How did you get into music?

When I was growing up my parents had a band and I would listen to them rehearse and go to the gigs with them. Years after they had stopped playing, I found their guitars in the basement and started playing. I would record myself playing on the old four track TEAC reel to reel they had… that was the start. Then, when I was a sophomore in high school, I auditioned to go to a special performing arts school in Columbus, OH and got accepted. We would record things that we had composed and remembered how much fun I had applying resonant filter sweeps to a sax solo on one of my songs. It was during those sessions that it became clear to me that I wanted to be a recording / mix engineer. After Columbus, I moved to NYC to study Studio Production at CCNY, and used student loans to help finance my working in studios around town. I used the studios at school to help build my own roster of clients.

Was it hard to build your own roster as a student? How did you manage school and work?

I don't think "hard" is the right word. I was really passionate about recording, producing, and mixing, so it never really felt difficult… "hella time consuming" fits though.

I started applying as an engineer to studios almost immediately after starting school. I got a gig at a small studio with decent clients but they had me intern for a couple of months first. One day the chief engineer was unable to make it to the studio so the owner called me and asked if I knew how to use the Yamaha 01V. I knew how to turn it on… So I said "yes." I made sure to arrive a couple of hours early to read the manual and get familiar with the board. The client came and the session went on without a hitch. The client was thrilled and I was relieved. That was my first session as an engineer at that studio. It was for Sony and I was paid $5 per hour. I ended up becoming chief engineer there and worked pretty much every session.

Simultaneously I was going to school full time and working on my own solo projects and projects for friends. All of this was totaling well over 80 hours per week. I caught sleep whenever I could: on the train, between classes, and even during classes. The studio program at CCNY (The Sonic Arts Center) was great in many respects. The faculty was excellent, the class size was small, and we had 24 hour a day access to the studios in addition to assigned blocks of time where we had exclusive access to a production room. Some semesters this amounted to 24+ hours per week of assigned solo studio time! Slowly my friends' projects developed, and they became clients. They would tell their friends and then they too would become clients. Once the studio I was working at stiffed me for several sessions that I had engineered… I quit. A number of the clients I had worked with at that studio sought me out to work with them. I started booking every spare hour I could in the school's recording studio and bringing my clients in around the clock. I would finish a class and while another class was beginning I would be starting a session with some new Hip-Hop or R&B act that had just gotten signed. It was amazing!

Around that time I started getting booked by clients to do sessions in some of the bigger studios in town. "Can you mix on an SSL 9000 J?" The answer was always "Of course!" even though I had never mixed on one… I figured it couldn't be that hard. I would just get there early enough to have the assistant walk me through the automation and the unique aspects of the board. The sessions all went smoothly and the clients were happy.

I think some of the key things that helped me build my clients while I was in school were that people knew me as an engineer first and a student second, I almost never said "No" to a session, I did the sessions even if they were spec - which added great material to my resume & tons of good will, and when I had a session I would make sure it was the best work I had ever done. I feel blessed that during the ten years I lived in NYC almost all of my work came from word of mouth.

When did you make the move out to LA?

After engineering for 10 years in NYC, it was time for a change of venue... my fiancé didn't like the cold (she is from Kenya), so L.A. just sort of happened. I arrived here 4 1/2 years ago and got a gig selling studio gear. I already knew the gear from working in studios in NYC and figured what better way to get familiar with the studios around town while I built up my recording/mixing clients.

You talk about building up your clients. What did you do to make this happen? How did you actively grow your contacts?

I never turned down a session. I was still getting mix sessions from my clients I had developed in NYC and I would handle those at night because the sales job occupied my daytime. My wife was extremely supportive. We were newly married and I was working sometimes 18+ hours per day. But we both knew it was for a limited time and for a greater goal. I think knowing the end goal makes challenges bearable. The sales job was unique in that I didn't work in a "store." We were kind of a boutique sales company which focused on catering to high-end professionals and studios. The job included visiting the studios, artists and producers to establish relationships with them. I would let them know right off the bat that I was an engineer who was working sales because I knew the gear. I think this actually ended up helping my sales… I ended up selling a decent amount of equipment in a short period of time. The most important part however was that I was able to create relationships which resulted in new session work for me. That work, combined with the new word of mouth referrals that were cropping up helped me get to a point where I could quit my day job and once again only focus on the work I was passionate about.

How did you get involved with American Idol?

II became friends with Dennis Duncan (who was a client of mine) and one day he gave me a call. "Hey Jon, how are you at recording and tightening vocals man?" "I'm great... why?" "OK... I'm going to have my buddy who I work with for American Idol give you a call in about 5 minutes..." Sure enough, five minutes later Brad Gilderman called me. I pulled my car over so I could talk and he interviewed (tested) me over the phone. "Great, see you on Monday at 9 am." I showed up for the gig, got to record the contestants, spent all night comping and tightening vocals, and I guess the rest is history. I'm currently gearing up for what will be my fifth season working with Brad, Dennis, and the rest of the team on the American Idol weekly studio albums.

Can you explain to us how the American Idol albums are made?

