Session Buzz: Who’s Recording In & Around NYC — A Monthly Report

GREATER NYC AREA: Heading into Summer, the city’s recording studios show no signs of slowing down. The following is but a sampling of recent sessions, and works in progress…a snapshot of what’s going on around town:

Aventura – the Bachata band out of the Bronx – has been at Daddy’s House tracking and mixing a new release with Justin Sampson engineering. Pop artist One Love has also been recording at Daddy’s House – tracking basics and vocals with producer/engineer Jon Thimple for his upcoming full-length album on Intrepid Music.

Meanwhile, Daddy’s House is currently undergoing a complete overhaul of infrastructure, operations, and aesthetics – with extensive work being done to both the SSL G Series and Neve VR consoles. Stay tuned for more on this, as the studio prepares to re-set as a full-blown commercial operation.

Queens born rapper Ja Rule was at Area 51 tracking and mixing for his upcoming LP with producer Seven Aurelius and engineer Darren Moore. Also at Area 51: Jacob Latimore recorded new material with producer “CJ” and engineer Alberto Vaccarino, and David Banner was in to mix his upcoming release with Pat Viala (50 Cent, Mariah Carey).

Downtown, Christina Aguilera was recording vocals at Germano Studios for a duet with Maroon 5 – the song “Moves Like Jagger” – with Manny Marroquin (Kanye West, Alicia Keys) engineering. Aguilera has also been writing and recording with producer/songwriter Sandy Vee at Germano in sessions engineered by Kevin Porter.

Vee – whose songwriting/producing credits include Katy Perry’s “Firework,” Rhianna’s “Only Girl in the World” – was also working at Germano with Disney ingenue Demi Lovato, and with pop artist/singer Dev, writing and recording new material with Porter engineering.

Other Germano sessions include will.i.am, Beyonce, The Kin recording with  producer/engineer Thom Panunzio, DJ/producer/remixer Chew Fu, and Tiësto mixing with engineer Ben Chang. And Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear) brought his new solo project, CANT – featuring George Lewis Jr. of Twin Shadow – to Germano to mix with Jake Aron (Yeasayer, Jamie Lidell). The new album will be released September 13 via Taylor’s own Terrible Records.

Up the block, experimental Toronto punk band Fucked Up mastered their conceptual sophomore LP David Comes To Life (on Matador Records) at The Lodge. An epic 18-song rock opera, David Comes To Life was produced by NYC’s Shane Stoneback (Cults, Sleigh Bells, Vampire Weekend).

Other records mastered at The Lodge and released this month include Hooray For Earth’s True Loves, Ford & Lopatin’s Channel Pressure, and both The Postelles’ and Cults’ debut albums.

Nearby, rock singer Jean Morisson, formerly of MorissonPoe, has been recording at Electric Lady (Studio C) with producer Diego Paul Sanchez and Hillary Johnson engineering – assisted by Pete Bishoff.

Vernon Reid has been through to play guitar on several tracks on the album, and Nuno Bettencourt will be adding guitars on this project as well.

This week, Universal Japan artist Chihiro Yamanaka recorded at EastSide Sound in the Lower East Side. The recording session, engineered by Marc Urselli, featured Yamanaka playing (piano) with legendary drummer Bernard Purdie and upright bass player Larry Grenadier.

Urselli has also been engineering sessions with John Zorn this week – recording soundtrack music for a play featuring Zorn on sax, Bill Laswell on bass and effects, Kevin Norton on vibes and percussion and Rob Burger on piano/organ/Rhodes.

Heading on over to Long Island City, Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler checked into Spin Recording Studios to track drums for the band’s upcoming release with Josh Wilbur producing and engineering.

Also at Spin, Andy Wallace mixed Natalie Findlay’s upcoming album for Polydor, guitarist-producer Alex Skolnick (Testament) worked on Adrienne Warren’s upcoming album with engineer Nik Chinboukas, and Jeff Kazee (Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Bon Jovi) produced Jersey rock-and-rollers Outside the Box for their upcoming release – also with Chinboukas engineering.

