Producer No I.D. Appointed Executive Vice President, Def Jam Records

Grammy-winning producer No I.D. has been named Executive Vice President of Def Jam Records.

The Roc Nation producer who’s worked with Kanye West, Jay-Z, Common and Rihanna is known as the “Godfather of Chicago hip-hop,” and will focus on finding new talent for the NYC-based hip-hop-n-R&B label.

“Def Jam is a cultural staple,” No I.D. said at a pre-MTV VMAs party. “It’s not just a label, it’s part of the culture that I came up in and that I’ve been involved with for 20 years. It’s very important that the next generation of executives grab it by the horns and keep it on track as it grows.”

No I.D. has been president of Kanye West’s Def Jam subsidiary, GOOD Music.

Joe D’Ambrosio Management (NY) Opens European Office

Joe D’Ambrosio, founder and CEO of Mamaroneck, NY-based producer/mixer management firm Joe D’Ambrosio Management, Inc. (JDMI)  has announced the opening of a European office based in Paris, France: Joe D’Ambrosio Management/Europe.

Former EMI Continental Europe and Capitol France executive Emily Gonneau will be running the European office as liaison between the JDMI roster and their European clientele. Ms. Gonneau is a graduate of the Sorbonne and speaks English, French, Spanish and German.

Now in its 10th year of operation, Joe D’Ambrosio Management represents such talent as Tony Visconti, Hugh Padgham, Elliot Scheiner, Kevin Killen, Joe Zook, Larry Gold, Rob Mounsey and Thom Monahan among others.

JDMI’s clientele have worked with U2, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Rihanna, David Bowie, Beyonce, OneRepublic, Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Sting, Shakira, Pink, Kaiser Chiefs, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, Ayo, Raphael, Norah Jones, Modest Mouse, Beck, Justin Nozuka, The Roots, Fujiya & Miyagi, Little Joy, Angelique Kidjo and hundreds of others.

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.

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

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: No one can say Ari Raskin hasn’t paid his dues. This in-demand freelancer engineer may regularly make the rounds of NYC’s top studios today, but it’s only after he’s sweated it out for a decade-plus, making a name for himself in the city’s fiercely competitive studio scene.

Raskin can contribute in many ways to a project – tracking, mixing, editing, drum programming, and even the occasional master – and has done just that for a wide range of artists: Whitney Houston, Wyclef Jean, Meshell N’Degeocello, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, J.Dilla and Illa J — Yancey Boys, and Justin Timberlake among them. His career got moving after he departed Berklee College of Music with the goal of being the next Brendan O’Brien or Andy Wallace, then went from being an intern at Chung King to House Engineer.

Today, no longer afforded his home base that was Chung King, Raskin makes music all over Manhattan and beyond – a positive vibes traveling man that makes him the perfect subject for the return of our Nomad Engineer series.

How would you describe the ups and downs of a New York City freelance audio engineer in 2011?
The real benefit of freelance engineering and traveling is getting to choose which studio is right for the project — be it the sound of the live room, the sound of the control room, the vibe of the control room, the gear, the rigs’ plugins, the budget, or just how late the staff stays — so that you can comfortably make a great recording that fits the music. Also, having clients agree that you suggested a good studio for them is a nice thing too.

If you’re a staff engineer at a small Pro Tools studio with a 5′ x 8′ live room, and a rock band is introduced to you by the studio manager, you’re never going to be able to tell them, “We should do the rhythm section at Avatar or Skyline. You’re never gonna get real big drum sounds here, and these reissue mic preamps and 414′s just don’t have the real rock-star vibe you’re after.” Although of course most of us now would just shut up and do the modern thing and use Drumagog or SoundReplacer.

I’d like to note, though, that when I first stepped into the major-label part of the recording industry when I moved to New York 10 years ago, there were LOTS of freelance engineers working from studio to studio. It seemed much less common for labels to use house engineers unless it was for a transfer session. Engineers definitely used to be more highly regarded before everyone and their sister had Pro Tools, so I think that’s why hiring the respected freelance guys was much more the norm in the day, whereas now labels just want a house engineer who knows how to use Pro Tools and isn’t expensive.

