Tweet The hilarious, conspicuous, and always the life of the party Reggie Watts graced MetroSonic Studio with the role of recording a song that can undoubtedly be deemed one of a kind. Before moving forward, make note of this one fact: he is a one man band with several members, who happen to look alike [...]
Tweet Has Exciting News to Announce! Renovations on our new live recording space have been completed and the room is ready to rock. Your next session at Metrosonic now has the option of an extra 900 square feet of recording space, directly adjacent to our current control room. With this new studio there is plenty [...]
Tweet MetroSonic Recording Studio braces for second impact as we welcome back the heavy rock group The Damned Things to finish up their overdubs. Rob Caggiano (producer/engineer/guitarist) and Joe Trohman(producer/guitarist), who had just returned to US from their European tour, came back into studio fully loaded with inspiration and musical ideas ready to blow. Since [...]
Tweet MetroSonic Studio braces for impact as we welcome heavy rock group The Damned Things to record their debut album. The Damned Things lineup consists of five industry veterans from such groups as Anthrax, Fall Out Boy, and Every Time I Die. Joe Trohman, Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian lead the way on guitars, and [...]
Good Foot Mix 1 Check this mix & let me know what you think. I have a few versions. I’ll edit together a new one & post it soon.
Maybe music changed or I’m getting older, but there are very few hip hop songs that are not only approved for all ages, but actually good too. Enter “Goodfoot”. This is a song you need to hear, though I will do my best to illustrate it for you. Trust me on this one, you need to hear ”Goodfoot” for yourself.
Think of “Goodfoot” in terms of cocktails. Take “Going to Miami” and “Getting Jiggy With It” (don’t deny it, everyone knows those two tracks) from the late ‘90s. Mix in 2 parts “Hypnotize” and “Hard Knock Life” (again, you know these). When the two pairings are stirred (or shaken) properly, the harshness of the second two and the cheesiness of the first set cancel one another out. The end result is a catchy tune, which is great to hear and sing along to.
Good Foot Mix 1 Check this mix & let me know what you think. I have a few versions. I’ll edit together a new one & post it soon.
Maybe music changed or I’m getting older, but there are very few hip hop songs that are not only approved for all ages, but actually good too. Enter “Goodfoot”. This is a song you need to hear, though I will do my best to illustrate it for you. Trust me on this one, you need to hear ”Goodfoot” for yourself.
Think of “Goodfoot” in terms of cocktails. Take “Going to Miami” and “Getting Jiggy With It” (don’t deny it, everyone knows those two tracks) from the late ‘90s. Mix in 2 parts “Hypnotize” and “Hard Knock Life” (again, you know these). When the two pairings are stirred (or shaken) properly, the harshness of the second two and the cheesiness of the first set cancel one another out. The end result is a catchy tune, which is great to hear and sing along to.
We recently had a truly unique artist come in to record here at Metrosonic. Natalia “The Saw Lady” Paruz is a renowned artist known worldwide for her rare ability to elicit music from an everyday carpenter’s saw. Some of Paruz’s past experiences include working with artists such as John Hiatt and Sarah McLachlan. The sounds of a saw are warbling and ethereal, somewhat similar to a falsetto voice. Paruz plays with careful precision and delicacy, gliding a cello bow across the flat end of the saw while strategically bending it in order to manipulate the pitch. This creates a sound different from most other instruments. Paruz was in the studio recording a short track for an upcoming documentary on environmental awareness, which is expected to be released sometime next year. With Pete and Terry handling the engineering and Paruz sawing away in the live room, it was certainly an interesting session!
We just wrapped up tracking and mixing an EP for local artist Kalae All Day. Kalae is a uniquely gifted singer, rapper & song writer, with a strong presence and a positive message. We had a wonderful experience working with her and her band and look forward to the album release and upcoming shows at the Knitting Factory.
From Left J.T. Bates, Michael Lewis, Andrew Bird, Neal Jensen, Jeremy Ylvisaker
After about three months, we’ve just wrapped up tracking and mixing sessions with singer- songwriter Andrew Bird. A Chicago native, Bird is known for his warm vocal style, characteristic whistling techniques, and unique approach to combining modern treatments to otherwise traditional acoustic instruments. Along with violin, he plays guitar and glockenspiel on this album. Backing up Andrew were members of another mid-west based band known as “Alpha Consumer”, with J.T. Bates on drums, Michael Lewis playing electric bass, and Jeremy on electric guitar. The basic tracks and overdubs were recorded on a combination of 2-inch 16 track tape and digital formats, with all 12 songs mixed onto a half-inch analog tape. Metrosonic’s combination of layout, setting and equipment proved a good compliment to Andrew’s production values. After playing an awesome show opening the Prospect Park summer music season, Andrew Bird is heading north to perform in Vermont then in Canada. He’ll be back to Metrosonic in a few weeks to continue working on his latest upcoming project, so stay tuned for more updates! You can expect Andrew Bird’s newest album to be released sometime early 2012.
