Well here it is, WCA #100! This was recorded at 25th Street Recording in Oakland, California on Friday, November 18th in front of a live audience. You can either watch it on Facebook or listen to the podcast. This episode features Stephen Hart and Cookie Marenco. Enjoy!
Stephen is a former mixer in residence / chief engineer at the “The Site Recording” in Marin County, Director of Recording Services and owned “the mixroom” at Bay Area Sound Studios and chief engineer and lead mixer at Fantasy Studios. He holds multiple platinum and gold albums, “Blues Album of the Year 2000” for Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert King, and has been on staff at The Plant Studios, EMI Italia, Forward Music Taipei and spent many years as an international freelance mixer. He has recorded and/or mixed many hundred’s of albums with total unit sales of 40 million. Artists include David Bowie, Santana, John Lee Hooker, En Vogue, MC Hammer, Tony Bennett, Isaac Hayes, Flora & Airto, White Stripes, Santana, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MG’s, the Staples Singers, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, the Neville Brothers, the Hong Kong Philharmonic with Amei, Steve Cropper, and a host of European and Asian pop artists. Stephen has also recorded for legendary producers George Martin and Tom Dowd. Scoring Credits include – Be Kind Rewind w/Jack Black & Danny Glover and Encounters at the End of the World by Werner Herzog. Also, Titanic, Grizzly Man (Herzog), and Oil on Ice. Film Post credits (foley stage) include Amadeus, Boogie Nights, Airbud, Blue Velvet, Dead Poets Society
Committed to the Bay Area recording community, Stephen is currently a National Trustee, and past S.F. President of the Recording Academy SF Chapter, is an AES member, and a member of AIMP (Association of Independent Music Publishers) and on the Recording Academy’s National P&E Advisory Committee and the curriculum advisory board for Xpression College.
Before digital audio, CDs, MP3’s, the internet and email, Cookie Marenco founded OTR Studios, with a dream to record acoustic musicians in their most natural settings. Now, OTR is the oldest owner founded studio still in operation in the Bay Area with a reputation for the highest quality work, incredible musical performances and professional style. With a span of more than 20 years in the industry, her experience with analog, vinyl, digital, live recording, and working with thousands of musicians on more than 400 recordings brings a rich history to every session or consultation.
As OTR’s main producer and chief engineer, Marenco oversees all recordings of her staff to ensure the same quality and professionalism throughout. Marenco is sought out by many manufacturers to beta test new products including Tascam, KRK, Millennia, NHT, Goddess Labs, Universal Audio, etc. Now a writer and video instructor for EQ magazine, Marenco tests and designs new products, creates educational videos using OTR as a base of operation. Interns come worldwide to study in OTR’s ongoing learning program for those serious about a career in the music industry.
OTR is also the home base of Blue Coast Records, the critically acclaimed audiophile label where Marenco developed Extended Sound Environment (E.S.E), the proprietary recording technique used by the label.
Marenco’s creative and technical skills have touched almost every aspect of the business. She is widely known for the quality of her audio engineering skills and for drawing out...
