Geoff Sanoff Records 8 Bands in 8 Hours for Insound at Stratosphere
In the midst of CMJ last week, Stratosphere Sound hosted rapid-fire recording sessions with eight bands chosen to record tracks for an Insound.com digital mixtape release.
Grammy-winning engineer/producer Geoff Sanoff recorded the eight bands in eight hours — capturing Fake Problems, Dom, Bear Hands, Surfer Blood, Ma.Mentor, Woven Bones, Class Actress and Jukebox the Ghost for the ultimate surf-punk-electro-dance-pop-rock CMJ 2010 mixtape. (Scroll down for photos!)
Sponsored by Maker’s Mark, Fred Perry and Insound.com, the “Artists Lounge” sessions and party at Stratosphere provided a unique, in-studio CMJ experience for the bands, press and other industry folk. And SonicScoop was there to catch some of the action.
One by one, bands quickly setup, got sounds and ran through takes, recording three or four songs in their hour-long session. Sanoff and his second engineers, Mike Nesci and Atsuo Matsumoto, were totally in the zone, working as fast and furiously as possible to provide a totally pro, if on the fly, recording experience for each of the artists.
To mentally prepare for this marathon session, Sanoff says, “I was thinking of my old friend Kevin McMahon, who once upon a time was the sound guy at Brownie’s, and how he used to do 5 bands a night routinely. I decided if I approached this experience with the mindset of a live sound guy, even though its not a world I’ve inhabited for any substantial length of time, it just wouldn’t seem as daunting or hectic.”
Class Actress. Photo Credit: The biggest challenge, notes Sanoff, was constructing a studio setup that was both conducive to quick changeovers but could also accommodate a wide variety of setups from full rock band to acoustic duo.
“The other part of the equation, arguably the more important part, was using the space in a way that would be as immediately comfortable as possible for the artists but also sonically satisfactory,” Sanoff adds. “The goal was to get recordings by the bands that forced them somewhat out of their usual comfort zones musically and to hope that they would respond creatively to the challenge.
“Knowing that getting 8 bands in and out in 8 hours was going to force us to make compromises on how we setup, I decided to try and channel some of practice space vibe into the setup so people wouldn’t feel as awkward as they can entering a studio for the first time and so that what we lost in audio fidelity was made up for by the energy of the day.
Boban Tran, Ma.Mentor. Photo Credit: “Better to have an interesting recording that’s going to draw your attention than a flawless recording of a bland performance. Live in the studio things can too easily become inferior versions of songs a band has already perfected, and that seems like a wasted opportunity to me. In this case there were a lot of people at the studio milling about so there was an element of a live show energy there, even though it really wasn’t set up that way visually.”
In the case of UK rock trio Ma Mentor, lead singer and guitarist Boban Tran was setup at a microphone in a blanketed corner of the control room, with his band mates each playing in separate, isolated live rooms.
After the session, Tran mentioned how happy he was with what he was hearing. No doubt. Sanoff’s a talented and extremely well-versed engineer and Stratosphere is a top-notch studio, with great rooms, a classic Neve 8068 console and other awesome vintage and modern gear to aid in getting those good sounds, quickly. The bands tracked via the 8068 into Pro Tools HD.
Atsuo Matsumoto. Photo Credit: And the sessions went as smoothly as possible, with Sanoff and team ready for anything. “With events like this you know from the outset that there are going to be unexpected last-minute changes and our job was just to roll with it and keep everything running,” says Sanoff.
“And thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, especially my awesome second engineers Mike Nesci and Atsuo Matsumoto, we managed to do just that. I was lucky to have them and all the rest of Stratosphere’s great staff behind us 150 percent.”
For more on Stratosphere Sound, visit http://www.stratospheresound.com and get in touch with Geoff Sanoff (Obits, A Camp, Secret Machines, Tinted Windows) via Just Managing. Check out the following photos from the Insound + Maker’s Mark + Fred Perry CMJ sessions at Stratosphere by Jessica Lehrman and Beka Venezia, where noted.