival dedicated to Free Improvisation - a form of music that eschews traditional styles (concepts of melody and meter) for a more stream-of-consciousness/psycho-acoustic approach. It combines musicians who have rarely (if ever) played together and records the improvisations which result from their live performances. The PA system comprised of some Yamaha and Mackie equipment, and the recordings were made simultaneously on a Mac Powerbook with AudioDesk, and a Tascam CD Recorder. Various microphones were used to pickup all manner of instruments and inventions.
This festival was very difficult to run sound for! Every musician is doing something completely new and unique - I had to mix instruments with radically different dynamic ranges and timbres, and monitor the stereo recording to make sure the levels were good and there were no acoustical anomalies (lighting fixture vibrations, speaker vibrations). To give you an example, in one set I had 3 laptops, a cellist, violinist, thereminist, and two vocalists performing. The four-day festival taxed my skills as a live sound and recording engineer and allowed me to make new contacts in this new and exciting form of musical performance.
The knowledge and experience I have gained at a part of the Get-a-Mentor program inspired me to seek out new and exciting opportunities outside of the typical recording environment. I hope to be a part of the High Zero Festival for years to come!
Carlos Guillen
Progress Report for November 2007
November was a good month for me, mainly because I managed to get work at one of Baltimore's finest black box venue - the Creative Alliance.
The Creative Alliance is a community arts organization housed inside a re-modeled historic movie theater in Baltimore, The Patterson. It is a fully modular space, with seating and staging arrangements changing frequently, depending on the event. It has a fine lighting & sound system, and I have been honing my skills as recording and sound engineer.
Because of the nature of the performances at the Creative Alliance, I now have an opportunity to work in a broad range of situations - the Creative Alliance hosts everything from 16mm movie screenings to live swing bands, to live community theater and professional dance troupes! I have been running sounds for some really great performers from all over the world.
And fortunately I had the mentorship through Get-A-Mentor, which helped me get this great opportunity. My experience with Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios perpared me for this highly visible and professional role, and I was able to use him as a reference for the position. He is very well respected in the industry, and that fact that I had worked as an assistant to him on a recording helped me get this great opportunity.
Now I am working under Adam Cooke, a recording engineer I have know for several years, who is the lead audio engineer at the Creative Alliance. Through him and the groups that perform at the space, I am learning more about microphone placement, artist relations, feedback elimination, and compression/gating. And of course, showing people a good time!
Thanks again Get-A-Mentor, see you next month!
Carlos Guillen
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