some inside info on working with Max ;)

[Scott Martin :)]

This is from Johann, he worked as a tech guy for Maratone for 4 years:

Well...there's no doubt about these guys being talented, that's for sure. i've always considered myself to be really musical in an "allround kind of way", meaning i've delt with a lot of different music styles, playing quite a few instruments, being able to read and write score-music and so on....but when it comes to max...he's just the most gifted person i've ever come across, musically. if he wanted to...he could master just any musicstyle he wanted. his strengths are really getting the big picture of a song...to be able to point out what is good and what is bad, what to leave and what to change. also really "complete" as a songwriter/producer, meaning he can easily handle the whole process himself, from writing the song, to arranging, to playing the instruments, producing and finally mixing. it wasn't unusual for max to show up in the morning, going straight to the control closing the door behind him. 1 hour later he's got a whole new song with complete lyrics and all, basically arranged and recorded with vocals. and all from an idea he came up with in his car to work. no need to say that the result was usually brilliant...

funny thing is...none of these guys were really into the technical stuff that much. when i started at maratone the studio was still really "basic", as had cheiron been. they used 1 mic for everything (manley), more or less one preamp (calrec) for everything. first couple of years we had 1 guitar and no amp. and remember...this was well a couple of years after the huge success with backstreet and britney.

haha...there was actually four neve 1073:s standing on top of a rack at maratone for about 2 years, totaly untouched sinced no one really knew what they were to be used for...they just looked kind of old and "not working". a lot of other equipment were "included" in the studio when they started up maratone...but no one used it for quite a while since no one knew that much about it (for example a couple of distressors, a 1176-2 from what i remember).

then one day the cardigans borrowed the studio for a couple of weeks doing some editing before mixing a new album...the guy producing the album kindly asked if someone could rig up the 1073:s for a vocal overdub. we couldn't really understand why he wanted to use those "really old ones" and suggested he'd go with the calrec instead. haha...he looked like we were joking...

after that things changed drastically...the guy mixing that cardigans album (michael ilbert), who is really into vintage stuff, made friends with max and then just a year later out goes the digital 128-channel euphonixdesk in favor for a neve 8068 along with various vintage equipment. and know max is pretty into vintage himself last time i was back there visiting the studio was totally cramped with old vintage synth:s, guitars, amps etc.

/J

[Raul_esp]

This is from Johann, he worked as a tech guy for Maratone for 4 years:

Well...there's no doubt about these guys being talented, that's for sure. i've always considered myself to be really musical in an "allround kind of way", meaning i've delt with a lot of different music styles, playing quite a few instruments, being able to read and write score-music and so on....but when it comes to max...he's just the most gifted person i've ever come across, musically. if he wanted to...he could master just any musicstyle he wanted. his strengths are really getting the big picture of a song...to be able to point out what is good and what is bad, what to leave and what to change. also really "complete" as a songwriter/producer, meaning he can easily handle the whole process himself, from writing the song, to arranging, to playing the instruments, producing and finally mixing. it wasn't unusual for max to show up in the morning, going straight to the control closing the door behind him. 1 hour later he's got a whole new song with complete lyrics and all, basically arranged and recorded with vocals. and all from an idea he came up with in his car to work. no need to say that the result was usually brilliant...

funny thing is...none of these guys were really into the technical stuff that much. when i started at maratone the studio was still really "basic", as had cheiron been. they used 1 mic for everything (manley), more or less one preamp (calrec) for everything. first couple of years we had 1 guitar and no amp. and remember...this was well a couple of years after the huge success with backstreet and britney.

haha...there was actually four neve 1073:s standing on top of a rack at maratone for about 2 years, totaly untouched sinced no one really knew what they were to be used for...they just looked kind of old and "not working". a lot of other equipment were "included" in the studio when they started up maratone...but no one used it for quite a while since no one knew that much about it (for example a couple of distressors, a 1176-2 from what i remember).

then one day the cardigans borrowed the studio for a couple of weeks doing some editing before mixing a new album...the guy producing the album kindly asked if someone could rig up the 1073:s for a vocal overdub. we couldn't really understand why he wanted to use those "really old ones" and suggested he'd go with the calrec instead. haha...he looked like we were joking...

after that things changed drastically...the guy mixing that cardigans album (michael ilbert), who is really into vintage stuff, made friends with max and then just a year later out goes the digital 128-channel euphonixdesk in favor for a neve 8068 along with various vintage equipment. and know max is pretty into vintage himself last time i was back there visiting the studio was totally cramped with old vintage synth:s, guitars, amps etc.

/J

thanks!! , really interesting , max is a genius .

[Alex Martin]

Thank's,i love when someone speak about max so well

[*Sabine*]

So interesting! I wish we had reports like those more often. Where was this article orginally posted?

[Feelgoodlies]

That's rearlly interesting, I've always wanted to see his work on a video, like a YouTube video..., it makes it more interesting to watch.

Thanks Scott for this.

[*Sabine*]

Yes but unfortunately Max is really secret. We have very little footage of him working.

[nshinnosuke]

Max is such a great songwriter and I still wonder how did Megan Mccauley and her label managed to afford his song? They're independent label,right?

[Rebecca]

Thanks Scott, that was very interesting. I love hearing about what people think about Max who've worked with him. Max is indeed a genius, quite freaky really.

Oh I have no idea about the story behind Megan McCauley recording Tap That. Megan's on Wind Up Records which is independent but checking their site, I don't think it's that small, other artists include Evanescence and Creed from which they would have made a heap of money from, more than enough to pay for Megan's songs.

[Scott Martin :)]

So interesting! I wish we had reports like those more often. Where was this article orginally posted?

Hi Sabine, its a continuation of the thread I posted last time, I only noticed that recently it had been updated; http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/49113-max-martin.html

[*Sabine*]

Oh ok, I definitely have to pay more visits to that site!

[Scott Martin :)]

Oh ok, I definitely have to pay more visits to that site!

Hi Sabine (love that name BTW!), yes its a great site. Some of these guys have recorded Stevie Wonder, mic'd up the guitar for Jason Mraz's 'Im Yours' and so on.

Some very interesting first-hand accounts. 

[*Sabine*]

Oh ok, I definitely have to pay more visits to that site!

Hi Sabine (love that name BTW!), yes its a great site. Some of these guys have recorded Stevie Wonder, mic'd up the guitar for Jason Mraz's 'Im Yours' and so on.

Some very interesting first-hand accounts. 

OK, thanks for the info and and for loving my name too!