june 2014

studioexpresso eZine

Since 2000

L-R: Oliver Leiber with Mark Desisto and Brent Fischer during FDelux sessions with St Paul Peterson.

Advertisers find new momentum with soccer and producer stars. Watch Perry's metamorphosis and find hits in our new A&R corner. Follow Daking in the studio, meet an artful couple and find Lazaretto's hidden treasures on vinyl. fDeluxe meets the family. LA is the new site of Operalia. Sign up for a Hammond workshop in July and let's celebrate...it's America's birthday and you're invited!

As always, big thanks to our 24,000 readers and studioexpresso's community of studios, composers, arrangers, and producers who create music that lives and moves.

Congrats to those of you have renewed. Enjoy production work, industry networking and more... Renew today! Thank you!

In This Issue

Momentum with Rafa Sardina

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studioexpresso Home of Hammond & Roland Keys

Daking with Glassman

Meet New A&R

studioexpresso YouTube Chl

St Paul of fDeluxe ....Jack White's Lazaretto

Bock Microphone & ATCs from Trans Audio Group

Hammond 7.26 and Vegas DJ Calling

What's your Momentum?

He sacrificed everything to pursue his first love: MUSIC.
Producer and mixer Rafa Sardina (Lady Gaga, Placido Domingo, Elvis Costello & The Roots, Rodrigo y Gabriela) was recently featured in a short documentary where he talks about his studio workflow and how to find your momentum to go independent. Watch it here
12 Grammy Awards later, Sardina likes to share his passion of music making with the new generation of artists. In addition to serving on the Grammy LA Chapter board, he's guest speaker on topics of music mixing and production at 2014 Hot Zone at NAMM and SAE Inst earlier in June.
Photographed at his After Hours (below) the multi-Grammy winner Sardina was at Metropolis studios (below) in UK producing Maestro Plácido Domingo's new album for Sony Classical.

Back in Los Angeles, Domingo is auditioning nearly 1,000 entrants in this year's competition for the 22nd Operalia featuring 40 young singers representing 17 nations.

Domingo, who is also General Director of LA Opera, conceived Operalia now its 10th year.

Held from August 25 to August 30, the Operalia competition's final round-a Gala Finals Concert with the LA Opera Orchestra led by Domingo and open to the public.

Those of you in Los Angeles, can hear maestro Domingo on September 13, LA Opera kicks off an exciting 2014/15 season
with La Traviata.

Following the success of the mesmerizingly beautiful Thais, Placido Domingo and soprano Nino Machaidze come together once again in this Giuseppe Verdi classic under the baton of Music Director James Conlon.

Producer, Songwriter Seth Glassman

Adds DAKING FET III to his Studio

Seth Glassman is an accomplished bass player and multi-instrumentalist whose thirty-plus year career has included work and performances with James Brown, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and literally dozens of other industry luminaries of equal star-power, along with hundreds of wildly talented musicians who populate the vanguard in their respective genres. He is currently the musical director and band leader for 1960s icon Darlene Love. Like many musicians who have a knack and interest in the technical side of things, Glassman branched out into songwriting and production decades ago. He maintains a well-equipped project studio in his New York City home that includes his go-to Daking preamps and compressors, which were recently supplemented by a borrowed Daking Audio FET III compressor to mix a forthcoming album by all-girl power trio New Myths.

"Although I started out strictly as a musician and continue to play that role, I always had an interest in producing and writing songs," Glassman said. "Being a studio musician put me in the privileged position of watching some of the best songwriters, producers and engineers in the world work their magic. Early on, I made a conscious effort to be a sponge - to pay attention and soak up all of their knowledge, perspectives and techniques. As I got older, I deliberately moved into songwriting and production and put everything I learned into action."

Glassman grew to know Geoff Daking, maker of Daking gear, as they repeatedly crossed paths in NYC studio sessions: Glassman on bass and Daking behind the console. "I really respect that Geoff is a musician [he played in the 1960s platinum-selling band Blues Magoos], a sound engineer, and an electrical engineer," said Glassman. "He knows what good music sounds like, and he understands the entire path, from the instruments, through the gear, to the final product. That obviously had - and continues to have - a huge influence on how he designs gear. For example, he selected the center frequencies on his EQs based on his decades of experience behind the console. Those are the frequencies that would be most useful for him if he were using the gear."

