Recording Studio Sweet Spot: Benny’s Wash n’ Dry – Kensington, Brooklyn

Hit the Wiki for Brooklyn’s genteel Kensington neighborhood, and you’ll see exactly two notable residents listed. They are:

Evelyn Kozak (August 14, 1899 – June 11, 2013), American supercentenarian who at the age of 113 years, 301 days was the world’s oldest living Jewish person.

Sufjan Stevens

If certain distinguished inanimate objects could count as residents, then perhaps two of the keyboards that reside at Benny’s Wash n’ Dry could be considered. The studio is home to 1933 Steinway B (6’10”) grand piano that has already attracted owner Bennett Paster some serious attention.  For those who need to go deeper, special requests net a session with his 1907 Steinway O (5’10”) piano, housed just upstairs.

Bennett Paster’s 1933 Steinway is a Brooklyn beauty.

Since 2001, Paster has made his skills available to his clients as a session musician, composer, and producer.  World music, jazz, rock and much more have been welcomed into the room. Visiting artists have included everyone from The National to Dan Bolton and John Norman Thomas.

Engineering and integrity are clearly tightly intertwined in this unassuming studio, smack in the center of BKLYN.

Facility Name: Benny’s Wash n’ Dry

Website: http://www.bennettpasterstudio.com

Location: Kensington, Brooklyn, NYC

Neighborhood Advantages: Close to the B, Q & F trains, easy street parking, decent take out (and getting better all the time).

Date of Birth: 2001

Facility Focus: Tracking of small to medium-sized ensembles, acoustic piano and keyboard tracking and overdubs, mixing and production.

Mission Statement: Benny’s Wash n’ Dry provides a musician-run, creative, comfortable environment that fosters the creative process.  We’re here to help you bring your musical ideas to life and we’ll do as much (or as little) as is needed to help you realize your vision.

Get a sense of the space.

Clients/Credits: For a relatively complete list, please visit http://bennettpasterstudio.com/clients_and_reviews/  Recently, we’ve worked on major projects by Dan Bolton, Ellynne Plotnick, John Norman Thomas, Lisalla Beatty and Jocelyn Swigger.

Key Personnel: Bennett Paster, owner, producer, arranger and chief engineer.  John Hubbell, second engineer.

System Highlights: We have an incredible keyboard collection: The centerpiece of our studio is an amazing 1933 Steinway B (6’10”) grand piano.  We also have a 1907 Steinway O (5’10”) piano in a separate space upstairs from the main studio (available by special request).

Plus, we have a meticulously curated collection of essential vintage keyboards including a 1940’s Hammond CV (modd’ed to C2 specs) organ and 21H Leslie, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer 200A electric piano, Hohner D6 Clavinet, Moog Minimoog Model D and Prodigy synthesizers and more. We also have vintage drums by Gretsch and amps by Fender and Ampeg.

We record to Pro Tools 9 through Lynx and Lucid converters. We have a decent mic locker including mics by Gefell, AKG, Lawson, Soundelux, Sennheiser, Shure, Beyer and others. Our mic preamps include API, Focusrite, Pendulum and more.  All mixing is “in the box.”

For a complete list of all instruments, recording gear, plugins and more, please visit http://bennettpasterstudio.com/gear/

Distinguishing Characteristics: People often use our studio because they need a great piano (or our vintage keyboards) at a reasonable price. And, clients claim to love the balance we strike between our comfortable, “homey” environment (and our nice backyard) and our professional sound quality.

The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it?  I wish I could save the Steinway B, but that doesn’t seem reasonable.  I guess I’d take my computer because it has (among other things) all my original music scores (in Sibelius) on it.  I could deal with losing my instruments and my recording gear, but I’d hate to lose all my original music and arrangements that I’ve worked on for a lifetime.

An efficient control room.

Rave Reviews: What do people tell you they like/love about your studio?  I’m always flattered when people say things to me like: “Hey!  That sounds like my bass!”  (Isn’t that what we’re going for?)  And, as a gigging professional myself, I’m very fluent with editing, overdubbing and mixing since I’m always actively part of the musical process- I have perfect pitch, I read music and I keep great notes and markers.  People tell me that I’m easy to work with and that I seem to know just when to stay out of the way and when to participate more actively.

Most Memorable Session Ever: I recently recorded bassist John Patticucci as a sideman on someone else’s project and he was a consummate professional.  He  made the client feel totally comfortable by really taking an interest in their music and their group vibe.  He was well prepared and played as if their record was the most important one he’d ever been on.  Watching how he carried himself and hearing how he played and when he chose to ask questions about the music was a learning experience I’ll never forget.

Session You’d Like to Forget: Several times I’ve had problems being compensated for my work after it’s been done.  I’ve learned to be more careful about taking care of my business arrangements in writing before a session starts.  Once I was even physically threatened by a client which really shook me – I’m a totally non-violent guy…  I wish I could forget that client, though the music we made was decent…

Dream Session: Once, while recording as a musician at another studio in Brooklyn, the house engineer said to me: “every time someone comes here to record it’s their ‘big day in the studio.’  They’ve been planning and looking forward to this day for a while.  But for me, it’s just another long day of work…”

I’ve always remembered this statement because, now, a studio owner and engineer myself, I understand his sentiments (though they made me kind of sad) – it can be tiring work working multiple long days in a row.  But I’m always honored when someone, be it a friend or a new acquaintance chooses to record at Benny’s Wash n’ Dry.  I consider it a privilege to play and record music for a living and I try to treat each gig and session as if it were my most important.

That said, I’d love to meet some of my piano heroes and see them play up close: Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Stevie Wonder…

Bennett Paster, owner, producer, arranger and chief engineer of Benny’s Wash n’ Dry.

More classic keys.

The mic booth.

Another view on the drums.

See the sights.

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