Producer Justin Meldel-Johnsen Helms Follow-up to Smash Debut: “Habits”

Pictured in Ocean Way’s renowned Studio B are (L-R) Justin Meldal-Johnsen, producer; Christopher Allen, guitar; Branden Campbell, bass; Elaine Bradley (holding “Caramel”), drums; Tyler Glenn, vocals; Wesley Seidman, assistant engineer; Greg Collins, engineer. Photo by David Goggin.

Neon Trees is recording their sophomore album at Ocean Way Recording, following the smash success of their debut CD, “Habits.” The new as-yet-untitled album is being helmed by producer and bass player Justin Meldel-Johnsen, known for his work with Beck, Nine Inch Nails, and Garbage. Recorded by Greg Collins, the band is comprised of Christopher Allen, guitar; Branden Campbell, bass; Elaine Bradley, drums; and Tyler Glenn, vocals.

Neon Trees received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the rock band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records and released more

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Tucked away in East Vancouver, Saga Recording recently completed a new facility that offers high-end equipment in a comfortable and inspiring environment for creating music. Saga Recording is known for providing a cost-effective haven for singer-songwriters and groups to fine-tune their craft and tell their story. When a growing client roster made it necessary to build a dedicated studio space, owner/operator Michael Nowak envisioned a Russ Berger-designed studio that would fit in the sweet spot between large multi-room facilities and small project rooms. more

Streamlined Studio Based Around Dangerous Music Equipment Offers Artistic Freedom & Quality Sound

Duncan Sheik at his Sneaky Studios in Upstate New York

EDMESTON, NY – September 30, 2011 - Renowned recording artist and composer Duncan Sheik has outfitted his Upstate NY studio with Dangerous Music’s analog summing, monitor control and DAC, installing the Dangerous 2-Bus, Monitor ST and DAC ST. Sheik and his long-time engineer Michael Tudor now get all the key ingredients of an exceptional analog signal path, but without the constant console maintenance, thrills of surprise downtime, unknown noises and creativity-ending problems often associated with older analog console-based studios. Now it’s all about clean, clear signal where they can control the sonic flavors with choices of mics and outboard gear. Through careful design and the ease of use of Dangerous Music equipment, Sheik’s studio is always, and instantly, ready to record a new song, or music for a Broadway-bound musical, and always at the highest quality. more

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 2011: Reel FX Creative Studios is an award-winning animation studio (Katy Perry, Rihanna, Audi, Looney Toons, Watchmen, et al.) with production facilities in Dallas, Texas and Santa Monica, California. Recently, Reel FX Creative Studios repurposed a space at its Santa Monica location to build a new 3D editing suite. The company called on industry veterans Bruce Black and Charles Pell, both members of the Motion Picture Academy with well over half a century in the business between them, to design and install the audio monitoring section in the suite. The duo have worked at such heavy-hitter studios as HBO, Light Iron Digital, Larson Sound, and others. Black has also worked for Skywalker Sound, director Michael Mann, and film mixer Paul Massey.

Citing its flexibility, high-end fidelity, and competitive price point, Black used a Symetrix SymNet Solus 8 to route, level, and condition output to more

20th Anniversary Album from Mega Successful R&B Group

Pictured at Marsh Mastering in Hollywood are (L-R) mastering engineer Stephen Marsh, Wanya Morris, and executive producer Rex Rideout. Photo by David Goggin.

Boyz II Men, one of the most successful R&B groups in music history, have mastered their new 20th Anniversary collection at Marsh Mastering in Hollywood. Mastering engineer Stephen Marsh finalized “TWENTY,” which contains 12 new songs and 8 re-recorded and updated versions of the group’s famous hits, including “End of the Road” and “I’ll Make Love to You.”

“We started with a pure love for music, so to be here 20 years later still doing what we love has been a pure blessing,” bandmember Wanya Morris explained. “Hearing it all come together at Marsh Mastering has been really cool. It’s a more

45th Anniversary Celebrations Rock Venerable Studio

Pictured at Ardent Studios in the the new Studio C control room are (L-R) chief technical engineer Chris Jackson, founder John Fry, and studio manager/Big Star drummer Jody Stephens. Photo by Don Perry.

As the touchstone of its 45th Anniversary, Memphis’s legendary Ardent Studios has completely remodelled the control room of Studio C and installed a Duality console from Solid State Logic. The studio’s prized workhorse Neve V 40 x 40 console has been decommissioned and resides as a classic sidecar to accompany the state-of-the-art Duality, giving Ardent the best of both vintage and new.