And south to Williamsburg, indie rock band Nada Surf recorded basic tracks for their upcoming LP at Headgear Recording with producer/engineer Chris Shaw. Also at Headgear… Virgin Forest tracked and mixed their second full-length album (for Partisan) with Alex Lipsen engineering; Lipsen produced some new music by Sam Marine, which John Agnello mixed; Kelli Scarr did some tracking with Scott F. Norton; and Male Bonding mixed their upcoming SubPop album with Agnello.

Chris Shaw and Nada Surf also recently booked Joe McGinty (Psychedelic Furs, Loser’s Lounge) at Carousel Recording in Greenpoint to play and record keyboard parts on new songs. McGinty added Hammond Organ, RMI Keyboard Computer, Mass-Rowe Vibrachime, ARP Strings, Modular Moog, and Fender Rhodes to their forthcoming record. McGinty also recently recorded Piano, Hammond, Combo Organ, and others for Lianne Smith’s debut record, being produced by Anton Fier.

And Norah Jones stopped by Bryce Goggin’s Trout Recording to lay down some vocals on an upcoming So Brown record, being co-produced by Goggin and Sonia Brown and engineered by Adam Sachs.

Back in Manhattan, Carol King has been at KMA Studios mixing her upcoming holiday album with producer Louise Goffin and engineer Nathaniel Kunkel.

Also at KMA recently… Pianist Eric Lewis recorded and mixed an album with Bryan Williams engineering, Mike Posner recorded songs for his upcoming Sony album –producing/engineering the sessions himself – hit songwriters Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony wrote/recorded for CJ Holland with engineers Ben Chang and Conrad Martin, Corey Gunz cut vocals for his upcoming Cash Money/Universal release with S. Dot engineering, and Yo Gotti recorded vocals for his album on Sony with Leo Goff engineering.

Yo Gotti’s new album – Live From The Kitchen – is scheduled for release on Sept 6th, and is expected to have guest appearances by Lupe Fiasco, Lil Wayne, Nicky Minaj, Ciara, Rick Ross, Waka Flocka and Young Jeezy.

John Lithgow was also at KMA doing voiceovers for a children’s book – Trumpet of The Swan – with Jayson Brown producing and Ian Kagey engineering for PS Classics.

Out on Long Island at  PIE Studios in Glen Cove…NYC rock band Lion in the Mane recorded a new EP, taking advantage of Pie’s Neve-equipped, George Augspurger-tuned control room and 35’ x 28’ x 18’ live room. NYC-based producer/engineer William Wittman oversaw the sessions.

Back in big town, Joe Jackson recently recorded his upcoming self-produced release at Avatar Studios with engineer Elliot Scheiner, assisted by Aki Nishimura. Other recent sessions at Avatar include… Esperanza Spalding recording her upcoming release co-produced with Q-Tip in Studio A with engineer Joe Ferla, assisted by Fernando Lodeiro; Honor Society recording on the SSL 9000J in Studio B with producer Adam Blackstone and engineer Jon Smeltz, assisted by Tim Marchiafava; and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra recording with producer Howard Cass and engineer David Merrill.

Also in Midtown, Foreigner checked in at Threshold Recording Studios NYC to cut acoustic versions of ten of their greatest hits — Mick Jones and Jeff Pilson produced, with Jeremy Sklarsky (Freelance Whales) engineering. And Dave Eggar and Heather Holley produced a track for singer/songwriter Jacob Baine Fields at Threshold recently, also with Sklarsky at the controls.

On the way west side, Santigold was at Stratosphere Sound working with songwriters Amanda Ghost and Ian Dench in Studio A. Ghost, Dave McCracken and Andros Rodriguez also worked with Daniel Merriweather in Studios A & B, and Louis C.K. was in Studio A, overseeing music recording for Season Two of his FX sitcom Louie. Ruddy Cullers engineered.

And staying on the west side, mastering engineer Vlado Meller is up and running in his new studio at Masterdisk.

