John Grant
Putting music first, and effortlessly using technology to make it happen, John Grant does what’s best for the song, and is always available to help in a creative and musical way.

When it comes to production, John has the tools to make each arrangement special.  He is an amazing and accomplished lead guitarist, and can play tight electric bass, tasty fretless, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard, organ, mandolin, citern, and produce stunning MIDI arrangements with programmed drums and percussion, strings, and anything imaginable from a rack of synthesizers.

Born at an early age, John began playing guitar at 10 years, thanks to a few lessons from his older brother Kevin.  Largely self-taught from then on, John played in a succession of bands throughout high school and college before finally taking some lessons in jazz theory and improvisation some ten years later from guitarist Carl Filipiak.  After that, his guitar playing ability (in John’s words) “tripled”.  Already an accomplished rock player, the integration of jazz improvisation skills took his playing to a new level.  This led to his “15 minutes of fame” when he appeared in Guitar Player magazine’s “Spotlight On New Talent” column in January, 1983 (Brian May on the cover—and yes, John still has the issue).

While recording the demo tapes that led to that Guitar Player feature, John discovered a new passion:  engineering and producing studio tracks.  With the experience he gained in the studio, (and a small loan), John opened the first Secret Sound recording studio in 1983 in Woodlawn, sub-letting part of the basement of a bandmate’s rented house.  What’s in a name?  Well, as John puts it, when he first opened, he had no clients and the studio was, unfortunately, a “secret”.

That soon changed as word got around about the new studio in town.  In 1985, the newly married John moved Secret Sound to its current location in his home near White Marsh.  In 1987, it became a 16-track facility with the purchase of a Tascam 1-inch analog tape deck and a 20-input console.  Business grew and grew until, in 1991, John finally quit his last band to devote himself full-time to Secret Sound.  In 1994 the studio expanded to 24 tracks, went digital with the purchase of 3 Adats, and got its first automated console, a Tascam M-3700.  This is when Secret Sound really began to switch focus from doing lots of demos to cutting records with tons of area bands and songwriters in just about every genre—Alternative, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Classical, Country, Folk, Gospel, Hip Hop, Metal, New Age, and Rock.  Here are just some of them:

During that time, John solidified his and the studio’s reputation, often garnering first, second, or third place for best Mid-Atlantic producer / engineer, best Mid-Atlantic studio—or both—in the annual Music Monthly reader’s poll.  Regional press reviews of records by Secret Sound clients often mentioned the stunning production and sonics and/or John’s tasteful guitar work.

That equipment setup served Secret Sound well for seven years until 2001 when the studio underwent a major renovation/remodeling with the focus being a much more spacious and comfortable control room.  There was also a significant equipment upgrade with the purchase of a Mackie Digital 8 Bus console (Total recall) for mixing and Digital Performer 3.0 for hard disk recording and editing.

Never into equipment for equipment’s sake or buying into “flavor of the month” gear trends, John has nevertheless often been on the cutting (bleeding?) edge of equipment upgrades in order to accomplish his clients’ goals as efficiently as possible.  For instance, Secret Sound was the first area studio to take the ADAT plunge.  With the current equipment setup and room renovation, John and Secret Sound are ready to take your music where you want to go!