RSR186 – John Paterno – Recording with Tchad Blake, Joe Chicarelli, Los Lobos, Soul Coughing and Steve Gadd

John talked about what he learned from assisting Tchad Blake and Joe Chicarelli, recording Los Lobos, Soul Coughing and Steve Gadd, how to record drums using the mono mic trick, how to record piano and acoustic guitar, and tips for re-amping electric guitars at the mix stage. Plus lots of other cool studio secrets!

My guest today is John Paterno, a Grammy winning Los Angeles based producer, mixer, composer, engineer, mastering engineer, and musician who has worked with a diverse range of artists including: Robbie Williams, The Steve Gadd Band, Soraya, Robben Ford, Eros Ramazzotti, The Thrills, Tim McGraw, Bonnie Raitt, and Badly Drawn Boy in his twenty five-plus year career.  Dubbed ‘Mr Meticulous’ by industry writer Mr. Bonzai, Paterno is known for his attention to detail while at the same time allowing artists to feel uninhibited in their creativity.

John moved to Los Angeles two weeks after graduation from the University of Miami MUE [Music Engineering] program. A short period of freelance assisting concluded with a staff position at Sunset Sound/Sound Factory in Hollywood, where for five years he was exposed to many great engineers, producers, and artists.

After breaking out of assisting, John worked with a wide range of producers including Mitchell Froom,  Joe Chiccarelli, Byron Gallimore, Celso Valli, and Stephen Duffy. He won a Latin Grammy for his work with artist/producer Soraya.

John has produced or co-produced projects for The Black Mollys, Mitchell Froom, Lustra, Robbie Williams, The Lilac Time, and many other artists. He as also co-written songs with artists and has written pieces for TV and film.

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Here a few photos.  The full drum kit is not from the Gadd session, but you can see where I place the ‘441’ mic - in this case it is an AKG D19, and you can see the Soundfield as the overhead.

And here are two views of the MS micing on the upright: