NEW SESSION NEWS!!
Producer SPK (a.k.a. El Maton) was at Hot Sound Studios with reggaeton rapper Big Mato. SPK is at the top of the game in the reggaeton explosion, producing beats for Fat Joe and many others. Big Mato has worked with rapper Noreaga and Nina Sky. Also in the session was guitarist John Allen (a.k.a. JIII) who has toured with Tommy Lee and Sevendust. The project was for Lilian Garcia from WWE¹s Monday Night Raw wrestling. She wanted her Introduction song to reflect her Latin roots but also to keep the hard rock edge associated with wrestling. Jeff Philips manned the board.
Dance singer Joyce Sims (All In All) was in mixing up tracks for her new CD release with chief engineer Jeff Philips. Joyce was recently featured on a 102.7 MIX FM live radio show, performing at the Roxy with Chic, Sister Sledge and Thelma Houston. Well known DJ Junior Vasquez also did a dance mix for the CD. Jeff's mix of "What The World Needs Now" is to be the first dance single (and video) from her new CD.
Also in was producer Phil Hall working on a disco song called "You Need A Bitch Slap", from his upcoming production of Matthew Passion, a play with music slated for thirteen performances during the two weeks before Easter, 2007 at the American Theatre of Actors' Chernuchin Theatre in New York City. Co-producing were Keith Crupi and Andy Redeker. Mike Prochilo was the tracking engineer and Jeff Philips mixed and edited. Kit Williams sang the lead vocal, with backup vocals provided by Linda Sue Moshier, Andy Redeker, Daniel Cochran, and Jeff Applegate. Randy Bettis of Betboyz Music is doing a dance remix of the song, and complimentary copies of "You Need A Bitch Slap" will be given out as part of a promotion surrounding the national GayDays Tour,sponsored by centaur (www.centaurmusic.com for dates/locations).
80's star Lisa Lisa of Cult Jam was also in recently, working on a new project with producers Dre and Marcus Siskind (Lauren Hill) of Mass Appeal Music. The tracks feature her classic 80's sound updated, with great vocal performances as well.
NEW ROOM NEWS!!
We are pleased to announce the opening of our newest room Studio Three! The room is a confortable 15' x 8', with 12' ceilings, and features our highly Customized Neotek Series I 32x8x10 Console, with Killer EQ's and mic pre's. The console is actually two consoles interfaced together by Chris Muth of Dangerous Music . One of the them was a mastering console at SONY Music. The room also features a Mac Mini, and Pro Tools 002R. Equipped with many MIDI keybords, it is perfect for editing, MIDI sequencing, & songwriting, and is designed for clients on a limited budget!!
NEW GEAR NEWS!!
What's better than a new G5 and Pro Tools HD Accel TDM System ? How about TWO? Two Dual-processor 2.0 GHz G5 PowerMacs, each with Dual 19" flat panel monitors, running Pro Tools 6.7 HD Accel TDM. One for each of our studios! With a HUGE Plug-ins list, extra HD Accel process cards, Apogee Rosetta 800 A/D/A converters, and a Neve console in each of our two rooms, we are ready to ROCK!
We have also refurbished our classic Ampex ATR-102 Reel-to-Reel for 1/2" & 1/4" Tape. The machine was redone by Michael Spitz of ATR Service, with new heads by John French of JRF Magnetics.
SESSION NEWS!!
Super Producer John Ravenhall (Sting, Kylie Minogue) checked in to Hot Sound for several days to cut tracks with NYC band Steeplechase. Chief Engineer Jeff Philips manned the Pro Tools, recording and doing extensive editing. The CD will be released first in John's native England, on ACM Records. ACM head Al Cohen was the Executive Producer.
Dance Music DJ & Producer extrodinaire Peter Rauhoffer has done a bunch of vocal sessions here, cutting tracks with singer Suzanne Palmer including her huge dance hit "Show Me", as well as several other great vocal tracks. Production duties were handled by Peter and Cevin Fisher. Peter also Executive Produced singer Sheila Brody, former singer with George Clinton. Those tracks were produced by the production team of John Rizzo and Gary Conte, and engineered by Jeff Philips.
