Michael Parnin on SoundBetter

Michael Parnin is an Emmy award-winning Recording Engineer, Mixer and Producer in the Los Angeles area. He owns and operates Blacksound, a private recording studio in Pasadena, California.

Michael has been in the business for 25+ years. After studying at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and Berklee College of Music in Boston, his guitar playing brought him out to Los Angeles. In between touring Europe and the States with his band Black, he started working at the famed Westlake Audio in Hollywood. There he worked with artists such as Rod Stewart, Barbara Streisand, Missy Elliott, and Rage Against the Machine. Michael’s versatility and talent led him to other studios around the globe: recording LA’s daKAH at the Village Studios, engineering tracks for American Idol and America’s Got Talent at Capitol and Conway studios, and working with Andrew Lloyd Webber at Abbey Road and Whitfield Street Studios in London among others. He’s also worked in Nashville, Toronto, Vancouver, Switzerland, and Paris.

Michael works mostly on album projects and singles. He also works on music and audio for film and television, notably the PBS concert special which won him an Emmy Award.

He believes every project brings an exciting opportunity to collaborate with other creatives and produce something special.

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Interview with Michael Parnin

Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: A super catchy disco based project, a short film based in Paris, and a very cool down tuned guitar project featuring heavy riffs, and percussion in an ambient presentation.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Music Editor and Engineer on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" full feature and Concert and Anniversary versions. This involved tracking the 111 piece orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London and dubbing the final mix at Fox Studios in LA.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Brand new so just now seeing who is in the community.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. At this point, they both are needed to achieve great sounding deliverables for a typical release.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: Help make your vision come to life.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Making the clients dreams come together appropriately for that song or project and being proud of the hard work and years of experience to get it there.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: How much time is needed and how much will it cost. My answer is always, let me hear or see what you have and we can make an appropriate plan for success.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: The time involved to make things seem simple and correct.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What is it you want to achieve?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Communication is key. Make sure the vibe is correct either thru discussion, discussed examples, or similar past work.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My Vintage Neve 1073's, a microphone, and a recording device. Everything else will work out from there.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Dynamically energetic or as beautiful as possible.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Billy Gibbons. Would be some amazing guitar and vocal tracking days.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Do what is right for the song and the emotions being communicated. Also make it sound great or unique.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Mostly rock music but luckily I have many clients in different styles. I do a lot of orchestral music as well.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Editing and mixing in a musical and organic nature most often with an analogue slant.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Jimmy Page and Prince. Musical forces that play their instrument(s) and produce their records.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Normally producing, recording, and mixing singles and albums from kick to mix but I have been doing more and more mixing with the editing and vocal tuning involved to bring it to release.