Glassman is a self-avowed microphone junkie, a partial consequence, he says, of the fact that no microphone is ideal for every singer. "Vocal microphones are a study in themselves. There's a magic that can work between a vocalist and a microphone, and it's stunning when it happens. The sound becomes almost holographic; it has dimension and texture. Of course, that helps the vocals sit prominently in the mix." Although certain microphones, like his Bock U99, more commonly deliver that magic, there is enough variation and enough surprise that Glassman, as a rule, tries out all his pricey vocal mics on every new singer that comes into his studio.

In contrast however, Glassman has learned that the best preamp for vocals will always be his Dakings, which stands head and shoulders above his other big name preamps. "Geoff's preamps have a body and clarity that's unmatched," he said. "His preamps sound better on more instruments and with more microphones than any other preamp I've ever used. It's a totally different situation from the mics, where I always have to try them all out. Geoff's preamps always sound the best." In fact, Glassman seldom goes to any other preamp unless he has too many inputs to use just his Dakings. He also has early model Daking FET limiters that he uses as an insert on his stereo bus whenever he mixes with his Pro Tools HD system, citing its transparent but effective dynamics control, provided he doesn't push it too far ("It's easy to get an affected sound by driving it, which is exactly what you want for some other uses," he clarified).

Glassman's work with New Myths is in his blood. His daughter, Rosie Slater, plays drums with the band in the space between her live and studio work with other artists. "It's a very textually sophisticated album," he said, "and getting the drums to fit within that tonally and dynamically was challenging and critical. With my Daking compressor on the mix bus, I tried all of the other tools in my arsenal to get the drums where I wanted them to be, but to no avail." Glassman called in a favor and got a loaner Daking FET III Stereo Compressor from Geoff via Daking's U.S. distributor, TransAudio Group. "The FET III gave me the sound I was after. The drums had control but they weren't noticeably squashed-sounding. After some early criticisms of the drum sound, Rosie loved how things came together with the Daking FET III."

Trans Audio Group & studioexpresso at HotZone, NAMM 2014
photo by: GS Studios/Francisco Rodriguez

The Family Time!
St Paul & Leiber Production Team

A redefined, new alternative funk era has arisen out of an established band formerly known as The Family. Producer Oliver Leiber is in the studio with St Paul Peterson re working classic songs with new twists.

Brent Fischer conducting for St Paul and fDeluxe

Brent Fischer was brought on board to add orchestration on the Eric Carmen song "All By Myself" for the new fDeluxe records release, AM STATIC. Here's a sneak preview of the sessions at producer Leiber's studio in Los Angeles.

Trans Audio Group

Questions- pricing, availability and dealer locations please email sales@transaudiogroup.com

l-r: Richard, Todd, Janis and Brad at Trans Audio Group

For the latest info contact
Brad Lunde at 702-365-5155 president@transaudiogroup.com

TransAudio Group, founded by industry veteran Brad Lunde, has quickly become the premier US importer/distributor and/or US sales and marketing representative for high-end audio. Success hinges on TransAudio providing dealers and end users with a higher standard of product expertise and support far beyond the norm. TAG product line includes A-Designs (USA), ATC Loudspeakers (UK), Bock Audio (USA), Chameleon Labs , Crane Song , Daking Audio (USA) Dave Hill, Drawmer, Pete's Place Audio, Tube-Tech and Sonodyne Nearfield Monitors

Hammond Workshop at Church Keyboard Center (CKC), Pasadena
July 26, 2014, 11am-1pm

l-r (clockwise): Hammond artists: Gary Swan, Emiko, Robby Robinson with Nelson Dodge of CKC

The Sound . The Soul . The One may be Hammond's new slogan, but the instruments' vintage signature sound draws a growing roster of artists. This month we had the pleasure of making the Leslie 3300 available to Jack White for his shows in Los Angeles.
Drop in to CKC showroom in Pasadena where you can get up close and personal with SK1-73, SK1-88, SK2, XK3 and Leslie 3300

New! Hammond is launching artist interviews for Hammond TV (H-TV). This month it was live from Church Keyboard Center in Pasadena with Hammond artists Gary Swan (Etta James) and Robby Robinson (Frankie Valli) joined by Emiko handling the interviews.
Don't miss the next Hammond workshop at CKC

Hammond Workshop With Gary Swan (Etta James)
Sat. July 26, 2014
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Church Keyboard Center, Pasadena CA
Free, but you must register here

This hands-on workshop takes you through the basics of playing voices from all the divisions in the SK keyboards: tone wheel, acoustic piano, electric piano, keyboard, wind, other, and library. Learn how to use the main features available to get the sound you want: equalizer, setting favorites (presets), the digital Leslie, chorus/vibrato controls, and navigating menus.

