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Heat Seakers - top 25
The Heat Seekers chart lists the best-selling titles by new and developing artists, defined
as those who have never appeared in the top 100 of The Billboard 200 chart.
production news & trends
studioexpresso music community worldwide
The Concert Hall Café at Disney Hall
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expresso @4pm
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where artists, managers, label, producers... come together!
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your VIP invite or rsvp to [email protected]
Welcome
to January 2005 studioexpresso e-letter!
we're looking forward to a great year ahead and
excited to continue to serve our community of artists, producers/engineers,
labels/managers and studios.
Thanks for your valuable support/input.
Since 2000, studioexpresso's mailing list has grown organically to 15,000
strong -- the number is impressive because we know most of you by first
name!
studioexpresso made some great connection in 04. Whether it be creating
opportunities for artists and musicians for session work, introducing
new artists to labels, film/tv and publishing world or simply finding
the right production team (producer, mixer/egnineer or studio) for your
next album...the dots got connected.
Additionally,
some of you enjoyed great exposure that has generated PR buzz in the form
of reviews and interviews. "expresso 10" countdown
of top 10 new releases on the home page features Grammy winning or chart
topping and late breaking cd's produced by our community who work with
artists to include: Diana Krall, Maroon 5, Brian Wilson, Alejandro
Sanz, Angie Mattson, Grey Delyle...
For submissions, please click here.
Finally,
to handle the growing web site, studioexpresso switched to a new server
in December. Thanks for your patience if you've experienced any broken
link issues during this time. Our goal is to update and grow the info
in the coming year. So, let us know what's on your mind -- Email [email protected]
or call at 818-990-3031 with your feedback/comments. Thank
you for reading and making studioexpresso artists' #1 source for top music
makers.
cheers!
Claris Sayadian-Dodge
studioexpresso
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Mr Bonzai
2004 Edition of the
Recording Industry Sourcebook is out
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Interviews with Top producers from Legendary Studios |
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Michael Schenker's
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"Top flight engineers and high-end pro audio equipment users rarely have time to visit retail outlets or wait on the telephone while inadequately prepared sales people attempt to find the information they need. At the same time, employees at boutique pro audio manufacturers are typically stretched to the limit handling multiple tasks and are not equipped to offer factory-direct sales support to potential or existing customers. To close that critical gap, LasVegasProAudio.com will foster close partnerships that ensure truly professional service and support, the free flow of insider information and extraordinary deals to high-end, working professionals seeking immediate assistance with procuring gear for their projects," says TransAudioGroup CEO, Brad Lunde
So, what are you wiating for? call the good folks at LVPA in FABULOUS Las Vegas, Nevada 702) 365-5155 or to learn more visit Las Vegas Pro Audio web site. Get
your Free Brauner "Inside Story" DVD Each month we will dedicate a section of studioexpresso's eletter to bring you the latest toy offerings, elite LVPA user stories and adventures from the sin city! Soundelux
Goes To The Bake-Off Soundelux provided
sound editorial services for the following two of the seven selected
feature films. RAY (Karen
Baker Landers and Per Hallberg, Supervising Sound Editors); THE
DAY AFTER TOMORROW (Mark P. Stoeckinger and Larry Kemp, Supervising
Sound Editors.
