On June 25th Dessa from Doomtree released her 3rd full length album, Parts Of Speech, parts of which were recorded and all mixed by Joe Mabbott at The Hideaway Studio. The record’s first week out saw it reach #71 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart. Please support independent music and go get a copy of the record here
This weekend we had the pleasure of having The Parlour Suite stop in to track 3 songs. We started with blocking out the light to the performance room to create the mood for their dreamy landscapes of synth, bass, washed out guitars, and ambient pulsing drums. Once we got tones Friday night we began the day Saturday with a giant box of Glam Doll Donuts to get the sleep knocked out of our systems and get into it. After basics were done, Inga’s vocals were quickly and easily handled to perfection. It was a super smooth and laid back session with great results. The tracks will be sent off to Grant Cutler for some production tricks and arrangements, then back here to mix. Snapped some photos of the session. Enjoy.
Joey Van Phillips, drummer and percussionists extraordinaire for groups like Dessa, A Wolf and Her Claws, LaLiberte, and Mystery Palace, to name a few has been working closely with Joe Mabbott on a purely drums, percussion, and mallets based record with the intention to grab a handful of featured guest vocalists like Dessa, POS, and Toki Wright to put out a collection of unique tracks showcasing Joey’s production, arranging and writing styles. We wrapped up the tracking phase and are getting into rough mix mode this week to get tracks out to the artists. The Hideaway Studio’s good friend Chris Bartels came through to snap some photos during our last session
Enjoy:
From The Heart were in February 11th-12th working on their EP with engineer Josh Riggs. They will be back in April for another 3 day block to work out some more tracks. Hideaway Engineer Brady Moen was in assisting on the 2 day sessions and had this recap:
A relaxing 2-day session set. Pop punk with Dave Grohl grunts, that’s what was being offered up to the god of music this past Monday and Tuesday. These were the first two days of tracking, kicking off this soon-to-be 5-song EP. It seemed the space was just what these guys needed to summon the right type of emotion from the depths of their beings. The sessions went smoothly with Josh Riggs and the helm, steering them clear of all things that are bad. Thumbs up.
I get a feeling Brady has a side job as a movie critic or something with his writing style. Anyways, he snapped some pics during the session.
Enjoy.
Brian Miller and Randy Gosa were in the week of January 28th to February 3rd and started tracking “The Falling of the Pines” the follow up record to “Minnesota Lumberjack Songs” released in 2011, also recorded and mixed at The Hideaway. At a feverish pace they tracked 13 songs with various instrumentation from acoustic guitars to banjos, bouzoukis, mandolin, harmonium, fiddle, Vocals with catchy harmonies, and some good old fashioned cabin stomping to boot. The mixing will be done throughout the next month and you should see the album out sometime in the summer.
Check out their performance of “Roll You Drivers Roll” on Minnesota Original here, a track that will be on their upcoming album.
Here’s a couple snaps during the session:
Back in November I got a call from Universal Group looking to book some time for one of their artists to stop in on break from tour and track some acoustic guitars for a record they were working on. Turned out to be Justin Bieber’s Believe Acoustic record, an acoustic vision on his 2012 platinum release Believe. After a quick shuffle around of the schedule we made some room and Dan Kanter, Justin’s guitar player and musical director came in with engineer Josh Gudwin to see what they could make happen. Three large coffees, a couple large salads, a large white pizza, and 6 hours later they had three songs tracked, Beauty and the Beat, She Don’t Like the Lights, and Boyfriend. Dan is a beast of a talent on the guitar, his rhythmic sense in spot on playing unbelievable tight on doubled guitar parts. Josh nailed some great tones with a minimalistic setup utilizing AKG and Neumann mics running into The Hideaway’s Manley EQs and Retro 176 and LA2A compressors. The record was released on February 29th. I now understand the term Bieber Fever, as I was humming all these songs for the next couple weeks after the session. Was a pleasure having these guys in. Here’s a crappy cell snap of the session:
The Week of January 21st had Buffalo Moon in tracking for their full length record at The Hideaway with engineer Jared Miller and Producer Elliot Kozel. A couple of The Hideaway’s trusted engineers, Brady Moen and Andy Halvorson, helped assist on the session.
