John Baccigaluppi
Panoramic House is a personal recording studio and vacation home owned by John Baccigaluppi and Bobby Lurie, located on the western Marin County coastline north of San Francisco. The duo, who also own and operate The Dock in Sacramento, Calif., and Mavericks in New York City, renovated the historic 1960s structure, which was built entirely from recycled architectural materials salvaged from the Bay Area. Now, Panoramic House is celebrating its first year of operation with equipment relocated from Baccigaluppi’s former recording studio, The Hangar, which includes his recently expanded API 1608.
When the five-year-old 1608 moved to Panoramic House, it was expanded to 32 channels to accommodate the studio’s 16- and 24-track analog tape decks. “With more analog tracks, we needed more console real estate,” says Baccigaluppi. “The 1608 has served me very well. I love that it has the same API circuitry that runs its large-format consoles. Eight aux sends and eight groups paired with the modular 500-series slots make it a very versatile board. We have a lot of EQ flavors, including a handful of API 550As, 550Bs, and 560s.
“Panoramic House is definitely analog-centric,” he continues. “The first console I ever worked on was an API 2488 at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and I love that the 1608 continues in that tradition. Moreover, clients are always impressed. API is a trusted name in the industry.”
Panoramic House has already been host to several big-name indie bands, including My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses and Thee Oh Sees. “It’s funny,” Baccigaluppi concludes, “that most of the vacation renters come to town during the summer when it’s foggy to the point that you feel like you’re in a cloud. Conveniently, most musicians are touring during the summer. The other three seasons are lovely, and that’s when most musicians want to settle in and create. Plus, that’s when the surfing is the best!”
