Remotes and Radio

So despite all the crazy weather we've been having, things are still bustling along - as are we - from one corner of the state to the other!

First Bill got to take a drive up to "UConn country" where he met with Women's Head Basketball Coach, Geno Auriemma, in snow-covered Gampel Pavilion to record him for a radio spot due out in March. (Can you imagine having to clear the snow off of that roof?)

Then Chris hit the road on the last weather-filled morning CT has seen so far, (which, if you can believe, was only a lengthy 4 days ago) to head down to Norwalk Hospital where he recorded one of the doctors and two very moving patient testimonials.

Now back to the studio (and connecting us back up to Storrs), high school student, Mike Casey, who attends E.O. Smith and The Greater Hartford Academy for the Arts recorded a jazz CD in which all of the proceeds will be donated to Horns For Kids - a charity which supports music education in CT.

Anxiously awaiting what should hopefully be just around the corner - Spring! I think we are all well-deserving of that!

A 2010 Wrap-up From the "B" Room

As we get ready for whatever excitement 2011 will bring us, this feels like as good a time as any for reflecting on my "rookie season" at Tapeworks.

In the eight short months since joining the crew here, I've seen many of the ways in which a pro studio earns the kind of reputation that this place has had for so many years. I've learned that a successful audio engineer needs to be constantly aware of many elements within a recording session. That means learning tendencies of clients and being able to anticipate their next requests. It also means constantly weighing the factors of fatigue, productivity and "finance efficiency" against each other when working with studio talent.

It also means multitasking. I was amazed to discover how much multitasking is required to run a successful session between multiple locations simultaneously. Let's just say that my "involuntary stopwatch reflex" has become finely tuned as a result of these sessions.

2010 also brought some very cool new developments to our "B" room, which made the leap this year from functional control room to a miniature version of our "A" room. The end of the year saw the introduction of our brand new Mackie Onyx 1620i Mixer, which combines the necessity of a 16-channel analog mixer with a Firewire digital output. With functional ISDN and phone patch lines running into Studio B, we can now do all kinds of multi-client (and multi-location) sessions from either room at Tapeworks (yes, the "B" room even has a snazzy stopwatch!).

It was a great 2010, and we're looking forward to an even better 2011!

Happy New Year!

From Control Room A:

Well 2010 ended with a bang for us! We had an exciting year. In November I had the opportunity to head out to San Fran to see what's hot in the new tech gear arena, and was able to bring home some toys for the new year. Ribbons seemed to be the hot item on our list. No, not holiday ribbons, but ribbon microphones (Audio-technica AT4080), and ribbon tweeter speaker systems (Adam A8X). So whats so great about ribbons? They provide a more controlled listening environment, and a new (or old) way to capture sound. We are also enjoying our mid 2010 purchase of the PLAY sample and sound design library, that we have used on all of our large scaled audio design jobs. Also with the help of our friends at Upscale Music we have been working hard refurbishing our main recording console to continue to deliver that sought after analogue sound. Happy New Year! And away we go!

Not A Dull Moment This Year!

It's that time of year again - the weather outside is becoming frightful (or at least just very cold!) and the fires are oh so delightful. We are off for a week, so bring on the snow!

In all seriousness though, we are taking a look back at all of the fun we had this year with our clients and the great projects we got to work on. There is never a dull moment, especially when working with so many talented people!

November and December kept us just as busy as usual producing several radio spots for a couple of ski mountains - Cranmore (North Conway, NH) and Okemo (Ludlow, VT). We also got to meet and work with actor and author, Chris Lemmon, Jack's son, who was in a few time doing some voiceover work for Cadillac.

And if you were ever hesitant to record a CD of yourself playing or singing a few songs as a gift to family and friends - they will love it! Our latest treat was doing just that with a woman who wanted to record some piano selections for her three daughters as a Christmas gift this year - (34 tunes!) - and as it turns out - just about everyone she knows wants one!

Overall it's been a great year, and we are looking forward to what 2011 will bring! Happy Holidays everyone!

Learnin' the Blues Keb' Mo'-style

Over the years we've been very fortunate to work with some of the greatest musicians out there. Sometimes the are gracious enough to help a fledgling player out with a video taped lesson or two.

We'll be sharing some of these videos with our Facebook friends.

This week's installment is a bluesy beauty by the masterful musician Keb' Mo'.

Keb' shows me how he plays Robert Johnson's "Kind Hearted Woman" with a very cool turn-around.

A Gem From The Tapeworks Vault!

Guess What?! We have decided to join the world of YouTube. Stay tuned for more video updates. In the meantime check out this video we found in our archives, circa 1991, of Jeff Pevar playing an original solo acoustic tune.

A Special "Thanks" From A Happy Client!

Check out this note that we received from another happy client:

Doug and Bill-

You guys are AWESOME!

I received the Final Master/Revision 2 CDs by Fed Ex YESTERDAY. Wow! Thank you so much for making the CDs and sending them so quickly. That really enabled me to make my final decisions, and to put the whole project into the mail for replication this afternoon. That is huge! (Can't believe I've finally reached this point!)

Thanks also, Bill, for saving me a trip up there, and for humoring me. You may be gratified to know that, after all that, I ended up using the original Master with no volume changes to any tracks. But I had to go through the process of trying the changes, I guess, to hear the result of lowering those two that were bothering me. Now that I've done that, they don't bother me at all-they sound "right" and good-thanks to your good work. So again, thanks for your patience and extra trouble.

I had a great experience at Tapeworks, and your excellent service just continues even after the studio time is done. Many, many thanks. I will, of course, send you a CD when it's ready.

I can't thank you enough!

Todd Beaney - Rye Brook, NY

Now take a listen to this clip from "Like a River Glorious" -performed and composed by Todd Beaney, (c) 2009 Lorenz Publishing Co., a division of the Lorenz Corporation.