PEDRO CANAAN
AUDIO ENGINEER • PRODUCER • MUSICIAN
Pedro Canaan is an audio engineer - or sound artist, as he pretentiously prefers - and music producer who dedicates his life to evoking feelings through sound. Being an avid believer in the power of music on human’s psyche, he describes his work as a chase for passionate, visceral, and
unique sounds.
Original from São Paulo - Brazil, Pedro moved to Chicago at the age of 18 to dive into the study of audio, and since then has been building a strong bridge between the United States and his homeland, having worked with record labels from both countries and frequently facilitating the collaboration between musicians from different places in the world.
With extensive educational background and several years working in studios alongside renowned professionals such as Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies), Michael Freeman (Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles), and Chris Brickley (Wilco, R̶.̶ ̶K̶e̶l̶l̶y̶), Pedro has been credited in over 100 songs in a wide variety of genres.
Currently, Pedro is back to Chicago as a freelance engineer, after spending a year in Baltimore pursuing his M.A. in Recording Arts & Sciences at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He holds a B.A in Audio Design & Production from Columbia College Chicago, an Associate’s degree in Music Business at Instituto Genesis PUC - Rio de Janeiro, and is also a Dolby Atmos certified engineer.
CONTENT SPOTLIGHT
'Avenues' is the first single off Zeno Camera's EP "Syc·amor·e", and was produced, recorded, and mixed by myself.
This song, as well as the other tracks in the EP, took a long time to be produced and is the result of a lot of experimentation and ideas that were had at different times and places, and combined into one Pro Tools project that became the final song.
Drums and keys recorded in São Paulo; bass, guitar, and vocals recorded in Chicago, mix made in Baltimore.
Mastered by Fili Fillizola, in L.A.
'Dollop' is a piece composed by Chicago-based trombonist Matt Jarosch, and performed by his brilliant quintet in Studio B of Electrical Audio, where I had the pleasure to record them.
Mixing was also made by myself in Studio A of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, using a Neve 88RS board and a charming selection of outboard gear.
Shoutout to the API 5500 for this beautiful creamy sound.
Mastered by Justin Perkins.
'TINA'S in a car' is the grooviest single by Zeno Camera, that may or may not have lyrics implying inappropriate activities inside a car.
I produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered this track in Studio A of Electrical Audio - and somehow managed to walk out of the room sane and with a decent amount of will to live.
For consistency purposes, we muted most overdubs and SFX in the music video, but the full production can easily be found in any streaming platform.
'Slither' is a track by Chicago alt-punk artist Bull Heather, who visited me in Studio B of Electrical Audio to record a live rendition of one of their biggest singles.
I recorded, mixed, and mastered this project that probably has the strongest Electrical Audio sonic signature of my entire portfolio - huge drum room sound, all the grittiness of those vintage Sovtek amps, lead vocal beautifully compressed by an Omnipressor blended with the natural reverb of the room mics.
Thanks, Steve Albini.
MUSIC
ROCK
Credits: producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, electric guitar, keyboard
Ghost was the debut single of singer-songwriter Samira Jasmine, and was recorded partially in Chicago and in my studio in São Paulo - Brazil. Probably one of the most musically complex tracks in my portfolio
Credits: producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
This was my first song recording directly to a 24-track tape machine and mastering to a 1/4” 2-track reel, with no use of digital converters at any point in the process. Quite tricky tune for a first time, but luckily Saint Romanov’s band was very patient and well rehearsed :)
POP
Credits: producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer,
TINHA QUE SER PRETO is the debut single by the Brazilian pop artist Ana Cabral, who won a national songwriting competition promoted by Kalindi Music. With strong lyricism emphasizing Brazilian social issues regarding racism, combined with Ana's powerful vocals, this song always reminds me of how music can actually change the world.
Credits: producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
Lips Like Chardonnay was the single for the album "Xeno" by Zeno Camera & The Groovy Motherfunkers. This track - as well as the whole album - was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by myself, in a quite unorthodox environment: a dorm room. Zeno is a very charismatic singer who was very popular at the college scene in Chicago at that time, so I believe that room ended up being the perfect place to capture the vibe of his performance. Several DIY adaptations were made to fix acoustical problems, and all instruments and vocals were overdubbed.
METAL
Credits: producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, bass, electric guitar
Billy Boy was the first single by the artist Saint Romanov, and was all recorded in my studio in São Paulo - Brazil, except for vocals, which were recorded in Chicago. I remember being confused about who this Billy Boy guy was when I first listened to the demo. Turns out it is an American folk song, and Romanov was writing about his controversial love for folk and extreme music. Anyway, we are all very proud of how those drums sound.
Credits: producer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, bass, acoustic guitar
Is this even metal? I don’t know. It does have distorted guitars and screams, so I guess that’s the best bet. We were clearly not very concerned about genres when making that. Everything, everywhere, all at once - just no awards for us, unfortunately.
ACOUSTIC
Credits: producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, orchestration
Sistine was originally a project for my Analog Studio Recording class at Columbia College Chicago, and we were supposed to do a recording direct to the 2-track 1/4” tape machine. And well, I kinda cheated. There was only one Romanov for 4 cello parts + acoustic guitar + vocal to be recorded into a 2-track tape machine. I ended up recording into the left and right channels separately, and covered up the erase head of the tape machine so he could record one cello part on top of the other. Not exactly what the teacher wanted. Still got an A, though.
Credits: producer, mixing engineer, recording engineer
Sunrise is the last track off Drea C's album 'Sol Azul', and it's not really as acoustic as the category may say. You can clearly hear an electric guitar there on your right ear; those strings are all midi. But if Rocket Man is in the Spotify playlist "Classic Acoustic", I should be able to get away with it, right? As the whole album, this song had vocals and acoustic guitar recorded by Drea C herself in Los Angeles, and sent over to me in Brazil for some final touches (things that the pandemic forced us to do).
INDIE / ALTERNATIVE
Credits: recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
Taketime is a single by the Chicago-based band Anteeter, and was fully recorded, mixed and mastered at the Columbia College Chicago 33E studio. All analog (using an API Legacy desk), lots of synths, and one big EMT plate reverb :))))
Credits: producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, bass, electric guitar, keyboard, pan
Described as "grungy pop" by Drea herself, In The Kitchen was the main single off her debut album 'Sol Azul'. For this song, she recorded her vocals by herself in Los Angeles while I did all the instrumental parts at my studio in Brazil. This was one of the richest songs in her album in terms of arrangement, and it was a lot of fun to do: even pans and pots were recorded for percussion, as well as some samples of my own kitchen's sink. Obviously, the shakers were a half-empty dispenser of coarse salt. We were literally in the kitchen cooking this song!
HIP HOP
Credits: producer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
This is a hip-hop track that could be easily put under the metal section. However, it is a great showcase of what I can do within this genre, as I am a big fan of borrowing instrumentats from other genres and merging them with electronic hip-hop beats.
JAZZ
Credits: composer, producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, piano
illuminisme is an instrumental jazz track I wrote for the Brazilian band the death season, and was used as an interlude in the album ‘liberté’. Drums, bass, saxophone and trombone were recorded by the members of Big Band EMESP, and the piano was played by myself.
LIVE RECORDING / MIXING
Credits: recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer
This recording is a live version of the song Forever by Anteeter. It was recorded at the Columbia College Chicago 33 studio, with the band playing live to a small audience. There were no overdubs, and the mixing was made in real time. Since the band was playing to a click and I was already familiar with the structure of the songs, I was able to automate effects for each section of the song individually.
