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A Quad Interview with Michael Brauer - May 2001 Listen to the debut album by Coldplay and you will understand how Michael Brauer captures the essence of an artist's vision. His contributions to the music world include mixes for The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Joan Osborne, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Bennet, Paula Cole, Jeff Buckley, Eric Clapton, Shawn Colvin, David Byrne, Aretha Franklin and many more. Michael began his career in New York City in 1976. His first big break came when he was asked to record and mix two songs with Luther Vandross for an R&B record called "Change". "Glow of Love" and "Searching" became hits and soon after, Luther approached Michael to record his upcoming solo album "Never Too Much" which went on to become a Gold record. Quad Recording Studios owner, Lou Gonzalez was thrilled when Michael made Quad his home . He has been a part of our family for over fifteen years and has always contributed his ideas to help us continue to grow. Interview with: Robert Norris Director of Operations Quad Recording Studios Robbie: Why did you get into the music business? Michael: Because it made me happy. I was going to become a veterinarian, I was in pre-med and had band at the same time and my grades were suffering. I realized that I had to stop drumming and got really depressed. So I made the decision to keep drumming and changed my major . When I graduated, I was in a band and thought "this is a horrible life", but it was really fun being the sound guy and recording our rehearsals. So I went to the Easton School of Music for a two week really intense course. I had no idea what anyone was talking about, I just wrote everything down. Phil Ramone was one of the professors for that two week period. Robbie: Was he an inspiration for you? Michael: He was. I was concerned about the amount of creativity involved in engineering. A ten minute section of time listening to Phil talk about mixing is what sold me. I realized that I can still play my instrument by way of mixing. So I got a job at Media Sound. Robbie: Recently you did the Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde remixes. Was it a big challenge trying to match the original masters? Michael: It was a fun challenge. The reason why we were doing these remixes was to match the lost masters. When the record was first being transferred over to CD format they couldn’t find some of the two track mixes. They got the four track masters and had an engineer remix them. That engineer did his own mixes rather than match them to the original vinyl. Steve Berkowitz decided to match the original mixes for the new super disc format. We remixed them from the four track masters. There were alot of instruments within one track so the mixing had to be done carefully to bring out those instruments. It was pure love. I would get to the point where I thought I had listened at least two or three layers back - that’s where you’re really matching it. Steve would come in and he would be able to hear things I had missed and then go another layer back. We had to be careful not to make it too hi fi sounding. When my mixes were mastered with Greg Calbi, they were compared against the vinyl again to get them even closer to the original master. Robbie: You did the Coldplay mixes for their debut album which is racing up the charts. When you get into a record like that do you discuss the direction that they want the sound to go or is alot of that being left to your discretion? Michael: With this particular situation they gave me no direction on the first two songs. They wanted to see what I would do. They liked it alot and we worked together on the rest of the album. Robbie: You have had great longevity. I have worked with you here at Quad for about fifteen years. Michael: Quad was the first studio that I considered home after I became independent. When I left Media Sound I was going to different studios, not really settling into one place. I was travelling to England alot, where I really developed my mixing style. When I came back to New York and worked at Quad it felt right - everyone was so friendly there. I enjoyed the professionalism and quality that I had been brought up with at Media Sound. Robbie: Having been in the business for twenty five years how do you keep your mixes sounding current for todays artists? Michael: It’s not easy. If you’re honest to the music and sensitive to what an artist wants then you become timeless. If you’re only thinking the way you did ten years ago then you are not respecting their music. In addition to that you have to listen to the music that is out there today. Robbie: What are your thoughts on Napster? Michael: I think Napster plays an important role in getting music out to people but I totally respect the fact that you don’t just give it away. The artists will suffer. Their entire investment is in the sale of their music. Robbie: Do you think protools has hurt the overall quality of musicianship? Michael: I don’t think any recording format will ever hurt anybody. Some people make it sound great with Protools or they make it sound lousy but they also make it sound lousy on every other format. It comes down to the pilot. If you’re good then it doesn’t matter what format you’re recording to. Robbie: Do you think the recent influx of protools and other digital mediums is causing the demise of analog? Michael: I haven’t really noticed that because I get tons of analog work and I continue to mix to analog. Robbie: So Michael, you’re an avid bicyclist, who’s going to win the next Tour de France? Michael: That’s pretty obvious - Lance Armstrong. |
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