Contemporary, Acoustic, and World Music

Brian Granse www.myspace.com/americannobodymusic We can enter the production phase at just about any point, from recording to mixing to mastering. We're pleased to have been asked by singer-songwriter Brian Granse to mix his new album, Brian Granse, American Nobody. Do not let the album title fool you! Brian is a one-man musical Somebody, with perhaps more musical notes than red blood cells moving through his veins. Brian is a composer, a poet, and a remarkable player. (If it can make a sound, Brian can play it, as he has done on this album and his last few albums.) We first did a demonstration mix for Brian using the tracks he'd recorded using various living rooms and bedrooms as recording studios. When Brian first started mixing Brian Granse, American Nobody, he'd experienced some difficulty getting "the sound" mixing "in the box." ("In the box" refers to the recent revolution in low-cost digital audio production software that will run on most home computers.) Unfortunately, one rather quickly hits the limits of such systems, especially when it comes to the overall sound of a project. Once Brian heard the bigger, fuller, sound possible with an analog mix, he was hooked, and MARS was given the honor and privilege of mixing Brian's new album. (The project was mixed on the MARS-modified Soundcraft console, with its numerous custom enhancements throughout the signal path. The analog mix process was enhanced by digital pre-processing using custom emulations of classic analog processing gear. These emulations were developed by Frank Stearns.) This project took full advantage of modern web technology. At the time this album was mixed, Brian had moved from Jackson, Wyoming, to the Chicago area. Some 2000 miles apart physically, we worked together remotely via MP3 postings, a shared internet whiteboard, and many memorable phone calls.
		Winds of Nebraska (1:41, 2.3 MBytes) New Roads Ahead (1:24, 2.0 MBytes) Avenues (1:19, 1.9 MBytes) Trade Ya Shoes (1:08, 1.6 MBytes)
Photos by Michael J. Granse, www.gransephoto.com

Rory Stitt www.rorystitt.com Rory is a consummate writer and performer, with great passion, an eagle-eye for detail, and a remarkable ear. His energy and passion is palpable; his on-stage wit and mind are breathtakingly faster than light. Don't miss seeing Rory perform live if you have the chance. It's worth going to his site and getting on the email list just so you know when he'll next be in town. If you doubt the affect Rory has on a crowd, listen to the reaction at the end of the clip "Battle to Battle," below.
	Vocal mic test sessions (break for phone calls). We settled on a combination of the Royer SF-1 and Shure KSM-44. This yields a nice vintage tube microphone-like sound but without the sometimes muffled sound of tubes and sometimes edginess of solid-state condensors. Unfortunately, this combination is too awkward to use live and is best suited for a session environment. Black Shoes (2:54, 4.1 MBytes)
	Live at Three Friends Coffeehouse, Portland, Oregon Battle to Battle (1:41, 2.4 MBytes)

Michael Mandrell and Friends www.michaelmandrell.com Michael is a delightful player with a deft touch, wide-ranging compositional and arranging skills, and plays beautiful custom-built instruments. Benjy has studied classical Indian instruments, could probably be an opera singer if he wanted to given the size of his voice, and he also does "throat singing," a technique of generating more than one pitch from the voice. Having both recorded many albums over the years, Michael and Benjy both know the technical aspects of recording. We're pleased that they have chosen to include three live songs recorded by MARS for use with an upcoming CD release.
	(left) With Benjy Wertheimer (www.benjymusic.com) Live at the Mothership (re-titled: Live from Celti-stan, referring tongue-in-cheek to Michael and Benjy's lush blend of Eastern and Western idioms, including Classical Indian, Celtic, Folk, and New Age.) --- (right) Second Engineer Barclay (with hearing well out to 60 Khz), who was kind enough to bring his pet, Benjy Wertheimer.
		Shining Child (1:28, 2 MBytes) Guitar-Tabla Jam (with tu-ning instructions) (3:30, 4.9 MBytes)
We couldn't get the MARS-1 mobile platform up a very steep and narrow mountain road, so we brought along MARS-2, the flight-case version, and set up in the parking garage underneath the performance space.	Patching MARS-2 (It's a lot cleaner in the mobile unit proper!)

With the always vivacious Jenny Bird (www.jennybird.com), Summer concert recorded live with the crickets and balmy evening air. Jenny always brings a lot of good energy to a stage; this was the perfect late-summer concert event. Dare You! (1:36, 2.2 MBytes)

Kirtan, with Benjy and Heather Wertheimer, Gina Sala, and Manose www.benjymusic.com www.shantalamusic.com www.ginasala.com www.manosemusic.com These recordings represent several months of planning for all parties, and for us, one of the most amazing series of sessions (location or studio) that we've ever done. Benjy and Heather, pleased with past recordings we'd done with Benjy and Michael Mandrell, first approached us in November of 2005 about recording this event. We went to a Kirtan, thought it a very beautiful, joyful, and moving experience, and were eager to use the MARS system to capture a Kirtan in the best way we possibly could. We recorded with a live audience for three nights in August, 2006, capturing extraordinary moments in musical spirit that even transcended genre. Magic seemed to fill the air. Benjy's voice was powerful and delicate as needed, Heather and Gina provided angel choir and angel leads, while Manose soared in and out of the clouds with effortless flute playing. The clip included here (a series of sections from a much longer work) is from the 2-track reference recorder that ran off the monitor mix -- this isn't even a final mix! (With the exhausting touring schedule maintained by Benjy and Heather, post-production on this project is still a ways out.) Kirtan includes audience participation in the celebration, and you'll hear that captured here as well. Even if you're not a spiritual sort of person, a Kirtan at least once in your lifetime is highly recommended. The purity and warmth of the feeling is soothing and filling, and just might wind up changing you in some small way that you'll like.
Set for Kirtan	Playing Kirtan
	Recording and monitoring the Kirtan in MARS-1 Chant excerpt with audience (4:36, 6.4 MBytes)