Almost two years in the making, the complete set of videos for The Art & Science Of Sound Recording has gone live online, July 2010.
The series, which comprises twenty-four Sections, is currently offering a free stream of the Introduction – A Brief History Of Recording – to all those registering on the website.
The final Sections include Vocals, featuring a recent interview that Alan conducted with Erykah Badu, and A Band Tracking Session where viewers can see how the new Alan Parsons single release, All Our Yesterdays, took shape.
"This project may not have been quite at the level of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, where the composer had been working on it for so long he inadvertently married people off to their aunts and cousins," said producer Julian Colbeck, "but it has been a massive process. Keeping more than 10 hours of finished material 'in the present' has been a real challenge."
Dateline: January 30th 2010. Santa Cruz: The second batch sections from the ASSR series is due to be released online the week of Feb 12 2010.
Although recording frequently – possibly mostly – now takes place out of a conventional recording studio, there is wisdom and value in whatever ‘space’ you use to generate or mix your music being suitable for the purpose. In this section Alan looks at the various properties of sound being played in small rooms and examines everything from soundproofing techniques to room modes as a ‘studio’ is seen being constructed.
During one filming session in Los Angeles Alan is alerted to the whereabouts of the mixing board that he’d used when working with McCartney, Pink Floyd, and others at Abbey Road. After this emotional opening (he’d not set eyes on the board for more than thirty years) Alan examines conventional modern consoles, looking at each item on a typical channel strip in detail. Finally Alan assesses how they – and their cousin, the controller – relate to and can enhance the experience of using a DAW. 
To all intents and purposes recording has become a computer-based activity. What can be learned from the veterans of the analog recording art and what knowledge can be carried over to the digital world? Alan takes us on an extensive tour of the equipment currently available – hardware, interfaces, applications, and software, and injects some old-world sanity into this brave new platform. 
Microphones are effectively the inverse of loudspeakers, a fact ably demonstrated at the beginning of this scene using the ‘two tin cans connected by a piece of string’ experiment that’s been beloved by kids for decades. The section goes onto look at the science behind microphones, from their various designs and applications to the art of using and placing microphones. Along the way Alan talks to many producers and engineers, including self-confessed mic junkie John McBride, at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. 
Keyboards have the widest range of sound and sensibility of any instrument ‘type.’ From a synth string pad on a plug-in to a sampled drum loop, from playing piano to programming… all can be required of the keyboard player. Alan discusses approaches to recording keyboards with Foo Fighters’ Rami Jaffee, and then looks at some specific approaches to miking specific instruments such as a grand piano, and B3/Leslie. 
The role of bass in rock, pop, and hip-hop is absolutely crucial. Alan discusses bass recording techniques with Nathan East during a live tracking session for a new Alan Parsons track, All Our Yesterdays and also meets one of his long-time bass heroes, Carol Kaye, who contributed to many groundbreaking records with Phil Spector, Quincy Jones, The Beach Boys and others in the sixties and seventies.
Tracing its development from tape echo in the 1950s, Parsons looks at modern delay devices, parameters, and applications. This scene features an extended free-form section where Alan uniquely twists, turns, and distorts delay effects on vocals. 
While almost every school, college, and church has wanted to record a choir at some stage, and most likely already have the equipment – most need the knowhow. In this scene, Parsons shows up for class one morning at a California High School and teaches them the art and science of recording a jazz choir. The result is pure magic. 
Situated in ‘currently-being-revitalized’ downtown Los Angeles, the GRAMMY Museum features interactive exhibits that let you monitor recorded sound quality from the wax cylinder to 96k Surround, and investigate everything from the role of the producer to the power of a plug-in. 