The EM Poll

Tony Visconti: Audio Visionary

Apr 19, 2007 7:17 PM, By Michael Molenda

           

This article originally appeared in the October 1995 issue of Electronic Musician.

Tony Visconti has worked with just about every legend, singer/songwriter, and scoundrel in rock. Although he is best known for his classic works with David Bowie and T. Rex, his audio productions have made a lasting imprint on every decade since the late 1960s. Visconti's credits, therefore, are almost impossible to list comprehensively in the print medium—we'd need to dedicate an entire issue to his discography alone! An (extremely) short list of luminaries he has directed from behind the control-room glass includes Adam Ant, The Alarm, Badfinger, Boomtown Rats, John Hiatt, Mary Hopkin, Paul McCartney (as orchestrator), Moody Blues, Tom Paxton, Iggy Pop, Thin Lizzy, and U2.

Even more amazing than Visconti's prolific output, however, is the fact that most of his productions are truly pioneering achievements in the use of signal processing and manipulation of the audio soundstage. Not bad for a kid who started out playing the Catskills.

The Brooklyn-bred Visconti actually did begin his career ascent playing double bass in jazz clubs and Catskill resorts when he was only sixteen years old. He soon focused on becoming a songwriter and recording artist, that is, until his music publisher recognized the quality of Visconti's song demos. In 1967, the publisher "loaned" Visconti to legendary British producer Denny Cordell and instructed him to report back on how the English made records. The spy mission was supposed to last six months. It ended tip being a 23year assignment, and during that time, Visconti produced so many classic tracks that the British (like everyone else) were stealing his riffs.

But even though Visconti has produced some of rocks biggest stars and worked in some very heavy studios (including his own Good Earth, a world-class facility in London, from 1972 to 1989), he has also embraced the personal studio. In his current home in New York, he has installed an ADAT and Macbased studio with myriad digital editing tools.

As a consequence. Visconti has developed a production methodology that affords him the luxury of tracking in large studios and doing editing and overdubs in the comforts of home. And Visconti is no less an audio pioneer within the constraints of the "small" studio: he has developed all kinds of tricks for making his homegrown digital tracks sound as sweet and sexy as the analog productions that made him an industry legend. On occasion, he will also share his tips, tricks, and experience with America Online subscribers in the Producer's Forum of Composer's Coffeehouse (keyword: composers). Visconti is definitely a sage for anyone who is considering a career as a producer.

PRODUCER TALK

Originally, this feature was planned as a conventional prose interview. However, Visconti's responses were so packed with information (and some wonderful anecdotes) that I felt it would be criminal to rob EM readers of the complete dialog; hence the question and answer format.

A recent photo of Visconti in his studio.

I tried to organize the interview to run somewhat chronologically through the main aspects of the producer's craft: finding talent, critiquing and arranging material, eliciting passionate performances, optimizing technological tools, and recognizing the value of unexpected "gifts." Visconti's responses to these questions almost form a mini-textbook on the producer's art, offering a blowbyblow account of what happens when an artist and producer are locked into their creative fertility dance.

What elements must an artist possess to seduce you into wanting to produce him or her?
That's like asking, "How do you choose your spouse?" The answer is I fall in love. However, a recurring theme in my work is a quirky, unique voice. When I first heard Mare Bolan [of T. Rex] singing in a small London club, I was bowled over by the quivering, Delta blues-inspired quality of his voice. It was unearthly, and I just had to move closer to find out where that sound was coming from. His delivery was almost feminine, and I couldn't decipher the words or even confirm whether he was singing in English. I was completely enthralled by his voice.

The quality of the artist's material is also very critical. The songs must sound like they could be "classic" works while also offering something that is new and unusual. Perhaps not coincidentally, most of the truly successful artists I've produced wrote their own songs. Bolan didn't have instant chart success, but he had a unique songwriting style that I could help develop. When we hit it, we had a continuous run of success for three years and formed a style that is still being copied today.

Finally, I want to be sure an artist has chops. I don't require that they be classically trained or schooled, but they must have talent up the wazoo and a great sense of how to project that talent. Although I can perform all sorts of sonic miracles in the studio, it's more exciting to work with a great musician than to throw a zillion vocal takes into a computer and "fix'' all the out-of-tune notes. A greater form of magic is still the traditional kind: where an artist stands in front of a mic and sings his or her heart out.