Careers: Interviews
Internationally Respected and Widely Regarded Freelance Sound
Designer, Audio Engineering Consultant, Music Composer
This week, Stephen Ibaraki, I.S.P., has an
exclusive interview with Jay Shaffer.
Jay is a renowned freelance sound designer,
audio engineering consultant, and music composer with an extensive background
in lighting, scenic design, art direction, record engineering/producing,
audio/video facilities design/construction, video/theatre/TV direction, videography/camera
operation/editing, 3-D graphics, web design, and computer game design.
His more than 20-year history of successes encompasses the
recording industry, videos, films, and computer games including several awards
for excellence.
Jay�s recent book credit includes, The
MacAddict Guide to Making Music with GarageBand, which is receiving wide
attention.
Discussion:
Q: Jay, as a leader in your profession, we
are very fortunate to have you with us. Thank you!
A: Thank you very much for having me, Stephen.
Q: You have a college degree in
Environmental Biology and then obtained a degree in Broadcast Communications.
What triggered this change?
A: I was, and still am, interested in
environmentally friendly architectural design. Friends and relatives said that
I had a "radio voice" and eight years of school for an architecture
degree seemed like forever. So I started taking classes and interned in radio
stations. I liked doing production work more than being on-air. I was
fascinated by faders, knobs, and blinking lights and had a knack for the
technology. I also interned at a TV Station and finally an internship at the
audio/video facility at the Denver Performing Arts Center led to my first
"real" job.
Q: Give us a synopsis of the purpose and
goals of your MacAudioGuy.com web site.
A: If you work in audio, you are always
introduced as the sound guy or the audio guy. Being a Mac guy, it was a natural
to name the site Mac Audio Guy. I had originally envisioned it as more of a
site to keep track of pro-audio software available on the Macintosh. It has
evolved into more of a resource for anyone interested in recording on the Mac.
Q: You have been using Macs since 1986.
What are the pros and cons of Macs? What would you like to see added? What do
you see in the future?
A: I started out on Commodore 64s because
they were cheap and then Amigas, because they were considered the computer for
video work. And I did a lot of video and 3-D work on the Amiga and Video
Toasters up into the 90s.
Actually, upon further reflection, I lied,
it was '87 when we got a Mac SE in the recording studio I was working at. It
ran the first really great piece of music software on the Mac, Performer, a
MIDI sequencer by a company called Mark of the Unicorn.
I soon got a Mac II for myself. Back then
(pre-Windows) the Apple GUI was the only way to go with music software and all
the studios had Macs.
All the great music software started out as
Mac programs. Digidesign's Sound Designer evolved into Pro Tools, which for
better or worse is the industry standard digital recording software. MOTU's
Digital Performer is still the favorite MIDI sequencer among American musicians
and Stienberg's Cubase and eMagic's Logic are the favorites across the pond.
All these companies started making software for the Mac, although all of them
are now available on the PC.
Pros and Cons of the Mac? I race sports
cars, so I like to think Macs are like Porsches, different and better at doing
the particular thing that they do. Where PCs are more like SUVs or Corollas,
utilitarian, ubiquitous, practical and relatively unexciting. I have a PC for
testing games, web sites and running stuff that isn't available on the Mac. I
think that a lot of Mac users, still aren't ready to move to OSX and are
getting left behind by the increasing complexity of software in general. Apple
is hyping the digital lifestyle without letting the users know that they need a
really fast machine and that they will have to go through a learning curve to
use these tools.
I would like to see a $600 iMac to compete
with bare-bones PCs. On the pro end of the spectrum I'd like to see a turn key
HD video editing solution based on the X-Serve.
I think that Apple wants to dominate the
digital audio and video production market. They have a good strategy with a
software range from GarageBand to Logic Pro for audio and from iMovie to Final
Cut Pro for video. On the other hand, they are competing with Avid/Digidesign
on the pro end of the market. Avid/Digidesign has the advantage of having cross
platform products and pro level hardware interfaces.
Q: What does it take to win awards?
A: Ha ha! If I told you, then everyone
would do it! Just kidding. Some awards, like the Cable ACE Awards are like
contest where you pay a fee and send in a tape and hope that the judges like it
or that no one else is in your category. Others like RIAA Gold Records are
purely based on sales, which means that you at the mercy of marketing and
distribution.
I haven't won any that involve an academy
yet. I hear that it involves going to a lot of parties and having a lot of
close personal friends.
Q: This is a long question. What three tips
can you share in each of these areas?
A: 1) freelance sound design
Use a shotgun approach. You might like a
particular sound effect, the client will invariably like another.
If you hear something cool, record it
Try to always carry some thing to record
with. A camcorder, Mini-disc or an iBook.
2) audio engineering
The first stage in a recording chain is the
most important.
Use your own monitoring speakers.
Take 226 is always better than take 599.
3) music composing
Just start working, it will usually lead to
something.
Try to remember the weird stuff you used to
do before you got slick.
