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Prairie Sun News
- Summer Sessions at the Sun -
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September 2007
- Vol 2, Issue 3
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In This Issue
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Quick Links
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Greetings!
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So far we've experienced a very busy and
productive summer here at Prairie Sun, and
we've been proud to work on some very
exciting sessions. The 2007
Summer Special
has been a resounding success, and has
allowed us the chance to work with a bunch of
new artists, producers, and engineers who we
hope to have back in the near future. Read on
for the news.
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Brain, Buckethead, & DW Drums in Studio C
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Last month we were happy to welcome back to
Prairie Sun drummer extraordinaire Brain,
who came in to shoot video and record audio for
his new DW
Drums promotional/instructional
video. Brain, who had previously recorded at
Prairie Sun with both Primus
and Tom
Waits,
brought along his friend, and Praxis
and Guns
N' Roses bandmate, Buckethead
to jam on
guitar and some impromptu piano. The shoot
took place in the Prairie
Room, with audio
recorded by engineer Sean Beresford via
Studio C's vintage Neve board and Pro Tools
HD system. Brain played a one-of-a-kind kit
graciously provided by the good folks at DW
that featured an astonishing Old Timber
veneer, made from well-aged driftwood timber,
and gorgeous satin chrome hardware.
 Visiting Studio B in
recent
weeks was the Dresden
Dolls' Amanda
Palmer, tracking basics for her new
project, produced by Tim
Smolens of Estradasphere
and engineered by Bay Area fixture Justin
Phelps. The session featured Amanda on
piano and vocals
and Tim's Estradasphere bandmate Lee
Smith on drums, and made use of Studio
B's 9ft Baldwin
concert grand, our extensive drum selection,
some of our favorite vintage microphones, and the
tie lines to the Prairie Room for a live echo
chamber. |
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Studio A: Martha & the Motels, Myka Nyne & Matt Kelley
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Artists working in Studio
A this summer have
included Martha
Davis, who spent a week in A with
producer/ engineer Matt Morgan and
producer/band member Nick Johns mixing her new Motels
album "Beautiful Life". Martha had last
visited Prairie Sun in June `05 to do some
basic tracking in Studio B. For the mix,
engineer Morgan integrated the multitude of
tracks, plug-ins,
and submixing done within his Sonar DAW with
the SSL in A, breaking out channels via the
D/A on our newly-upgraded RADAR 24 to take
advantage of our vintage analog outboard and
both of our live echo chambers.
 One of Studio A's more recent occupants was rapper Myka
Nyne, working on a project produced by the Organized
Elements production team and and engineered by Matt
Kelley. Based out of Los Angeles, Myka Nyne is best known as the
founding member of the respected Freestyle Fellowship. Organized Elements
is a team of up-and-coming Bay Area producers Micah-Luc Almeida, Cameron
Hunt, and Nate Cuellar. Kelley has already had an impressive career
spanning 20 years of producing, engineering, and mixing in the Bay Area,
primarily as a hip-hop specialist at San Francisco's Hyde
Street Studios. We're quite glad Matt has finally had the chance
to work in Studio A, and we hope to have him back soon.
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Michael Lee Firkins and other session news...
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In the last few weeks we have been happy to
welcome back to Prairie Sun blues
guitar-slinger Michael
Lee Firkins, who has spent some time with
staff
engineer Jason
D'Ottavio tracking and mixing material
for a new instrumental release on label Magna Carta
titled "Blacklight Sonata". Collecting tracks
recorded at various times and places over the
years, the record features an incredible
array of musicians, including, among others,
drummer Matt Abts and bassist Andy Hess of Gov't Mule,
keyboardist Chuck
Leavell (The Rolling Stones). In addition
to these tracks Michael recorded new tracks
here at Prairie Sun for the album, with
drummer "Little
Thomas" Pridgen (Mars
Volta) and alternating bassists Kai
Eckhardt (Garaj
Mahal) and Steve
Evans (Coco Montoya).
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Mooka's notes:
Though I managed to steer clear of it for the
first
half of the year, the gear bug bit me bad this
summer, and so we once again have a whole
bunch of new toys here at the studio. First
and foremost are the Wunder
Audio CM7
microphones, which I mentioned in the Summer
Special mailing last month and of which we
now own a stereo pair. So far they've been
stellar, and I haven't even had the chance to
try them on everything I'd like to! Wunder
also sent us a couple of their PEQ-1
mic pre/EQ modules to try out, which can drop
into our Neve in C or into a rack for A or B.
I already know I'm at least keeping this
pair, based on a wonderfully revealing
recording of the Baldwin in
B via our Neumann SM-69 and these incredibly
open mic pres.
I auditioned this recording on
the Barefoot
Sound MicroMain
27's, which most certainly warrant all
the hype that's surrounded them. I'm sure
these relentlessly accurate speakers will
become an
engineer's favorite amongst the nearfield
monitors in our collection. And as was
mentioned in a story above, we recently
upgraded our iZ RADAR
24 to the Adrenaline
Plus recording engine. More than just a cool
name, this upgrade allows our RADAR system to
work with 24 tracks at sample rates up to
192kHz, and has vastly improved the sound of
the A/D and D/A conversion beyond even the
RADAR's already superior sound. Please read
on for this month's staff profile.
Prairie Sun Staff Profile: Jason
D'Ottavio, Senior Staff Engineer
 Born and raised in
Sonoma County, our senior staff engineer, Jason
D'Ottavio, graduated from the
Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences
in 2000 and began his internship here in
early 2001. Jason then served as Studio
Manager at Prairie Sun for two years, during
which time he was a key participant in the
construction of the new Studio A. All the
while learning the craft as an assistant
engineer, Jason applied that knowledge to
become an invaluable member of our
engineering corps.
Since that time Jason has amassed an
impressive credit list as an
engineer/mixer, working with such artists as
Michael Schenker, Steel Train, Watch Them Die,
Eric Gales, George Lynch, Luvplanet, Near
Life, Pat Travers, Marc Ford, Brides of
Destruction, Joe Louis Walker, and Ramblin'
Jack Elliot. Besides working as my right-hand
man on a host of projects I've produced, he
has also worked with such well-respected
producers
as Stephen Barncard, Jack Blades, Michael
Lardie, Roy Rogers, and Mike Varney. All of
this work has allowed Jason to develop a
diverse skill set that leaves him especially
suited to take on projects in any variety of
genres.
Sincerely,
Mark "Mooka" Rennick
Prairie Sun Recording
phone:
(707) 795-7011
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