John Cuniberti Opens Digital Therapy Lab

Engineer John Cuniberti, who has operated The Plant’s mastering facilities since 2000, has left the historic Sausalito, Calif., recording studio to open up his own mixing and mastering studio, Digital Therapy Lab, located in the hills above Oakland, Calif.

“During my stay at The Plant I had the privilege of working with some very talented artists over a huge range of musical styles,” says Cuniberti. “Although the mastering business was growing, The Plant Recording Studios were fighting to stay alive in a rapidly changing environment. With all the large studios I grew up in closing around me, I needed to become pro-active and find my own solutions.”

Exiting The Plant’s well-appointed mastering studio, which Cuniberti designed with Manny LaCarrubba, gives John the ability to offer comparable first-rate services at a lower cost and with faster turnaround time.

“I can do a better job in my own studio without all the distractions of a large studio complex,” says Cuniberti. “I don’t need an assistant, a maintenance engineer, or someone to answer the phone. It’s just me and the music and I love that.”

His efficient way of working benefits clients, as well. Artists can send files to Digital Therapy Labs via an Internet FTP for mastering. Once the client approves the reference, Cuniberti will then cut the master DDP and upload it to the pressing plant via the Internet.

Cuniberti, whose career spans three decades and includes engineering and co-producing Joe Satriani’s groundbreaking Surfing With the Alien, as well as recording and/or mastering albums for Dead Kennedys, Tracy Chapman, Thomas Dolby, and Sound Tribe Sector 9, has already mixed or mastered many projects from his own studio. Recent Digital Therapy Lab credits include Joe Satriani’s new album, Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, The Neville Brothers’ Heart & Soul of New Orleans, and The Funky Meters’ Fiyo at the Fillmore Volume 2.

Digital Therapy Lab features a ProTools|HD3 workstation with Waves, API and SSL plug-ins plus Sonic Studio mastering software. Monitoring is provided by a pair of Meyer HD-1 studio monitors tuned by LaCarrubba. Other accoutrements include custom Neve buss summing, SSL analog buss compressors and Lavry digital converters. “Today, in my own studio, I can mix as good a sounding record as I ever did on a fifteen-foot console in a room full of gear.”

Cuniberti offers recording, mixing, and mastering services, as well as record production and project studio design and consulting. For more information on Cuniberti and Digital Therapy Lab, visit www.johncuniberti.com.

Hyde Street Studios Update

Sad news:
http://www.examiner.com/a-1351471~Historic_recording_studios_sing_last_song.html

Coast Recorders V1

My poor neglected blog. I’m so sorry for leaving you alone for so long, but I promise to pay more attention from now on.

Like most cities, the San Francisco studio landscape continues to expand and contract in all sorts of mysterious ways. Fantasy Studios (see previous post), has found a way to carry on. Different Fur, a popular recording site since the 1970s, is up for sale. Historic Coast Recorders remains intact, albeit under new owners and the name Broken Radio. Coast is one of the oldest and most traveled studios in the Bay Area, having had successful runs at locations on Folsom Street, Harrison Street, and Mission Street, the location now known as Broken Radio. But before all of that, Coast operated for a brief time at 960 Bush Street in Nob Hill. For those interested in Coast’s early days, I’ve provided an excerpt from my book, If These Halls Could Talk: A Historical Tour Through San Francisco Recording Studios. Enjoy, — Hj

Sound Recorders, one of the earliest known commercial studios in San Francisco, opened in 1946. Jingles for radio, mostly, poured out of this second-floor space at the corner of Post and Powell Streets, while the United Airlines ticket office booked flights downstairs and trolleys outside carried businessmen and shoppers through bustling Union Square. Toward the end of the 1950s, advertisers could finally purchase 30- or 60-second spots rather than sponsor an entire radio program, so naturally, the city’s top ad agencies needed a place to produce these bright, brief bursts of words and music. The demand for these short spots increased as Top 40 AM radio began to dominate in the early 1960s.

Sensing a prime business opportunity in the Bay Area’s commercial industry, audio legend Bill Putnam purchased Sound Recorders in 1962. Putnam had founded Universal Recording Corporation, a successful recording studio and audio equipment manufacturing business (the precursor to Universal Audio) in the Chicago area in 1947, and United Recording Corporation in Hollywood in 1957.

Rooms stamped with the Putnam name were considered prime acoustic real estate, and some of his recording techniques—he is acknowledged to be the first to use artificial reverberation for commercial recordings, developed the first multi-band equalizers, and was one of the first to record in stereo, among other achievements—advanced the field in innumerable ways. When Putnam picked up Sound Recorders, the expanding United umbrella already included both United and Western Studios in Los Angeles, Universal Audio (manufacturers of prized UREI compressors and amplifiers), and the URCON studio in Las Vegas.