Each week (starting with the top 12) the American Idol contestants record a studio version of the track they are going to perform live on the show. These studio versions are sold alongside the live performance in iTunes. The process of making these records is pretty amazing. We have 3 1/2 days working round the clock in shifts to record, mix, and master an entire album. Brad Gilderman (the Producer of the Weekly studio albums) records the band at Capitol Studios in Hollywood on a Saturday or Sunday. First thing Monday morning, the three of us (Brad, Dennis and myself) convene at a studio in Hollywood to record the American Idol top 12 contestants. Each of us is working in a different studio and the contestants are divided amongst us. We have one hour to record a complete vocal for each song. That is extremely grueling for most singers, especially first thing in the morning, but is a testament to how hard these contestants work. After we finish recording all the contestants, we head over to Brad's studio in Burbank (Little Big Room) and I comp the vocals while an amazing team of engineers (Jose Alcantar & Andrew Hayes) tighten up and sweeten the vocals I give them. I take a final listen to each vocal and make any final tweaks necessary before it is handed off to the mixers. The mixers are hard at work mixing the tracks the whole time we are editing and tightening. We try to get ahead of them with the vocals, but the first few vocals we finish tend to be just in time for them to finish their mixes. As each mix is finished, it is uploaded to mastering. The whole process of creating the weekly albums is really about functioning like a well-oiled machine... at least five studios running simultaneously for 3 1/2 days with little to no margin for error.

How do you first approach the vocals?

When I am about to record and produce vocals, my first focus is trying to establish a rapport with the artist. This can be as simple as getting them tea, having a conversation, adjusting the temperature to their liking, or simply finding some way to make them feel more at home. The voice is an amazing instrument that functions best when the artist is comfortable. This rapport gives the artist the freedom to explore ideas and gives me the opportunity to share feedback and ideas which might be different than their own without causing the artist to shut down. Normally I would have quite a while to establish this environment, but when we are working on Idol I have to try make all this happen within the first 5-10 minutes of the session. Luckily it gets easier each week as we get to know each other a little better. As we learn their particular tastes, we try to have their tea ready and the room set up for them in advance. It also helps that they have a chance to hear how the song we recorded the previous week came out. Each song we work on together further cements that trust.

That's very interesting. It seems like you don't get to spend a lot of time with the contestants, but it's important to have them feel comfortable around you. Is it hard to say goodbye to contestants once they are voted off the show?

Yeah… I would say that is a challenging part of the process. It's hard to establish a vibe and working rhythm with somebody only to have them voted off the show a couple of days later… but that is the way it works. Fortunately we usually get a chance to see them after the finale.

Let's get into more of the techy stuff. What are some of your favorite vocal processing chains?

For Recording, I keep my chain pretty short. I choose the mic based on the vocalist and style of music... typically either a U-47, one of my ADK Custom Shop J Mods, a Sony 800G, or an SM-7. I plug that into a Neve 1073, API 512, or an old Inward Connections Discreet Plus I have and then into an 1176 or LA-2A. The compressors are there just to lightly catch the peaks. I usually have an idea of the sound and style of music, so I will have what I think will be the right choices set up and ready to go... with my backup choices standing by.

For Mixing, the sky is the limit. Though each song has its own unique needs, I typically process my lead vocals with a High Pass, Compressor, EQ, De-Esser, and Delay (if appropriate) on the track and backgrounds are similar except that I bus them all to an aux and apply the processing to the bus. My favorite kind of vocal processing is exploring layered sounds or creating unique vocal effects. I have learned a lot of tricks and techniques from working with producers or observing other engineers. Pretty is nice, but vibey and colorful is much more fun. Simple things, such as a vocal through an amp, heavy parallel compression, high pass distort, and limit a duplicate of a vocal to add to the original and get a nice crunchy sizzle up top. The more complex stuff is about finding subtle or extreme ways to process a vocal and use it in a tasteful way to create something new... Bit crushers, phasers, spaces, loads of delay and filters... I use iZotope Trash for a lot of these types of ideas... anything to create something unique and give a recording more depth.

iZotope just released a new vocal plug-in called Nectar. Has that changed the way you work with vocals?

Speed is always a necessity... deadlines and budgets are tight. Whether it is recording, editing, tuning, or mixing, everyone wants top quality results in as little time as possible. I have developed a reputation for working fast and achieving excellent results. Any tool which helps me achieve those results consistently and efficiently becomes a staple in my arsenal. The fact that when I pull up Nectar I am actually pulling up 5-6+ plug-ins worth of processing at a time and that I can save my favorite vocal chains as a setting just makes the whole process quicker. If I am in a time crunch with recording vocals and I need to have a basic sound for tracking I can pull up Nectar and set it to "live mode" (Tracking mode) and have near zero latency while maintaining all the essential processing. The included presets are a great ballpark for getting a useable if not downright excellent sound. I haven't had enough time to explore all the ins and outs of Nectar fully yet... but the fact that I can make so many changes so quickly, including re-ordering the processors drag and drop style, is amazing. I am sure that there are little gems which I am going to continue to find over the next several months.

What makes you stay in music?

I love working with artists and being a part of the creative process. There is something magical about working with someone who is putting their heart and soul into a song. I love being around that energy and having the opportunity to help a band or artist take their creative ideas and mold them into something spectacular. I also love helping artists push past their own boundaries and achieve something that even they are amazed by.

What tips do you have for readers who need to produce vocals in a short amount of time?

My best advice is to do whatever you need to do to make the vocalist feel comfortable, safe and at ease. That means establish rapport between the two of you (as mentioned above), get the vibe in the studio right (temperature, lights, candles, rugs, tea), have the mic set up and tested before they arrive, make sure the balance/vol in the headphones between the band/track is comfortable for the singer, give them a little bit of verb, and try to make their vocal sound as good as possible in their headphones. If the sound in the cans isn't working then they won't be able to sing their best... but once they feel the vibe and get absorbed into the song everything else will flow from that.

To follow Jon on twitter, visit www.twitter.com/jonrezin.