Home Page | newsletter Index

Hot Ringtones


june l July 08

production news & trends
studioexpresso music community worldwide


Studio Spotlight

Producer Profiles

Calendar

Talk Back

Contact




espresso break for The Beatles

 


Sign up here for SE's monthly ezine
already on the list? Refer a friend!




Please check back with studioexpresso
calendar for upcoming mixers & music events

Expresso10
Each month, new releases (in no particular order) are reviewed and posted with
expresso10 on the home page
If you're part of studioexpresso's production community , email details of completed projects with SE producers/mixers/engineers or studios -- Ride On expresso10!

ComeTogether!
Artists Looking to Connect to Producers -- New section in SE ezine -
scroll down to Come Together! and follow new submission format


Express yourself!
music from SE community posted each month in expresso10

Happy belated father's day to all our music Dads...America is getting ready to celebrate Independence Day. "Today is a winding road that's taking me to places I didn't want to go..." Boys Like Girls may have reinvented the soundtrack of this summer, "Thunder," Wow oh!
In case, you don't agree, we have few of our own summer songs for your consideration right here. Take a Listen at
expresso10

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the launch of Mosaic, the first widely used browser, which brought the Internet into the hands of ordinary people like you and me. Technology marches on, but nostalgia holds us near and dear. It's the artful balance of old and new that connects to people across the globe whether it's your music fans or our readers.


More Music and Film News...Thanks for reading!

Your feedback is valued - write to the editor

   
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The UK based singer's on screen command may remind one of Madonna at first. But, at closer look, Allison Goldfrapp is different.
At times, Mother earth, then again Glam Goddess, the singer evokes joys, frustrations and fantasies that speak human condition.

World Café Lillywhite Sessions at Avatar Studios with Goldfrapp was recorded in Studio C. Produced by Steve Lillywhite,
engineered by Brian Montgomery assisted by Aki Nishimura.
This show will air July 9.

Other sessions at Avatar included: John Mayer and Goo Goo Dolls. Danielle Evin recorded in Studio A with producer / engineer Niko Bolas, Allen Toussaint mixed in Studio B with producer Joe Henry, engineer Kevin Killen assisted by Rick Kwan. Nikky Yanofsky recorded in Studio A with producer Phil Ramone, engineer Elliot Scheiner assisted by Brian Montgomery.

 

When it comes to world-class facilities in San Francisco, Fantasy studios is where the 11-time Grammy winner Rafa Sardina and producer/artist Raquel Bitton rendez vous! "It rivals any of the full-service studios with a superb staff with Jeffrey Wood commanding the operation," says Sardina who converted the hall into an Iso booth to record the “requinto” guitar. "It's an instrument that requires a little equalization at top and low ends and usually I don’t like applying it going to tape since it can get a little harsh," adds Sardina. The tracks were mixed at After Hours by Rafa Sardina in LA. "I loved my sessions, it was extraordinary, thanks to the genious of Rafa," says Bitton.

 

 

Moving Media principle Simon Factor and Cups'N Strings founder Bruce Maddocks have formed a joint venture to deal with content
in a wide range of broadcast video formats for encoding and distribution through worldwide digital distribution channels.
Moving Media, with European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, is a video encoding specialist, working with cutting edge compression systems and customized workflow to deliver optimum quality online video through digital channels such as the Internet, IPTV, VOD and mobile networks

"We've worked with Bruce a number of times in the past for high-end analog audio archiving and transfer to digital formats," remarked Simon Factor. The first project for Getty Images involved transferring a collection of several hundred clips from tape to MP4 files covering a range of archive footage from the 1920s to 1960s including public service announcements.

 

 

McLeod Ganj
C-Doobie Records

McLeod Ganj or Mcleodganj, also known as Upper Dharamsala is a suburb of Dharamsala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is known as "Little Lhasa" due to its large population of Tibetan refugees. C-Doobie is an independent record label, publishing and production company based in Williamsburg
section of Brooklyn. How do these two relate to one another?
Well, thanks to Christopher Walsh, guitarist, engineer and co-founder of McLeod Ganj, the band, they share the same name!

