http://southernviewsound.com/ Southern View Sound and Music - Blog RSS Feed 2.0 en-us Wed, 22 Apr 2026 01:19:46 GMT Wed, 22 Apr 2026 01:19:46 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/userfiles/1030/images/AMEK%5F9098%2Ejpg http://southernviewsound.com/ http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22937/SVS-ADDS-MORE-HIGH-CLASS-GEAR--- blog We're always trying to raise the bar of quality recording equipment for our foothills community musicians. For the gearheads out there, a second UREI/JBL 7110 limiter/compressor has been added. I owned 2 of these at Rocky Mountain Recorders and found them to be some of the most flexible and powerful compressors for everything from voice recording to super "mashed" room recordings for drums and guitar.    In a major acquisitions of outboard gear and front end microphone preamps/equalizers, we recently took delivery of 2 highly prized AMEK Rupert Neve designed system 9098 Mic preamplifier/EQ modules. Southern View Sound now features several Neve designed systems including the Focusrite ISA two, the Rupert Neve designs Portico 4 channel preamp module and Warm audio's recreation of the legendary Neve 2 channel 1073 EQ.  Rocky Mountain Recorders owned 2 amazing AMEK Mozart 40 input mixing consoles in the 1990s and 2000s. These mixers were selected by "ear" in competition with Trident, DDA, and Solid State Logic modules. The input channels were all RN-15 modules designed for AMEK's Mozart mixers by the legendary Rupert Neve. We fell in love with their magnificent sound and ordered 2 of the awesome Mozart consoles. Mr. Neve continued on to design the mighty 9098 system as AMEK's world class recording console entry. Only a limited number of the 9098 desks were produced, but AMEK had the foresight to build the input modules into single rack mount units and allow the recording industry to have a taste of that "9098 sound".  These equalizers are the best sounding I have ever used. Southern View Sound and Music is proud and excited to welcome this sound to our studio for your recording projects.   Wed, 05 Jul 2023 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22937/SVS-ADDS-MORE-HIGH-CLASS-GEAR--- http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22779/We-go-inside-the-piano blog The 3rd and last "Studio V" podcast episode exploring the grand piano is now available. It features piano technician Reid Schaefer, who is an expert on piano maintenance and tuning. He has cared for my pianos for over 3 decades, as together, we have tried to fine "tune" the sound and performance of the various pianos I have had during my career as a recording engineer.  This episode gets inside the instrument and examines the materials and inner workings of the grand piano and the variety of sounds it can generate. It is a bit technical and extremely informative.  Listen to Reid Schaefer Here Mon, 03 Oct 2022 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22779/We-go-inside-the-piano http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22739/Studio----V----podcast-series-part-2 blog Southern View Sound and Music is presenting the 2nd in our series about the Grand Piano and fascinating people who play it. Colorado’s own Steve Barta will chat with Paul Vastola about Steve’s history with the piano, his catalog of enchanting Christmas albums, his Brazilian music stylings and his career revolving around his Steinway “B”.  Tune in to hear discussion and examples of Steve’s recording history with Paul and his collaboration with world renown Jazz flautists Herbie Mann and Hubert Laws. The series will air on www.coniferradio.com Monday evenings during August, 2022 at 7:00 and will be available here on our website. Listen to Steve Barta Here Tue, 26 Jul 2022 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22739/Studio----V----podcast-series-part-2 http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22714/Studio-V-Podcast-Series-Begins blog Paul's pocdast series "Studio V" will begin airing on coniferradio.com tonight June 20, and live each Monday at 7:00pm.  Now featuring stellar, internationally known Colorado pianist Lisa Downing and the story of her love for the piano. The series will highlight the Grand piano and artists who's careers center around the instrument. you can access the program through the link on our site.  