New Room: Frequency Recording – White Plains, NY

We salute our bravest – those tough-as-nails audio warriors who must record at any cost.

This is why we believe in rooms like Frequency Recording, a new take on founder Rich Fabrizio’s vision for a modern studio. This emerging engineer/mixer has made big strides on take two for his facility – a just-North getaway in White Plains…with attitude. This Jane’s Addiction afficianado is operating his haven out of an-ex industrial space.

Sample this gear tastemaker’s sweet new domain: You’ll be jumping on the Metro North momentarily for a personal tour.

The new Frequency Recording is an audio force just north of the city. (all photos by Leslye Smith)

Facility Name Frequency Recording

Website http://www.frequencyrecording.com

Location   White Plains, NY

Before I Started This Studio: I’ve been working in studios from Boston to NY for the last 15 years.

After returning to NY in 2000 I landed at Baron and Baron Productions on 25^th in NYC. I assisted for producer David Baron (Meghan Trainor “All About That Bass”; Lenny Kravitz; Peter Murphy) and engineer Lindsay Jehan. My skills as a tape op, engineer and mixer were solidified to where I could overdub in my sleep on the digital tape machines.

After a brief departure into the retail M.I sales world I started Frequency Recording in 2009. The studio was located in a converted warehouse in Mt. Vernon, NY and was a great starting point for my business.

After a long search for a better location the studio relocated this year after a six-month buildout in an old industrial building in White Plains, NY.

What I’ve Done

My discography starts in Boston working out of Desert Eagle’s studio where I engineered projects for Alagash 4, Controlled Aggression and the studio owner’s label acts from Jamaica and Boston. After moving to NYC, I assisted on sessions with top session drummer Steve Wolf and engineered sessions for electronic music pioneer Gershon Kingsley in a digital Neve Libra room.

Rich Fabrizio is a man on a mission.

The past few years has seen a varied client list, to say the least. Some of the most noted full length releases are the two “Fundimensional” records which helped the band gain a foothold in the NY Jam band circuit and local radio. I love working with acoustic sources, guitars ,voice and drums. I guess it balances out the amount of time I’ve spent playing and programming synthesizers and samplers!

Other noted recent full length recordings and production credits can be found on the debut of New Rochelle’s “Avalanche” which features 60’s inspired songs and lush three-part harmonies.

The old studio was rocking till the last day of lease with final mixes for Connecticut’s “Namsake” and a full length tracking and mix project for “Bill Steely and Where is Dave?” titled “Jane”.

Location Location Location  I looked for almost two years for the right location. The new space has lots of sunlight coming in, and an 800 sq. ft. rooftop. The views of the two Ritz Carlton towers from the live room are quite inspiring at night. White Plains has a good deal of nightlife and great restaurants all within a 10-minute walk.

Things look — and sound — good from the live room.

Date of Birth  I started doing business in White Plains in early July, 2014, mixing a full-length release for Smooth Jazz artist John Basile, entitled “Undercover.” The transition between the old location left about three months of downtime, so the backlog of projects was good to get the ball rolling. I was tracking drums before the patch bays were labeled and fully tested.

What We’re All About I operate the studio as a traditional commercial recording room. Anything in the studio is available for the rate as long as you respect the gear. I also do a lot of mixing for projects varying from pop, EDM, jazz, rock and singer-songwriters.”

I Engineer, Therefore I Am Some of my early experiences in studios just stayed with me as a developing musician and engineer. Building up my gear collection and getting to learn from some great mentors kept the fire burning all these years!

Key Personnel The finishing stage of the construction was a flurry of late nights and early mornings trying to get up and running as soon as possible! I had a great intern this summer, Jake Cohen, who is attending Full Sail on scholarship this semester. Jake helped with getting acoustics fabricated and the final stage of the flooring work in the live room.

I also couldn’t have got up and running without resident guitar tech and studio manager Russell Starkey who can paint circles around me.

An expansive gear selection awaits.

The Equipment List The studio is based around a modular outboard rack and control surface, with convertersfrom Steinberg and Apogee. I use Logic Pro and the Steinberg MR editor for no-latency monitoring when tracking or mixing with outboard effects.

I was turned on to the Steinberg converters through my consultancy with Yamaha and really found them to be fantastic-sounding. Digital clocking is handled by Black Lion’s Micro Clock II, and gives the system a solid, deep bass with clear high-middle frequencies.

I mix through a Dangerous 2BUS LT, and usually print through a JDK R22 compressor into an Alesis Masterlink analog for a 24-bit master. Monitoring is handled with the Dangerous Monitor ST and a 2.1 Yamaha MSP7 STUDIO system, that is extremely accurate and pleasing to listen to for long sessions.

On the front end and in the live room you’ll find a Peluso 2251 valve microphone and a pair of Blue Dragonfly’s that see work on overheads and vocals often. The mic pre selection in the control room features six channels of Vintech 73’ s and four channels of UA 610’s as well as some Joe Meek’s.

The dynamics rack features a newly-acquired Urei LA4 pair, the R22, four channels of DBX, and a stereo Joe Meek MC2.

A meticulous mixdown.

Live, Baby, Live The medium sized live room provides ample space for a small ensembles or solo tracking dates. The room is 22′ x 13′ with a 10′ ceiling height. The ceiling is partially covered with custom acoustic clouds fabricated by Rich and contains a 1979 Premier drum kit, Yamaha Motif XF8 and the studios amp collection. A large collection of G&L Yamaha guitars is also on hand.

I really wanted natural light in my recording space from day one of the design phase. Having a sunlit room in the morning is quite inspiring as well as the evening views of the Ritz Carlton hotel.

There is a small ISO closet for amplifiers in the back of the room and plans are in the works for a second amp ISO box for live tracking with dual guitar bands. The lack of parallel surfaces in the recording space makes it easier to set up mics without worrying about unwanted reflections and nodes.

Another angle on the live room.

We’re Different Because I don’t think I’m that different then too many other studio owners/engineers that feel like they do their best work in their own space. Having worked in numerous other rooms I knew what I wanted for my own space, to help keep the flow of sessions moving and artists comfortable.

If I Weren’t in Audio, I’d Be Doing… I’d be cooking, or working in the golf business. I worked as a line cook in between solid gigs and contemplated attending school and playing golf.”

Sonic Inspiration Jane’s Addiction Ritual De lo Habitual and Pink Floyd’s Wish you Were Here. Two of many classic records that I play to this day.

Blatant Shout-out I would love to have the opportunity to work with Perry Farrell on a Jane’s Addiction release, or Brandon Flowers from The Killers. Working on a project with Flood and Allan Parsons would probably be high up on my list of memorable days in the studio.

— Rich Fabrizio, Founder, Frequency Recording

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