One of our favs, Brooklyn based Neon Dynamite just finished up work on “Out of Control”. Pete & Terry spent some time mixing this one, and it was well worth it! Take a listen here: Out of Control final mp3
Holistic’s anticipated new album, ‘Avant Garde’ was just released. We are pleased to say that along with their first effort ‘Technicolor’, it was recorded and mixed at Metrosonic. We’ll be posting some music from it soon so check back with us for a listen. You can watch them recording Blue Dynamite below:
We just wrapped up a round of tracking and mixing with Mattison (Kate Mattison – keyboards & lead vocals, Jay Steinhauer – bass and Angel – drums & vocals). Pete engineered with Terry assisting. The music was great and the band was a real pleasure to work & hang with. I always prefer analog/tape-based projects and this one offers a number of reasons why.
The project is anchored on a foundation of soulful compositions and solid performances, no edits or “comps”. Basic tracks went down smoothly as the band was well rehearsed. In fact, I think every song was recorded in the first or second take. The sparse, organic instrumentation and rich vocals matched up well with our tape based all analog signal path. Mattison came in with a clear idea of what they wanted, got the job done, and we all had a blast in the process! The band focused on their music and let us worry about the rest, a concept I have really come to appreciate over the years. Since everything from basics to mixing was done in house, we were able to maintain a real sense of continuity and preserve the original goal of recording an album with a classic vibe and feel, but also reflecting today’s production standards. From this series of recordings, Mattison is releasing a Christmas single and B-side just in time for the holidays. You can also look forward to the much-anticipated full length LP (all analog, from 2” to the ½” mix to vinyl!) in the New Year. Download at : http://www.myspace.com/mattison
Richard Fearless of Death in Vegas and Black Acid rolled through Metrosonic over Holloween weekend for a sinister tracking session. The voyage spanned three days, and was riddled with unearthly sounds.
Travis Cain Setz (of Von Haze, Black Acid) was in the mix tracking layers of driving guitars;
Shahzad Ismaily (Bonnie Prince Billy, Yoko Ono), writing on the spot. He later unleashed his soul through his four string bouzouki/guitar.
September brought the Joe Donovan Variety Show through our Williamsburg BK recording studio, Metrosonic. This exciting lock-out session prompted the group to track 18 songs with us in a week and a half. There were many moving parts with this act so the action was non-stop. Metrosonic engineer Jon Martinez assisted producer “Bassy” Bob Brockman on the project.
With upwards of 12 members, the Joe Dovonan Variety Show delivered their act with power and conviction. Every member brought something delicious to the table, resulting is an entertaining feast of humor and drama that kept me on the edge of my seat. They describe themselves as “—an original confrontation of sexual morals and societal taboos in the form of a character-driven clown cabaret that happens in real time…”, I describe them as BAD-ASS. JDVS Productions is also actively involved in creating the Bed-Stuy Community Arts center; an artist collective created by artists to serve artists and the community in which they live.
It was truly a pleasure to work with this brilliant group of musicians, actors, singers, and writers.
Thanks Joe and the Show!
Jon M.
To learn more about JDVS check out their website: www.jdvs.com
To Hear The Music!!: http://www.jdvs.com/music.html
This month at Metrosonic Recording studio we are proud to be working with Mother Feather, a fiery five piece power-pop group from Brooklyn. Mother Feather’s new EP will knock ur mother featherin’ heads off ur shoulders!
Standing Left to right: Matt Basile (Bass), Chris Foley (Guitar), Gunnar Olsen(Drums), Steve Wall (Engineer),
Sitting chair to lap: Lizzie Carena (background Vox, Keys), and Ann Courtney (lead Vocals, founding member)
MetroSonic Recording Studio braces for second impact as we welcome back the heavy rock group The Damned Things to finish up their overdubs. Rob Caggiano (producer/engineer/guitarist) and Joe Trohman(producer/guitarist), who had just returned to US from their European tour, came back into studio fully loaded with inspiration and musical ideas ready to blow. Since studio staff were fully prepared to meet their lust for high quality sound and work flow, two cranked up the amp and started to shred those guitars the minute they walked into the studio.