ATC (Acoustic Technology Company) has designed, built, and installed a custom sound reinforcement system at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Although best known as a manufacturer of studio reference monitors, ATC has produced a number of custom sound reinforcement solutions for concert hall and nightclub environments, in this case designing a stage-based setup to overcome imaging problems with the hall's flown sound system. "The sound
that was coming out of the speakers that were suspended high above
the stage was not matching the sound that was emanating from the
stage," explains independent consultant/sound designer, Fred
Vogler. The solution recommended by ATC's founder and technical
director, Billy Woodman, and endorsed by the hall's acoustician,
Yasuhisa Toyota, of Nagata Acoustics in Tokyo, was an onstage, high-quality
speaker system. For more info: SSL's For
Gateway
It is clear
that Paul Reed Smith - a distinguished luthier of high-quality electric
guitars - is very passionate about audio. From building his first
guitar in college to gain class credits, to Riverhouse Studio, Smith's meticulously built and equipped home studio, is full of reminders why he has been so successful. Just like building a quality guitar, successfully capturing and recording music to medium requires great attention to detail. According to Smith, the Daking Mic Pre IV, a recently purchased and integral part of Riverhouse's equipment arsenal, is a wonderful tool for recording as well as a model of superior product engineering. "Basically,
guitar pickups are very sophisticated parametric equalizers and
guitars are harmonic generators," offers Smith while illustrating
the parallels of being a luthier and a pro audio gearhead. "Together,
pickups and guitars build a harmonic signal so naturally. How things
sound have become really important to me. Mic pre-amps are an absolutely
crucial parts of the recording chain. Geoff did a great job in building
his Daking mic pres and that's why I ended up buying them. The Daking
mic pres sound very musical, very pretty. The 'Whoa-worthy' Daking Mic Pre IV is a four-channel 1U unit featuring all discrete transistor circuitry, transformer balanced I/O, and Class A amplifiers. Each channel includes a 20 segment Vu meter, +48V phantom power, 20dB pad, and an output level control before the last gain stage. The Mic Pre IV offers continuously variable gain control, switching with gold bi-furcated contacts throughout, stainless steel construction, and aluminum knobs. A power supply is also included. "If you take an A/D converter, plug it into a D/A, put it in the insert of a channel, and then listen, there should be no difference, right? Well, go listen and hear all the differences!" This auditioning method ultimately led Smith to Apogee Electronics AD-16X and DA-16X converters as well as to a Hammerfall DSP MADI card and ATC monitors. As a result, Smith's console-free, PC-based, Magix Samplitude - running studio rig is both pristine and quick. "Apogee's 16X stuff sounds great and it has a millisecond round trip, so we have a rig with a four millisecond round trip total. That's the equivalent to me listening to my guitar amp from four feet away. It's wonderful." Daking is distributed
by the Transamerica Audio Group, Las Vegas. For more info: Call
or email Brad Lunde
(702) 365-5155 ph.
Miking A
President Presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record former President Bill Clinton in his own home, hsr/ny recording engineers Fernando Ascani and Jeff Hinton had only one question-what microphone to take? Walking into an unknown environment and presented with only a narrow window of opportunity to record the voiceover, the pair chose a Neumann U87 and a Sennheiser MD421.
Managers Irving Azoff and Alejandro Asensi have formed AA Music Management, a joint venture focusing on broadening opportunities for Latin talent in both the Spanish- and English-speaking markets. Initially, AA will handle Latin superstar Luis Miguel, an Asensi client. The company also will seek to heighten the profile of Azoff's client Christina Aguilera in the Latin marketplace. Azoff, whose azoffmusic handles Aguilera and such acts as the Eagles, Jewel, Seal, Van Halen and Babyface, said that Aguilera -- who is recording a Spanish-language album for Sony BMG with arranger Lester Mendes -- can benefit from Asensi's experience in that realm. "Alejandro can help us understand those markets, and we can do the right thing for Christina," Azoff said. He sees similar opportunities for Latin performers like Miguel, who just wrapped the follow-up to his 2003 Warner Music Latina album "33." "I watched the Latin Grammys," Azoff said. "I saw some great artists, and I said, 'Why aren't these people bigger? Why don't I know about them?' ... I think these stars can be bigger than they are." Beyond Miguel and Aguilera, AA plans to keep its talent roster small, at least at first. "We're looking to sign two more acts in the next year," Azoff said. "We've got some ideas, and we've met with some people." AA is establishing
its own offices in the Westwood section of Los Angeles.
Each year the Grammys crown the best in music, and this year, appropriately, they are turning to a queen to host. Queen Latifah will preside over the 47th annual awards show on February 13th. The actress
can also be seen in the film "Beauty Shop." which opens
in March. The movie is a spinoff of the "Barbershop" films.
