Al Torrence

Can you take me back to the beginning? How did you first get into audio engineering, and what made you realize this could become your career?

A friend gave me a copy of Sony Acid 4 (dating myself here…) which allowed me to fumble around a DAW. I had a Windows mic plugged into the “mic in” on my computer, and a pair of JBL computer speakers for monitors. At the time it felt like the most professional studio I could imagine! Eventually when I picked up guitar my teacher David Granati would teach me out of his own studio, a full scale 24 track room with an Alesis HD24 and a Yamaha DM2000. Throughout high school I would intern and record my friends' bands at his studio, and I quickly began to fall in love with the idea of shaping and capturing an artist's vision for a song. I really never had aspirations of making my own music, but somehow felt rewarded doing it for someone else. From a career standpoint when starting out, it made sense to work in a studio instead of trying to “make it” as a musician, even though I quickly realized it was equally hard. 

How would you describe your production/mixing style today and how has it evolved since you first started?

Nowadays I try to embrace the kindle or original essence that made the artist write the song in the first place. I used to get caught up spending a lot of time on the best miking technique or shooting out a dozen guitars, but now I find it’s better to spend that time figuring out a way to get your artist to believe in the production. A lot of the records I do now have vocals recorded with an sm7b and no headphones when tracking them. If you’re more comfortable playing and singing at the same time, so be it! Ultimately I’d rather fight a less-than-stellar recording with an undeniable performance than a perfectly tracked song with no heart to it. No plugin can solve that.

When you’re working on a mix how do you balance the emotional/artistic side of the music with the technical side of engineering?

I try to get the technical stuff out of the way early so I can shut that side of my brain off when mixing. I think mixing at its core should be a creative pursuit, so the earlier I can get technical things out of the way, the better. My template is usually imported from the last mix I did and adjusted to fit the current mix I’m working on. All my sends to effects are already on groups ready to unmute, and most plugins I like are ready to be activated on tracks. From there it’s just knob twisting until I like the way it sounds, instead of what it looks like. If it hits my mix bus in the way I like seeing it, I don’t particularly care how it gets there or what’s “technically correct.” People listen with their ears, not their eyes. 

With so much music being made remotely, how has file sharing and digital collaboration changed your workflow?

As a producer I’m not restricted to my local area for session work. You can take an idea from inception to fruition in a matter of days by sending digital files directly to the session musician and having them record in their home studio. Being based in Pittsburgh, a lot of my session work gets sent to Nashville, particularly fiddle (shout out Jenee Fleenor). It’s also great to be able to upload a Pro Tools session and have a collaborator work directly in the session. This eliminates all the guess work of realigning tracks and sifting through imported tracks. As upload and download speeds increase along with cloud storage, condensing sessions is becoming easier as well. We’re already seeing the beginnings of cloud based DAWs where collaborators can work on projects in real time from different locations.  

Do you think better file management can actually lead to better music? Why or why not?

I don’t necessarily believe there’s a direct correlation that guarantees it. I’ve worked on sessions where all tracks are named “audio 1…” etc and it sounds amazing. I think there’s credence to the Doc Brown mad scientist idea of beakers overflowing that ultimately leads to something genius. Of course the inverse is true, so really it just depends on the producer. I do think better file management can lead to easier preservation of records, and when it comes time to turn it in, less time is spent reorganizing sessions to archive them. I find myself usually starting with organized sessions that eventually get cluttered when the workload becomes too quick, or multiple songs are being worked on simultaneously. Above all, back up your sessions to multiple different places so you can always get back something that is lost.

How does quick, secure file sharing impact the creative flow of a project? 

With most projects, time is of the essence. Sometimes a feature vocal is needed ASAP, and a quick concise way to share files is the only way to get that done. I used to hear stories of producers mailing tapes back in the day for remote work. Now we can release a new feature or alt of a song within a few days of working on it. The industry moves fast and labels expect producers to keep up with the shifting tides.

In January 2017, you acquired ownership of the historic Jeree Recording studio in Pittsburgh and rebranded it to Music Garden Studios - what was it like taking over the studio with such a rich musical heritage?

Truthfully it was terrifying. On one hand I now needed to fully support myself running a studio, and on the other hand I felt an obligation to continue making music that shaped Pittsburgh and beyond as Jeree Recording did in its day. The original owners prided themselves on not only quality records but also being an artist-first establishment that cultivated the best this area had to offer. It makes me proud to be able to say that the band I play in for Charles Wesley Godwin is an all Pittsburgh band, born and raised, where we all grew up together. Listening to records recorded at Jeree Recording inspires me to make music as good as that, knowing it was made in the very same room I use today.

For people trying to break into engineering or production today, what skills or habits do you think matter most?

1. LEARN PRO TOOLS  2. LEARN PRO TOOLS. And if you think you know Pro Tools, learn it better. The biggest thing stopping me from hiring interns is not knowing Pro Tools in and out, and it’s a completely teachable skill that can be transferred to any professional studio. 

But also remember in the end music is nothing more than subjective art like any other expression. Don’t feel bound to make it the same way as someone else just because it works. Make music the way you love to make it, and if you don’t believe in it first chances are others won’t either.

Can you give us one artist that you would love to produce or mix (living or dead)?

I was able to talk to Bob Ludwig once about working with Zappa, and he told me that Frank’s ear was so good he could tell when a piece of gear was just inserted in the chain, not even doing any processing. I often wonder what it would be like to work with someone so deep in the nuance of sound and how that creates the brilliant records Zappa made. While I love shaping sounds for an artist without them knowing exactly what’s technically going on, it would be an experience to get in the brain of someone so unique and inspiring like him.