Euphonic Studio ™

Euphonic Studio announces the release of our new video, “Oh Babylon”, written and sung by Joe Baumhover.

This is just in time for the election madness.

Please enjoy and share.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Artwork for our latest release, The Traveler, written and performed by Euphonic Studio’s Bill Niemi

Euphonic Studio is proud to announce the release of our latest single, The Traveler, written and recorded by Bill Niemi during the Euphonic Minneapolis days in the mid-80s.

This is the first public release of any song that features Bill as vocalist. It is written and performed in a style that is reminiscent of Paul Simon and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

LINKS

You may purchase a copy at CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and all the usual digital distribution channels. You may listen to the song for free at any of the links below.

Buy The Traveler at CD Baby
Buy The Traveler at Amazon

https://soundcloud.com/euphonic-studio/the-traveler

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Artwork for the Amen Choir’s newest single, Ifi, released 4/1/15. The song is part of a CD recorded by the Amen Choir at Euphonic Studio.

This is the artwork for the Amen Choir single “Ifi”, released April 1, 2015.

Please LIKE and SHARE… Thanks!

We are happy and proud to announce that the second single from the Amen Choir’s CD is now available at the following links:

SoundCloud (listen for free) https://soundcloud.com/euphonic-studio/ifi

We will put the lyrics up here and on SoundCloud as soon as they become available.

Thanks for listening!!!

This is the artwork for the Amen Choir single “Salamu”, which means “Greetings!”

We are happy and proud to announce the release of the single recording “Salamu” by the Amen Choir from their 12 song CD which will be released later this spring.

This is the artwork for the Amen Choir single “Salamu”, which means “Greetings!”

You can listen to the song for free on ReverbNation and SoundCloud at the links below.

You may also purchase your own copy of this uplifting song at this link:

Here’s the link for SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/euphonic-studio/amen-choir-salamu

We will begin working on the video for this song shortly.

Here is a lyrics translation for any viewers who don’t speak Kirundi or Swahili:

Salamu

(Greetings)

Kirundi

Chorus:

Greetings our Burundi!

We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ

Leader hello…

Brothers and Sisters we greet you…

Vs 1

Many among us did not see you

But because of our parents we know you

Our Burundi we greet you

Our Burundi we send you these greetings

Chorus

Greetings our Burundi!

We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ

Leader hello…

Brothers and Sisters we greet you…

Swahili

Greetings Tanzania!

We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ

Leader hello…

Our friends we greet you…

Vs 2

We were refugees from Burundi

We fled to you

And you welcomed us

You also opened up the way for us to come to America

May our God Bless You

Greetings Tanzania!

We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ

Leader hello

Our friends we greet you.

Salamu

To our home we send a song of love and our greetings. And although many of us didn’t get the chance to see the land that our parents, grandparents, and so on were born and raised or where and how our traditions were developed we still love you Burundi and we still call you home. The stories that our parents tell paint beautiful and colorful picture of who and what you are. We say hello to the leaders and the ones we left behind.

Tanzania our second home, the place that most of us were born, we greet you as well. When we were refugees fleeing the horrible face of death, you took us in and you open the doors for us to come to America, our new home. To the leaders and to our friends in Tanzania we say we greet you say hello, thank you and may God bless you. We are who we are today because of you.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Euphonic Studio is happy to announce that Derrick Patterson’s 2 singles are now available for sale at iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and scores of other outlets.

Please click the link below and add your own copy to your REAL country music collection for a mere 99 cents!

Thanks from all of us independent musicians who contributed to the project!

NEW January 25, 2015… Video release

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated the blog. A lot has happened since the last update, including my successful run for City Council here in Mt. Vernon. Serving our city in this capacity has been very time consuming, and at the same time very rewarding.

So here’s an update on recording activities….

I’m also working on arranging/mixing a set of songs from singer/songwriter Mark Randolph of Cedar Rapids. Mark’s music takes an unflinching look at life from a very unique point of view. These are taking some time due to overdubs bus so far I’m happy with the results.

The two African groups took most of the winter off, but will be returning to the studio shortly. The Glory Singers (Quad Cities) will be back in the studio the second week of March. The Amen Choir will be returning in April. With groups of that size, and the awful weather we’ve been suffering this winter, it’s been difficult to arrange recording time. Further, some members have just returned from Africa to our crummy midwestern winter.

I have a group of 12 songs recorded by Brandon Douglas awaiting mix. These range from Schubert art songs (accompanied by pianist Alex Doser) to show tunes with backing tracks. Brandon is a wonderful singer and is a voice student at Simpson College.

