{"id":25403,"date":"2010-04-21T13:21:16","date_gmt":"2010-04-21T17:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/home.bates.edu\/?p=25403"},"modified":"2018-06-04T09:23:00","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T13:23:00","slug":"chairman-of-the-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2010\/04\/21\/chairman-of-the-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Chairman of the Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"100119_jon_wyman_6926\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In harmony with machines and musicians, producer-engineer Jonathan Wyman \u201997 helps bring Maine sounds to the nation\u2019s ears<\/h3>\n

By Doug Hubley
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSomewhere in the last five years, we sacrificed good for correct,\u201d says Jonathan Wyman \u201997.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true in any number of areas, but this music producer and recording engineer is talking about people who think that note-perfect and perfect notes are the same thing.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s digital recording technology has made it easy to fix, after the fact, a wayward beat or a flat pitch. Wyman, though, has become one of Maine\u2019s most in-demand studio wizards largely because he values the sometimes-fallible human touch \u2014 and the musical excitement that often comes with it.<\/p>\n

He points to Van Halen\u2019s \u201cEverybody Wants Some,\u201d from the rock gods\u2019 1980 Women and Children First<\/em>. There\u2019s an electronic crackle caused by David Lee Roth\u2019s over-the-top singing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s technically wrong. But it\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s crazy,\u201d says Wyman. (It\u2019s also pretty subtle unless you have Wyman\u2019s ears.) \u201cWe\u2019re still talking about it 30 years later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOverthinking something can be detrimental.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

His clients have included nationally recognized acts like Ray LaMontagne, Rustic Overtones, Arrested Development co-founder Speech, and Sparks the Rescue, as well as many others \u2014 the Jerks of Grass, 6Gig, Paranoid Social Club, and on and on \u2014 with robust Maine and regional followings.<\/p>\n

Wyman is also in demand because he achieves industry standards of quality, musical and technical, at The Halo, his barn-cum-studio<\/a> in rural Windham. That\u2019s important because nothing impresses decision-makers in the music business, including the music-buying public, like a record that sounds the way a record should.<\/p>\n

\"wyman-spring2010-feature-7025_0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear something Jonathan has produced, and it\u2019s, \u2018That\u2019s stuff I could hear on the radio,\u2019\u201d says Adam Ayan of Gateway Mastering and DVD in Portland, a facility where such musicians as Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen get their mastering done \u2014 the crucial process of preparing the final sound of a recording before it is mass-produced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Jonathan Wyman does for the music scene here is to really help bands get their music to wider audiences,\u201d agrees Dave Gutter, a singer and guitarist for Rustic Overtones. (Their joint history goes back to when Wyman\u2019s own band was opening for the up-and-coming Rustic at Bates.)<\/p>\n

Starting as a studio assistant in his native Massachusetts in the 1990s, Wyman today can tackle just about any aspect of making a recording. But the role that affords the most responsibility, scope, and arguably prestige is that of producer \u2014 the person who helps artists create a studio product that suits their needs, creatively and\/or commercially.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the overall game plan for the record,\u201d Wyman explains. He schedules sessions, organizes resources and workflow, and generally makes sure the artists get what they want for what they can pay.<\/p>\n

On the creative side, Wyman \u2014 whose own tastes run to guitar rock but who has worked with rap, metal, and bluegrass artists, not to mention mixing full orchestra parts for Rustic\u2019s latest \u2014 also helps with arrangements, coaxes out the artist\u2019s best performances, and in a pinch even helps with songwriting and performing.<\/p>\n

Part of Wyman\u2019s secret to success is that he\u2019s a triple threat in the studio: He\u2019s got the musicality, the technical savvy, and, perhaps most important, a great way with people. It\u2019s the human touch again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I do something that sucks, he\u2019ll say, \u2018That was really good, but I know you can do a better take,\u2019\u201d says Toby McAllister, guitarist with pop-punksters Sparks the Rescue. (Their Wyman-produced songs have been picked up by MTV reality shows The Hills<\/em> and Real World<\/em>.) \u201cHe\u2019ll always put a positive spin on things. After three hours of recording the same song, a lot of people couldn\u2019t do that \u2014 but he really loves what he does. That makes the whole atmosphere a lot more easygoing and relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

All that said, though, the producer\u2019s most important role may be the judicious application of objectivity. Part of Wyman\u2019s charge is to keep an eye on developments, good or bad, that an artist immersed in process and perfectionism may lose sight of. \u201cA big part of my contribution to a record is very deliberately bringing it to the finish line,\u201d he says. \u201cVitality and spontaneity make a record sound good, and overthinking something can be detrimental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyman was a rock musician by the time he got to Bates, where he majored in psychology. (Other Batesies from that fertile era with musical careers include Mark Erelli \u201996, Josh Fix \u201999, and Ryan Baker \u201900.) By the end of the century, he was working in New York as an engineer for producer David Katz.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy strategy was to be one of those kids who works on the big desks\u201d \u2014 recording consoles \u2014 \u201cand try and make my way there,\u201d he explains. But he ended up having a lot more fun driving back to Maine on weekends to work on independent rock records. He returned to Maine for good in 2001.<\/p>\n

Wyman is especially known for his prowess in mixing. Music is typically recorded onto multiple tracks that need to be, shall we say, orchestrated into a coherent whole by adjusting levels and applying effects. There\u2019s more to it than simply ensuring that the kazoo doesn\u2019t drown out the bagpipes, though. The best mixers tap technology and art to create a compelling soundscape.<\/p>\n

Adam Ayan, in fact, struck up a professional relationship with Wyman because of the quality of a Wyman mix on a record by The Troubles. As a mastering engineer, Ayan\u2019s work is directly affected by the quality of a mix, and he hears world-class mixes on a daily basis. \u201cWhen I heard Jonathan\u2019s mix for that local record, I was like, \u2018Wow, this is really great.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where we went wrong that we have to be able to quantify where every note is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyman uses art digital equipment at The Halo because digital saves all kinds of time, hassle, and money. But he also laments the creative impact digital technology has had. Recording on analog tape imposed restrictions on the process that, in the best producers and musicians, inspired creative responses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made making records a little more urgent,\u201d he says. With today\u2019s gear, \u201cyou can always fix it later, you can always go back, and I don\u2019t really like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

And digital makes it too easy to erase that human touch. \u201cI can\u2019t be the artistic morality patrol,\u201d says Wyman, who feels that technology has engendered the expectation that every particle of a recording will be bright, shiny, in tune, and in time. \u201cI don\u2019t know where we went wrong that we have to be able to quantify where every note is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, he\u2019d rather gather musicians in the big room and record them live, damn the torpedoes. If the performance really rocks, it doesn\u2019t matter if \u2014 say \u2014 there\u2019s a crackle in the singer\u2019s mic. As Wyman says, \u201cit\u2019s these little imperfections that can make something really endearing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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