Musician, producer and composer Al Kooper made an appearance at the MOTU booth at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) show in New York City last week to give a one-hour presentation on his composing and production techniques using Digital Performer, MachFive and other MOTU products. Kooper played tracks in progress for his up-coming new album and offered key insights into his creative process to a standing-room only crowd.

Kooper has attained rock legend status for nearly 50 years of historical achievements in rock music, from his role as a member of the Blues Project and founder of Blood, Sweat and Tears in the 1960s to his lasting work as a producer and musician for artists such as Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and George Harrison. Kooper has also produced tracks for such artists as Nils Lofgren, The Tubes, Ray Charles, BB King and many others. In 2005 Kooper released Black Coffee, a critically-acclaimed solo album, and has a new album on the way in 2008.

"I realized right away that Performer was an essential tool if I wanted to write music for picture. I've used Performer and Digital Performer since then. I've been offered other sequencers to work with and I've looked at them all. I just can't imagine using any other software for my music beside Digital Performer. I know my way around it and it does everything I need. At this point I wouldn't make a record without it."

Al has a MOTU-equipped studio at his home that he uses for composition, overdub recording, and mixes. Al uses MOTU 24i and 24I/O audio interfaces to provide input for his external MIDI modules, and mic and guitar preamps. He has a pair of MTP AV MIDI interfaces. He controls Digital Performer with a Mackie Universal Controller, two Mackie Extenders, and a Big Knob.

"When I first got into working with audio on the computer," Al said, "I was intrigued by the concept of controlling a mixer with a mouse. After about six months of squinting at the computer monitor I gave up and got the Mackie Controllers. Now I can have the computer based automation and total recall, but still mix with faders under my fingers."

Basic tracks are recorded at commercial studios and then transferred into DP in Kooper's production studio. For his current album, Al has recorded basics at studios in Massachusetts and New York.

"My regular horn section is sax and trumpet, so for the bass trombone I used the MOTU MachFive 2 sampler. I tried a number of different samples and ended up choosing the bass trombone from the MOTU Symphonic Instrument library, which we had running inside MachFive 2. I was very happy with the result."

For the current project, Al has featured his Funky Faculty Band, which is made up of Berklee College of Music instructors. Says Al of is band: "When you're putting a band together, you look for people who are enjoyable to be with. You're going to spend a lot of time with them, so you have to all get along. With the Funky Faculty I'm blessed to have a great bunch of guys who are also first rate musicians. I really have the best of both worlds."

The new album will also feature tracks recorded by the legendary Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn, drummer Anton Fig, and members of the band Ola Bell.

Kooper has used Performer and then Digital Performer for his composition and recording since the mid 1980's, when he scored the TV series Crime Story. "I realized right away that Performer was an essential tool if I wanted to write music for picture," said Al. "I've used Performer and Digital Performer since then. I've been offered other sequencers to work with and I've looked at them all. I just can't imagine using any other software for my music beside Digital Performer. I know my way around it and it does everything I need. At this point I wouldn't make a record without it."

"I come from the school where the song is king. Once I have a song to work with, I think about the best way to realize that song. My challenge in the arrangement and recording process is to transfer that idea from my head to what comes out of the speakers."

Al is also starting to use computer based instruments in his composition and production. "I needed a bass trombone part to complete the horn section for one of my songs. My regular horn section is sax and trumpet, so for the bass trombone I used the MOTU MachFive 2 sampler. I tried a number of different samples and ended up choosing the bass trombone from the MOTU Symphonic Instrument library, which we had running inside MachFive 2. I was very happy with the result."

During his talk at AES Kooper discussed his composition and arrangement techniques. "I come from the school where the song is king," says Al. "Once I have a song to work with, I think about the best way to realize that song. My challenge in the arrangement and recording process is to transfer that idea from my head to what comes out of the speakers."

Al described using various instruments for specific effect in the recording: "I often use mandolin instead of acoustic guitar. Mandolin does the job of providing rhythm and texture. I find that the frequency range of acoustic guitar often interferes with keyboard parts, and the mandolin doesn't have that problem."

Al described articulating instruments in the mix. "I'm not a big fan of mono. I like to hear stereo detail in the headphones. So instead of recording a guitar part with some sort of stereo effect, I'll split the guitar part into two tracks and pan the separate parts left and right.

During the presentation, Al played portions of his song "I Cried So Hard" to illustrate his arrangement and production techniques. At the end of the hour, Al also played his remake of Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry", complete with horn section and layered background vocals.

On Saturday evening, October 6th, Kooper was honored with the prestigious Les Paul Award at the 23rd Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards at the Marriott Marquee in Times Square. He then performed for the crowd with a band made up of bassist Will Lee, guitarist Jimmy Vivino, and other A-list New York session cats.

For more information about Kooper's latest album releases, visit www.alkooper.com.