Lately, whenever I run into former Chung King clients at other studios, I constantly get told “Oh, I didn’t know you were still working since Chung King closed,” or “You work here now?” as if the idea of a tracking engineer being freelance is now an unknown concept.

We’re glad to get the inside track from you on your fave NYC recording spots. What made you say “Yes” to this article, rather than keeping your top studios close to the vest?

Seemed like a fun topic, and I do work around, and do have opinions on a number of various rooms. I just wish there were more large-format rooms in this city, with all the standard vintage outboard gear and mics. Five years ago there were a lot more real-deal pro-studio choices, and 10 years ago a lot more than that.  It’s getting hard now, especially when your first choice-room is already booked, and you’re actually trying to do a serious recording and not just track vocals. Therefore…

Downtown Music Studios, Studio A; SoHo, NYC

Many positives about this place.  For one, there isn’t a vibe like they are dying for business and need to squeeze every penny they potentially can out of your clients.  Also, the ProTools rigs have more plug-ins than any other rigs I’ve seen.  Unlike so many rooms, the studios at Downtown were planned and configured by good working engineers, so things make a lot of sense in real world practice.

Studio A there is possibly the most accurate-sounding control room in the city that I’ve worked in, and has no room EQ on the mains. The almost-mint Neve 8014 console they just installed is not only amazing for its sixteen 1084 pres for tracking, it’s also possibly the best summing amp in Manhattan for Pro Tools in-the-box mixing. There’s also a ton of clean vintage and high-quality modern gear — they won’t let someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing assist in sessions.

The live room in Studio A is very clean and neutral-sounding, great for tracking vocals, instrument overdubs, or a live band. You can easily get a dry drum sound, or put up some far room mics, 1176 them, and get a big rock sound. Studio B has a great rig as well, with good external converters, a totally different vibe from Studio A, and is probably the most-equipped room for the money in Manhattan.

Some of my recent sessions there include Sean Paul, Black Thought, Kat Deluna. I’d recommend this studio to any type of client, other than a gigantic orchestra or those craving a huge castle drum sound, or those wanting to mix on an SSL. The Neve console they have has no automation, but for mixing a jazz, acoustic, or a small production, it sounds incredible.

Platinum Sound Recording, Studios J and K; Times Square, NYC

The “sexiest” of the big studios in NYC. I think it’s the only studio I know of — not that I claim to have worked in every studio — that has a designated receptionist and interns always ready for runs, 24 hours a day. That might seem like a minor detail, but for those who have clients who like to work past midnight, it’s a major concern.  Very cool vibe, cool staff.

They have a real live K, and a J — and unlike most SSL’s in NYC, they get used for mixing regularly still, so the assistants aren’t new to that: big board mixes with old-school engineers who use lots of gear are often the most demanding type of session for an assistant. Also, I haven’t heard the new Augspurger speakers in studio K, but the J room has the HEAVIEST bass of all time — although Studio C at MSR is quite thumpin’ too.

Some of my recent sessions there include Wyclef, Kat Deluna and Ritz Crackers. This is a good studio for SSL board mixing; good studio for late-night artists/producers; decent-sized live room with some good mic pres, so it’s not a bad choice for producers who like live instruments. The best for those who like it so loud their faces melt and eardrums shred. Great for those who like to vibe and create.

Premier Studios, Times Square, NYC

Premier is the former Studios A and B of Quad, renovated and heavily cleaned up, with two newer, very good Pro Tools “writer’s” rooms, very fairly priced.  Studios A and B were both recently tuned and both sound accurate and get quite loud. The live room in B is great for a clean drum sound, and great for any vocal or instrument overdub.

The staff there is eager and friendly and understands the concept of working towards the future — in other words, they don’t take the clients that come in for granted. They have real LA-2A’s in most rooms — which didn’t used to be unusual anyway — and they are maintained.

Another great thing — they have four rooms, all with excellent Pro Tools rigs with all the necessary plugins, so if a room is booked, there’s still likely others open. How many other 3+ room studios are left and commercially-bookable in NYC today? Also, so many other studios are opening now with gear you can also easily get at Guitar Center, and not enough real mic pres or compressors in the room, forcing clients to rent every little thing (which, along with today’s tight budgets, can make a freelance engineer seem needy).  Instead, Premier seems to be constantly investing and trying to improve their gear arsenal to impress engineers and producers. The recent addition of two perfect vintage Neve 1073′s and the overhauling of their Studio A Steinway piano are both welcome improvements and important tools for making great recordings.

