Al Schmitt on the Record: The Magic Behind the Music (Music Pro Guides) Kindle Edition

Clearly, being in the right place at the right time is a great thing. When you catch wave after wave of success beyond that, you're exceeding your life's dreams. This remarkable man's blessings ring loudly throughout this wonderful book. The sessions are vividly recalled with great detail. It was tough to ever put this book down. I've been a fan for years, and now I have the inside track.This will provide lots of information even for folks not involved in the recording process. There's a lot of great history told, and it's phenomenal how many records Al produced, engineered, or both. Just an amazing story about a truly nice guy (who certainly won't finish last) and a blessed life.

I was EXTREMELY Lucky to have been an Assistant Engineer to the great Al Schmitt at Sound Labs in Hollywood!Al is a VERY Nice man, funny, and a Brilliant engineer!!! I learned more working with him in a day than many "famous" engineers in months. This book is his Story-working with his uncle, Tom Dowd, and bands he has worked with and his techniques. Also, VERY funny anecdotes about the great musicians and singers he's worked with...and what your fate is if you show up late for one of his sessions! Mine is autographed and I cherish it. It brings me..."Joy!"

Al Schmitt has had an amazing career as a recording engineer and his book is great. I am a studio guitar player and love to hear stories about how classic records were made. Al shares some great background stories about the records he's recorded and artists he's worked with, along with some cool technical info and some of his philosophy on music and recording. A great read for anyone in the music biz or anyone interested in classic recordings.

As an EE, A Fellow of the AES, and a retired part time recording engineer with far less experience than Al, but exclusively recording jazz live in clubs, I found myself nodding in agreement, over and over again, with the principals of his recording techniques. The only thing in conflict with what I practiced was the use of multiple drum mics -- I never used more than three.The contrast between Al's sharing, and the careful avoidance of any sharing by Rudy Van Gelder is stark, and to my ears, Al's work is far superior to Rudy's. Listen to "Ray Charles and Betty Carter," or "Diana Krall In Paris." So is that of Roy DuNann, who made so many great recordings in the Contemporary Records shipping department! Listen to Rollins' "Way Out West," for example. And so are the nearly 100 live '50s recordings of some of our greatest big bands by Wally Heider, including his first stereo recording of the Kenton band in Nov, 1956. Al's sharing attitude exudes self-confidence, Rudy's fear of sharing suggests insecurity.For the non-technical reader, there's a personal story and his interactions with some of those he recorded. As a jazz fan I found it interesting.

Al gets into the technical end of recording, which fascinates me as an audio production specialist for radio. Anyone in this business or anything related to it can take away something from the master. I just wish I had not waited until the day he died - literally - to order it. May he rest in peace.

Most recording engineers do not test for accuracy of a faithful reproduction of a famous or even not-so famous artist anywhere near the capabilities of Al Schmitt - not even close. More money, resources and working "harder" is not always better. If there is one person that listened to his piers, learned to perform a job properly and worked "smarter" than Al Schmitt, please tell us who that can be. Doing a masterpiece the right way, the only way and no other way was part of Al Scmitt's "Songbook" for success. And that is it. Period.

Brilliant insight to a wonderfully talented unsung hero of the art of recording. Great read that not only gives you a glimpse into his rich history, but also his though process into recording, engineering, mic techniques and so much more.Highly recommended!

Should be required reading for anyone who wants to record music seriously. Bottom line don't "fix it in the mix". Do it right when you're recording. Al is a legend. If you're interested in recording and music production at all this is a must read.

Full of inside knowledge about the artists good and bad, the business itself from the early days to recent times with extra fine details on the recording processes involved. Priceless. God Rest His Soul.

I enjoyed this very much. Interesting for its technical content, but also for its life lessons - how to get the best from others and yourself. Fascinating too if you have heard any of the albums mentioned in the book.

If you're into music, recording or production, you'll know of Al and his outstanding contribution to the art of record production and to the music business over the last 60 odd years. An absolutely first class read from a studio legend. Not disappointed at all.

Conocimientos que se agradecen de un gran técnico de sonido.De la antigua escuela. Esto es: Capturar el sonido de las cosas de la mejor forma posible en vez de hacer tomas de pena con equipos de caca y creerse que un plugin va a mejorar algo.

When he records he doesn't use equalizers. It's all about the mics. He uses the sonic character of his microphones to perform the function of an equalizer therefore eliminating the need for it. He put in his 10000 hours. A fan