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Glencove, NY's PIE Studios has been keeping the bookings rolling this summer. Producer/engineer Brian Malouf came in recently to track some new songs with the band Last Week for Sony Music. Post-punk band The Reunion Show stopped by to track drums for a new album on Victory Records. Bill Wittman produced the sessions, and George Fullan engineered. Corner Stone Records act Brat was also in the studio tracking. Shane Keister produced this pop-punk band's sessions, and DUG engineered. For more information, contact: Nicole Lawrence, Studio Manager
Pie Recording Studios 516-674-3300 or piestudios@earthlink.net

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>> The Magic Shop Turns Out The Thrills

The Magic Shop recently added 24 channels of Pro Tools HD, available to clients at no extra charge. The studio also purchased a classic 1940's Baldwin 7' grand piano, which will reside in the live room. In session news, producer Dave Sardy and engineer Greg Gordon recently spent a month at The Magic Shop tracking, overdubbing and mixing the upcoming Thrills record for Virgin. Sardy and Gordon also mixed the Jet track "Hold On," featured in the Spiderman 2 movie and soundtrack, as well as brought in and mixed a number of tracks for the upcoming Oasis release. Matt Boynton assisted on these sessions. In other news, The Magic Shop family was thrilled to have Bjork join them once again to track vocals and additional overdubs for her new One Little Indian record. Mike Patton and Rahzel also came by to add some vocal tracks as well, while Valgier Sigurdsson engineered with Juan Garcia assisting. Sony/DMZ artist Ollabelle recorded the song "Gentle Annie" at The Magic Shop recently, for release on a tribute to Stephan Foster. Steve Rosenthal produced, Juan Garcia engineered, and Tom Psipsikas assisted. Amos Lee also came by to track his upcoming debut on Blue Note records with Lee Alexander producing and Danny Kopelson engineering. And, Marty Brumbach and Adam Dorn came by to track the new VHS or Beta record on Astralwerks Records with Garcia assisting. And, both recent products of The Blue Room, the Magic Shop's restoration suite, are Abkco Records' releases--The Animals Retrospective and the Herman's Hermits Retrospective. Both can be enjoyed as dual layer SACD's. And, most recently, Magic Shop folks have been busy working on Jelly Roll Morton and Alan Lomax Archives. For more information visit the Magic Shop online at www.magicshopny.com

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Top producer/engineer Joe Chiccarelli has recorded the upcoming album by critically-acclaimed English artist Tom McRae, with executive producer Mike Hedges, at The Paramour estate in Los Angeles. Classic Equipment Rentals ("Ocean Way To Go") provided a complete location recording package, including consoles, outboard gear, microphones, baffles, snakes, and all the peripherals. Seen in session are the album's co-producers (L-R) Tom McRae and Joe Chiccarelli with the new Ela M12 microphone supplied by Telefunken NA, which was used for acoustic guitar, cello, percussion, and background vocals. For more information on Telefunken, visit www.telefunkenusa.com or call (860) 882-5919. Joe Chiccarelli is managed by Sanctuary Producer Management (310) 205 5000.

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>> NARAS P&E Wing Director Lewis Departs Position

Leslie Lewis has exited the post of director of the Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing (P&E). Lewis, who will continue to produce the Grammy Nominees compilations for the Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, will remain with the Academy as a consultant. The Producers & Engineers Wing was established in 2000, when the Recording Academy acquired the Music Producers Guild of the Americas (MPGA). The MPGA was established in 1997 by independent producers seeking a advocacy voice in the industry. The P&E Wing has more than 6,000 producers, engineers, remixers, manufacturers and technologists who serve in advisory and advocacy roles in development new technologies and practices relating to recording, mastering, digital archiving and music preservation. "I'm very proud of what we've built," says Lewis. "There's programming, structure and great leadership. At this point, Grammy Recordings is requiring more of my attention as we plan to further develop that area for the Academy." Lewis has worked on the Grammy and Latin Grammy Nominees compilations since their inception. Most recently, the P&E Wing was instrumental in establishing a new Grammy field and category. At its semiannual Board of Trustees meeting, held May 24-28, the Production, Surround Sound Grammy award was ratified, along with its first category, best surround-sound album. Commercial releases on DVD-Audio, DVD-Video or Super-Audio CD (SACD) that provide original surround mixes of four or more channels will be eligible for the award. The Academy also added an award for the Best Electronic/Dance Album category in the Dance field. The new awards marked "two big victories for our P&E Wing constituents," says Lewis. The Recording Academy will hire a new director; that process is currently underway through the Academy's Member Services department. www.grammy.com

