All About Chris

Although now retired except for a small consulting practice, Chris Daniels has been working in the music industry in Canada for over 40 years. He got his start training under Bill Seddon in the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario in 1976, specializing in recording engineering. After returning to Calgary he immediately got involved in the local music scene, both in the design, sales, and operation of professional sound systems for Mothers Music and Mountain Music, and in the local recording industry. His first business was a mobile recording studio, Handlebar Productions, created with partners Jim Lewis (Bennie the Bear), Ron Barge (Buckshot), and Gord Burrows. Although it was a little before its time, so didn't last very long, it recorded and broadcast live music shows for many of the radio stations in town including CFAC, and CJAY 92.

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From the late seventies to the early 90's Chris recorded and/or broadcast in excess of 1000 music shows for local radio and television stations including CKIK 107, Country 105, CJAY, CFAC, and Channels 2/7. Some of the bands recorded or broadcast during this period include: Downchild Blues Band, Powder Blues Band, One Horse Blue, Luba, The Parachute Club, The Spoons, Kim Mitchell, Blue Rodeo, and a large number of Canadian Country acts like Dick Dameron, Gary Fjellgard, Patricia Conroy, etc. During the same period he was making a niche for himself recording local choirs, bands, concert bands and various local artists, and technical directing and operating live productions for festivals, local concert events and bands. In addition he designed and installed a number of commercial sound systems in everything from arenas to churches. For a period of that time he general managed a couple of the local high-end stereo stores, Joy of Sound and General Audio, and worked designing and installing sound systems for Gentech Electronics ( a division of General Audio).

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In the early nineties Chris decided to go to university, purely for personal interest, and completed a BA in Religious Studies and Applied Ethics from the University of Calgary. At the same time he continued to work part-time (full time in the summer) as a audio engineer/producer. During the nineties he continued to do remote recordings, including work with The Calgary Girls Choir, The University of Lethbridge Singers, Calgary Choral Society (Revv 52) and various other choirs, school and concert bands, and orchestra groups. He also became a partner in a local professional 24 track recording studio, Sundae Sound, where he recorded album projects for artists like Oscar Lopez, Tim Tamashiro, and Peter Knight. He was the studio maintenance technician for many local recording studios including Sundae Sound, Airwaves, Reel Rock, and Calgary Soundwerkes. During this period Chris was directly involved with youth groups, such as The Calgary Fiddlers, and The Youth Singers of Calgary, as technical director/operator, and often traveled around the world taking care of their technical needs. He continued working with a number of community choirs including The Calgary Girls Choir, Cardston Girls Choir, Cardston Elementary School Choir, Calgary Choral Society (Revv 52) and ARCS (The Adult Recreational Choir).

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In 1998 Chris began working as a Sound Designer for Musical Theatre with his first theatre project "Swing"  at the Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver and "Forever Swing" in Toronto. While in Toronto he had the opportunity to engineer a fantastic, and somewhat unique recording project with producer Dave Pierce and artists Doug Mckeag and Onalea Gilbertson at Eastern Sound, "Dick and Sandi Live at the Grotto". Over a Saturday evening and the following Monday they recorded a Big Band Orchestra with full String section, live off the floor (including most of the singing), through a vintage Neve console and vintage Neumann microphones onto a Sony 32 track Digital tape recorder. The Digital recorder was  cutting edge at the time and was the only part of the 24 hours that did not harkened back to the vintage crooner era of the 50's. Even the final mix was accomplished on the fly, with no editing, in its entirety, the following day.

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Although largely retired now, over the last 25 years Chris developed his own project digital recording and mastering facility from which he did most of his recording projects, as well as the mixing and mastering of his remote recordings. He has specialized in recording acoustic instruments and artists as well as live performances. He also founded and played in Celtic based Calgary folk music groups such as ClanTerra and Seancara. Besides playing guitar and percussion (bodhran) he acted as the bandleader, manager, road manager, and principle agent.

In 2006 Chris returned to university part-time for Grad Studies and in 2013 he was awarded a Doctorate in Religious Studies, specializing in Philosophy of Religion, particularly the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. His dissertation was a comparative study between Whitehead's metaphysic and Indigenous relational worldviews and ways-of-knowing. He also taught Religious Studies (mainly Philosophy of Religion) on a sessional contract basis at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University.

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Chris has been involved with a numerous other projects and events over the years including:

•  Musical Theatre Sound Designer for The Arts Club Theatre in Vancouver. Projects include: Swing, Ain't Misbehavin', Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Hotel Porter, Rocky Horror Show, The Producers, Dames at Sea, She Loves Me, West Side Story, Singin' in the Rain, My Fair Lady, Evita, Miss Saigon, Les Mis, Disney's Beauty and the Beast (5 times), Cabaret, Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, and dozens more.

• Technical Director and Production Manager for Canadian Country Music Week from 1992-2010. The convention is prior to the Canadian Country Music Awards every year and involves a numerous concerts, showcases, seminars, and banquets. Responsible for all aspects of the music and sound production for up to 60 bands over 7 venues and 5 days.

• Recording and pre-mixing the live music tracks for the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show for over 10  years.

• Technical Director  of audio for live productions like the Calgary Farewell to the Queen in 2005 at the Saddledome,  two spring Organ Festival concerts at the Jack Singer Concert Hall, concert events for Revv 52, and Zoo Gala 2005.

• Recording in house CD projects for local artists like Tim Tamashiro, Richie Pollack, On Cue, Gloria Kaye , and children's entertainer Peter Lenton (Peter Puffin).

• Recorded Juno nominated album Dancing on the Moon for Oscar Lopez

• Recorded and co-produced Juno award winning album Proud Like a Mountain for Peter Lenton (2011)

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