The project itself was what interested me at that point, not only because Bas is an extremely talented pianist, but also because the other members of his trio, drummer Bruno Castellucci and bassist Bart Denolf, have both been renowned names in the jazz scene for the last decades, acknowledged for their work with the likes of Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine, and others.
Throughout my career as an engineer I have worked with all kinds of artists and in all kinds of musical genres. Many engineers will say that classical musicians are amongst the most challenging when it comes down to the concept of “sound.” I say it is Jazz musicians! For musicians like Bas Bulteel, the most important thing at the end of the day is “how does it sound?” They intimately know the sound they create with their instruments, and that is exactly what they expect to hear translated on playback.

–For musicians like Bas Bulteel, the most important thing at the end of the day is “how does it sound?”–

Day 1: Soundcheck and Setup

Yes, we were going to spend a full day for soundcheck and recording setup. Bas, Bruno, and Bart care as much about “sound” as I do, and spending a full day on soundcheck and setup was a no brainer from the start. Where I normally would go onsite the day before (or at least have 4 to 5 hours to prepare everything from a technical POV), I started setup at 9 AM and it only took me 2 hours to set everything up—that included unloading the car and wiring everything up. It’s a jazz trio: piano, drums, and double bass.

Now remember that these are jazz musicians, and what they want to hear translated through those speakers is their performance, their instruments and above all, their sound. So the moment you have them come to listen to those first takes is always going to be a very crucial point in the entire process

Bas sits in the sweet spot first and almost immediately goes “great, thanks.” Bart asks me to listen to some of the double bass solo’s he did during the jam and gives his go ahead as well. And then comes Bruno, with nearly 40 years of studio experience recording all over the world with the greatest names in jazz history. He looked at the S3 control surface and asked me, “Is that a mixing desk? OK, let me listen to that part where I play brushes… Can you lower the overheads a bit and give me more snare? OK, we need to move the mics on the toms up a bit—let me go in and play a bit on my own, just record it, will you?”

“OK, let’s listen to how it sounds now” and this goes on for a while. So at some point I ask him “Hey Bruno, you seem unhappy about something. If you let me know what it is I can look at what needs to be done to make it sound the way you want it to.” He then turns around and says “Oh no, sorry, it sounds great—it’s the kit. I think I will bring a different snare drum tomorrow because I don’t like the sound of this one, and I’ll bring some different cymbals as well, but thanks—great sound on everything. We’re all set to start the tracking tomorrow.”

Day 2: Recording Day 1

The way these jazz sessions usually go is that the trio will do two or three takes and then come in to listen back.

Day 3: Recording Day 2

I like it when things go smoothly on the technical side. It means you can fully concentrate on the music and enjoy listening to great performers. Jazz musicians always go for the one take that captured the vibe they were looking for. No surgical edits or copy/pasting—just pure performance. “Hey Chris, take 3 was perfect except for 1 note in the second chorus on the double bass. Do you think we can punch in?” Not a problem.