I’ve been getting some lyrics for collaboration from a gent in Illinois. If you are a lyricist looking for someone to work with on your project, drop me a few lines! We’ll talk.

As far as equipment changes, there haven’t been a lot. I built some active splitter boxes that function as no-load direct boxes. This allows me to get a dry signal from the electronic instrument as well as micing up the amp. I find this useful for re-amping once in a while.

I have been doing a bunch of mixing through my A&H board to the Otari half track. I really love mixing this way as opposed to mixing “in the box”. The results are startlingly better. There is a natural tape compression that happens. Some people mistakenly believe that digital recording is more accurate than tape… not so, not in the least. It’s a CONVENIENT way to record, but not more accurate. In fact, every digital recording is an approximation of the original sound. By mixing through analog equipment, you can reclaim some of the lost depth and stereo image. The results will make you smile, I think. I always do.

As busy as things are, I can still fit in your project. If you’re looking for a great place to record your demo, CD, or specialty product, give us a call at 319.895.8002!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

I am just going to give you a quick update on our recording activities and then I have to get back to actually doing them.

Sudanese singer/songwriter/arranger Yousif Elmosley and Euphonic’s Bill Niemi after the July 5 session for the song “Kida La”. See Yousif’s page to hear the recording.

We have been running very hard here, with lots of new work, commitments for new projects, and keeping on with our ongoing projects.

The Amen Choir scratch tracks are finished and they will be coming back in to start finalizing tracking on their 12 song project.

We finished the Smokin’ Guns demo CD, which included their song “She’s Off the Scale” that got some airplay on KISS 96.5 in June.  The band is planning to do a full length CD here, working on one or two songs as they are written and perfected.   It’s fun to have some country in the studio, and I enjoyed playing a few tracks on their original song.

I sent Mirror Coat mixes of their 6 song demo for approval and I’m waiting for mix notes.  We’re almost done with that.   Mirror Coat is planning to move to Chicago and try to get noticed.  I think they should.  They’re a great indie prog rock band.

I also have verbal commitments to record from a Waterloo band and a woman from Marion who wants to do a vocal demo.  We will be giving a studio tour to a 12 member gospel choir from Des Moines in the near future… this group originally hails from Tanzania.   Yousif Elmosley has plans to return for two videos, one of his daughter playing a violin piece, and one of him singing his pop song.

So there you have it.  From power indie rock to world music to country,  to the Sudan to Burundi to Tanzania to Iowa, our clientele keeps growing and our repertoire keeps widening.

We are thankful for all of our recording clients.  We’d like you to be one of them… if you’re looking for a great place to record with a minimum of drama and very reasonable rates, please consider Euphonic Studio for your next project.  Call Bill at 319.895.8002 to arrange for a studio tour and get acquainted.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

It’s been over a month since I updated the website.  Wow, where did THAT go?

Well, we have been busy with a new project and a couple of ongoing ones.   I wrote last time about Mirror Coat.  That’s a mature project that is nearing completion, now, we’re just hammering out a few details.  The Amen Choir just finished their last scratch track yesterday, as we bade farewell to their drummer who had to return to Trinidad.

On Saturday, June 1,  we had returning client Derrick Patterson in the studio.  This time he brought “Smokin’ Guns”, his band, and we had a great session.  They recorded 4 songs, including Derrick’s newest one named “She’s Off the Scale.”  Derrick really hit the zone with this song, and as a promotional tool we will be giving away copies of it on this website.  I’m doing a couple of tracks on that song, just because it’s a fun song.  Look for that in the next day or two.

So, with all of this going on, today is actually the last day of teaching for the Spring 2013 semester.  We have a week off, then will resume teaching our regular hours the week of June 17th.  Some of my students are taking the summer off, so I do have some openings if you’re interested.

I hope your gardens are further along than ours.  It’s been a very cold, wet spring and to top it off we have a couple dozen too many rabbits in the yard.  This is the first year we’ve had to put up fence.

Fun fact:  Euphonic Studio is located in the part of Mount Vernon that is referred to as “Rabbit Town” because of its cultural past.  The story goes that a large number of folks here were Bohemians and they raised rabbits for food.  Over the years, with lots of domestic rabbits joining the local rabbit population, we have a particularly tame yard rabbit that will just sit and watch as you throw a stick at them.  They won’t move, even if you hit them.  Good grief.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Spring seems to be making a brief appearance today but I thought I should update everyone on the latest studio happenings.