Usually, less is more.
4) lighting
Big diffuse sources.
There is moody and there is just plain
dark.
You always can use another C-Stand (a piece
of grip equipment that hold lights and other things)
5) scenic design
Get a budget.
Lots of levels. If the floor is
interesting, you can get away with a lot.
If something onstage can fall down, it
will.
6) art direction
Remember it doesn't have to be the Taj
Mahal, it just has to look like it.
Suggest lots of close-ups of the talent.
(the set goes out of focus)
The perfect location, isn't.
7) record engineering/producing
Try to remember that the band does have
some musical talent.
Be prepared. Have the studio set-up and be
ready to roll before the talent arrives.
Don't trust your ears after four hours in
the studio.
8) audio/video facilities
design/construction
Learn to solder.
You'd be surprised at just how small of an
opening you can fit through to plug in a cable.
Clean steady well grounded power is
everything
9) video/theatre/TV direction
Direction is an endurance sport.
Don't waffle. You're right, even if you're
wrong.
The promise of free beer will get you
another hour from the crew.
10) videography/camera operation/editing
Shoot from a tripod whenever possible.
You are rolling, right?
The batteries are not charged, unless you
personally charged them.
11) 3-D graphics
3D Studio Max's XYZ is different than
everyone else's XYZ.
Learn to light.
For games, you always have too many polygons and your
texture maps are too big. Live with it.
12) web design
What they want: A domain name, an unlimited
bandwidth server and provider, database driven, active server, flash animation,
streaming video, shopping cart, and a merchant account, that looks like a
Madison Avenue design.
What they can afford: a Geocities page.
What they need: Four pages of HTML.
13) computer game design
Ugly games have to be good, bad games have
to be pretty.
There will never be another Tetris.
Get off of the MMOG bandwagon before it's
too late.
Q: What valuable lessons can you share from
your current projects?
A: From writing the book. I had a young
talented technical editor from MacAddict named Chris Fong and she would
question any statements I would make about audio or music. Although I feel I
was right most of the time, It did force me to evaluate my preconceived notions
before stating them as gospel. After 20 years in the industry you start to
become too set in your ways and you need an occasional reality check.
Q: Please share two surprising experiences.
A: 1) I am absolutely astounded that I was
able to write a book. Thankfully my co-author and good friend Gary Rosenzweig
was able to show me the ropes and encourage me. I used to loath writing. It
took me three tries to get through the English requirements in college. But
lately I've learned to really enjoy writing. It sure beats listening to the
50th bad guitar take at three in the morning.
2) I am pleasantly surprised at how
inexpensive it can be to record music and shoot and edit video nowadays.
With a little bit of talent you can produce
a pro-quality album in your basement or shoot and edit your own movie.
Now the distribution and marketing side of
the media industry needs to catch up. I would be really surprised if THAT
happened.
Q: Tell us two humorous stories.
A: 1) I'm not sure I have two in me.� One is while I was working in Fiji., I was
the Chief engineer and producer for a company called South Pacific Recordings.
We had put in a video facility which is funny because Fiji didn't have a TV
station at that time. SPR was the major importer of movies on video in Fiji,
both American and Bollywood. And our licenses allowed us to do commercial
insertions in the Bollywood videos. So we had hired this couple from Australia
to shoot video. They got a contract from the local meat processing plant called
Fiji Meats to do a three minute video/commercial.� I recorded a song called the Fiji Meat Man in
the style of Johnny Cash, which I sung (if you can call it that.) They taped
the video of happy meat processing workers dancing through the meat processing
process including waltzing with pig carcasses and sausage making in time with
the music. It is hilarious and revolting at the same time. Surprisingly, the
company bought off on the thing with a straight face. When I moved back to the
States I got permission to show the video around. It became an instant comedy
sensation and wound up getting the best foreign video award from WestWord,
Denver's alternative newspaper.
2) I am a bit of a practical joker and the
1st of April is a special day for me. In the mid-90s I worked for company
called Ingenius, which was an online daily educational news magazine for
schools. One April 1st I got to work at 6:00AM and went around to sixty some
desk and removed everyone's mouse ball and hid them in their cubes. Needless to
say the IT department got flooded with calls as people got to work and fired up
their computers. I had to 'fess up and got a stern talking to from the head of
IT. I still snicker whenever I think of that one.
Q: What is involved in designing computer
games?
A: I can only speak to the couple games that
I designed while working at CleverMedia. CleverMedia is owned by my good friend
and co-author, Gary Rosenzweig. He has probably designed over a hundred games
and is probably the best Shockwave online game guy in the world. So I had a
good teacher.
The first game I designed was a online
rally racing game called Pretty Good Rally Racing. It's a straight forward 2-D
racing game that looks like a 3-D game. The challenge with that one was to get
reasonable physics, graphics and sound while keeping the entire game under
400K. Another game I came up with is a Flash based musical widget called the
MP3000 that allows you to remix music and animated graphics and record your mix
and play it back. I came up with that while drinking a beer on my deck after
work. I got so excited about the idea that I called up Gary right then and we
started working on it the next day. Both of those games and many more are still
available on CleverMedia.com.
