Sound Liaison founder and recording engineer Frans de Rond makes some wonderful recordings. He and his business partner Peter Bjørnild have been doing so for quite a long time, and my music library is delightfully filled with their superb small ensemble and duo recordings. The other day, their newsletter flowed into my email box and with it a brilliant article by Frans. It is an insight into what he and Peter look for as they work to create just the right outcome for the artists and for listeners. I immediately wrote to Frans to ask if we might repost that article here at Positive Feedback. He graciously agreed, and so here it is. Enjoy. And go listen to some of Sound Liaison's outstanding albums, all of which are available in high resolutions downloads from NativeDSD HERE.
If it Makes Me Dance, It's a Keeper
By Frans de Rond – Founder & Recording Engineer,
There's a moment in every recording session where words fall short. Where meters and microphones fade into the background. Where the room, the gear, and even the players disappear for a second, and all that's left is the groove. And then I find myself moving. Not consciously, more like a reflex, from somewhere deep inside. My head nods, shoulders loosen, feet shuffle ever so slightly. Sometimes I dance. I really dance. At that point, I know we've captured something real.
Peter Bjørnild, my longtime friend and the producer at Sound Liaison, is all about absolute concentration during playback. He'll close his eyes, lean forward, hands on his knees. Every nuance, every detail, every breath of the room is under scrutiny. For him, it's a sacred moment, and rightly so. But when something hits me right, I can't help it, I move. Often to Peter's visible dismay, especially when he's deep in analytical mode. I'll catch him giving me that look: "Really? Now?" But then he sees the smile on the musicians' faces, the look of recognition, the unspoken connection. They get it. No one needs to say anything. The music said it all.
Drummer Adam Nussbaum once said (as quoted by Atzko Kohashi): "Jazz was originally born from dance music. That's why its performance should make the listener want to move, to dance." He wasn't referring to swing dances or fancy footwork, but to the rhythmic life force that moves through this music. That pulse that makes you sway, nod, feel. If you're not moved, something's wrong. Jazz is alive. It breathes. It moves. And when we record jazz, or any music, my job as an engineer is to preserve that movement, that breath, that life. If a take doesn't make me want to move, we're not there yet.
At Sound Liaison, we often work with minimal miking, sometimes just a single microphone. That choice isn't a gimmick. It's a philosophy. We want to capture the full interplay of the musicians, the space, the air between them, and the energy that flows in the room. With just one mic, everything becomes about balance, feel, trust. There's no post-production trickery. What you hear is what happened. That makes the musical "truth" even more crucial. And one of my best tools to detect that truth… is my body.
It may sound unscientific, but after decades of listening, recording, adjusting, and listening again, I trust that instinct. I trust my feet. My shoulders. My spine. When a groove is authentic, the body responds before the mind even catches up. It's not about technical perfection, it's about emotional accuracy. It's about honesty. And honesty in music is physical. You feel it before you can explain it.
There's something beautiful in how music bypasses logic and goes straight to the body. When you think of recording engineers, people often imagine silent technicians, adjusting dials in dimly lit rooms. But sound isn't intellectual... it's felt. A great recording should move you, even when you're the one recording it.
Through revealing systems, like the Linkwitz LX521 in our control room, high-resolution playback chains that expose micro-detail and harmonic nuance, those moments unfold fully. The interplay, the dynamic range, the natural reverb tail, even the room tone, these elements aren't just sonics, they're signals of life. And when captured honestly, they translate directly to the body.
Of course, we still listen critically. Peter and I will go through takes, discussing phrasing, dynamics, tempo, bleed. We're not romanticizing sloppiness. But we know that all the analysis in the world is meaningless if the music doesn't move you, literally.
When the music flows, and the room comes alive, and something greater than the sum of its parts is happening....I dance. And in that moment, I know: we're not just recording sound. We're capturing feeling.
And feeling always moves.
Frans de Rond, Founder and Recording Engineer
