Below you’ll find a portfolio of some of my recording work along with a brief description of each project. I’ve tried to highlight a little bit of each area of music/performance I’ve done recordings in.

Studio Work

Third District – Forever

This is a band of my own (now called Centennia [url]l). Drums were recorded on-site at our jam space with a mix of condenser and dynamic mics and everything else was done back in my home studio. Guitars were recorded through a mix of a POD XT Pro and a mic’d VOX amp, bass was direct, and vocals sung into a large diaphragm condenser.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/studio_thirddistrict.mp3

Katrin Sawatzky – Ellie the Elephant (Acoustic)

Katrin came into the studio with nothing more than her guitar and a fantastic voice. The centrepiece of these mixes really is her vocals, which were done into a large diaphragm condenser mic. Her guitar was mic’d with a stereo pair of pencil condenser mics. With a little post processing, I was very pleased with how her mixes turned out and highlighted her voice given their overall simplicity.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/studio_katrin.mp3

Poor Man’s Parachute – Liquor and Friends

The work I did for these guys (unfortunately now disbanded) practically mixed itself; they’re strong performers, had great quality gear and well composed songs. Drum’s were my usual mix of dynamic and condenser mics, amps were all tube amps mic’d with a dynamic mic, bass was direct and vocals were done in a large diaphragm condenser.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/studio_poormans.mp3

Mainland Kitchen Band – Waggon Wheel (live floor mix)

Mainland Kitchen Band [url] is one of the more unique projects I’ve worked on, and one of my first “off the floor” studio mixes (besides live work). They’re a husband and wife duo and everything you hear in their mix was played at one time, in one take. Drums were an intricate electronic drum setup (played by the guitar/vocalist’s feet), tambourine was also played by foot and the remaining instruments were played in their more natural form. They wanted to bring the live essence of their performance into the mix so we cut a 13 track album in an afternoon (minus mixing time).
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/studio_mainlandkitchen.mp3

Elixir Theory – Rite of Passage (older mix)

Elixir Theory (now disbanded) was a band I worked with many years ago and in the early days of my recording. Since I don’t have any newer metal recordings to show I’ve stuck this one up to fill the void. Unfortunately the mix quality doesn’t represent my current work given it’s age and the limited equipment I had to work with at the time, but I’m still pretty pleased with it.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/studio_elixirtheory.mp3

Live Work

The samples below were recorded at a live show I recorded while attending my old high school.

Live Jazz Group (Sample Only)

This group was recorded with a pair of stereo condenser’s in the piano, a condenser on the trumpet, a mix of condensers and dynamic mics on the drum kit, and a stereo room mic to really bring in the ambience of the crowd and some natural reverb from the great sounding concert hall.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/live_fivefops.mp3

Jenna Lehman – Almost Lover (A Fine Frenzy Cover)

Jenna was a strong vocalist and accompanied by her friend on piano. Jenna was singing into a dynamic mic, there was a pair of pencil condensers in the piano and a stereo condenser in the room to bring in the ambiance of the crowd and the reverb from the concert hall.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/live_jenna.mp3

Jessica Fortin – We Will Make It Through (Sample Only)

For this performance the guitar was mic’d with a single pencil condenser and a dynamic was used on vocals. The performer’s strong vocal performance mixed in with the reverb of the room made for a great sounding track. Minimal reverb and compression was used during the mixdown phase just to even out the dynamics slightly.
http://stevenblackwell.com/portfolio_audio/live_jessfortin.mp3