Putnam promptly christened his new purchase Coast Recorders and moved the operation and its clientele to 960 Bush Street, a large building in the tony Nob Hill area, not far from the activity of Union Square. The building wasn’t ideal for recording, which is probably one reason why Putnam almost immediately began looking for another space, but he inherited a veritable landmark with a fascinating musical history.

Reality Bites: Fantasy Studios R.I.P.

One of San Francisco’s premier recording facilities, Fantasy Studios, will cease operation, reportedly this month. The spacious multi-room operation in Berkeley, Calif., opened as a private facility in 1971, then went public in 1980. It’s been home to a wealth of fabulous jazz recordings, as well as albums from Santana, Chris Isaak, Creedence Clearwater Revival, En Vogue, Journey, and many, many more. Engineers such as George Horn and Bill Belmont have worked at Fantasy for nearly 30 years, and others have remained loyal to the company for more than a decade or two. Their shuttering is an unfortunate effect of our ever-changing music industry, and the increasingly isolated means of recording, whether by choice or because of tighter budgets. In their honor, here’s an excerpt on Fantasy Studio’s early days, beginning with their 1971 opening. (The year I was born, how ’bout that!) Enjoy, Hj

A Private Fantasy

Fueled and funded primarily by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s multi-Platinum record sales (total sales of over 100 million up to this point), the group’s label at the time, Fantasy Records, expanded its catalog as well as its two-story building at 10th and Parker in Berkeley. They built an impressive in-house studio, nicknamed “The House That Creedence Built,” and equipped it with DeMedio consoles for Studios A and B and an API in Studio C. They built the studio to accommodate their growing roster, which remained primarily and most successfully jazz, with adventures in rock, soul, and disco. Label president Ralph Kaffel negotiated the purchase of several jazz labels during the early ’70s, including Prestige and its many subsidiaries, as well as Riverside and Milestone. The latter two were founded by producer Orrin Keepnews. (He launched Riverside with partner Bill Grauer.) Interestingly, Fantasy Records, one of the most prominent jazz labels in the U.S., would join forces much, much later with previously mentioned Concord Records. Details to come in Chapter 25.

The boost to the Fantasy catalog in the 1970s led to an extensive reissue program for the work of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and the Modern Jazz Quartet, among others. At the same time, the label brought in Keepnews to oversee its expanded jazz roster. Anticipating an influx of musicians who often record live-to-tape, they built large recording spaces for each room, with Studio A offering the most square footage. (See Chapter 19 for specifics.)

By 1973, Cannonball Adderley had joined the Fantasy roster by way of Keepnews’ Riverside label. Although Keepnews had produced dozens of albums for the legendary sax player, he gave the reigns for Inside Straight to Dave Axelrod. Keepnews then went about the business of organizing a special live-in-the-studio recording, giving the artist the benefit of Fantasy’s exquisite acoustics, as well as the energy of an audience. “The particular bright spark of an Adderley performance always seemed to glow at its best when an actual audience is breathing (and hollering) around it,” writes Keepnews in the album’s liner notes. “So, why not bring the club to the studio?”

He goes on to describe the scene:

Shameless Self Promotion: New Book!

Okay, so this has absolutely nothing to do with Bay Area recording, aside from the fact that it pertains to the author of this blog! So here’s my plug — my second book, Born in a Small Town: The John Mellencamp Story, is set for a Nov. 1 release by Omnibus Press. It’s the result of a lot of long hours and more than 20 interviews (everyone from Kenny Aronoff to Don Gehman to John Mellencamp’s friends from grade school). Read the full official press release below:

Recording Academy Honors

Hi,

On April 29, 2007, I attended the Recording Academy Honors Awards in SF. What a fabulous night! This year, the gala honored songwriter/producer Linda Perry (previously 4 Non Blondes frontwoman), Sammy Hagar, and Narada Michael Walden. The whole night couldn’t have been better.

“If These Halls” Got Nominated for ARSC Award

Hi,

I guess you’d file this under the “shameless self-promotion” category, but I’m excited and feel like spreading the word!

If These Halls Could Talk: A Historical Tour Through San Francisco Recording Studios, by yours truly, was selected as a finalist for the 2007 Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. The winners will be announced on May 5, 2007 during the ARSC’s annual conference in Milwaukee, Wisc.

This is the first time anything I’ve written has been recognized with an award, and this one is pretty darn cool. I’m in the company of some pretty well-known journalists, and the judges are music historians from Eastman School of Music and the like. Plus, one of the main reasons I wanted to write a book like this was to help preserve a legacy of sorts. Very little of the recording studio history is documented; the wonderful stories about how great music got made get passed on by word-of-mouth, but then often fade away as people move on, pass on, or the studio itself shuts down…which, sadly, is happening much too often. It’s like preserving an endangered species!

<>If you’re interested in reading the full press release, click below. Otherwise, stay tuned for more tidbits on Bay Area recording. My next entry, whenever it comes, will likely target Wally Heider Recording, now Hyde Street Studios…another historic place that stands a chance of extinction in favor of too-expensive condos.

