SONGBOOK – Compositions by Yuko Kishimoto

Available soon is an album recently tracked here at Cotton Hill Studios, Inc. by engineer, Ace Parkhurst titled SONGBOOK – Compositions by Yuko Kishimoto.

Beginning on October 21 you can purchase it at www.PlanetArts.org .  The CD features regional musicians,

Yuko Kishimoto, piano
Lee Russo, sax
John Menegon, bass
Conor Meehan, drums

SONGBOOK - Compositions by Yuko Kishimoto

Susie Essman shares with Rick’s Picks Podcast

Keep an eye for the latest Rick’s Picks Movie reviews coming out this Thursday.  Then, in the coming weeks we’ll be featuring Rick’s  Top 10 Best and Worst of 2010 along with a two part interview with Curb Your Enthusiam’s Susie Essman.

Here she is with Ray Rettig and Rick Bedrosian after her recording session.

Ray Rettig, Rick Bedrosian with Susie Essman

Yacub Addy and Odadaa!

African drum master Yacub Addy and Odadaa! while tracking their upcoming release.

Members of Odadaa! at Cotton Hill Studios, Inc. singing vocal overdubs.

Ace Parkhurst, engineer and Amina Addy, producer at Cotton Hill Studios, Inc. as they listen back to the music of Odadaa!

Ace Parkhurst, engineer and Yacub Addy, african drum master and leader of Odadaa!

A message from Amina Addy:

Exciting News – African drum master Yacub Addy’s new CD project on USA Project Site

I’m pleased to announce that African drum master and 2010 NEA National Heritage Fellowship awardee Yacub Addy has been selected to participate in a new online community of America’s finest artists called USA Projects.

Yacub Addy’s Profile and Showcase are already up, and he’s just launched a new project called Cashew Blue.  It’s the title of a beautiful new CD he’s recording with his exceptional Ghanaian ensemble Odadaa!.  The album concentrates on creative compositions that keep the power of old traditional rhythms alive in fresh new pieces.

Watch the video preview and check out the project here:  http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/project/cashew_blue

Great perks are available to anyone who supports Yacub Addy in this effort, and if you can’t support the project financially, we would appreciate if you helped spread the word about it to friends and associates who may be in a position to contribute.  All donations are tax deductible.

USA Projects is a community where America’s finest artists and those that love and support them can share their latest work, enter into a dialog with each other, and make direct donations to new projects created by each artist.  This is the first website to our knowledge that allows direct public donations between art patrons and accredited artists on the internet. http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/

Note: USA Artists collects promised donations when and if the donation total is reached.  It then gives the funds to the artist to complete the contracted project in exactly the same way as a grant funder does.  The artist is legally responsible under strict guidelines to do the project as stated, to make regular progress and final financial reports, and to open their books for review by USA Artists auditors.

Famous Faces on the Hill: Campbell Scott

Our Ray Rettig with Campbell Scott.

Ray Rettig and Campbell Scott

Todd Nelson – HERE

Congrats to Todd Nelson on the release of his new album project recorded here at Cotton Hill.  A review is available at Nippertown.

Todd Nelson (guitar), Manuel Quintana (drums) and Kyle Esposito (Bass)

 

Behind the scenes engineering was Ace Parkhurst.  Check out the photo below.

Ace Parkhurst (foreground) and Ray Rettig (background)

Famous Faces on the Hill: Stephen Lang

We thought it might be fun to share some photos of some notable people we’ve had the pleasure of working with either recently or in the past. 

Here is Stephen Lang pictured with Ray Rettig.

Stephen Lang and Ray Rettig

What’s in a name?

An often overlooked detail in production is the name of the final spot (or spot code).  Simply put – it is everything.  A spot code is a spot’s social security number.  It identifies the spot and is also unique to the spot.  This is especially important when there are many versions of the same basic spot with different inserts.

My professional recommendation is that it should be picked at the onset of the process so it stays with the spot to the very end of its life-cycle.  It should follow through ALL the stages: concept, writing, production and traffic.   Changing it mid-stream can cause a great deal of confusion and potential mishaps.

I’d also recommend keeping a log of the final spots.  Excel is a great tool for this.  Your log can be as simple as just the code, the title and the length.  Or this can be a wonderful place to include more information.  Create a true marketing snapshot by including details like media outlets, creation and air dates, talent names, production resources, etc.  The latter, more detailed solution can be especially effective in team environments where several people require access to the information locked behind the spot code.

Take it from someone who has literally spent days donning her Sherlock Holmes persona in an effort to track down or act as a translator for spots desperately wanting to hit the airwaves – you want that spot code.  Wait.  Scratch that.  You NEED that spot code.

How I Spent (part of) My Summer

Since it’s back-to-school time (my daughter is starting kindergarten in September)  I thought I’d reflect a little on “how I spent my summer”.  In thinking back on the many things I did, one project sticks out in my mind.

In late spring we started pre-production on an album project for a new record label – Slick Puppy Music.  The label is headed up by a client we’ve worked with for years, so it was a blast to be able to re-connect with him on his new venture.  The album, titled One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple Puppy Dog, features 10 all-time hits for kids who love dogs.

One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple Puppy Dog Album Cover

Prior to setting foot into the studio he (and his attorney) invested a lot of time (and money) obtaining the proper rights and permissions to reproduce classic songs like “Wake up Little Susie”, “True Fine Mama”, “Village of Love” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”.  It’s always a good idea to have all permissions in place before you make a recording investment.

My task (and challenge) was working with Ray Rettig (engineer) and Al Quaglieri (musical director) to help  find the right cast of players, soloists and singers to make each cut sound like the original song.

It was an amazing line-up of regional talent like Kelly Bird, Garland Nelson, Dave McCarthy, Michael DeAngelis and newcomer Matt Scaptura on lead vocals.  We had the famed Jim Dawson, Randy and the Rainbows and Eugene Pitt and the Jive Five travel to the studio to give some tracks just the right sound and feel.

The core band of Chad Ploss, Ed Tourge, Cliff Brucker, and Rob Cohen was solid and extremely versatile in their ability to switch styles effortlessly.  The album also features some instrumental soloists including Cliff Lyons, John Haggerty, and the All Seasons Ensemble.

Bobbie Van Detta and Sherry-Jean Waite helped with the background vocals, and I actually got to sing on one piece, which was great fun and a little intimidating since I usually only sing lullabies or children’s songs with my kids.

The project took about 4 months to complete and while challenging, it was a great fit for the organizational skills, professionalism, musicianship and depth of knowledge that I feel our Cotton Hill team possesses.  I really hope to do more of these in the future.

How did you spend your summer?  Are there any interesting projects that you worked on?

Unmute Me

We are working on some awesome things and I’d love to tell you about them.  Oh, wait – I CAN’T!

Recently some very well-known celebrities have been traveling through the area and we’ve had the pleasure of working on some high profile projects with them…but because our clients have asked us not to disclose information about these sessions we aren’t able to mutter a word.  It’s very frustrating from a marketing perspective as you can well imagine.   We certainly want to honor our clients wishes and would never do anything to abuse their trust, but it would be nice to be able to use some of this news as PR for the studio.

How do you stir up excitement about what your business is doing when you can’t reveal certain information?  How do you effectively use tools like social marketing and press releases to leverage these experiences?  I’m open to your expertise and advice.  Please share.

Have Fun With It

I adore this emotion-based ad by Weber!

Don’t we all want to secretly booggie when the weather turns and we get a chance to put our grills on? I know I do!!