The Mcleod Ganj EP is available via download from the C-Doobie Records website and various e-tailers including the iTunes.
Mcleod Ganj will play at Ace of Clubs Friday June 27 at 9 p.m. (9 Great Jones St., NYC) and is on standby for the NXNE Festival, next month in Toronto.
The band has been rehearsing and recording at The Pleasure Machine, a 13x8 facility, since December 2006

“When we moved into this room, it was incredibly reverberant,” says Walsh “There was a long shelf in the back and a concrete floor. So the first thing we did was put down carpeting.” Mr Walsh who is also a fine writer and contributor to trades (Billboard, Pro Sound News) records into Digidesign Pro Tools Version 7.4.
Walsh makes heavy use of an SSL Alpha Channel and a PreSonus DigiMax FS 8-channel mic pre to get the best possible signal for guitar, vocal and other requisite overdubs.
For licensing of songs and master recordings, or for additional information on the C-Doobie Blues catalog, please contact the Under Assistant East Coast Promotion Man at [email protected]. "It’s all very exciting and I hope you’ll have a look and listen," says Walsh

 


Adam Levy
Washing Day
Lost Wax Records/Universal Music

Adam Levy is best known for his tenure as the featured guitarist in Norah Jones' Handsome Band. In addition to Levy's skills as a player, he is a gifted songwriter. He penned "In the Morning" for Jones' Feels Like Home, and other artists have recorded his songs as well. There's no doubt, though, that the best way to hear Levy's folk/pop/blues gems is straight from the source.

In October of '06, Levy went into the studio with bassist Andy Hess and drummer Tony Mason, bringing along 5 guitars, 47 chords, and several versions of the truth. Producer Marvin Etzioni on piano (track 9), percussion (tracks 5 and 6), Hammond orgran and res sparkle tom-tom (track 2) oversaw the sessions, and engineer John Siket was there to capture the sounds on tape. (Yes, 2" tape!) The album was recorded and mixed in a fast-paced week of spit and sweat and secret handshakes, and the result is Washing Day — Levy's most personal record to date. Washing Day is available in stores, at CD Baby, amazon.com, Lost Wax Music.

Rurik
Re-Education

Over the past few years the group has slipped into a style that seems to suit Rurik distancing themselves from common genres carelessly mixing rock, electronic, progressive, foot-stomping pogo punk. This sophomore release has been mixed by Jay Baumgardner at NRG Recording Studios and engineered by Dan “MFDC” Certa. Chief Mastering Engineer Ted Jensen has finalized the project at Sterling Sound. Additional tracks by Rudy Haeusermann, Tim Harkins, Dave Dominguez, JohnO. The official add-date for Planetary Group radio campaign is Aug 4th, 2008. RURIK has been packing fans in at larger nightclubs in Hollywood.
For updates, visit www.ruriknation.com Also available at CDbaby



Queen Latifah
Trav’lin’ Light
Verve Records


The highly anticipated follow up to critically-acclaimed and Grammy® nominated release The Dana Owens Album (2004) will be released by famed jazz label Verve Records in conjunction with Flavor Unit Entertainment on September 25. Produced by three-time Grammy® winner Tommy LiPuma (Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, George Benson) and by Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair (Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera and Mary J. Blige), Trav’lin’ Light is Latifah’s second foray into the realm of jazz, soul, and blues. Once again, she embraces a sultry and saucy mix of fabled female vocalists who’ve inspired her. Exploring the songbooks of PeggyLee, Etta James, Sarah Vaughn, Latifah adds her warm vocals and is joined by neo-soul singers Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, piano and keyboard pioneers George Duke and Joe Sample and bass virtuoso Christian McBride. Engineered by 15-time Grammy® winner Al Schmitt, the album also features Jeff Hamilton (drums), Anthony Wilson (guitar) and John Clayton (arrangements). Furthermore, Latifah realized a lifelong dream of recording with Stevie Wonder, who contributes harmonica on one track. The album was recorded at the legendary Studio A at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, host to notable recordings by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee, among others.

This summer, opening July 20, audiences will see Latifah in the most highly anticipated film of the summer Hairspray as Motormouth Maybelle with John Travolta and Michelle Pfeifer.

In Living Out Loud, she sang the Billy Strayhorn classic "Lush Life" (produced by Mervyn Warren of Take 6). That was the inspiration for a fan, Janet Ladd Ryan who wrote to studioexpresso suggesting that Queen do an album of classics much like she sang in the film. We put it in a letter to Shakim Compere, her management who liked the idea so much, they ran with it. Thank you Janet! Also available on Amazon

 

 


Lillywhite Sessions at Avatar Studios with Goldfrapp.
L to R - Brian Montgomery, Steve Lillywhite, Allison Goldfrapp, Will Gregory, Tino Passante, Kirk Imamura in Studio C, Avatar Studios on 5/1/08

Take an ExpressTour of Avatar Studios here or please visit or call TIno to schedule a tour or session.