Here, Meller recently mastered the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ single “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,” produced by Rick Rubin and engineered by Andrew Schoeps for Warner Bros, and a Harry Connick, Jr. album, The Happy Elf, produced by Tracey Freeman and engineered by Vince Caro for Marsalis Music.

And we know there’s so much more going on out there! If you’d like to be featured in “Session Buzz,” please submit your studio news to submissions@sonicscoop.com.

Return of the Nomad Engineer II: The Top NYC Studios of Freelancer Ari Raskin, Part II

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: Last week, in-demand NYC freelance engineer Ari Raskin (Whitney Houston, Wyclef Jean, Meshell N’Degeocello, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, J.Dilla and Illa J — Yancey Boys, and Justin Timberlake) let us in on five of his top studios in the city. Now, he clues us in to four more local options for capturing supreme sound.

Rough Magic Studios; Greenpoint, BKLYN

Every once in a while someone convinces me to step outside my usual 1-mile radius and travel into Brooklyn to do a session here.  It’s a couple of nice rehearsal spaces/live rooms combined with a couple of real chill control rooms.  It’s run by the musicians who rent the space, and it has a much different vibe than a typical studio.

They don’t seem to be interested in making big profits; it’s more just a spot to get some vocals tracked, or jam and record your band for not a ton of money and without having to leave Brooklyn. Fun vibe there.

Recently I did sessions there for Chapter 2, The Fyre Dept, and  Pharoahe Monch featuring Jean Grae. It’s good for writing, overdubs, small bands and Greenpoint/Williamsburg-based artists.

Avatar Studios A, B, C; Hell’s Kitchen
I would assume most readers already know about this place (and most of these places I’ve mentioned).  It’s one of only a few studios actually still capable of everything that would have been normal 10 or 20 years ago.  If you want to use 2″, it won’t be a disaster (it will be almost everywhere else in the city).  Big board mixes with lots of gear – not an issue.  Huge tracking sessions with 15 tube mics and 10 private cues – happens regularly.

The assistants are probably better engineers technically than 95% of the music engineers working in NYC.  They own almost every classic piece of gear, multiples of most, AND working properly.  They have a large VR in Studio C, not easy to come by lately — no one cares anymore but me! I like Neve VR’s, they have balls. Back in the 90′s, when albums sounded good, a lot of stuff was mixed on VR’s.  Their vintage Neve in Studio A works quite well for its age. And the main plus — the live rooms in A, B, and C are all incredible-sounding.

My recent sessions there include Erin Barra, Rich Hil. I recommend it for rock bands, jazz bands, scoring and orchestral sessions, overdubs of instruments or vocals — anything you’d want tube mics, Neve pres, and a serious live room for. In other words, for when making an enjoyable-sounding record is the goal.

MSR Studios, Studio A; Times Square
This is another real well-known room. MSR is the only studio I can think of left in NYC that’s actually capable of EVERYTHING. Remember when it was a standard for every major studio to have 2 Blackface 1176′s, 2 LA-2A’s, a DMX, an RMX, a plate, a 165, a pair of 160vu’s, a 480L, an SPX 90…? This is the only place I know of that still has these tools as well also having top notch monitoring and comfortable control rooms.

Some studios have gear but don’t have comfort, or good room tuning. Other studios have comfort but the gear is minimal. MSR actually has everything, and a good staff to set it up properly.  The mic collection is huge too. They have A827′s. Studio A’s live room is huge with lots of isos and nice high ceilings, and the piano is no joke either.  The control room sounds great too. Studio C’s control room mains are BANGIN’, and the lounge in Studio C is probably the nicest lounge in NYC — not the first consideration, but it reminds me of the level of service you’d get at Hit Factory or Sony back before they closed.

My recent sessions there include Claude Kelly, Wyclef Jean, Dayme. Recommended for pretty much anyone and everyone, from rock or jazz bands to songwriters to mixers, to film crews. Though for those who don’t want to, or can’t, spend the money to make a record “the right way” or just don’t need anything so extravagant – MSR might not be the first choice.

