Around the Piano Room

Jason Gantt just sent us this awesome collage photo taken during one of our first tracking sessions of 2009! Jason was producing a project with Chris Ayer. This is a wide photo, so it's best to click on it to experience the excellence of it's width. Some might even call it a little sideways.

Another Year Over...

Christmas Cards
Happy New Year!

Writing an entry for a business blog can be a tricky thing. It's difficult to express true sentiment without it coming off as a sales pitch. Regardless of anyone's feelings, at the end of the day, Vibe 56 is a business that needs paying clients to survive. We've worked hard to earn our place in such a musically historic city. The studio has just passed the three-year mark of it's existence on Nashville's Music Row, and we're thankful to have built-up a reputation for solid tracking sessions in such a short time-span.

We're very much looking forward to 2009 and continuing to play our part in Nashville's music community. We're thankful for the successes we've had, and excited about what lies ahead.

So what's the pitch? The fact that there is no catch. We're here for the right reasons, and hope you will be too.

Happy New Year from all of us at Vibe 56!

Call 615-321-3056 to schedule a studio tour.

Mary Barrett Session

During the final week of October, Vibe 56 had the opportunity to host a very special recording session with artist Mary Barrett. The session consisted of eight full days of tracking and overdubs with some of Nashville's finest session players, and of course Mary herself.

The premise of the session was daunting. Mary had been diagnosed with Carcino-Sarcoma, which is a rare form of cancer and known to be life-threatening. She had been given less than six months to live. Mary was determined to finish recording one more album project.

We are saddened to learn that Mary Barrett passed away during the evening of November 10th.

Producer Joel Wild helped Mary set-up a YouTube account and posted video diaries each day that documented how the project was progressing. The videos are presented below. For more information about Mary Barrett you can visit Mary's website.

Even Diabetics Love Sweet Dynamite Dynaudio Monitors!

Dynaudio Monitors
New pair of BM15Ps in the house!

For anyone monitoring for any changes here at the studio, we're very happy to announce that we've acquired some new monitors! The control room now features Dynaudio BM15P monitors for your playback pleasure.

I've made a point to ask the wide-spectrum of engineers that have come through our facility their opinion of what monitors work for them. Nearly everyone had a different answer of course. Dynaudios were consistently mentioned on most engineer's short lists for ideal monitoring choices.

It would appear then, that the studio is a Democracy. Please vote for Vibe 56 for your next recording project!

Thrownin' Down on the Upright

Thrownin' Down on the Upright Piano
...soundtrack of my life.

The studio has acquired a second piano! In addition to our all white Yahmaha C3 baby grand, we now have a Thos. Goggan and Bro. upright piano.

Tony Harrell, one of the co-owners of the studio, arranged to have this ridiculously beautiful upright delivered to us earlier this week. It has a few battle scars from many years of service. I'm not exactly sure how old it is, but it appears older than I am, which is getting increasingly more difficult to say.

With regards to keyboarded instruments living here at the studio, I think we're doing pretty good. Along with the two pianos in our aptly-named piano room, there is also a Wurlitzer, a B-2 with leslie cabinet, a Rhodes, and even a Mellotron available to every client that comes through our doors.

Now we need to get this thing tuned. I'm off to call a soon-to-be-unhappy piano tuner. Our new upright needs some extra love after traveling to its new home.

Music Video Shot At Vibe 56 Studio!

Vibe 56 exists within a house that was built in 1911. Much of the original beautiful woodwork is still here. It served as the backdrop for a video shot here earlier this year.

Megan McCulloch Li not only shot the video here at the studio, but also recorded the song "Blood in the Water" here as well.

This also serves as proof that we record music other than country. In fact, we've had several rock, gospel and bluegrass projects come through our recording space. We're always excited to take on any recording project that takes advantage of our recording space. That natural presence easily comes through on the tracks recorded here.

Full disclosure: Megan McCulloch Li is the daughter of Paul McCulloch, who is one of the owners of Vibe 56.

More information about Megan is available on her website: meganharp.com.