Tracking started off with Joe bashing out the critical rhythm guitar section. Vintage Fender telecaster (in the picture) was plugged into Orange AD30 twin channel amp head, which fed the Orange 4×10. Loads of guitar pedals were summoned for overdubs, which includes Electro-harmonix harmonic octave generator(aka hog), polyphonic octave generator(aka POG), as well as Way Huge Electronics Swollen Pickle Jumbo fuzz pedal, just to name a few.
Next was Rob Caggiano shredding his lead guitar part, and he knows exactly what to do, to get a guitar sound that got “balls”. He played multiple guitars including ESP signature model, which was going into Wizard, Marshall JCM800 amp head, simultaneously feeding Marshall Jubilee 4×10 and Wizard 4×10 cabs. Death By Audio Interstellar Deluxe pedal was inserted whenever extra boost was called for by the song. His mic choice was simple yet effective, using SM57 as a close mic and AT4050 to add a brightness and edge.
This photo was taken by Clay Patrick Mcbride, right before The Damned Things’ first show ever at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory.
MetroSonic Studio braces for impact as we welcome heavy rock group The Damned Things to record their debut album. The Damned Things lineup consists of five industry veterans from such groups as Anthrax, Fall Out Boy, and Every Time I Die. Joe Trohman, Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian lead the way on guitars, and Keith Buckley’s vocals soar as Andy Hurley keeps the beat on drums. For this album, Rob Caggiano also played and recorded all bass parts, along with serving as the record’s engineer and co-producer alongside Joe Trohman. With such a varied and impressive pedigree, we are very excited to play an instrumental role in the realization of The Damned Things’ new sound.
For Rob and Joe, MetroSonic was the easy choice for recording most of the tracks for this album. The studio’s combination of relaxed atmosphere, professional crew, naturally-lit control room and killer vintage gear are features that have made the long process of tracking guitars, bass and vocals an efficient and pleasurable experience. Now that they have been here for two months, it has become one of their favorite studios to work in.
Tracking started off with a sonicly booming bass played by Rob Caggiano. Rob played an ESP Vintage Four bass through a vintage Ampeg SVT that fed an 8 x 10 Ampeg cab. His mic choices were simple yet effective, using a Yamaha Sub-Kick for the low end and a Sennheiser 421 for the rest. Next was a week with Scott Ian bashing out rhythm guitar tracks on various songs. Scott played a few different guitars, including a Gibson V and his signature Jackson SilverBurst. He also played through a selection of amps, mainly a Wizard, a Marshall Jubillee, and his own custom Randall Module, all through the Wizard 4 x 12.
The Damned Things shifted gears as Keith Buckley stepped into the booth to record vocals. Keith showed true musicianship, nailing songs left and right. Now in the final weeks of the recording process, Joe Trohman and Rob Caggiano are shredding their parts to add a tasty thickness to the mix. Among Joe’s extensive guitar collection are three beauties that stand out; a ’72 Telecaster with custom DeMarzio pickups, a stunning custom Zemaitis, and a ’94 Guild. Joe’s choice amp thus far has been his Sunn Model T, running through an Orange 4 x 12 cab giving him the heavy fuzz he craves. Rob’s guitar arsenal is heavy-seated in ESP land. He shreds through his Fryette Deliverance amp into a Fryette 4 x 12 cab and a Wizard amp into a Wizard 4 x 12 cab, simultaneously, creating heavy metal thunder loud enough to make the Gods of Hell cringe.
Stay tuned as The Damned Things wrap up their session at MetroSonic Studios before embarking on a worldwide tour.
Holistic’s latest album “TECHNICOLOR” was another project entirely recorded and mixed at Metrosonic by engineer Jonathan Martinez. Released May 12th on Bungee Black, this project was full of positive energy from the ground up and came together on many a late Brooklyn night, over dubbing vocals, beats and sfx. Mixing with Holistic was a great process; as the group took charge of the production side of the show, Jon contributed a similar production style and Hip Hop ear, and rode the creative wave.
left to right: Rad Nice, Izzy Inferno, and Iron Shiek
The holistic trio, originally from Indiana, have been acquainted since childhood. Brothers Izzy, and Rad, and life time friend Iron Shiek immediately became part of the Metrosonic family. Izzy and the crew brought nothing but positive vibes and determined work ethic, bringing together the final chapters of an excellent DIY Hip Hop story.
