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YES, MASTER

GRAMMYs/Dec 3, 2014 - 04:22 am

By the Mayan calendar, 2012 was supposed to have been apocalyptic. By the measurement of music mastering engineers, however, it was instead a turning point in the history of how good iTunes music can sound. That’s because file-based music and iTunes in particular now have the tools needed to make AAC mp4s and other compressed file formats sound far better than they have in the past.

“This year it’s different, this year it all changed,” exclaims Eric Boulanger, a mastering engineer and manager at the The Mastering Lab, a Los Angeles studio facility where records receive their final polish before distribution. The facility, where artists including the Eagles, the Rolling Stones, Al Jarreau, James Taylor, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett have had their sounds perfected by mastering legend Doug Sax and his staff, was the first to employ Mastered for iTunes, the software toolkit released earlier this year by Apple and developed with significant input from mastering engineers affiliated with The Recording Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing.

“There’s been a movement towards this for some time now,” Boulanger continues. “The market has been demanding higher-quality sound. You see it in the resurgence of vinyl: vinyl records are being bought by teenagers who, other than maybe a few times in their lives when they’ve listened to a CD, have spent their entire lives experiencing music through mp3 files and earbuds. When they hear what music can sound like on actual records played through speakers, they say, ‘We want that!’”

 

New Tools

And that’s what everyone will soon have access to, thanks to new tools that let mastering and other audio engineers approach file-based music formats as their own entities, instead of simply taking the 44.1 kHz/16-bit .wav files that are the basis for Compact Discs and jamming those larger files into the confines of a 128-kb/sec or 256-kb/sec file. Andy VanDette, chief engineer at New York’s Masterdisk who has mastered records for artists including Rush and the Beastie Boys, says attention began being paid to the mastering of music files when artists began to complain about how their recordings sounded on iTunes. “It took a long time for the market to pay attention to how file formats affect sound quality,” he says. “But then artists began to tell us, ‘This doesn’t sound like my music anymore,’ when they heard it on iTunes.”

According to Boulanger, Apple’s own engineers had been looking into the issue of how data compression affects music for a couple of years. However, computer engineers understandably would look at a challenge from a coding point of view, not necessarily from an artistic perspective. When they began to collaborate in earnest with members of the P&E Wing, progress accelerated. It reached a turning point in January 2011, when Colbie Caillat’s producer (and father) Ken Caillat met with iTunes executives to discuss how to improve the sound of Colbie’s music when it was distributed through the iTunes store. Ken Caillat referred Apple’s people to Boulanger, who conveyed to them his concern that since the iTunes’ encoding process to the AAC file format took place after the mastering stage was completed, the esthetic intentions of the artists and engineers for the music could be distorted by the additional data processing. He suggested that if Apple could make that encoding process more transparent, and offer access to it to mastering engineers before it was delivered for AAC encoding, music could better accommodate the process. The ultimate goal, Boulanger says, was to establish iTunes as a primary format for mastering purposes, on a par with the CD and vinyl, rather than as an afterthought.

From that larger collaboration Apple created Mastered For iTunes, a software kit that lets artists and engineers preview how their tracks will sound once they are encoded for iTunes, allowing them the opportunity to make informed decisions regarding levels and how hard to hit the AAC encoder, thus adapting the music for the medium ahead of the iTunes encoding process. Mastered For iTunes also standardizes certain protocols suggested by mastering engineers, such as delivering masters at 24-bit resolution.

A combination of new tools and a heightened awareness of what’s necessary to make music sound good on files is opening a new chapter in music production. The dialog opened around the mastering of Colbie Caillat’s LP All Of You led directly to the creation of a toolkit from Apple now downloadable by anyone who wants to optimize their music for iTunes distribution. It reflects insights offered by collaborating engineers, resulting in tools such as AFClip, which allows engineers to measure whether or not a high-level master will clip the encode and decode stages of AAC, causing distortion.

