Mercer Museums Records “Years”

Mercer Museums (soundcloud.com/mercermuseums) are back at Forge to record their new original song Years. The folk-rock band is comprised of Matt Gingras (lead vocals & head diva), Paul Detweiler (vocals, guitar & arranger), Joey Carl (guitar, bass & vocals), and Tom Christiansen (Banjo & keys).

Before the band formed, the members originally came to Forge 6 years ago to record a cover song for The JAG Fund’s (www.jagfund.org) annual Tube Float” down the Delaware River. The JAG Fund is a non-profit organization that raises money to support brain tumor research. From the members’ first experience at Forge, they knew they had to come back for more tunes, which is what ignited them to form the band.

The Museums have now recorded 6 covers and 4 originals with Lead Engineer Ron DiSilvestro. Bridges (Fated to Stay), Years, Ashland, and Black Muddy, to name a few.

Matt states Ron’s really good because he lets you do your thing, guides you along, and then he’ll make suggestions where he thinks you might wanna do this, that or the other thing. Those suggestions are usually spot on and he has no ego about it. Forge Recording, I literally love it – This is one of my favorite times of year. Every time I step in here, it’s 5 hours of fun and of creating something.

Joey explains For guys like me that love playing music but don’t really get the opportunity to record, this is a fantasy camp. We look forward to it every year.

Tom says I enjoy coming here, the facilities are well-beyond, basically, there’s nothing we could need that’s not here. They have everything we would need or pretty much anything anybody needs to make a quality product. Ron’s expertise with recording, engineering, and mixing makes us sound way better than we probably should sound. We enjoy coming here for the laid back type of atmosphere and no type of pressure or ego type of stuff going on.

Paul shares It’s nice to be able to take a couple days out of the year and be able to express yourself a little bit. After college my band toured a lot and now I have a real job, I have kids and you know priorities change. But when we get to come here, it’s like you can kind of put everything else aside and just enjoy creating stuff, which puts you back in touch with who you are as a person. It is a nice perspective shift from the day-to-day.

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Steel Sessions In-Studio Experience Featuring Wayno

Steel Sessions brought its In-Studio Experience with Buda & Grandz and Mike Kuz to Forge Recording. This special edition featured Wayno (Triangle Offense). Attendees not only received a critique from producers Buda & Grandz and Mike Kuz, but are were eligible for a one-on-one consultation with Wayno. Here is a recap video of the experience filmed in both Studio A and The Academy Studio.

The purpose of Steel Sessions’ 3-hour group experience is to increase placement for producers. During the experience, guests have the opportunity to collaborate on professional beats with the Steel Session trio that get sent through their network of artists, A&Rs, label execs, and industry contacts.

Continuing to expand your network is one of the best things you can do… and collaborate with other producers because maybe you heard something one way but then you bounce that, and you give it to a producer, and they flip it in a completely different way. It’s good to get a third party perspective on your ideas because sometimes it inspires you to think about your own stuff a little differently.
—Instructor/Producer Mike Kuz

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Love Love Love lylyly

With a name like “lylyly” (explained below) what’s not to love? Lylyly serenades Forge Recording—and producer/engineer Robbie Simmons— with music for their new album.

Born out of Philly, lylyly is a Post-Pop band comprised of Emily Mineo (lead vocalist), Kelvin Cochrane (guitar), Josh Tenker (bass), and Jared Williams (drums).

Lylyly recorded their single, Home, here at Forge (click below to listen). This tune was mixed, recorded, and produced by Engineer Robbie Simmons.

In case you were wondering, lylyly is short-hand text for “love you, love you, love you! But you already knew that.

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Forge Records Interviews About DC Sniper

XG Productions (Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles) interviews two DC Sniper experts in the Podcast Studio. The interviews, recorded by Forge Recording Studio Guru Jennifer Tambellini, reveal details from Lee Boyd Malvo’s personal diary and some heart-felt accounts from the brother of one of the sniper’s victims.  

