This could have gone very wrong.. 

I am a producer & recording engineer and my favorite clients are the "Up & Coming Bands or Artists" that haven't got their "studio legs" and you can guide them through the recording process and see the look of "OMG" in their faces when the session is brilliant & exciting. When a good song becomes great and everyone has fun and musicians are open to experimentation and ideas. Alan Parsons is one of the Beatle Engineers, Abbey Road Royality!

"The Raven That Refused to Sing" is a very cool album. It's awesome you had a part in it.

More stuff like this!!

love stories like this.

Awesome! I love hearing real life stories like this!

Spot on! One of the things that I’m always telling people is to consider all parties involved when it comes to decisions like that. Here we have the perfect example.

More like this please.

As a runner currently working in a big London studio this was a very fun story to hear. Thanks for sharing!

I had the same kind of start you did back in the early eighties. I studied at a studio in Detroit which was one of the premier Motown studios then started interning at another school in North Carolina where I was approached by a friend to go for a interview that he had setup for me and that led to a 17 1/2 year career as first a mastering engineer then that led to running the recording studio that I helped design. Then when that closed I went on to become a freelance engineer for the past 20 years

Fantastic, real life story. When you’re on the job, it’s assumed/expected that we have the skills necessary to be there …but it’s the people skills that are not taught “in school” that can make or break your employment longevity:)

This was great! You should definitely make this “studio session stories” a regular part of your content!! Thank you!!

Amazing, soft skills are game changers.

Thanks. Loved the story and you sharing ❤❤❤

Thank you so much for sharing this interesting story with us!

Good story. I use a Red Knob Twin. I like it, it's nice and loud, completely stock, I've had it for 40 years, it's my main amp, no complaints from me. But ... back in the day, more than once, a sound guy would turn up his noise and say things like "oh, these amps are harsh" or something like that as per the reputation that amp was getting in the late eighties early 90s. I went to Radio shack and got some cheap black knobs, put them on and after that got no complaints from cork sniffing wannabe live sound engineers. Sound is a funny thing.

Oh man, that is one of my favorite albums ever!!

My anxiety just casually grew throughout the video until Alan gave you the go ahead hah!

Wow I didn't know that you worked on that recording session. This is one of my favorite albums ever. Cool story !!

Of course you should share those stories, it's a great way to gain precious informations for us and, in general, it's great to sit and listen your memories from that time- Btw, I think I told you before, I attended MI as well, but PIT, and I had the same experience in looking for a place just in the nearby (I ended to rent a room on LaBrea for three months and then on N. Sycamore Ave. Great times, everything was there!

It would be really interesting for Steven Wilson to chime in on this.

More of these please, this was super interesting and very entertaining. Brought a smirk to my face

Awesome! This reminded me of my early days, bringing back some memories of sessions in studios and sets in Vegas as a PA/runner/assistant. I would have LOVED to be at East West though, man what a legendary spot that is! I've never met Alan Parsons, but I have always looked up to him and admired his work. His reputation is legit. Thanks for the share!!!!

Perfectly played.

I am a big Steven Wilson fan. That had to be "The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)" sessions from 2012. Guthrie Govan on guitar. Marco Minnemann on drums. Amazing players! Amazing album!!

The story has good principles to learn. Thanks.

Great story! You've got a real talent for re-telling this story haha, I was definitely latching on to every word. That is hilarious, you got to love the magic of a 57 on a guitar cab haha. Great instincts too! You understood who was the boss but also prepped everything perfectly in case a change was needed. Thanks for sharing this!

Such cool story! Subscribed!

These are the best kinds of stories.

Fun story. I came up in a smaller studio, but we worked with Eddie Money and Greg Kihn. Great studio. amazing for recording drums. I think today things are way different, because back when I was a 3rd and a runner, we were analog. Setup was so important back then. You are dealing with so many variables. Like we were doing the preproduction of Eddie Money's Can't Hold Back album. Richie Zito was producing, and we had two engineers, both brothers. One was John and he was the one that hired me, and the other was Duncan (John's younger brother who had a little problem with coke) Well I showed up to do setup the morning after Duncan's session, to setup for John. I walked in and the Ampeg MM1200's remote was in pieces all over the floor. Remind you I am there 2 hours before John and the session start time. I call Duncan and get no answer, I don't want to call John unless I have to. With everything I have to do I now have to figure out how to put this remote back together. Thank God I am really good with these kinds of things. I got the remote back together and set up the studio for tracking guitars and no one during that session knew what had happened earlier that morning until it was just John and I in the studio after the session having a bottle of wine. That is how I became the 2nd and later one of the 1st in the studio. When you are working with a producer and artists, they don't need to have to worry about the minor internal workings in the studio 😉

