The situation was dire.

Months before, Peter S. Beagle had finished recording an unabridged version of his first novel, A Fine And Private Place, for Blackstone Audiobooks. Then — after the project was mastered, and manufactured, and almost ready for release — Peter's agent noticed a screw-up. The original 44.1kHz master tape had been converted at 48kHz, turning Peter's narration from a gentle, rumbly baritone into a hyper-adrenalized countertenor tweet. The recording sounded like an ad for 101 Fun Things You Can Do With Your Voice And A Helium Balloon.

With the official store date looming, the entire audiobook had to be re-recorded — all eight-plus finished and mixed hours of it — in NO time, with NO budget, and NO room for another mistake.

Enter Jim Lively, a San Francisco-based audio engineer, whom Connor discovered through a recommendation from Alan Beatts at Borderland Books. Jim was not only an expert engineer, he was also a fan — he actually read this stuff, which meant he knew what the words were supposed to mean, not just what they were supposed to sound like. Without further ado Jim rolled back his sleeves, set up a selection of great microphones, brought Peter into the studio, and set to work. The final result, delivered to Blackstone on time and under budget, was something of a miracle: an audiobook so good no one would ever guess the circumstances under which it had been recorded.

Jim didn't know it at the time, but in managing that bit of genius he also pulled a major piece of Conlan Press into place.

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THE VP OF SILLY NOISES SPEAKS:

When I tell people I make funny noises for a living, the frequent reply is "yeah, right" (does a double positive equal a negative?). But that is the truth.

I've been in studios since the age of 16. I started out as a musician, but gradually moved to the "other side of the glass" as a recording and mixing engineer concentrating on music. About 18 years ago I added sound design and dialog editing to my skillset, and now I work primarily in those fields. I still mix music, but can never find the time to play anymore.

In addition to the Conlan Press audiobook series, I'm currently working with Mondo Media as sound designer for the animated Happy Tree Friends show, and I've recently completed several independent feature films as sound designer and re-recording mixer.

— Jim Lively