SK1/73, SK1/88 and SK-2 keyboards will be featured and available to play.

www.churchkeyboard.com & www.studioexpresso.com

2295 E Foothill Blvd Pasadena CA 911107

New Faces of A&R

Katy Perry announced the launch of her label, Metamorphosis Music
last week.
It's a joint venture with her current label, Capitol Records.

The first to sign with Perry's label is pop singer Ferras, who released his Perry executive-produced EP this month. The five-song self-titled effort includes the track "Legends Never Die," which features Perry. Ferras will join Perry for the North American leg of her Prismatic World Tour, which kicked off June 22 in Raleigh, North Carolina. It wraps Oct. 11 in Houston.

Perry and Ferras met in 2007 when they were both signed to Capitol.

Capitol is one of many labels under Universal Music Group, home to Def Jam and Republic Records. Perry recently dropped her latest video, "Wide Awake," and her new 3D concert film, Katy Perry; Part of Me 3D will hit theaters on July 5th. "I write because it's a necessity," says Ferras. Stream Ferras EP: Speak in Tongues

Luis Navarro, is an independent A&R & Music Manager, who recently left his A&R position at RedZone Music and Epic Records to pursue his own endeavors. Luis has been in the industry for about 9 years and has an impressive resume having worked with artists such as Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Heavy D, Katy Perry, Ciara, Rihanna, Future, Justin Bieber, and Snoop Dogg just to name a few. He's also worked under executives LA Reid and Tricky Stewart. Navarro favors the LA rock band Hudson. "They're a rock band out of LA doing some great stuff. They just did a residency at the Viper Room for two months," says Navarro. Hudson specializes in concept albums. Each album is written and recorded over the course of a musically immersive seven days, and tells a unique story. Artists can send submissions to sendluismp3s@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@itsluisn

Chris Anokute is a music business entrepreneur, specializing in artist management, publishing, independent A&R, production, and business development. While at Capitol Records, he oversaw the A&R for Katy Perry, Joss Stone and Priscilla Renea. He worked at the Universal Music Group from 2011 through 2013, and held Senior Vice-President of A&R roles at Universal Motown Records & Island Def Jam Music Group. He's Founder of a new venture, Young Forever Inc and Anokute's new artist priority is Bebe Rexha. On March 21, 2014, Bebe released her first single from her debut album, "I Can't Stop Drinking About You", via Warner Bros. Records "She's the X Factor with a capital X. She has pure star power and the potential to be one of the biggest names in music," says Anokute who lists brokering the deal for Rihanna's debut single, "Pon De Replay" in 2005 as his big break. "If I feel something, I respond. It's that simple. It doesn't take a long time to affect someone's energy in a positive way. It can be the tone of voice, the lyrics, the song, or the overall "sound," he adds.

Apple 4 Salonen

When the former music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic won the prestigious Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition from Northwestern University and received a cool $100,000 cash, Esa-Pekka Salonen did not know that Apple was listening. The prize honors a contemporary composer's body of work which will make his works performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the 2015-16 season. Most of us have seen the vids starring Salonen that give the Apple brand a boost, with results that have gone nearly viral!

The videos are produced elegantly...in the tradition of Apple's distinguished history of television propaganda. This is creativity in marketing with a capitol C. Watch this clip or this and tell me you don't want to grab an IPad Air and begin composing! There's an upside beside selling IPads. The ads are doing more for classical music today by exposing young people to the power and passion of music. Like Robbin Williams' line from Dead Poet Society: "That the powerful play goes on and that you may contribute a verse. What would your verse be?"
Viva music and Apple marketing!

Music for The Most Popular Sports Event on the Planet

Advertisers have a delima when it comes to a world-wide event like Soccer World Cup games. The sport has only two 45-minutes halves breaks and is played mostly straight through. Additionally, soccer is a global event, so it's hard to make TV ads that translate across cultures. As a result, brands -- both official sponsors and those that just want to capitalize on the event -- increasingly are using music to get the world's attention.

Danone's Activia yogurt teamed up with Shakira to update her wildly popular 2010 World Cup Song "Waka Waka," about Africa, with a Brazil-centric video for "La La La." Coca-Cola made a song in English, "The World Is Ours," and then created 32 local versions, each sung by a local artist in the native language. And Beats by Dre launched a splashy five-minute video, The Game Before the Game, which shows soccer stars like Neymar Jr. and many others preparing for game time by listening to "Jungle" by Jamie N Commons and the X Ambassadors. May the music force be with you!

