FINALLY!

6 months to find the right space

2 months to renovate

ahhhhhh

WE'RE IN!

Did I mention we have a live room? 2 drum kits? Lots of mics and mic stands and headphones and mic preamps and all sorts of other non-sexy but essential studio accessories?
Did I mention that the live room is 13x22?
I didn't?
oh

Did I mention that it's totally private? And we are now in a lovely section of the UWS on 107@Columbus surrounded by restaurants and 2 parks,. (one is called Central park, it's lovely,..come see it)
No?
well

Did I mention that we're now OPEN???
The new studio is done and ready to rock! MONOLisa v2.0 bigger and better!

Man,. As a side note to any aspiring studio owners,. anything with the word "audio" in front of it,. or even "Acoustic" will set you back 3x more than you expected to pay.
buuuuut
I learned a lot.
here are some big nuggets of truth:

A: I learned that everything you need to know at a moment's notice can be found on the internet. Youtube videos can turn your average chump into a contractor. Rich and I learned how to put up drywall, how to use concrete patch, how to patch up concrete floors (or how not to, depends on how you look at it)  We even built our own gobos!
(I'm super proud of those things,. just you wait!)

B: Installing heavy acoustic panels on the ceiling is hard,..

C: Drilling into concrete makes a mess. Don't do that 2 days after you paint the floor.

D: Sometimes it's worth it to let a contractor suck you dry of every penny you've ever earned so that you can be spared the above experiences.
(Next time)

Through it all, we learned about each other, learned to push the envelope on what we can do as opposed to what we can't. Many things neither of us thought we'd do, we've done.
It's a good thing
(again, depending on how you look at it)
That being said,..

Gear is set, and we got through our first sessions this week without a hitch.

Besides building a studio,.. What's Happening??

So excited to have been tapped to record and mix a new composition by renowned composer, Dr Jose' Bevia'.
The piece is entitled, "Cenizas y Fuego", written for harp, percussion, and electronics.
The piece was showcased at the 2014 NYC electroacoustic Music festival and featured Arielle on harp and percussionist June Moon Kyung Hahn, who I also had the pleasure of working with when recording the piece at Juliard this past month.
Dr Bevia will be releasing a CD toward the end of the year which will feature this as well as other pieces.
I'll keep you posted!

Another awesome artist I got the pleasure to work with is the lovely Lucy Kalantari.
She just released a new EP called "Pockets full of Joy".
The CD features Lucy on Ukelele and vocals, Rich Kulsar on drums, and Jay Foote on upright bass.
It is really a super CD, super happy and uplifting. I think you all might just love it as much as I do!
(I love it ALOT, so I challenge you to love it more)
Here's the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/pockets-full-of-joy-ep/id875005396

Also NYFA has been keeping me busy in between painting and other light construction duties. So happy to be working with them again on the latest movie musical. It's my favorite yet!

In the meantime, we are planning to have a nice little shindig to introduce MONOLisa to the world. I'll let you all know about it!

Till then!
Make some music will ya?
d

SO THE BIG BIG NEWS?
It's official! MONOLisa is now located in Manhattan!
Super exciting right?

Our new address is 963 Columbus Ave, NY, NY 10025.
We are located on the Upper west side, between 107/108th streets.

We are conveniently accessible by the B/C, and 1 local trains. (110th/Cathedral Parkway)

There are AMAZING restaurants flanking us on all sides, new art galleries popping up, new venues opening, it's a hot neighborhood and we can't wait to get the party started!

We have already begun renovations and we plan on being ready to go by May 2014!

So what's new?

Well,. We're not just an Overdub room any longer, We've grown 3 sizes overnight!
We now have a 13x22 live room, a 13x13 control room, as well as a private lounge and private bathroom.

We can now do live drum tracking, and live band tracking! How cool is that?
We plan to have a baby grand piano by the end of the Summer as well.

I'll upload pictures as we move forward to opening day, in the meantime, I want to thank all of our clients and friends and family for your continued support and love! We couldn't have done it without you!
I for one am feeling blessed beyond my wildest dreams and the coming year is going to be the bet yet!

I can't wait to share!

Till next time,
Denise

YESSSSS!

2013 was an exceptional year!