Robin Thicke‘s temporary home studio; SoHo

Last fall Robin’s manager called me saying Robin was going to be in New York for a few weeks and wanted me to track instruments and vocals at a loft apartment he was renting at the time.  Between Robin, his producer ProJay and myself, we put together a list of stuff we needed and gave it to Jim Flynn (they also were wise enough to throw in some forgotten necessities).

Robin wanted to write and get ideas, but of course a bunch of what we’d record would end up being final, and Robin likes to do things right (as long as it’s quick). He understands the importance of good gear, so we rented four 1073′s, a CL 1B, an ELAM, an HD-3 rig, a Big Knob, another headphone amp, a few pairs of 7506′s, a Motif xs8, some DI’s, and me and ProJay brought in some of our own mics and other gear.

The apartment was one of those huge SoHo lofts with high ceilings, so it was quite ambient, which Robin was cool with and wanted all over the recording.  This idea of putting a temporary but pro studio together worked out well, saved money in comparison to booking an equivalent studio, and it allowed the artist to literally roll out of bed, tell me to hit record, and kick me out 16 hours later when he was ready to go to sleep.

The vibe of the sessions was good too; we recorded all types of songs, all types of instruments, and never touched Autotune.  It was a great idea looking back on it, and I figured I should bring it up for this article as it’s just another example of being a traveling freelance engineer.

You can find Ari Raskin at REThuggz.com and AmIaGoodSinger.com.

The SonicScoop Year in Review: Top NYC Music Business News and Trends of 2010

THE FIVE BOROUGHS: 2010 has been busy all right. For anyone involved in New York City’s expansive business of music – producer, publisher, entrepreneur, engineer, artist, and many more – the environment remains fast-paced, ultra-competitive and constantly changing.

With 2011 looming, SonicScoop looked for the news, trends and topics that stood out to us over the past 365 days.

In audio post, it was grow or die in the uppermost echelon. The biggest facilities, including hsr|ny, Nutmeg, and Sound Lounge made serious expansions into audio and/or video:

Sound Lounge opened an ADR Stage and multiple studios.

Nutmeg Post added a strong team and facility when it soaked up Soundhound.

The big post house Mega Playground built out audio capabilities.

Northern Lights added a 5.1 audio mixing suite.

Video house Click3X reversed the trend and added their own audio suite.

Celebrating 35 years in business, hsr|ny continued to expand as a full-service video and audio post facility.

Large and mid-sized recording/tracking/mixing studios kept making capital improvements and expanding:

Premier Studios took over the 8th floor at 723 7th Avenue.

Engine Room opened up its penthouse studio.

Stadium Red expanded with a new studio for Just Blaze and a mastering suite.

Platinum Studios added Augspurgers to Studio K.

Sear Sound set up the Moog-centric Studio D.

Tainted Blue swapped out its SSL for a Euphonix (nee Avid) System 5.

And props to Electric Lady for marking its 40th Anniversary.

Converse (yes, the shoe company) has an interesting business plan for the Rubber Tracks studio it’s going to open in Williamsburg in 2011: no-cost recording.

Advanced smaller studios – independent and within larger facilities — and producer rooms also opened up at a peppy pace:

Chris Theberge’s Music Works arrived on the Upper West Side.

The former One Point Six in Williamsburg was reborn as Three Egg Studios.

Manhattan Center Studios launched The Fuse Box with Public Enemy’s Brian Hardgroove.

Avatar opened up its Studio W writing room.

Sisko’s Min-Max Studios opened up in midtown.

Marc Alan Goodman announced an ambitious new expansion for Brooklyn’s Strange Weather, then blogged about the buildout – step by step – for SonicScoop.

Guitarist Justin King moved his Vinegar Hill Sound from Portland, OR to DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Avid capped off a furious year of reinvention and new products with the release of Pro Tools 9.

Music houses and composers still had a ton of TV, film and video game work to go after and win:

Joel Beckerman of Man Made Music continued to make NYC a TV music powerhouse.