 

 

 

Raquel Bitton and Rafa Sardina Fantasy Studios, San Francisco

Take an ExpressTour of Fantasy studios or call Jeffrey Wood, Studio Director Fantasy studios (510) 486-2038 tel to schedule a tour or book a session

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


© 2008 Kokeshi Music Publishing (796873054249)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to top

   
 

 


Drum Doctor

world's finest collection of drums & cures for common drum ailments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




LONDON'S CREAM RECORDING STUDIOS
Featuring ATC 5.1 SYSTEM


Cream, a new large-scale recording studio complex in West London, recently opened with a custom ATC (Acoustic Transducer Company) 5.1 surround reference monitor system installed in the main control room. The system comprises three ATC SCM300 ASL Pro speakers for the left-center-right channels, a pair of SCM150 ASL Pro monitors handling the surround channels, plus two SCM 0.1/15 subwoofers for LFE. The ATC P4 850W amplifiers, normally built into the cabinets, are all remotely located.

Cream's chief engineer, Chris Dibble, designed the studio in consultation with Roger D'Arcy of internationally renowned Recording Architecture Ltd. Dibble, who was studio manager and chief engineer at the legendary Lansdowne Studios for over thirty years, until they closed in 2006, has a long history with ATC monitors, and says, "I wouldn't choose anything else, frankly. Unlike some other makes of monitoring that I find colored, with these you hear exactly what you have. And the imaging is absolutely superb."

Dibble, who has worked on a long list of commercial and film projects, including such films as "Billy Elliot," "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," "Chocolat," "Notes on a Scandal," "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley," and recorded and mixed the multi-award-winning score for last year's "La Vie En Rose," has years of experience with ATC reference monitors. "I've known [ATC founder and technical director] Billy Woodman for a long time," he says. "We first put ATCs in Lansdowne in 1987 or 1988. We subsequently put ATCs into more builds that we did. We owned a company called CTS Studios and we put ATCs into Studios 1, 2 and 3, and the three mastering rooms."

There have been a number of opportunities to work on the ATC system since the studio opened just a couple of months ago, says Dibble. "My main work is in film. I have a movie that I'm starting that I'm recording elsewhere then mixing at Cream. I did another film four or five weeks ago that I recorded at AIR and we mixed at Cream."

The facility's two-story, 850 square-foot live room, which incorporates adjustable acoustics and two isolation booths, will accommodate about twenty musicians, depending upon the line-up, according to Dibble. "I did a commercial in there with a big band and they were all knocked out by it, particularly the sound in the control room. The ATCs are doing their job!"

There was no point building a larger live space, he comments, "Because it costs an awful lot of money to do that, and, because they don't get used half as much as they used to." Plus, there are several world-class live rooms in the London area capable of hosting large orchestras. "There's Abbey Road, AIR Lyndhurst, and there's also the Watford Coliseum, where we did the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, which we also put ATCs into when we built that live room. John Kurlander, the engineer on 'Lord of the Rings,' also uses ATCs," he reports.

The performance of the custom ATC surround monitoring system at Cream is further assured by the design of the 405 square-foot control room, which avoids the acoustic and technical compromises imposed by positioning a window between the mixing console and the live room. "It's a fabulous control room with beautiful proportions. There are no windows anywhere, effectively, which is a plus factor from the point of view of the acoustics," explains Dibble.

The Cream complex, which is owned and operated by Richard and Louise Eastwood, also incorporates six white rooms - two large and four medium-sized rooms, all with overdub booths - that may be equipped according to client needs for programming, pre-production or post-production use. GearBox, which the Eastwood's launched in 1997 and has since grown into one of Europe's leading audio/video equipment rental and sales companies, is headquartered in the same building as Cream and offers 24/7 technical support.

"Because of the whole concept of Cream, which ties all the white rooms into it, we decided that we didn't want any visual contact between the control room and the live room," elaborates Dibble. "If the white rooms are using the live room there could be a privacy issue. Hence, we put the booth on the left-hand side of the control room. It has its own private space, but the live room can be used by the white rooms or completely on its own."

