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Last updated
26 February 2012
THE NEW
PLAYGROUND RECORDING / MASTERING STUDIO
AND THE GEAR THAT GOES WITH IT
Even though Keith took a few years off to
re-think the studio and the world he created around him, tromping around the planet, doing his small part to try to help raise
consciousness about the conservation of the knowledge and use entheogens and
ethnobotanicals, he also did as much critical listening to as many musical
styles as possible. This re-ignited his passion for music and the studio,
and turned into a complete re-design and re-thinking of the Playground.
As a result, the Amek "big" and the Control-24 have
been retired, and the
SSL Matrix,
(see his recent interview with SSL in the Keith's
SSL USER INTERVIEW) powered by a Pro Tools HD3 Accel System housed inside
a tricked out Mac Pro are now at the helm in the newly-designed, and completely re-wired studio. Although completely capable of tracking in the
new spaces specifically designed for ear-splitting massiveness, while still
being able to capture the delicate tones of an Udu drum and a harmonium, Keith
has taken several years of extensive critical listening to every possible
plug-in, console, vintage piece of gear, A/D and D/A converter, and anything
else in the chain from original sound to final product, and has crafted a way of
mastering that will squeeze every last bit of sound out of any tracks you
provide.
All of the equipment he always wished
he had is not at his fingertips, and he knows each piece inside and out
His extensive record production background as well as his live sound background
give him a unique perspective on the mastering process, and offers a noticeable
difference in the sonic quality that you can achieve with your final masters.
Despite this, the studio is
still only $750.00/day, and mastering is just $85.00/hour.
THE "STUDIO
SECRETS" ARTICLES
Keith has a series of articles that
explain, in as vivid detail as possible, his recording techniques that he's used
on various records for various bands throughout the years, such as the Flaming
Lips, Mercury Rev, Spiritualized, HUM and others. He's been asked about
the drums on "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart" by the Flaming Lips, or
the extra-fat guitars on HUM's "You'd Prefer an Astronaut", as well as many
other questions about specific techniques he and band members have used live and
in the studio.
He's started with the top questions,
which inevitably are what was mentioned above, and in relation to the Flaming
Lips (their drums) and HUM (their guitars). He'll then be moving onto
subtleties of the mixing process and how it is so dependent on the recording
process, as well as general tips to hopefully help anyone to get better sounding
records.
Feel free to ask any questions as well; he will answer any
question as best he can, whether it's a sound that helped achieve with records
he's been a part of, or other records that you're wondering what a sound is or
how it may have been recorded.
See STUDIO
SECRETS on www.cleversley.com.
FREE STUDIO
TIME PROGRAM
After a long
leave and much contemplation, I have upgraded and updated the studio and the
studio is recording and producing projects again. It's been a long time
away from recording, but the
recording itch is undeniable and refuses to go away. There have been many
amazing developments in my world, and one of the most pertinent is that I
and the studio no longer have to be tied to the whims of a major label looking
for the next hit. The studio can concentrate on the creative process once
again, making passionate music with passionate people who believe in the music they make. The studio now has the freedom to choose exactly
the bands we want, looking for ones that show promise, who make music because
it's something that they're compelled to make out of desire for tangible
expression.
The studio is now looking for bands we think are doing something amazing and unique,
offering them a chance to record at a place that will make them sound as good if
not better than anywhere else in the world, and for a fraction of the cost.
You will be recording with Keith Cleversley's long-time engineer; Andy Bosnak,
and Keith often wanders around checking sounds and tweaking mixes.
THE DEAL: If you are an unsigned band without a studio recording, simply send us your demo, whatever quality, or e-mail us a link to a few of your songs.
Every 3 months, we will choose one band, and give them a free weekend of
recording at The Playground, complete with a free place to stay.
That's 4
young bands a year, free, no strings attached.
Send your links
to your music
HERE.
Send your demos
here:
The Playground
2044 W Grand Ave.
Chicago, IL 60612
It's
been a strange number of years for alternative rock and the music industry as a
whole, and since it's been so kind to
Keith, he's taking much more time to simply soak in life, rather than keeping
himself chained to the mixing console 16 hours a day. He's still mixing and
mastering a few select projects, but is taking on much fewer than he has in the past.
Andy Bosnak, Keith's engineer for many years, will be recording many of the the
projects that come through here now; he's an amazing talent, and he knows all
of Keith's various tricks.
Keith got his
pilot's license in 2004, his DiveMaster
Certification in 2005, and met the love of his live; Venus, in 2006. Besides reveling in the
beauty of flight in the sky and below the oceans, Keith and Venus travel as much
as possible to all the places they dreamed of traveling.