Composer Peter Nashel turned ears everywhere with his work for shows like Rubicon.

Outfits like Expansion Team scored for networks such as the Biography Channel.

Tom Salta understands how to get chosen to score for games like Prince of Persia and Red Steel 2.

Production music and synch licensing remained a solid business, especially for those who got in at the right time or had a smart approach.

NYC’s Kingsize Music was acquired by 615 Music.

And later on Warner-Chappell (NYC) bought up 615 Music.

NYC’s Videohelper released the “Scenarios” music search tool.

Jingle Punks continued to grow.

Mechanical licensing experts RightsFlow kept progressing.

One of NYC’s most controversial music business plays, peer-to-peer file sharing network Limewire, appeared to be finally finished.

Tracking, mixing and mastering at NYC’s established facilities did a relatively healthy volume of A-level and independent work throughout the year:

The Black Eyed Peas, Rivers Cuomo and Kanye West were at Germano Studios.

Neon Indian, Beach House, Matt and Kim, Bear Hands and more were mastered at The Lodge.

MSR Studios handled Kid Cudi, Evanescence and Broadway Cast recordings.

Lenny Kravitz, The Dirty Pearls, “Glee”, and Vampire Weekend were all at Avatar.

Joe Lambert Mastering worked with Moby and Ninjasonik.

New software and hardware happiness abounded:

We elected many items “Buzzworthy” at AES, from Universal Audio, Focal, SSL, Burl, Shadow Hills, Izotope, Sound Toys, Lavry Engineering, Telefunken and more.

Propellerhead released Reason 5.

NYC suffered losses when beloved people and places left us:

Recording icon Walter Sear passed away.

The great hip hop/jazz experimentalist Guru was gone before his time.

Clinton Recording Studios hosted its last session.

Brick and mortar music retail took another hit when Fat Beats shuttered its last stores.

Baseline Studios, home of Just Blaze and countless Jay-Z hits, closed.

Chung King Studios started off 2010 with a bang by suddenly vacating Varick Street.

NYC-based producers, mixers, engineers and artists became businesses in their own right:

Producer Chris Coady worked on some hugely acclaimed records this year, including Beach House Teen Dream and Delorean Subiza, as well as records with Hooray for Earth, Zola Jesus, Smith Westerns, Cold Cave.

People like Allen Farmelo developed their distinctive sound.

Choice songwriter Claude Kelly made a business of hits.

Shane Stoneback’s career took off via work with Sleigh Bells and Vampire Weekend.

Mixer Mark Saunders embraced multiple aspects of the biz from his studio at Beat 360.

Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess took his iPad/iPhone app MorphWiz all the way to #1.

Joel Hamilton continued down an immersive production path, working on records with Blakroc, Dub Trio, The Parkington Sisters and Blakroc.

And John Agnello brought his classic production and engineering technique to new records for Kurt Vile, J Mascis, Shayna Zaid And The Catch and Dead Confederate (among others).

The studio scene got a lot more socialicious and FUN:

Flux Studios was always hosting something in the East Village, like Alto and Dangerous converging for a schooling from Fab.

Digital Music NY was one of many popular business-based meetups.

Stadium Red partied down post-CMJ.

20dot20 mixed advertising and music.

And the Connectors connected a LOT of people.

What big stories would you include? And what do you see next in 2011? Don’t be shy – leave a comment and let us know!

– Janice Brown and David Weiss

Big Summer Sessions At Germano Studios: Black Eyed Peas, Rivers Cuomo, Kanye West & More

Summer is often a slower season for recording studios — the big artists are all on tour, vacationing, etc. But check it out: many of the biggest names in pop music, from will.i.am and Kanye to Rivers Cuomo and N.E.R.D. have been writing, recording and mixing new material over the past few months at Germano Studios in NYC. Here’s a full run-down:

will.i.am has been producing The Black Eyed Peas sessions at Germano, recording and programming in both Studios 1 and 2 for the band’s new record. Cuomo was in writing and recording with producer and songwriter Claude Kelly, with engineering by Ben Chang.