Destination Vegas

New Trend Favors Studios: Younger demographic Prefer DJs over Gambling

Calvin Harris at Hakkasan, Las Vegas

Get into the summer groove with some fresh new tunes from your favorite artists like Carnage, Flosstradamus, Steve Aoki and many more. And where there's party, there will be drinks, music and recording studios!

According to Nightclub & Bar magazine, Sin City Vegas is home to 7 of the 10 top-grossing bars in the U.S. And it has become a laboratory for all things innovative and interactive in the $20 billion industry. Take the 72-year-old Steve Wynn who may be the reason that event titans like Insomniac and ID&T are now competing with casinos for patrons. Less gambling and more entertainment is what the younger demographic is demanding. Wynn Resorts has built a recording studio on the grounds for its DJs, who can earn $400,000 a night mixing music for 9,000 clubgoers. Just look at who's played there recently: Deadmau5, Avicii, Steve Aoki, Dada Life, Calvin Harris, Tiesto, Diplo, Cazzette and Steve Angello.
Calvin Harris (right top) is an award-winning DJ and record producer, has risen to stardom in the electronic and dance music scene from his collaborations with hit recording artists including Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Dizzee Rascal.

The idea for a studio was hatched two years ago when Afrojack's (right bottom) asked for a studio. For a guy who gives away two tix and gets 27,000+ likes on his facebook, Wynn workers listened! They created a temporary makeshift studio where Afrojack and Aoki cut the hit song "No Beef." The new studio will benefit not only DJs but also the hotel's collaboration with Ultra Records. Ultra has released a few compilation albums through the Wynn clubs.

Mr Wynn's EDM empire has grown to include compilation albums, podcasts, and a slate of more than 40 exclusive DJ partnerships - not to mention the top-grossing venue in the country - XS, at $80-90 million.

Studio at the Palm (above) was the first major studio in Vegas over a decade ago. Designed by studio architect Francis Manzella, an 8,000-square-foot recording studio is a multi-million dollar full-service experience where you can work or play 24 hours a day. According to manager Zoe Thrall (formerly of Avatar in NY), some of the biggest names in music have recorded their biggest hits at The Palm. Outside the studio, the Palm offers the 2,500 seat Pearl Theater where you can purchase tickets to see Lion Fight on Jul 4 or hear Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Los Lonely Boys on Aug 1.

Art of Kasai & B
Keiko Kasai and Mr Bonzai are familiar names to the recording industry world. a couple brought together by art.
She is a graduate of Miyagi University in Sendai, Japan. Kasai is well known for her granite sculptures exhibited in Japan and America, with numerous works in permanent collections around the world. Her new work is a diametric departure from the densest of stone to the lightest of new modern materials

He is a graduate of the University of California at Irvine, where he studied drawing with Via Celmins and David Hockney, sculpture with Tony Delap and John McCracken. An award-winning photographer, Mr Bonzai has been creating portraits of the same model for 30 years. Could it be his muse Keiko?! Thirty years ago, writer/photographer Mr. Bonzai (David Goggin) and sculptor Keiko Kasai met by chance at an art opening in Los Angeles. "I bumped into her," says Mr. Bonzai.

Now for the first time their works were publicly shown together in Los Angeles at Salomon Huerta Studio Gallery in Eagle Rock. Guests enjoyed the exhibit and reception on June 15. Here's a nice article by KCET's Artboud writer Liz Ohanesian

RIP - Horace Silver

9.2.28 - 6.18.14

Horace Silver formed the Jazz Messengers with drummer Art Blakey in 1953, then left to form his own group The Horace Silver Quintet. He'll be remembered as an innovative and prolific jazz pianist best known for such pieces as "Song for My Father" and "The Preacher." Listen to Let's Get to Nitty Gritty, the autobiography of Horace Silver.

Silver is survived by his son, Gregory.

"To Create Something that has not existed before."

---Esa Peka on Composing

Like Fashion, Music expresses your bold style. Enjoy

Valentino Spring/Summer collection 2014 for men where bold patterns rule!

Make music news and share with studioexpresso community of over 24,000 subscribers. Happy Independance Day America!

Music Lives & Moves...until next month, enjoy the fireworks!