The Canadian duo Chromeo are bunkered down at the NYC Recording Studio Metrosonic for a two-month lockout session. P-Thugg and Dave 1 are well known for their “hook-heavy”, soul infused dance music. These guys knock out infectious grooves, attracting appeal from a wide range fans and talented collaborators from DJ A-Trak to Daryl Hall.
Although Chromeo is accustomed to working at their project studio in their home town of Montreal, they decided to make a change and opted for recording their third album at MetroSonic in Brooklyn, NY. The studio’s combination of vintage and state-of-the-art recording equipment always draws a good reaction from experienced musicians and producers. Chromeo enjoys the creative, comfortable setting and the friendly staff has really helped to make this their new home away from home.
Chromeo’s plan for this project included a super analog synth setup that matches well with the killer analog sound that comes out of Metrosonic’s modified Neve 5315 console. The “wall of synths” that keyboardist/bassist P-Thugg brought along for the session consisted of 11 synthesizers, the majority of them being vintage analog synths including a Vocoder, mini Moog, and various versions of the Sequential Circuits Prophet. Drum machines included an old classic Drum Traks, an MPC 1000 and MPC 5000. Chromeo also brought in their own PC, which they use for pre-production and midi, a Les Paul, and a Fender bass.
The goal for the writing/recording process was to be able to track multiple instruments simultaneously at the drop of a dime. Chromeo’s comfort in the control room and ability to move fluidly from station to station were paramount to the productivity of their writing process. It was important for them to have mics like the vintage Neumann UM57 ready to roll, as Dave 1 and P-Thug were constantly coming up with new vocal ideas and harmonies. Because Chromeo chose to lockout the studio, all of the gear has been left set up throughout the process. Every morning they can pick up right where they left off the night before. Since detailed notes were taken on the project set-up, patches and settings, Dave 1 and P-Thugg were able to take a scheduled break in production to perform at the Vancouver Olympics and then come back to Metrosonic without missing a beat.
Dave’s take on the new album: “So on this third album we want it to make it even more sophisticated but the idea is not to make it too serious ever, right? So I think a lot of our songs now are chord progression based and there’s more singing and they’re more complex but we have to keep like a funny sort of funk thing going on. It’s also doing a album that people are gonna listen to it for a long time. People still listen to Fancy Footwork you still hear this song out and about and even when we did night by night, which is gonna be on this record, people are still asking us to remix it so those songs have to sit with our audience for a while.”
P-Thugg and Dave 1 at MetroSonic
(From top to bottom) Sequential Circuit Six-Trak, Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ’08, and Roland HS-60 Synthesizer
(From top to bottom) Moog Minimoog and Korg Mono/Poly
(From top to bottom) Korg Vocoder Plus VP-330 and Korg Trident
We at Metrosonic, had a blast working with Arun from start to finish. His project presented some strong challanges to overcome. We were more than set to approach the challenges of South Indian classical music. We made sure that his project kept the realism of a live performance. He started his project in house, with tracking, and finished with the mastering done at Metrosonic. It was a great experience all around.
“Bhaktavatsalam had his initial tutelage from his maternal uncle Thiruvarur Krishnamurthy and was further groomed by his mother T. R. Anandavalli, herself a talented musician. He has been accompanying a galaxy of musicians on the mridangam for musicians of three generations. ”
“With the combination of their cynical irony …and the hard seriousness that are the fundaments of every song, Deathstars walk the fine line of sophisticated darkness with the always clear and present vibe of sex, guts and horrorish vogue. It is hellish hot stuff, but also entertaining, and somewhat frightening.”
Tracking and mixing with Moby was an incredible experience. This was an experiment of sorts for Moby and a departure from his past works.
His goal for this session was to record everything on the 1st or 2nd take. He wanted capture the raw spontaneity of the performance and not let the recording process get in the way. With Pete Mignola at the helm and Jonathan Martinez assisting, Metrosonic was able to rise to the challenge.
Moby came in on the first day of tracking with only his guitar, a bass and his drummer. He showed true musical talent and dedication by laying down all thirteen tracks with final guitar, bass and drums in one day. We hardly even stopped to listen back, recording straight through, one song after the next. Moby came in the 2nd day to overdub keys, and vocals.
The crew, lead by Pete, did an outstanding job keeping up with Moby’s high pace work ethic by having things ready to roll at the drop of a dime. As a result Moby soared from the Fender Rhodes to the Hammond organ then to the Steinway Upright without even taking a breath. The project was completely tracked and mixed by the end of the third day.
