Having recorded three GRAMMY®-nominated albums, received multiple internationally competitive recording awards from the Audio Engineering Society, and having worked across the United States and Canada, D. James Tagg (Jamie) has helped clients achieve and maintain high quality recordings for over 15 years. Jamie is not only passionate about presenting spatial realism in recordings, but also bringing the heart of the performance to the listener. Whether it be the perfect capture of a true-to-period presentation from a live performance, or constructing depth and space in a session-based mix, the artist is consistently put in the best possible musical space. While the sensory experience of the recorded medium can never be as rich as a live performance, careful attention is always given to uphold the engaging musicality of the performer, and the most flattering elements of an encompassing environment are presented.
In addition to setting standards in recordings, Jamie also develops new ways of capturing and processing music in both acoustic and signal processing domains. After many hours of subjective listening tests, he has developed and published research on a new stereo mic technique called STAAG (Stereo Technique for Augmented Ambience Gradient). He also has developed spatial processing tools through digital signal processing (DSP) for his own use, as well as for THAT Corporation's dBx-TV, used by many major TV manufacturers.
After 15 years practicing and performing as a singer, pianist, and saxophonist, Jamie received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of Miami in Music Engineering Technology (studio music and jazz guitar principal), a master of music in Sound Recording Technology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and has studied engineering and production with Martha de Francisco during a post-graduate year at McGill University in Montréal. He has taught audio production in full time and part time lecturer capacities at SUNY Oneonta, Syracuse University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and McGill University. Jamie was also awarded the McGill Graduate Excellence Fellowship (2012), Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation Scholarship (2012), UMass Lowell's Outstanding Graduate Student Award (Music - 2012), and Provost Graduate Fellowship (2010). He now lives in Bloomington, IN where he is an Assistant Professor of Recording Arts at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, in addition to his outside engineering and producing engagements.
Jamie has recorded and produced albums with organizations and individuals such as Seraphic Fire (directed by Patrick Dupré Quigley), the Aspen Music Festival, Avalon String Quartet, Hot Springs Music Festival, the Brass All-Stars Big Band (including players from the Canadian Brass, Boston Brass, Imperial Brass and Dallas Brass ensembles), the Banff Center for the Arts, Josh Bell, Simon Mulligan, Hugh Fraser, Edgar Meyer, David Liebman, the Cassatt String Quartet, the Bergonzi String Quartet, and the Gregg Smith Singers, releasing recordings through NAXOS International, Sono Luminus, Albany Records, and SFM Inc. As a concert archivist, dozens of his recordings have been played on various national and local NPR programs and the BBC.
In addition to his production and research work, Jamie is also a member of the Audio Engineering Society, the Acoustic Society of America, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the American Choral Directors Association.
Feel free to get in touch with Jamie here.