Q: Share your top ten tips from your book,
The MacAddict Guide to Making Music with GarageBand (Que).
A: 1) Have
some friends over for cocktails and trick them into recording some background
vocal tracks.
2) Listen to
your mixes on as many different speaker systems as possible.
Especially listen to
your mix on a car stereo or two.
3) Unplug your
home phone and turn off your cell phone when recording.
4) It�s easier
to ruin a mix with too many effects than with too few.
5) Additional
percussion instruments can often be found in the kitchen.
6) Really crazy
ideas either succeed gloriously or fail miserably.
7) Don�t fool
yourself�making a sound louder in the mix doesn�t make it sound
better.
8) Steal from
the best; listen closely to and copy techniques from albums that you like.
9) Export
several mixes of your song. Being able to pick and choose after your ears
have healed is
priceless.
10) The cops
usually come later if you close the garage door when playing.
Q: Why should our readers study this book?
What differentiates it from others?
A: I think that my book is different in
that I approach the subject from a musicians point of view. If you look at the
other books on GarageBand they are written by people like Mary Plummer and
David Pouge who crank out books on a regular basis on all sorts of Mac
software. Not that they are bad books, they just approach it from a computer
users perspective.
My book shows not only how to use the
software, but also how to make music using the software. Also, like MacAddict
magazine, we take a little more edgy and humorous approach to the subject.
Q: What are the most compelling issues
facing the top professionals in your area of expertise? How can they be
resolved?
A: 1) Trade schools are cranking out more
aspiring recording engineers and sound designers than there are available jobs.
For example, There are probably 15 major games companies that have full time
sound departments, and a single local arts college might graduate 30 people
with a game sound degree. Of course, this is leading to a situation that the
only jobs out there are teaching game sound in arts schools. I don't know how,
when or if this will ever be resolved.
2) Clients are expecting expertise in so
many different and expensive software programs that no one has the time or the
money to learn any of them in depth. I try to explain to clients that in most
cases it's not which piece of software that you use, but the final product that
counts.
3) The record companies are dead, they just
don't know it yet. The current model of music publishing and record marketing
and distribution is going to change in the near future. Music production has
already changed. I wish I had the answer on how to protect intellectual rights
and royalties for artist. I think that ASCAP/BMI needs to take the song
publishing process online and make it simple, transparent and cheap. And I
think that every artist should be able to sell their music online for 99 cents
a song like the iTunes store model and receive more than a penny of that 99
cents, which is about what they receive under the present system.
Q: You pick the topics: now provide us with
those valuable rare �gems� that only you know.
A: Boy, that's a hard question.
I think the most important message I'd like
to impart is that the tools to produce music or video are out there and they
are cheap, $49 for the iLife suite. The hard part is to write a good song or a
good script.
Q: What future books can we expect from
you?
A: I'd like to follow up with a book on the
next version of GarageBand or a book on Logic Express, Apple's mid-level music
software. Or, on a completely different note, I'd like to find a publisher for
a book on how to get into auto racing on the cheap.
Q: What are the most important trends to
watch in your industry, and please provide some recommendations?
A: 1)The open source movement is a cool
thing. There are a couple of really good free audio programs out there, and I'm
a big fan of PHP and MySQL on the Web side of things.
2) Software instruments and audio effects
processors are pretty big news, I used to have a Keyboard controller, two synthesizers,
a sampler, a drum machine and a rack full of processors cluttering up my
studio. Now I have probably 30 synths, three samplers, four drum machines and
50 effects all inside my Mac.
3) Because DJing and remixing are so hot,
turntables and loops of sampled music that can be played back in different
tempos and musical keys are how a lot of music is getting made. There is a cool
new toy that hooks up to a turntable and allows you to control loops on the
computer. I want one!
4) Another trend is for live musical
collaboration over the Internet. Where I can work pretty much real time on a
song with someone across the globe. Live streaming mixes by club DJs is
another. Nothing like listening to a DJ spinning euro trance after midnight in
Istanbul when it's two in the afternoon here.
Q: What kind of computer setup do you have?
A: My main computer is a Mac G4 hot rodded
to 1.25 Ghz with 250 Gigs total hard drive with a M-Audio audio interface
hooked up to my mixer. In addition an iBook with a iMic interface for portable
work, an older P3-400 PC and my wife's G4 are on the network. Then I've got a
couple older Macs laying around for my grand-kids to play games on.�
Q: Do you have any more comments to add?
A: If you are a musician who is
computer-phobic, you owe it to yourself get a new Mac with GarageBand on it and
then pick-up my book and we'll have you recording in no time.
Q: Jay, thank you again for taking the time
out of your busy schedule to do this interview.
A: Thank you Stephen. 'Twas a pleasure.
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