ATC's drivers are manufactured in-house to exacting tolerances and are legendary for their many design innovations, such as the innovative SL magnet system and the company's renowned Soft Dome mid-range driver, which achieves exceptionally broad and even dispersion to produce a flat response anywhere in the room. Situated in Aston Down in rural Gloucestershire, England, ATC was established in London in 1974 by acoustics engineer and musician, Bill Woodman.




For ATC Loudspeakers , call Brad Lunde at www.transaudiogroup.com or
Phone (702) 307-2700


TransAudio Group, founded by industry veteran Brad Lunde, has quickly become the premier US importer/distributor and/or US sales and marketing representative for high-end audio. Success hinges on TransAudio providing dealers and end users with a higher standard of product expertise and support far beyond the norm. TAG product line includes Accusound, A-Designs (USA) AEA ribbon microphones (USA), ADT Toolkit, AEA, ATC Loudspeakers (UK), Brauner microphones(Germany), Drawmer (UK), Geoffrey Daking & Co. (USA), Enhanced Audio (Ireland), George Massenburg Labs (GML) (USA), Heil Sound (USA); Mercury Audio (USA) Mission Audio (UK) Phoenix Audio (UK), PAULY Superscreens(Germany), SABRA SOM(Brazil), Soundelux (USA), SoundField Microphones (UK), Z-Systems (USA), Sonodore Microphones (Holland), Tonelux,
True Systems and Weiss Engineering (Switzerland) and Z Systems (USA)

LasVegasProAudio.com, LasVegasProAudio.com, a division of TransAudio Group, is the launch pad for the brands of tomorrow. The goal of LasVegasProAudio.com is to provide unique equipment, useful information and long-term support to their clients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submit to Expresso10

Get on studioexpresso's home page with your new CD release when you work with studioexpressso's top producers . Major or Independent artists welcomed.

The Expresso10 list is updated on our home page! Additionally, we will e-mail the list to music supervisors, labels... who like to hear exciting new music by our community.

Expresso10 Submissions click here:

Spreading the buzz one artist at a time

 

Back to top
   
 


 

 

 

 


2004 Edition of the Recording Industry Sourcebook is out


Mr Bonzai

 

 

 

own the collectible series posters by pop artist, John Van Hamersveld

 


Sunset, Music, Olé!


Come to a lovely home high above Woodland Hills for a panoramic view of the San Fernando Valley, California.
After relishing Spanish tapas and sipping a glass of Sangria, grab a seat and be entertained by a truly talented guitarist.

Fourteen-year-old Tim Callobre has played in Carnegie Hall, studied with Pepe Romero, and won first place in the US ASTA Awards. In February 2008 his original composition was performed at Disney Hall by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Tim is one of four young people participating in the LA Phil's new Composer Fellowship Program.

Limited to 30 guests. RSVP today!
$75 per person ($25 may be tax-deductible)
Register by calling or e-mailing Alda Donohue at 818-706-8960 or [email protected]
Directions provided with registration confirmation.

100% of the proceeds benefit the New West Symphony and its Education Programs

This event is underwritten by Dana Moldovan, Claris & Nelson Dodge, Alda & Richard Donohue and Kathy & Erwin Gilbert

Watch Video Interviews with Top producers from Legendary Studios
studioexpresso in alliance with Record Production & Babblefish is pleased to bring you these interviews. Watch the video interviews by clicking on the producer names below.
Get your FREE Real One Player download




Matt Wallace Interviewed At his Delux Studios in LA for Record Production
L-R: Producer Matt Wallace,
studioexpresso's Claris Dodge
Photo: Johnny Jaskot



Ken Allardyce - Sarm West, UK
Lenise Bent - Village Studios. LA, CA
Niko Bolas - Watersound Studios, Studio CIty, CA
Pete Byrne - Glenwood Place, CA
Andre Fischer - Village Studios, Los Angels, CA
Chris Fogel
- Fig, Glendale, CA
Brad Gilderman - Little Big Room, Burbank, CA
Greg Ladanyi - Maple Jam Productions, Studio City, CA
Joseph Magee - O'Henry Studios, Burbank, CA
Scott Mathews - Tiki Town Studios
Oscar Paul - Roundhouse Studios, London
Greg Penny - Sphere Studios, London
Steve Parr - Hear No Evil Studios
Michael C Ross - Royaltone Studios, North Hollywood, CA
Rafa Sardina - Abbey Road, UK
Elliot Scheiner - Presense studios, CT NEW!
Al Schmitt Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA
Toby Scott -- coming soon!
Robert Shahnazarian Jr.
-- Sony Music Studios, Santa Monica
Tolbert & Sutton - Studio Atlantis, Hollywood, CA
Matt Wallace - Delux Studios, Van Nuys, CA
John Wooler - Village Studios, Los Angels, CA


Back to top


   
 

 


Instant Access
to booking
top producers,
mixers, composer and studios

24x7


877-645-9777
toll free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Schenker's famous Gibson Flying V guitars are now available exclusively from

Brauer Guitar Rentals

 

Shop at Amazon.com

 


Avatar mug right here!




