binaural – Matthew Lien

Musicians rally around terminally ill colleague with final recording project

Matthew Lien — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 20:36:43 +0000

WHITEHORSE, YT – Yukon musician and producer Matthew Lien and eighteen Yukon and BC musicians have come together for their friend and colleague Paul Stephens, who had recently been diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of cancer.

An accomplished bassist, vocalist and songwriter, Stephens was a principal member of the BC and Yukon music scenes, recording and performing right up until his diagnosis. Prior to moving to Vancouver Island, Stephens was a long-time Yukon resident. He played in several bands including Comox, Going South, The Studebakers, All Stars Blues Band, Cook Street Band, Clave, Big Soul, The Groovies, Jazz in the Hall Project, The Sean Grieve Committee, and many others. He’d also played on innumerable recordings for various artists, and had accompanied Lien on several of his international concert tours and album recordings.

Upon learning in early March, 2022 that Stephens had terminal cancer and had ceased public performing, Lien set a plan in motion to provide Stephens with the opportunity to create “one last song.” That song, entitled I’m Gonna Pray, was composed years earlier by a mutual friend and colleague (and former Yukoner), singer-songwriter Paul Gatien. I’m Gonna Pray was inspired by the vision of a parent holding their infant child while watching the evening news. It is a song of hope, love and gratitude and seemed highly suitable as Stephens’ final song.

As word spread about the recording project, a host of musicians contacted Lien, eager to be involved, while friends and family donated to a GoFundMe campaign to cover some of the expenses. Stephens’ compromised immune system and logistical challenges precluded the ability to accommodate everyone, but Lien’s dedication to the project enabled eighteen musicians to participate, recording in six studios with seven engineers.

Stephens was recorded first, and remained hands-on for every session thereafter. As each musician recorded their parts they expressed their love, and their farewell. It became clear that this was more than a project for Stephens alone; it was a means for many friends to forge a final connection through the language they knew best.

Stephens and his wife Maureen Stephens flew to California for the final two-day mix-down session, where he helped oversee the sonic blending of instruments. To infuse the music with a striking life-like quality, Lien employed his award-winning immersive audio format, Full Circle Sound, for the recording. The technical production combined with the talented musicianship resulted in a mind-blowing multi-layered listening experience.

At the conclusion of the mix-down, Stephens was overjoyed as he listened to the completed song. He passed away ten days later.

Musicians who recorded for the project include Teri Elson (vocals), Paul Gatien (vocals), Dave Haddock (gongs), Bob Hamilton (lap steel), Mike Harris (cymbals, shakers), Ed Henderson (guitars), Selina Heyligers-Hare (vocals), Todd Hooge (tambourine), Daniel Janke (kora), Rebecca Law (vocals), Matthew Lien (piano, B3, vocals), Andrea McColeman (metallic percussion), George McConkey (harmonica), Blair Mitchell (vocals), Lonnie Powell (drums), John Rekevics (flute, sax), Paul Stephens (bass, vocals), and Ivan Zenovitch (electric guitar).

Stephens has chosen ArtsCan Circle as the charity to which proceeds from the song’s streaming will be donated. The song currently is available on YouTube, and will be released soon on all major streaming platforms.

“I’m Gonna Pray” by Matthew Lien and the Paul Stephens Project

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/YvM3vdbNl0k

Maclean’s Magazine: How Matthew Lien took a musical revolution from Yukon to Taiwan—and back

Matthew Lien — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Maclean’s has run an informative story about my career, with a special focus on the binaural techniques I’m developing for the new album, “Full Circle”.

Matthew Lien performing “Headwaters – Music of the Peel River Watershed”

My sincerest thanks to reporter Rhiannon Russell for conducting such detailed and in-depth interviews. It’s not easy to take an advanced technical topic and convey that in a way that’s easily understood by the reader.

And of course, many thanks to Maclean’s magazine for featuring me in this issue.

My work gathering more binaural 3D sound recordings is nearly complete, with studio development already underway. I hope to have this new music to you before mid-2020.

Recording the gloriously immersive sounds of surf on Taiwan’s northern coastline.

Follow this link to read the Maclean’s article:

How Matthew Lien took a musical revolution from Yukon to Taiwan—and back

Matthew Lien accepted to present at AES in Paris, France

Matthew Lien — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 12:04:26 +0000

Matthew Lien has been accepted to present at the 140th International AES Convention in Paris. This will be Europe’s largest gathering of audio professionals from around the world, featuring leading industry luminaries presenting cutting edge research and approaches to audio engineering.

This year’s AES focuses on immersive audio, and Matthew’s presentation centres on his ground-breaking use of binaural (3D audio) technology, specifically his work capturing directional binaural impulse responses (3D acoustic reverberance) and applying those to matched direction binaural recordings, resulting in a more diverse and spatial binaural soundfield.

“This is one of the highest honours I could hope for,” said Lien. “All presenters at AES are at the top of their field, so this is not only recognition of the value of my work, it’s also an opportunity to explore ways to further develop this technology and create a truly new recorded art.”

For more information about the AES convention, visit the website at AES 140th Convention.