Destination Studio Sweet Spot: Studio Bohemo – Bath, New Hampshire
If New Hampshire is bit of a mystery to you, it’s time for that to change.
The Granite State beckons, via Studio Bohemo. (click all photos to enlarge)
Think first about its surroundings – Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine provide its stately borders. To the North is Quebec, and the Atlantic Ocean to the East. It’s a civilized spot to be situated in, and things just get better as you explore this natural place.
Arrive at the famed White Mountain Natural Forest, and somewhere nearby you may happen upon Studio Bohemo. What you see outside this inspirational audio facility will move you, and what you put into your recordings will get elevated by this mesmerizing environment.
The setting is tranquil, but make no mistake – the facility’s founder, Wes Chapmon, was determined to be here. Alternative surges of sheer will, ingenuity, and audio integrity makes Studio Bohemo a highly appealing Northeast destination studio.
Facility Name: Studio Bohemo
Website: http://www.studiobohemo.com
eStore: http://www.musicbohemo.com
Location: Bath, NH
A different kind of audio path.
Neighborhood Advantages: Look out any window and you will see the beautiful White Mountains or a few deer, or even a bear outside the studio for a few sessions. Now, that may not be a selling point for some, but it’s a beautiful retreat. Whether taking a break on the deck, or for clients staying over hiking up the mountain on the 40 acres of forest behind the studio, it’s certainly not uninspiring.
Date of Birth: We moved to NH specifically to build the studio and began construction 15 years ago. I’m not sure we ever had a grand opening. Seemed like we delayed this phase or that to record a project, and then we delayed this project or that to finish construction and cabling, and finish out. I’d say we’ve been truly open for about five years.
Facility Focus: Besides several CD projects for local artists, we are working on a restoration and remastering project for Jazz legend Betty Johnson, and are interested in a film scoring project but we are primarily focused on turnkey production: tracking, production, mixing mastering, etc.
It’s funny. I come from an analog tape background – yes, I’m old and I’ve been doing this a while — and when I was building the studio there was a lot of work, or at least a lot of talk about a little work, digitizing and remixing the original 24 track 2” reels.
We still have an Otari 24 track 2”, 8 track 1” and 1/2” 2-track tape machines that we maintain. One of our design requirements was to have 24 high def converters so we could digitize 24-track tape to 24-bit 96k or higher in one pass. Ten or 15 years ago that was a bit of an accomplishment, but we never really saw a lot of 24-track tapes sent to the White Mountains for the remix in 5.1. We still keep the machines though, and have a stock of virgin tape just in case the right session comes along.
Mission Statement: Bring something beautiful into the world and help others realize their music.
The lofty live room.
Clients/Credits: Betty Johnson, David Keller Band, Ira Friedman Trio, Stovepipe Mountain Band, Denise Vander-Heyden, Gopher Broke, Parker Hill Band
Key Personnel: Wes Chapmon
System Highlights: We have recently gone back to an analog desk, the mighty Audient ASP4816 compact analog recording console, and a 24-track recorder. OK, actually its two Lynx Aurora converters, but we run the I/O to the board and use it just like a 24-track tape machine recording at 24/96 or 24/192.
As a host, we have used Digidesign, Pro Tools, Paris, Nuendo and most recently Reaper, which we like the best. We use very few plugins and tend to rely on recording technique and hardware plugins. We hardwire long frame patch bays for everything-to-everything configuration and then use hardware EQ’s and compressors and FX and tape delay etc…
I have a small rack on the floor next to me with a Manley Elop that I use a lot on tracking as well as some other Manley gear and a Super Audio 2 track recorder for mixdowns. I’ve also been using the Warm Audio WA76 compressors in the big rack a lot lately and wish I had the space for 24 of them.
For production work where I am composing and playing, I have a work space in the loft where I keep a few boutique tube amps, guitars and basses and an old Rhodes. I’m now using an Audient iD22 AD/DA interface & monitoring system and ASP880 8-channel mic pre for tracking parts up there where there are lots of windows and light and mountains and then I descend back into the dim lit studio netherworld to put it together in the main system for editing and mixing.
Everything is networked so it’s easy to move the sessions around like that with Reaper since they don’t tie you to a dongle. Die dongles! Die!
