richard cleaver

HEY THERE!

Welcome to richardcleaver.com! This has been my home on the web since 2004. I am a guitarist, an audio engineer, an author, a photographer, a cyclist, a retired executive and probably many other things. Most important to me is my faith and my family. Thanks for dropping by. You can find out more about me and this website here.

Blog
I post a few times a week about guitars, audio engineering, and serving churches in music and sound. Check out the blog here.
Videos
Concert footage, studio tours, mixing and sound seminars from my YouTube channel. You can check them out here.
Guitar Gear
So much gear, so little time. My guitar gear over the years. A humble yet formidable collection of tone. See it here.
Audio Engineering
A little bit about my background in studio and live sound here.

READ RICHARD’S BLOG

Changing Things Up

February 23, 2023

/

0 Comments

Pedalboards are always changing. At least they always change…

Carter Vintage Guitars

February 18, 2023

/

0 Comments

I was in Nashville a few weeks back and I had to make the…

New From Strymon

February 4, 2023

/

0 Comments

A new Strymon pedal was just announced. The cloudburst seems…

AUDIO ENGINEER

I’ve been fortunate to receive a number of industry awards for excellence in the recording arts. I have extensive experience in recording studios and concert and church sound. I’ve served as the audio/visual technical director at several churches in Canada over the years and I’ve led numerous seminars on church sound for volunteers.

FEAR IS NOT MY FUTURE

This song was recorded live off the floor at Connexus Church in Barrie, Ontario. I recorded the live parts as multiple takes and then edited and mixed the tracks before sending it over to video post-production. This is a song that reminds us to not base our lives on fear and uncertainty but to have confidence in our faith in Christ.

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY

I’ve recorded and mixed several albums for the Trevor Dick Band since 2006 and this video is a song I mixed for them after a broadcast studio session. It was recorded live off the floor and I did the mix for the band in post production.

Face of God

Between March of 2020 and December of 2021 I recorded and mixed over 180 songs for Harvest Barrie Chapel in Barrie, Ontario. This is but one of those songs. I approached the recording and mixing process with a lot of care to help the community at Harvest engage in worship. This type of mixing is very challenging as the schedule is very tight and I work with musicians and vocalists with varying levels of skill. Often I am turning the mixes, including editing and tuning of vocals in less than a day. For this song I recorded the drums and vocals live off the floor at the church and flew in parts from the other musicians into my Pro Tools rig. I played all of the guitar tracks.

GUITARIST

I’ve played guitar for over 40 years now. As a young musician, I toured professionally in support of Christian artists. Since the 1970s I have served in numerous praise and worship teams in Canada and the United States. Always learning and always trying to improve my musical skills.

GO TELL

I have served on Praise and Worship teams since, well, before Praise and Worship was a thing. I’ve been playing guitar in churches since I was 14 years old. Here is one example of how I play. I recorded all of my guitar parts along with the rest of the band before the video shoot. During the video shoot, I captured the drums and vocals and then mixed them in post.

IT’S CHRISTMAS

Recorded live off the floor, the finale of a 10-year run of a musical program I ran each Christmas called Celebrate Christmas. In this song, I battle it out with Trevor on a duet that begins at the 4 minute mark. A wonderful compilation of some classic Christmas tunes that celebrate the birth of Christ.