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.
Gear
So much gear, so little time. My guitar gear over the years. A humble yet formidable collection of tone. See it here.
Sound
A little bit about my background in studio and live sound here.

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. Always learning and always trying to improve my musical skills.

I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

One day I hope to be a good jazz guitarist. It is a journey for me. Probably the single most challenging thing for me to do on a guitar is a piece like this one. The front section was just me and Rachel on vocals in front of a large audience in a performing arts theatre. Just a bit of pressure. Did I choke?

EMMANUEL

This is pretty representative of how I play in church bands. Effects, supporting parts, lead lines and providing room for other players — such as Trevor on violin for this tune. Praise and worship guitar is quite different from other genres like jazz and rock. There is a challenge to it that goes well beyond dotted eighth note delays.

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.

WORLD MUSIC PROJECT

This was a video shot at my personal mixing and editing studio. I had just finished work on a different type of project, one that involved musicians from across the world. I received hundreds of audio files in a variety of formats and did my best to bring out the best in the song.

NOBLE STREET RECORDING STUDIOS

A tour of one of my favourite recording studios in Canada, Noble Street. Shot on an iPhone, there isn’t anything too fancy in terms of video production but it does give you some insight into the recording studio and an overview of my approach to recording.