Rian Trench
Rian Trench Wicklow Based Producer, Engineer & Musician has been active for over 15 years in ireland and abroad
"How do you balance maintaining a signature sound while pushing creative boundaries?"
I’m not sure that I have a signature sound or at least I’m not conscious if I do. It’s not something I’ve really considered because my goal has always been to integrate with an artist’s vision and adapt to their process of working first. I don’t want to identify myself in the art of other people if I can help it. Sometimes people want to have a fully creative collaborator through the entire inception of their music or they come to you because of something specific you’ve done. I really enjoy that too, but even then, my philosophy is the same. To that effect, if someone wants to experiment, lets go!
"What's the most unconventional recording technique you've used that yielded amazing results?"
Me and my friend scan worked on a lot of heavy music together over the years. One thing we loved was running multiple preamps into each other to deliberately clip and distort their input stages for this super textural distortion. Very irresponsible but we got a kick out of abusing gear at the time. Haha. Something about multiple overloaded gain circuits layered is so satisfying. Another one I’ve been doing recently is starting a phone call around quiet close mic sound sources. When you put the phones on loudspeaker, they start to feedback next to each other. There’s a natural cellular network time delay and the feedback between them has this AM radio almost sub nautical feeling but it’s in the room with the sound so you can have fun with proximity. I’ve even got singers to hold the phones up to the microphone while doing vocal takes.
"How do you structure your template to maximize efficiency without sacrificing flexibility?"
I use colour coding and a set sequence for types of sounds in my sessions and that doesn’t change. It just means I always know where everything is, especially when it gets crowded. That’s the only thing that’s constant. Everything else I do is kind of a reaction to whatever the music is doing, so new tracks and how I set them up is constantly changing.
"What's your method for documenting microphone placements and equipment settings?"
Generally, if it’s worth remembering, I’ll make a strong mental notes of it.
"What's your technique for capturing 'happy accidents' in the studio?"
There’s so many ways to do that but one of my favourites is to have one or more performers in a song not hear what they’re playing to. They’ll know the key perhaps, but apart from that, there’s no context. You can reach for really primal feelings in isolation and then paint their performance over the track like you would if you were sampling records for instance. You get all these amazing interactions that simply can’t be imagined or planned.
"What's your method for deciding when a mix is truly finished?"
If I’m sending a mix to an artist, it’s because I’m happy with it. Then it’s a case of making sure they are too. That’s it really.
"How do you set clear expectations with clients about revisions and timeline?"
Clear and available communication. The more I understand the more fluent I can be in the work. If I’m working from the recording through to the mixing stage, it’s all about that initial conversation. If everyone involved has a clear sense of the idea at the centre of the process I find that things simply get finished in comfortable time.
"What's your strategy for building long-term relationships with artists?"
I don’t have one. You just end up being great friends with a lot of people you work with in music. That has become the most important thing about it for me. Getting to know different people and learning from them and going on these adventures together is just about as good as life gets.
"What's your strategy for staying inspired and avoiding creative burnout?"
When producing I charge by the song, not by the day. A while ago I realised almost all of my decisions in some way factored in time and money restraints. I don’t want those things to influence the creative process, so I just removed them entirely. Work is more free, more fun, more experimental, more everything. I’ll always have time off between one record and the next, do completely different things and reset myself. In creative pursuits, almost everything you do in life is a type of R&D.
"How do you stay current with new technology while maintaining efficiency with trusted tools?"
Historically I’ve been a developers worst nightmare. I just used whatever worked and tended not to change if it did. I love getting the most out of the least and I’ve learnt that makes great recordings. I did recently buy a new Mac Studio because I had to though. Thought to realisation speed has definitely increased!
"What skills outside of audio engineering have proven surprisingly crucial in your career?"
I can play a few instruments. I guess that helps relate to what musicians are trying to convey physically. Also means I can build full tracks with a song writer. Just the two of us. Two people working is great for staying in the imagination. Three or more pulls things back into the body a bit more. I’ve also found that doing as many things as possible outside of studio activities helps give making records a strong contextual foundation.
"Looking back, what advice would you give to yourself when you were just starting out?"
‘Enjoy yourself’
"Whats the one bit of gear that you felt yourself taking that next jump up in your production work be it a mic or outboard or a deadly coffee machine"
Recently acquired a pair of avantone active NS10s and they’re really helping records translate everywhere. I’ve used NS10s for years but the amps in these are really great and the high end is quite extended compared with the older ones. The new Mac is a close second.
