REPRINTED FROM SEPTEMBER, 2001 WWW.PROAUDIOREVIEW.COM

The Industry’s Equipment Authority

Isuspect that Salina, Kansas would finditself near the top of the list of locationsunlikely to have a world-class studio. How

ironic that deep in the heart of Kansas laysfirst-rate Blue Heaven Studios. In only fouryears of operation, the studio has been fea-tured on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR’s AllThings Considered and CNN, as well asreceiving coverage by the Associated Press.Not to mention the fact that its album creditsread like a Who’s Who of the Blues.

The dreamBlue Heaven is a result of Louisiana

native Chad Kassem’s dream to record themusic and stories of America’s greatestsurviving Blues artists before they die, andhe is doing just that. Famous and not-so-famous Blues artists travel by car or plane— and sometimes bus — to a small townin the middle of Kansas to record at Blue

Heaven Studios. Theycome to write theirpage in Blues history.

In 1986 Kassemstarted AcousticSounds, an internation-al LP and CD mail-order business withmore than 32,000 cus-tomers. AcousticSounds caters to theserious audiophile lis-tener. The discovery ofa demand for unsignedartists’ music led tothe creation ofAnalogue ProductionOriginals (APO) Records in 1993.

In addition to new releases, APO reissuesout-of-print blues, classical and jazz classics,primarily on 180-gram premium vinyl — the

audiophile’s preference.In addition to Acoustic Sounds, APO

and Blue Heaven, Kassem has partneredwith Don MacInnis of Record Technology,Inc. (RTI) to form AcousTech Mastering.This facility is housed in RTI’s productionfacility (a top record pressing plant) inCamarillo, Calif.

Kassem’s partnership in AcousTechallows him to oversee APO’s projects fromstart to finish, assuring its high-quality pro-duction standards can be met. The facility isequipped with the former Wilson Audio’sNeumann mastering desk, accompanied byan abundance of rare tube-based gems.

In 1998 Kassem brought on Chicagonative Jimmy D. Lane as the label and stu-dio’s music director. Lane organizes players,produces sessions, coordinates special eventsand works alongside Kassem in recruitingblues artists for APO recordings. Lane is alsoone of APO’s prominent artists. As well asbeing the son of blues legend Jimmy Rogers,he has recorded with dozens of artists, includ-ing Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal,Mick Jagger and Steven Stills.

Blue Heaven Studios “Cathedral of Sound”by Russ Long

EngineerKatsuhiko Naitousing BlueHeaven’s Neve5106 console

Copyright 2001 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission.

His current project is being produced byEddie Kramer at Blue Heaven. DoubleTrouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s old band is backing.

Lane’s background wins him respectfrom the blues artists, many of whom havebeen lied to and taken advantage of byrecord labels for decades. Kassem does notbelieve in doing business that way.Regardless of how many records are beingsold, if the artists aren’t happy, he’s nothappy.

The buildingBlue Heaven’s shell is the 77-year-old

former Salina First Christian Church.Kassem initially purchased the building in

1996 for $45,000 to provide more storagespace for the rapidly growing AcousticSounds. The building was in dire need ofrepair and Kassem hired a construction crewheaded by Robin Giauque to oversee thetask. The work ranged from repairing leaksin the roof to replacing faulty wiring toheater maintenance.

At the time of completion, Giauque’screw had used nearly two tons of dry plasterfor their repairs. After its brief stint as a stor-

age facility, the decision was made to trans-form the more than 30,000-square-footchurch into a studio. Kassem hired designexpert Neil Muncy to oversee the conversionfrom chapel of storage to sanctuary ofsound. Neil Muncy Associates specializes inthe design of broadcast and recording facili-ties and the development of solutions toacoustical and technical problems.

In addition to his work at Blue Heaven,Muncy’s recent projects include the redesignand upgrade of the analog disk-masteringsystem for Wilson Audio Specialties inProvo, Utah; the technical design and devel-opment of the Reverberation/AcousticsProject Studio for the University of WesternOntario Department of Applied Music andPerformance; the redesign and renovation ofthe second-year Music Industry Arts record-ing facilities at Fanshaw College; the devel-opment of the LARES Reverberation andSound Enhancement System for the restora-tion of the Elgin Theatre in Toronto and thedevelopment of the Sound Recording Studiofor the Ford Centre for the Performing Artsin New York, Ontario.

Under Muncy’s direction, Kassem invest-ed more than $600,000 into construction,equipment and design before opening thestudio doors. Robin Giauque’s constructioncrew again headed the studio’s construction.

Copyright 2001 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission. Reprinted from Pro Audio Review

Studio designer NeilMuncy with Baker

Control room during construction

Blue Heaven’s main recording area

To provide proper electrical specs, Muncyspent more than $60,000 to supply the build-ing with new electrical service. Only premi-um breakers, panels and surge suppressionequipment were installed. Kansas Power andLighting installed a designated transformer,providing Blue Heaven with a private powersource.

Blue Heaven’s 94-foot by 55-foot Gothicsanctuary has 42-foot ceilings supported bybeautiful walnut beams. Since some of BlueHeaven’s recordings are live concerts,Muncy and Kassem decided to keep most ofthe original oak pews intact. An audience of400 can be comfortably seated. While thissometimes limits the flexibility of the room,it assured that the fantastic acoustics wouldnot be altered. The control room is built intothe rear of the sanctuary to give the engineerand producer clear sightlines to the musi-cians without obstructing the acoustics.