Ramones Producer Daniel Ray was in to produce a new album for NYC punk band The Bloodstain Kings. Featuring Todd Radict (Radicts, LES Stiches) on vocals, Neil Downlow on bass, Steve-o on Drums, and Hot Sounds' own Rob D'Aquino (Banner Of Hope) on guitar. The CD was mastered by Jeff Philips
New artist Jan Wickline has been working in Studio One with producer Manny Moiera, engineer Jeff Philips, and a truly all-star cast of musicians. Included are Steve Holley (Paul McCartney) and Vince Gericho (Ray Barretto) on drums, Leo Traversa (Tania Maria) and Mike Visiglia (Suzanne Vega) on bass, Ted Baker (Steely Dan) on piano, and legendary producer John Simon (Bob Dylan, The Band, Blood, Seat, & Tears) on keyboards and string arrangements, with Jan and Manny playing guitars.
Super Rock Producer John Agnello (Monster Magnet, Mark Lanegan) was also in Studio One for a few days with his newest find, the band Radiate. In addition to producing, John also engineered, assisted by Rob D'Aquino.
| Dominic Chianese, aka "Uncle Junior" from the "Sopranos", has just released his first solo CD of romantic Italian guitar ballads, "Ungrateful Heart", on the AOL Grand label. The album was recorded at Hot Sound by engineer Rob D'Aquino, and was produced by Nick Addeo. Dominic appears with his band at Sophie's in Manhattan every Monday evening. |
 From left, Hot Sound staff engineer Rob D'Aquino, Dominic "Uncle Junior" Chianese, Hot Sound studio manager Scott Mascena |
| Keybord Player Extraordinaire Jason Crosby checked in for work on his upcoming record with producer John Snyder. Many excellent players and singers were on hand to help him make his new release "Out of the Box" outta sight! Among Jason's friends were Ritchie Canata (Billy Joel) & Walter King (B.B. King) on saxes, Tim Ouimette (Ray Barretto) and his protege Jordan on trumpets, percussionist Mark Quinones (Allman Brothers), Bassist (and all-round nice guy) Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers), and Vocalist Miss Susan Tedeschi with her "man", guitarist Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers), and her "other man", infant son Charlie. The sessions were engineered by our own Jeff Philips, assisted by Zak Doob . |
 Keyboardist Jason Crosby, Hot Sound Chief Engineer Jeff Philips, and Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks |
Sitarist Poonam Khubani was in to do some work for his new release "Love Is Worth Waiting For" with Engineer/Producer Tony Lewis (David Bowie), ably assisted by Dan Nuxoll.
Studio Two has been the happening dance music place lately, with dance producer Peter Rauhofer working the Pro-Tools controls with Vocalist Suzanne Palmer, recording the follow-up to their huge dance hit "Hide You", which was also cut at Hot Sound.
Also in Studio Two, British Dance producer Steve Tavell recorded with the lovely Caron Wheeler (Soul 2 Soul) for dance label V2 Records.
Spoken word artist Maggie Estep was also in Studio Two, to read from a "newly discovered work of a deceased Great American Writer", whose identidy we've been forbidden to reveal, but the guy is a MAJOR literary figure. The session was produced by Jim Sampas, with Jeff Philips on the mighty Pro-tools.
