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Will Jackson
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UK-based producer and musician Will Jackson operates from his Soundworks Studios in Leeds. Will started as a musician: he has been a chorister and is a piano, keyboard and guitar player, among other things. His studio clients include bands such as the Cribs, the Pigeon Detectives or the kaiser Chiefs. He made time to tell us about his career and his studio.
Will, although you have a very short bio on your website, can you tell us more about your musical training and career? What is your first instrument, and do you play any others?
Well, I started music as a chorister at St George's Chapel, Windsor, and went on at age 18 to Huddersfield School of Music. I subsequently joined various touring bands including Magna Carta and the Martyn Joseph Band, playing in many countries, but mostly in Mainland Europe and the UK. My first instrument is piano/keyboards, and I also play guitar, slide, a bit of drums and the occasional trombone flurry ("Take Her Back" by the Pigeon Detectives)!
What were your most memorable experiences as a session musician, on tour or in the studio?
Both live and studio have their own plus points, however, there cannot be any substitute for the magic that happens in front of an audience. This is what sustains any musician through what can sometimes be somewhat arduous situations on the road. However, by and large the most memorable experiences happen off-stage rather than on! I will not elaborate!!
 Are you more inclined towards certain types of music and are you able to pick and choose the projects you work on?
My musical taste tends to be pretty eclectic - I've worked with so many different styles over the years, so I don't veer in any particular direction. Generally if I can see enough merit in the project then I'm happy to work on it.
What about going from music to production, was it a natural process?
Things seem to have evolved pretty naturally. In my touring days I still kept a studio which was looked after by a friend when I was away, so normal service would resume on my return, so that situation was the best of both worlds. In the studio you learn psychological ploys to use, plus more technical skills, so the transition from the playing to production becomes a very organic process.
The tools of a producer are rather different from musical instruments, less immediate I suppose, although electronic instruments can fall right in the middle. How did you choose your own studio equipment?
I started with a TEAC 4 track reel to reel, which was all I could afford at the time! A lot of MIDI programming took place. I spent quite a lot of time really getting to grips with synths, taking an electronic music course, learning on the VCS3 and Suitcase synths, followed by the Yamaha DX7 which at the time was a revolutionary piece of gear. Being armed with this knowledge has informed all my decisions as to acquiring new gear.
I started sequencing on the trusty Atari ST1040 and have seen things blossom into what is around now. I now sequence on Cubase 4 and slave to Soundscape via MIDI Time Code. I would generally choose a mixing console by hearing one and having a "test drive". As long as there is enough EQ and foldback sends I'm usually happy!
When you are engineering or producing, do you still think with your "musical mind", and if so, how does it influence or help the project?
My "musical mind" is always there in the background, waiting for something to trigger it into action!! I know instinctively when something needs addressing, be it arrangement, format, tempo and performance and feel of the song. Sometimes when I'm working with a young band I'll have to step in and try to strip some of the musical waste out of the song, especially on singles. My take on it is: "Yes, we all know you can play well, but all people want to hear on the radio is a good concise easily accessible song". You might have a singer who has a tendency to overdo things - get him or her to let the song breathe and communicate - let the mic do the work!! However, each song and artist has to be treated in an appropriate way. Sometimes an artist will be obstinate about trying something in a different way, in which case it can become quite a difficult session. I always try to bring something positive to the table and enhance what is already there. With such a large array of soft synths available, it is pretty straightforward to put down a string or brass arrangement on midi, to get a picture of the eventual outcome, then replace with the real thing.
How does Soundscape fit into your creative process and workflow?
The Soundscape system behaves very much like a large tape machine. It is very visual, so logging takes during sessions is easy. Marking takes is simple on the timeline, so we can instantly refer to crucial points during the session. Because of its ease of use, I am able to forget the technical aspects and zone in on the vibe and performance. I've always found that what you hear is what is exactly there with this system. The converters are one of the key aspects for audio accuracy. We send files between the two rooms for overdubs etc. As Studio 1 is the main recording area we do the main takes there and move to the smaller facility for other things, then send back consolidated files to re-insert into the project.
What are your Soundscape setups in Studio 1 and The Red Room?
In Studio 1 we have 1 Soundscape 32 with sync card,1R-ed 32 and two native drives plus two mixpander 9's. The converters are three IO896 and one iBox48-TA.
