pstamler
Well-known member
Hi folks:
I had the deep, deep pleasure of meeting Geoff Emerick yesterday and today, and it was an extraordinary experience.
This semester I'm teaching a class in analog recording, and when I walked into the control room there he was, along with the department chair. We shook hands, and I asked him if he'd like to talk to the class. "Heavens, no!" he said. "I just got off the plane from the west coast. I'm here to hear you."
Gulp. So I went on with my scheduled discussion of the theory behind setting up tape machines, a little nervous. After all, I'm lecturing about tape recorders to the guy who recorded the Beatles.
Here's what's amazing: after ten minutes, I wasn't nervous at all. He threw in a few comments, a question or two, and the department chair had some comments as well, but it was mostly Emerick. There's something about him that puts people completely at ease. He's totally unassuming, has a wry British sense of humor, and...well, he's so utterly relaxed that you relax too. I suspect this is one of the many reasons he's a great recording engineer.
Tonight, after a delightful hour chat session down in the basement, he gave his scheduled talk (with music, beginning with "Tomorrow Never Knows") -- and floored us all. His stories were direct, to the point, often very funny, and perfectly geared to the audience of future audio engineers. He seems like the world's least likely visionary, but assuredly he is one -- with the practical skill to bring his visions to the rest of us.
At the end of the evening, when we were chatting again, he told us stragglers that when he was young he'd seen a UFO, and from that moment he'd believed that nothing was impossible. He took that belief with him into the studio -- and showed us that it was true.
Peace,
Paul
I had the deep, deep pleasure of meeting Geoff Emerick yesterday and today, and it was an extraordinary experience.
This semester I'm teaching a class in analog recording, and when I walked into the control room there he was, along with the department chair. We shook hands, and I asked him if he'd like to talk to the class. "Heavens, no!" he said. "I just got off the plane from the west coast. I'm here to hear you."
Gulp. So I went on with my scheduled discussion of the theory behind setting up tape machines, a little nervous. After all, I'm lecturing about tape recorders to the guy who recorded the Beatles.
Here's what's amazing: after ten minutes, I wasn't nervous at all. He threw in a few comments, a question or two, and the department chair had some comments as well, but it was mostly Emerick. There's something about him that puts people completely at ease. He's totally unassuming, has a wry British sense of humor, and...well, he's so utterly relaxed that you relax too. I suspect this is one of the many reasons he's a great recording engineer.
Tonight, after a delightful hour chat session down in the basement, he gave his scheduled talk (with music, beginning with "Tomorrow Never Knows") -- and floored us all. His stories were direct, to the point, often very funny, and perfectly geared to the audience of future audio engineers. He seems like the world's least likely visionary, but assuredly he is one -- with the practical skill to bring his visions to the rest of us.
At the end of the evening, when we were chatting again, he told us stragglers that when he was young he'd seen a UFO, and from that moment he'd believed that nothing was impossible. He took that belief with him into the studio -- and showed us that it was true.
Peace,
Paul