"This is
really a festival about different voices in film that really reflect,
a little more accurately, the world we live in," he said. The festival, founded in 1981, has showcased successes such as Reservoir Dogs, The Blair Witch Project and The Full Monty. Last year's festival provided a platform for hits such as Open Water, Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State and Super-Size Me. Offerings from this year include feature film The Chumscrubber, an ironic take on life in the American suburbs and documentary Murderball which is about quadriplegic athletes. The festival
is held over eleven days in the mountain resort of Park City, east
of Salt Lake City, which sees its population rise from 7,500 to
45,000 during the festival. If you're not at Park CIty, check out
your Sundance
Channel for screenings. The second annual
Park City Music Festival (pcFMF) will be held in Park City and Salt
Lake City, Utah, January 20-30, 2005. This is the first film festival
in the world singularly recognizing the contribution of composers
and their music to film, and is the first of such festivals in the
Americas. The first major film festival to recognize film music
as part of the awards lineup since 1985 is the Flanders International
Film Festival - Ghent, which currently draws over 80,000 devotees. The World's Fastest...
Sir Anthony
Hopkins and sound mixer Mike Westgate in New Zealand during the
filming of "The World's Fastest Indian" using HHB's
PORTADRIVE location sound recorder. The HHB PORTADRIVE
combines multi-channel 24-bit/96kHz recording on a tough, removable
hard drive, simultaneous recording of rushes to an external drive,
sophisticated on-board mixing, comprehensive timecode facilities
and flexible, session-based file transfer with Mac and PC workstations. NAMM You,
Believe In Music
L-R: JBL's Raul
Gonzales is moonlighting with pals Robert & Rafa who are checking
out Digidesign's
Icon. "Yeah, sure...put me down for few more of those Rivera
amps.: And how about studioexpresso's Claris with the King?
That is, the king of guitars, the one and only Yngwie
Malmsteen who gets the award for the longest line for autographs
at the NAMM show this year!
Bernie Grundman
Mastering Takes 37 Grammy Noms!
Congrats to
Grundman Mastering for celebrating a total of 37 Grammy® nominations
for projects mastered at the facility. Popular rocker
Jack Johnson recently mastered his new Mario Caldato, Jr.-produced
album Between Dreams at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Johnson, known
for his easygoing blues style which incorporates folk and hip-hop
with a rock flavor, is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker
and champion surfer. Engineer/mixer Robert Carranza is widely known
and respected for his work with such artists as Los Lobos and Ozomatli.
The Brushfire Records album is slated for March 1 release. For bookings, contact Bernie Grundman Mastering at 323.465.6264 CMJ Taking
Artist Applications for 2005 A full lineup of concerts will be featured each evening at Cleveland's hottest venues, including House of Blues, the Odeon, Peabody's, Beachland Ballroom, the Agora and the Grog Shop. Back-to-back daytime concerts will also be scheduled on three stages at the Festival Village at Nautica on the West Bank of the Flats in downtown Cleveland. In addition, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will feature a series of educational programs, panel discussions and workshops that will focus on the artistic and economic aspects of today's music scene. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2005, CMJ has produced one of the world's legendary music festivals, CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, since 1981. The Marathon was the first to showcase once up-and-coming bands such as REM, U2, Eminem, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, the Foo Fighters and more recently, the Strokes, Ryan Adams, My Morning Jacket, Jill Scott, Franz Ferdinand, Jet and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. For more details on the CMJ/Rock Hall MusicFest please visit www.cmj.com/rockfest. Band submission:
