Audio Engineer | Behind The Scenes | A Mini-Documentary
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- #musicol #johnhull #audioengineer #williephoenix #vinylrecords
Doug Edwards has enjoyed a long and satisfying career as a recording engineer but one thing has always remained, his passion for playing the bass guitar and love of music.
He has spent the last two decades producing TV and radio advertisements. Now, recently retired, Doug was drawn back to return to a place he once called ‘home’...Mus-I-Col Recording Studio in Columbus, OH.
Deep rooted relationships with owners John and Charlene Hull first began with an internship while he earned a Degree in Communications from Ohio University. All these years later, he has been inevitably drawn back, once again turning the knobs and pushing the faders he was all too familiar with in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. However, John has given Doug a new opportunity... expanding his knowledge in the art of mastering and cutting to vinyl.
Doug has put his “touch” on practically thousands of recordings as engineer, head engineer, musician, and providing advice and feedback to producers. During my visit to the recording studio, Doug provided a tour while sharing highlights from his career and we discussed mastering and in his opinion on what it takes to be a professional audio engineer.
I want to thank all subscribers for your support and first-time viewers for reading and watching. Doug, thank you for your time, the tour, and sharing your story. John and Charlene, thank you for keeping the lights on for us after hours! Also, a big thank you to Willie Phoenix for allowing me to take this video to the next level with the music of Willie Phoenix & The Soul Underground. If you dig the tunes, check out the website! One more, big thank you goes out to Robert McBride for networking Doug and I together in the first place.
If you want to join the conversation, please leave a comment or feedback below.
Words:
Corey
Freelance Videographer & Video Editor
overkillvidz@gmail.com
Music:
Willie Phoenix
www.williephoe...
Music used with written permission from the artist.
Mus-I-Col:
www.musicolreco...
Photo:
Ohio University Convocation Center by Dan Keck
www.flickr.com
Video:
All Rights Reserved
Material contained in this video may not be copied or reproduced without written permission.
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• Audio Engineer | Bonus...
Dougie is the best!!
Dougie is a amazing producer and an amazing musician... period
Great piece Doug ...good to see you again! Couldn't agree more on working with Willie P! Did some really fun tracks with him in the shitty little studio in the basement on High street next to the Bernie's Bagel's. We didn't have much so lot's of improvising. Will never forget recording an upside-down snare track recorded on 8 track backwards run thru my "delay unit" ...the elevator shaft with a U47 hanging from the bottom of the elevator & a Community L&S floor monitor at the bottom of the shaft at 3am. Run it up the shaft and kill the breaker that was located in the control room! LOL Holy crap ...one we never talked about Hendrix in Columbus ...1968 @ Vets Memorial Auditorium? I was in the gang in the orchestra pit at that one. Have to get over to see you & John sometime if your still there. Been way too long!
Hey David, I texted Doug about your comment here so he can reach out to you.
Been around John and his son Warren for years. Church band recorded a CD there. Great place. Thanks for a very entertaining video!
John and Doug were very generous with their time. This was really fun to produce and I learned so much. Thank you for commenting!
Wow! You're best ever Corey. I could of hung out in that place all day just to hear more stories. There are not many places where you can record and get your lacquers cut all in one go. Moreover, having all that tube equipment makes it extra special. I enjoyed seeing John Hull at the lathe. Now I am curious if I have any of his cuts but when Doug was flipping through the stack of records recorded there, I didn't recognize any of the artists. Best 17 minutes of my day. Thanks!
Paul, thank you for watching and the 'best ever' rating!! Also, great questions as always.
There are one or two videos out there showing John cutting and the pressing shop area in action.
Note that Warren Hull often works with John and Adam Smith is the head engineer now (I think).
On discogs there are a couple pages listed that John Hull mastered or engineered but I think it would be tough to find because sometimes they are published without specific credits or Mus-I-Col isn't listed but it was pressed there.
John also stopped signing his name in the dead wax a long long time ago. One recent and rare exception...Kyle Siegrist - "Solo" Album! Kyle (quoted at the beginning of the video) told me John signed the dead wax due to his special request. I'll email you pictures.
I have a couple records recorded at OWL and I'm pretty sure they were pressed at Musicol (Raven Back to Ohio Blues reish would be one example). I know one thing is for sure, I'm on the lookout a lot more for recordings and pressings from Musicol. Due to working on this video, I have 3 on the way now.
