GC PRO ADVISORY BOARD: Rob Chiarelli

I have learned so much from Rob and appreciate his constant feedback. Rob’s attitude and work style are really fun to be around. He is very serious about what he does. He is intensely musical and has an incredible sense of rhythm. His speed and efficiency in the studio are truly impressive. Rob is an absolute pro.

Rob, ready to work his magic on his console of choice, the SSL 9000 J. Why is Rob so happy? "Let me tell you someting: the New England Patriots are the world champions!" Big shock rack full of joy. Rob listens as producer Kwame Kwaten (Jay-Z, Mick Jagger) makes a point. Pro Tools guru Chandler Bridges tweaks some tracks while we talk with Rob. "When the technology is used for technology's sake, it’s a drag. When it’s used to bring out the creative part, whether it’s the song or the singer, used properly it’s a benefit, it’s great."

RC: Testing 1-2-3, testing 1-2… GC Pro: We’re sitting down for a minute for Rob Chiarelli at Larabee North, one of the finest studios in L.A. Let’s start with a little bit of background. When were you first exposed to music, when did you start playing? RC: Good question, wow. I was first exposed to music by my brother, Mike. He was a DJ and had thousands of records. He would have everything from rock – like the Beatles, '60s British rock, to the ‘70s and ‘80s R&B - and everything in between. Then I studied music since I was about 10. I knew right away that I had to do something in music. I went to the University of Miami and studied jazz and orchestral percussion. GC Pro: Did you start as a drummer or guitar player? RC: The first thing I started with was the drums. Then, when I was in the eighth grade I took up bass, and found I had a real love for it. So, when I applied at music schools, Miami gave me a scholarship to study jazz as a bassist, and another scholarship for orchestral percussion. GC Pro: Wow. RC: So, that was the place for me, cause it was nice and warm. And they were the best teachers there at Miami, like Don Coffman, Vince Maggio and Fred Wickstrom. GC Pro: Incredible school. Legendary curriculum there. RC: Yep. And in fact I was blessed all the way through school with great teachers. In high school we had a great music department. Something that I noticed watching the Grammys – I don’t know if you saw this, but watching the Grammys this past Sunday, they were emphasizing the need for "music in the schools". 1982 is when they killed the music program in Waltham, Massachusetts where I grew up, and that’s when keeping music in our schools became a real issue. And I graduated high school in 1981, so I had all of the great teachers and the after-school instruction and the help and…you know, just the best of the best. Then after that, it just became a different thing. It's been over 20 years now, and the kids these days don’t know how great it was! It’s a shame really. I wish I could do more to help in that area. GC Pro: There are lots of opportunities for that. We’re involved in promoting music in the schools and helping fund programs like that. So after Miami, did you start your professional career there, or did you come straight to LA? RC: I had a group, and we did pretty well, and we toured for awhile. After that, I moved back home because my father became very ill. At the time, I had left college to go on the road. Then, in the next couple of years after my father passed away, I sort of tried to get it together, ya know? I’d make frequent trips to New York to record, and that’s when I learned the skills of recording and producing. You know Michael Laskow from TAXI? GC Pro: Sure. RC: He is an old, dear friend of mine, and he was one of the first guys that took me under his wing and showed me the ropes from the studio standpoint. Although I’d recorded quite a bit in Miami, he was a real help, and we became good friends. Then, he moved to L.A., and a few years later I decided to pack my bags and go somewhere that no one knew me, where I just couldn’t run home. I got off the plane, a bass on my back and a bag of clothes. Looked for a cheap hotel to stay in…that’s what I did. That’s 1989. GC Pro: Heading out to Mecca. RC: Scary times, lemme tell ya. GC Pro: So what was the progression once you got here? How hard was it to win your first gig? RC: Well, my first job was hard. I called everybody in the studio menu. If you’re not familiar with the studio menu, it must have a thousand listings of pro studios in LA. And I called A, B, C, alphabetically, all the way down the list. "Will you listen to my work? Can I empty the trash? Can I do anything for you?" you know. So, I’ll never forget this. One day, I’d just finished the O’s. It was about 5:00, I finally called Pacifique. Nobody answered. I called Paramount, and I was gonna put down the phone and just start the P’s the next day (laughs). But…I called, and Paramount said, "Yeah, what we really need here is a guy who knows MIDI." I don’t know if I want this publicized, but I, of course, said, "I know MIDI." And I didn’t know anything, but I said, "Yeah, I practically wrote the book on it!" I