The first interview is with Anthony Meoli, co-author of Diary of the D.C. Sniper. Through numerous letters and calls since 2005, Anthony earned the trust of Malvo and gained access to the sniper’s personal diary. He also recorded a 66-minute interview with Malvo entitled “Interview with the D.C. sniper.”

The second interview is with Bob Meyers, whose brother, Dean, was one of the sniper’s victims. Bob shares personal testimonies involving his brother throughout the interview.

XG Productions, founded by former FBI Agents, is known as Hollywood’s go-to experts in true crime, law enforcement and military programming. XG provides writers, producers, on-Air talent and technical advisors for programs such as Criminal Minds (CBS), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), The Unit (CBS), Blindspot (NBC), The Following (FOX), Lie To Me (FOX) and The Americans (FX).

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Sunee Waller Performs for Busy Works Beats

Busy Works Beats features Sunee Waller singing I’m Not Okay by H.E.R. with Justin Fava accompanying on the piano. The video Sunee Surprises Us with Super Sweet Cover Song Performance is filmed in the Live Room of Studio A.

How to Recreate ANY Song in Under 5 Minutes, shown below, acts as a behind-the-scenes process breakdown of the performance of I’m Not Okay. Busy Works Beats founder and CEO Carlin “Game” Hines demonstrates how to reverse engineer the chord structure by using “Chord Code.”

Sunee performs Naked by Sabrina Claudio with Justin accompanying her on the acoustic guitar. The video I Think I Found A New Singer!… is shot in the Control Room of Studio A.

Game and Sunee explain the importance of vocal melodies in Sunee Slays the Vocals for this Song, by demonstrating how a melody can turn a beat into a song. Sunee comes in to freestyle in the Live Room and then explains the vocal process in the Control Room of Studio A.

Sunee works with in-house engineer Sem pierre. She said He’s amazing, he’s so cool and suave. I’m like, “Do you like this?” and he’s like, “Yeah, it’s cool.” But if he doesn’t like something, he’ll let you know. Sunee also shares her experience at Forge Recording: I love it here! I wish I could move in! Every time I’m here, we have so much fun but we get things done. And then, the next thing you know, we have this amazing video.

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Isaac Strader Records 3 Original Songs

Philadelphia-based composer and musician, Isaac Strader, visits Forge Recording to record his new vocal and piano compositions with Lead Engineer Ron DiSilvestro. Isaac also writes film scores and music for commercials.

Issac’s new songs are The Optimist, Without You, and Everything.


I believe there isn’t anything more powerful in the world than the way a song can touch our hearts. Telling stories and connecting people together with music is what I am passionate about. — Isaac Strader

Under the watchful eyes of Ron DiSilvestro

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Ron DiSilvestro Repeats as Best Producer

Forge Recording Lead Engineer Ron DiSilvestro was named Best Producer of 2019 from the Hometown Heroes 93.7 WSTW 13th Annual “Homey” Awards.  This is the second straight year he has won this honor.

Ron is recognized for his work with Black Horse Motel who won for Best Band of 2019 and also Best Country/Americana Song for their song Rattler. Ron produced and engineered Black Horse Motel’s latest album And Then You Were Gone.

Ron also worked with Desiree Haney, cellist for Black Horse Motel, who won this year’s Best Other Instrumentalist award.

Ron is not only a seasoned producer and recording engineer, he is also an accomplished musician. He has played with countless bands live and in the studio over his 30 year career, and has toured nationally.

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Live Recording Team Assists Music Publisher

The Forge Recording Live Team once again hits the road for a multi-track band recording. The assignment: record 13 songs in 4 hours for long-time client Northeastern Music Publications. Engineer Robbie Simmons and assistant-engineer Jennifer Tambellini efficiently unpack the gear, and then set up mic stands, cables and microphones from our vintage microphone collection (Neumann U87s, KM84s and KM100s; AKG 414s and C451s; Sennhleiser MD421s; Shure KSM32s, etc.).

