Staff
Denise Barbarita ~ Owner/Head Engineer/Educator
Denise Barbarita is a 3x Grammy award winning Engineer/Mixer.
She is the owner and head engineer of MONOLisa Studios.
Over the past 20+ years, Denise has worked on a variety of music productions, across many genres, working with independent artists and major clients alike.
Her clients include Sony Masterworks, EMI, Koch Records, Nonesuch, Razor & Tie, KonceptVR, Movers & Shakers, and organizations such as The New York Film Academy, and MOMA.
Denise also works with film producers and directors creating soundtracks (music composition, sound design, foley, ADR and mixing) for feature films, documentaries, trailers, and commercials.
Rich Kulsar ~ Co-Owner/Professional Drummer/Educator
Rich Kulsar - Co-Owner and Resident Drum Guru at MONOLisa Studios. Rich is available for your Session as a drummer or can answer all your questions regarding the drums we have available for your Session. A drummer in NYC since 1991, Rich has played with many Artists across many genres. For more info, please visit Rich Kulsar dot com.
Old school professionalism at an indie price point
Raymond Bonanno ~ 1st Assistant
Ray has been with the family at MONOLisa since 2013. Starting out as a student of Denise’s at the County College of Morris, he became a helping hand in the construction of MONOLisa’s first commercial space and
from there on he worked numerous sessions as an intern and quickly became an Assistant Engineer.
Outside of the studio Ray performs in two Mathrock bands.
He is currently the drummer/lead vocalist and co-writer for Use Big Words, and the bassist and background vocalist for Invalids.
He also serves as a recording engineer/mixer for both projects.
All photos by: Brian T Silak
John Osborn ~ 2nd Assistant
John is the most recent addition to MONOLisa’s assistant roster. A graduate of Elon University’s Music Technology program, he moved to Queens in 2020 to pursue a career in music production with a specialty in mastering.
Having visited the studio after meeting Denise at an Audio Engineering Society event, John immediately identified with the creative and inclusive atmosphere Rich and Denise had created. Not to mention assisting would provide the perfect answer for his scented candle addiction. The rest is history. Today, John’s role in the studio is to help facilitate recording sessions, offer tasteful Gen-Z insight, and bring a pretty gay vibe to things.
When not patching XLR cables or refilling the studio’s bowl of Spicci candies, John can be found creating lofi hiphop, producing acoustic pop, and mastering anything he can get his hands on. He hopes to do that more. And also marry rich.
Photo by Bjorn Bolinder