Mary J. Blige has also been making a new album, moving between Germano 1 and 2, to record with producer Kendu Isaacs and Christian Baker engineering. And Kanye West has been working on his new album with engineer Ken Lewis.

Faith Hill has also been working with Claude Kelly, and she recorded vocals at Germano with Chang as engineer. Kelly worked with Chang again on writing/recording sessions with Rihanna and FeFe Dobson at Germano.

Solange Knowles was in to record vocals for a project with Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor producing and engineering. Jennifer Hudson continued working on her new album, recording with producer Rich Harrison and engineer Nell Brown.

Adele came through to lay down some tracks, produced by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, with Kevin Porter engineering.

Japanese pop band, Dreams Come True recorded and mixed their new album with producer Masa Nakamura and mixing engineer Ed Tuton in Germano Studio 1. Usher recorded and shot some scenes for an upcoming episode of THE X-FACTOR (Australia) and Kid Cudi recorded with producers Plain Pat & Emile — engineering by Ryan West, Kevin Porter and Andy Wright.

And there’s more…Porter engineered a 5.1 surround mixing session for “Cirque du Soleil,” Asher Roth cut vocals with Christian Baker, T-Pain was in writing and recording with Javier Valverde engineering, Fabian Marasciullo mixed Pharrell Williams’ music for the film, Despicable Me, and Tim McGraw & Ne-Yo did some writing and recording together, with Baker at the controls.

Marasciullo also mixed upcoming releases by Fat Joe, Drumma Boy, Flo Rida, Kelly Rowland, The Game feat. Robin Thicke & T.I., and Lil’ Twist.

Other sessions went down with Jamie Squire, a new artist on I.M.Port Records, working with producer/engineer Ed Tuton; Young Jeezy – sequencing & recording with The Neptunes producing and Hart Gunther engineering;  Kelis – recording vocals for the Electronic Arts SIMS video game with will.i.am producing;  N.E.R.D. – recording with engineer Ramon Rivas; Jazmine Sullivan and StarShell, both recording new material with Baker at the controls.

For more on Germano Studios — which features two SSL Duality and Pro Tools HD5 rooms, both with corresponding tracking rooms and killer custom monitoring — visit www.germanostudios.com.

Recording Sweet Spot: KMA Music

Facility Name: KMA Music

Website: www.kmamusic.com

Location: The Brill Building, Midtown, Manhattan

Neighborhood Advantages: There are amazing views of Times Square here, a great selection of food, and our studio is located in a landmark building.

Date of Birth: 2007

Facility Focus: Tracking and mixing!

Mission Statement: “Bringing the music back to the Brill.”

Clients/Credits: 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Birdman, Black Thought, Bow Wow, Bravo TV, Britney Spears, Cash Money Records, Claude Kelly, Clipse, DJ Clue, DJ Khaled, DJ Swivel, David Cook, David Foster, Demi Lovato, Duro, Eric Hudson, Estelle, Eve, Fabolous, Fantasia, Flo Rida, G-Unit, G-Unit Records, Geffen Records, George Clinton, Ghostface Killah, Gloria Gaynor, Gym Class Heroes, Honor Society, Ice Cube, Interscope Geffen A&M, Island Def Jam Music Group, J Records, J-Cole, J-Lo, Jamie Foxx, Jay Sean, Jay-Z, Jazmine Sullivan, Jennifer Hudson, Jeremih, John Legend, Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks, Joss Stone, Justin Bieber, Kelly Rowland, Kristin Chenoweth, LMFAO, Little Steven, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Mos Def, Nas, Nelly, Nick Cannon, Paul Simon, Phil Ramone, Rihanna, Roc Nation, Sean Paul, Sesame Street, Shaggy, Snoop Dogg, Sony Music, Sting, Swizz Beatz, T.I., The Neptunes, Tiesto, Twista, Universal Motown, Universal Republic Records, Warner Bros. Records, Whitney Houston, Wyclef Jean, Yung Joc