MONOLisa has outgrown her training wheels!

I have all of YOU to thank!
2 movie musicals, 1 short film, 3 scores, 6 LPs, countless singles, and a karaoke gaming console!
Phew! No wonder I've been MIA on the social scene!

We are planning to move into our new space in March 2014.
Will it be in LIC? Will it be in Manhattan?
That's the question

NYC real estate is a funny business,.. I've been looking for the perfect spot since October.
A place that will be our home for a at least 3-5 years.
I have a few options and I'm waffling.
Manhattan? great location, big money,..
LIC? good-ish location, medium to little money,..
join forces with another studio?
run solo?

I'm still thinking, but I DO need to move by March, so a decision will be made within the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Needless to say, there are 3 things that we will have that we do not have now:
A Piano
a second booth
a private lounge/kitchenette

Stay tuned for our new location details and pictures of the new space!

I can't wait to share it with you!
In the meantime, get in touch! We're still working!

I am SO excited to finally share this with you all!

Some of you already know I was hired to help design the presets for a certain super secret "karaoke" machine.
Well, it's OUT! Pre-order if you DARE! LOL (no really, you'll have a blast!)

As far as I know, it'll be in stores soon, but you can order the unit in time for Christmas from their website with ease.
Check out the link below.

Singtrix

I want to thank a few of my students and friends for helping me determine whether the presets were worth submitting:
Valerie Wagner, Michael Bergman, Frank Carter, Rich Kulsar, Satish, Mike Palanchi, Rich Tolerico

Watch the Video!!

I'm not going to lie, I feel like a rock star this week!
TWO interviews, an awesome day at the AES convention, and a great CMJ outing!

BIIIG thanks to Matt Weiss for an excellent interview for The ProAudioFiles.
I'd also like to thank ProAudioFiles editor, Dan Comerchero
for spreading the word all around the nets!

I know It's going to sound all touchie feelie, but seriously, I am really taken aback by all of the support I've received over the past year since opening MONOLisa. It was especially great to meet up with old friends I've been out of touch with for YEARS and hearing all of their stories this past week.
THIS week I have lunch dates with quite a few of them to catch up and spend some quality time. I'm very much looking forward to that!

CMJ was a fun time, what I was exposed to anyway. Outside of some scheduling drama here and there throughout the day, we had a super great time and all of the bands we heard were fantastic!

Big shout out to TJ Olsen of TJOPResents for putting together a 3 room, all day event at The Paper Box!
It was quite a feat!

Big shout out to my right hand men, My Morning Papers, Rich Kulsar, Kelsey Warren and Jason Wallenstein! As always you rocked hard, and we left them wanting more! (LOL)
(-they'll get that)
Big shout out to my friends, Bree & The Whatevers, Brooke Pridemore, Auto Defiance, Bury Me a Lion,
The Shivering Brigade and all of the bands, too numerous to name, that I went home wanting to hear more about!

I'll add an adendum with some favorites!
Until then, it's back to work for me!

talk soon!
:)
d

BIG BIG thanks to David Weiss and Sonicscoop.com, the NYC based online magazine featuring all things audio!

Sonicscoop is a solid supporter of NYC studios, studio owners and engineers, and they were kind enough to run a feature story about MONOLisa.

Thank you!

Read all about it!

Yes indeed! Gear is good!

My husband, drummer, Rich Kulsar and I have been experimenting with recording drums in our booth.
We've been trying all sorts of different combinations of drums, placements and mic'ing techniques.
I think we've narrowed it down and getting to the point of perfecting the set-up..
Once we get it just right we'll upload some audio samples.
So far we've done a few sessions that were quite successful and the client was happy with the results.
I still think we can perfect the setup even more.
It's a small booth (8 X 6.5) so space is limited. That makes things a little more complicated.
We realized we really needed a few more mic pres, so after doing some research we felt the Sytek MPX-4A would be a great choice and the best bang for the buck. We were right!
The pres are super clean, not quite as clean and detailed as the Earthworks 1022, but not too much coloration either.
Given that 4 channels cost 1/3 less than our 2 channel Earthworks, if that's my only complaint I think we made a great choice. So far we've only had it for a week, but I'm super happy with it.