OTHER NEW NEWS! Everyone has been so blown away by the sound of the Apogee AD-8000 Converters in our Pro-Tools setup in Studio Two, that we had to do something equally impressive for Studio One. So we've aquired an Apogee A/D 500 Analog to Digital Mastering Converter, and an Apogee DA 1000 Digital to Analog Mastering Converter . In addition to being of huge benefit in mastering, every mix done on our Vintage Neve console to digital media (CD's & DAT's) will benefit from the upgrade.
| None other than Saturday Night Live's Joe Piscapo was in our new Studio Two, working on our super Pro Tools rig. Joe was here editing a promo for his new radio program "Saturday Night America". The project was produced by Sal Perry, and engineered by Jack Neisi. |  Saturday Night Live's Joe Piscapo, Hot Sound Chief Engineer Jeff Philips and engineer Jack Nesei |
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Latin Hall Of Fame member Larry Harlow was in again to produce a new artist, Onanay Ortiz. He assembled his usual stellar crew of some of NYC's top musicians. Mark Quinones, who has done several tours with the Allman Brothers, played timbales. Chembo Corniel played conga, Pablo Rosario played bongos, Ruben Rodriguez played bass, and Edwin Sanchez was on the piano. The horns were arranged by longtime Harlow trumpeter Pete Nater, and also included Ritchie Viruet on trumpet, Joe Fiedler on trombone, and Vincent Velez on sax. Background singers included Kevin Ceballo, Luis Rosario, and Reynal Lopez. Former Steely Dan guitarist Elliot Randall was also featured. Session were cut to our Studer A-80 2" machine, than transfered to our ProTools system for editing and mixing. The sessions were engineered by Jeff Philips Assistance was by assistants Dan Nuxoll, Ed Radovic, and Rob D'Aquino.
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 Former Steely Dan guitarist Elliot Randall, Hot Sound Chief Engineer Jeff Philips and Producer Larry Harlow |
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Jeff was also behind the board producing and engineering (who says he can't do two things at once?) as New Haven rock band Doublethink worked on their debut. The band (who range in age from 16-18), consists of Tyler Seely on guitar, Jesse McVaney on drums Graham Bendict on bass and Scott Brown on guitar and vocals.Dan Nuxoll and James Dellatacoma assisted. We've been getting a lot of out-of-town-based clients lately. We'd like to thank all of our friends in Chicago, Detroit, Columbus/Cleveland, and Washington DC as well as in the NYC metro area. If you're from out of town, we'd be glad to help coordinate travel and lodging issues for your project. LOTS O' BIG NEWS FLASHES!!!! We're E-X-P-A-N-D-I-N-G !! We've put in a comfortable Studio Two with a roomy 4.5'x6' booth. We've also put in a new private lounge and additional 4.5'x5.5' iso booth for Studio One, as well as an expanded kitchen area (with counter seating). Keep an eye out for new pictures etc. LOTS O' NEW TOYS!!!! Hot Sound has purchased a NEVE 5106 "Baby V" mixing console!!! Originally used to mix films, this 24x8x20 beauty features 4-band EQ, high and low filters, & Dynamics ON EVERY CHANNEL!! Plus, it has 8 outputs (for 5.1 mixing capabilities, to be added soon). As if that wasn't enough, it includes a Neve 33609 Stereo bus compressor. The best part is, it combines all this functionality with that great Neve Sound! The console has been installed in Studio One, and sounds AMAZING!!
ProTools!!!! We have gone Protools CRAZY! How's this? PT 24 Mix Plus system (64 track),G4 PowerMac, ProControl (Faders, NO MORE MOUSE!!), Apogee converters, expantion chassis with extra mix farm cards (for more Plug-In power), Glyph hot-swappable multidrive unit with DAT Backup, and Way Too Many Plug-ins.... OTHER NEW TOYS Include two pair of Genelec 1031 Monitors, (one pair for each room!) and a URIE 1176LN vintage compressor. Nice stuff, baby! We are also negotiating the purchase of some more major cool stuff! Bookmark the page & keep an eye out for news as it happens! SESSION NEWS!!!