Some of our recent credits include: Mixed: “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys from The Blueprint 3, “Do You Remember” by Jay Sean ft. Sean Paul & Lil Jon from All or Nothing,  “Throw It In The Bag” & “My Time” by Fabolous from Loso’s Way,”Baby” by Ghostface Killah from Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, “Bittersweet” by Fantasia, “Work Hard Play Hard” by DJ Tiesto, “Who Dat” by J. Cole, 12 out of 16 tracks on Fabolous’ Loso’s Ways, 11 out of 14 tracks on Jay Sean’s All or Nothing. Recorded and Produced “Worth It” by Whitney Houston from I Look To You.

Key Personnel: David “Roz” Rosner – Studio Manager , James M. Spano – Asst. Studio Manager, Casey R. Flynn – Chief of Operations

System Highlights: We have a lot on hand, including AKG C12 VR, API 3124, Avalon 737, Digidesign Control 24, Digidesign Icon, Focusrite Red 7, Griffin G 1.5, Griffin LFE 18”, Lexicon 960L, Logic Pro 9, Neumann U87, Pro Tools HD 8.0, SSL XLogic E Signature Channel, SSL XLogic SuperAnalogue, Sony C-800G, Tube-Tech MP-1A, Teletronix LA-2A,, Universal Audio 1176, Yamaha Disclavier 6 Grand Piano

Distinguishing Characteristics: We are a boutique studio with a vibe like no other.  Our entire facility has panoramic views of Times Square.  KMA was designed by famed studio designer, Fran Manzella (The Palms Studio, The Barber Shop Studios, Sterling Sound) who built our flagship A room around his very own Griffin monitors.  This is why clients such as Duro and DJ Swivel (Jay-Z, Jay Sean, Nas, Mariah Carey, Fabolous, Mary J. Blige, T.I., Britney Spears, The Neptunes, Ludacris, The Beastie Boys, Diddy, Ashanti and Will Smith, etc.) choose to record and mix their projects in our extremely quiet and sonically accurate rooms.

The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it? Our tech, Casey R Flynn haha… and the hard drives!

Rave Reviews: Our sound, our service, our staff, the views of Times Square, the vibe and the stripper pole (always a conversation piece!).

Most Memorable Session Ever: We’ve had many memorable sessions at KMA, but probably the most notable session was with the legendary Paul Simon and Phil Ramone while recording Paul’s single “Questions for the Angels.”

Session You’d Like to Forget: N/A!

Dream Session: We can’t narrow it down, so pick one for us: The Rat Pack, Michael Jackson,
Van Halen, U2, Johnny Cash. [SonicScoop selects ALL OF THE ABOVE laying down a slammin’ version of “We Want the Funk”.]

– David “Roz” Rosner, Studio Manager KMA Studios

Fantasia, Claude Kelly, David Cook Working At KMA Music

R&B/soul singer Fantasia recently recorded at KMA Music while filming her VH1 reality show, Fantasia For Real.

And another soul/R&B singer, Jazmine Sullivan, recorded at KMA as well. Sullivan recorded her part for a collaboration on the historical South African song “Ke Nako,” with teacher, activist, and singer J Pre, Wyclef Jean and B. Howard, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup album, Listen Up. Sullivan also worked on her upcoming album, the follow-up to her ’08 debut Fearless, at KMA.

Hit songwriter and singer Claude Kelly (Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson, Akon, Miley Cyrus) frequently works out of KMA Studios and recently was in the studio with David Cook (pictured).

Also at KMA, Mary J. Blige recorded the song “Each Tear ft. Jay Sean,” off the U.K. edition of her 9th studio album Stronger With Each Tear, with KMA’s own DJ Swivel engineering, and Ken Ifill, better known as “Supa Engineer Chairman of the Boards” Duro, recently mixed music for an Under Armour sports wear commercial.

For more on KMA Music, a full-service recording and mixing facility located in the legendary Brill Building, visit http://www.kmamusic.com.