Ryan Worsley
Ryan Worsley heads up Echoplant Sound in B . C ., launching Echoplant Studio B in the former home of Vogville Recording earlier in 2016 . His recent credits include work with the likes of Dear Rouge , Van Damsel , Said the Whale , and Brave Shores .
CM : How important is it to your work to be pushing the envelope with gear , techniques , and approaches to recording ?
RW : When I ’ m working , I ’ ll get an idea in my head of what I want something to sound like . Getting that sound may rely on tried and true techniques or may be the result of some experimentation or an unconventional approach . It ’ s through trying new things that one discovers new tricks to add to a recording arsenal . If you always play it safe , the music will be stale and boring .
CM : Can you think of any unique and innovative ideas you ’ ve employed on recent recordings that resulted in a really special sonic moment ?
RW : Lately , I ’ ve been putting up a Pearlman TM1 as a mono overhead on drums and distorting it with a [ Universal Audio ] LA 610 . I started doing that when the preamp was accidentally left on full gain and I loved how it sounded , so I just kept doing it .
CM : Similarly , are there any of those kinds of moments on recordings by others – particularly albums or engineers that inspired you along your journey – that stand out for you ?
RW : Whenever I listen to anything that Dave Fridmann does – MGMT , Tame Impala , Flaming Lips – I ’ m inspired . Everything is so distorted and blown out but still so listenable . I love how it sounds so glued together but still has a sense of space .
CM : How do you ensure you ’ re still pushing the envelope and coming up with new ideas despite often having a plethora of in-demand gear at your fingertips ?
RW : Sometimes I ’ ll limit myself to a simplistic set-up and that does help me to get creative with how I ’ m capturing sounds . Lots of my favourite sounds I ’ ve captured have been in less-than-perfect settings with limited gear .
When I was in Toronto in June working on the Brave Shores album , we decided to do drums in a very small iso booth . It was so small that we didn ’ t even have room for more than one cymbal , tom mics , or stereo overheads . It forced me to get creative with drum tuning and processing .
CM : Do you maintain a dialogue with your friends and peers in the industry about things you ’ ve tried in the studio , regardless of whether they were successful or not ? Is it important to you to be exchanging ideas with others in your line of work ?
RW : I love to talk shop with my colleagues , but don ’ t do it nearly enough . I think that ’ s the downside of being so busy .
Elisa
Pangsaeng
Doing much of her work out of Vertical Studios and Monarch Studios in Vancouver , Elisa Pangsaeng is an indemand producer , engineer , and mixer whose list of credits includes work with Said the Whale , The Zolas , Data Romance , and Kinnie Starr .
CM : How important is it to your work to be pushing the envelope with gear , techniques , and approaches to recording ? Is it important to constantly be trying new things , or is there something to be said for “ sticking to what works ?”
EP : I love trying new things and I love gear . For me , the two go hand in hand . Every new piece of gear inspires a new technique or sonic idea or challenges my workflow . I ’ m not sure if it ’ s because I enjoy pushing the envelope , or because I get bored easily , or maybe I ’ ve just never
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CANADIAN MUSICIAN ••[ 51 ]