knew a little bit about MIDI, but it was new back then. It was 1989, and you had the Macintosh and Amigas, and you had your SP-12s, and all of this stuff was not as sophisticated or as simple as it is today. They said, "Your interview is tomorrow at 3:00. Come on down and we’ll see what you know." So I hung up the phone and ran to Guitar Center, and I asked everybody in there about MIDI! And I tried to get as much information as I could. So, when I exhausted their knowledge, I went to another Guitar Center. And the next one. And then Joe Goodman’s Music, I went there. And West L.A. too. And the next morning I woke up and did the same thing, so that I could speak intelligently about MIDI in my interview (laughs). GC Pro: That’s great. RC: Of course, I get the job. And I learned it, and I did great, and that was my first break. That was me getting a job at Paramount. Meanwhile, I really didn’t have a place to live at the time. I’m doing this mostly from hotels and pay phones. So I was really roughing it. Sleeping in the dirt parking lot at Vince’s Gym, right on Cahuenga and Lankershim. Five bucks would get me a shower, and I’d work out in the morning. So, I worked at Paramount, and at the same time a place called Wildcat – cause I’d continued to call all the way down to W, I didn’t stop at P, I kept going! So then Wildcat called me and they let me do some assisting there. The other place that let me in the door early on was Cherokee. I never really got hired there, but they let me hang out. So, really early, I got some scruffy gigs to hang out and learn, and of course I ran the MIDI room at Paramount for awhile. I didn’t run it, but I was one of the few guys that could exist in it. And that was the start. That was the beginning of it, praise the Lord, you know? GC Pro: Great story. So then that progressed to bigger and bigger projects? RC: Yes. GC Pro: Have you always been more involved in the mixing side of things, or were you a tracking engineer as well? RC: In the beginning, I didn’t even know there was a difference. I didn’t consider that there were specific mixers that did specific things. Keith Cohen was a great mixer at the time, and he went to school with me and worked with my band when we were in college. He came out and did very well for himself; he’s a hall-of-fame mixer. He explained a little about it to me, and then I watched and listened, which was a big thing that I did when producers came in -- Jay King was one of the first who I really recognized and I knew who he was -- I’d listen to him talk and I understood more and more about the recording and mixing process. Although I had musical skills, being a musician, and I had technical skills because I recorded my own stuff, I didn’t really know… I wasn’t at the level that I needed to be to make great records. Jay King was one of those guys that I listened to. He gave me a break because this guy had fired every engineer that worked at Paramount, every one of them. He was real demanding. But I was hungry, and we hit it off. He never bothered me because I was just so glad to be around. So I stuck it out with him and he taught me a lot. Finally, after a short while, I got to know what he liked. So I would stay late at the end of our tracking sessions. Paramount gave me the chance to become his engineer partially because they had no choice at the time, partially because they believed in me, and because they’d had good feedback from other clients. Anyway, when I worked with Jay, by the end of the recording process I knew what he liked. I just figured I was going to mix the record. But I didn’t realize, hey, he was going to hire a big-name mixer. So he goes to the big-name mixer, and three days later he calls me. "Rob Chiarelli, will you mix my record for me? I’ll pay you twenty-five bucks an hour." Now, I didn’t know what mixers got paid then, right? So, I’m thinking I’m a millionaire (laughs)! What happened was since I had worked with him so much, I knew what he liked, because at the end of every session I’d try different things and ask the next day, "What did you think of this?" and "Can I play you this?" and I’d always get his opinion. Of course, this new guy comes in and doesn’t have the benefit of all that, right? So, he let the other guy go and I ended up mixing the song, and Warner Brothers liked it. They gave me another one, and another and another and another. So I ended up mixing the record, and that's where I met Craig Burbidge from Aire L.A. who took me under his wing. So, to answer your question, that process of being a mixer or an engineer, all that stuff, just sort of naturally evolved from just watching, listening, learning and praying. And just becoming a student of the art, I think, and having good people help you out. GC Pro: So at this point, are you exclusively mixing, or do you track for people? RC: I do track for some people from time to time. This past year I was lucky. I did some vocals with Anastasia. She was awesome. For years, I have been recording all Will Smith’s vocals. I’ve cut Madonna and Ricky Martin and Janet Jackson. I enjoy recording