The basement of Blue Heaven has a giantrecreation area with a pool table, ping-pongtable, dart boards, a TV, a private lounge anda 900-square-foot kitchen. Kassem oftenflies in a chef from Louisiana to provideunforgettable food for the studio’s talent.

EquipmentA classic 36-input Neve 5106 desk is the

backbone of Blue Heaven’s control room.After purchasing the console from FoxBroadcasting, more than 1,000 hours wereinvested into its restoration and modificationto assure the utmost sonic quality and per-formance. All audio wiring is premium

cabling from Canare and Belden, with gold-plated connectors throughout.

Blue Heaven has an old-school philoso-phy of recording. They shy away from digi-tal (although they were more than accom-modating when I brought in a stack of 20-bitADATs for my two-week stint at the studio).Most of the records Kassem records forAPO are done direct to two-track, avoidingmultitrack recorders altogether. Blue Heavendoesn’t have automation either. They preferold-school mixing, with four pairs of handson the desk at once. Yet for all that old-school, Blue Heaven is on the cutting edgewith several projects with Sony SACD.

The control room is both acousticallyaccurate and comfortable. Two HermanMiller Aeron Chairs (the Rolls Royce ofall chairs) provide comfortable seating forthose long nights. The Mastering Labmodified Tannoy SGM10 monitors andYamaha P2201 power amp fill the controlroom with accurate sound.

In addition to the audio equipment, thesanctuary has been wired to accommodateeight camera lines, press feed and 200amps of stage lighting. For DVD releases,APO complements the high-quality audiowith full video coverage. This makes BlueHeaven the perfect location for simultane-ously creating a live video and album.In use

I spent two weeks at Blue Heaven lastsummer and it proved to be a rewardingexperience. I found the sanctuary’s acous-tics fabulous and the sound of the Neve

Taping Honey Boy Edwards’ DVDand album, ‘Shake ‘Em On Down.’From left to right on stage: JimmyD. Lane, Edwards and Madison Slim.

Naito working in the control room

The Neve 5106 console, TannoySGM 10 monitors and modifiedATR tape machines

Naito with jazz engineerDavid Baker

Copyright 2001 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission. Reprinted from Pro Audio Review

5106 desk simply stellar. The latest in the rack is a Manley Labs

VOXBOX.The microphone selection is basic,

yet first rate. There is just enoughdiversity to cover most circumstances.In addition to the high-end AKG C24and Neumann U67s, Blue Heaven has ahandful of ribbons, which complementthe collection nicely.

A couple more high-end tube con-densers, like the Brauner VM1 KHE,Neumann U47, Soundelux U99 or oneof the Lawson tube mics, would benice. I would also like to see a fewmore 421s and 57s for some added flex-ibility. Top it off with a pair of RoyerR-121s, a Royer SF-12 and a pair ofEarthworks SR77s and I would be inmicrophone heaven. I must add thatBlue Heaven’s microphones are wellmaintained.

The 67s and the C24 sound pristineand the classic RCA 44BX, although abit rough in appearance, sounds bril-liant. Drums sound wonderful in theBlue Heaven sanctuary. The ambienceis incredible. Just imagine JohnBonham on steroids and you will be inthe ballpark. Electric guitars also soundfantastic in the room. In addition, thestudio is equipped with an immaculateHammond B3 (with Leslie 122 cabinet)and a 9-foot Steinway Concert Grandmodel D piano.

The piano is one of the finest I haveever heard. In Blue Heaven’s sanctuary, I

imagine its sound — accompaniedby violin, viola and cello playingMozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor— will be as close as possible towhat Mozart intended.

With the giant kitchen,recreation room and artistlounge, there is always a placefor the musicians to hang whenthey are not recording. Thiskeeps the studio noise floor ata minimum and eliminates dis-tractions in the control room.

I only had one real complaintwith the studio: I would like tosee movable or removable pewsinstead of the permanent type. Inits current state, there are onlytwo or three options for drumplacement. This would alsoallow musicians to be spreadthroughout the room instead ofprimarily at one end.

Kassem has assured me thatthe temporary removal of thepews would not be too difficultand that the staff has done this onnumerous occasions when the need fortheir removal arose.

SummaryBlue Heaven’s acoustics are not the

only thing that set it apart from otherstudios. It is also extremely affordable.If Blue Heaven was in Nashville, NewYork or L.A., I would expect to pay$1,200 to $2,000 a day for a similar

setup but for those willing to make thetrek to Salina, it can be had for $500per day (10-hour block) or $75 perhour. The deals don’t get any betterthan this. Not to mention, BlueHeaven’s staff is professional, friendlyand ready to help.

If you don’t have the opportunity totravel to Salina and make use of BlueHeaven Studios, you owe it to yourself topurchase one of the APO albums record-ed there. The sound alone will win youover. In the words of top engineer DavidBaker, “Blue Heaven is a small cathedralblessed with celestial acoustics.”

Russ Long, a Nashville-based pro-ducer/engineer, owns The WhiteHouse and The Carport recordingstudios. He is a regular contributor toPro Audio Review.

Mastering engineer Stan Rickerwith the Neumann VMS 70 latheand Ortofon cutter head

Interior of Blue Heaven showing pews

Copyright 2001 IMAS Publishing (USA), Inc. Reprinted with permission. Reprinted from Pro Audio Review