Schmitt grew up in New York City and lived in Brooklyn until the late 1940s. He bought his first 78 at the age of 10, Jimmie Lunceford's record "White Heat." Schmitt's favorite band was Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra.[1] He had a younger sister, Doris, and two younger brothers, Richie and Russell, both of whom became audio engineers. His family was poor so some Saturdays he worked at a shop doing shoe repairs.[2]
On the weekends, Schmitt would spend time at his uncle's recording studio, Harry Smith Recording (Smith had changed his name from "Schmitt" to "Smith" because of the anti-German sentiment of the era).[2] From the age of 8, Schmitt would ride the subway himself from Brooklyn to Manhattan to go to the studio.
Smith's studio was the first independent recording studio on the East Coast, and he engineered sessions there for Brunswick Records including with Bing Crosby, and the Andrew Sisters. Smith was his father's brother and also Schmitt's godfather. Schmitt considers Smith one of his mentors for recording along with Tom Dowd.[1]
Smith was friends with Les Paul, who became "like another uncle" to Schmitt. Schmitt and Paul remained friends for life.[2]
Apex
After serving in the U.S. Navy, he began working at Apex Recording Studios at the age of 19 as an apprentice. He got the job based on a recommendation from his uncle. His job was primarily assisting on engineer Tom Dowd's recording sessions. After a few months, he was engineering small demo recordings (mono recordings at 78 rpm).[2]
On a Saturday afternoon, Schmitt had a recording session with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra — not the small demo recording he was expecting.[3] Schmitt was the only one at the studio and couldn't get the owner or engineer Tom Dowd on the phone so he did the session in person. Schmitt said he told Ellington many times, "Mr. Ellington, I’m not qualified to do this". Ellington responded by patting him on the leg, looking him in the eye and saying, "It’s okay sonny, we are going to get through this".[1] They cut three songs in four hours.[2]
He worked at Apex for two years until it closed.
When Apex closed, he moved to Nola Studios for a year (Tom Dowd told him of the opening), then worked at Fulton Recording. At Fulton, he worked with engineer Bob Doherty who taught him how to mix large orchestras.
He also worked on the Samsung's Over the Horizon telephone ringtone theme of 2015 as a recording/mixing engineer.
Capitol Studios
After leaving RCA, Schmitt worked almost exclusively at Capitol Studios, with occasional sessions at United Recording Studios and EastWest Studios, formerly Western Recording. He appeared in an advertisement for AMS Neve that featured the Neve 88R console at Capitol's Studio A.[6]
Schmitt also appeared on the online internet television series "Pensado's Place", hosted by Dave Pensado and Herb Trawick. During one of the segments he mentioned that his favorite microphone was the Neumann U 67 tube (valve) condenser microphone, and explained that he used it on numerous sources.[7]
Death
Schmitt died in Bell Canyon, California, on April 26, 2021, aged 91.[8][9]
Don Was, Joe Walsh, and president/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Leron Gubler were speakers at Schmitt's Star Unveiling Ceremony.[15] Gubler declared that August 13 would be designated "Al Schmitt Day" in Hollywood. Although Natalie Cole and Paul McCartney were unable to attend the ceremony, both released statements that were read by Gubler at the ceremony.
^ abcdefAl, Schmitt (2018). Al Schmitt on the record : the magic behind the music. Droney, Maureen. Milwaukee, WI. ISBN9781495061059. OCLC1045666473.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)