I’ve finally jumped off the Fire Escape! Or more exactly, after fifteen years at my Toronto west-end studio, I’ve made a significant upgrade, moving my production home to the stunningly beautiful Noble Street Studios. Noble Street is a world-class recording and mix facility located at Queen and Dufferin, where I will continue to serve my clients with passion, vision and a dedication to the highest standards of sonic excellence.

A few of the reasons for this move include more analog options (2″ and 1/2″ tape machines, buckets of Neve pre-amps, classic compressors and EQs, a larger mic locker), a lower noise floor [you can watch the Air Show, and never hear it] and more space for my growing instrument collection. My mixing options have increased as well, with both Studio A and B available depending on delivery requirements for each project. There are comfortable lounges and parking supplied, as well as great hotels and restaurants within walking distance.

As many of you know, I love the sound of live bands, string ensembles and horn sections. Noble Street is wonderfully equipped to capture these acoustic instruments. Sweetening productions in this way has always been a passion of mine, and I’m thrilled to have direct access to facilities that capture these performances with style.

At Noble Street, I also have a dedicated production suite for writing, programming and admin, and preferred rates in all spaces for each level of project. So I hope you’ll come alongside and jump off the Fire Escape with me – come grab a coffee with me at Noble Street!

I think it’s important to draw inspiration from numerous sources.  Travel does this for me, as does working in different studio environments.  A shout out to Brian Harrison at The Rendering Plant in Nashville for great sessions and high-octane screwdrivers.

I recently acquired a M4000D directly from Mellotron.  For those of you who may remember, Mellotron was [arguably] the first sample playback device in the 1960s to use tape cartridges to recreate the sound of other instruments.  The mechanism was clunky and suffered from tape wobble and hiss and artifiacts, which ended up adding to its charm.   Mellotron was resusitated in 1989 and has been building newer, sturdier Mellotrons ever since.   With the advent of digital playback [sampler] systems, the call for this kind of instrument is small though, but for those “in the know,” they are highly esteemed.

This new digital instrument from Mellotron is everything I could have hoped for.  It sounds beautiful, offering high resolution capture of the Mellotron and Chamberlain sound sets and delivers the uncomplicated warble and kitsch of the original tape instruments.  It has amazing horsepower and playability, allowing instantaneous playback of libraries that few could afford in the past.  The wooden keyboard is expressive [full polyphonic aftertouch] and the sound combinations are beyond what any tape-based instrument could offer.  Undoubtedly, there will be skeptics who prefer the original, but this is not your father’s sampler.  A dream come true.  Dave and Markus indulged my request and signed mine.

Having fun working on Nick Perreault’s CD with an original Model D Minimoog running through guitar pedals.  Old is new again.

http://www.businessinsider.com/these-charts-explain-the-real-death-of-the-music-industry-2011-2

Here’s a sobering article. One death can lead to new life, though, and the case of the music business, I believe our individual attitudes and enterprise can make all the difference. Here’s to new solutions!

Calgary’s Candelora take flight early 2011