Hello Beautiful people!

Well, what started out as a busy year turned into a global nightmare but the people in NYC
(and all over the world) banded together, baked a ton of bread and cookies and hit the snooze button
for a few weeks.
I'm happy to report that all of us at MONOLisa are healthy and happy-ish.
Mostly, we miss you!!

NYC is now in Phase 4, which means MONOLisa is officially open, albeit with some limitations,.

1. We still need to practice social distancing, which, I'm sure you can imagine, is tough to do in a recording studio.

We are allowing for up to 3 musicians in the live room at a time, fully masked,
One singer/Voice over artist in the live room at a time.

2. We have a UV-c light box for microphones and headphones for disinfection between sessions to ensure safety,
 We have procured an air purifier/ozone generator equipped with UV-c for room disinfection between sessions.

3. For those of you still wary about venturing out, we have Source-connect service.
Which means we can provide broadcast quality audio over the internet.
We can record any voice and any instrument. please inquire about how we can help you!

4. We can can still  provide mixing and sound design services.
You can attend sessions via your favorite online video medium if you choose!

And the most exciting new development during this pause?? (drum roll please)
We were finally able to upgrade our computer! YAY!
We now have the latest MacPro and it is BLAZING fast! It's been a joy!
Our old MacPro served us well for a decade, but the poor guy was huffing and puffing and
it's his time to rest in Old Mac heaven. I actually felt a little guilty when we took him out of the system.

And there you have it!

That's all the news fit to print for now.
We miss everyone, we are sending our best wishes to you and your families, and we hope you are still
able to make some beautiful music during this time!

See you soon!
Denise

We are so proud to announce that Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats have been nominated for this year's Best Children's Music Album!

Lucy is one of the hardest working people in the business, and that hard work is paying off!

Lots of sweat equity, love, and laughter went into making this record over the Summer and we
couldn't be more overjoyed! One could say we have "pockets full of Joy"?....

Congrats to Lucy, Linus, Larry, and our very own Rich Kulsar!!
Congrats to our assistants, Tony Bevacqua, Raymond Bonanno, and Austin Biss.

Se you in LA!

This week I was excited to meet my US Congresswoman, Grace Meng, as part of The Recording Academy's District Advocacy day.
It was great to meet her!
We thanked her for supporting the Music Modernization Act which was recently passed and is now the law of the land! We also discussed issues like modernizing the Copyright office, The CASE Act, the importance of Music Education, and ways we can improve the pathway to success for songwriters and emerging artists.

I'm looking forward to being able to follow up with our discussion at a later date.

Folks, I can't say this enough,. our federal, state and local Members of Congress are accessible and actually care about issues that affect their community.
They are regular people just like us.
Got an issue? Got something stuck in your craw? Wondering why that pothole on the corner never gets fixed?
Write a letter, make a call, make an appointment.
As we like to say in NYC, if you see something, say something.

#DistrictAdvocate
@GRAMMYAdvocacy

 I got a call about 2 weeks ago from my old dear friend. David,.. He said he's moving soon and he's got a corner full of gear that may or may not work but he doesn't want to deal with it or see it going to a landfill, so would I like to take it?

Hmmm,..

Sure! I said, why not?

Why not indeed!
Now I've got 3 amps and a large bag full of pedals and I'm starting to wonder why I agreed to this. LOL
Hence, an Idea was born!

PROJECT GEAR!
I don't know if this is already "a thing", but I'm using the term, "project gear", as a description of gear that doesn't work and becomes a day's project.
Most people who know me know that I'm a gear head, but not so much a tech head. I dabble. I fix stuff that seems obvious, I can test cables and measure voltages, I can wield a soldering iron just like the best of them (not really),
The problem is, if I have time off, I generally would prefer to be writing or playing, not fixing gear.
Today is Columbus day. I spent it doing the the dregs of business ownership, monthly reports, invoices, and you know,.. the boring stuff.
And I thought. "Self,.. When are you ever going to find time to look at this newfound treasure? I need some kind of motivation,.."
And a voice spoke...
"Let there be a blog and let it be called "Project gear"!

So say we all!
So, I introduce you to my new blog called Project gear.

I will upload a picture of one of these little treasures, list the problem, and take pictures of my progress. If you are familiar with the treasure in question, feel free to give suggestions to try.
It'll be a fun little exercise at the very least, and it'll give me the motivation to actually fix this stuff instead of allowing it to suffer needlessly in gear purgatory.

If this becomes a thing,. maybe I'll dedicate a full page to it here,. if not,.. I guess only the cool folks will know about it,. LOL

Just for you, here are some pics!

There is no way almost 2 years has gone by without a blog post.
Or, maybe it IS true.
#FAKE NEWS
lol

OK, so maybe time has gone by faster than I realized,..
Maybe I've written drafts that never made it to the site,. All I can say for myself as the negligent blogger is that it's been busy.
Since we moved back to LIC, in September of 2016, it has been pretty non stop action. Movie musicals and new musical productions, EPs, Full length albums, singles, Feature films, podcasts, short films, even advertising work!
A whole cornucopia of audio work racing through the door and we couldn't be happier to serve everyone!

What bugs me,.. I could've sworn last summer I wrote a blog about our new piano.
(Piano? Did you say piano?)
YES! We have a lovely upright Disklavier, it sounds and plays beautifully! You should come check it out!
As a matter of fact, we've got some nice additions to the mic closet too,
Check out the equipment list to find out what's new!

On that note, I will do my best to be a better blogger and update the site more often to keep you posted on any new
happenings.

Until then, my friends, keep making great music!

#DoWhatYouLoveLoveWhatYouDo

:)
Denise

Hello beautiful people!

It's true! We moved! Believe me when I say it was unexpected. (Hello NYC real estate monster, we see you)

Long story short, during our busiest year to date, we also had to find a new space, do a whole new buildout and
move in.
Our first session happened the first week of October, mixing with Yui Yamamoto from LA.
It's his 3rd album, and we're super proud that he chose us to mix it!

We've been lax with updates, so let me give you a short rundown:

3 records we worked on were on the official Grammy ballot this year:

Arthur Bird: Music for the American Harmonium (Artis Wodehouse)
-Best engineered record (Classical)
-Best solo performance (Classical)
-Best liner notes

Lucy Kalantari: Big Things
-Best Children's music album
**Winner of the IMA Children's music award with her song "Fantastic"

Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical
-Best Musical Theater Album

It goes without saying how proud we are of working with these amazing artists/writers.
Fingers crossed that all 3 get official nominations!

We just did our first VR mix for 360 video.
Super exciting! We can't wait to do more! Once the video has been released on youtube, we will share the link
Mixing for VR seems to be the new buzz topic in Audio. We are really excited to get more involved.
It's a whole new world out there.

And then, yes, we're now in LIC and happy to be here.
Not only has the commute become much easier for many of our clients, the space itself is so much
more comfortable.
Annnd, we have a great big picture window in the Control room,
!! SUNLIGHT !!
Is sunlight even allowed in a recording studio?

in closing, lots of changes, but all for the better.
I want to take the time to thank our staff for being the absolute best!
I want to thank our friends and family for being super supportive
and extra special thanks to our clients for toughing out the move with us and being patient for us to get up and running.
We can't do this alone, we are better together. (I know)

:)
Denise