 




Expresso Cat Walk And Talk...

Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters continue to break new ground. Only this time, its coffee grounds! The specialeclectic Kona blend is as distinctive as The Boxmasters brand of rock. The new album on Vanugard was released June 10. This brewreeks diner waffle batter with smokey undertones.The kind you fire upwhen recovery comes calling the next morning or an idea lbrew to slip slide your day away. We've got the double cd in the player...it's surprisingly good, despite all the hype! Just listen to Mr Thornton and learn why he's tinkering with the 24-track, 24/7 Dell Lounge. Better yet, order your Boxmasters Brew right here! The Boxmasters kick off their cross-country tour on July 11th with stops including New York, Austin, Memphis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallasand Los Angeles.In addition to the three original Boxmasters, the touring band includes Brad Davis (guitar, mandolin), Mike "Bubba" Bruce (drums), Teddy Andreadis (Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica), Marty Rifkin (Pedal Steel), Darryl Johnson (Bass)" The Boxmasters (Billy Bob Thornton, JD Andrew and Mike Butler) combine the influence of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kinks and The Animals combined with Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Fashioned after a 1960s-era mod band (including matching suits and ties), The Boxmasters combine upbeat rhythms and infectious arrangements wrapped around lyrically dark themes. Sure, you can find them at Myspace.

Learning On The Job -- Google VP of Engineering Douglas Merrill (left) is leaving Mountain View for...somewhere in California, where he'll be EMI Music's new president of digital. Cory Ondrejka (right) may be replacing Lauren Berkowitzas EMI's SVP of digital, who will report to Douglas. No worries, EMI still owns the iconic Capitol building! Cory's blog where he announces his move (made two weeks ago, actually) -- along with the news that since 2000, he's purchased 5 albums from Amazon. Ah, but surely he's a music hound who spends tons of time cruising iTunes, or some of the other legal music source, right? Nope. "I neither buy nor hear much new music," he continues: "I had never setup the iTMS on that computer and you would be amazed at how hard Apple has made that process. It’s like they don’t want to sell me music. Then, once I did remember all the passwords I needed, I couldn’t figure out whether the iTunes download was DRM free. So I went to Amazon, which was slightly easier and made it clear the download wasn’t broken via DRM." Then Cory humbly submits while it doesn't seem hard to fix this mess, he's got no idea what he's doing, so he'll be learning on the job. Fair enough. We look forward to getting a progress report.
Radiohead's decision to offer their latest album on a pay-what-you-like basis online "to some extent backfired", U2's manager has said. The majority of fans who downloaded In Rainbows ignored the band's website and acquired it illegally by other means, Paul McGuinness told BBC 6 Music. "Sixty to 70% of the people who downloaded the record stole it anyway, even though it was available for free."
U2's next album - due this year - would not follow the same approach, he added. The exact release date was "not clear yet but I would think towards the end of October", Mr McGuinness said. "We will obviously work with whatever technology is available to make the release of the new record as interesting as possible," he added. "[But] for U2, physical sales are still an enormous part of our business and we still sell a lot of actual CDs."

Jail Time 4 Jacob The Jewler -- The New York businessman known in the hip-hop world as "Jacob the Jeweler" has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for lying to investigators looking into a multistate drug ring. Detroit U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn on Tuesday sentenced 43-year-old Jacob Arabov, who pleaded guilty in October to falsifying records and giving false statements. Cohn also ordered Arabov to pay a $50,000 fine. Arabov was arrested in 2006 at his Manhattan jewelry shop. Authorities accused him and others of conspiring to launder about $270 million in drug profits. Arabov has made jewelry for Kanye West and Lil' Kim, among others in the hip hop world. In 2004, Jacob signed a deal with the N.B.A. to design watches with logos for all 29 of its teams), Missy Elliott, Ashanti, Christy Turlington—who wore a 42.9-carat, $180,000 necklace designed by Jacob when she wed Ed Burns in 2003. He even made an 18-karat-gold BlackBerry cover for Pharrell Williams, the hot hip-hop producer and rapper. "People are astonished by it," Williams said. "It's like art. It's like something a king would have." Jacob's family, the Arabovs, were a "huge family whose history started 200 years ago," I had been told by Jacob's rabbi, Itzhak Yehoshua, the chief rabbi of the Bukharan Jews in the U.S.A., out in Queens. "They were honest businessmen in the silk trade."