Apple’s cooperation was critical -- in the second quarter of 2012, by Apple’s own estimate, iTunes accounted for 64 percent of the entire digital music market and 29 percent of all music sold at retail (including both digital and physical formats). And the company, often known for its diffidence to outside collaboration, cooperated by making its ALAC (Lossless) encoding process transparent. It has not only embraced the quest to improve the overall sonic quality of file-based music but has included in the on-line toolkit, AU Lab, a free digital audio application that can be used to perform key quality-enhancement tasks such as detecting peaks and clipping, and performing double-blind listening tests. This injects optimization for file-based distribution further up the music production chain and, combined with Mastered For iTunes, will take sound quality even further.

“Apple is huge in music, so when Apple changes, the entire industry changes,” says Boulanger. What consumers can expect as Mastered For iTunes becomes more ubiquitous is a big change, too -- a change for the better.

Inside A Celebration Of Craft: A Historic Event Highlighting Songwriting & Production Perfection At The 2024 GRAMMYs
Brandy Clark performs onstage during A Celebration of Craft Presented

Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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Inside A Celebration Of Craft: A Historic Event Highlighting Songwriting & Production Perfection At The 2024 GRAMMYs

GRAMMY Week 2024 kicked off with A Celebration of Craft, a special event presented by the Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing and Songwriters & Composers Wing.

GRAMMYs/Feb 2, 2024 - 01:39 am

"Is there a show happening on Sunday?," seven-time GRAMMY winner Leslie Ann Jones quipped to thunderous applause. "Because this is the place to be." 

Jones was the main honoree fêted during A Celebration of Craft — a joint event presented by the Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing and Songwriters & Composers Wing. The 2024 GRAMMYs Week event was held on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at the GRAMMY Museum.  

With its breathtaking night view of downtown Los Angeles and a casual, cosmopolitan vibe, the Museum’s Ray Charles Terrace was indeed the perfect location for dozens of songwriters, producers and engineers to celebrate the behind-the-scenes craftsmanship that sustains the music business. Fueled by lifelong passion and an obsessive attention to detail, their artistry often goes unnoticed by the general public. 

In his opening speech, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. noted the evening’s historic significance — it was the first time that a GRAMMY Week celebration brought together the wings of Songwriters & Composers with Producers & Engineers. "The world needs more music right now," he said. "It needs more of what we do."  

Noting how special it feels to be a songwriter at the Recording Academy, Songwriters & Composers Wing Chair E. Kidd Bogart and Susan Stewart invited the nominees for a GRAMMY in the Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical category onstage. It was inspiring to see such a diverse group of creators being recognized — from Edgar Barrera, who reinvented the urbano genre through massive hits for Karol G and Bad Bunny, to country mastermind Shane McAnally, whose current nomination encompasses songs performed by the likes of Brandy Clark and Walker Hayes. Nominees Justin Tranter and Theron Thomas were also in attendance; Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical nominee Jessie Jo Dillon was unable to attend.

While introducing Leslie Ann Jones — who was also the first woman chair of the Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees between 1999 and 2001 — Mason Jr. emphasized what an extraordinary person she is. "She is a classicist, but also a forward thinker and a trailblazer," he said. "She set the bar high in terms of passion, equality and inspiration — but she is also at the peak of her career, still leading the charge."  

The daughter of drummer and bandleader Spike Jones and singer Helen Grayco, Jones delivered a highly quotable speech that summarized her 40 year-old career in music. She recalled being mesmerized by the Beatles and the Temptations as a kid, and how her appreciation for their songs only grew as she developed her career as the sonic architect of pristine recordings.  

"We’re all very lucky to be surrounded by music every day," she said. "Music transcends everything. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia will smile when a song plays, and sing along to the lyrics. My service to our craft has given me a sense of purpose."  

Complimenting Jones' words with sound, singer/songwriter Brandy Clark (who has 17 GRAMMY nominations of her own) took the stage and launched into "Buried," a dazzling cut off her 2023, self-titled fourth album. The song’s gorgeous vocals, understated melody and witty lyrics about getting drunk on wine and dance exemplified the transformative power of a great song.  

Clark looked vulnerable as she performed the confessional gem "Dear Insecurity" — alone onstage in a sparkly black outfit, armed with her guitar. Underscoring the complexity of her artistry, her singing sounded delicate and incredibly powerful. 

