12/17/2019
Here’s a review from one of our Fox Hollow Recording Studio clients who was recently in the studio. Denis is not on Facebook so, he asked me to post it for him:
Review: Fox Hollow Studios, Cheshire CT.
Engineers: Sal Lorello & Michael Lorello
Recently I began working on my demo project on Nov 16th & Nov 17th. I chose to record at Fox Hollow Studios after taking a brief tour of the studio. I felt comfortable there and it felt like a place where I could just make music. The same day I also met Sal Lorello who came across as sincere, down to earth, enthusiastic about music in general, and knowledgeable. Well, it's safe to say I was right about my assessment.
On day 1, I worked on 2 songs and got re- familiar with the recording process, which can be pretty nerve wracking!! Also, met Michael the 2nd Engineer who had a good professional attitude and strong focus. Sal and Michael work very well together and I felt like we were all on the same team. I got the sense that they were very invested in this project and wanted to be accommodating anyway they could to help me feel comfortable in the process. They even had different colored lighting to help capture the mood.
We used a Royer R121 mic and a Shure SM 58 mic to capture my electric guitar a Schecter and Black Star HT Club 40 MkII amp. The amp was placed inside some foam baffling to help prevent sound leakage I assume. For my Acoustic parts we used a Telefunken M60, which is an absolutely amazing mic!! On the play back the sound that was captured was like butter to my ears!! Bright crisp and well defined. To capture vocals we also used another amazing mic a Neumann TLM 49. I must say I never ever felt so comfortable in a vocal booth. It felt like I was able to sing effortlessly into this mic and my vocals were captured in a way that flattered. At previous attempts in other studios I would try to record my vocals and for whatever reason it felt like I was singing into dead air. Very uninspiring if not impossible to work with. This was thankfully a completely different experience!!
On Day 2, We were on a roll and managed to record 5 rough takes of songs and re-did 1 song from the previous day. 2 highlights included, one song where there's a powerful blend of acoustic and electric guitars that blended very well. Sort of a tribal rocker type feel. The other song was a funky song which ended up working well with the lyrics I had and the vocals that were captured. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise!! That song is about 99% finished just needs a final take.
I found it very helpful that both Sal and Michael had Technical expertise along with top rate studio equipment. Not exactly my strongest suit as a musician. Still learning. Another thing helpful was Sal's many years playing drums professionally. Who better to help me with timing and cue ins? He also has experience as a Vocalist in addition to being a talent evaluator for Perfect Pitch Nashville. With that said, I look forward to working with Sal and Michael again to complete my project, which will most likely be a four song demo. With this I hope to put together the band of my dreams!!
Denis Morin
Guitarist, Vocals, & Songwriter
