Thursday, January 28, 2010

Producer, Cookie Marenco from OTR Studios, Takes Her Proprietary Recording Technique to Grace Cathedral

On January 11th and 13th of 2010, Cookie Marenco brought E.S.E (Extended Sound Environment) recording to Grace Cathedral for a special event featuring solo vioinist, Emily Palen. Along with Marenco, came much of the staff from OTR Studios who chose to record live to DSD (Direct Stream Digital). For this recording, Marenco brought out Gus Skinas, founder of the Super Audio Center and early pioneer of DSD recording/SACD for Sony Music.

The two day remote marks the debut of newly formed Valence Records founded by Gregory James. His history on Rogue Records is well marked by 8 contemporary jazz guitar releases of his own, nearly all recorded at OTR Studios by Marenco. James was enthralled by Ms. Palen's fierce improvisational style. After stunning performances on the soon to be released The Valence Project Palen was asked to be the first solo artist on Valence Records.

When James asked Marenco to record the solo violin project, her first instinct was to use the
E.S.E (Extended Sound Environment) technique at Grace Cathedral. E.S.E. was first designed for Blue Coast Records by Marenco and engineer/audiophile Jean Claude Reynaud. This marks the first release where the technique is being licensed for use by another record label. The San Francisco landmark proved to be perfect to capture the surround sound of the violin.

"This may be the finest recorded sound of acoustic music I've heard", remarked Gus Skinas after listening to the surround sound played back in his Boulder, Colorado studio. Marenco is planning to write a detailed white paper on how the recording quality was achieved. For more information you can write her directly at cookie@otrstudios.com or call 650 595 8475.

Along with Marenco and Skinas, the crew from OTR consisted of Patrick O'Connor/GM OTR Studios, Tim Jones/house engineer, Andrew Doyle/chief assistant, Gene Johnson/video, and Paulo Horn/assistant.