I have been doing.. for lack of a more concise term... "Classical Remote Recording" for about 15 years.

After a substantial interest in recording and music technology through high school and college, I started my professional work for Al Tear Recording (ATR) doing primarily festival gigs (district, region & state choir, band, orchestra, etc.), high school concerts, and local community & semi-pro groups.  ATR has done substantial recording with the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State marching bands and he holds the concert contract for Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Over the past few years I have handled most of the University of Pittsburgh work and a substantial amount of the IUP work including many of the IUP Jazz Band, IUP Jazz Ensemble, and IUP Alumni Jazz Band concerts and in 2005 a cooperative concert between IUP faculty, students and the internationally demanded shamisen duo Nitta Oyako (http://www.arts.iup.edu/international/nittaoyakousa.html).


In addition to my work with Alan, I worked for WQED-FM on their Performance in Pittsburgh program - again doing remote recording - from about 1999 until 2004.  During that stint I recorded many of the concerts by the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, Renaissance and Baroque Society, Pittsburgh Concert Society, the Steinway Society, and others with groups such as the Orion String Quartet, the McKeesport Symphony, Peter Schickele, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and many other local talents including recital performances by many of the PSO principals.

My work with WQED-FM led to a relationship with the Pittsburgh Piano Trio (http://www.pittpianotrio.com) with whom I just completed a third CD.  I have been singing with the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh for about 7 years and have done their concert recordings on and off during that time, including the sound design and archive recording for our combined jazz commission by Joe Negri (http://www.joenegri.com) and Tom Roberts in the spring of 2006.  For the last 3 years I have been building a relationship with the Washington Community Arts Choir (http://washingtoncommunityartschoir.org) and in the spring of 2006 I both recorded and provided sound reinforcement for their concert of the Joe Negri Mass of Hope with Joe Negri  and Trio Bravo.

In the summer of 2005 the University of Pittsburgh Music Department approached me about proposing a sound system for Bellefield hall that would include both sound reinforcement and recording capabilities for the wide range of groups performing there.  The arrangement progressed from proposal to the purchase and installation of the system, to providing some basic training, to the department realizing that they didn't have staff with time or sufficient experience to use the new equipment.  Currently, I share the responsibility of "authorized engineers" for the hall with Treelady Studios in order to both maximize the usage of the space and protect their investment.

I have a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster College (New Wilmington) where I majored in music education with a concentration in voice.  I am the full time IT and accounting person for Pet Supplies "Plus" in Pittsburgh, PA and in addition to part time recording engineer, I have been a Mobile DJ (http://www.boyd-arts.com/djstyle.html) for about 6 years and for the last few years I have been expanding my engineering into live sound including acting as the house engineer in 2006 for Sports Rock Cafe.

I mention the non-recording work bcause I believe that all of the different roles I play help to reinforce each other. The lines between computer engineers and audio engineers are becoming gray. The business of music plays a role in almost every recording. The structure and planning required by a wedding reception or other DJ event mirrors the structure and detail required by concerts and recording sessions. Today's equipment facilitates the integration of recording and sound reinforcement creating a more coherent production for both the live audience and the recording.

The relationships I have built in my recording career provide me access to a wide variety of equipment.  Most of the time I use a Yamaha O1V/96 digital mixing console and a Mackie MDR-24 24 track hard disk recorder linked via lightpipe.  This provides me with 16 channels of 24-bit 44.1kHz or 48kHz digital audio.  I have up to 12 channels of Millennia preamps and 8 channels of Prism Sound AD/DA converters that I can use depending on availability to supplement the O1V and MDR.  My microphone selection frequently includes the Sennheiser MKH-series, AT-4050 multipattern, AKG-414, Rode NT-5 matched pair, Audix D-series, and of course Shure SM-,PG-, and Beta series.  I edit and mixdown with Sony Vegas in my home and use a Frontier Designs Dakota light-pipe card to provide output to Mackie HR875 monitors and AKG-271 headphones (both of which I can make available during sessions).  My equipment is designed for mobility, making any venue a potential recording studio.  I have frequently done work at Kresge hall on the CMU campus, Bellefield hall on the Pitt campus, and PNC Recital hall on the Duquesne campus in addition to several area churches.

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