Posted 06/14/99: NOTE: The participants in this Xperience in Truth were as follows: H. M. BUFF: - Hans-Martin Buff, THE Paisley Park Sound Engineer L4OA: - The Collective InJoy! L4OA:   What xactly does an engineer do? H. M. BUFF:   An engineer is the fellow that captures a musician's performance on tape and makes sure it all sounds good in the end. Eye'm responsible 4 making sure that the musicians and the producers can follow their muse without getting stuck in technical hassle. As a result of my work, the CD that U all will buy at 1-800-Newfunk hopefully sounds like what the recording artist(s) envisioned b4 they were at my mercy in the recording studio. Eye guess eye'm the recording studio equivalent of a camera man. L4OA:   How long have U worked at Paisley Park? H. M. BUFF:   It's going on four and a half years, three of which eye worked xclusively 4 . L4OA:   How did U get this gig? H. M. BUFF:   Eye worked as an assistant engineer (that's an entry level engineer) at a couple of recording studios in the Minneapolis area, and one of the engineers that worked at Paisley at the time heard about me, liked what eye did, and got me hired as an on-call guy. This was when Paisley was still open 2 the public. Why eye ended up working for , eye don't know. U should interview him sometimes and let me know... :) L4OA:   What sort of hours do U work? R U on call 24/7? H. M. BUFF:   When eye'm booked, eye'm on call 24/7. My weekly hours can b anywhere between 50 and 100. L4OA:   What's the longest straight shift U've ever worked at Paisley Park? H. M. BUFF:   Somewhere around 40 hours. That's pretty rare, though. L4OA:   Ever fall asleep at the mixing console? H. M. BUFF:   Nope (U really think eye'd admit that?). L4OA:   What did U do b4 U came 2 work at Paisley Park? Have U worked with other musical acts outside Paisley Park? Who? H. M. BUFF:   Like eye said, eye worked as an assistant engineer at a couple of places in Minnesota. There, eye had some high profile clients, the most successful being the band Live. Eye assisted on their album "Throwing Copper" (U don't have 2 look: They 4got the assistant credits :( ) Eye also worked on A LOT of local Minnesota albums. eye'm still doing that. L4OA:   During your time at the Park, what artists have U worked with, who have U enjoyed working with the most (besides )? H. M. BUFF:   eye had the privilege 2 b the main engineer on all NPG records since 1996, so eye got 2 help all of the Newpower packers. Don't make me choose between Larry Graham, Chaka Khan, Doug E. Fresh, Rosie Gaines... L4OA:   What have U learned at Paisley Park? H. M. BUFF:   Eye can't answer that. Eye have spent more time there in the past three years than eye could spend with my wife. Eye love her very much and eye learn from her every day. So how can eye sum up what eye've learned at Paisley? Oh I've got it: Not as much as from my wife! L4OA:   What sort of music do U listen 2 at home? H. M. BUFF: Eye listen 2 a very wide variety of music. Eye don't care much 4 country and heavy metal/industrial, so my collection's a little light on that end. At this moment, eye'm listening 2 Kraftwerk, Tom Waits, the Comedian Harmonists (an a capella group from the 30s), and the second "Sign 'O' The Times" disc. U gotta love that random button. L4OA:   How did U get in2 engineering? Science background? H. M. BUFF:   Not at all. My Dad and brother still laugh at my having a somewhat technical job. No, eye have always loved pop music, and eye decided at some point that eye wanted it in my life. C, when U watch perform, U can almost feel the bond he has with his instruments. I've never felt that way about the nuts and bolts of being a musician. Eye don't like scales and eye prefer albums over concerts any day, so when eye visited a friend of mine at a local recording school, eye just knew that that was it. Been in love with it ever since. L4OA:   What has been the most helpful advance in studio technology 4 U? H. M. BUFF:   Eye own a computer recording setup. Eye don't use it at Paisley, but it's a godsend 4 my other projects. Things that made me want 2 kill the rhythmically and melodically challenged a couple of years ago r easily fixed at my house. Also, it's loaded with cool FX that were unattainable 2 the non-loaded until very recently. That'd b it. L4OA:   What r ur feelings about new multimedia technologies and the internet, as 's engineer? H. M. BUFF:   Eye love the liberating effect of it all. Most of the things that people spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on in the seventies can b done in your basement 4 a fragment of the cost now. Not xactly as good, but amazingly close. It's great. Ditto the internet, even though eye personally doubt that the winners of the web won't b the ones that have the most money 2 advertise their site, i.e. the record companies. Let's hope eye'm wrong. L4OA:   Which is your favorite released track that U have worked on? What is your favorite PPark project so far? H. M. BUFF:   Eye can't really think of a favorite track. There are favorite days with various tracks. Eye don't think of my work on a track by track basis, it's more about situations. As 4 my favorite project, eye really liked putting 2gether "Crystal Ball", bcuz it was still fresh 2 me when we were done with it. L4OA:   How about ur favorite unreleased jam? H. M. BUFF:   There's one that's the very first song we did on the very first day eye worked with . It's been poppin' its pretty head up ever since. Very special 2 me. Eye'll tell U which one it is when it comes out.:) L4OA:   What r U busy with at the moment? H. M. BUFF:   A new album called "Rave un2 the joy fantastic". It's brilliant. Eye think I'll buy it. L4OA:   What r ur views on artists using their music 2 xpress their spirituality or politics? H. M. BUFF:   Eye believe that art is the most divine form of communication, so if U have an artistic gift and something 2 communicate, that's what U should do. However, if U have an artistic gift and nothing 2 say, don't force urself 2 have an opinion on my behalf. L4OA:   Where do U c urself in 5 years time? H. M. BUFF: In happy and inspiring personal relationships that will remind me and the people around me every day how great it is 2 b alive. Cheers, Hans-Martin Buff