Under the watchful eye of Northeastern Music Publications director, Dr. Randy Navarre, the band strikes up the first tune, Industrial Revolution. The melody builds, strengthening the percussive aspects.

Then on to And Grace Will Lead Me Home, part of The Advanced Concert Band Series, which takes the listener on a graceful ride through soft and intricate melodies and harmonies.

And there’s the familiar Walzting Matilda, the unofficial Australian national anthem, which is a favorite for live events such as concerts in the park. Tonight’s recordings will be used to demonstrate sheet music arrangements for elementary school, middle school, and high school bands.

The band completes its selections and the Forge team packs up its gear. The very next day Dr. Navarre arrives at Forge Recording’s Studio A to pick the best takes, and mix and master the pieces with Lead Engineer Ron DiSilvestro. Just another typical day in the life of the Forge Recording Live Team.

 

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Busy Works Beats Gets Busy At Forge

If content is king, then Busy Works Beats founder and CEO  Carlin “Game” Hines is music production royalty. With more than a half million YouTube subscribers and 2,600+ free instructional videos, Busy Works Beats is the source for acquiring knowledge of beat-making and music production.

Carlin Hines and his Busy Works Beats crew have been busy shooting videos, making podcasts, holding seminars and streaming live events at Forge Recording. Below are some recent videos filmed at Forge.

In Cooking Up with the Crew, Game walks through the process of creating, tracking, and then turning the sounds into a complex beat. The Busy Works Beats crew of musicians are Sunee Waller, Justin Fava, Forge Recording producer/engineer Sem Pierre and Stephon Waller.

In How do WE Come Up With These Melodies, the crew creates a six-part collaboration: mallets, strings, marimba, guitar, female vocal, and male vocal. This video was filmed in the Control Room, Live Room, and Iso 2 of Studio A.

In Twin Melody Challenge, Game shows how The secret to melodies is having two melodies. Twins Sunee and Stephon Waller combine forces to create a double melody with guitar and bells.

In I show a DRUMMER how to make any chord, Game teaches LuxWAVfilms’ Jay Yachetta the “Chord Code” using our Baldwin studio grand piano. Even though Jay has no keyboard experience, he is able to quickly grasp the concept.

In Skilled Guitarist Learns New Way to Make Chords, Game once again teaches the “Chord Code,” this time with guitarist Justin Fava.

In How to Make FUTURE Beats with Your Friends, Game illustrates the process of turning a simple melody played by his friend, Stephon Fuller, into a beat.

Stay tuned for more videos from the “King of Content” and the crew of Busy Works Beats.

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Riley Lauren Records “Just You” & “So Lucky”

Philadelphia based singer-songwriter, Riley Lauren, chose Forge Recording to record her debut single, Just You, and her most recent single, So Lucky.

Riley performed piano and vocals on Just You. The song also features cello played by Daniel de Jesus, which was arranged by Engineer Robbie Simmons. Just You is a love song about being with the person you love, Maybe someday if you let me, we could share the world.”  The song is available on all streaming platforms. Listen on YouTube here:

In Riley’s most recent single, So Lucky, she performs piano and vocals, accompanied by Christian Moehring on drums. Engineer Robbie Simmons played bass on this track and also recorded, mixed and mastered both songs. So Lucky is a love song that shares the desire to feel wanted and valued, Who can make our normal, just very extraordinary.” So Lucky is available on all streaming platforms. Listen on YouTube here:

Riley attended Hatboro-Horsham High School and is now attending Temple University’s Boyer College of Music. She has been involved in numerous music and musical theater productions and has had instruction at the Walnut Street Theater and Broadway Dreams Foundation in Philadelphia.

There is more music coming from Riley in the future; she says she will “definitely come back to Forge!”

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