Claris Sayadian-Dodge, Founder I Editor studioexpresso

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Daking With Glassman

John F Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, MA, May 22, 2011. The Library was presenting its annual Profiles In Courage Awards. Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 2011 Inductee Darlene Love performed with her band at the close of the ceremony. L-R: Rosie Glassman, Darlene, Andy Burton, Caroline Kennedy and Seth Glassman (music director and Rosie's Dad)

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Ben Lilly of ATC

The Tube-Tech Team from Denmark: John Petersen (L) Jesper Bo Nielsen (R)

Brad Lunde with Dave Hill

Session with St Paul via Skype Producer Leiber (R) and arranger Fischer (L) getting immediate feedback from
the artist

Jack White
LAZARETTO
Thirdman Records

11 songs and a whole lot of surprises!

What's an ULTRA LP?

- 180 gram vinyl

- 2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels

- 1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM, one plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record

- Side A plays from the inside out

- Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for "Just One Drink" depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.

- Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record

- Both sides end with locked grooves

- Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format

- Absolutely zero compression used during recording, mixing and mastering (Bob Ludwig).

- Different running order from the CD/digital version

- LP utilizes some mixes different from those used on CD and digital version
Our favorite:

- Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record

Jack White's Lazaretto ULTRA LP on Thirdman Records has sold over 40,000 copies in the US, the biggest first-week vinyl sales since Soundscan began tracking sales data in 1991. In addition to appearing on Conan, Jack is happy to announce a second show added at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA on August 22nd.
"We were pleased to provide Hammond's new Leslie 3300 for JW's dates in Los Angeles," says Nelson Dodge of CKC.

Hammond Workshop

7.26.14

11am-1pm

Church Keyboard Center

Pasadena

register here

The new Bock 407 in stock & shipping this month

Find them at Trans Audio Group

US List Price: $7,175.00 US MAP Price: $6,795.00Bock

TransAudio Group, U.S. distributors for ATC UK, introduces the ATC SCM20PSL MkII near-field reference monitor

The passive ATC SCM20PSL MkII improves upon the previous ATC six-inch two-way passive and is ATC's smallest and least expensive monitor in the ATC Professional line up. Built to the same exacting standards as its active Pro Range siblings, the SCM20PSL MkII is ideal for those already using passives but seeking a new level of resolution in a compact passive package. They are ideally suited for critical near-field applications or smaller rooms.

"ATC is well-known for designing and building studio monitors that are unflinchingly truthful and that help engineers deliver mixes that translate everywhere," said Brad Lunde, president of TransAudio Group. "ATC founder, Billy Woodman, and his team of R&D engineers never tire in the pursuit of perfection, and our request for a smaller monitor has led them to develop the SCM20PSL Pro MkII." The ATC SCM20PSL MkII is based around the ATC 6.5-inch "Super Linear" LF driver with integrated midrange, utilizing the same ATC developed SL technology used in our larger nine-, twelve- and fifteen-inch based monitors. The SCM20PSL MkII is the first professional product to incorporate ATC's brand new in-house built ATC Dual Suspension 25mm tweeter. Five years in development, the new ATC Tweeter offers lower distortion, higher output and greater reliability. A newly ATC designed/built passive Crossover has been incorporated combining second and third order features to offer improved imaging and precision, comparing favorably to our active designs. Exceptionally neutral output extends across the audible spectrum and within an all-new cabinet design, minimizing size and weight. "Given the excellence of previous designs, these advantages lead to a substantive improvement in passive speaker technology," concluded Lunde.

Star DJs like Harris and Afrojack are attracting major artists who demand recording studios in Vegas

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Concert Variations on
"The Star Spangled Banner" Composer/Arranger: Dudley Buck / Lee
Organist: Jung-A Lee

Listen here (2nd track)

First published in 1886 for organ, this romantic period piece based on a tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith provides an entertaining tour of the tonal variety available in the Infinity organ, including some of the non-organ voices. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889, and by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931, which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Sacred Heart Chapel, on the campus of Loyola Marymount University, is an ideal acoustic for an organ with approximately four seconds of reverberation. This Rodgers Infinity 361 installation features an eight-channel main audio system located behind the cross, a two-channel antiphonal and two-channel trumpet en chamade both at the rear of the nave.

These recordings were engineered by Ron Streicher using a pair of microphones positioned between the altar and the cross, and a pair of microphones in the middle of the nave to capture the room ambiance/reverberation. The recordings were mixed live and capture the natural sound of the organ in Sacred Heart Chapel.

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