Martin Birch

peopleperson · Post by **peopleperson** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:43 pm

I love this guy and I still think he doesn't get enough attention in the recording nerd world. Beast/Powerslave era Iron Maiden, and the Dio Black Sabbath LP's he did have one of my all time favorite drum kit sounds. And then there's Rainbow, the Faces, and virtually ALL of the most crucial records by a little known band called...Deep Purple.

Raise your chalace for Martin.

Thoughts?

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 6:52 pm

Moon Unit · Post by **Moon Unit** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 5:10 pm

What I liked about Birch was that all of the records he produced sounded great, sonically. And some of the most classic albums from that era just happened to have his name on them.

Yet at the same time, you could never really listen to any of them and say, "Oh yea, that sounds like a Martin Birch thing." Every bands' work sounded vastly different from any of the other bands he worked with. No tricks or signatures you could attribute to him. Contrast that with someone like Mutt Lange, who's tricks and signatures can be heard all over everything he's done from AC/DC to Shanai Twain. Or Spencer Proffer who produced Quiet Riot, and then proceded to make every single band he worked with, since them, sound exactly like Quiet Riot.

The only signature of Birch, if I can think of any, is that you could always hear each element in the mix as it's own thing. Every single element could be heard as distinctly as if it the track was solo'd. Yet everything glued together so well at the same time.

His particular music genre got lost, moreless, on the record-buying masses for the most part. If he had catered to a more "pop-friendly" music genre ... and had he imparted more of a personalised signature / stamp in his productions, I believe he would have gotten a lot more recognition and people would remember him more. But his stuff wouldn't have been nearly as good, so I have to show respect to the guy for staying true to doing what he liked, and for doing what a good producer is paid to do.

.

peopleperson · Post by **peopleperson** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:21 pm

Great point. I think that's probably precisely why he doesn't get the obvious credit that a lot of others get, because his greatest talent may be staying out of the way of good music and strictly delivering it properly (even though his Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden records have very similar drum sounds to me). As far as having a signature sound of any kind that may come from the engineer, I really don't see it as a good or a bad thing at all, because no matter what, the person doing the recording is utterly insignificant in the face of great music, or shitty music.

Either way, Mob Rules is fantastic.

BrianK · Post by **BrianK** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 11:44 pm

BY FAR, my favorite engineer or producer of all time.

You're also forgetting the Fleetwood Mac records he did! He's been "retired" for some time now, but I would kill to interview him about approach and things. His music has defined guitar rock...

bobbydj · Post by **bobbydj** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:47 am

Oh please.

SMC Productions · Post by **SMC Productions** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:55 pm

peopleperson wrote:I love this guy and I still think he doesn't get enough attention in the recording nerd world. Beast/Powerslave era Iron Maiden, and the Dio Black Sabbath LP's he did have one of my all time favorite drum kit sounds. And then there's Rainbow, the Faces, and virtually ALL of the most crucial records by a little known band called...Deep Purple.

Raise your chalace for Martin.

Thoughts?

AMEN! Some of my alltime fav albums were done by him. Anyone know of any interviews on the web?

Books, etc.?

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 4:36 pm

Time for a bump. I still would like to see him interviewed.

Post by **TapeOpLarry** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:54 pm

Someone is trying to find him! We're working on it. Any leads?

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