A long-time musician turns audio detective.
AUBURN – The client made a secret audio tape of his wife talking two rooms away. On playback the only sounds were hiss and white noise, but the husband was convinced: She was cheating, and there was something on that tape to prove it.
Arlo West removed empty clatter, amped up the conversation and found nearly 100 fishy-sounding bits of noise and dialogue.
Seemed the husband was right.
West has parlayed three decades of work in the recording industry into the only private forensic audio business in Maine.
The 45-year-old’s resume is long and varied. Known locally as a musician, he has recorded 10 albums and appeared on several compilations. West’s most requested tunes: “Rattlesnake” and “Too much barbecue.”
His other recording efforts are less known. He worked on one sentence in the blockbuster “Titanic,” correcting a character’s scientific slip-up. And edited the opening song on U2’s 1997 Popmart tour, a tune that played just before the band stepped from a giant disco ball. Bono and crew decided the seven-minute “Pop Muzik” was too long.
So West helped make it six.
He honed his skills for forensic audio at the Dallas Sound Lab in the 1990s and started Creative Forensic Services on Elmwood Road here in Auburn two years ago.
Most of his business comes via the Internet and from out of state. His is the first Web site listed after searching “cassette restoration” on Google and Yahoo, something that took a little computer savvy, he says.
His first case involved helping Dallas police filter out noise on a domestic violence phone call. He has worked with attorneys and suspicious spouses. This week he heard from a hotel owner in New Hampshire who suspects the place is haunted. Maybe it’s something he could confirm on tape.
“Ninety percent of the people who call me I never hear from again,” said West. His price: $1,000 for an eight-hour day. “It’s the 10 percent who do that keep me very busy.”
Neil Colleran found West online after his client got charged with distributing heroin in Boston federal court.
Leading to trial, the FBI shared surveillance tapes of Colleran’s client inside a car, by all appearances, caught in the act. When one video tape went suddenly black, Colleran said he became suspicious. The FBI’s reply: nothing unusual.
“Normally, 99 times out of 100 you probably take the government’s word for it,” he said. “My instincts told me there was something wrong, it didn’t seem right.”
Colleran sent a copy of the tape to Maine, wanting it checked for signs of tampering. When a tape starts and stops it leaves audio marks, West said. He did find irregularities, but not enough to turn the case in the client’s favor.
“The FBI had erased the tape. That was our big defense,” Colleran said. “The court didn’t buy it.” His client will be sentenced next month.
Getting a forensic peak at the tape “was well worth it. Had it worked, it would have been very worth it,” he added.
West’s proudest moment in the business has yet to come, publicly. It’s an ongoing case involving someone in “major trouble” for a “serious crime,” so he says he can only talk about it vaguely.
“All hope is lost for this person, so they turned to me as a last resort,” West said. “I was able to gather evidence to, I hope, vindicate this person, who is innocent in my eyes. But it’s not for me to judge.”
West has his 11th album coming out this summer – he played all the instruments – but he sees a time when he’ll retire from music. Or semi-retire. His self-described style: “a rock guitar player who plays blues licks.”
“For years I lived for the big record deal, the next big tour,” West said. He plays Europe every year. “I’m famous in Sweden. It’s like being famous in Arkansas.”
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