The Red Room has 1 X Soundscape 32and two native drives + one mixpander 9. Converters are 3 X iBox 8-XLR
What are your views on musical performance and editing, and do you do a lot of editing?
I am always inclined to favour performance and feel over technical perfection, so if we've captured that take, then I have absolutely no problem with editing something that would otherwise make the take unusable. I grew up with tape editing, so hard disk editing is a breeze!! I do the usual thing of sticking different sections of a song together to compile a great take, although in an ideal world we'd get it in one.
You have an SSL console in your studio 1, and you have Soundscape. How do they interact and do you mix - partially or completely - within Soundscape?
With this particular setup we have the ability to either mix in the box, setting up stereo pairs on the SSL at 0Vu for quick mixes and recalls or slave Soundscape to the desk with "The Whizzer" which simulates a tape machine, generating tach pulses, SMPTE, which the board needs in order to use the transport functions on the SSL. The Whizzer just sits there and works, transmitting MIDI Time Code to Soundscape. It's a great tool!! The beauty of this is that I can stay at the board between the monitors and get true stereo rather than off to one side where I'll never get an accurate sound picture. Lock up time on the editor is set to 3 seconds, which is fine. When I reach the end of the song, I can press "Go To Mix" on the SSL and the whizzer will rewind at the speed of an analogue 24 track machine. This time is crucial during mixing as it gives the ears that important rest time between playbacks. A very cool idea indeed. In these days of instant rewind I don't think that people realise that ear fatigue levels are so high.
I like to drive the tape returns on the SSL quite hard on big rock tunes, and so I give the faders a bit of an upwards nudge on Soundscape. In The Red Room I tend to mix exclusively "in the box" as the AMEK board has less channels (44). It is quicker this way, so doing recalls is much easier.
Interestingly, your SSL console is an E Series, one of the designs that influenced the Soundscape format "SSL Console EQ and Filter" plug-in. The plug-in even has an "E-Type" button. Have you actually compared them?
I've found that the E series EQ on the actual console can be more vicious than the plug-in, although our console has been slightly modified to be a bit more Neve-like!!
However, the plug-in is very smooth in character, and I use it a lot on all kinds of audio. You have to be careful to not overload the input, but it's really effective.
What are the highlights of your career as an engineer/producer?
I've experienced many highlights over the years, including recording the Kaiser Chiefs (double A-side), producing a double A-side for The Cribs, The Music's first record for Fierce Panda ("Take The Long Road and Walk It"), "Wait For Me" album with the Pigeon Detectives, "Year Of TheRat" for Rick Witter and The Dukes, involvement with Embrace - both "Drawn From Memory" and "If You've Never Been" albums recorded at Soundworks - I subsequently recorded both at the Albert Hall and various of their secret gigs in some unlikely venues such as Batsford Manor in the Cotswolds, and beside the Med outside a bar in Majorca for a DVD release ("SG#14"), which was specifically organised for seven fans who'd won an on-line competition. Doing front-of-house, monitors and multitracking with a stinking hangover was a challenge!!
Who works with you, is there a Soundworks Studio team and/or any business partners?
Well, we keep things small and efficient with Paul Brown and myself manning the two rooms, plus an assistant to liaise between both rooms and help out where necessary. As we are running Soundscape systems in both rooms, we can easily swap over, depending on what is going on where!! Steve Mullin who is a partner deals with day-to-day administration, so the team works very well.
What are your main projects at the moment and your plans for the future?
I've just finished the debut album for The Sugars on Bad Sneakers Records which has been a lot of fun. Something of a surprise has been seeing a fantastic video for the first single "Black Friday". It has been done on a fairly tight budget, but it's a testament to both the band and video people that such an imaginative piece of work can be realised in a business that seems to be in freefall at the moment. I'm mixing the first single for Ruling Class who are an interesting band - two Swedes, an Italian and two English guys based in London. It's dead groovy in a 1990's way with a twenty first century sensibility. Hopefully I'll be doing some more with them. Also a young band called Talk To Angels who write songs with a level of maturity way beyond their years.
I'm due to start work on an album with Tigers That Talked (drums, bass, guitar and violin) They're writing great songs and are multi-instrumental.
What is the best thing about producing music and do you enjoy it today as much as you did when you started?
I'm still as passionate as I've always been. It's intense, frustrating, joyous and uplifting. It's one of those things that's in the blood, and as far as I can see, will always be there.
 
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