My recent sessions there include Oh Land, Duane McLaughlin, Rich Hil, Kat Deluna. Premier is great for J9000 mixing, Pro Tools in-the-box mixing, instrument and vocal overdubs, pop songwriting sessions, and jazz and rock bands that want some real isolation but don’t want to pay for one of the city’s massive rooms.

Grand Street Recording, Williamsburg, BKLYN

I only worked there once, but I think it’s by far the best studio for tracking instruments for the money.  Amazing selection of vintage mics, pres, keyboards, amps, and drums — nothing I used there seems modded or overly repaired, and none of the current reissue stuff (that doesn’t actually have any magic. I’m a snob about having the real vintage stuff, clearly).

The staff is knowledgeable too.  The ceilings aren’t that high and live room isn’t terribly ambient, but for plenty of bands it’s perfect.  You can make a real, classic-sounding, proper recording there for not a lot of money.  And their vintage mics may be in better shape than any other studios I know of.

I recently did a tracking session there for the jam/rock band Moose Convention. I think Grand Street is great for rock or jazz band tracking — live and overdubs — and vocal tracking.

(Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to this studio as Grand Street Studio. It should have referred to Grand Street Recording.)

jrock Studios, Chelsea, NYC

I saw you guys did a piece on Jamie Siegel and his studio recently, and I will second that it’s a cool spot. Great location, nice dry-sounding live room that has some breathing space so it doesn’t sound like you’re tracking in a closet, some nice pres, and a real chill pleasant vibe, good for getting work done.  And of course, not nearly as pricey as the big SSL rooms.

Recently I did some vocal and percussion sessions there with singer/songwriter Erin Barra. Recommended for anyone who wants a relaxed spot to do overdubs, writing, or Pro Tools mix sessions.

Next Week! Return of the Nomad Engineer Part II: More finds, from Midtown to Greenpoint.

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

Stadium Red Expands: Just Blaze and the Science of NYC Studios

HARLEM, MANHATTAN: As artistic as the purpose of New York City recording studios may be, it’s fair to compare these houses of sound to modern-day warriors. Every one goes into battle with the belief that they’re invincible. Many fall – but some grow stronger.

Uptown, the facility known as Stadium Red became convinced that there was only one sure strategy for thriving in the battle-scarred landscape of NYC: expand, and you’ll be in demand. Marking steady gains since its inception in 2007, when Stadium Red owner Claude Zdanow took over the highly respected but troubled former studio of jazz legend Ornette Coleman at 125th and Park, 2010 sees Stadium Red placing a bold bet that bigger really is better – even when paying NYC prices for your real estate.

The result is a recently completed 2,500 sq. ft. Frank Comentale-designed expansion that sees big names and powerful new capabilities added to the facility. A focused new B-Room is home to hip hop super producer Just Blaze (Jay-Z, Eminem, Saigon, Fabolous, Jamie Foxx, Talib Kweil, Kanye West) and an SSL AWS 900, Augspurger mains, and a digital/analog hybrid production/mix approach. A world-class mastering suite has also been added to house Herb Powers-protégé Ricardo Gutierrez (Justin Timberlake, Usher, John Legend, Jill Scott).

Meanwhile, Stadium Red’s accommodating A-room has gotten its own facelift, swapping in the classic SSL G+ board from Baseline Studios (RIP). Another pair of Augspurger mains with dual 18” subs, a custom Dangerous designed 7.1 surround monitoring system, 24-track tape machine and more are all in there. Mix engineer Tom Lazarus (Ray Charles, Bjork, Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony), mix engineer Ariel Borujow (T.I., Black Eyed Peas, Puffy, Kanye West), engineer Joseph Pedulla (Thursday, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mos Def, Kid Cudi) and producer Sid “Omen” Brown (Ludacris, Mya, Drake, Fabolus) also maintain their respective residencies throughout the studio. A host of old skool elite amenities – from upgraded lounge to private chef/spa services – are in the mix for good measure.