Universal/Island recording artist (and Grammy nominee) Tracy Bonham came into Hot Sound to work on material for her new CD "Down There", released on April 15th, including the song "Fake It". Jeff Philips engineered and mixed, with the able asistance of Rob D'Aquino and Dan Nuxoll. Fresh from his induction into the Latin Hall Of Fame, Fania Records artist and producer Larry Harlow worked on his 300th album at Hot Sound! The artist was Tall Paul, a bass saxaphonist who plays while riding a unicyle! Besides the showbiz, the cat can really play! In addition to Larry's amazing piano playing, some of the top players in town participated. The players included Bobby Sanabria on drums and timbales, "Chembo" Corniel on congas and bongos, Guillermo Edghill on bass, Philip Namanworth on piano & organ, Elliot Randall (Steely Dan) on guitar, Gary King (Gladys Knight) on bass, Uli Geissendoerfer on organ & strings, and Alan Herman on drums.Jeff Philips engineered & mixed, assisted by Dan Epstein, Ron Johnson and Dan Nuxoll. Funkateer Bernie Worrell (Parliment-Funkadelic, Woo Warriors) was in to produce singer-boxer-fashion model Michael Olijide with yet another all-star cast. In addition to Bernie on organ, strings, clavinet, and his everready Mini-Moog, participants included Michael "Moon" Rubin (Woo Wariors) on guitar, Carol Steele (Joan Baez, Carlos Santana) on congas and percussion, Winston Roye (Woo Warriors) on bass, and Catherine Russell (Steely Dan) on vocals. Ed Driscoll also added his able production skills. The engineering was done by Jeff Philips and Rob D'Aquino, with Dan Nuxoll and Ron Johnson assisting. English hard rock band Score blasted into Hot Sound for four days to work on a 5 song EP, paid for by Fred Durst (Limp Biscuit) ,who is interested in signing the act to his Flawless Records The band features Carlos Portin on bass, Malin on vocals, James O'Brien on guitar, and Fyfe Fwing on drums, and THEY ROCK! The project was produced by the band and Jeff Philips. It was engineered & mixed by Jeff Philips, assisted by Dan Nuxoll and Ron Johnson EXTRA NEWS FLASH!!! British Rockers Score (see last item above), have been signed to a development deal by Interscope Records. The band was personally signed by label head Tom Morley. Other news here at Hot Sound includes the arrival of our new Furman Six Station Cue System! This baby enables us to offer Up To Six Separate Musician-Controlled Headphone Mixes!!! No more fighting with the singer to hear yourself! We're thinking of changing our name to Studio Peace! The Hitman Blues Band rolled into Hot Sound with an arsenal of high powered sidemen from the Jazz & Blues worlds. In addition to Hitman on Guitar and Vocals, Big Guns Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin) on drums, Bobby Forrester (Ruth Brown) on our 1940's-vintage rebuilt Hammond Organ, and jazz vibist Ray Alexander were deployed. Noted session guitarist Johnny Gale played bass and produced the CD. Jeff Philips recorded the superband entirely live in the studio, with the able asistance of Rob D'Aquino and Neil McNeale. Also in to use the Hammond was De La Soul, working on a new song for Al Green. Pos produced, with Adam Kudcin doing the engineering. Rob D'Aquino assisted. Canadian rocker Marty Sobb came in to borrow the keyboardist of another Canadian rocker, Tommy Mandel from Bryan Adams' band. Marty produced, with Jeff Philips engineering, and Bill Bork assisting. Our little studio elves have finished recapping our Studer A-80 2" tape machine, and it sounds AMAZING!! It joins a long list of rebuilt/modified vintage gear here at Hot Sound. We want to wish Frankie Paris & Cold Sweat congratulations and best of luck on the release of their CD Right Around The Corner , which was recorded in its entirety at Hot Sound, and engineered by our own chief engineer, Jeff Philips. The CD, on the Bahoomba label, is being very well reviewed in all the major blues publications, and may be up for several awards by the end of the year as well. Frankie is one the best blues singers in New York, and is dynamite live as well. The Missing mixed and mastered their CD, Poor Dolly, here at Hot Sound featuring some great cover art, and one the nicest credits we've ever gotten. Another powerhouse band! Richard X. Heyman was in to mix a song for his new CD, Cornerstone, on the Permanant Press label. The song was mixed by Tony Lewis, assisted by Rob D. Aquino. We will be adding a lot more of what's happening here at Hot Sound just as fast as our little fingers can type! |
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