Listen to Lisa Downing Here   Mon, 20 Jun 2022 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/22714/Studio-V-Podcast-Series-Begins http://southernviewsound.com/blog/12120/Special-Edition-Emmy-Announcement- blog The Torii Gates are sacred wooden structures that were washed out to sea after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami. Eventually, these structures floated across the Pacific ocean and were found 2 years later on a beach in Oregon. They were returned to their original location in Japan and rebuilt to great significance. A piano student of Lisa's painted a picture of the disaster and Lisa composed a piano piece to represent the event. A video about this story was created and won the Emmy. Thu, 20 Jul 2017 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/12120/Special-Edition-Emmy-Announcement- http://southernviewsound.com/blog/8360/Serenity-Magazine-Feature blog I'm proud to have been featured in September 2016's "On That Note" the wonderful feature on Evergreen/Conifer area musical people. Corey Colombin wrote a 2 page description of me (Paul) and the services I will be providing to the foothills musical community. I have received many great compliments from Senerity readers. Corey really captured what Southernview Sound and Music's vision is.  I hope you get a chance to see it. Sat, 19 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/8360/Serenity-Magazine-Feature http://southernviewsound.com/blog/8362/Joelle-Etienne-and-Paul-create-new-music blog Sat, 19 Nov 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/8362/Joelle-Etienne-and-Paul-create-new-music http://southernviewsound.com/blog/7974/-The-Wisdom-of-My-Shadow-- blog BREAKING NEWS!! (I've always wanted to say that...) "The Wisdom of My Shadow" has been accepted in TWO ADDITIONAL categories on the first round ballot for the 59th Grammy® Awards!! Best Engineered Album - Non-Classical, AND Best Instrumental Composition (for my piece, "The Dragon Within!!") Congratulations to my sound engineer, Paul Vastola and to Al Jewer & Andy Mitran at Mitran Mitran Studios!! Wed, 19 Oct 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/7974/-The-Wisdom-of-My-Shadow-- http://southernviewsound.com/blog/7612/Robots-Among-Humans blog                                               Robots Among Humans   I’m thrilled to announce the release of the long awaited E P “High on Sounds and Science” that we finished in mid 2016 at Rocky Mountain Recorders, Denver. The electro alt pop music features vocalist Rebecca Henry and guitarist Danyl Gee. The songs and the band are unique and powerful. You can learn more about the band at robotsamonghumans.com.  Check them out! Mon, 19 Sep 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/7612/Robots-Among-Humans http://southernviewsound.com/blog/7144/Lisa-Downing-now--4-on-Zone-Music-Reporter blog The joint solo piano project between Paul and Lisa Downing "Wisdom of My Shadow" has hit the Zone music reporter top 100 list at #4 for "spins" or plays among new age music radio stations. The album was only released in July and has already had great reviews. Additionally, the entire album has been added to Pandora radio. Lisa is pleased and surprised by the popularity of the album. Her composing and playing are in a class or their own. Check her out! Thu, 01 Sep 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/7144/Lisa-Downing-now--4-on-Zone-Music-Reporter http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6904/Lisa-Downing--5-on-Billboard blog               Lisa Downing’s “Wisdom of My Shadow” shoots up Billboard Chart   The latest collaboration between Paul Vastola and Colorado’s own world renowned piano artist Lisa Downing debuted on July 25, 2016 at her CD release event at Denver’s Classic Pianos. Sales of the album began at that event and in just 2 weeks, the album reached #5 on Billboard’s New Age music chart! The reviews of the album have been absolutely stellar! Lisa’s recordings have been frequent inclusions in the Billboard New Age music charts.  One of her works is included on “The Best of Reviews New Age Piano” album. This is the 3rd joint recording project that teamed Paul Vastola’s recording and production skills with Lisa’s unique and stunning piano performances. Her “Christmas for Two” and “A Delicate Balance” also received similar rave reviews upon their release. Learn more at about her entire catalog at http://www.lisadowning.com/listenpurchase-cds.html. Southern View Sound and Music is proud to be associated with Lisa’s success. Fri, 05 Aug 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6904/Lisa-Downing--5-on-Billboard http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6713/Getting-a-superior-piano-recording blog Getting a Superior Piano Recording        At Southernview Sound and Music, we love pianos and pianists and making great sounding recordings of them. There are a lot of exceptional, talented, semi-talented, aspiring, beginning, aging, and not-so-talented pianists out there.  