While the idea of an all-encompassing studio environment of writing/tracking/mixing/mastering is not new, Zdanow believes that it’s the rare human resources he’s gathered – and what they’re on board to do – that will make the Stadium Red expansion stand out. “The idea is that more heads are better than one,” he says. “In studios it can become a stale environment, where the engineer is just a button pusher. What we take pride in is something the artists and labels don’t offer anymore, which is artist development.

“Artists come in here, and when they walk out our brand is attached to them. It’s about letting them know that all these ears are around, whether it’s Yo-Yo Ma, Eminem, or the emerging people we work with. We want to make records here that matter, and the idea is to bring back that creative community — we’re a growing team of NYC engineers and producers that care about NYC and the music scene.”

Zdanow’s energy – driven equally by his spirit of adventure and copious amounts of caffeine – was enough to convince Just Blaze to relocate to Stadium Red after closing his beloved Baseline. “I had known Ariel from before, and he said, ‘You should come look at this space and have a conversation with Claude,’” Blaze relates. “Claude explained his vision, what he wanted to build, and I said, ‘Maybe we can make something work.’ It made sense: The overall vision of the place and the appeal is that it’s a one-stop, end-to-end solution, from recording to mixing to mastering, even doing surround 5.1-7.1.

“So he physically expanded the space, and we combined our resources. It’s a win/win I get a little bit of the stress off my shoulders from running the day-to-day. That allows me to be more creative, but at the same time I have my own space.”

Whether for intensive writing sessions or serious mixing, the new B-room that Just Blaze inhabits was designed to be distinctively accommodating. “It’s gotta be something special — if it’s going to be this meeting of the minds, then it’s got to be something worthwhile,” he emphasizes. “It can’t just be a Pro Tools setup. The way I work, I need all the resources available all the time – I couldn’t go from a G+ to a writing room. And if we’re talking about partnering up and joining our resources to build a business, there’s no point in building something that’s just a production room. That’s something people can put in their houses these days. So you’ve got to take a step further and make it a destination.

“My room is the best of both worlds. If you want to walk in and get down to business in the box, you can do so: We have every plug-in, plus Augspurgers and other monitors. But if you’re a little more old school, you have the SSL and all the gear to go out of the box. Or you can go the third route, in that the AWS can go in and out of the digital world.

“By keeping it smaller we could keep it more affordable. Clients have the SSL, a full suite of plug-ins, Augspurgers – everything that would usually cost you $2500 or more a day, at the fraction of the cost. I think we really hit that sweet spot in terms of sizing. Sometimes you just need a room for production, with a controller or a laptop, but if you’re in this big huge room that’s a waste of money. Or it’s the other way around, and you’re feeling cramped. This place is small enough to feel like a production room, but big enough to feel like a room you can mix comfortably in.”

Arguably, the Stadium Red formula was working already: The studio and its personnel had a part in ten 2010 GRAMMY-nominated projects including Eminem’s Recovery (Album of the Year, Best Rap Album), Drake’s Thank Me Later, (Best Rap Album, Best New Artist), and Steven Mackey’s Dreamhouse (Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Engineered Album, Classical).

A good year, all right, but that’s already in the past. Although he’s young – still just in his early 20’s – Zdanow understands that part of moving forward is understanding what didn’t work before, and making adjustments. In that regard, the difficult decision to swap out the A-room’s ICON for the SSL G+ dovetailed with the concept of adding new faces, spaces and capabilities at Stadium Red.

“We’re in an ever-changing industry,” he observes. “When we started out I had a very strong opinion about being versatile and trying to do it all in one room. People appreciated the ICON, but over time we weren’t doing anything as good as we could have been doing it.

“By adding these two rooms, we’ve come to critical mass. People want a lot of options. The ‘A’ room has a big live room where people can track through the console, and mix with tons of outboard gear. Just Blaze’s ‘B’ room is its own environment for production, with the SSL AWS. If you want a powerful controller-based system, you have that in the ‘C4’ room where Ariel Borujow works. So what we realized was that it wasn’t just about one room. There are certain things that need to be in place to do everything — and do it well.”

– David Weiss

Sound Lounge Adds New ADR Stage, 10 Edit Suites to Expand Film/TV/Long-Form Capabilities

The NYC audio post facility Sound Lounge has significantly expanded its long-form division, adding to its ability to serve the NY film and TV sectors. The company has just unveiled a brand-new ADR stage, 10 edit suites, and production space spanning an additional 5,000 square feet.