Joe Mabbott asked Brady how the week went and he had this to say:
Coffee, bagels, Hamm’s, stolen cars, and missing contacts. Buffalo Moon raided the studio on Monday. The skirmish lasted 4 days, and made use of everything the space had to offer. Mics, cables, instruments, stands and people were flying everywhere. Amongst the madness, they tracked drums, bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synths, Wurlitzer, percussion, scratch vocals and group dogman vocals for their 14 song album. It was a fairly relaxed blur of sessions, but the goal was never forgotten. Keeping all that in mind, producer Elliott Kozel was never seen naked… during the sessions… so it’s a safe bet that when all is said and done, the world will have one killer album to behold.
Here are a handful of pics Brady snapped from the week. Enjoy:
2012 wrapped up with a busy finish — Joe Mabbott and The Hideaway would like to say thank you to every artist, engineer, and producer who came through this last year and contributed to the amazing amount of work produced out of the studios. We are truly grateful to all of you.
We’ve added a couple new goodies to the studio in the last quarter of the year. One of the bigger changes is that Mabbott’s trusty Tannoy DMT System 12 monitors made a move to the B Control Room to make way for the new ATC SCM25A Monitors for the A Room. We’ve added a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo 100 with Slant 4X12 Cabinet to the growing impressive amp wall. Also added were a handful of new plugins for the A Room’s HDX Pro Tools rig.
Both the A Room and the B Room were packed with a great list of engineers working on their projects.
Hideaway Engineers:
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Joe Mabbott:
– Dessa
– Doomtree
– The Sweet Colleens – Closer To The Sky
– Riley Hoffman
– Paddy O’Brien
– Literati
– Rojaz – Good Things To Come
– Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band
– Sadistik – Flowers For My Father
– Son of Sound
– Teague Alexy
– Graham O’Brien
– Nick Mac
– Phil Little
– Brooke Aldridge
– Tek & JessListen
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Brady Moen:
– Leah Tousignant
– Lia Renee Dior
– Scouts Honor Society
– Dessa
– Skinny
– Zack Dyer
– E’Stylez
– Amber Simpson
– Christopher Campbell
– Black Coast Crew
– J-Maniac
– Urban Mountain Media
– Kev Sez
– Erin Rogue
– Josh Reimnitz
– Turk Ozturk
– Chad Lee Ye
– Laykn Bauer
– Murmur
– Brehtn
– Markie D
– ASSISTING: Buffalo Moon
– ASSISTING: Dan Wanschura, Phil Ensminger Northern Lights Media
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Dan Jensen:
– Arms Aloft
– Rob Ashe
– The Diversion Scene
– Bryce Richardson
– Nick Massanti
– Falling Angels
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Peter Remiger:
– Como Avenue Jug Band
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Adam Greenwald:
– Face The Vote
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Independent Engineers:
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Josh Gudwin:
– Justin Bieber
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Joe Johnson:
– Christopher Campbell
– Dave King
– Terry Hughes
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Jeff Johnson:
– Cloud Cult – Love
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Izaac Burkhart:
– Nicole Serrano
– ReadyGoes
– Cedar Avenue
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Jason McGlone:
– New Sound Underground
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And finally, check out this video made by Urban Mountain Media for the 100 Hour Film Race 2012 shot in the B-Room at The Hideaway:
– Hideaway Engineer Brady Moen helped out with the project. In his words, “Hertz, it’s a short film made for the 2012 100 Hour Film Race. The theme is detachment. When the world is about to end, Dave Benson breaks into a broadcasting studio to accompany anyone listening to their impending doom… “
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Thanks to everyone who made 2012 an amazing year at The Hideaway — we look forward to 2013.
This summer found The Hideaway fully booked with a ton of different projects and engineers. Check out who The Hideaway has been working with below.
Joe Mabbott was on summer vacation, but still managed to fit in some key projects tracking, mixing and mastering.