Next up was Michigan husband and wife duo The War & Treaty, currently nominated for Best New Artist and Best American Roots Song at the 2024 GRAMMYs. Theirs was also a pared-down setup: Tanya Trotter on vocals and tambourine; Michael Trotter Jr. on keyboards and voice; and Max Brown on guitar. But the intensity and grit in their sound evoked the monumental scope of an avant-garde gospel orchestra.   

"And I’ve seen the devil... Chasing after the innocent with them blazing guns," Trotter Jr. belted as he played jazz-influenced chords on "Ain’t No Harmin’ Me" — a tune that shimmers with the mystique of a classic anthem from decades past.  

On "Blank Page," the group’s groove reached its finest combustion whenever the couple’s vocalizing harmonized together with abandon. But the musical backdrop — a sophisticated fireball of soul, blues, rock and folk — is both visionary and rooted in the classics.  

"Thank you for being you," said Trotter Jr. before bringing this unforgettable evening to a close. "Thank you for being authentic. Thank you for being badasses." 

Here's The Official Guide To GRAMMY Week 2024: MusiCares Person Of The Year, Pre-GRAMMY Gala, Recording Academy Honors & More

The Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing And Songwriters & Composers Wing To Host First-Ever "A Celebration Of Craft" Event During GRAMMY Week 2024, Honoring Leslie Ann Jones
“A Celebration of Craft,” an official GRAMMY Week 2024 event, takes place Wednesday, Jan. 31, in Los Angeles

Graphic courtesy of the Recording Academy

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The Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing And Songwriters & Composers Wing To Host First-Ever "A Celebration Of Craft" Event During GRAMMY Week 2024, Honoring Leslie Ann Jones

“A Celebration of Craft,” the first-ever event presented by the Recording Academy’s two craft wings, will kick off GRAMMY Week 2024 and salute producer/engineer and seven-time GRAMMY winner Leslie Ann Jones and the creatives behind the music on Jan. 31.

GRAMMYs/Jan 9, 2024 - 01:59 pm

The Recording Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing and Songwriters & Composers Wing are joining forces to host “A Celebration of Craft.” Taking place Wednesday, Jan. 31, at the GRAMMY Museum in Downtown Los Angeles, the inaugural event, the first-ever joint GRAMMY Week event for the Academy’s craft Wings, will honor seven-time GRAMMY winner Leslie Ann Jones for her prolific work as a recording and mixing engineer and record producer. The event will also salute the year-round work of the Producers & Engineers and Songwriters & Composers Wings and shine a light on the people working behind the scenes to create the year’s best musical works, including this year’s Songwriter Of The Year nominees. The premiere celebration kicks off the official start of GRAMMY Week 2024, the Recording Academy’s weeklong celebration comprising official GRAMMY Week events honoring the music community in the lead-up to the 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards.

“A Celebration of Craft” also debuts during a major development for the production and songwriting fields at the annual GRAMMY Awards. For the first time ever, the Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical and Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical categories will be awarded in the General Field of the GRAMMY Awards at the 2024 GRAMMYs next month. The Recording Academy announced these significant additions last June after they were voted on and passed by the Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees last May; relocating these categories allows all GRAMMY voters to participate in the voting process for these non-genre-specific categories and recognize excellence in the important fields of producing and songwriting.

“Songwriting and producing are some of the fundamental building blocks of our industry — in addition to, of course, performing and recording,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. told GRAMMY.com about the GRAMMY category changes." “We feel this change is an opportunity to allow our full voting membership to participate … We are excited that our entire voting body will be able to contribute to such important categories like Songwriter Of The Year and Producer Of The Year. Again, these are such important parts of our Awards process. But bigger than that, they're an important part of the music ecosystem. Since these categories are not genre-specific, and they are across many different genres, we felt it was responsible to put them in the General Field so everyone could vote for these important awards.”

