a little history
Criteria Recording Studio was established in 1958 as an outgrowth of founder Mack Emerman's hobby. Originally a trumpet player, Mack's jazz leanings led him to begin recording in his home and later on-site. Criteria was the first in the Southeast with monaural disc mastering and stereophonic recording in 1954. The purchase of the original building in '58 saw the beginnings of a business in earnest. The facility quickly became a haven for technology advancements. Multitrack recording saw it's birth with the advent of 3 track recording in 1958 followed by four track recording in 1966 both firsts in this part of the country. The 8 channel console was the cutting edge of technology in 1964. The studio was also one of the first to utilize a live stereo chamber way back in 1966. In 1966 work was begun on the first building designed and constructed as a recording Studio from the ground up in the Southeast. Completed in January of 1967, this massive room comfortably held a 72 piece orchestra. Used extensively to record the early music for the Jackie Gleason Show.
By the end of 1969 and 1970, studios A & B were booked around the clock and months in advance. With the monster success of projects including James Brown's "I Feel Good", Aretha Franklin's "Young, Gifted and Black", Derek & the Dominoes "Layla" and Brook Benton's "Rainy Night in Georgia" it was almost impossible to get in the doors. In early 1971 construction began on Criteria's third recording space: Studio C.
In early 1972 Studio C was completed. The next ten years were a succession of chart topping musical landmarks. From Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors", Black Sabbath's "Heaven & Hell" to the Bee Gee's "Saturday Night Fever". During this time many acoustical tweaks were played with in the 3 studios. There were also studio houses and buildings springing up that were custom made for the artist so they could spend more of an around the clock creative schedule. The same was happening in Europe with other artists and this is where I came into the picture, traveling back and forth from south Florida to overseas working with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Mick Ronson, Mott The Hoople, Brian Eno styles, returning to south Florida working with a host of engineers and artist like the Bee Gee's, Stevie Nicks, Kenny Rogers, Eagles and a fairly diverse crowd of performers with other styles. I was also involved in gospel music that was not too pleased with the presumed lifestyles of the rock crowd so it was a bit of a balance for me with Bob Jones university on one side and the "wild side" on the other. Even opening RoomTune was a challenge, seeing that most of the workers were Amish and looked at me with a suspicious eye at best. But that's another topic for another time, maybe
Criteria, as disorganized as it was, seemed to produce tons of music and success and gave birth to many engineers who went on to fame with their own ventures. I was young and not so ambitious to be known as I was a sponge to explore.
"In 1979 the music business took a dive. The era of crazy record label spending was at an end. The days of "... here's a bag of money- call us when the record's done" were over. Massive studio closures occurred nationwide. Criteria endured, however there were some changes. The practice of staff engineers was abolished." stated one telling the Criteria story from their point of view. But I saw Criteria as one of many house studios living in a time of exploring all the options with a lot of hit and misses as the music business was in the middle of growth on some fronts and decline on others. I tried to enjoy the opportunities as they came without getting too close to the egos. This meant sacrificing my name on many note liners but I feel gave me more depth as an artist.
Another quote "All bad things must come to an end; and so the recession eventually petered out. The 1980's saw a string of artists leading they way. Among them, Julio Iglesias, The Romantics, Bow Wow Wow, John Denver, Meatloaf, Peter Frampton, Bob Seger and Ted Nugent. With the business on the rise, 1981 saw the undertaking of Criteria's most ambitious expansion: Studio E. With the increasing sophistication of technology, 1984 saw Criteria take delivery of the first SSL in the state. It was installed into the still relatively new Studio E. Later the same year, it was joined by the first digital multitrack and two track (Mitsubishi) recorders."
By this time I had moved on to other ventures, always appreciating the lessons learned from my Criteria experiences.
another engineer
http://www.mixonline.com/news/classic-tracks/classic-track-don-t-play-song-you-lied-aretha-franklin/367589
below, the studio after the Hit Factory (a RoomTune client) took over
above Mack Emerman (Mr. Emmy to me) founder
my bosses at Middle Ear Studio Barry, Maurice and Robin
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Fri Dec 19, 2014 6:17 pm
