...to Electric Lady Studios?

I had to attend AES in NYC last week...



...My days consisted of 8 hours giving product demonstrations.

I did get to do 2 rather cool things while there.

One was to attend the TEC Awards (Technical Excellence and Creativity) sponsored by MIX Magazine...
TEC Awards - http://mixfoundation.org/news.html, http://mixonline.com/2005...ds-winners

Arif Mardin was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame.
His presentation began with an unannounced performance of Through The Fire by Chaka Khan and the award was presented after an intense speech by none other than his former boss at Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun. How's that for music royalty?
If you don't know who these folks are, your homework assignment is to do some research and get edumacated.

David Byrne was presented the Les Paul Award (accepted by Laurie Anderson) by Les Paul himself.


The other cool thing that I got to do (by a stroke of luck) was this...



...35th Anniversary Tribute to Electric Lady Studios -
http://www.aes.org/events...cfm?ID=438

The sign is for the public event.
The private event (for Lexicon & DigiTech affiliates), which I got to attend, was a bit hipper (swag-wise anyway).
I was lucky enough to get a pass from an associate that couldn't attend.

The private after-show event required you to have one of these...



..."groovy tags" to board the bus to the studio.


When the bus reached the studio I was a bit confused because I was expecting to see...



...the familiar studio facade.

It seems that it had to be removed because the bums where using it as a place to sleep (among other things).
The rest of the merchants on that section of 8th Street issued complaints and the studio was forced to remove it for a plain-jane version.
The only thing left of the original facade is the round bricked window to the left, inside the 1st door.

Once inside, I let all the other guests file past me and I was left alone just inside the second studio door. Memories started to race by of me as a kid walking past this building during my weekend trips to The Village. This place used to be a club called Generations. One day when walking by I noticed a sign on the door that said something like, "The future home of Electric Lady Studios". From that point on I made it a point to pass by every week.

Walked down the hall to the reception desk where catered food had been set up.
There were a couple of the...



...DigiTech Hendrix pedals mounted on pedestals.

As you turn to your left...



...you enter the Studio A control room with the 80 input SSL console.


The main festivities took place...



...in the main room of Studio A.

In front of the piano a large screen and sound system was showing the new 2 DVD set...



...Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock

The first disc is compiled from all the 16mm color film cameras that were used.
The second disc, A Second Look consists mainly of the same footage shot on b/w videotape by a drama student (Albert Goodman) that snuck onstage and was assumed to be part of the official film crew.

The sponsor of the event said a few words and then introduced...



...Eddie Kramer, Jimi's right-hand man in the studio.

He thanked everyone for attending and especially wanted to thank Jimi Hendrix for making the creation of the studio possible.
In closing he said, "Before you leave, make sure you stop by the lounge outside the control room to pick up a gift we have for each of you."
The "gift" was a very useful shoulder tote bag. Inside the bag was a purple t-shirt with the DigiTech logo surrounding their Hendrix pedal. On the back of the t-shirt is a graphic of Hendrix at Woodstock. Also inside the bag was the Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock 2 DVD set that had been autographed by Eddie Kramer.

I had just ordered this DVD set from the Experience Hendrix site the day before I left for NYC.

This adds to my ability to answer the question, "Have you ever been experienced?" with the answer...

Well, I have...Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
[Edited 10/15/05 16:31pm]

I'm not experienced. Sounds amazing though! Nice read, tA.

i envy u!!! ur sooooo lucky,sounds like it was alot of fun. question tho, is it really shaped like a big guitar?

Pfiou.

Beautiful!!!
/peace Manki

Electric Lady Studio Sidebar:

John Storyk & Eddie Kramer...



...standing in the original doorway of Electric Ladyland Studios - 1996

Electric Lady is an amazing place that's perhaps as well known for the Minneta River as for the records that got made there.
The studio is on top of a river, like a high flood table now, which ran through the Village. To get the isolation in the B studio, the only way we could do it as the ceiling sloped down was to build sloped walls to support the isolation system. To do that we had to dig down for the footings. But one day we went down one shovelful too much. The next thing you know we had Old Faithful in the basement. We covered it up and shifted the design from a heavy black wall solution to a lighter drywall solution and installed on a permanent basis two water pumping systems, one to back up the other. Several times over the years both pumps have failed and they have had water in there.

A more common urban problem would be something like a subway. How has design changed to accommodate urban noise over the years?
In the most general sense, not much has changed fundamentally.

You still measure the bothering noise, which in this case was the community environment. Electric Lady had two real bothersome neighbors-one was the theater above and the other was the subway about 100 yards away. Today, it's the same process: You measure how much they bother you by. What has changed is that studios have to be quieter than they were 30 years ago because of digital recording. But the process is the same. If I had that same studio to do over again, I wouldn't [approach the noise problem] differently. We did not design for the subway. We decided it was impossible to completely eliminate the subway noise. There wasn't enough height to build practical isolation. So once every ten minutes there's a tiny little rumble in there. They just accept it. It's been going on for 30 years.

Excerpt from a 1999 MIX Magazine article with John Storyk
http://mixguides.com/stud...gner-0699/


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Wow, thanks for that, tA. That's awesome. Never been.

Next, you'll tell me you hung out with Natalie Merchant while you were there...


You bum!!!

Thanks for the pics, tA! You get to do all the cool stuff

ThreadBare said:

Do you really want to know?...



...The trees provided great cover.





tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Terilicious said:

You're quite welcome.

How about I let you know when something like this happens in a city near you?
I had 2 extra passes that none of my jaded co-workers wanted.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Well, I'm in St. Louis. So, I don't know how much cool stuff comes this way. Nelly throws a party every couple of weeks-that's about it!
[Edited 10/16/05 17:51pm]

Terilicious said:

We must find some way to expand your horizons and get you "Experienced".

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Moonwalkbjrain said:

Not that i'm aware of. Is it supposed to be?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

so u gonna give your baby brother that extra woodstock dvd right? hehehe, maaaaan i should been witcha... damn damn damn damn,

TheRealFiness said:

Houston, we may have a problem.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

if i think, what i think im thinkin' its gonna be a Jimified Xmas, so im sho' it'll be in my lil hands

theAudience said:

umm i dont know! i read in a book that jimi wanted it shaped like a big guitar

nice. i dont think i would've been able to sit still

brownsugar said:

You'd have been fine. Almost everyone was standing anyway.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I'm jealous! Sounds like it was a very cool time. And how old is Ahmet Ertegun now anyway?

(btw, I want one of those paisley-shaped passes )

Very, very cool Aud.

minneapolisgenius said:

Being born in July of 1923 would make him 81.
He came to the podium using a cane but his mind is still as sharp as a tack.
Great storyteller.

Regarding the "groovy tag", snag the pics and make your own.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

blackguitaristz said:

It was one of those spiritual moments.





tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

I can imagine. I GOTTA record there, Aud. I just gotta. Jimi would be there, smiling, with open arms too.

blackguitaristz said:

I'm sure all it would take would be...



...the right number of ducats.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

That's for sure. Hey, was Jimi's vibe thick or what? Could u feel his pressence?
I bet he lurks in the halls, fiddle with some gadgets.