Indigo Mixing - Michelle Sabolchick
By Steph Jorgl

Michelle Sabolchick always loved music, but she was always more interested in the behind the scenes aspect of it rather than the act of performing. "You know how when you listen to an amazing record for the first time and it totally blows you away, or that feeling you have after seeing a great concert? I just always wanted to be a part of that," says Michelle. "I wanted to be one of those people working behind the scenes to make it happen."

Keys to the Past

"I've been playing the piano since I was a kid, but I wouldn't exactly call myself a musician. It was always more as a hobby than anything else. I never wanted to make a living at it," says Michelle. Like many sound junkies, Michelle caught the bug for the sound board in high school and started searching around for a sound-related job thereafter. She landed her first gig in 1989 with a small sound company, but the pay (as she puts it) was "practically invisible."

So she took what she could from it, absorbing as much knowledge as possible. "I worked really hard and learned everything I could," she says. "After that, I moved on to working at few nightclubs and started doing the local band sound thing."

From Local to Global

"The first band that I toured with was the Spin Doctors," explains Michelle. That was in 1992. She toured with the band on and off for about four years, and things picked up from there. Since then, Michelle has moved on to tour with such big named acts as Joan Osborne, General Public, Fastball, Luscious Jackson and the Indigo Girls.

She's currently working with Debelah Morgan, who's music combines a bit of R&B, dance and pop. In fact, Michelle just concluded a European tour with her.

The Easiest Gig Ever

"The Debelah Morgan tour went really well," says Michelle. "We just got back from doing a lot of promotion stuff in Europe, like a lot of showcase shows, television performances, stuff like that. It's really the easiest gig I've ever had-just live vocals to track with an occasional live keyboard thrown in. It's just her and three dancers."

"Debelah is really great to work for. She's incredibly talented and very hard working," she says. "And as far as her crew goes-it's just me baby-I'm it! It's just me and a tour manager." More space on the tour bus, eh?

Scoring the Indigo Girls Gig

In 1994, Michelle was doing some freelance work with Fidelity Sound out of Virginia Beach. During this time period, she ended up mixing about three weeks of shows for the Indigo Girls while they were doing a warm up tour. "A few years later, after I had finished up a tour with the Spin Doctors, I was looking for work and the Indigo Girls just happened to be looking for an engineer at the same time," explains Michelle. "So I called up their management and luckily they remembered me. Basically, I was in the right place at the right time."

Michelle and the Girls

She's been working for them since 1997. "Amy and Emily are very talented musicians and songwriters and I really enjoy mixing their music,' she says. "They also happen to be wonderful people which is a big plus."

Michelle's Primer for Sound Rookies

For those interested in getting into doing sound, Michelle recommends first and foremost, finding a mentor. "If you are just starting out and don't know anything about sound, find someone who will let you work with them and learn from them," says Michelle. "Get your first gig wherever you can, whether it be at a sound company, for a local band, or nightclub, and then work your butt off."

"Learn everything you can and make as many contacts as you can. If you have your shit together, work hard, and are serious about what you do, people will notice and eventually it will pay off," she adds. "When I first started out, I did some studio work-very little actually-just some assisting at a few different small recording studios. I worked as a stagehand, and I actually even ran the lights at a nightclub a long time ago."

The Perks of The Biz

Getting on big-name tours definitely has its advantages. "I get to travel around the world doing a job that I love and getting paid for it." Not to mention the free lodging, hanging out with rock stars, etc...

"The coolest thing I've ever experienced would have to be watching the Super Bowl with the Rolling Stones in Brazil," reflects Michelle. "While I was mixing the Spin Doctors in 1995, we spent a few weeks in South America opening up for the Stones. Then on Super Bowl Sunday, when we-the Spin Doc's crew-were frantically searching for somewhere to watch the big game, we suddenly found ourselves invited to the Stones private Super Bowl party."

She insists, "The game really takes on a whole new perspective when you're watching it with a living legend like Mick Jagger."

Just-about Condemned Stadiums

But travelling around the world has also shown Michelle the vast extremes in venue standards. "Some of the gigs I've done in South America and Europe sure felt like the Third World, disguised as civilized countries. Both places have much lower standards of what they consider to be an acceptable venue," she says. 'I've done gigs in Stadiums that were bordering on being condemned. And there's an old U-boat factory in Germany where they just threw up a tent in one corner and called it a concert hall."

"Yeah, there are a lot of gigs in Europe that would never fly here in the States," she adds.
"They'd be shut down by the Fire Marshall or condemned by the Health Department. But even given that, I know there are much worse places out there to do a concert."

But there have also been some very strange situations Michelle has played witness to. For example, the Michigan Womyn's Festival she worked at for the Indigo Girls.

The Weirdest Gig Ever

The Michigan Womyn's Festival is a summer festival in the woods of upstate Michigan, and it's hosted and run by women. "No men are allowed, no exceptions, not even the men on the Indigo Girls crew were allowed to go," explains Michelle. "If you notice, they even changed the spelling of "women" to "womyn" so the word "men" is not any part of it."

"So it was just me and one of the band's guitar techs there, just because that tech happens to be a woman. The festival went on for about a week or two," explains Michelle. At the festival, people camped on the grounds, and went to workshops, concerts, films, and all kinds of other activities.

"I can honestly say I have seen everything now," she adds. "There was a lot of "getting back to nature"...women running around half naked and fully naked. It's a little strange when you see a bunch of women plop down butt naked on the ground in front of the stage to watch a concert."

"But the weirdest thing about the festival was that, although no men were allowed anywhere on the grounds and there was a lot of man hating going on, there sure were a lot of women there who were either trying to be men, or who thought they were men," jokes Michelle.

Paragon is Pinnacle

So what does Ms. Sabolchick use when it comes to mixing? "I'm a big fan of ATI Paragon consoles," says Michelle. "I don't think there is another console that sounds anything like it. I like Midas for their automation, and it's another good sounding console, but still not as nice as the Paragon."

"I find that when I'm mixing on a Paragon I'm getting exactly what I expect out of it. The metering and EQ are very accurate as far as representing what I am hearing in the mix," she adds. "I'm also a big fan of the Clair Bros. I-4 PA. Its coverage is excellent, it handles dynamics very well, and it's very warm with tons of clarity."

As for recording on the road, she's only done it once. "On the Indigo Girls last tour, we recorded several shows on Tascam DA-88s," says Michelle. "We had about fifty plus inputs at the time, so we had to link about eight Tascam units together, taking the input from the direct out on the Midas XL-4 (FOH desk)."

The Learning Never Stops

Although she's been doing this sound thing now for twelve years, Michelle has still retained her humble nature. '"I'm always learning. I love to listen to other people mixes," says Michelle. "There is always something you can learn whether the mix is a good one or a bad one. I think that if you get to the point where you think you have nothing left to learn, then your ego has probably gotten in the way of you being really true to your craft."