For those who might not know, Mike Senior is a well known and respected recording engineer having spent 17 years at Cambridge University and now is a regular contributor to Sound On Sound Magazine.
 
Mike was a great guest on the  RH  show, so I wanted to share the interview. The first attempt was unsuccessful as I updated some podcast software about 10 minutes before the show and it didn't play well with some other programs. We ended up needing to reschedule after I sorted the problem out...so this is a late show this month, but Mike was a real sport about the whole thing and I was able to talk with him a bit. You might be surprised at some of his unorthodox apporaches to things like recording a vocalist with no headphones. 
 
I'm not presently using a static page, so if this post isn't at the link given simply look under the heading "podcasts".
 
http://www.recordinghound.com/
 
 
 
 
 
-Tim

Looking forward to listening to this.  I totally devoured Mike's first book.  I met Mike briefly at an AES convention in San Francisco three of years ago, when he was participating in a series of free seminars put on by Sound on Sound.  He struck me as an extremely nice fellow.  He also was a great presenter and his hour-long talk was a great pleasure to experience.

I've been through his book Mixing Secrets on Safari Books Online.
I listened to this interview.
 
I found it interesting some of the things he said. When he talks about phase relationships I always think MAutoAlign from Melda Productions.
 
I like the idea of trying to track it well.
 
He says, 'It's not record your band in 3 easy steps.' I record other people's bands so often. It leaves me wanting my own sometimes.

I will have to come back to listen later..... this is a busy week..... started to listen but other things needed doing.....
 
Thanks for posting this..... yes, I will get back to it because I have the book, and have read through it several times and refer to it in part on other occasions.

I would like to meet Mike some time...but he now lives in Munich and I don't have any plans to venture there any time soon, but who knows?, maybe I'll see him in the states some time.
 
I just recieved the January 2015 copy of SOS magazine and wouldn't you know, it lines right up with what we were talking about. In that issue Mike records a band all in one room and explains what he did to tame certain errant frequencies...like the high hats and bass drums, but I don't want to give it all away.....
 
From what I gather Mike wants to get back to some of the techniques used by engineers from the past...the way they did it before we had isolation and recording booths. 

Starise
From what I gather Mike wants to get back to some of the techniques used by engineers from the past...the way they did it before we had isolation and recording booths. 

I usually just record the group doing their thing. It's 1 in 20 that I record someone wearing headphones (other than me).

So you're old school which is now new school?  I say whatever works.
 
My take on it is this: Way back in the 50/60's they had to rely more on low tech and sometimes it was necessary to improvise. The place  larger studios were at then is where many smaller studios are today so I think we can make a valid comparison between the two. Many of those techniques carry well into the home studio in 2014/15.
 
In my opinion I have heard good records done both in booths and in open spaces where everyone is together. I think if a band can hear one another and they are already tight it isn't as necessary to all see one another or be in the same space. Many studios have recording spaces with windows in them so you still could see the other players. As far as using room space and bleed to glue a band together. I certainly agree, but we can do the same or a similar thing using artificial reverb too......in the end I think both techniques can work well, but I think Mike addresses a common scenario where you have a band and a garage and that's pretty much it.
 
 

I listened to the whole interview yesterday - very well done!  I'm curious about how you achieved the clarity of sound.  It sounded like you were in the same room and not communicating via a telephone connection between two continents.  Were you using Skype or something of that nature?

 
I downloaded the podcast into my mp3 player yesterday evening then went for an hour long walk in the park.
A most enjoyable listen, thanks Tim for sharing it with us.
 
The bit I liked the most was when Mike very politely offered that what was important was the performance and not whether there were any extraneous sounds or bleed between mics.
 
 

Very nice interview.  Mike was full of gems you dug out of him.  Good job, Tim.
 
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