Cobblesound Recording Company
Klint Macro
Owner / Producer / Tracker / Mixer / Sound Designer / Re-Record Mixer
Klint Macro recently returned to his home state of Pennsylvania with his wife, Jen, and young son, Augie. The decision meant the relocation of his L.A.-based Cobblesound Recording Studio to the Pittsburgh area, a move he feared might result in a loss of clients due to his distance from the west coast. His worries proved unfounded. Old clients have stuck with him and new ones have come on board, a testament to Klint’s reputation as a talented, reliable sound engineer who consistently produces quality work within the industry’s often difficult constraints of budget and calendar.
Q: What originally got you interested in recording?
A: I started out playing drums in my family's country band. My stepfather was a recording enthusiast. He would record our demos and I was always fascinated with his microphones and old tape machine. Aside from recording the family band, I had my first client when I was fifteen. She was my friend's sister. She sang to a karaoke track, and I recorded her vocal and mixed it to cassette. I did it for free because I was trying to get her to go out with me. I've since raised my rates.
Q: Do you have any formal training in the field?
I attended The Art Institute of Pittsburgh from ’92 to ‘94 and graduated with honors. AIP had the most versatile program at that time. They brushed on video and film production, promotion, business aspects, live sound reinforcement, and had a bitchin' recording studio with lots of wood and glass. It was very cool and you could get as much "board time" as you could schedule.
I made many lifelong friends and a lot of connections there that have led me to where I am today. One of the instructors, Doug Heaps, imparted to me the importance of having fun while doing superior work. I always try to make sure that this is the case. I run my sessions with good positive energy, and I’m sure that comes out in the final product.
Q: There’s no formula for getting started in this business. What path did you take after school?
I definitely didn’t take one straight path. The next three years were a whirlwind for me. I was given the opportunity to work as a first engineer at a smaller home studio in Butler while interning at two large studios in Pittsburgh. All of this time I was doing front-of-house sound for a popular hardworking oldies group and playing drums in a few prominent indy bands. From ’94 to ’97 I put in some serious board time and learned a lot about session psychology while I engineered and/or produced over fifty projects. My wife didn’t get to see much of me back then.
Q: Did you put a lot of thought into the move west?
No. We just decided to head to Hollywood. We didn't think it through, we just did it. Thanksgiving Day 1997 I’m eating turkey sandwiches with my wife and former business partner on the floor of our new studio in Hollywood, California wondering how I got there.
Q: Hollywood’s a tough place to get a foot in the door. How’d you do it?
Hollywood kicked my ass at first. It was some rough going for awhile but I stuck it out and gradually started building up a loyal client base. Then in ’99 I unexpectedly fell into audio post production for films.
Q: How’d that happen?
I was mixing a record at a particular recording studio on Sunset Boulevard that also did audio post. The owner approached me and asked if I could cover a Foley session later that night, his regular engineer could not make it. I replied, “What the f*** is Foley?” Since then I’ve recorded Foley for well over a hundred short and feature films.
Q: So this “accidental” introduction into the audio post side of recording turned out to be a good thing for you and your studio?
Absolutely. It prompted me to broaden my audio experience to include ADR recording, sound design, location sound mixing, Boom Op, ENG, re-record mixing and foreign deliverables. I wanted to learn every aspect of audio for film. I've always learned best by doing. I knew that by having experience on all sides of sound production for film and television it would make me more efficient in the audio post realm and ultimately sharpen my studio recording skills as well.
Q: What’s the most difficult audio job out there?
The toughest thing to do is episodic television. The delivery date is what it is and sometimes you don't get as much time to work on a particular episode because the editors behind you got off schedule. You have less time to get the show done but still need to maintain the level of quality that the particular network commands. It can get stressful.
Q: Did you ever take your skills outside the studio?
I had a colleague that was the SSL instructor at the former Los Angeles Recording Workshop and he asked me if I’d be interested in coming in and talking about microphones. It was a blast. They asked me to come back and before long I was doing classes on Multi-Track Techniques, Mixing, Tape Alignment and Maintenance, and Pro-Tools Operations. It was good to see new students get excited about the industry. I taught there on and off for about five years.
Q: Any regrets about trading the glitz and glam of Hollywood for the quiet hills of PA?
None. When Augie was born in 2008, Jen and I felt that we needed to have him grow up in Pennsylvania where we both grew up and where a lot of our family still lives. It took some time to get our ducks in a row, but here we are. Cobblesound Recording Company re-opened in New Kensington, PA on January 1st, 2011 and I’ve been working consistently on L.A.-based projects since then and have also been lining up new musician and film-maker clients here in the Pittsburgh area. Business is thriving plus it’s just really nice to be home!
Klint's client list includes such companies as Sony, BMG, Epic, Lionsgate, Orange Peal Records, Rotten Records, Hallmark Hall Of Fame, Artemis Records, TV Guide Channel, Viacom, The Weinstein Company, Cinemax, HBO, Showtime, Asylum Home Video, Maverick Entertainment, Shadow Entertainment, Kushner Locke, MRG/Mainline, Comedy Central, Syfy Channel, BET, MTV, Rhino Records, First Look Studios, and Discovery Channel.
Klint has also "Hit the Big Red Button" (recorded) artists and actors such as Warren Zevon, Chris Hillman, Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria, James Franco, Tony Lucca, Solomon Burke, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Niecy Nash, Markie Post, Stephen Root, Jacqueline Bisset, Cristina Rose, Cedric Yarbrough, Ed Asner, Levar Burton, Lacey Chabert, Seymore Cassel, Robert Davi, Bill Smith, Pat Morita, Martin Kove, Miguel A. Núñez Jr, Freddy Rodriguez, John Heard, James Denton, Kevin Durrand, James Gammon, Jack Kehler, Marina Sirtis, Peter Stormare, Adrienne Barbeau, Diedrich Bader, Kevin Sites, Louie Anderson, Jeremy London, Werner Herzog, Alfrie Woodard, Gavin MacLeod, Phil LaMar, Melissa Peterman, Mykelti Williamson, Johnny Whitworth, Wendy McLendon-Covey ,and Jeb Lipson.
Klint is also a member of ASCAP, F. & A. M. Driftwood Lodge #532, F. & A. M. Plum Creek-Monroeville Lodge #799, Gateway R.A.M. Chapter #285, Renton VFD #234, and a NRA Certified Firearms Instructor.