You can see
constantly updated photos HERE.
He is also the founder of an Amazon
Rainforest Coalition that organizes the purchase of large tracts of land in the
Amazon to prevent logging and oil companies from buying them, then returning
possession of them to the natives. It's a drop in the bucket, but imagine a world where there
was no resistance to the government's tragic environmental policies, and the
continued destruction of this beautiful planet by so many big industries.
Keith and Venus now spend much
of their time at their places in Cozumel; a small island that truly is a
tropical paradise. Their first place was
Chan Nahil and their new
residence is Cozumel Casita;
an ongoing project that never seems complete.
The studio is usually booked about
1-3 months in advance, but there are
often slots for projects that are only a few days long anytime.
Andy can be reached directly at: (773) 871-9870
FLICKERSTICK
finally put the finishing touches on the new record; Tarantula.
It's been a long time coming, but they promise that their fans will not be
disappointed.
The record was finally released at the end of 2004.
::tintin: released their first
full length record in January! This is one of Keith's favorite young
bands...as one reviewer said; "With such epic-sounding influences, it's no
surprise that Tintin has managed to make its meager three-piece lineup echo and
swell like a phalanx of ax-slingers, an entire battalion of instrumentalists. On
the group's recent self-titled debut, most of the tracks clock in at over eight
minutes, twisted into neat melodic helixes and set adrift in seas of sighs and
whispers. Not that the shit is wimpy -- there are filaments of grim stamina
wired into Tintin's music, ligaments of tension stretched taut throughout the
songs' puffy, amorphous structures. Such towering sounds are usually made
nowadays by massive ensembles like Godspeed! You Black Emperor and the
Polyphonic Spree, sporting up to two dozen players on stage at once. That Tintin
can pull off even a fraction of that magnificence with just three instruments is
quite a feat, and it harks back to another trio whose whole is way bigger than
the sum of its parts: Built to Spill.
CLEAN RAY
came to the Playground in January to record a full length album. The
band's influences include a variety of styles mostly under the rock 'n' roll
genre with a sound that merges classic and alternative rock. They pride
themselves on genre exploration and hope to achieve stylistic variety within
their music.
TIME OUT DRAWER is finally going to
come to the Playground late January/Early February to work on their next
record...look for it in the Spring of 2004.
DECEMBER 2003
JOURNAL ENTRY: So many bands have broken up, so many people have been fired
from labels, and so many bands have been dropped from labels; it's a strange
time in the music biz for rock. Three of my favorite bands broke up
or were dropped this year; SOUND OF URCHIN, TURNERJOY, and ABSINTHE BLIND.
RCA dropped 60% of its rock acts and signed ALL EIGHT finalists from the
American Idol show...where are all the great indie rock bands these days? Keith is finishing up FLICKERSTICK remixes, and hopes to find music he is passionate about
recording in the near-future.
FLICKERSTICK finally came to The Playground to make
their new record the last week of July through the end of August. This
record is going to be their best yet; their new material is absolutely STUNNING!
We are done with the record and it came out BETTER than we all had hoped! - Look
for a JANUARY 2004 release.
The
TIME OUT DRAWER
did additional tracking, production, and mixing at The
Playground in May and June. They're a great band; see their slick site for
lot of info. They return in OCTOBER 2003 to record their next
record...Keith is SUPER excited about it!
TINTIN, a kick-ass
Boulder, CO band with all kinds of space rock deliciousness going on recorded an
album at the Playground in June. If HUM, Mercury Rev and Mogwai made an
album together, it might sound something like this.
FREE ELEMENT
made an album in May. They're a young band with lots
of promise! They combine the GIANT
ROCK of Hum with unique melodies and lyrics. They are returning to the
Playground in early of 2004 to finishe record.
THE ROSENBERGS from
NYC made a record with Keith starting that started on the 12th of January for
Force MP, a new label out of St. Louis.
The Rosenbergs made a huge splash at SXSW recently.
FLICKERSTICK
was scheduled to come into the Playground during the 2nd week of April, but they
broke up! - Their new stuff was STUNNING as well!
DRIVEWAY (formerly MaDe on
Universal Records) were in during January 2003 to do an EP.
SOME RECENT
PRESS:
Centaur: "In Streams" Review |
Turnerjoy: "Transplant"
Review
Mayflies USA: "Walking in a Straight Line" CMJ Review
Mayflies USA:
"Walking in a Straight Line" HomeBrew Review
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