Never Gonna Get It

Hi!

In honor of En Vogue’s upcoming performance at Nob Hill Masonic on Friday, March 30,  I thought I’d share a “Classic Tracks” story on their song “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” from their album Funky Divas. Denzil Foster and Tommy McElroy produced the album, which soared up the charts and brought both the fabulously talented quartet and their producers unparalleled success. McElroy still lives in the Bay Area, and has a hand in the hip East Bay studio, FM Recorders. Happy Reading, Heather

<> …When producers Denzil Foster and Tommy McElroy turned in Funky Divas, En Vogue’s triple-Platinum sophomore album, to their record label, executives didn’t want to release it. “We don’t hear any singles,” chimed the suits at Atlantic/East West. “It’s okay, but it ain’t no Born to Sing” (their first album)… (Click here to read more)

Hyde Street Studios Survives and Thrives

Apparently, rumours have been swirling about town that Hyde Street Studios is either closed or closing. Just this past weekend, a musician friend of mine told me that his band was booked there in April, and they were going to be one of the last! Well, it’s true that this historic studio — a haven to established acts and indie bands alike — will close, but no date has been set, and probably won’t for some time, according to the studio’s management. When it does, the real estate developers that own 245 Hyde and other buildings on the Turk/Hyde block will gut the building and turn it into a condominium complex. In The Tenderloin. However, they’re stuck in red tape at present, which means this could happen later in 2007, or in 2008, or maybe even later. In the meantime, it’s business as usual at Hyde Street Studios, and make no mistake — they’re as busy as ever right now! It’s not the prettiest place in the world, but there are some great studios lurking within that building. Studio A contains all the high-end gear you could want, and Justin Phelps and crew have done a bang-up job remodeling famed Studio C. In between, there’s a myriad of smaller rooms, and production suites where local artists do their work. The fact that a studio that’s survived for nearly 40 years will one day become small, nondescript, and likely very expensive living spaces is troublesome, indeed. In the meantime, if you’re a musician, producer, or engineer with a project on the horizon, give this place a call.

Below, I’ve included an excerpt from my book on the beginnings of Wally Heider Recording, now known as Hyde Street Studios, and the inaugural recording session from Jefferson Airplane. More info on this studio will surface in forthcoming blogs. You can also read a bit about one of the Pointer Sisters’ sessions in one of my previous blogs, here. Okay, enough babbling. Thanks for reading — Heather j

<>Wally Heider Recording
<>San Francisco’s recording landscape experienced a seismic shift on April 27, 1969, the opening date of Wally Heider Recording.

<><>Heider’s already established reputation as a producer, engineer, and owner of a popular professional studio in L.A. suddenly gave many San Francisco bands a reason to record in town. Before Heider’s arrival, nearly all major local acts recorded at their respective label studios in Los Angeles or New York. The Grateful Dead recorded their first album at Warner Bros. in L.A. Jefferson Airplane holed up in RCA’s basement studios for their first five albums. Quicksilver Messenger Service’s debut came out of Capitol Studios in Hollywood and Creedence Clearwater Revival did their first three there. Big Brother & the Holding Company and Moby Grape tracked at Columbia Studios in New York. As young artists, they oft en didn’t have much choice in the matter, although that was slowly changing as artists gained more power in the industry. Plus, it worked to the labels’ financial advantage to keep their artists—their products—in-house. But even if a big-name band wanted to record in their home city, the facilities available in early 1969 couldn’t compare technically or acoustically with the facilities available at or near label headquarters. So off they went, until a piece of L.A. moved up North.

Columbia Studios Spins The Automatt

Here’s the rest of/rest of the story on Columbia Studios, who stuck in out in S.F. until 1977…around the time producer David Rubinson held the grand opening party for The Automatt, the studio he opened in their Folsom Street building. The Automatt started as a one-room studio here; he had time to install some pretty good equipment—including the city’s first (working) automated console—and record a couple of projects before Columbia threw him a curveball. The saga begins below. In-session info on excellent Patti Labelle and Herbie Hancock projects. Happy Reading! — Heather

THE AUTOMATT
The time had come for [David] Rubinson to secure his own studio, and an opportunity to reconnect with his comrades at Columbia seemed like an ideal choice. Under the agreement, Columbia would provide the room, maintenance, parking, reception, and microphones—basically, all of the extras—and Rubinson would provide the console, machines, his ace engineer Fred Catero, an assistant, and lots of clients. Again, he offered to pay by the year. Agreements were made, papers were signed, and in the fall of 1976, Rubinson hung the shingle for The Automatt, a combined reference to an old New York fast-food chain and the advanced technology that would grace his small studio.

David Rubinson in The Automatt’s Studio A. Kaz Tsuruta Photography