Salvador Dali and the Persistence of Mixing

I spent the weekend in Philadelphia (yes I took a day off, I can't believe it either, but this was too important to miss), to see the special Salvador Dali exhibition, which to my knowledge is the biggest single collection of Dali's works ever displayed in America. I am a fan of Dali and seeing this collection was probably as close to a religious experience as I might ever get. Almost every major painting he's known for was on display (except the "Persistence of Memory" which I've seen in the past).

As a mixer, I can totally relate to and draw inspiration from Dali's works. He pays incredible attention to detail at miniscule levels, and often important details of his works are only recognizable from inches away. You have no idea sometimes the things I have to do to wrangle a mix into submission. My clients will never know some of the microscopic details I sometimes labor over to make sure a mix gets fully realized. You don't notice it, but you feel it, or perceive something better, something feels more musically or sonically complete. You might think I just turned some EQ knobs to get it that way, but often you'd be very wrong.

The distance at which you observe Dali's works completely changes your perception of the image. You'll notice details from a few inches away that are imperceptible at 3 feet, but sometimes you can't perceive the painting as a whole until you're across the room from it. The layers of imagery he uses, the symbolism, all changes depending on the distance you view the work, and his work is magical at any distance. And of course, a mix is the same way. Listen intently with headphones on, and things will come out that you don't hear the same way on speakers. Sit in mix position, in the middle of the speakers, and your perspective is completely different than from across the room. Hearing a mix in the club is totally different than hearing it on a boom box or on MTV. But the mix has to work at all of these perspectives, and should work on any speakers you listen on. This is not an easy trick to pull off. Anyone who thinks a great mix comes from the gear, just imagine being given all the same tools as a painter then having to create a work of art. Not so easy. I couldn't begin to do it.

One thing I notice about artists of all walks, they tend to see the world differently than the rest of us. Dali lived on his own plane of existence. Many of my favorite songwriters see the world with their own completely unique vision, and paint songs with words in ways that we would have never thought of, but can totally relate to. Now, I can't begin to understand what was swimming in Dali's head, but for some reason I connect with his work. Maybe I just like the colors, or the melted clocks. Maybe I like the way it allows my brain to escape from my own reality for a while and absorb the imagery on canvas. Whatever the reason, I am eternally grateful that artists exist on this Earth to create such thought provoking images with paint or words or music. I'm so lucky to work in field where I get to be creative every day and every day the musical canvas keeps changing.

-Ken

PS. Some of my other favorite Artists well represented at the spectacular Philadelphia Museum of Art include Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Van Gogh, Rodin, Cezanne, and Toulouse-Latrec to name a very few. I love art.

Grammy Night "It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times"

OK, I'm at the Grammy's. I cannot complain about anything, but it was a rollercoaster of a day. I had lunch with some good friends (Diego Lopez and his beautiful wife) then got ready for the big night. I don't wanna brag (yes i do), but damn i looked good. Thats kinda rare. I might even post a picture for the first time ever. We'll see how they come out. No promises. So, due to events completely out of my control, i actually arrived about ten minutes late to the awards, which meant instead of enjoying the red carpet (green actually) we sprinted across it. I arrived with fellow nominees Just Blaze, Brent Kolatalo, and Ryan West (alot of talent in that bunch). It also meant i missed performances from Maroon 5, Gwen Stephani, Black Eyed Peas, and Franz Ferdinand, and Los Lonely Boys. That really sucked. I wanted to see all of them. (this was part of "the Worst of Times"). We did get to see Alicia Keys bring the house down. OH MY GOD.

My other favorite performances of the night were (well, all of them), Green Day, Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge, (who was bald from chemo-therapy), Kanye West was amazing and a half, Usher & James Brown (wow!), and the several All-Star performances. I was truly a fan tonight, and awestruck by the talent amassed under one roof. Its a bit surreal to know that I was truly a part of it all. And we had floor seats, even better!

So, i arrived at the awards tonight already a Grammy winner. Usher won in the non-televised portion for "Best Contemporary R&B Album". After Kanye's memorable performance of Jesus Walks (featuring music I wrote and recorded earlier in the week), he accepted the award for "Best Rap Album" (Chalk up two wins for me!!). Kanye delivered the best acceptance speech of the night, maybe of the last several years. I was inspired and feel truly honored to get to work with him.

Part two of "The Worst of Times" was just around the corner. Finally, the last category of the night "ALBUM OF THE YEAR". I was nominated by name for two of the five albums, Kanye West, and Usher. Both worthy of not only the nomination but also the prize. I will not lie. It was an honor to be Nominated, but I WANTED TO WIN!!!!

i didn't. it hurt. alot.

Ray Charles won Album of the Year. Would somebody please explain this to me. How could Ray beat Usher? I'll vent in future posts, right now i'll spare you. I do feel truly honored to have worked on two Grammy winning albums. The entire experience was a dream come true. Really. Guys like me rarely get recognized for our work outside of our own small circles. This feeling is indescribable, and I hope i get to experience this again!!! Time to end the fairly tale. Tomorrow, after a long flight, reality will set in quick.

T'was the Night Before Christmas...

Its Grammy weekend at long last. Big events planned left and right. We flew into rainy and cold Los Angeles on Friday. This is NOT typical LA weather. We did salvage the day though with some amazing mexican food at Friday in Beverly Hills. The rest of the day is not worth mentioning. Saturday started with shopping on Rodeo Drive. It was fun pretending to be rich, or even wealthy enough to be in those stores, but wow, reality quickly set in. Maybe one day. I've never seen so many Rolls Royce's and Bentleys in my life. I did buy an obnoxiously expensive tie from Versace for my Grammy suit. Very nice tie. Very. I did not buy the $625 white Versace shirt! The rest of the afternoon was spent driving thru Beverly Hills in our rented convertible with the top down dreaming of things to come. I'd like a home there, but i'm way too practical to do it, even if i could afford it. Its nice to dream though, it motivates me.

Saturday night we attended the Nominees Reception. Very well put together event. Ryan West and i hung out together most of the night. Ryan is an amazing engineer and musician who is also a Nominee. All Nominees (me and Ryan included) got this gold medallion from Tiffany's commemorating the Nomination. It resembles an Olympic medal and has the Grammy emblem, and all night people were looking to see who had them. I felt very special. I felt humbled when Ryan and I ran into Phil Galdston (previously nominated Grammy songwriter of the year and super nice guy to boot!), and Phil introduced us to Al Schmitt. Ryan and I both agree Al is one of the top ten engineers of all time, so to get to chat with him for ten minutes was humbling and rewarding to say the least. Al is a really great guy. If you don't know who he is, find out! I got to see several other friends as well. It was a very fun night. Time for bed, tomorrow is a very big day. Tonight feels like the night before Christmas.