How Engineer John Kurlander Captured the Live Orchestra on 'Another Brick in the Wall, Part II'

John Kurlander was the recording engineer responsible for the pristine, almost tactile sound of the children’s choir and the orchestral layers on “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II.” While the song is best known for its disco-influenced drum beat and Roger Waters’ weary vocal, the track’s impact comes from that sudden eruption of a full live orchestra — 38 players from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and a 23-voice children’s choir — recorded at Brittania Row Studios and later CBS Studios in London.

Kurlander’s key move was his placement of a single Neumann U67 microphone placed high above the orchestra’s string section, plus a pair of KM84s for the woodwinds and brass. He also insisted on capturing the children’s choir in the same room, not a separate booth, so the natural reverb of the studio would blend with the strings. The result was a unified, slightly raw orchestral sound that punched through the mix without feeling sterile — exactly what producer Bob Ezrin wanted for the song’s climactic bridge. Kurlander later said he was “terrified” because the orchestra had only one take to get it right, but he got the balance in a single pass.