In the minutes before seasoned musicians step into a state-of-the-art recording studio in Boston, South African engineer Ciaran de Chaud is hustling. He’s meticulously testing each mic position; tweaking for comfort; checking visibility; dimming the lights for mood.
He’s laying the groundwork for the recording of Norwegian singer-songwriter Ingrid Saga’s haunting debut album. And he’s in good company.
Ciaran teamed up with International recording icon, Larry Klein, a multiple Grammy winner known for his work with Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock. Together with Larry and a band of killer musicians, he co-produced Saga’s jazz folk album, The Space Between.
Ciaran de Chaud is persuasive and quietly assured and he hand-picked the players for this project. Among them guitarist Ely Perlman, an eight-time Grammy Award Winner with Christian McBride’s quintet, Bass player Nadav Lavie, known for his work on the Mean Girls soundtrack, and drummer Nitzan Birnbaum.
As a respected Berklee alumni, de Chaud had no trouble convincing these top tier players, who had worked with him before, to do it again.
“I found the perfect musicians for her music and put together a beautiful band. They are all master jazz players with a deep respect for folk writing.” says Ciaran de Chaud
The band arrives promptly and settle into their carefully curated spots. With every technical detail in place, it’s a matter of plugging in and letting the music speak. They listen quietly as Ingrid plays her ethereal song on acoustic guitar for them for the first time. Her unique, open voice fills the space. Then follows a brief energetic brainstorm led by de Chaud about the feeling, form, and points of energy in the music. He then hits record.
“Because they are all improvisers they just get it right. They play around with a few takes until everyone agrees it felt good.” says Ciaran de Chaud.
Ciaran de Chaud rides on intuition, and when working with seasoned artists he chooses spontaneity over repetitious rehearsals. He is focused on meticulous attention to detail during the recording process, ensuring that every nuance and emotion comes through in the final mix.
The band plays together for the most part with few overdubs fostering an improvisational atmosphere and creative flow. This is an approach favoured by the legendary Larry Klein, who recognised Ingrid as a great songwriter with a unique sound, and joined forces with Ciaran to deliver her album.
“Working with Larry was interesting, we had a similar approach of just letting it unfold. He was even less hands-on than me, and let the musicians do their thing with minor tweaks.” says Ciaran de Chaud.
Ciaran de Chaud prioritizes pure authentic sounds and true representation of each instrument. He stays away from too much manipulation choosing rather to amplify a sense of space in the room, in contrast to the perfectly isolated experience typical of clean pop-vibes.
Since working with Ingrid on The Space Between, de Chaud has developed his status as a sought-after recording engineer among Scandinavian artists. He produced and engineered a single with Norwegian singer/Songwriter Mina Nystad and was co-opted to record drums on a project for Norwegian pop superstar John Ranes.
Ciaran de Chaud recorded drums for Ranes’ album ‘Loverboy’ which has generated 9 million streams on Spotify to date. Loverboy soared to number two on Spotify’s ‘Top Albums – Norway’ chart, solidifying de Chaud’s status as a force to be reckoned with in the music world.
The album “The Space Between” is out now on all streaming platforms.
More info about Ciaran de Chaud
Ciaran de Chaud is an accomplished audio engineer known for his remarkable work in composing, producing, and engineering various projects.
His career highlights include:
- Composing, producing, and engineering the culturally significant Gillette – Nosizwe Commercial, which garnered over 508,000 views on YouTube and earned recognition from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- Collaborating with major brands like Globacom, White Star Super Maize Meal, and Checkers on impactful advertising campaigns, showcasing his talent and expertise.
- Contributing as a recording engineer on Jon Ranes’ album Loverboy, which amassed approximately 8.8 million streams on Spotify alone and reached number two on Spotify’s “Top Albums – Norway” chart.
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