The Charlestown Road Studio is built specifically for acoustic jazz recording.
Featuring:
48 input Pro-Tools HDX recording system
A 9 foot Steinway D concert grand piano
Fender Rhodes Stage Piano
Hammond Organ with Leslie Speaker
Vintage microphone and pre-amp collection
650 square foot studio with three iso-booths
16 channel custom cue mixers for individual headphone mixes
A Grammy nominated engineer with 30 plus years of experience recording jazz
The photo above shows the drum booth on the left, the bass booth in the middle and the vocal booth on the right behind the piano.
The camera is positioned in the lower right hand corner of the floor plan below:
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The nine foot Steinway D was built in 1946 and rebuilt in 2001 by Chris Solliday, Keith Jarrett’s piano technician for twenty years. He installed a Stanwood action, Hamburg Steinway hammers and a treble resonator. It also has a dual Damppchaser to regulate both heat and humidity for maximum stability of tuning. Chris has voiced and regulated the piano consistently since 2001 and tuning is by Ed Hudak.
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The largest booth A is ideal for drums (note the acoustic treatment panels on the walls). The drummer has full eye contact with all other booths as well as the main room. It has more than enough room for the largest drumkit and a separate climate control system which the drummer can control by wireless remote. The studio has two drumkits. |
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Iso-booth B is ideal for acoustic bass as it has excellent eye contact with the drummer as well as the rest of the room. It has also been used for acoustic guitar, vibraphone, background vocals, congas and percussion. It also has an independent climate control system. |
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Iso-booth C is intended for vocals, but has also been used for acoustic bass and guitar. From the booth, you can see the other two iso-booths on the right and the main room on the left, having eye contact with the entire band.You can also see one of the cue stations used for headphone mixes. Submixes are sent from the control room to these small mixers so that each musician can adjust the cue mix to suit their individual needs. |
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Recording System
Mac Pro with Avid ProTools HDX card
3) Digidesign 96 I/O digital interfaces
Waves Platinum and Autotune plug-ins
Microphones
(*by reserve)
Neumann: U47 tube, M49 tube*, M149, 3) U87, 1) TLM 170, 2) TLM 193, 2) KM84, 2) KM184
AKG: C12 tube, C414B-ULS, 2) C414 EB, C422 (stereo 414)*, 4) C460, C408
Telefunken: U47 tube; Shure: 3) SM81; Crown: 2) PZM; Sanken: CMS9 stereo
Dynamics: AKG: D-12; Sennheiser: 4) 421; Shure: 2) sm57; ElectroVoice: RE-20
Ribbons: Altec: 2) 639B*, AEA: R-84. RCA: 74B*, Cascade: 2)VINJET
Monitors / Outboard Gear:
Mackie HR824 monitors with sub-woofer
Mic pre-amps: (10) API clone, (2) Avalon AD-2022, (2) Telefunken tube, (16) Presonus Digimax
Compressors: (2) Avalon AD-2044, Neve 33609C stereo, Empirical Labs EL7 FATSO, 2) Distressors
EQ / Reverb: Manley Massive Passive / Bricasti M7
Alessis Masterlink CD recorder, Tascam DA-30 DAT recorder, Alessis ADAT
Guitar / Bass Amps
Bad Cat – Cub 15R
Fender Silverface Princeton Reverb
Fender H.O.T.
Marshall JMP w/ 2) 12″ Celestions
Marshall cabinet w/ 2) 12″ Celestions
Marshall AS50D
Peavey TNT 115 Bass Amp
Tech 21 – Trademark 10
Drums and Hardware
Drummer’s Workshop kit for pop and fusion
with 22 inch cut out bass drum, 14 x 4 wood snare,10 x 8 tom, 12 x 9 tom, 14 x 11 tom and 18 x 16 floor tom
Yamaha Maple kit for jazz
with double head 18 inch bass drum, Roy Haynes custom brass 14 x 5 snare, 12 x 8 tom and 14 x 14 floor tom.
Plenty of Tama / Yamaha hardware for both kits.
Paul Wickliffe designed the room and engineers the jazz recordings. He was the founder, president and chief engineer of Skyline Studios in New York City from 1978 to 1994, which was voted by the readers of Mix Magazine as one of the top five recording studios in the world for five consecutive years (1989 – 1993). Paul has been recording jazz records for thirty years and has received a Grammy nomination (1986) for his engineering work. The Charlestown Road Studio is located in Hampton, NJ on five secluded acres off of exit 12 of Interstate 78. It takes under an hour by car from either the Holland or Lincoln Tunnel and about 45 minutes from Newark Airport. There are several hotels within 10 minutes of the studio and there is direct bus service from Port Authority NYC or Newark Airport. The artist’s lounge has a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker and dining facilities. For more information on driving directions, bus schedules, accommodations and area restaurants, go to directions for more information. Mixing, mastering and post production overdubs are done at Skyline Productions in Warren, NJ, which is closer to New York and at a reduced hourly rate. |
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