Philosophy

I've been giging since 1965 and recording since 1968. Growing up in Woodstock, N.Y., thru the '60's and '70's, I was exposed to a very wide variety of musical styles. The local writers were Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Band. The local sax player was David Sanborn. The local Harp player was Paul Butterfield. Local bands were Orleans (Still The One, Spring Fever), The Full Tilt Boogie Band (Janis Joplin's band for the Pearl album), Full Moon (Buzz Feiten, Neil Larson), The Fabulous Rhinestones (Kal David, Harvey Brooks), Stuff (Richard Tee,Eric Gale, Steve Gadd). (Kal David, Artie Traum, John Hall and Larry Hoppen, Buzz Feiten are the men who had the most influence on the developement of my personal style of guitar playing. They're the ones who set the bar as to what it takes to be a pro. Always sing and play your ass off, always. Write your own tunes. If you play a cover song, make your own version.) Local jazz players were Warren Bernhart -piano, Michael Mainieri -vibes, Jack Dejonette -drums. Acoustic music; Happy and Artie Traum, Billy Faire, Loudon Wainright III, Folks from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band; Geoff and Maria Muldar, Bill Keith and Jim Rooney, Amos Garrett. Lots more. Not bad for a little Catskill Mountain town of 3,500 people.

Yes, I have a philosophy when it comes to recording.

First off, "Good enough" isn't good enough. I'd much rather spend an extra 1/2 hr. now, getting the track right, than have the client kick themselves in the backside 3 months down the line, because they didn't. Penny wise, pound foolish.

Secondly, If you need a project DONE in 3 days for a meeting that may change your life, we'll work all night. If not, "Day Rates" are a rip off for everyone but the studio owner. I would rather work 6 hrs. or so and send everyone home to come back fresh the next day. 8+ hour days fry the engineer, the musicians and the client. The owner doesn't care, because he's not usually there. If the music doesn't have the energy to reach out of the speakers and grab you, what have you really accomplished?

Gear. We're in a transitional phase in recording technology. Everybody has their opinion about Analog vs. Digital, Computer vs. Tape, P.C. vs. Mac. Want a better sound? Get a better Mic. Get a better guitar. Find a drummer who can tune his drums. Get a better console. Get a better engineer.

Honestly, it is more important what you record thru, than what you record to. The editing capabilities of digital world are awesome, the sound isn't. We use tube and analog gear to record thru and again to mix thru, for the best of both worlds. A mediocre mic to 2" tape will not sound better than a good mic and pre to digital, neither will sound good if mixed by a mediocre engineer. Be careful, every weenie with an Adat or a computer is calling themselves an "Engineer" these days. Mixing a 2" analog project thru a cheap digital console and bad monitors is counter productive and a waste of money.

Musicians. If you need musicians, I have a bunch that I call, (check out the Testimonials page) depending on what the client needs, who have proved that they show up on time, with great gear, chops, and attitude and some of what I call "Fire in the Belly". The musicians who did not exibit all those characteristics were just not invited back. Pretty simple, huh?

Pianos. All pianos are not created equal. There's nothing quite like the allure of a big beautiful acoustic piano. Unfortunately, just because a studio has an acoustic piano, doesn't mean it's in good repair, doesn't mean it's in tune ($200), doesn't mean it's mic'd properly, doesn't mean the engineer can record it well. These days we use real nice weighted 88 key controllers, and William Coakley's beautifully sampled Steinways. The truth is, at our price range it's hard to find a studio with a piano that sounds and feels this good.

We keep our overhead low so Clients who can afford to pay $100-150/hr. don't have to, and Clients who can't afford it, still have a chance to get real good work done. That works for me, I hope it works for you.