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>> Antibalas, American Ambulance Record At Excello

The 17-piece Brooklyn Afro-pop ensemble, Antibalas, recently spent a week at Excello Recording Studio in Williamsburg (Brooklyn). Tracking basics for Antibalas meant getting 12 members down--drums, two bass players, shekere, two guitarists, horn section (trumpet, trombone, tenor & baritone sax), keys and vocals. Victor Axelrod served as producer and Hugh Pool engineered, with assistant engineer Liz Bustamante. Excello worked well for Antibalas because they wanted to play in the same room live, work off of visual and vocal cues, and they wanted to record to 2" tape. American Ambulance also visited Excello, and brought a special guest with them. The band, riding high off the surprise success of their timely underground hit "Hey! John Ashcroft," returned to Excello with guest drummer Will Rigby (The dB's, Steve Earle, Matthew Sweet, Laura Cantrell) to work on their next batch of tunes. Pool produced and engineered. Visit Excello Recording on the web at www.excellorecording.com

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>> A World Of Good Music at El Mundo Bueno Studios

After first supplying the soundtrack for the Marija Gimboutas documentary "Signs out of Time," the Bay Area-based World Music ensemble Stellamara has now completed mixing their 2nd album at El Mundo Bueno Studios (San Francisco) with co-owner/engineer Winter & Chris K. of Little Buddha Studios. Paul Nordin & Winter's new facility, which was designed by Manny LaCarruba of Sausalito Audio Works, was recently upgraded to a Pro Tools HD3 system plus a new front-end chain including Manley's VoxBox & Massive Passive Stereo Equalizer. Currently Winter & house engineer Joey Swails (whose credits include Destiny's Child, the Men in Black soundtrack, & Tony Toni Tone) are working with "the people's flautist," Kymberly Jackson, to finish her Jazz/Funk debut "Off Da Natch". Check out the good vibes at www.EMBStudios.com.

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Fiery international star Nikka Costa recently mastered her new album, "Can'tneverdidnothin' " at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood. The daughter of famed arranger/producer Don Costa (Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Tony Bennett), Costa has recorded several Platinum releases and garnered a huge fan base in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Her new Virgin Records album is slated for September 28 release, leading off with the single "I Don't Think We've Met". For bookings information for Bernie Grundman Mastering, contact Marie at Marie@berniegrundmanmastering.com or on (323) 465-6264.

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>> Mark Mazzetti Launches Mark Mazzetti Entertainment

Sting, Janet, Aaron Neville, Dishwalla, and Amy Grant who? Maybe you will remember all of the artists and hit records Mark A&R’d while at classic A&M Records. Now, following his work as SR. VP of A&R at Immergent Records, consulting for Bob Ludwig’s Gateway Mastering; Lance Freed and Jerry Moss at Rondor Music Publishing and consulting for the illustrious Jill Barad, former CEO of Mattel Toys, Mark is pleased to announce the opening of his music company, Mark Mazzetti Entertainment, based in Hollywood, CA. Mark is currently providing A&R guidance to a select group of young rock and pop artists not yet signed to a record deal. He is developing their talents and recording them. Mark’s work also includes mixing stereo and 5.1 surround for the major music companies including Universal for television and film. Mark is also managing the brilliant female duo DIVINE MAGGEES. For outstanding and insightful A&R provided outside the walls of the record companies and for world class mixing, contact Mark. If you are a producer, engineer or young artist and you need some guidance to get where you want to go, Mark is there TO HELP YOU, THE ARTISTS AND PRODUCERS TO REALIZE YOUR VISION. New music (demo and master) submissions welcome! To learn more about Mark and his company, history & achievements and services offered, visit: www.markmazzettientertainment.com. Mark Mazzetti can be reached at (213) 369-0636 or email at: mark@markmazzettientertainment.com

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>> Heart Offers Simultaneous Retail and File-Sharing Release Of 'Jupiters Darling'

The Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) today announced that its Member companies are participating in the first simultaneous retail and file-sharing sales promotion of a major rock-and-roll album. The album is Heart's critically acclaimed "Jupiters Darling," about which the Associated Press wrote "the hit-making sister act of Ann and Nancy Wilson is back with a vengeance." With sales of more than 30,000 CDs and 2,000 digital tracks, the album is yielding significant sales via the secure Weed format redistributed through peer-to-peer (P2P) software programs such as Kazaa and Grokster, which are offered by DCIA Members. In the past week, the number of tracks purchased through the Weed file-sharing process has outnumbered those purchased through iTunes. "The future is here," said DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty. "DCIA Member companies today deliver the final proof that artists can be fairly compensated AND consumers can enjoy the benefits of P2P file sharing. What Sovereign Artists, Shared Media Licensing, and our other Members have demonstrated with their history-making collaboration should become standard-operating-procedure for major music releases going forward." Sovereign Artists chose Shared Media Licensing's Weed format because it offers fans a way to share files that encourages sampling while also ensuring that artists are properly compensated for their work. "Music fans love to share music. Sovereign Artists and Heart have made the decision to put the fans first, so they're not afraid of people sharing music -- especially since file sharing can easily lead to revenue," said John Leighton Beezer, President, Shared Media Licensing, owner of the Weed technology. "Using the Weed format is a simple step that makes it possible for fans to trade music freely and for artists to benefit financially at the same time."

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>> California Law Gives Recording Artists Rights

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a law giving recording artists more flexibility to audit record companies' finances in search of potentially unpaid royalties. The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, allows artists to conduct annual audits and applies to any record companies doing business in California. The law holds down the cost of audits through means such as letting a single auditor work for several artists on the same label simultaneously. "This is a significant step forward for artists' rights," said Sen. Kevin Murray, the Los Angeles Democrat and former music agent who sponsored the bill. "The ability to audit will keep record companies a little bit more honest." The law is the culmination of a campaign by some musicians, including Don Henley, to give artists more power to determine whether they are due royalty payments. Artist royalty rates are typically set around 12 percent to 16 percent of sales. But before any of the royalties reach an artist, they must usually cover promotion, production, packaging and other expenses. In addition, the labels withhold large percentages to cover discounts they offer to retailers as well as reserves for any returned goods. Up to this point, artists have faced the choice between paying for expensive audits, possibly uncovering less money than the cost of the audit, or not conducting the audits and losing out on royalties. "You get a limited right to audit in most contracts, but it's not a legitimate right if you can't afford to do it," Murray said. No one was available Friday after hours at the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major record companies. In May, major recording companies agreed to return nearly $50 million in unclaimed royalties to artists as part of a settlement with New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. A two-year probe by Spitzer's office found that many artists were not being paid royalties because record companies lost contact with the performers and had stopped making required payments.

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>> Destination Mixing At WSDG-Designed Studio.Metronome

High atop a secluded New Hampshire hill, surrounded by 100 acres of hardwood forests sits Bennett Chandler's new Studio.Metronome. A full-service music production facility with a focus on mixing and tracking, Studio.Metronome combines state-of-the-art digital technology with vintage analog gear in one of the industry's most creatively invigorating destination environments. When Chandler decided to realize his goal of building a world-class studio, its location was a given. "My family has owned this beautiful property for many years," he says. "I built the house up here in 1995 and included a small Pro Tools studio for my own work. I found the secluded atmosphere extremely conducive to creativity, as did visiting artists." The studio features a pristine SSL 4048 G+ console coupled to a large Pro Tools HD system a Studer A827 24-track with Dolby SR. Main monitors are the stunningly accurate Boxer T5 Monitors. Added to this is a prized Yamaha C7 grand piano and an expansive collection of vintage tube mics, esoteric preamps and outboard gear. The mastering/mix-down system is based on an industry-standard Ampex ATR 102 and a 24-bit 96 kHz AIFF hard-disk recorder with Apogee PSX100 converters. Attention to detail is a Metronome priority - from the meticulous use of various woods, glass, stone and fabrics to the exclusive use of Mogami oxygen-free cabling and Neutrik gold-plated connectors to ensure the cleanest, highest definition audio path. Studio.Metronome has a full-time maintenance staff and a superbly outfitted in-house tech support division, Metrotech (www.metrotechrepair.com). Run by Technical Director Leo Monea, it is also available to other studios and pro audio users in the region. Personal amenities for visiting artists, producers and engineers are equally impressive. In addition to a sizable art collection, dramatic views, hiking and cross-country skiing trails, hot tub and gourmet meals prepared by the in-house chef, Studio.Metronome also maintains an outdoor performance pavilion. "We"ve tried to think of every possible contingency, and are prepared to meet virtually any need. We know of no other mixing rooms in New England that meet this level of perfection. Artists, engineers and producers seeking the best technology, acoustic environment and vibe need look no further." Bennett Chandler, who is also a percussionist, migrated to the technology side of the industry some twenty years ago, designing and building the Real Time Productions remote truck which recorded and produced live performances for such clients as the BBC Rock Hour and countless live broadcasts featuring such artists as B.B. King, UB40, Greg Allman, The Fixx and many, many others. For an in-depth look at Studio.Metronome please visit www.studiometronome.com or call studio manager Wendy Girouard at (603) 672 9380.

