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Prairie Sun News
- Spring in the Prairie Sun -
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May 2007
- Vol 2, Issue 2
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In This Issue
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Quick Links
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Greetings!
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Spring is here, and the weather in Sonoma
County has been spectacular. With the change
in seasons we've
had an influx of an incredible variety of
very cool and exciting
projects making their way through our three
studios, and so here we are with another
news update. Read on for the details:
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Oz Fritz & Phoebe Killdeer in A, Mike Pinder visits C
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Recently, Prairie Sun was happy to host
Paris-based artist Phoebe
Killdeer, who mixed her new ablum in Studio
A with in-demand engineer Oz
Fritz at the board. With an adventurous
mix of genres and a decidedly avant-guarde
bent, Phoebe's music was able to benefit from
Oz's years of experience, his familiarity
with the Studio A mix environment, and some
of his favorite Prairie Sun resources,
including our live echo chambers. Oz is
currently back at Prairie Sun tracking Think
Zik! aritst Grace
in Studio
B.
 Visiting Studio
C in recent
weeks was renowned former Moody Blues
keyboardist Mike
Pinder, who was producing
the tracking of the new record for his sons'
band, The
Pinder Brothers. Mr. Pinder was joined in
his production role by his old friend, and
producer of the Moody Blues from 1966-1979,
Tony
Clarke. Engineered by longtime Bay Area
engineer Tom Size,
the sessions featured
Pinder Brothers Matt and Mike (the younger),
both graduates of the local Sonoma State
University, as well as
Bay Area session musicians guitarist Stef
Burns and
drummer Paul Rivelli. |
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Howlin' Rain in Studio C with Tim Green
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Following the Pinder Brothers in Studio C was
the band Howlin'
Rain, tracking their new record with
engineer Tim
Green for Birdman
Records. Green was visting Studio C for
the third time, having tracked last year's
Comets
on Fire and Red
Sparowes releases there. Howlin' Rain also
features Comets' founding member Ethan
Miller, who already knew how he wanted to
proceed: get the whole
band together in the cozy vibe of the Waits'
Room for the basic tracks. With these tracks
and a number of overdubs all tracked to our
Studer A80 2" machine, Green and the band
retired with the tapes to his Louder
Studios
in SF.
 The same brand of
all-live
recording was also recently
exploited in the Prairie Room in Studio C by
artist Marissa Mendenhall and co-producers
Mark
"Mooka" Rennick and Marc
Ford. Mooka,
founder and co-owner of Prairie Sun, and
Marc, former lead guitarist for the Black
Crowes, last collaborated in December
when Mooka and Jason
D'Ottavio mixed Marc's
solo album. For
Marissa's EP of classic R&B and soul tunes
(and a Marc Ford original), Marc and Mooka
produced and Mooka and Jason engineered,
while the band featured Marc on guitar, Mooka
on bass, Prairie
Prince on
drums, and Mike on keys. The resulting tracks
were mixed in Studio A by Mooka and Jason and
mastered by Tim
Gennert for Eugene
Productions. |
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Secret Chiefs 3 w/ Billy Anderson & More Session News...
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Also stopping by Studio C was the band Secret
Chiefs 3 for a few days of tracking with
esteemed metalhead Billy
Andersen at the board. Led by Mr.
Bungle guitarist
Trey
Spruance, Secret Chiefs 3 is a rotating
membership band bringing together an
incredible diversity of genres and
ethnomusical styles with eclectic
instrumentation. Producer/engineer Anderson
last visited Prairie Sun in 2005 to record
and mix the unique metal duo Om,
and has in the past engineered records for
Mr. Bungle, the Melvins,
High on
Fire, and a host of others.
 To round out the
variety of
projects working
in Studio C, jazz bassoonist Paul
Hanson spent a day tracking with bassist
Victor
Little, keyboardist Eric Levy,
and acclaimed
drummer Dennis
Chambers. Producer/engineer
Haroun Serang tracked the session to Studio
C's Pro Tools HD system via the vintage Neve
console and the superior analog to digital
converters found in our RADAR 24 digital
multitrack. This incredible variety in
session work extended to Studio B, where
regular Prairie
Sun client Dr.
Nolan Gasser conducted a string quartet
overdub he arranged for the ongoing Linda
Ferro project. Tracked by
producer/engineer Mark "Mooka" Rennick in
Studios B and C,
Linda's project has now moved to Studio A for
a mix by Mooka and
assistant Matt Wright. The album is due to be
mastered by Tim Gennert for an August release. |
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Mooka's notes:
Those who have spoken with our front office
recently have already acquainted or
re-acquainted themselves with Studio Manager
Rich Tereshinski. Rich has served as both
Studio Manager and Operations Manager here at
Prairie Sun in the past, and he looks forward
to reconnecting with old friends and clients.
You can reach him at the office at (707)
795-7011, or by emailing Rich@PrairieSun.com.
On the subject of getting acquainted, I've
decided that our newsletter, more than
anything, is an excellent opportunity for our
readers to get to know us better as a
company. In that spirit, I would like to use
this section of the newsletter, starting with
this month's issue, to introduce you to
members of the Prairie Sun staff. I take
great pride in having these folks as members
of the Prairie Sun team, and in knowing that
many of them learned their craft right here
in our studios.
Prairie Sun Staff Profile: Wainwright
Hewlett, Staff Engineer
 Sonoma County native Wainwright
Hewlett came to Prairie Sun in 2001 when
his audio school, the California Recording
Institute, closed
mid-term. After exemplary service as an
intern, Wain went on to do considerable
second engineering work, working with artists
such as the Red Sparowes, Exodus, Comets on
Fire, and The Apes, and assisting such
talented engineers as Oz Fritz, Tim Green,
and Thom Canova.
Wain has also developed into an outstanding
first engineer, with credits that include
work with artists Lulu & the
Guitar Fish, Emily Jane White, Rob Wasserman,
John Courage, and Chow Nasty. Wain did
superior work as the lead engineer on our NOMC
benefit last year,
and having heard his recent work with La Fin
du Monde I can safely say his work is on par
with any engineer working in the
alt-rock/indie-rock genre. In addition to his
session work, Wain has also served as our
main in-house maintenance person, showing a
talent not only for communicating with quirky
vintage analog gear, but also for keeping
three Pro Tools HD systems up-to-date,
stable, and running efficiently. Wain's free
time is spent surfing, painting, and
constructing/composing his own music.
Sincerely,
Mark "Mooka" Rennick
Prairie Sun Recording
phone:
(707) 795-7011
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