Verdant Studio
 photo c 2006 Joan Hathaway
Verdant, as in "surrounded by an abundance of lush greenery." Opened by Pete Weiss in the fall of 2004, the retreat-style studio has been hosting a steady stream of high quality, eclectic artists. The venerable 36-channel Neve console that had been custom ordered by the BBC in London in 1975, and moved to Boston's Zippah Studio in 1994, has now found a home in the Green Mountain State. In 2003 it was re-capped and re-commissioned at Verdant. It's working like a dream and sounds amazing. The new recording space was designed by award-winning architectural firm Single Speed Design (operated by Jinhee Park and the Hong brothers, John and Andy.) Reports Weiss, "I'm just thrilled with the job they did designing the space; it sounds great and co-exists with its surroundings beautifully. It's an incredibly pleasant place in which to make music. The new studio's main room is an open-concept space which combines the control room "area" with the live room "area" and is roughly 40 x 25 feet with pitched ceilings as high as 18 feet. The floors are brick-red dyed concrete with radiant floor heating, while the walls and ceilings are local pine and hemlock. The room is especially conducive to tracking with a "natural" feel. The engineer and artist are in the same space; there's no talkback mic, no glass, no confusion. Of course when separation is needed, there are auxilliary recording spaces, including a classic vocal/amp booth, a 25 x 20 foot lounge which can double as a tracking room, and some remarkably heavy-duty wheeled gobos with double-pane windows (you definitely don't want one of these to fall on you...)"
Photos
Click here to see some photos of recent sessions at Verdant. Click here to see some earlier snapshots of the studio (note that some of these photos were taken in the fall of 2004; many studio ergonomics have been refined and more acoustic treatments have since been added.) Architectural photos can be seen at Single Speed Design's site. Also, a visit to the Verdant Studio Myspace Page will yield a few more photos.
Vermont? No distractions?
This studio is in the woods of dramatically scenic southern Vermont, between Bellows Falls and Townshend. It's a bit over an hour from Northampton MA, two and half from Boston, and under four hours from NYC. The area is appealingly secluded and is great for cycling, hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, etc. There's alpine skiing at Magic Mountain, Mt. Snow, and Okemo, all within 40 minutes. Artists are encouraged to book an extra "off" day so they can decompress in the fresh Green Mountain air. There are several options for going out, including our favorite breakfast/lunch spot, The Golden Egg, in nearby Saxtons River. Several taverns are within a 15 minute drive, and if "city-like" nightlife/dining is desired, Brattleboro is only about a half hour down the road. Yes, you can get sushi in Brattleboro.
Lodging
The studio building has two bedrooms that can accomodate up to four people nicely. All the necessities of a comfortable extended stay in the country are provided. There's a large lounge/auxilliary recording room with a wood stove and several sleeper couches if more bedding is needed. The kitchen is a sweet, sunny space with fridge, sink, coffeemaker, toaster-oven, microwave etc.
Recent Clients
Starboard Silent Side, Mittens, Steve Mayone, Bow Thayer & the Perfect Train Wreck, Logan 5 & the Runners, The Wobblies, Baby Ray, My Own Worst Enemy, The Weisstronauts, Orange Nichole, Jamie Edwards, freelance engineer Justin Pizzoferrato, Roadhead, Sool, What The Film, The Self Righteous Brothers, Don Lennon, The Timbre Project, freelance engineer Matt Jugenheimer, Whistle Jacket, Psycho X, Guillermo Sexo, Mammoth Hunter, House Blend, Car Crash Show, Wackadoo, Used Alien Mind, The Splendid Nobodies, The Quahaugs, Davey Davis (aka Brown Trout), The Bluegrass Boys, Bog, Jeremy "Moses" Curtis, Lucky 57, The Bamboo Steamers, Magic 12, Left Of Eden, Sean Aylward, Doom Buggies, Dennis Crommett, Jacques Thibodeau, Andy Menudo, Ramona Silver, Billy Conway, Orb Mellon, Ken Cormier, Kirk McIntosh, Poverty Line, Jimmy Fox, Jeff Mellin, Doug Yule, Who Shot Hollywood, Alex McKenzie, The Flying Ants, John Haydon, Temper, Hope Roth, Hayseed Chrome, Ken Schopf, Eddie Japan, Drive By Wire, Harris.
