As a producer Michael Beinhorn has worked with some of the best in the music industry from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Korn to Marilyn Manson. Beinhorn’s gradual evolution to production began as a keyboardist in seminal New York band Material before landing a major production gig on Herbie Hancock's Future Shock album, which contained the massive hit single "Rockit". Since then his production skills have been in demand and his work earning him a number of Grammy nominations. Beinhorn has experienced first hand the changes in the recording realm during the past twenty years. In Ultimate-Guitar’s popular continuing series, "The Producers and Engineers", Joe Matera caught up with Beinhorn to discuss his production approach, moving from analog to digital and the important role a producer plays in an artist’s career.
UG: Your philosophy on production is one you consider a producer someone who is actually hands on in the studio with the artist and not one whom phones in their production directives.
Michael Beinhorn: To me, the title “producer” tends to carry a lot of weight. Most people who refer to themselves as a producer, are generally expecting to get paid according to what the title suggests. However, if you’re expecting to be paid according to this title, then you should be prepared to earn your money. And if you’re earning your money, this means doing what ever you need to do and contributing whatever you feel needs to be contributed in order to get the kind of results that you feel are appropriate for the project. In other words, if you’re going to call yourself a producer, then you should probably behave like one.
The artist is going to have to live with your contributions to his project for the rest of his life. The fact is, if you take on this job, you’re also taking responsibility for someone else’s work and how this will impact upon their life. There is a common misconception that being a record producer is some kind of a badge of honor or a special title that can simply be conferred or assumed at will. But producing isn’t about a title, personal comfort or hiring technicians to do your work for you. Being a producer is a job, it’s a very hard one, and one which comes with a lot of responsibilities.
When it comes to production, what do you think is the most important element in capturing a performance in the studio? Is it any one instrument or the total sum of the parts?
If you’re talking about a recording that features vocals, then the key element on the project is the vocal. I tend to feel that everything else is a decoration. However, the decoration for the vocal or the frame that you put the vocal in has to be beautiful - it should ideally be something that is eye catching and powerful. So from that perspective, the vocal is the most important thing in the recording, but once you start getting into the process of putting the recording together, each and every little aspect of the recording is of special and unique importance and it all needs to be respected, anything less, will affect the sensibility of the record and the intent behind it. If every stage of the recording doesn’t receive fair consideration and then all the effort goes into recording, let’s say, vocals, then you have actually undermined the vocal.
"Superunknown wasn’t an easy record to make. There was tension in the studio during the sessions and everyone didn’t always get along with one another."
The drums are the foundation of any recording but as I implied before, it’s helpful to apply the same degree of attention to each successive level of the recording. I tend to treat each overdub with equal importance because at the point in time it’s being recorded, each element requires care and the recording will all eventually be heard as a whole. I treat each stage of the recording as something unique unto itself so that while everything marries well, each piece can also stand on its own integrity.
You produced Soundgarden’s 1994 album Superunknown, what do you remember from making that album?
Superunknown wasn’t an easy record to make. There was tension in the studio during the sessions and everyone didn’t always get along with one another. In spite of this, we were blessed with truly great material and the band did an amazing job executing it. For this reason alone, Superunknown was an inspiring project to work on.
While we were making the record, it was pretty apparent how much potential it had. It was clear that the band had come a long way in terms of the music they had written for Superunknown compared to their previous work. The quality of material made it easier for me to do my job- to envision what the record would sound like and figure out how to get it there.
What about producing Marilyn Manson’s Mechanical Animals?
Manson was generally very professional in the studio- occasionally a bit difficult, but that’s not unusual when you’re making a record with someone for months at a time. For the most part he was great to work with, professional and highly productive. We maintained a very positive work environment and I enjoyed making that record.
You also devised the Ultra Analog Recording format a system that utilizes two inch magnetic tape, running on a custom built 8 track head stack.
With the two inch 8 track, I didn’t really create anything new, I just applied what seemed logical to an aspect of analog recording. My thinking was; the 24 track, 2” inch tape recorder that people had used on so many recordings was a great sounding machine. There was also the 16 track, 2” inch tape machine which had a much broader frequency response, better transient response and better signal to noise than the 24 track machine. The 16 track machine sounded better than the 24 track machine because it had a lower track count, but still the same 2” headstack height.
Applying logic then, if you used the two inch format and dropped down to eight channels, you’d wind up with a machine which would respond exponentially better in every way than a 2”16 track machine. The idea was tempting enough, and I finally decided to have a 2” 8 track headstack built that would fit on a Studer A800.
Did that expansion of that lower frequency come in handy for when you produced bands such as Ozzy and Korn?
I only used that format on two records. The Korn record was recorded exclusively on a digital format. But on the records made with the 2” 8 track, it sounded so good that it was life-changing. In hindsight, the idea seems funny as the concept was purely a theoretical one. After commissioning it, the first time I actually saw the tape machine, was in Paris where I was going to start tracking Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzmosis record. Obviously I was very nervous as this was an untried format, I was auditioning it on an important project and I had invested a lot of money in having it built. I wasn’t really sure what is was going to sound like or what it was going to do. But from the very moment we started playing music back on it, we were stunned- it sounded remarkable. In the end, what made using it prohibitive was the fact that this machine was in a flight case, it weighted about seven or eight hundred pounds, and it had to be shipped wherever I worked. This was a Studer A800 MK1 and Studer had discontinued making their 800 Mk 3 many years prior. There were fewer working parts available and the machines tended to break down a lot. Also, Studer 800’s were designed to live in one place- not to be taken to different studios. Astronomical cartage bills and the need for constant maintenance drove recording costs up to the point where it simply wasn’t practical for me to use the format anymore.
"The artist is going to have to live with your contributions to his project for the rest of his life. The fact is, if you take on this job, you’re also taking responsibility for someone else’s work."
At this point, I do all my work digitally. I am not opposed to working with analog tape but it really only works well on specific projects and I haven’t recently encountered a project where using it would be a benefit. In addition, I am finding that digital has actually begun to sound sonically pleasing. Initially, I found it hard to work in Pro Tools because of their TDM busses and because the sound of those busses tends to be somewhat harsh and brittle. Pro Tools have recently introduced their Native system which incorporates a computer’s CPU. This now means Pro Tools can access and process data more efficiently than it did using a TDM card. More efficient data processing translates into improved sound quality, and when you include good converters, a good clock and of course, clean power into the equation, you have a relatively inexpensive high resolution digital recording system. With Native, Pro Tools sounds a bit closer closer to DSD which was previously my digital recording format of choice.
Do you favor any particular miking techniques in capturing guitar tones?
There are no specific techniques I prefer but I try to maximize my signal chain as much as possible. I also like to use multiple speaker cabinets to get a good guitar sound. My general approach always winds up being a matter of what the project is, what type of music it is, who the artist is and what the situation calls for. I always enjoy getting a sound that is personalized for the artist, one that helps represent who the artist is and what their personality is.
What are you currently undertaking project wise?
Right now I have been mainly working with unsigned artists. I feel it’s important to help those individuals who don’t have the access or the budget, to develop toward making a high quality record. There are a lot of artists right now who have potential and talent but would otherwise get lost without some kind of opportunity. I am trying to redefine and retool my approach to record making so that it can be more useful and operational under present conditions. I feel strongly that people such as myself have a great responsibility. We have knowledge to share and we have a responsibility toward those artists who are deserving and worthy of that knowledge and who can really do something with it. I have seen first hand how being able to share my experience with artists who wouldn’t be able to get a break otherwise, can be life changing for them. In many ways, doing this work is as satisfying as anything I’ve done.
Interview by Joe Matera
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