Approximately three years ago Grupo Ilusion De Tierra Caliente  recorded a CD at Tesco Productions, and they’re back working on their second release.  Fourteen songs have been recorded by the six guys which include two keyboardists, key percussion, acoustic guitar, bass, drums/electric percussion and two of the guys double up as vocalists.  Recording another Hispanic group is always enjoyable and these guys are great to have in the studio.

Tesco Productions put the newly acquired mic pre-amps to use for this session.  Overall we’re pleased with the results and the drummer (and the engineer-me) are particularly liking the “new” sound for the kick and snare drum tracks.  We utilized an HHB multi-tube pre for those two mics. The main vocal was processed through a Presonus channel strip with the harmony vocal on another Presonus unit.  The keyboards, bass and acoustic guitar also found new paths through our additional pre-amps we’ve added.

We’re getting everyone’s schedules together so we can start on the mixing process, and looking forward to hearing it completed.  You can see more pics of Grupo Ilusion De Tierra Caliente in our Photo Gallery. And by the way, yes the frogs danced. “Gracias!”

In my effort to continually improve the recordings you hear from Tesco Productions I have added several microphone pre-amp upgrades.  A variety of units have been acquired – even though multiple units are from Presonus who base their designs foremost around a Class A circuit.  Among the Presonus pre-amps are two Eureka channel strips which provides extensive eq, compression, multiple input impedence selection (which greatly helps match the pre-amp to instruments and mics, as well changing the contour of the recorded sound) and tube emulation if desired.  Also from Presonus I now have two Blue-tube units – both the original and updated version 2. These units have a tube in them which can be dialed into the audio path in varying amounts as desired.  The other piece purchased is the HHB Classic 80 multi-stage tube pre which adds another dimension for available sounds.  Our initial listening has been favorable overall and I know we’ll fine tune the best applications for each of these pre-amps in recording sessions to come.  Keep your ears peeled!

The day after my return from celebrating my colleague and friend’s 50th I was down to the CenturyLink Convention Center to check in on the Home Instead Senior Care A/V setup. Joe with the in-house audio/visual company was on hand getting the audio layout started and attached to the rigging along with the 80′ projection screen. An assembly of many companies, trades and skills are deployed for the event. The next couple of days were rehearsals and then presentations for the 1300 attendees of the Home Instead Senior Care international convention. I was responsible for the live audio of all ballroom events which included training sessions, evening celebrations and awards. It is always a privilege to see a company that strives to provide top quality service to people who Jesus reminded us are sometimes considered “the least of these” – the elderly. I appreciate the opportunity to facilitate the enterprise and ministry of Home Instead Senior Care.