with artists that I really respect and I think there will be a nice relationship there. That’s exciting for me to do that. But I don’t so a lot of tracking because, well…I really love to mix. When I get the opportunity to record someone like Anastasia or Will Smith, that’s exciting; that’s good. It’s about being around great artists that are really… GC Pro: Really inspiring. RC: Yeah. Because I’m a musician first. It’s not about the dough, you know? But mixing pays better than recording, generally. LeAnn Rimes is another great artist that I worked with last year... and to record her was incredible. I was mixing her album anyway, so it was just a natural thing. But I think most people consider, when they think about me, they probably think mixing. But I love to record live drums and I did that for LeAnn too. I love it. I don’t get a lot of calls to do that stuff, but when I do, I love to do it. I don’t get excited about recording drum machines. I really get excited about musicianship and being a part of the creative process. GC Pro: Incredible artists, incredible microphones- RC: Yeah, exactly. That whole art of engineering. It’s lost in a lot of respects 'cause it’s so easy to plug in a sampler or… or a plug-in! With today’s technology, it’s easy to get the sound, but these are things that I’ve enjoyed forever. Choosing the right microphone and placing it the correct distance from a voice or a guitar… it’s a creative thing. GC Pro: It’s magic. RC: Yeah, it can be really be cool. GC Pro: You just mentioned the technology, which has gone wild over the past few years. What has that done to how you work? You’re very well known for being an SSL 9000 guy and a Pro Tools guy, but so much has changed. What would you say about the current technology and how you use it? RC: I love and embrace all of this new stuff. I sometimes think it’s moving a little too fast. I don’t know how young guys can keep up with it all. The plug-ins are sounding better and better; digital is the future, there’s no two ways about it. I love analog for what it does; I love digital. Each does something different. I love drum machines; I love real drummers. They’re all different parts of the creative process. I think it always has come down to the song and the artistry. The way it’s put together, and the production. And all of these things, when they’re done really well – when the song’s done well and the performance is great, and it’s arranged in a way that people can understand and appreciate it – then that’s a good formula for a great record. When the technology is used for technology's sake, it’s a drag. When it’s used to bring out the creative part, whether it’s the song or the singer, used properly it’s a benefit, it’s great. GC Pro: Absolutely. RC: There are people who shy away from it in a lot of respects. You asked me another part of the question, how it’s changed what I do. Well, it used to be, when I would mix a song, if I had 35-40 tracks, it would be considered a pretty full mix. These days, with that same mix, I’m home for dinner. Now, it’s 90, 100 tracks. And because you have Pro Tools, 128 tracks is not unusual. The good thing is that you have a lot of tools in Pro Tools that can help fix disasters. You can lock up the drums so they’re tight, or you can change samples, or EQ things with real precision. You don’t need a piece of hardware for every little thing you do, although nothing’s going to replace my Pultecs or my Sta-levels or anything. At least not right now, but there are so many great things in Pro Tools. There are a lot of great companies making good stuff that just make my job a lot easier. The flip side of that is anybody who’s got a microphone in a bedroom or a bathroom is making a record. And sometimes, I’ve had vocals recorded on the back side of the mic. So it’s unbelievable that everybody has these tools- GC Pro: It’s so accessible. RC: It’s so accessible but there are certain fundamentals that…well, just because there are 128 channels, you don’t have to use every one of them. Sometimes less is more, and when you record a voice, you still have to place the microphone properly. And use a good microphone, and a nice preamp. But one would think that’s so simple, but I find it’s not usually done very well, still. As simple as it is, it’s still frustrating to get poorly-recorded vocals. It’s hard to deal with. GC Pro: That’s one thing that can’t be fixed in the mix, a bad vocal performance or bad vocal recording. RC: It can be! Technology can help a pitchy part, or you can cut and paste from different sections instantly. You can cross-fade, you don’t have to worry about punching in and out. Try it on those old Ampex 1200's or 124's, those old dogs! You’d have to hold the record button with your right finger, hit the play button to go into record, and then continue to hold the play button and hit the stop button to punch out! Talk about a disaster! GC Pro: What are a few of your favorite digital and analog things? What can’t you live without? RC: I can’t live without my Sta-levels. I can’t live without my 175, which is the tube predecessor