“Sharing and patience, that is teaching. Be patient for the young discover your creativity look at your horizons do not feel limits; The first rule is that there are no rules.”
That’s how Allan Tuckerrecording and mastering engineer, multi-award winning and with more than 50 years as a music professionalassimilates its role as distinguished professor from the Monterrey Tech.
It is also President of the program in Technology and Music Production of the School of Humanities and Education; also collaborated in the design of blocks and units for the Model Tec21.
He has mastered more than 3 thousand 500 albums. has been nominated 26 times to the Grammy and has been a winner in 6; furthermore, he runs his own studio TuckerSound at Foothill Digital in New York, and in Monterrey, Mexico.
He is also an adjunct professor at the New York Universityhas put his talent on records by Metallica, KISS, Earth Wind & Fire, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, John Coltrane, Joe Hendersonamong other artists.
From the mastering studio to the classroom
Prior to 2010, Tucker had devoted himself entirely to his recording and mastering studio, which he had started 20 years earlier in New York; In that year she got the opportunity to be teacher.
“I got a call from the New York University and they asked me if I wanted to go work with them and create a new course. I said, ‘Sure! It sounds strange, but I think I can.” the professor recalled.
When he asked about the curriculum, the answer he received was: “Because you do not try teach what you have done in your career?
Allan got to work inspired by your experiences throughout his career for create a mastering course that could be delivered during 15 weeks.
“At that time it was my specialty. It is the final step, after recording and mixing those recordings, they go through a professional mastering that the prepare for him market”, He said.
So, Tucker, for the first time, found the pleasure of being a teacher and sharing his knowledge to the new generations of engineers.
Working with him was like being in a master class.
Allan has distinguished himself by his particular style of work and his way of explain your progress to your customers in the projects as if he were teaching.
“Over the years, all of my clients have said that they like working with me because I give them context on the changes I make and I help them understand the purpose and emotion behind a project.
“Not only do you have to understand the project, but how it fits for the world and what the market wants. It’s making sure those sounds not only sound good, but whatever the audience wants to hear”, he explained.
Tucker used the recording, mixing and mastering sessions to share what he knew and what he felt about music.
“They told me that have a session with you it was like being in a master class. So I always felt that teaching it had to be the next logical step in my career”, he added.
“Not only do you have to understand the project, but how it fits for the world and what the market wants.”
From a passion for music as a child to signing with a representative of The Beatles
As a child, Allan had fun playing with a record player, until his father came home one day with a great music player, which he called stereo.
“I had never heard a stereo before, so I would sit in front of this new set and push the buttons; I was fascinated by how the sound changed and moved. I found the love of music without any problem”, he remembered.
That taste awakened in Tucker the desire to dedicate himself to music. First, he learned to play the flute, then the clarinet and the guitar; There was even a time when she sought to become singer.
“I wanted to be a professional singer-songwriter; she had a partner she sang with in college and we were quite successful.
“We even signed a recording contract with a great manager, who turned out to be the manager of the Beatles in United States”.
The engineer who made him fall in love with music mastering
Allan comments that at that time it was to a studio in Manhattan to record 3 songs.
“I had never been in a studio before, but when I was focused on doing the vocals, I saw the engineer through the glass and realized that he was not being creative. I thought: ‘I can do this'”, talked.
Allan still remembers the feeling of seeing that audio engineer in the Manhattan studio, which made him think that he looked more like a robot” that only squeezed buttons and followed orders.
“Anyone can be a robot, it is not enough to know how the console or the software works. Must be personalized because anyone can roll the tape. That way you won’t have a career.”
Two years later, Allan finished his degree in Arts, at the City University of New Yorkand found an opportunity to work as an assistant engineer at Bell Sound Studios.
“In order not to be a robot, you need to become critical listener. my mantra is never just listen, but listen with attitude.
“It is essential to listen because that comes with self-confidence”, he added.
“My mastering class is about listening critically to help the sound find its destiny and its goals for the market.”
The students who invited him to be the musical ‘spiritual leader’ at the Tec
In 2014, 3 Tec de Monterrey professors became Tucker students; they were doing their masters and they took their course at New York University: one of them, a career director, invited him to collaborate with the Tec.
“It all started as a joke and then the invitation became real. By October of that year, I was at the Tec giving a seminar two weeks and one master class. That became habitual in the following 3 years.
“In 2017 they told me: ‘Would you like to come from full timefor one year, and direct the program to be our spiritual leader?’ It was a great invitation and I accepted it.”
Almost 5 years after that invitation, Allan collaborated in the design of the program in Music Technology and Production for the Tec21 Modelof which he is now president.
The Model Tec21 is based on a challenge based learningwith flexibility, inspiring teachers and a memorable student experience.
Eventually, the professor moved to Monterrey, Mexico, where built a replica of the studio he had in Manhattan. there, keep doing mastering jobs for clients and working as a teacher.
“That has been my great arc, I started as a musician, then I became an engineer, a successful engineer who taught at the University of New York, and then to be Tec professor to share my knowledge about recording techniques”, he added.
The challenge, to develop in students their critical ear and creativity
For Tucker, the one an engineer imprint his personality on a piece of music it’s a burdenbecause producers, artists and musicians have put their energies into it and it has the responsibility not to ruin it.
“Students ask me, ‘How do I make this a success?’ You must answer honestly, use the tools available to push the music in the direction you think it should go.
“You have to respect and support the music. When students go to work for someone, and if it’s the right person, he’s going to hire them because he likes what they’re doing with music and that’s the trust factor”, he added.
Be a musical “spirit guide” that inspires your students
Just as when he was young and supported by mentors who helped him discover his potential as an engineer, today Allan seeks to become a “spiritual guide” who inspires his students.
“What I wish for my students is that they can acquire a set of skills wide enough for them to break through when a door is opened.
“I try to teach them that they have to give themselves to work and give the customer a reason to come back to call them”, he added.
In the classes he teaches and capstone projects he mentors, Tucker relies heavily on the storytellingwith true stories about your own learning curve
“I love teaching all of that in my mastering class because it’s about listening critically for help the sound find its destiny and goals for the market.
“We disarm and examine songs that are on the market or songs that I worked with in my career, always with the purpose of developing skills in them.” Tucker commented.
Allan said he was pleased to be able to work with young or aspiring engineers at institutions like the Tec and New York University.
“At first I found it very difficult, but once I finally got it, the experience has been fantastic in both institutions.
“It’s gratifying to see how students are there to listen and learn everything, seeking to be able to do magical things”, finished.
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The winner of 6 Grammy Awards who is today a Distinguished Professor Tec