And there are a lot of reasons to record any or all of them. For the young, it may be a chance to document the early stages of their playing. For the older, perhaps it’s a last chance to capture that special skill, as a gift to them and as a legacy for their friends and relatives. For the exceptionally talented, it could be time to produce a professional CD of original compositions or famous pieces. (One of our favorite piano artists has produced such a wonderful solo album that she is in contention for a Grammy Nomination this year.) And for those that fall somewhere in between, recording can be a chance to enjoy the awesome environment of the professional studio, play on a wonderful instrument, and sound as good (or better) than you ever have before. Here are a few tips on achieving your best recording:   Select a program you can manage. Whether it is 2 or 15 selections pick music you love and that others will enjoy hearing.  Feature pieces you perform well that are at or near the top of your playing ability. Try to include music that will show off the sound of the piano - powerful bass notes and brilliant high passages. This thrills the listeners.   Work on your technique. Make the piano sing! Don’t be afraid to go from pp to ff as a grand piano has a huge dynamic range.  Try not to overuse the sustain pedal as this can make passages and transitions sound “muddy”. Learn to “nurse” the pedals to decrease the “thump” from releasing a pedal quickly. Some players will remove their shoes to minimize pedal noises. You are moving a lot of parts in the action with those pedals, and the sensitive microphones pick up everything; including loud breathing!   Practice the heck out of your program. This is a no-brainer. The better prepared you are, the faster the session(s) will go and the less money you will spend.  While practicing, be aware of keeping your time constant, especially on passages that have obvious rhythm to them. If you are reading the music, copy all the pages and spread them across the music stand to avoid the noises and pauses of page turning.   Find a great instrument. The better the piano, the better you will sound.  Seek out a studio that has a grand piano that is over 6’ long.  At SVS&M, we feature a 7’6” Yamaha C7 conservatory grand. (Watch for a future blog post on specifics about pianos themselves.) The piano should reside in a quiet, sonically well-designed space; you want to feel comfortable at that piano. This may require visiting a number of studios and trying out the instruments. Don’t be shy about this.  Any professional recording studio should be happy to have you check out their piano before you commit to recording there. While you’re in this process, you’ll get a sense of your comfort level with the facility and the engineers with whom you will be working very closely. Be sure to ask about the care that the piano receives. It should be well maintained, evenly “voiced” and serviced (tuned) before you begin your recording on it. A really good tuning is crucial to the integrity of the final product.   Be confident that the recording personnel are experienced at capturing the best performance that the instrument and you can put out. Ask to hear other recordings that have been done on that piano and discuss your goals regarding how you want your performances to sound. It helps to have musically oriented engineers recording you, as they are best able to help you evaluate a performance and are better equipped to edit musically, as well as “mix and match” sections from different takes.   Don’t freak about playing everything perfectly! A skilled editor can combine sections and fix mistakes to make your final performance nearly perfect. It is good practice to have multiple takes of each piece for this purpose.  Ask any pianist who has recorded with Paul Vastola about miracles he has performed to enhance their performances.   Plan on having fun! This should be a joyous experience. Sure, there will be some nervousness - this is like a concert that will live on… and that’s so great!   Finally, think beyond the music itself. When you are done with your project, you will want it to look good too. Even a beginner’s recording should be packaged nicely with either photos of the performer or other art work and a description of the project from the artist’s or patron’s point of view. Seek professional help at any point in this final part of the process if you can afford it. Your studio can likely guide you to some extent on packaging and duplication.   A professional piano recording can become a treasure for years to come and should be something you and your listeners will enjoy hearing again and again.     Mon, 18 Jul 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6713/Getting-a-superior-piano-recording http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6714/One-Small-Miracle blog Mon, 18 Jul 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6714/One-Small-Miracle http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6715/Keep-Comin--Back-To-You blog Mon, 18 Jul 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6715/Keep-Comin--Back-To-You http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6716/Diaphaneous-Breeze blog Mon, 18 Jul 2016 06:00:00 GMT http://southernviewsound.com/blog/6716/Diaphaneous-Breeze