In addition to Sound Lounge Partner/Sound Designer Marshall Grupp, their long-form division also includes Lead Mixer Tony Volante, and Mixers Cory Melious, Steve “Major” Giammaria, and Ryan Price. Travis Call serves as Executive Producer for the long-form division of Sound Lounge.

Recent projects for the group includes “Damages” for FX Network, the Oscar-contending feature film Blue Valentine starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, and a new documentary from Academy Award-winning Filmmaker Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) entitled Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. The Sound Lounge team also made a major creative contribution this fall to Kanye West’s Runaway, a 35-minute film, promoting the release of his new album.

NYC Hip-Hop’s Next Wave: Brooklyn’s DotDaGenius on Kid Cudi, HeadBanga Muzik, and Genre-Bending Production

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN: New York City hip-hop is no longer dominated by the mixtape artist / major label dichotomy. Flourishing in that space between the artist selling tapes out of his trunk and the international corporate superstar are rising multi-hyphenate artists like Brooklyn native DotDaGenius.

A classically trained pianist and obsessive beat-maker with a thirst for new sounds, Dot personifies the industry-wide shift away from the traditional label model. While most well known for his imaginative production on Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N’ Nite,” to confine Dot to a label such as ‘producer’ would be to severely undermine his impact.

Ranging from television scoring on hit series such as HBO’s Entourage or MTV programming, to the creation of his own label and production company, HeadBanga Muzik, Dot has been able to take advantage of these recent changes. “I feel like the business model is changing in the music industry period,” Dot stated in a recent interview at The Brewery Studio in Williamsburg. “A lot of people won’t really need to go through a major label to do certain things anymore. People can do it by themselves, maybe not on a level that a major label can, but eventually, it’s going to get to that level.”

When an artist walks into The Brewery — the full-service studio Dot owns with engineer/producer Andrew Krivonos, and HeadBanga HQ — the environment is collaborative and consistent as far as production talent and support. The goal is to create the most effective environment in which artists will thrive.

Dot’s partnership with Kid Cudi serves as the consummate example of how a consistent relationship helps breed success. Instead of sending out demo tracks to low-level A&Rs and trying to hustle together some local momentum, Dot and Cudi worked together in Dot’s home studio while he attended NYU Polytechnic.

Rather than distribute the track to some label (whereat an executive might assign producers to craft more ‘hit’ tracks) in hopes of eventually receiving a release date for physical album sales, Dot and Headbanga provide a more updated approach. In the case of Cudi and “Day ‘N’ Nite,” after two years spent perfecting the track, the two worked together to share their vision online, through Myspace and other social media outlets, allowing the music to speak for itself.

“The internet plays a huge part,” Dot allows. “Literally, without anybody behind us pushing the music, we were putting songs up on Myspace and getting immediate feedback from people all over the world.”

It’s this multi-dimensional approach that Dot sees as the future of the industry: “I feel like, creatively everybody has their direction, and once a couple people create a synergy together where they are in sync creatively, that’s where the best music is made.”

INTER-NETWORKING & TALENT SCOUTING

With the rise of the internet age, artists and producers like Dot, Cudi, Freddie Gibbs, and Drake have been able to utilize online resources to their advantage, pushing their newest work on Myspace and genre-specific blogs in 2DopeBoyz and NahRight.

As Dot explains: “It’s going to get to that point where just through the internet and networking online, you can set up opportunities to tour and link up with other established artists.”

As a result of his web networking, Dot has been able to expand his artist and producer rolodex: “I linked up with [producer] Benny Blanco, he reached out over the internet. I linked up with the Clipse in Hawaii. Even with producers, on a day to day basis I get hit up by producers that, say, ‘Oh you inspired my music, can you check me out?’”

From a business standpoint, this attention to personal relationships is a stark contrast from the model that some major labels have followed, where producers are often chosen for efficiency or name-recognition over quality. Rather than purchase contracts of established artists with an already developed sound, HeadBanga is looking to the greater community for young, raw talent.