Last Tuesday, we spent a wonderful day with Joe Jones and his sons.  Joe is a Mexican citizen and construction worker who has a musical family.  His brother

Mirror Coat performing at a festival in Iowa City. They will be in the studio on April 18.

Melvin is an accomplished songwriter and so is Joe.  This was Joe’s first trip into the studio and he did a smash job of his original song “I Hate That I Love You.”  It’s a humorous lyric with a very sweet side to it.

Next up this Thursday the 18th is the Mirror Coats, an Iowa City band that includes my former student Scott Myer.  Scott is now a grad student at the U of I (where the heck did those 4 years go?).  The Mirror Coats are performing 2 to 3 times per month and they need a demo CD.  Scott has a great voice and has developed his guitar skills considerably in the last 4 years.  He was here Friday to check out our amps and the space.  I’m looking forward to hearing their material.

The Tick… Tick…BOOM! project is on temporary hold because of the spring play this week.  I hope to start knocking off some more songs when they recover from Strike Night.

I just put Todd Hammen’s page up last night and I hope to get another page up today.  I have 3 sessions that need to be added to the “Artists” column.  Those would be Mike Berg, An Underground Affair, and of course, Joe Jones.

I am happily looking forward to getting the Amen Choir back in for another session.  It might be a couple of weeks before that project ramps up due to members who are in school outside the area.  Their first session was a blast, it was inspiring, and I love their music and the group.

Yes on their latest tour… From left, Steve Howe, Jon Davison (vocalist), Alan White, sister Carol, Geoff Downes (keyboards) and Chris Squire. I already saw them once but I would have loved to have a photo with them. Lucky Carol!

On a somewhat related but completely different topic, my sister Carol who lives in the Houston area bought VIP tickets to see Yes.  Yes was a cutting edge band from the early-mid 70s and I was a big, BIG fan of their music.  I saw them play on their “Close to the Edge” tour at the Met Sports Center in Minneapolis in 1974.  The concert was AWESOME.  The sound was perfect; it was like hearing the album but better.   Carol enjoyed this concert immensely as she was sitting a few feet from Steve Howe, whose style can best be described as uniquely perfect for the band.  Two of the original band members have apparently retired, those being Rick Wakeman (keyboardist and early adopter of the Mini-Moog), and Jon Anderson (vocalist extraordinaire).   However, the replacements seem to be on par with the originals.  I always thought that Jon Anderson’s voice would be very hard to replace, but they have found someone who is a ringer for him.  (I wonder how many auditions they sat through for that?)  I am putting a picture up of Carol because she is a huge Yes fan and also she’s recorded a Guided Imagery CD here.

That’s it for today…  happy spring.  To my friends in Minnesota, don’t put those shovels away quite yet.

Remember to look us up if you are a solo artist or a rapper or rock band or classical chamber group or a 24 piece choir.  Euphonic Studio can handle your project!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

March was a busy month for us, and it looks as if the upcoming work will keep us busy for some time to come.

First, a recap.  In March, we had a nice session with Mike Berg, from Dubuque.  He recorded a pair of songs that will be used at his daughter’s wedding this spring.  I gave a studio tour to Tre Critelli, from Des Moines, who is planning to do a CD of his own works in the near future.   I got a commitment from the Amen Choir to do their 12 song CD project here, and their first session was March 23.  That day’s work yielded a scratch track that will be used as the framework for overdubs in future sessions.

My pet project, namely getting a nice studio recording of the student-directed musical Tick Tick BOOM! is underway!  The backing tracks have been done for months; in fact they have been used for festivals where the troupe performed their show.  But now we’re getting the singers into the studio, thanks to Brandon Douglas, who is organizing things on the student’s end.  Now it’s a race against time.  Which will come first… the successful completion of the recordings or graduation?  We’ll see.

The Amen Choir will be taking a big chunk of studio time for the next 2 months, but we still have time for other projects.  Scott Myer, former Mt. Vernon resident, Euphonic guitar student, and now grad student at the U of I, will bring his band in for a 9 song demo CD with the first session booked for April 18th.  I’m looking forward to Scott’s project.  He is a gifted singer, and has one recording on the euphonic.us website that needs to be brought over here.

The teaching studio is running at capacity.  My plan for the summer is to keep the same teaching schedule that I have now.  Most of my students are adults now so it makes sense to leave things as they are.

That’s it for now; more updates as they become available.

Be Sociable, Share!

•