It is great to be back into the swing of things again at The Recording Session Vault educational website project. For the first time since launching the site, I am back in the process of writing new articles, authoring more blog posts, updating social media and launching a new podcast episode. It is good to be getting back into the groove of working again on the website and furthering its mission in the process.
The very first article since the website has been launched is now on the site and ready to see its first readers. It is a brief history of the development of one of the greatest microphones in the history of popular music recording, the Telefunken ELAM 251E. I want to take a moment to thank Alan Venitosh of Telefunken Elektroakustik for his assistance throughout the process of writing this article. It is an interesting story which involves three companies— AKG, Neumann and Telefunken and their true competitive quest to develop the greatest microphone to ever be created in 1958. If you have never had the pleasure of using the Telefunken ELAM 251E, it is perhaps one of the greatest microphones, without a doubt, to ever be created. It is a gorgeous microphone that sounds beautiful on just about every source that you put in front of it.
At the moment, I am also working on another article, which is about the development of the Pultec EQP-1A, which was one of the first and truly one of the greatest program equalization units to ever be created for the purpose of recording popular music. It is also a fascinating story of two amazing friends, who despite the Second World War and the Cold War that would follow, worked together with their families to create a company in 1953 that would make each of their fabulous equalization units by hand until 1981. Today, one of the greatest engineering minds in the world, Dr. Steve Jackson, has painstakingly resurrected these amazing units and the company (Pulse Techniques) which produced them. I am working with him to write a brief history of the unit and to tell the amazing story of its development.
Later, today, I will be the featured guest on an amazing podcast hosted by Mindy Peterson, Enhance Life With Music. I am excited about having this opportunity. Mindy has been a professional educator since 1991 and is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music. She is also the Arts Advocacy Chair of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association and a member of the Music Teachers National Association. Plus, she is a founding member and a member of the advisory board of the American Life Music Council, which is a national coalition of healthcare providers dedicated to using the power of music to promote both physical and mental wellness. I am going to speaking on the show about the role of recording studio engineers in the creation and development of popular music. As soon as it hits the airwaves, I will provide a link to it on the website.
Also, I am excited to tell each of you that in less than two weeks, I will begin the process of writing the story of the life and career of another legend in the studio, who since 1980 has given us some of the greatest hits in country, pop, rock, jazz and classical music as an engineer, songwriter and as a producer, Pat McMakin. His credits include: Dolly Parton, Alabama, Brooks and Dunn, Lonestar, Ray Charles, George Jones, Brenda Lee, N’Synch and Steve Martin and this is but, just a small sampling of his amazing discography. Not only has he engineered, written and produced a number of amazing hit songs, but he has also managed a number of state-of-the-art recording studio facilities in Nashville, Tennessee, throughout his career. Since 2008, he has been at Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios— one of the greatest recording studio facilities in the world where he is currently the Director of Operations. I will also be authoring a brief article about Ocean Way Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, as well, and it will be in the historic studios section of articles on the site. I first met Pat McMakin, in 1998, while working at Curb Studio. At the time, he was producing an artist who had been signed by Curb Records, David Kersh, and I completed some compact disc compilations for him. Throughout a remarkable career that has now spanned more than forty years, he is one of the most respected voices in the popular music industry and now I have both the honor and the privilege of being able to tell the amazing story of his life and career right here on The Recording Session Vault educational website project.
Behind the scenes, I have been very busy with the website and working to make it a great experience for each of its visitors. I am in the process of reaching out to more legends in the studio and to professional audio companies to begin authoring new articles and content. Plus, I am also beginning the process of reaching out to historic studios both here in America and around the world to bring their great stories to you, as well. But, I am also mindful of what I have learned since launching the website just about six weeks ago at this time— and that is that the website must continue to grow and evolve and with it— it must also change, too, so there have been a number of updates to it over the course of the past few days. I have changed the homepage to reflect that the articles, blog and podcast are each in more easily accessible locations, have ended any subscription or log-in requirements and have made the website much easier for me to be able to update and manage. This new format will allow me to more easily add content to it and for you to be able to find it and enjoy it— without taking away from any of the content that was there from the beginning. With this format, I can easily put an article or even two on the site per week moving forward, plus a pair of blog posts and include more podcast episodes more easily as the content base for the site continues to grow. I am looking forward to authoring more content for the site in the days to come.
Additional Information:
You can read the new article on the site about the Telefunken ELAM 251E at the following link. (Telefunken ELAM 251E) It is a seven-minute read. Also, you can see all of the new updates and information on our website. (The Recording Session Vault). Have a great weekend--
JL
