LONDON BRIDGE STUDIO, SEATTLE
Star Anna was in the studio with producer Mike Clink and engineer Geoff Ott. The band tracked live in the room to Pro Tools at 96k. The vocal mic was an AKG C414XLS, as was the outside kick drum; AKG 451s were used for the overheads and hats. The Neve desk with 1081 mic preamps were used for all microphones. Reference monitors were JBL M2 loudspeakers tuned by Peter Chaikin…Gabriel Wolfchild (contestant on The Voice) worked on new material, with Eric Lilavois producing and engineering. The project was tracked to 2-inch on the Studer A872. Coles 8048s were used as drum overheads (lightly compressed through the Neve console’s 2254 E’s), the vintage KM 56 in omni floating just over the kick drum next to the snare, vintage 414s on all the toms, a U 47 as a mono room (through the Retro Sta Level), and vintage U 87s as stereo far rooms. They also wrapped an AEA R84 in a blanket and used it as a kick In. Standup bass was tracked using the Wunder U67, and guitars were tracked using a combination of the Royer R-121, large condensers and various vintage ribbon microphones (all summed down to two mono channels). Vocals were recorded through the U 47, and it was mixed on the SSL AWS-900 in Studio C…Amadon worked on new material, with Jonathan Plum producing and engineering, and Kelly Gray mixing. Basic tracks were recorded live in the studio’s big room with minimal baffling and no headphones to capture maximum live feel…Windowpane worked on new material, with Brett Eliason producing and engineering. Material was tracked to analog Studer A872…London Bridge is also getting a massive revamp from producers/owners Jonathan Plum, Geoff Ott, and Eric Lilavois. Plans are in place for a completely redesigned lounge, kitchen and new event space, combined with the restoration of the studio’s classic 1974 Neve 8048 console (which is nearly complete).
ORBIT AUDIO, SEATTLE
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were working on new material with studio owner/engineer/producer/musician Joe Reineke (who engineered). Lewis produced the project…Orbit Audio hosted the Seattle listening party for The New Basement Tapes’ Lost on the River (produced by T Bone Burnett)…Vance Joy worked on Dream Your Life Away, with Ryan Hadlock producing and engineering…Jason Sees worked on new material, with Reineke producing and engineering (Alex Willson also engineered)…Madness Blooms was in the studio, with Terry Mattson producing and engineering…Fast Nasties worked on an upcoming album, with Reineke producing and engineering…The studio also added new gear, including Burl Mothership converters, Swarmatron synth, Therevox synth, UnFairchild 670 compressor, Blue Mo-Fi headphones, Electro-Voice RE 20 mic, and Sugar Percussion snare drum.
CLOUD CITY SOUND, PORTLAND, ORE.
Co-chief engineer Jordan Richter recently returned to Portland after working in Brooklyn, N.Y. He has been working at Cloud City with artists Needtobreathe, Matt Morris, and Young Elk…The studio recently added co-chief engineer David Streit to the in-house recording staff. Streit brings years of engineering expertise from Nashville and Northern California…Engineer Justin Phelps has recently recorded artists Poison Idea, Fruition, and The Roseland Hunters…Studio owner Rick McMillian and Phelps have been mastering albums and singles for regional artists and record labels in Cloud City’s mastering room, including Volume Bomb Records, Fruition and Grant Farm, Michael Allen Harrison, Liquid Light and Left Coast Country…Cloud City also added a matched pair of UREI Little Dippers for highpass filtering from a Studer A820 ½-inch tape machine for vinyl mastering. They are integrated into the analog mastering chain by way of a Manley Mastering Backbone, along with the studio’s GML and Manley mastering compressors and EQs. Conversion is handled via a Burl Audio B2 Bomber.
SUPERNATURAL SOUND, OREGON CITY, ORE.
Tango Alpha Tango recorded an upcoming full-length LP on the Studer A800 2-inch deck with producers David Pollock and Nathan Trueb, engineered and mixed by Pollock…Jackie Greene recently tracked his forthcoming LP with producer Steve Berlin, engineered by Jeff Saltzman…Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons tracked their forthcoming LP with producers Dave Schools and Pat Kearns, with Pollock.
ELECTROKITTY, SEATTLE
Vocals and guitars for Sleater Kinney’s No Cities To Love album were recorded with producer John Goodmanson and head engineer GG Reynolds, using a vintage Neumann M 49 for vocals…Noah Gundersen mixed his forthcoming album with mix engineer Phil Ek…Echosmith recorded vocal tracks for Zedd’s song “Illusion” with producer Jeffrey David and engineer Reynolds, using a vintage Neumann U 47 FET for vocals…Kid Ink recorded vocals for a remix of Omi’s “Cheerleader,” with Reynolds engineering. Used a vintage Neumann U 47 FET through Neve 1073 into 1176 and LA-2A…Balancer recorded and mixed “Waves Remain” and “Clarity,” with Reynolds producing and engineering. Drums were recorded through an Otari MX-70 1-inch 8-track tape machine.
BLACK DIAMOND RECORDING STUDIOS, PORTLAND, ORE.
Revolution Saints (classic rock supergroup featuring Deen Castronovo of Journey, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, and Doug Aldrich of Whitesnake) recently tracked new material with producer Alessandro Del Vecchio and engineer Matt Jefferson. Used an AKG C414 through a Manley Voxbox and Distressor on Castronovo’s vocals…Andrea Vasquez recorded new material, with producer Jason Mater and engineer Matt Jefferson…Marca Luna recorded their latest EP, with Jefferson producing and Christopher Ficht and Andrew Shartle engineering (Jefferson also engineered)…Mortified Mortician (featuring Kyle Castronovo) recorded and mixed their latest record, with Jefferson and Jared P. Scott producing and Jefferson, Ficht and Shartle engineering…Jet Force Gemini recorded and mixed their debut full-length record, with Jefferson producing and engineering…Never Awake recorded and mixed their latest album, Jefferson and Never Awake producing and Jefferson, Don Graham and Alex McDonald engineering…For all projects, the studio used the following gear: a DDA AMR24 console, eight channels of Manley Dual Mono pre, a Voxbox, a Drawmer 1969 2-channel pre, and an Avid Pro Tools HDX interface/card with additional eight channels of HD I/O.
DEAD AUNT THELMA’S STUDIO, PORTLAND, ORE.
Pentatonix’s Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola tracked a new project for RCA, with producer by Ben Bram and engineer Matt Greco…Rebecca Kilgore and Susannah Mars recorded Moonshadow Dance, with producers Mike Horsfall and Ellen Vanderslice, and engineer Mike Moore…Damian Erskine recorded Within Sight, with Erskine producing and Greco engineering. Joel Pickard mixed soundtracks for Joe Huber’s film Of Minor Prophets, Towle Neu’s film Heart of Wilderness, and promos for Showtime’s video services. Moore engineered those projects…The studio also installed a new Avid Pro Tools HDX 32-input, 40-output system, and its Solid State Logic 4048E/G console has a new Atomic Instrument power supply.