Keith Hanlon from the Black Swans works at Musicol and Robert Pollard from Guided by Voices and many many others. This was all after Doug's time so we didn't touch on it.
Thank you for geeking out with me as always!
Second show ever was Jimi Hendrix. I would love to sit and chat about that show alone. Wow, talk about a lot of killer equipment. You know just seeing his face when he talked about being able to record his own band in the studio was fantastic. Cool seeing some of his records from way back. Going to check out Bros Grimm. Letting the engineer do the technical stuff instead of the band is always the right way to do it. I would have trusted Doug all the way.
Darn, that Willie story was great. Sounds like he was well loved in Columbus. The longer record length, the thinner the groove = inferior sound. Makes sense. I would be honored to share some studio time with Doug. A nice guy with a ton of studio experience. Well done Corey. Top shelve~
Rob/Boston
Rob, I read your comment right away last night and noted that it was one of the first, thank you for always being there.
This project has been in my head for quite a while now and it feels good to have it produced and published! As usual, I spent too much time on it but the quality is important for me. I knew people who love music would like a behind the scenes look at the studio and could appreciate the history as well as Doug's unique story.
I hope you get a chance to check out Willie Phoenix and The Soul Underground, I think you would dig their last CD and I'll certainly be picking up the new one when it releases. My wife and I saw WP play live in a small basement of a restaurant...man he was amazing. I'll never forget his take on Red House.
Thanks again and talk soon ~Corey
I was hoping that you would be back soon Brother Corey and I now got my wish. Super seeing this new Audio Engineer Doug Edwards documentary. Be back to wrap up~
Rob/Boston
So much to learn from people like Doug sharing his story. Thanks for this!
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Cool guy, seems like the kind of technical knowledge he possesses must be something of a dying art and I bet he has tons more stories, too...liked the one about the pressure of being in the studio and musicians walking out in tears because they were unhappy with their work...very nicely done!
Thanks Doug, you're spot on. He's a class act and I could listen to the stories forever. Cheers to analog recording!
Great interview, Corey! Always love hearing guys like this talk.
Thoroughly enjoyed that Corey. Fantastic job, I could have listened to him talk for hours.
Agreed, Doug is a great guy with a great personality. I couldn't capture it for this video but one person who has worked in the studio with him, mentioned his demeanor while working long days and through tough challenges. Said he was always cool and calm with the musicians which is a gift I think. Cheers Andy
I'm late getting to this video but just watched. Wow, what a great doc. Well done! This was so interesting. I'm sure Doug has thousands of stories to share. That analog equipment was very cool to see. I love behind the scenes stuff like this. Gives you a lot of appreciation for the experts that you never hear about. Great editing in this video as well.
Thanks for coming by and checking out the mini doc! No such thing as late to me, I wish these videos had a longer half-life for the effort that we put in lol. But yeah glad I was able to share the story with the community, I really appreciate the comment.
Fantastic Mini Doc! I love hearing these stories.
Seems cooler than the other Edwards I've met
awesome doc. Loved this.
thank you for leaving a comment, i know this has been uploaded for a long time in internet years but it was really educational to spend time with these guys in the studio where they spend a large portion of their livelihood. ~Corey
Great job, Corey! Really enjoyed this and the variety of content you offer. Cheers from the GMRN crew.
Thanks guys!
Cool doc, Corey! Nice facility there- "all in one". Keep up the GREAT work!
I just noticed this one 'cuz you added a link to another video I just watched. Great documentary! I love smaller docus like this - it's a story I'd never have known about living so far away otherwise. Great job!
Cheers, Tom
I'm so glad you found this and thank you for the feedback. This was about a year in the making. I had an initial meet up with Doug at a McDonalds where he provided me with an old magazine he was featured in and shared his story. I took a bunch of notes and scripted out the questions I would ask. We tried to coordinate a tour of the studio for about a year. Finally we went in on a Saturday after hours and I got the full tour! Doug is such a cool guy and I thought the VC would appreciate his passion for music and his contributions to the industry. Also, meeting John Hull and his wife was an honor, he's a local treasure. Fun fact, he actually owns one of the cars used in the Godfather movie! Cheers
@@CoreysChannel How cool is ALL of that! The sort of stuff that just makes you smile.
