I was saddened to find out recently that Malcolm had died. I forget which other Columbia teacher it was (Doug?) who used to say "Malcolm will never die, he will eventually be dragged back down into the earth by the weight of his own balls". I thought Malcolm was a total prick, in the best way. I remember him saying that they key is to be equally as much of a prick to every single person, regardless of who they are : that way nobody can accuse you of discrimination. That guy had a sense of humor on him... I see how humility is great. But being bad-ass and having the skills and the history to back up one's posturing are pretty cool, too. And so often when I read somebody talking about a purist philosophy, how a recording should sound exactly like the event that took place in the room it took place in, I think of him. Probably the single most important thing I learned from him was the importance of *listening* over anything else. Everybody here's probably all engineers of some sort, so everybody learned that lesson somewhere, I assume. Anybody else have any memories of him, good or bad? Is he missed, are people glad he's gone, or is he just not thought of?

The best lesson I learned from Malcolm was "keep it simple, stupid". In class while he was explaining things he would often say "this aint rocket science!" or "there's no rockets here!" meaning that recording didn't have to be complicated and esoteric. He believed in and mentioned Occams Razor quite a bit. Whenever there are two possible explainations or options, whichever one is the most simple is the correct answer.
He broke down compression, eq and mic usage in a way that made the whole recording process just click for me. It was like a light bulb turning on in my head.
I had the good fortune to interview Malcolm early this year for Tape Op just about two months before he died. He was sick, and described himself as miserable with a "chest cold", but he was still generous with his time and his conversation. He was world class as both a mixer and a human being. Respectful, unassuming and fucking hilarious.
As some of you know, his "chest cold" turned out to be lung cancer but I'm sure he was smoking, "poisoning the birds" as he called it, right up to the end. My interview didn't get the stories that he would tell in class and instead, with his permission, I have revised some of his articles and lectures and turned them into filler that will be published as needed.

I'd like to share his definitions of frequency ranges and how he applied them to music, as an example of his way of keeping it simple.

30 hz Balls
60 hz Bass
100 hz Useless
200 hz Warmth
700 hz Bass Presence
1 khz Level
3 khz Presence
5 khz Poison
8 khz Brilliance


Poison of course means that while a little 5K sounds great, too much of it will kill you. Like alcohol or other drugs. And to use too much of it means that others will look down on you.

HA!! all of your stores of Malcolm just made my day!! one of the most amazing men i have ever met... all "modern" recording techniques and equipment were "BULLLL SHEIT!" (well, the only new mic he seemed to like was the beyer M160!) chain smoking, beret wearing, ranting genius...

he would be teaching a class and someone would bring up digital recording, and he would snarl and say "I COULD HAVE BUILT A NOISELESS TAPE MACHINE IN 1967, BUT NO ONE WANTED TO SPEND THE GOD DAMN MONEY!!!" and then he would stop class for an hour to explain how he really COULD have made a noiseless tape machine, but it would have been incredibly expensive... he recorded johhny be good for god sakes!! he has songs being beamed to outer-space to represent human civilization!!!

oh, i just remembered a quote of his... when people ask me what shows i've seen lately, or what new music i have been listening to, all i hear is Malcolm saying "WHAT DOES A WHORE -NOT- DO ON HER DAY OFF???"

any of us that had the chance to be around him will miss him dearly. RIP Malcom!

Hey jeremy, did you take Audio For the Visual Medium II (with Rik Coken) and work in a group with two guys named Scott? If so, I'm one of those two guys. Actually, if not, I still am, only you're not the Jeremy I'm thinking of...

[quote="El Protoolio"]

30 hz Balls
60 hz Bass
100 hz Useless
200 hz Warmth
700 hz Bass Presence
1 khz Level
3 khz Presence
5 khz Poison
8 khz Brilliance
quote]

i took malcolm's class and i think of these every time i mix. except in my notes i've got 40Hz for balls and "power" for 1kHz. and i could never forget "DONT LIMIT THE SMALL STUFF!!!!!!)

i've got nothing but great memories of him. in and out of class. i always had time to kill before that class, and he always arrived early. there were about four or five of us who would just hang out and smoke cigarettes while we talked with (but mostly listened to) him. i remember a lot of students having a hard time with his attitude, etc ..... but i liked him from the start. he was a fountain of information, and i feel very lucky to have had the oppurtunity to be his student.

there is a new site here.
http://malcolm.bignoisybug.com/

I never got to meet Malcolm, but I've heard thousands of stories from Benj, Jack, and just about everyone else. I think I would have felt priveleged to know the man. What a loss, but what a terrific legacy.

I don't know who Malcolm is, but it seems to be the teacher I wish I had in my program at Tri-C here in Cleveland.

I recently heard of malcolm's passing and it really stung, for some reason i thought he would never die, someone that stubborn, opinionated and smart surely could figure a way to cheat death, or at least tell death that it was wrong.

i sat in on a class when i was checking out Columbia when i was still in high school, i loved his attitude, and he kind of sold me on the program. I still tell stories about how he would play recordings at the beginning of class and then ask the class how we thought they were recorded, some idiot would always try and figure out the most complicated way possible to give as an answer and malcolm would shout "TWO FUCKING MICS" and then say something derogatory about the then fledgling digital recording medium.

Thanks Jeremy, i completely forgot about the "what does a whore NOT do on her day off" quip, classic malcolm. he is missed. I learned more from his ramblings and digressions than i did in any other class, we've lost a wizard.