#talkbass

Nigel is great. Suffice to say, I look at it like this: with Nigel, it's 50% taste, 30% excellent basic recording fundamentals, and 20% innovation. He has strong ideas about things, and is very clear about what he doesn't like. However, when recording with him, one never feels that you are under a totalitarian regime. It's not even a benevolent dictatorship. He invites participation. We try stuff. We do lots of group overdubs. We process. We flip the tape, we stand in the echo chamber, we all play piano. I don't know exactly what I've learned from Nigel with my work. By osmosis, all of us have certainly absorbed plenty. On the other hand, by the time he first worked with all of us (Mutations, 1998), we were all around 28 years old, experienced, and plenty ripe with our own ideas. So I'm sure there has been a modicum of "takeaway" from us to him over time. We all use the same monitor speakers that he turned us on to years ago, that I will tell you.  :) (Acoustic Energy AE1 Classics). And no one uses reverb in more creative ways than Nigel. No one. I've spoken on this many times, but sometimes, we'd mix songs with all hands on the console. And put it down to half inch the same day we recorded it (Mutations, Sea Change). Other times, we've labored over tracks in ProTools for weeks (The Information). It's been a wild ride. I look forward to the chance to work with Nigel again, for sure.

I AM NOW ON TALKBASS!