Tsunami Relief
Beck appeared
at the 'Music For Relief' benefit on January 17 at the Wiltern Theatre
in Los Angeles to help Southern Asia Tsunami victims. Others appearing
include Tenacious D, Will Ferrell, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, &
Eddie Vedder. Director Steven
Spielberg set the pace for Hollywood giving to tsunami victims by
committing a whopping $1.5million to Save
the Children, CARE and Oxfam - topping the $1 million Sandra
Bullock promised. Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera and Tim McGraw signed on for a Jan. 15 benefit broadcast on NBC and its cable cousins MSNBC and USA. George Clooney is helping to line up other celebs for the event. Willie Nelson headlined a benefit concert, "Tsunami Relief Austin to South Asia" on Jan. 9 at the Austin Music Hall. Joining Nelson, who lives on a ranch in Central Texas, were Patty Griffin, Spoon, Joe Ely, Alejandro Escovedo, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis and the Geezinslaws. The rockers of Linkin Park have asked fans to contribute to Music for Relief - and have kick-started the organization with their own $100,000 donation. Sharon Osbourne has upped her commitment to $200,000 from $50,000. Jay Leno is asking his celeb pals to sign a Harley that will be auctioned for victims. Boy George and Cliff Richard have taped a song, "Grief Never Grows Old." Victoria's Secret mannequin Stephanie Seymour and husband Peter Brant were among those who raised $15,000 at a benefit at the Tsunami restaurant in Palm Beach earlier in January. All the acts
donated their talents. Proceeds of ticket sales for the concert
at the 3,000-capacity Music Hall will go to the American
Red Cross, UNICEF
and Doctors
Without Borders. Some of Canada's biggest pop stars are joining forces in Calgary and Vancouver to raise money for relief in tsunami-torn south Asia. Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Bruce Cockburn and Chantal Kreviazuk, along with her husband, Raine Maida of hard rockers Our Lady Peace, will be performing the Concert For Tsunami Relief Jan. 31 at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Tickets for the show go on sale Jan. 8 at Ticketmaster. Proceeds from the concert will go to the charity organizations CARE Canada, War Child, Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. A group of British
pop musicians have also united for another tsunami relief effort.
Cliff Richard, Boy George, Olivia Newton-John and Barry Gibb of
the Bee Gees are reportedly among the artists approached to record
Grief Never Grows Old, a sad ballad written by radio
DJ Mike Read. Organizers hope to complete recording and mixing the
song this week and get it out to record stores as soon as possible.
Funds from the record will be donated to the Disasters Emergency
Committee, which is co-ordinating the UK relief effort. Go to any of the above Donation sites and Do your part. Adopt-A-Minefield Raised $1.3 million
Paul McCartney and Heather Mills McCartney, Goodwill Ambassadors Adopt-A-Minefield (www.landmines.org), hosted the Fourth Annual Benefit Gala at the Century Plaza Hotel last October. The Gala helps raise awareness of the landmine problem, a crisis that affects over one-third of the world's nations. During its first three years, the gala raised over $2.3 million, and has attracted the staunch support of celebrities and concerned citizens worldwide. The annual event, which will once again be emceed by Jay Leno, featured a special performance by McCartney and singer/songwriter Neil Young. The Players: Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas and Catherine-Zita Jones. The Scandal: Theauction turned into its own verion of charity strip pocker, with item including a pair of Jay Leno's autographed underwear ($2,000) as well a Mill McCartney's red Valentino dress ($12,000) Best In Show: Guests were sent home iwth special-edition Adopt-A-Minefield watch designed by Giantto The Bottom Line: A total of $1.3 million was raised.
