Meeting Topic: A Star-Studded Talk: Bill Maylone and Judith Sherman
Moderator Name: Konrad Strauss
Speaker Name: Bill Maylone and Judith Sherman - Grammy Winning Classical Music Engineers and Producers
Meeting Location: Georgina Joshi Recording Studio, Indiana University
The Indiana University AES Chapter was pleased to host distinguished classical engineers and producers Bill Maylone and Judy Sherman while they were in Bloomington to record the Pacifica Quartet. They spoke about their different career path experiences, and gave tips on how to be both a successful engineer as well asa producer, and spoke a little bit about their preparation for the sessions with the Pacifica Quartet at IU.
Bill entered the recording industry through radio broadcasting services initially, which led him to head all recordings for WFMT in Chicago, where he still works today. He has been a collector of audio gear from the beginning of his career, and noted how important it was to invest in good equipment. Bill has worked on numerous classical recordings, as well as a number of rock/pop recordings through the radio station. He emphasized experimenting with different mics and placements when you have the time, inputs, and facilities that allow it, especially here at school.
Judy also expressed her thoughts on investing in quality equipment when you can. She has always been interested in classical music and physics, and suggested students invest their money in equipment used when the energy changes form (i.e. microphones and speakers). A bit different from Bill, Judy initially was an English teacher, and got into the music industry through a graduate program at the University of Buffalo, where she studied all things Moog since the university had recently created a Moog studio when it came out. She then worked for a jingle house, and eventually made her way to recording and producing for Vanguard Records. Both Bill and Judy talked about how most of the business that happens in the music industry is through word of mouth. They advised those in attendance to go to concerts and hear music, and make connections with the musicians playing to promote yourself and encourage them to record with you. Musicians need engineers to put out great sounding recordings, so find a way to distinguish yourself from the others, and show your skills. Your successes with one group will spread to new work avenues through those musicians explaining their experiences with you. They also discussed the utter importance of session documentation, and having multiple backups of sessions and all session information.
AES at IU would like to thank Bill and Judy for taking time out of their day to give a great presentation to our section. Bill and Judy offered so much advice in multiple areas of the industry to the students in attendance, and we all learned a lot! We look forward to hearing the Pacifica Quartet recording!
Written By: Evan Berg