“The musical energy at Ardent and in Memphis is really inspiring,” said studio manager Jody Stephens. “We have a video competition, a special series of 48-hour marathons more

Industry pro is adept at radio, television, music and film
Verbatim Studios announced this week the hiring of mixer Micah Kovacs. Formerly of Pink Noise, Kovacs has nearly a decade of experience editing, mixing, engineering and sound designing in almost every medium.

After graduating from SUNY Albany, Kovacs interned at Hungry Man in New York and spent time as an assistant at 3 Fingered Louie. At Pink Noise, he was swiftly promoted to Chief Audio Engineer, where he worked with clients including Doritos, Chevrolet, Amp, and Visa, and almost every major advertising agency: BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA\Chiat\Day, Wieden+Kennedy, and many more. Along with commercial television and radio, Kovacs also tackled projects in new media as well as short films and industrials.

Kovacs studied art and digital video in college. Initially interested in editing but propelled more

Radio ads deploy comedy, song to advance restaurants’ “Wings, Beer, Sports” experience for football season

New York creative agency Oink Ink and advertising agency 22squared recently completed production on two national radio spots, “Where Would You Rather” and “Kid in a Candy Store,” for national sports bar and grill Buffalo Wild Wings®. Created for the 2011-2012 football season and airing nationally this month, these ambitious ads represent two energetic takes on the reasons to experience football season at Buffalo Wild Wings.

“Kid In a Candy Store” required the complete re-imagining of the classic tune “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The hilarious spot shows how an average afternoon at the office is turned upside down when two regular guys decide to go Tablegating™ at Buffalo Wild Wings. With the help of a wacky server, all their beer-downing, wing-eating, football-watching fantasies are fulfilled.

“Casting this spot was tricky,” said Dan Price, director, Oink Ink Radio. “We needed actors who sounded like regular, football-loving guys who knew comedy and could carry a tune, and we were pleased with the final results.”

In “Where Would You Rather,” another regular guy chooses the Buffalo Wild Wings® in-restaurant Tablegating™ experience over a day of game-watching in his living room. This spot also demonstrates Buffalo Wild Wings® is the place to be all football season long – or any time of the year – for wings, beer and sports.

With creative direction from 22squared, Oink sister studio Verbatim Studios cast the project from talent pools in both New York and Los Angeles. To create the instrumental arrangement, Oink enlisted composer Jeff Lodin, and Verbatim’s Conor Murphy recorded the vocals and mixed the track under the direction of Lodin and Oink’s Dan Price.

“Oink’s expertise makes them an ideal partner for radio advertising,” added Karen Walton, producer, 22squared. “In this instance, they were able to help us bring Buffalo Wild Wings’ Tablegating™ experience to life.”

You can listen to the “Kid In a Candy Store” spot here.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – SEPTEMBER 2011: Jamey Lamar is the classical recording engineer and producer at the helm of boutique audio services company Art Music Recording. Lamar received his undergraduate training at the Cleveland Institute of Music and went on to earn a postgraduate degree from the University of Memphis before wending his way to the Intermountain West with wife and violist Dr. Linda Kline Lamar. Boise, Idaho serves as the unlikely hub for Lamar’s on-location recording service. Lamar travels the country to effect stunningly vivid live and session recordings for clients such as The IRIS Orchestra, Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Carpe Diem String Quartet, the Poulenc Trio, and American Public Media’s Performance Today, to name a few. Lamar was an early adopter of the best-in-class FireWire interfaces from Metric Halo, and the company’s top-of-the-line ULN-8 mic-pre/AD/DA currently forms the heart of his more

As part of an on-going refurbishment programme to mark its 10th anniversary, Sphere Studios in London has added a Prism Sound/Maselec MEA-2 analogue equalizer and a Prism Sound/Maselec MLA-2 analogue compressor to its extensive range of equipment.

Designed for recording and mastering applications where ultimate sonic performance and musicality are required, the stereo or 2-channel MEA-2 and MLA-2 provide a transparent signal path and fully-stepped controls for precision and repeatability for all parameters.

Sphere Studios owner Franc Cameli says: “I was looking for an alternative to strap across the mix bus of our consoles and my search led me to look at mastering insert management systems. Having found the item I required, all I needed was to find the best possible processing to insert over our mixes.�

Sphere Studios already has a large investment in Prism Sound equipment – more