Cheers, Tom
This was killer Corey, very informative for sure. You the man! Thanks
Randy, I knew you would dig this! Thanks
Whoa Corey!! This is FANTASTIC! Loved seeing all that analog equipment... tubey 🤤🤤ahhhhh....good points about producing yourself...great video totally engulfed w this Corey thank you for sharing - Lis
I've never seen so many tubes in one place in all my life! Did you pick up on the part with the rare piece of equipment from Wally Heider's mobile recording unit? Imagine the hours of Dead recorded though that thing.
Doug and I also talked about laptop bands and disadvantages of home recording but I just didn't have room to put it in. I felt he covered it with 'you can never produce yourself' or at least bounce if off someone.
Thank you for watching Lisa.
Corey's Channel oh yeah Corey I picked up on the Wally Heiders mobile and heehee I think I heard you say the hours of Dead music recorded on it! Again thank you! So very well done
Excellent documentary, Corey. What a fascinating insight from such a genial chap; thank you Doug! I always feel humbled by, and indeed have a lot of respect for, anyone who lives their life doing what they love. John needs to pass on his craft! Great stuff, Corey, and really well put together. Cheers, Ian
Absolutely and thank you.
I guess the video lived up to the hype from the promo last weekend? lol Very cool of you to thank Doug, I'll make sure he sees your feedback. I'm just glad I could be the vehicle to share such a great story. Cheers!
Oh yeah, it certainly did live up to the hype :) It's a question of finding someone who is engaging and allowing them to tell their stories with these sort of docs, and you did that.
Very cool ! I'm sure it was hard work putting this together but I bet you loved doing it ! Lots of info in here , compression adds fatness which makes sense when applying effects on instruments but you never hear really hear too much many good things when compressing a song.
Take care , thanks for sharing.
Thank you sir!
Oh yeah this video was a long time in the making. Introductions were made between Doug and myself though a mutual friend back late '17. We had a great talk at a McDonalds and he invited me to Musicol.We finally met up at Musicol and spent almost 4 hours with the tour and interview. Then it was just a matter of piecing it together to keep the story flowing and the viewers engaged.
My focus was Doug's story, not Mus-I-Col or John and Warren Hull or the vinyl pressing process. Those are great people and subject matter but Doug's story, although taking place at Musicol, hasn't been told before and I don't know about you but I'm fatigued of seeing vinyl pressing plants and hearing the phrase 'vinyl resurgence' which I will no longer discuss or include in videos hahaha
I really put a lot of thought into my questions, much like Metal Obsession Collecting Heavy Metal Records video. You're exactly right. I spend a lot of time on forums and compression is about as bad a word as confederate. It really opened my -eyes- ears when he [Doug] said he rarely if ever gets uncompressed audio from clients. Also, especially with heavy metal, without compression it's just an all out wall of sound. I wonder how many times the mastering engineer or mixing gets blamed when discs go into the 'brickwalled' category? On a side note, I compressed the interview audio 3:1 and the 'walking cam' audio 6:1! lol
Take care and thanks for always supporting my vids.
I enjoyed every minute of this Corey..
Do you think Netflix will pick it up? ;)
Corey Spielberg..
Very professionally done documentary. Seems like lot of experience and history in that recording studio. It was a good break from my work. Back to the grind. Later. ~NammaN~
I knew you would like to see the vintage equipment! Glad you enjoyed Doug's story as much as I did. Thank you NammaN!
Alan Lomax is back, but minus the "VC" in his channel name! I probably told you this, but the Madhouse record was done at Musicol.
lol what's up Aaron! Yeah I think you did but I was scrubbing through your videos to see if I could find where you may have talked about it but didn't have any luck. About the VC...might have to chat about that sometime in a video. A lot has changed in the 6/7 years I've been making videos. I want nothing more than to bring good content and positive vibes to what I feel is more of a music community the whole time anyway. The vinyl thing was new to me 8 years ago but has worn off. Plus having vinyl community in my channel name now means I support, condone and align with anyone posting content attached to it and there are a few channels out there I don't want to support or be a part of. Time to evolve to keep moving forward!
By 'worn off' I just mean the whole 'vinyl resurgence' or how niche or underground or different it was to 'buy vinyl' is a thing of the past. I didn't mean my love for the format or collecting to clarify
Is that a Hammond B3 in the background?