Leibovitz Montana Shoot.
Leading a double life as a glammed-up rocker on the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana (left: with hairstylist Christiaan and dad, Billy Ray Cyrus), the15-year-old Miley Cyrus has an early start on the road to superstardom, but you haven’t hit it big until you’ve been photographed by Annie Leibovitz or start a semi controversy.
Here's a few images from the behind-the-scenes shoot, on location in Calabasas, California.
The so called semi nude photos appeared in the June issue of Vanity Fair. And if you've been to a toy store lately, you've noticed that Disney has replaced the big ears with a Miley face! Viva merchandising!


Bring In The Dough
....Publishing companies are aggressively pushing their copyrights through new media -- EMI Music Publishing has its own channel on YouTube, for instance -- as music supervisors turn to outlets like YouTube and MySpace to find music. "Nineteen of our catalogs are up year over year," says Larry Mestel of New York-based newcomer Primary Wave, which bought 20 catalogs in the company's first 22 months of existence, including artists like Nirvana's Kurt Cobain; Aerosmith's Steven Tyler; Hall & Oates; Earth, Wind & Fire and Steve Earle.

3 thoughts for your penny!

Synchronization licensing involves the licensing of songs for use with visual images (i.e. films,commercials, etc.). Mechanical licensing involves the licensing of songs for audiotape or compact disc.

Publishing involves the licensing of a song copyright. Licensing a master involves a particular sound recording by an artist. You normally need both licences for synchronization.

In an administration deal, the major publisher doesn't own any equity in the copyrights. They just collect a percentage of the money that comes in and pay the rest out to the writer and the writer's publishing company. In a co-publishing deal, the major publisher and the writer's publishing company each own 50% of the copyright.


R.E.M. HELLO
David Belisle
has traveled with R.E.M. on tours as well as photographed their recording and video sessions, and has captured their on- and off-stage lives with unprecedented access. The 175 color and black and white photographs in the book are accompanied by handwritten captions by the band and introduction by Michael Stipe. The Seattle-based photographer who has worked with R.E.M., the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mudhoney, the Tiny Vipers, and others. R.E.M. rose from cult college radio status to sell more than 70 million albums worldwide and be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. The publication of R.E.M.: HELLO coincides with the release of REM's 14th album studio album, Accelerate, in April of this year, which will be followed by North American and European tours over the summer.
HELLO is published by Chronicle Books and available as of June 1 for $29.95

MTV Awards Paramount In LA The high-wattage event, now in its 25th year, will take place on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, and will air on the channel that evening. Los Angeles last hosted the event in 1998. Since then, the awards have been held mostly in New York, but traveled to Miami in 2004 and 2005, and then Las Vegas last year. MTV said this year's ceremony would use the city streets, rooftops, and sound stages all over the Paramount lot. The host, performers, nominees, and presenters will be announced at a later date. MTV and Paramount are units of Viacom Inc . Last year, 7.1 million MTV viewers watched the festivities, according to Nielsen Media Research. Spears, embarking on a comeback of sorts, was ridiculed for dressing as a stripper and badly lip-synching her way through her new single. Jaws dropped among mystified stars in the audience. While viewership was up from 5.8 million the year before, the numbers are a far cry from the record 12 million viewers for the 1999 version.

A painting of a water lily by Claude Monet sold for more than $80 million US at auction Tuesday in London, kicking off a week of modern art sales expected to reach records that defy the global economic downturn. The painting sold to an anonymous collector," says Olivier Camu, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie's. The signed and dated 1919 painting has only been seen in public once in the last 80 years.

