Studio Sweet Spot: Wonderful Recording, SoHo Synth Heaven
Soho, Manhattan: A few months after graduating from CUNY’s Sonic Arts program in ‘08, NYC native engineer/producer Daniel Lynas was working the night shift at an audio post-production house, editing breaths out of audio book recordings.
Daniel Lynas and Wonderful's wall of keys
“I was miserable because I’d gone to school to produce music, and had built up a clientele out of the amazing studio up at CUNY,” Lynas recalls. “When I graduated, I was in the middle of a couple projects and needed to find a studio, fast.”
A friend connected him to composer Mike Pandolfo, who was then moving out of his SoHo facility, Wonderful Music, and into a staff position with a major music company. They met, worked out a deal, and Pandolfo handed over the keys. Lynas set up in the larger of two production studios (with an iso booth), re-branded the studio Wonderful Recording and began spreading the word. He was back in business.
Good fortune struck again when Lynas’ friend Marlon Bishop saw a listing on Vintage Synth Explorer by a synth collector seeking a studio home for his collection. Meeting with Lynas, the collector wanted to store his inventory of vintage analog synths — including one of 50-ever-made Gleeman Pentaphonic, Roland Jupiter 4 and 8 (and more, see below) — inside Wonderful in return for occasional studio time. Lynas was more than happy to oblige.
Das Racist's "Shut Up, Dude" was recorded and mixed at Wonderful Recording.
“All the keyboards are retrofitted with MIDI kits so they’re all connected to the DAW via two MIDI interfaces and the audio interface,” Lynas explains. “So, you can play one MIDI controller and trigger any of the synths, record the MIDI data into the computer, quantize it, edit the performance and then go over to whatever synth you want, mess with the sound until you’re happy with it and then record down the audio.
“Also, people can send me MIDI tracks from anywhere in the world and I can find an analog synth sound for them. It’s an incredibly flexible and awesome setup.”
And Lynas was right to be in a hurry to set up shop. One of his works-in-progress when he graduated CUNY was with up-and-coming artist Himanshu Suri, now of the art-rap duo Das Racist. By the time Wonderful came online, Das Racist was looking to get in the studio and Lynas was perfectly positioned to engineer their new material, and eventually the Mad Decent mixtape, Sit Down, Man.
Over the past two years, he’s built out the production team and clientele — what he calls “a new generation of independent musicians (rappers, singers, laptop-producers, and more) who are serious about their craft and want a professional treatment of their music in an intimate, personalized environment — all for a reasonable price.
And now, step inside this SoHo “Sweet Spot” … Wonderful Recording.
Facility Name: Wonderful Recording
Website: http://www.wonderfulrecording.com
Location: SoHo, NYC
Neighborhood Advantages: Easy train access, center of the universe
Date of Birth: September 2008
Facility Focus: Production, tracking, mixing and mastering.
Mission Statement: Our facility offers a wide range of professional audio services to artists with a discerning ear, but without the budget or need for a larger-format studio. Our intimate setting, attention to detail and dedication to every project is ideal for hard-working independent artists who demand the highest quality.
Clients/Credits: Das Racist, Theophilus London, Teachers, Janka Nabay, NSR, Jade, Beem, Red Wire Black Wire, The Unusuals and many more…
Wonderful control room with iso booth (not pictured) off to the left.
Key Personnel: Daniel Lynas (Studio manager/Chief engineer/producer); Oladotun Amu (Engineer/Producer); Brian Trent (Engineer/Producer); Marlon Bishop (Resident Synth Expert/Producer)
System Highlights: Dual Quad-Core 2.8 GHz Intel MacPro w/8 Gigs RAM running Logic Pro 9 and Pro Tools LE 8 as primary DAWs; 11 Vintage analog synthesizers (MemoryMoog, Elka Synthex, Sequential Circuits Prophet 10, Roland Jupiter 4 and 8, Synton Syrinx, Oxford Synthesizer Company OSCar, etc.)
Distinguishing Characteristics: Our unique collection of vintage synths is unmatched by commercial studios in New York. The atmosphere is extremely relaxed, due equally to our comfortable rooms and straightforward, highly-skilled staff.
The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it? The hard drives!
Rave Reviews: The fact that we care about every project that comes through here, and we always offer our sincere opinion and do our best to make things sound as good as we can.
Most Memorable Session Ever: I hate to play favorites. We’ve been very fortunate to work with many musicians who are making music for the right reasons — people who are working hard, sacrificing much, and not afraid to make the music they want, regardless of how marketable they think it is.
Session You’d Like to Forget: Can’t remember them…
Dream Session: Again, I hate to play favorites… I want to work with anyone and everyone who has the right ingredients to make the session a memorable one! How many people have answered “The Beatles” to this question?