A recording and mixing engineer and record producer for more than 40 years, Leslie Ann Jones has held staff positions at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles, the Automatt Recording Studios in San Francisco, and Capitol Studios in Hollywood. Now at Skywalker Sound, she continues her career recording and mixing music for records, films, video games, and television, and producing records primarily in the classical genre. Over the course of her career, she has worked with artists from Herbie Hancock, the Kronos Quartet, Holly Near, and Michael Feinstein to Santana, Bobby McFerrin, Charlie Haden, BeBe & CeCe Winans, ConFunkShun, and many more.

The first woman Chair of the Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees (1999-2001), Jones is the recipient of seven GRAMMY Awards, including four for Best Engineered Album, Classical and one for Best Immersive Audio Album. She serves on the Advisory Board of Institute for the Musical Arts, the Board of Directors of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), and she is an Artistic Advisor to the Technology and Applied Composition degree program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Jones was also inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a Heyser lecturer. She was also the recipient of the 2022 G.A.N.G. Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Jones chaired the committee that wrote “Recommendations for Hi-Resolution Music Production,” published by the Producers & Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy, and is also a member of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board.

“I’m so excited for our Producers & Engineers and Songwriters & Composers Wings to come together for ‘A Celebration of Craft’ later this month,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. said in a statement. “Both Wings are a critical part of our mission at the Recording Academy to create spaces for music creators to thrive, and I look forward to joining with music people from both of these communities to kick off our GRAMMY Week celebrations.”

“From her decades-spanning recording career to her work as former Chair of the Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees, a co-chair of the P&E Wing, and much more, Leslie Ann Jones has always been committed to the music community and to excellence in recording,” said Maureen Droney, Vice President of the Producers & Engineers Wing, in a statement. “It’s a privilege to convene our national network of creatives and technicians to salute her at ‘A Celebration of Craft’ with the Songwriters & Composers Wing, an essential collaborator in our effort to recognize the people behind the music.”

“‘A Celebration of Craft’ will mark the first GRAMMY Week event for the Songwriters & Composers Wing since our Wing was founded in 2021, and we could not be more enthusiastic to come together with our community for an evening dedicated to celebrating their creativity,” said Susan Stewart, Managing Director of the Songwriters & Composers Wing. “We’re thrilled to co-host this event with our friends in the Producers & Engineers Wing and pay tribute to the diverse creative professions in our industry together.”

The 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards, will air live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 4 (8 -11:30 p.m. LIVE ET/5-8:30 p.m. LIVE PT) on the CBS Television Network and will stream on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).

How To Watch The 2024 GRAMMYs Live: GRAMMY Nominations Announcement, Air Date, Red Carpet, Streaming Channel & More

GRAMMY Rewind: Kendrick Lamar Honors Hip-Hop's Greats While Accepting Best Rap Album GRAMMY For 'To Pimp a Butterfly' In 2016
Kendrick Lamar

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

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GRAMMY Rewind: Kendrick Lamar Honors Hip-Hop's Greats While Accepting Best Rap Album GRAMMY For 'To Pimp a Butterfly' In 2016

Upon winning the GRAMMY for Best Rap Album for 'To Pimp a Butterfly,' Kendrick Lamar thanked those that helped him get to the stage, and the artists that blazed the trail for him.

GRAMMYs/Oct 13, 2023 - 06:01 pm

Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

Looking for more GRAMMYs news? The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are here!

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing To Honor Trailblazers Terri Lyne Carrington And Judith Sherman
(L-R): Judith Sherman, Terri Lyne Carrington

Source Photos (L-R): Courtesy of the Recording Academy® / Photo by Jason Kempin for Getty Images © 2023; Courtesy of the Recording Academy® / Photo by Alexandra Wyman for Getty Images © 2023

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The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing To Honor Trailblazers Terri Lyne Carrington And Judith Sherman

The Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing will honor three-time GRAMMY winner Terri Lyne Carrington and revered classical producer and 13-time GRAMMY winner Judith Sherman at its annual GRAMMY Week event in February.