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Joe Mabbott Tracking:
– All These Runners – Vacation Days
– Chris Campbell and Grant Cutler
– Chris Williams
– Dessa
– Doomtree – Beat Tape
– Rojaz
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Joe Mabbott Mixing:
– Brother Ali
– Josh Johnz
– Kjos Publishing
– Literati
– Los Nativos
– Marianne Dissard
– Paddy O’Brien
– Paper Tiger
– Riley Hoffman
– Racing Moths
– Saltee 
– The Sweet Colleens
– Sadistik
– Sun of Sound
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Joe Mabbott Mastering:
– High Hopes – HH
– Ill
– LP
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Hideaway Engineer Dan Jensen:
– Victor Shores
– Mikey Erg
– The Gateway District
– Young Pretenders
– Rob Ashe
– Off With Their Heads
– Arms Aloft
– Sleeping in Gethsemane
– The Slow Death
– Pretty Boy Thorson
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Hideaway Engineer Brady Moen:
– Keenan Willis (Lil Polo)
– Brandon Young (Brehtn)
– Skinny
– Lia Renee Dior
– Markie D
– Earl Lovelace (E’Stylez)
– Amber Simpson (Talent)
– Damarez White (Apollo)
– Jiel Benson (Mars)
– Zack Dyer
– Leah Tousignant
– Erin Rogue
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Hideaway Engineer Josiah Kosier:
– Jack McNally
– Foreston
– Bora York
– Rebekah Bartels
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Hideaway Engineer Adam Greenwald:
Adam Greenwald has been working with Nick Muhammad, aka Mastermind, on Representative Bobby Joe Champion‘s Voter ID project. Recorded at The High School for the Recording Arts, Adam has been mixing and mastering tracks featuring:
– I Self Devine
– Toki Wright
– Felix from Heiruspecs
– Muja Messiah
– Maria Isa
– MaLLy
– Danami
– The Lioness
Read more about the Voter ID project: here.
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Independent Engineers:
Joe Johnson
– Chris Campbell
Peter Remiger
– Speeds the Name
Izaac Burkhart
– Nicole Serrano
– ReadyGoes
– Cedar Avenue
Jason McGlone
– Cassondra Lea Meyer
– Trout
– New Sound Underground
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Here at the Hideaway we have recording and mixing clients of all types of experience. From seasoned pros to studio session newbies, sometimes we could all use a refresher for maximizing studio time. What follows is a brief list of five tips for maximizing your session:
1. Complete Your Songs Before Coming Into the Studio
– The element of spontaneity can be a great addition to a recording session, but if you’re coming up with parts and sections from scratch while your engineer is twiddling his thumbs, you could be spending your money more wisely. Have your songs fully written well in advance before your session, and plan for sections of improvisation if that’s where your creativity takes you. Having simple demo recordings is always useful in case you want to reference previous performances.
2. Rehearse Your Material
– Having your songs fully written five minutes before a session is not the best idea. You should give yourself and your band members ample time to rehearse your material. Granted, not all bands and groups have the luxury of refining their material on the road by performing multiple shows over a few months time, but you should at least have your parts memorized and as tight as possible through multiple days worth of rehearsals before your session. That way, you’ll be able to capture a great performance in only a few takes on the day of the session.
3. Know the Sound You Want
– Professional engineers are skilled at creating distinct sounds. As an artist and performer, your own unique sound will be crafted along with the engineer’s talents. Being able to communicate the sound you are going for is vital to the recording and mixing process. Bring reference tracks with you to the session, or be able to communicate the type of sound you want. Saying you want Deftones drums is one thing, but being able to play a specific song or album for an engineer will help facilitate the process.
4. Coordinate People and Gear
– Most musicians and studios have instruments and gear unique to their craft. Here at The Hideaway, we have multiple drum kits and snares that will give your project variety in quality of sounds, but chances are you have musician friends that have even more diverse gear that they would be happy to lend out for a day or two. Maybe your buddy from high school has a classic Gibson you would love to get on your record. Ask him. Buy him a case of beer. Or hell, invite him to the session. Speaking of getting people to the session, get people to the session! Communicate with your band members and everyone involved in the recording to make sure schedules are cleared, session start times are known, and where the recording studio is. Having everyone show up on time is a great way to maximize your studio session.
5. Bring A Backup Plan
– Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), the days of 24-track tape are dwindling with Pro Tools dominating the market. Make sure to bring a hard drive, DVD-R discs, or a computer with enough space to backup your session masters- which can be up to 100 gigabytes depending on the session length, number of tracks, and bite rate and sample rate recorded. Whether you are mixing the session at the same studio where you record, or mixing at another studio, having your own storage space is ideal for preserving and transferring your recordings between systems and sessions. Keep in mind that transferring big volumes of data takes time, up to an hour or two depending on how massive your session is. Hard drives with RAID storage are especially good at keeping your recordings secure by storing your data on two separate hard drives, duplicating your data on each drive in case one drive fails. For long-term storage, DVD backups are ideal because they are on a fixed medium with no moving parts. And, if you’re a purist, tape is still a quality way to preserve your recordings when stored properly.