I'm still in the market for a tube pre-amp. Something with more coloration.
The pres I've been considering are:
UA 2-610
Vintech 1272
Warm Audio Tonebeast
warm audio WA12
I'm leaning toward the UA 2-610 or the Vintech 1272.
I've also been considering the UA 4-710 model, as it can be connected direct to my digital inputs. It also has copression on each channel, but I keep wondering if they are packing too much into one
I'm still on the fence,.
Anyone have a suggestion? Anyone using any of the above have glowing (or not so glowing) reviews?
Please let me know!

I'm also super excited to share that we just ordered a pair of Equator D5s to replace the KRK Rockits we've been using as loaners. The D5s have been getting great reviews, but more importantly, the people I know who have bought them and use them daily have all told me that not only are these monitors worthy of all the hype, but that the company's customer service is par excellence. Good enough for me! I'll let you know how we like them.

Until next time! Keep it clean people!
:)
d

Hey all!
It's a quiet week at MONOLisa so I've got the chance to get some updates done!
This past summer, I was thrilled to be involved in the production of NYFA's most recent movie musical, "The Legion of Graduates" produced/directed by Kevin Duda. Here are some shots from a quick shoot done in our entrance corridor.
I can't help feeling like I'm living in the calm before the storm. October-January looks pretty packed full of great new projects. For now, I think I'm going to do a little relaxing while I still can!
See you soon!

And so Summer is almost over.
How did that happen?

July was semi-quiet, but no sooner had we finished up with The Shivering Brigade, we started putting together the plan to install the HD2 system that has been waiting in the wings.
Our ProTools HD2 system is officially installed, tested, and in perfect working order!. (YAY!)
16 inputs/24 outputs.
Not too shabby for a mix/OD room.

We've got a few other upgrades coming soon, but you'll have to check back in to find out what those are!

August looks to be fairly busy,.. We're working on a super secret sound design project (details later) and doing some mixing for songwriter, Johnnie Walker. Otherwise, on days off, it'll be nice to put the feet up and relax a little bit.

Happy August everyone! Enjoy the rest of the Summer!

Since January 2013, when I opened MONOLisa, it's been humming!
All of my fears of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring never transpired and I feel truly blessed!

Here's a quick synapsis:
I recorded and mixed the score for "Gingerbread House-Movie Musical" produced by VP Boyle for NYFA, and also completed the full sound mix for the film. The music was composed by Rob Rockiki and arranged by Mark Fifer.

I recorded and mixed the music score for a new TV show called Drama Mamas. The tracks were recorded at The Engine Room in lower Manhattan, and mixed at MONOLisa. The music score was composed by Andrew Gerle and arranged by Mark Fifer.
There's a great video on youtube that not only shows off our space, but gives you a great overview of the show itself, very well produced! Hopefully I'll get a copy of it to post! For now, it's all top secret.

In music news, I mixed an album for Chatanooga band Pack of Wolves, produced by Ivan Bodley.
That album should drop VERY soon.

Lots of OD sessions and small recording sessions have been filling in the gaps, Our doors were graced by a young talented songwriter named Annalise, she recorded 8 song demos, Brooklyn based songwriter, Keala recorded and mixed 3 songs,
and we recorded some horns, arranged by Steve Jabas, for NYC rockers, The Halley Devestern Band, featuring the CNP Horns. And lots of vocal OD sessions have been happening with NYC artist, Krissy Krissy and hip hop artist Joell Ortiz.

Currently, I'm mixing a new EP from Brooklyn band, The Shivering Brigade. We did the basic tracks at A Bloody Good Record, in LIC. I am SUPER excited about this record, it's really awesome and think this band is going places!
I'm also currently working on the next installment from NYFA called "The Legion Of Graduates", produced by Kevin Duda.
and last but not least, I've been mixing for The Nevermind Orchestra, a super cool brass band doing arrangements of Nirvana songs. They are pretty fantastic!

Phew!
So, if I've been remiss in my correspondence, many apologies, it's not personal.
While the experience so far has been amazing, it's also been slightly overwhelming. Things have started to even out now and
I feel like I can breathe a little sigh of relief and a big heaping spoonful of gratitude.

Till next time!
d