If there's one guest who can make a roomful of music industry veterans lean forward and take notes, it's Chuck Ainlay. In Episode 3 of Tuned Out, Dave Audé and Deborah sit down with one of Nashville's most decorated engineer-producers, a man whose discography spans nearly every genre and generation, from George Strait to Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton to Lyle Lovett, and newer artists like Jake Worthington. Chuck is a Grammy Governor, a 5.1 pioneer, a Dolby Atmos convert, and a superstar engineer who always puts the engineer title first. The conversation goes deep fast. What has technology actually done to the craft of recording? Is the art of putting a band in a room together, managing acoustic bleed, choosing the right mic for the room, reading what a preamp will do to a sound, truly a lost art? From there, it's a masterclass: the philosophy of casting musicians who don't necessarily know each other, why a great performance with imperfect pitch will always beat a perfectly tuned vocal, and the specific gear Chuck brings with him when he travels, including a rack of Neve 1081s and 1073s that he says can get a great drum sound in almost any studio in the world. There's also the story of going all-in on Atmos. While other engineers declined to learn a new format, Chuck embraced spatial mixing fully and explains why you can't just stem out a stereo mix and pan things around the room. You have to reimagine the record. George Strait, when Chuck pitched a rethink of an older catalog record for Atmos, said: "Oh hell yes — I can't even listen to that record." Topics covered: -The lost art of recording a band live in a room — acoustic bleed, mic choice, preamp character -Why the title "engineer" matters, and what's been lost as everyone calls themselves a producer -Vinyl's resurgence and why music creates memory in ways nothing else can -Deborah's breakup anthem: Big Sean's I Don't Fuck With You - Casting musicians for creative friction vs. comfort — why unfamiliar rooms produce better takes -Chuck's career-long relationships: George Strait, Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton, Lyle Lovett -The great pitch debate: Melodyne, tuning tools, and why using your ears beats using your eyes -Doubles, triples, micro pitch shift, and why an orchestra sounds big! -Going all-in on Dolby Atmos — and why reimagining a record beats just panning the stems - Five-one mixing, DVDA, SACD, and the competing formats that killed surround sound for music the first time - Chuck's travel gear: Neve 8068, 1081s, 1073s, and a trunk full of mics - The new Neumann U67 reissue — and why Peter Frampton bought four of them Chuck Ainlay: Website: https://chuckainlay.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuck_ainlay/ Dave Aude: Website: https://daveaude.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daveaude/ VEVA Collect: Website: https://vevacollect.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vevacollect/ Hosts: Dave Audé & Deborah Deloach / Guest: Chuck Ainlay / Digital Editor & Mixer: Ines Lopez / Music: Dave Audé / Art & Design: Maddie Alley / Producer: Liam McMellon
