At the age of 58, Ridley recently auditioned for America’s Got Talent and astonished the judges with her rendition of Etta James’ “At Last.” The performance earned Ridley a standing ovation and a chance to go all the way on the nationally televised talent show.

Her new single was mixed by gold and platinum mixing engineer Anthony ‘Rocky’ Gallo, who’s credits include: John Legend, The Cult, Fabulous, Jon Bon Jovi, Norah Jones and many more.

America’s Got Talent airs on NBC.

Treelady Studios is a Recording Studio located near Pittsburgh, PA, specializing in CD Mastering, mixing, and recording. Treelady offers both Pro Tools HD digital recording and 2″ analog tape recording. For more information visit us online at www.treelady.com

Mixed by Bob Clearmountain at the legendary Hit Factory, the original release came out on CBS Records. The Silencers recently regained publishing rights for the release. The original quarter-inch analog mix master provided the source for mastering.

Original Album cover for ROCK N ROLL ENFORCERS by THE SILENCERS

The original recording was released on DCG Records (owned by Universal Music Group), and featured producers: Miti Adhikari, Jack Endino, Steve Fisk, Dale Griffin, Butch Vig.

A profuse mixing engineer, DiLeo’s credits include hundreds of major label and independent releases. He has also worked on 30 (and counting) tracks for Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, as well as the Pepsi Commercial (The Who-My Generation). A McDSP endorsee, DiLeo will take over his own room, tentatively named Studio R at Treelady’s Pittsburgh facility.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Rae enrolled as a Music Composition major, but switched to Audio Production. He has lived in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles before moving to the Pittsburgh region.

Artists, managers, and bands interested in retaining Senior Mix Engineer DiLeo should contact Treelady Studios at (412) 816-0300. Additional details will be forthcoming.

Rae DiLeo in a recent McDSP web advertisement.

Grimm Audio CC1 Digital Clock

“The last chapter in the Jitter Saga has yet to be written. But the penultimate chapter has just been written by Grimm Audio, who have challenged the most sacred concept, the commonly-held notion that internal clock always performs better than external.   Digital clocking has been a hot topic among audio engineers in recent years.   Someone started the idea that the built-in clocks found in most converters were poor.  And it snowballed from there.” So begins the article, which not only examines the performance of the Grimm CC1, but also includes head-to-head tests of many popular converters and clocks from companies like Digidesign, Apogee, Lynx, and others.

Almost a year in the writing, the review dispels many marketing myths that surround digital clocks, and explains the benefits and trade-offs of using a central clock.   In addition to testing the Grimm CC1 in their respective mastering studios, Haines and Katz sought outside ears by visiting tracking studios and doing double-blind shoot outs with the Grimm and other brand gear.

Bob Katz, owner and Chief Mastering Engineer at Florida-based Digital Domain, is the author of Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science (Focal Press), a book that is widely considered one of the best resources on the topics of contemporary digital audio and audio mastering.   Mastering Audio is available at Amazon.com, at the author’s website, and at fine booksellers everywhere.   Garrett Haines is the Chief Mastering Engineer at Treelady Studios and a Senior Contributor at Tape Op Magazine.

Founded in 1958 by Bill Putnam Sr., the Universal Audio name has been synonymous with innovative recording products since its inception. A favorite engineer of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles and more, the late Bill Putnam Sr. was a passionate innovator who is widely regarded as the father of modern recording — with many of his legendary studio and equipment designs still in use today.

Universal Audio was re-founded in 1999 by Bill’s sons, James Putnam and Bill Putnam Jr., with two main goals: to faithfully reproduce classic analog recording equipment; and to design digital recording tools in the spirit of vintage analog technology.

The new catalogue features quotes and endorsements from many of the top names in the industry, including: Bob Clearmountain, Producer/Engineer (Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stones), – Joe Chiccarelli, Producer (Beck, U2, Blackbird Studios), – Darwin Grosse, Review (Recording Magazine, DDG Studios), – Michael Cooper, Review (Mix Magazine and Cooper Recording), Al Schmitt, Engineer/Producer (Jackson Browne, Dr. John, Diana Krall), Bruce Swedien, Engineer, (Duke Ellington, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez), – Dweezil Zappa, Guitarist (Zappa Plays Zappa, Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Recording Studio), – Garrett Haines, Review (EQ Magazine, Treelady Studios), – John Cuniberti, Engineer (Joe Satriani, The Meters, Cuniberti Mastering), and – Paul White, Review (Editor of Sound on Sound).