Patriot
Acts studioexpresso visited with long-time Elton John collaborator and lyricist Bernie Taupin at his recent art exhibit dubbed "Patriot Acts" in December at the Design Center in LA. Bernie new artistic expression replaces his brilliant wordsmanship with bright colors of paint and minimalist words and/or messages to engage the voyeur. The result is just as brilliant and warm always keeping the human spirit at the center of it all. At the reception, a large white canvas on a table with markers invited guests who left behind their own expressions. In a statement about "Patriot Acts" Taupin says: "The
idea comes mainly from the concept that word association can stimulate
the mind causing the individual viewer to interpret the pieces in
the same way a reader visualizes a character in a book, or the meaning
of a song...While most of the pieces have a social and political
bent I would prefer to stay on the fence as a commnetator and allow
the viewer to draw their own conclusions. In an age of gross midea
manipulation and the consistent dumbing down of the arts it is absolutely
necessary to fight back and feed our heads." As
a sculptor, Bernie works with various materials (wire, boxes, etc)
to shape the western female form in motion. Like a bare maniken,
this female form exposes its muscles and veins. "To me colors are like words...they express emotions. Likewise texture and mediums display an abundance of moods." -- Bernie Tuapin For more info, please visit: Taupin Art
Tom Dowd
& The Language Of Music Earns Grammy Nod The film features appearances and music by Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Redding, Les Paul, and countless other music giants, that Dowd engineered, produced, and inspired. Tom Dowd passed away on October 27, 2002, one week after his 77th birthday. He will never be forgotten. Tom Dowd &
the Language of Music is currently available on DVD at Amazon
or be the first to email to [email protected] for your free
copy! Please include "free Dowd DVD" in the subject line
of your email and include your shipping address. Studio Stories
An engaging
account of some of the most memorable moments in New York's recording
history, as seen through the eyes (and ears) of the many producers,
engineers, songwriters, and recording artists who helped make them
happen. It explores the explosive 30 years between 1950 and 1980
and the numerous ingredients that made them unique: artists performing
live in large, vibrant recording spaces; producers and engineers
spontaneously creating new effects and techniques; composers writing
parts on demand in the studio; and, most important, recording studios
that had life, character, and their own fingerprint sound.
Parallel
Universes There are two parallel music universes, one imploding, the other growing healthier. Growing numbers
of major label business professionals that are finding themselves
out of work in the major label universe are exploring options in
the independent one, bringing with them the benefit of their experience
and contacts. At the same time, musicians and bands that are not
on Billboard’s top 100 and are out of favor within the major
labels are turning to independent labels. A good example is Delbert
McClinton, who is now recording for New West. His established audience
base enabled that label to sell more than 250,000 recordings. My hope is that
the major label universe will recognize that they can benefit from
the health of the independent universe and find ways to support
it. Not only is the independent universe providing valuable artist
development, but major labels will continue to sign artists that
have become successful in genres that the major labels can easily
market and promote... John...Kennedy
Center Honoree Let's hope the master songwriter and performer Elton John has a really good sense of humor. During annual Kennedy Center Honors at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Robert Downey Jr. spoke about his friend with the following words, "Elton John, I've got three thoughts. The first one that comes to mind is genius. The second thought on a more personal note -- lifesaver. And I've got the third thought -- the other First Lady?" Considering the fact that Downey was speaking to a lot of conservative D.C. power players, including the men in charge of the White House and their wives, the sexual reference to "other First Lady" was a gutsy move that could cause Downey to have his taxes audited for at least four years. Besides John, the rest of the Kennedy Center honorees were Warren Beatty, Ossie Davis and his lovely wife Ruby Dee, soprano Joan Sutherland and composer, conductor John Williams. CBS broadcasted the show on Tuesday, December 21 at 9pm. Happy Belated
Marthin Luther King Day! The United States has had four black U.S. senators in its history and two since Reconstruction: Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts and Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois.
Terry Becker Trust Fund Engineer/Producer/former Berklee College Professor and Dear Friend Terry Becker has been diagnosed with cancer. As the result of so many friends and colleagues asking what they can do, a trust fund has been set up in her name to help her out during this challenging time. If you would like to make a donation to Terry please make your check out to: Terry Diane Becker Irrevocable Trust. All donations can be sent to me at: Lenise
Bent, Trustee A Berklee faculty
member (Associate Professor of Music Production and Engineering)
who was the recording engineer for "Shoutin' in Key,"
by Taj Mahal and The Phantom Blues Band, which won for Best Contemporary
Blues Album. Congratulations
To Our Good Friends! New Arrivals
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