Pete Weiss Discography
Click here to see some of the artists Pete has worked with over the years.
Gear
Neve 53 series console (circa 1975): 36-channels of 33114 mic pre/EQ's, 8 busses, 4 aux sends; integrated pair of 2254A compressors; completely re-capped in 2004. Click here for more info on Rupert Neve and his audio innovations over decades.
RADAR 24 hard disk recording system: 24-bit; easily imports/exports WAV or BWAV files for interfacing with ProTools or other DAW systems. The RADAR system is quasi-portable for location recording. Click here for more info the great-sounding and incredibly robust RADAR format.
Otari MTR-90 24-track 2" tape machine
Monitors include: Genelec 1030, Bang & Olufson, Athena, Klipsch subwoofer.
Large selection of new and vintage mics by: RCA (77DX & 44), Audio-Technica, Beyer Dynamic, EV, Shure, MXL, SE, Sennheiser, Stedman, Heil, Audix and others.
Outboard microphone preamps by: API, Universal Audio, No Toasters.
Compressors include: Urei LA-3, LA-4 (2), 7110 (2), DBX 165A (2), Neve 2254A (2), LPB, Chandler TG1.
Outboard gear by: Eventide, DBX, Drawmer, Lexicon, Roland, Kurzweil, Mercury, Blonder Tongue etc.
Unusual gear of note: Ecoplate II plate reverb, Multivox Multi-Echo tape echo, Coolsprings passive spring reverb units, Ibanez AD-150 analog delay, Moog Moogerfooger Ring Modulator, Blonder Tongue Audio Baton, etc.
Stringed instruments include: Hagstrom electric 12-string, Hammertone 12-string octave guitar, Jerry Jones electric sitar, Jerry Jones baritone guitar, Gibson SJ Deluxe acoustic, Washburn 12-string acoustic, Strad-O-Lin longneck banjo, Oscar Schmidt autoharp, National lap steel, Gretsch Duojet, Gretsch Streamliner, Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, Gibson 335, Fender P-Bass, Rickenbacker 4001 bass, Rickenbacker 330 and many others.
Other instruments include: Custom 4-piece Keller drum kit, 1940's Slingerland Radio King snare drum, Optigan with 40 discs, Wurlitzer 140 Electric Piano, Rhodes 54 electric piano, Moog Voyager monophonic synth, Moog Rogue monophonic synth, Roland Juno 60 polyphonic synth, Yamaha SK-15 string synth, Crumar Orchestrator, Farfisa VIP 345 & Combo Compact organs, 1950's Hammond Chord Organ, 1940's Baldwin Acrosonic upright acoustic piano with "Rinky Tink" selectable tack piano attachment, Tubular Bells, Omnichord, and more.
Effects pedals: many... too many.
Amplifiers: a wide variety including several vintage Fenders (blonde '61 Bassman, silver Deluxe Reverb, blackface Vibro Champ, Vibroverb reissue, '68 Twin Reverb), Ampeg B-12 and B-15 bass amps, Magnatone M1, Vox AC30 reissue, SonicCord Toad combo, Lelie rotating speaker cab.
Also: As a freelance writer, Pete Weiss is a frequent contributor/gear reviewer for TapeOp Magazine. As a result, there often tends to be additional equipment temporarily parked at Verdant that can be put to good use.
Rates
Rates are determined on a per-project basis. Please call or email to discuss the nature of your project and we'll be happy to put together a budget that works for you. When emailing, please include a phone number and good time to call.
Contact
802-869-1226 or 617-734-2562. Or email Pete Weiss with any queries.
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