GRAMMY Award wining Alfonso Rodenas has worked on projects as recording engineer, producer, mixing engineer, and everything in between. He tells us about his days in Valencia, Spain, his move to Los Angeles, and his exciting studio developments.
What a career you’ve had so far! Where did it all start?
My career started in the mythical Tabalet Estudis in Valencia,Spain, recording studios that I am currently developing as the new Tabalet EastWest and that are currently open for business after they were closed in 2012.
I started there as maintenance tech assistant and I ended up being chief engineer during the last six years of my period there, prior to my departure to the US.
At Tabalet Estudis you learned a lot, from spending time in sessions, learning from others, and working with various musicians and producers. What are some of the important things you learned there early on in your career?
Being the most important studio in town meant that all important music productions of all styles parade through its live rooms: traditional regional folk, pop, rock, classical ensembles and symphonic bands, singer songwriters, jazz, music for film soundtracks and TV adverts.
Technically you can imagine that to deal with such varied styles required a wide base of knowledge, logistics and organization. I, of course, learned many things but if I have to name two those would be: one, you cannot relax and put the automatic pilot under any circumstance thinking that the session is nicely flowing and everything is under control, anything can fail at any given moment and you have to be ready and alert at all times.
The second is to know how to deal with the artist and the psychology involved into that. Artists are extremely sensitive and most of the time insecure people that need validation and constant nurturing. A word out of place can blow a session, you have to be extremely polite and have a lot of left hand.
Then, you packed up your bags and moved across the ocean. What was the studio culture difference like from Spain to the USA?
Evidently Los Angeles, being the capital of the music industry in the world, means that the studios and the level of expertise and knowledge of the engineering staff was stratospheric compared to the level of places like Valencia. It was first league compared to a regional one.
The best studios and gear in the world, best engineers, best studio musicians, best projects, best budgets and so on. The work protocols were very strict and there was a very tied etiquette in how to deal with the talent.
The learning curve was and is very hard and only the best engineers in the world make it to the top there; sometimes it’s also a question of good fortune. Definitely some kind of things can only happen in Hollywood.
In the span of your career so far you do audio recording and engineering, mixing, mastering, vocal production, music production and arrangement, and even more. Was this out of necessity or is that because you enjoy being creative in numerous fields (and keep very busy)?
I imagine that is consequence of my upbringing as engineer. We were used to doing all kinds of jobs, as many as you pointed to. There was a time that we did everything in the process. In that regards it was so different from LA super specialized work where there are people that make a career only doing any of the jobs you mentioned. I like to do the full spectrum, if possible, every step has its own enjoyment.
Being in the creational moment of the tracking is incomparable but putting all together while mixing is such an enjoying powerful experience that is difficult to choose between both. Finalizing the project while mastering is a big responsibility and brings lots of enjoyment also.Music production is the best experience in the world when the right artist is paired with the right production team.
You have GRAMMY Awards to your name. With which artists were they and what was your role in each project?
All my Grammy Awards and nominations, beside some jazz ones, are due to my collaboration with Mexican American super band Los Tigres del Norte, one of the top ten acts in Latin music historically speaking.
I do all roles of the technical production of a record for them, tracking, editing and mixing. I also produce their performances in studio as much as they allow me to.
You’ve recently added the Buso Audio Studio XL studio workstation furniture to your studio. With your mix of outboard and in-the-box, what made the Studio XL the choice for your studio?
Well, after have being contemplating many other options on the web I could research for, I reached the conclusion that the Buso Audio design was by far the most elegant, most ergonomic and well-designed production desk and the one that was going to find my working and aesthetical needs the best.
How has your studio and workspace evolved over the years?
There is no need for large mixing consoles anymore unless the budget can allow for that. To me it is about having a great live room, great mics and preamps, a great digital interface and once you are in the box keeping it there.
What’s coming up next that you’re excited about?
I cannot be more excited as I am right now with the opening of the new Tabalet EastWest recording facility and this effort in itself is going to keep me busy for a while because there are three other rooms in the facility that are going to need my attention and also some more Buso Audio studio desks.
