Guitar Center Professional Helps Outfit Emile Haynie's New Production Facility In New York City
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WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, July 13, 2011 — Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, recently provided a complete design and build solution for GRAMMY®-winning producer and songwriter Emile Haynie’s new production facility in Manhattan. GC Pro Account Manager Niyi Adelekan, based at GC Pro’s New York City office, oversaw the project, supplying and consulting on the equipment. Adelekan worked alongside GC Pro Affiliate program member Horacio Malvicino and Malvicino Design Group of Forest Hills, New York, who provided acoustical design and treatment as well as systems integration services.
“GC Pro took care of just about everything,” reports Haynie, who won a GRAMMY for his work on Eminem’s 2010 album release, Recovery, and also works with Kanye West and Kid Cudi, among others. “I couldn’t be happier with what Niyi and Horacio did. They made it really easy for me. When you’re a record producer and you’re about to spend a ton of money on equipment, you have to make sure it all goes together. They really understood what I do and the way that I work, and helped walk me through the process and pick out the right equipment.”
The studio design and equipment choices were driven by his production and songwriting process, explains Haynie, who relies on a large collection of vintage keyboards when building tracks. “I want to be able to lay something down on the keyboards, hit Record and not have to think about routing and patching. And if somebody gets an idea, they need to be able to cut vocals immediately. As a producer you can get caught up with having to do too much technological stuff when you just want to be creative.”
At the center of Haynie’s set-up is a Solid State Logic Matrix console. “I really wanted to get the cleanest possible signal path that I could from the keyboards to Pro Tools, and I feel like I got that – my stuff going in has never sounded this good,” he comments. Monitoring, another critical element, is handled by pair of Genelec 1038B Three-Way Active Monitors plus a Genelec 7071A Dual 15-inch Active Subwoofer. “They sound amazing,” he says. “And I hear low end in a whole new way now!”
Haynie had initially considered purchasing preamps that would add color to his keyboard sounds. But, he says, “All my keyboards are vintage, so that’s all taken care of. Niyi suggested API 3124+ four-channel preamps because he’s had a lot of luck with people tracking keyboards through them, and they work great.” When he does want to add color, Haynie has various options available, including a Universal Audio LA-610 recording channel, Thermionic Culture Vulture stereo valve distortion and SoundToys plug-ins.
Haynie had met with various studio designers but had been frustrated that they didn’t quite understand his vision for the new facility, which is located in Far West Chelsea. Then, he says, Adelekan introduced him to Malvicino: “Horacio understood my vision and my aesthetic. The way everything looks is really important to me, and he’s got a really good design sense. He knew what I wanted to do and what budget I had. He came through for me big time!”
According to Haynie, the main control room is approximately 800 square feet. “It’s enormous,” he enthuses. “I wanted to have tons of space and tons of seats so everybody could come in and be a part of the session and not be uncomfortable. I wanted somewhere that sounded really good and looked amazing where I could sit and write and be inspired. And I wanted to have big windows and be able to see the sun.”
As it turns out, Haynie is not the only one thrilled with the new studio: “You can’t imagine how many people have been in and said this is their favorite place to work in New York.”
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