Wanted: A Sound Logo The world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems is enlisting its wide creative customer base to come up with a unique Sound logo...equivalent of a visual symbol. So what does an 'audio specialist' sound like? Here's your chance to tell them! Through July 17, 2008, Sennheiser is hosting a sound logo competition in which fans all over the globe can submit audio clips that encapsulate their idea of the "Sennheiser sound," one of which will be chosen as Sennheiser's official acoustic trademark. The chosen finalist will take home 5,000 euros. An entry is allowed to be up to eight seconds long. To make it as technologically simple as possible for those taking part, contributions should be uploaded onto the www.sennheiser.com/soundlogo website in MP3 format (stereo, 128KBs, max 10MB) by July 17, 2008 for consideration. Each entrant may send in up to five entries. By the end of August, thirty finalists will be selected, at which point their sound logos will be appraised by an international jury. "The public will be a virtual member of the judging panel of five," said Susanne Seidel, president of global marketing at Sennheiser. "You, too, can vote for your favorite sound logo via the website!" Nine runners-up will win first-class sound equipment for their home. They can choose between Sennheiser's dynamic top-of-the-range HD 650 headphones or equipping their rehearsal room with an evolution wireless ew 300 G2 microphone system. "We're really looking forward to receiving entries from all corners of the world," says Seidel. "There will be an explosion of musical creativity."
Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in sixty countries around the world through long-term distribution partners and subsidiaries in France, UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Sennheiser's technology is produced in manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the United States of America. Their pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Sennheiser Group is proud to be affiliated with Georg Neumann (Technical Grammy(r) award-winning manufacturer of studio microphones), Klein and Hummel (studio monitors) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications that brings their award-winning technology to headsets for PCs, offices and call centers.

Allaire studios closed its doors March 2008, according to studio manager Mark McKenna who is now with Bandshell Artists Mgmt and can be reached at Shokan, NY 845-332-3257



COME TOGETHER!

Band/location: Composer, clarinetist, and conductor, Derek Bermel is described as "an eclectic with wide open ears." Bermel has been widely hailed by colleagues, critics, and audiences across the globe for his creativity and theatricality as a composer of chamber, symphonic, dance, theater, and pop works, and his virtuosity and charisma as a clarinetist, conductor, and jazz and rock musician. His band, PEACE BY PIECE is based in Brooklyn, NY and has released two albums on Miscellaneous Records, their first, self-titled album 'Peace by Piece', and most recently, 'The Elements' in May 2004.
Sound
: jazz, classical, rock, gospel, folk & classical...complex Bulgarian melodies in Tied Shifts commissioned by eighth blackbird, to Irish bagpipes coupled by Led Zepplin riffs in Voices, Bermel spices up his music with international beats and innumerable folk traditions while maintaining his sophisticated orchestration
Who Meets Who: Derek meets Bermel!
Major Milestone: Bermel currently serves as the 2006-2009 Music Alive Composer-in-Residence of the American Composers Orchestra. His commissions have included those from the National, St. Louis, Albany, and New Jersey Symphonies, Westchester Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Fabermusic, WNYC, De Ereprijs (Netherlands), Jazz Xchange (U.K.), pianist Christopher Taylor, and cellist Fred Sherry. His premiere CD of chamber music, Soul Garden, was released last season to critical acclaim. He has premiered dozens of new works, including his clarinet concerto, Voices, which created a sensation when it premiered at Carnegie Hall and has since performed with the BBC Symphony, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. In 2007, he will serve as guest artist performing John Adams Gnarly Buttons with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Bermel is the founding clarinetist of Music from Copland House and cofounder, music director, and co-artistic director of the Dutch-American interdisciplinary ensemble TONK. In addition, he rocks it with his Brooklyn-based band PEACE BY PIECE as band leader/singer/songwriter. His theatre collaboration Golden Motors with librettist Wendy S. Walters is an opera/musical produced by Music Theatre Group. His many awards include the Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Fabermusic, and residencies at Tanglewood, Banff, Yaddo, Civitella Ranieri, and Aspen. Bermel was awarded the prestigious 2008 Alpert Award in the Arts for music last week, his third major award this year right on the heels of the American Music Center's Trailblazer Award in May and a Koussevitsky in March. Derek Bermel's past awards include the Rome Prize, Copland Award, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, the Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Millennium Commission from Faber Music. He is represented by PeerMusic in the United States and Faber in Europe and Australia. Contact: Joseph Joaquim 917-450-1345
"Mr. Alpert is truly an amazing force, and so completely understated that most people only know him for his recordings with the Tijuana Brass, and not for A&M records, or this very generous award," says manager, Joaquim

Thrilled!