GRAMMYs/Jan 6, 2023 - 02:00 pm

The Recording Academy has announced Terri Lyne Carrington and Judith Sherman as honorees for their accomplishments as pioneering women in jazz and classical music. They will be honored at the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Week Event on Feb. 1 at The Village Studios in Los Angeles. The 15th annual event will return in-person for the first time since 2020, to kick off GRAMMY Week 2023. 

In addition to celebrating the achievements of three-time GRAMMY winner Terri Lyne Carrington and revered classical producer and 13-time GRAMMY winner Judith Sherman, the event will celebrate the year-round work of the Producers & Engineers Wing and its members. They advocate for excellence and best practices in sound recording, audio technologies and education in the recording arts, along with proper crediting, recognition and rights for music creators.

"We’re thrilled to return live to The Village Studios for the first time in three years to celebrate two groundbreaking music creators who are dedicated to innovating both creatively and technically in the recording field," said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. "Both Terri Lyne and Judith have made indelible contributions to music, and we look forward to bringing together producers, engineers and artistic professionals to honor these incredible artists and kick off our GRAMMY Week celebrations."  

Terri Lyne Carrington is an NEA Jazz Master, Doris Duke Artist, and three-time GRAMMY-winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She is the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, as well as the artistic director for both Next Jazz Legacy program (a collaboration with New Music USA) and the Carr Center in Detroit. She has performed on more than 100 recordings over her 40-year career and has toured and recorded with luminaries such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Esperanza Spalding, and numerous others.

Her artistry and commitment to education has earned her honorary doctorates from York University, Manhattan School of Music and Berklee College of Music, and her curatorial work and music direction has been featured in many prestigious institutions internationally. The critically acclaimed 2019 release, Waiting Game, from Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science, earned the esteemed Edison Award for music and a GRAMMY nomination. In the fall of 2022, she authored two books, Three of a Kind (The AllenCarringtonSpalding Trio) and the seminal songbook collection, New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets By Women Composers. Her current GRAMMY-nominated album, New Standards Vol.1 (Candid Records), and her visual art curatorial debut at Detroit's Carr Center, Shifting the Narrative Part 1: New Standards, have accompanied the songbook release as part of the Jazz Without Patriarchy Project. 

Carrington is a 2022 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is co-executive producer and musical director for the newly formed Jazz Music Awards.

Judith Sherman has made an indelible contribution to the catalog of recorded classical music. 

She is an 18-time GRAMMY Award nominee and 13-time GRAMMY winner, including six GRAMMYs for Producer Of The Year, Classical (at the 36th, 50th, 54th, 57th, 58th, and 64th GRAMMY Awards). Early in her career she was employed at WBAI-FM in New York City, beginning as an engineer and over the course of four years working her way up to become producer and then music director. She was the recording engineer for the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont during the summers of 1976 through 1994 and worked as audio faculty at the Banff Centre in 2006 and 2008. A member of the board of directors of Chamber Music America, Sherman served first as secretary in 2002, and thereafter as vice president. She currently works as a freelance recording producer and engineer in New York.

Sherman has collaborated with a vast number of artists throughout her career including Rudolf Serkin, Ursula Oppens, Marc-André Hamelin, Llŷr Williams; with the Kronos Quartet and the Cleveland, Ying, Takács, and Pacifica String Quartets; with eighth blackbird and the American Brass Quintet; and with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Donald Runnicles and David Zinman. Her recordings in the field of contemporary classical music have been particularly noted, including work with such composers as Steve Reich, Elliott Carter, Steve Mackey, Charles Wuorinen, John Adams, Shulamit Ran, David Rakowski, Philip Glass, Eric Moe, Joan Tower, and Terry Riley. Her recordings have appeared on many labels, including Nonesuch, Telarc, Cedille, New World, Avie, Albany, Signum, Hyperion, and Bright Shiny Things. 

"The Producers & Engineers Wing is privileged to pay tribute to two women who have pushed boundaries both in and outside of the studio," said Maureen Droney, Vice President of the Producers & Engineers Wing. "As GRAMMY nominees this year, Terri Lyne and Judith are awe-inspiring honorees who represent the best of the recording industry and whose contributions to their respective genres continue to resonate with our music community."

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