Days of the New working on a studio album. Myles Mangino is pictured second from left.
When Myles Mangino, production manager/lighting designer/audio recordists, is not on the road with The Pixies, he’s ensconced in his studio, Planet of Sound, which he founded. A full-featured, world-class recording facility located in downtown Hartford, Conn., Planet of Sound is located in a 150-year-old building that was once a headquarters for car dealerships in the 1930s. Studio construction began in July of 1998, with Mangino maintaining the historic natural brick of the building’s walls to create a unique sound diffusion quality. Since its opening on Halloween of that year, the studio has hosted numerous national (including The Scorpions, Days of the New, Nickelback and Dave Navarro) and regional recording artists and live music broadcasts for local rock radio station 106.9 WCCC.
Tesla performing for a 106.9 live broadcast
The 20×18-foot control room houses a Digidesign/Focusrite Control|24 board (in an Argosy mainframe) with 16 Class-A Focusrite mic preamps; recording is to Pro Tools|HD3 (128 audio tracks, up to 24-bit/192k). Also in stock are a Digidesign 192 interface (with 16 analog inputs), an extensive plug-in collection, Mac G4 with 22-inch flat-panel cinema display, numerous pieces of outboard gear (including a TC Electronic M3000, Avalon VT737SP, Grace Model 101, Symetrix SX202, dbx 160Sl and 1046, and FMR Audio RNC1773. Mangino monitors on Yamaha NS10M, Alesis Monitor Two, JBL Control 5 and Tannoy Active AMS 12. Inside the mic closet are numerous models from Neumann, AKG, Sennheiser and Shure, in addition to Countryman DIs.
The studio also features a main live room (20×22 feet) with an adjacent isolated live room (12×20 feet) that looks into the main room via glass doors, and an iso booth.
For more information, visit www.planet-of-sound.com.
—Sarah Benzuly
