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Matt Forger
Speaks *
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Matt
Forger has been working with Michael
Jackson since the Thriller days.
When
you think of excellence, pioneering,
hard work and innovation, Matt Forger
is never far. Forger and Jackson teamed
up on various projects such as Thriller,
the Victory Tour, Captain Eo, and all
Michael Jackson's projects up to Thriller
the 25th Anniversary Edition.
In
our exclusive interview,
Matt Forger talks about
the creation of Thriller,
working with Michael Jackson... and more...
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MJ
data bank: How and when did you meet Michael Jackson ? What was the first
Michael Jackson related project you
worked on ?
Matt Forger: I met Michael when the recording of the Thriller album
began. I had been working with Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien and Rod Temperton
on a few album projects and his was the next project on Quincy's schedule.
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MJ
data bank: Can you tell us more about the technical aspect of the Thriller
sessions: what was the equipment used by Bruce Swedien and the team? We heard
there were some 16-track machines plugged to each other to get even more
tracks available?
Matt Forger: The THRILLER project was typical of the day in that it
was recorded on 24 track analog tape. That may have been the only thing
ordinary about it.
I worked with Bruce to develop a system using many (up to
12) 24 track 2" analog tapes to provide the number of tracks required in
creating the vision of Michael and Quincy. There were two 24 track machines
in the control room and the tapes were 'multiplexed' in a fashion that
allowed many tracks to be recorded while monitoring the elements already on
tape. The system worked by recording the rhythm section of a song on a
master 24 track Master tape and generating work tapes that would contain cue
mixes and with many empty tracks allowing ample tracks for the layering of
sounds.
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Bruce
Swedien: the man behind
the sound.
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MJ
data bank: Bruce Swedien used the Acusonic Recording Process.
He also used a Harrison recording console. This kind
of equipment eventually became studio recording references. Can you tell us
more about that ?
Matt Forger: Bruce's Acusonic Recording Process is as much
about his philosophy of sound, as it was technology. As he explains it, he
has always believed in maintaining the integrity of the stereo image of the
sound source from the initial recording through the final mix. This is why
the many tapes and number of tracks became an integral part of the Thriller
production.
The Harrison console that was used at Westlake Studios was
typical of the mixing boards of the era. It was however modified by the
technical staff of the studio to provide the superior sonic character that
has become the benchmark of modern album production. Bruce has always
favored a certain type of sonic signature and it was the studios desire to
ensure that he had the best quality of equipment to do the
job.
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