News

Prairie Sun Sets on New Gear, Diverse Sessions

Cotati, CA (October 22, 2003)--For almost 30 years now, recording artists and producers have been making music at Prairie Sun Studios, and this past summer, the studio brought in both new equipment, and a diverse array of artists. Prairie Sun's most recent addition is the new Magix Sequoia 7.0 mastering system, which is running on a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor, with I/O handled by RME's new HDSP 9632 audio interface.

Prairie Sun Recording also installed a Digidesign Pro Tools HD3 system in Studio A, fully loaded with three 192 interfaces, a sync unit, and the capability to interface 24-in and 48-out. The computer is a new 1.42 GHz dual-processor Power Mac G4, with a 20-inch cinema display. A Studio Construction ISO-box rack has provided a quiet and elegant solution to the noise, making the room whisper-silent. The HD system complements Prairie Sun's 80-input SSL 4000 to provide an attractive mixing environment for clients looking to take advantage of the facility's collection of outboard Neve EQs, two live echo chambers, numerous vintage compressors and a large comfortable mixing space with acoustics by Manny LaCarrubba of SAW.

Among the variety of artists who have worked at Prairie Sun is Bay Area legend Dan Hicks, who recently spent a week recording vocals in Studio B with Manhattan Transfer's Tim Hauser producing. The session was engineered by Tony Martin, Jr., with assistance by Jason D'Ottavio. Oz Fritz, Tom Waits' engineer of choice, was especially busy at the facility over the summer. While staying in the Guest Cabin, he has engineered for stunt guitarist Brian Kehoe in Studio C, as well as taking a week to mix the forthcoming live album from Danny Barnes of Austin, TX's Bad Livers. And, new dancehall reggae artist, RawSun, is currently in the middle of a month-long residency recording and mixing new tracks for his debut album. Producer Don Juan and engineer Adam Munoz are working on the project. Nashville drumming hero, Owen Hale, also came to town to contribute his talents to the new gospel album, tentatively titled, You Are, from Commander Cody veteran, Steve Puleo.

And, Grammy-winning engineer Steve Fontano was at Prairie Sun recently, taking advantage of the 1,000-square-foot live chamber, recording emerging artist, Corry Hanna. Tone recorded and mixed two songs for Ama Ofosu-Barko, a new Bay Area singer/songwriter. Reggae legend Barrington Levy, producer Handel Tucker, engineer Steve Counter, and assistant engineer Josh Chaddock mixed a new track in Studio A in July. Finally, former Byrds/Flying Burrito Brothers member Gene Parsons was at Prairie Sun producing and playing drums on a new album from Rob Wessel, working with engineer Allen Sudduth.

Prairie Sun Recording Studios
www.prairiesun.com