Awesome story Andrew! Keep sharing! Made me think if some of the stories I have. Maybe I should share some as well. Some of mine may need to remain nameless. 😂

Loved the story. We need more of this storys!! 👌

Thank you Andrew!

Cool story!! 👍

Awesome! Please more liek this!!!

Amazing story!! And very well done for a 20 year old! 👏

Very cool share.

Btw, the star of this show? That Lauten Audio mic in the role of a broadcast type microphone.

Love these Stories awesome vid !

Not surprising knowing Steven is into recording as well. I went to MTSU for recording management back in the mid 90's. Unfortunately I didn't finish because of a family issue back in Iowa. Finally got back into recording in my late 30's. Burnt out from workin with difficult artists. Now I just record my own stuff. Gotta admit, wish I had your tenacity lol.. Great story man.

This triggered a lot of my own memories. Only thing is, where I live, the runner and the assistant are one and the same, so when I started 21 years ago, I was both, doing the work of 2 men..

Great story!

Great story Steve Wilson wanted Allen because Steve was influenced by Allen and his work with Pink Floyd. Great drummer Marco and Guthrie Govan All star band check them out..

Funny my first job in a studio was at Sound City back in the 70's and using your terminology of today I was a "runner". Back then I don't think there was a label for the job I was just the guy who broke down sessions, cleaned the control room, and then cleaned the rest of the place and hung out and did whatever was needed. Back then a lot of sessions only had an engineer so I became a "fly on the wall" at any session I could to watch and learn, plus the engineers like having someone who knew the studio to help and run errands. That's how I ended up working an Elton John session with Gus Dudgeon my hero producer at the time. I thought Elton every assistant engineer will be here for this, but no it was the engineer only on the session so I knew I'd be able to be a fly on the wall. The engineer called Sound City said traffic is bad can someone setup the room for me, they said the runner is here. So I get the phone he says session is for horn overdubs and how he want the room set. Then he says you know you pick the mics and I'll change them if I feel I need to. So I did get a little creative in my mic selection, but when engineer got there he checked it out only ask why on one mic but didn't change it an my mic setup got used for the whole session and I got to assist for the whole session. Plus got to talk to Gus Dudgeon some great guy with perfect pitch that the horn players discovered quickly. I think learning the studio from the cleaning guy up really teaches a lot about the studio and the various engineers that work there.

Great vid 👍

There’s something to be said for a structured work environment. It can be really healthy and effective if done correctly. But in my experience I have noticed a lot of studio owners use it as an excuse to take advantage of their employees and that’s great way to have a toxic work environment. As with most things balance is key but wanted to say this so hopefully people pay more attention to it!

HA...Been there, done that...

See, this story is made even funnier due to the fact that - to this day - Steve Wilson still thinks _he_ produced that album and that Alan simply _engineered_ it. This story is a microcosm of how deftly the great Alan Parsons was able to allow Steve presumption of producing the record, while Alan _actually_ produced the record. This is why there is a bit of conflicting information out there about "Alan Parson's engineered the album" and then the credits reading "Produced by Steve Wilson and Alan Parsons." The former being Steve's view of it, the latter being the label's and Alan's deference to Steve's view and allowing him to think _he_ was deferring _to Alan._ The whole time not realizing "your mics weren't even plugged in mate."

Studios don’t matter. Songs matter. Musicians need to think about this more.

What are your reservations against moving to LA to work in big commercial studios?

Ok, what can i do for free?

Unrelated question, but what mic is that you’re using and why do you prefer it over SM7B? Genuinely asking because I’m about to purchase one.

Oh Yeah! ...well knowned School ( Green Building w/ Wrought Iron front ) You don't live here anymore in LA area?... You went back to Nashville, Tennessee since then? ( from what i see going off Colt Capperrune. ) :) Thx You, George Amodei

haha funny story