A burst of noise and energy attracted eveyone to the lobby during my last visit to the local hair salon... you could hear shouts coming from that direction now transformed into a saturday-night-live like dance floor. More than 2 dozen stylists (ages 20 to 40 something) were drawn from their hair stations as if they were sleep walking, eager to show their strut all to music by Michael Jackson! That's right the not so forgotten pop star of the '80s was back at this Sherman Oaks salon strong as ever.
This would make a perfect YouTube posting to promote Jackson's new release, I thought to myself. A reminder that brilliant music makes people move, despite the drama surrounding the performer or the era it originated. If only Michael could be here to feel the love, even be thrilled!
Last month, the US Library of Congress officially added Michael Jackson's Thriller to its National Recording Registry. In an effort to preserve records deemed "culturally and aesthetically significant", the Library has archived the album's "best existing version" its existence in perpetuity. Aside from being the biggest selling album of all time, Thriller also contained seven #1 hit singles, remained on Billboard's Top 10 for one year, won the Grammy award for Best Album and was recently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Named the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" by the Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop culture. He was named the World Music Award's Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist in 2001. The newly expanded version of Thriller premieres six tracks previously unreleased in any form: "Beat It 2008" with Fergie; a new Kanye West remix of "Billie Jean"; a new 2008 version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with Akon; will.i.am remixes of "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T."; and "For All Time," a rare unreleased cut from the original Thriller recording sessions, newly mixed and mastered by Michael Jackson.


Farewell

BO Diddley
1928-2008

The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton. Diddley appreciated the honors he received, "but it didn't put no figures in my checkbook."

About his stage name he said: "I don't know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name." Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself. "He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.

Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello copied aspects of Diddley's style. In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of music, "Jungle Music." It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with inventing the term "rock 'n' roll." Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him, saying, "Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat."

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa.

 

Earle Hagen
July 9, 1919 - May 26, 2008


l-r: Les Jenkins, Earle Hagen & Tommy Dorsey 1938; "I Spy" star Robert Culp leads the Hollywood Bowl audience in singing Happy Birthday to Earle Hagen

The Composer-Nobody Ever Heard Of Earl Hagen played trombone in big bands during the 30s, wrote arrangements for Frank Sinatra, worked at 20th Century Fox during the reign of Alfred Newman, created TV themes and scores for Sheldon Leonard shows for Emmy Award-winning whistleable musical themes in the history of television, including themes for "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Danny Thomas Show," "I Spy," "That Girl," "The Mod Squad," "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer," and so many more. In fact he composed original music for more than 3,000 individual episodes of television during his career, which spanned more than three decades.
Sam Brown For the Record rebroadcast interview from 1997, in remembrance of Hagen (who died May 26th) will be aired on June 29th, 2:00 to 3:00 PM on Sunday KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, with audio streaming at www.kpfk.org

Hagen's marriage to Sidwell, who died in 2002, lasted 59 years. In addition to his second wife, who is also a singer and whom he married in 2005, he is survived by two sons, Deane and James, both of Palm Desert, Calif.; two stepdaughters, Rebecca and Rachael Roberts of Irvine, Calif.; a stepson, Richard Roberts of Los Angeles; and four grandchildren.



Hooray Hollywood!


Speaking of classic TV shows, do your remember Bonanza and its memorable theme song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans? Other show like Lost In Space, Bewitched, I Love Lucy all have reached not just Europe, Japan or Russia but other parts of the world including Iran in the 60s...One could say that Hollywood has done more in the way of breaking down cultural barriers than any ambassador or politician from the free world. No matter where your family lived, you could relate to the family on Ponderosa ranch ...heck, even Johnny Cash dropped in to sing with the family (YouTube footage). They made you part of the family! How beautiful and how American!
So this independent day, you are part of our family. Hooray Hollywood and Happy 4th of July!



Watch
THE BEATLES: L.A. 1966 PRESS CONFERENCE shot at Capitol Records
Words to describe the 3-part interviews....Charm, Innovation, Honesty, Communication, Strenght. Let us hear your words!


"What a shame to not understand that a great melody connects on an emotional level, which is valuable, not just hummable.”
--George Michael

 

You are subscribed as %Email% Please click here -- http://www.studioexpresso.com/MailListForm.asp to unsubscribe or subscribe from any future mailings. We respect all requests. Thank you

 

studioexpresso -- where you can find trusted names in music to work with
COME TOGETHER!

Your feedback is valued and welcomed - feel free to contact us via e-mail or phone
Thank you!

Back to top

   
 
    Copyright 2007 StudioExpresso