The Audient ASP4816 console is at the center of SB’s operations
Workflow-wise, we are set up with the aforementioned Audient ASP4816 bringing together 24/8/2 track analog tape and 32 track digital I/O via two LYNX Aurora converters. We use hardwired AudioAccesories long frame patch bays for anything to any-thing connectivity so we can easily play with digital analog outboard and vst all at the same time. We also have a second system in the loft with the Audient iD22 and ASP880 8-channel mic pre/converter. Of course the loft is wired to the control room, but having an Audient DAW there makes it easy to have different projects going, or to work alone and record amps and keys and stuff up there and then bring it to the console for the mix.
Audient has been a revelation and a return of sorts for us. I cut my teeth on an analog desk and multitrack tape and still love the things I recorded then in some ways better than anything since the digital revolution. I bought into digital though, and had one of the first Digidesign systems and then a big Paris system and then went native with Lynx cards and a digital console, and then recently we switched to standalone Lynx HD converters and the Audient analog console.
Closeup on the loft’s recording rack, with the Audient iD22 monitor controller and ASP880 mic pre.
Happy is an understatement — I haven’t been as happy since I was a kid mixing tape. The dynamics and transparency are back and I’m not afraid to use a channel EQ, plus I have 32 real outboard inserts on everything, all inputs and all DAW tracks. Giddy!
Distinguishing Characteristics: The studio has a well-tuned main room with a Grand Piano, B3 and Wurlitzer EP. This room has high wood ceilings and glass to the control room, and an iso room that can comfortably fit a drums and bass, or a brass ensemble. The iso room also has a high arched ceiling and specially tuned bass traps and acoustic treatment.
Up the stairs from the main room is a loft that also patches down to the control room and can be tied into sessions visually via camera/monitor. Of course we all use the control room which is dead quiet for tracking as well. We have even run headphones and mics out to the deck when all the other rooms were filled and we just had to have that cowbell tracked live.
Guest accommodations have always been a part of the studio’s history going back to a singer-songwriter friends crashing on the couch, taking a break, cooking dinner at our house and hanging out between sessions. Things have always been pretty relaxed and natural, and there is a lodge right down the road and several bed and breakfasts within 15 minutes or less when that makes more sense. One artist even brought a tent and camped out with his little girls in the woods behind the studio. It has always been a sweet vibe that way.
Betsy, Charlie and Wes are one.
The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it? My dog Charlie…… and then I’d go back for my Tele and maybe my Neumann M149.
Rave Reviews: People always comment on the style and architecture and equipment and comfort and that’s all good, but my favorite comments have been that I make them feel comfortable and relaxed as an artist. They can experiment, take chances, stretch and know that I am for them.
One artist told me that I make them feel like everything is going to be OK. That’s as good as it gets in my book.
Most Memorable Session Ever: I will probably always remember the first time I heard David Keller run through “Play for Love.”
The band self-produced the CD and insisted on setting up in the one main room, which is great for piano or B3 or a maybe a duo but small for drums, bass guitar and B3 doing blues and R&B. I hadn’t heard the band before and once we were set up I closed the door and Dave started in on this hunting guitar groove with his Magnatone amp and that spooky Magnatone vibrato. I remember thinking, “This is really really good”…. then I thought “How in the world am I going to mix this?”
Session You’d Like to Forget: I’m sure everyone has those stories: the buddy that brings in a band he’s working with to record a marathon 15-16 hour session and then nobody pays you… or the artist that swears that copy you uploaded of the mixdown to 2-track you all listen to in the studio somehow shifted their part out of time and is furious because it wasn’t the same as what you all mixed down…
Closeup on the console.
But my favorite is the band that wanted to do a video shoot at the studio that “looked like” they were recording a song which they hadn’t actually recorded yet and planned to record AFTER the video shoot.
That went very badly despite my best advice, efforts and urgings and in the end they skipped the bill on the two-day video shoot with studio props and the horrible session that followed after they were burnt out and arguing and in the end blaming the engineer for their ever-evolving-song-that-just-wasn’t-happening and certainly didn’t match the video footage.
Everyone has those stories, right?
Dream Session: Easy, anything with Elvis Costello. OK, maybe not the Burt Bacharach sessions or Juliette Letters, but anything else; maybe with Hank Williams or Woody Guthrie. OR…I’d love to do Allan Holdsworth’s acoustic project; maybe something like John Schofield’s “Quite”.
— Wes Chapmon, Founder, Studio Bohemo
Take a trail break from recording, at nearby Mount Washington.
Please note: When you buy products through links on this page, we may earn an affiliate commission.