iPhone X-ray

Here's Vibe 56's house engineer, Scott Velazco, showing off his new iPhone. It's bigger than mine, and sadly it's not the first time I've made that statement.

Vibe 56 on Google Streetview

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As most savvy Nashvillians(?) already know, Google's fleet of camera cars came through town last fall. The maps are now up and fully functional. Here's a view of the front of the studio from 17th, also known as Music Square West.

Digidesign Interviews at Vibe 56

Scott Velazco is pretty...
...good at what he does.

Some folks from Digidesign dropped by the studio to interview us about our D-Command ICON console. Technically, the D-Command is a tactile work surface, but that sounds a bit pretentious.

The studio's house engineer, Scott Velazco, and I were both interviewed separately. This was definitely the most professional interview I'd ever done. They applied lots of make-up on my bald head because you could see all the camera equipment reflected off of it.

After I stumbled through my interview, Scott sat down, had some make-up applied, and proceeded to relinquish the most eloquent interview ever.

Hopefully, with some editing-wizardry, they'll be able to use the one or two coherent sentences that I spoke. I can't say I'm looking forward to seeing any of the finished product when it'll make it's debut at the upcoming Mix Nashville event taking place here in Nashville on May 20-21. I'm told our interview footage will also be seen on Digidesign's own Digi TV feature.

Vibe 56 was the first studio to install the D-Command console in the Nashville area. Since the D-Command is designed by Digidesign, it works seamlessly with ProTools, and the many different engineers that have worked here can work between the console and the keyboard/mouse, using either to drive a session along at their own comfort level.

Many thanks to Anthony Gordon and his crew for taking the time and energy to get our opinions on film. Hopefully the shine from my head didn't do any permanent damage to their equipment.

To see more photos from the interview click here.

Here's a video of our D-Command in action:

Muriel Anderson Concert Recap

David Wilson, Muriel Anderson, CJ Sorg

A couple of weeks ago the studio hosted a private concert for guitarist Muriel Anderson. We'd never really done anything like this before, so it was extra-awesome that the whole thing went off amazingly well. Muriel, accompanied by her percussionist Cathy Chalmers, put on a performance that really took advantage of the studio's intimate atmosphere.

Even though we are a recording studio, we didn't make an overly technical recording of the event. In fact, we employed the K.I.S.S.S. method of "Keep It Simply Stereo Seriously". It's a technical industry-term. So, if you've ever wondered what our drum room sounds like with a guitarist, percussionist, and a small crowd in it, I have just the MP3 for you!

Listen to Muriel Anderson impressively pick her way through a medley of Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" and the Beatles' "Day Tripper":

Muriel Anderson - Superstitious / Day Tripper

Also, if you want to check out some songs tracked here at the studio, visit our MySpace page.

Dark and Stormy NIGHT!

Vibe 56 Studio
...on a dark and stormy night.

A few folks have contacted us with photos of in and out of the studio during their own sessions. That's awesome!

Here are a couple of photos taken by Stephen Hunton. He was taking photos during a session with Molten Lava. Check out his pics of the band at the studio.

More photos taken by Stephen Hunton are available on his Flickr site. His awesome photos make me wish I had a nicer camera...and talent.

It Was A Dark and Stormy YIKES!

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the last tornado that touched down in Nashville and did some pretty major damage to the east side of town. Conditions looked ripe just last week for a repeat performance. It should be noted that Vibe 56 has an awesome cellar for protection from damaging storms. Just one more reason to bring your next recording and/or mixing project here.

I shot this photo from the parking lot of the studio as the storm rolled in. We were in full tracking mode at the time. Luckily we were rocking out enough to overpower the blaring tornado sirens that were blaring across Nashville. It wasn't until earlier today that I noticed shirtless neighbor dude possibly relieving himself in the far left bottom corner of the photo. When I inevitably write a song about Nashville's music row, I will attempt to make a reference to this in the lyrics.

Picture Yourself Here

We've been extremely fortunate to have hosted so many sessions in our short lifespan. This month the studio turns the 'small' three-O, measured in months, not years. The studio's new MySpace page features three slideshows of pictures of the studio itself, and some of the folks that have tracked or mixed their recording projects with us. I have skillfully copied and pasted the code to share them with you here:

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Super Chick Takes Super Photos During Superchick Sessions

I found these quite by accident the other day. A Flickr user calling herself Breezy421 has uploaded a staggering amount of awesome photos taken during a 2-day tracking session for Superchick's latest project.

I take a lot of photos myself, but not like these. I'm simply blown away by the beauty and quality of these in-session photos. The 214 photos that were uploaded are divided between the two days of the session, and you can see them all here:
DAY 1 and DAY 2

If you've taken any photos during a session here, we'd love to see them! Simply email photos to us at vibe[at]vibe56.com.

Vibe 57

Here's a pic of the new studio!

Happy April Fool's Day!