Between local showcases and quality internet mixtape artists, Dot and his crew are constantly on the lookout for potential: “I have an A&R team, we’re fully stacked like most labels have, but we’re young. We’re looking for whatever we like, not so much the industry standard.”

GENIUS LOVES COMPANY: HEADBANGA & BLURRING GENRES AND PRODUCTION STYLES

Dot sees HeadBanga’s defining characteristic in its versatility, from both a sonic and business standpoint — serving as more than just a production studio or hip-hop record label. Stocked with photographers, directors, and a public relations team, HeadBanga is essentially able to handle any need relative to entertainment, beyond music production and scoring.

“We are also a media company: we do film, photography, event marketing and promotions,” he points out. “It just doesn’t stop at the music; we’re definitely trying to take over most aspects regarding the entertainment industry. I feel like we need that in order to be the entity that stands out from everybody else.”

Dot also brings this versatility to his sound production, exhibited in the minimal-electro production on “Day ‘N’ Nite.”

Asked about this sound, Dot relays: “If you listen to Cudi’s album, it’s definitely not like most hip-hop albums; I think it’s more musical. Being classically trained, and having the knowledge of theory and music contributes to it. The other producers that we work with all have their different levels of musical knowledge that blend, and there’s no area [of music] that’s not covered.”

Arranging music that lends itself to other genres has quickly become the trend in hip-hop, with rappers like Kid Cudi and Kanye West, as well as hybrid DJs like A-Trak blurring the lines between hip-hop and other genres, especially electronic music. Dot’s ability to produce an eclectic sound can be equally attributed to his classical training as well as the use of feedback mechanisms.

As evidenced by his approach with Cudi, the expanding social media market is an extremely useful tool in reaching out to large, young audiences, many of whom are willing critics: “People from Paris, people from Germany just responding [on Myspace] saying, ‘I really like your song, is there anywhere I can download it?’ That immediately told us that were on to something.”

Due in large part to his willingness to look to the internet for commentary and inspiration, Dot developed “Day ‘N’ Nite” into a track that can be appreciated by fans of all types of music, from all over the world. The amount of international remixes of “Day ‘N’ Nite”, spanning a number of genres, is ultimately what propelled it to its chart-topping position. This merging of genres has resulted in an influx of new sounds, with hip-hop at the forefront of the experimentation.

As a result, the other members of the Headbanga staff also infuse myriad styles into their work, making it difficult to define a distinctive feature in their sound, other than simply its quality.

“I pride myself and my team on being able to tackle all genres, not just hip-hop,” Dot shares. “Most people would just expect me to come out with a hip-hop artist or an R&B artist, but honestly if I come across a good alternative group or rock group, I‘m with it, because I appreciate all that music and it’s definitely something I want to tackle more of.”

Dot’s business partner, Brewery co-owner Andrew Krivonos, voiced a similar sentiment about their ability to diversify the sound of their work, which ranges from rappers like JoJo Pelligrino and Raekwon, to pop singer/songwriter Brian Hong and Latin band Junior Rivera: “We are all kind of young dudes who are very much in it, so we are able to service a broad range of needs. That’s why I think we get so much variety in our clientele.” This unique ability to cloud the lines between genres has been a huge factor in both the Headbanga group and Dot’s personal success.

With his current work on the upcoming Kid Cudi sophomore album, Man on the Moon: The Legend of Mr. Rager (tentatively due out October 26), Dot has yet again found a way to work with an artist on developing a new sound, rather than settling for the status quo:

“The album is different from Man on the Moon, the music is really going to speak for itself. I feel like Cudi has really stepped it up himself; as an MC, he’s always working, always trying to make something better. When you have somebody who doesn’t settle for ‘let’s just rock with this,’ it’s better for the music. The process is tedious, sometimes it can get a little hectic, but it’s always rewarding when the music comes out, and the music is sounding great.”

From his first hit with “Day ‘N’ Nite” to his scoring for television and advertising to the upcoming Kid Cudi follow-up release, we can continue to look forward to the one constant in Dot’s work: unique and quality sound production.

“I pride myself in trying to diversify,” he explains. “If I have a beat CD with ten tracks, I want somebody to listen to it and think all ten tracks came from somebody different, but with the same quality. I think with the influences of New York and the other genres of music, I’m just trying to implement it and make it my own.”

– Alex Edelstein