of the 1176. Those are my old analog boxes that I love. I can’t live without my Avalon stuff. I love Avalon. And SPL makes a box that I use all the time. It’s called the Vitalizer. Especially in the digital world, that adds some harmonics that tend to get lost in the process. I love that box too. Those I must have. As far as plug-ins, I like the McDSP stuff. We are actually developing a series of plug-ins together. I love the Waves bundles… Renaissance verbs and compressors and EQs. That stuff is great. I really like Echo Farm and the Line 6 Amp Farm. That stuff is incredible. What else… GC Pro: Auto-Tune? RC: Auto-Tune! Auto-Tune has a tendency to rear its ugly head from time to time (laughs). GC Pro: So, the record industry’s going through some massive turmoil, some massive changes right now. In your crystal ball for the next 3-5 years, do you think professional working engineers like you are going to need to diversify and get into DVD or video games? What’s going to happen? RC: It’s interesting. Folks have approached me to do TV stuff and different areas. It’s an individual thing. For me, it’s gotta be music, cause that’s where my passion is, my love is. I do think that the engineers and mixers job description has changed. Now we’re engineers/mixers/producers because we don’t just throw up the faders and make sure you hear everything. We’re changing drums, we’re tuning the vocals, we’re sampling things, we’re maybe changing the arrangement of the song if it’s appropriate. We’re much more involved with the creative process. And also, producers who make records at home are sometimes songwriters with some production skills. They may need someone that’s a mixer with the experience that can help bring the whole thing together, right? GC Pro: To make it work so it translates... RC: Exactly. Some great songwriter at home with a Pro Tools system may have some production or mixing skills, but they bring it in to mix. And the mixer says, "Okay. We can really do A, B, C, D, and E and it’ll take two hours and it’ll do this. Do you wanna try it?" "Yeah." And you listen, and you have a creative discussion and make some decisions. Whereas before, an engineer had a piece of tape, and he’s gotta make it sound good quickly. You had a finite amount of time. Now, with the technology, the game becomes more complicated, so the relationship between producer and mixer gets blurred a little. Although, there are always certain well-defined areas. The scary thing today is that we see studios closing. We see that there aren’t that many records being made, not like there used to be. But still, people want to hear music. We all still love music. Now, maybe the studios will get smaller; I don’t know. I think there’s always going to be a segment that wants a great studio, and wants the experience and a proper listening environment and all of the amenities to do it right. So, when you’ve got a major celebrity or superstar, you don’t want them coming over and hanging out with your wife and kids and doing it in your garage. You really want the proper environment because…number one, you want the room to be sonically correct and you want to deliver the best thing you can. I think the real studio is never going to disappear for that reason. However, you’ve got up-and-coming artists that maybe don’t have the budget, and they can do it in the garage! And it can be a great experience! I’ve mixed records in my garage and they’ve been hits. You can make a great record for less money these days, but sometimes it’s more appropriate to do it in a big studio, the environment we’ve all grown up with and really love. GC Pro: What are your outside interests? What are you good at besides music and mixing? RC: I like to think I’m a pretty good T-ball coach. I love going to the beach with the kids and my wife. I love doing that. And I love and still enjoy the mystery of a good movie. There’s not much mystery in records to me anymore, but films, I don’t know that much about the voodoo, so I love to see a good film. I like to golf from time to time, I like to go to ballgames, I love sports. I’m a crazy New England Patriots fan. GC Pro: So you’re still high from the game? RC: Don’t get me started. I jumped up so high, I got so excited… GC Pro: Was that during the Janet Jackson part, since she’s a friend of yours? RC: (laughs) GC Pro: We won’t even go there. You’ve worked with Janet though. RC: I just did a couple of days with her. I did a remix with her, but we only spent two afternoons in the studio together. She cut some vocals. But I did mix a couple of songs for her, yeah. GC Pro: Unfortunately she took a little bit of the press from the glory of your game, though. RC: Yeah, but let me tell you something. The New England Patriots are world champions! And they will be for another 354 days or whatever! GC Pro: It was an incredible game. RC: That scream you heard, that wasn’t your neighbor. That was me. Jumping up and down. I think I’m happiest when I have nothing on my mind and I’m just hanging with the kids. Maybe I’m getting old, but I think that’s what it’s all about.