>> The Perils Of Being a FOH Engineer

According to German magazine Laut and XFM Online, ex-Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri attacked a local club sound engineer in Germany during a recent concert. Performing with his longtime side project, Mondo Generator, Oliveri was apparently unhappy with the monitor levels and jumped off the stage, five songs into the set. Allegedly, after making his point to the engineer both verbally and with obscene hand gestures, Oliveri attacked, breaking the soundman’s nose and his teeth in the process. Oliveri was physically ejected from the club, and the band attempted to salvage what was left of the show. Tour mate Brant Bjork (who previously played with Oliveri in another band, Kyuss, during the early 1990s), told the crowd,. "My friend is going through a very difficult time in his life right now," he said, alluding to Oliveri’s firing from QOTSA earlier this year. "Don't get me wrong; I don't wanna excuse his behaviour, by no means. We're all very shocked…but you know, such is life." The group finished with a lengthy jam session. Oliveri was also ejected from the band’s tour bus later that night, which he recounted on the band’s website: "I'm sorry to have to cancel the acoustic show in Cervia…I have never in 16 years of playing shows and touring canceled. I am extremely angry about this and will make it up to you. The truth is I was asked to leave the bus we have been touring on, and was left on the side of the road in Germany somewhere." This is not the first time Oliveri has battled others during a show. According to rock legend, QOTSA first recruited the bassist after watching him beat up a man onstage while performing naked with Kyuss.

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>> Bits & Pieces...

20th Annual Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio announced that the 20th Annual Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards will be held on Saturday, October 30, 2004, at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco. The TEC Awards honors outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design. For more information, visit mixfoundation.org

Joe D’Ambrosio Management would like to congratulate its clients, Bob Rosa and Eric Schilling, for their work that is nominated for 2004 Latin Grammy Awards. Ten-time Grammy winning engineer, Eric Schilling, is nominated three times: Best Engineered Album (twice in the same category) Bebo Valdes and Diego El Cigala's Lagrimas Negras (RCA) Arturo Sandoval's Trumpet Evolution (Crescent Moon/Columbia). Album Of The Year Bebo Valdes and Diego El Cigala's Lagrimas Negras (RCA) Grammy winning mixer, Bob Rosa, for mixing Ednita Nazario's platinum release, Por Ti, (SONY Discos) in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Album. Joe D'Ambrosio Management, Inc. (914) 422-0022

Bennett Kaufman at Moir Marie Entertainment is pleased to note the chart positions in last week's R&R...#2 Alt. - Linkin Park "Breaking The Habit" - Produced by Don Gilmore; #5 Alt. - Dashboard Confessional "Vindicated" - Produced by Don Gilmore; #5 Active Rock - Breaking Benjamin "So Cold" - Produced by David Bendeth; #12 Active Rock - Ear Shot "Wait" - Produced by Johnny K.; #13 Active Rock - Drowning Pool "Step Up" - Produced by Johnny K.; #17 Hot AC - The Calling "Our Lives" - Produced by Marc Tanner.; #22 CHR - Yellowcard "Ocean Ave." - Produced by Neal Avron; #26 CHR - Finger Eleven "One Thing" - Produced by Johnny K.; #29 Alt. - Yellowcard "Only One" - Produced by Neal Avron; #36 Active Rock - Finger Eleven "Stay In Shadow" - Produced by Johnny K.; #44 Alt. - Authority Zero "Revolution" - Mixed by David Holman; #45 Active Rock. - Smile Empty Soul "Silhouettes" - Mixed by David Holman. Bennett Kaufman Moir Marie Ent. 16101 Ventura Blvd. #325 Encino, Ca. 91436 phone 818-995-8707 or email at bkball@pop.earthlink.net

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