Peter McGrath

**SPEAKER_2** (0:02)
Tetragrammaton.

**Peter McGrath** (0:23)
Given the nature of how I record more so perhaps than most, because Rick, I have always believed in minimal miking, which means that I'm sort of using the sound by positioning instruments relative to each other by position to try and get a balance with a pair or maybe four mics or whatever, but as minimal as possible.
So therefore, how they're interacting with each other and the room becomes an incredibly important component. A lot of times with multi-miking, you can minimize the effect of the room. You just go in close and, God forbid, even add a room to it later, you know, vis-a-vis whatever DSP you want. But my approach is borne out of maybe ignorance or simplicity, but it's what I've always done.

**Rick Rubin** (1:14)
If musicians are used to playing in a certain position, but the recording would benefit from them being in a different position, how do you approach that?

**Peter McGrath** (1:23)
If it's in a concert situation, I try not to mess with it because the primary purpose of their doing what they're doing is for them to be comfortable in the concert setting, and I don't want to get in the way of their doing what they do. So I have to make decisions about altering my technique of what mic to use or where to put them. I just did a recording of the Jerusalem Street Quartet. Normally, I would do things with a pair of spaced Omnis because they give me a beautiful sense of air, but they were really, really, really tight and the room was not a good room.
So I went in, Rick, with an AKG C24, which is a classic, blue blind mic and I almost put it inside of them. When you hear the playback, it's like they're right here. There was no room to begin with.

**Rick Rubin** (2:19)
The room wasn't additive in that case.

**Peter McGrath** (2:21)
Yeah, exactly. It was not additive.
Frankly, in some ways, best ignored to minimize the effect of it. That's a totally different sound of a string quartet than typically I would capture in a great room. Sometimes they sit a little bit too close of an arc. I might ask them to expand the arc if they are comfortable. If not, I'm fine with that. I'll deal with it because they're not there to serve my recording. They're there to perform. In a recording session, however, we could spend hours moving people around because I'm chief. You know, you're going to have to figure out how to do this because I need you there.
And typically, that's how we did it. I mean, we did a Messiah, Handel Messiah, Robina Young, my producer from Harmonia Mundi with Phil Harmonia Baroque from Berklee and Chorus and Organ and Soloist with two mics. Wow. You would never guess that it was done that way. But it was a question of doing it, you know, making it work. And I think it today singularly remains one of the most beautiful Messiahs. It's on Harmonia Mundi and it featured a wonderful soprano by the name of Lorraine Hunt, now known as Lorraine Hunt Leberson.
And years ago, I don't remember how many, we were doing a project with the Philharmonia Baroque with the conductor Nick McGeegan, who is now their conductor emeritus. That's how far back this was. But he brought along this beautiful woman who wanted to be auditioned by Robina Young, my producer from Harmonia Mundi. And she was a former violist, but she also happened to have a talent for singing. Little did we know the level of that talent. And Nick, the conductor brought us and said, we finished our session. We were at Lucas Skywalker. We finished our session. We had a few hours left. And Nick said, do you mind, Robina? I'll play the harpsichord and just let her sing. We'll sing a few handle pieces.
And Peter, make sure you left the tape roll, because I was doing analog tape back then. And I did. And she came out and started singing. And Robina's partner, Rene, he's very typically French. No, no, Peter, we have a dinner reservation in Japanese and we don't have time for this. And Robina says, no, no, no. Nick brought her here. We're going to listen to her. And I sort of said, I'd love to hear her, too, because she was frankly, stunningly beautiful. It was just, so I was influenced and she started singing. And all I remember, Rick, was about a minute and a half in, I had to restrain from leaning over the tape recorder so that my tears would not fall on the tape pack. Wow. Then I look over at Renée.