| Sinatra
I remember reading that Frank's recording's didn't really start to happen for him until he began working with Nelson Riddle. Riddle's *trick* was to get EVERYTHING out of the way of Frank's vocal. So he wrote above and below his voice. This IS THE KEY to all ensemble music, from rock to classical. One of the first stories Al Schmitt ever told me was: He recorded a lot of Henry Mancini (AL's first Grammy was for 'Hatari'). Whenever he did an orchestra date with Mancini he had to work particularly hard at making it *breath*. On the other hand, when he recorded a Marty Paich orchestra date he just pushed up the faders and it *sang*. After the first run through the orchestra would often applaud the chart. Wow! So...another testimony to arranging.
BTW. Al recorded the first Sinatra duets record. That was done with a hand held Beta 58 radio mic.
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