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The Ultimate Recording Video

As Read in Rockpile

Joe Molinaro fancies himself as the "Home Time" of recording. "They build the house," he says from behind the mixing board in his South Philadelphia studio, "here I built a mix from the ground up."

Molinaro is referring to his recent emergence as a how-to recording guru from his video segements on Mixdown, a 30-minute magazine style show focusing on the Philadelphia-area music scene. The show can be seen on Channel 66, Wednesdays at 9 p.m., on many local cable systems.

The converted commercial building near Broad and Snyder in South Philly is the site of Molinaro's Ultimate Studios and the setting for the video spots. Each new segment illustrates the next step in the process of recording a song.

 "Basically, I started with the mixing board, because it's the basis for the beginning of recording, and the alleviate some of the mystery shrouded with the knobs as to what they do and how you approach things, so you don't look at all these things and say, 'where do I begin, what do I do?'"

His first segment addressed volume and equalization. That was followed with a guided tour of signal-to-noise ration, which Molinaro admits is a "heavy term," but his explanation and demonstration make the concept easier to digest.

His goal with the Mixdown segments is to reach aspiring home studio producers with tips on how to record, as well as give musicians inexperinced in recording some background with the whole process. Molinaro says he hopes to compile each show from the series onto a single video for future sale.

The "Ultimate" Sounds

by John McNally (South Philadelphia Review Staff Writer)

Music is as big a part of Joe Molinaro's life as oxygen is to most people. Molinaro, 33, of 15th Street and Snyder Avenue, has been playing the guitar since age 10. Over the years he has added the bass, drums and keyboard to his repertoire. Like many professionals in the 1990s, he has also become proficient in computer programming to take his love and his art to a higher level. After playing guitar for numerous club bands in the Philadelphia area, Los Angeles and the Las vegas strip, Molinaro has spent the last three years building a state-of-the-art recording studio in his Snyder Avenue building.

"I have family here and there's work here", Molinaro says, demonstrating his facility. "I figured I would plant my feet firmly on the ground and try to push up the world from this side." He refers to the West Coast as "that side" and the East Coast as "this side". Having experienced the music world from "that side," Molinaro has set out to make a difference for fledgling musicians on "this side". He said musicians on the West Coast can dig themselves into a tunnel of debt before they ever get an album produced, and that, even if they have a hit, they make little money until the second album comes out. "I work for people who have a belief in themselves and they are attempting to take a shot. I give them a chance to realize their own dreams and take a shot for a limited amount of money", Molinaro says, "I offer the same quality product as a multi-million-dollar studio, but I don't hit them over the head with prices."

Molinaro played guitar briefly for the Pointer Sisters in the late 1980s and also played for various area club bands including CTO, Rhapsody, Silver Streak, Bandstand, Synergy, and Then & Now. Musical talent apparently runs in Molinaro's family. His father, for whom music was a hobby, taught him to play the basics on guitar at age 10. Molinaro's uncle, John Bove, who was a flutist with the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, got him interested in classical music. "There was a lot of music floating through my family", he says.Molinaro spent two years at Central High School and graduated from South Philadelphia High in 1981.

He credits a number of local musicians for helping to teach him different facets of music. He learned jazz from local jazz legend Pat Martino; classic guitar from Joe Sgro; and guitar techniques from Dennis Sandoli. After 13 years of kicking around in the music business (sometimes barely making enough to eat), Molinaro decided to go into business for himself. His baby is Ultimate Studios, and he serves as the record producer and sound engineer. The studio has a sound-proof booth and a 24-track digital recording system. In 1995, Molinaro produced eight albums. One of the groups he produced was Gothik, a heavy metal band from the area that went on to sign a deal with Sony Records.

This year Molinaro produced and performed in "The Heart of Dunblane", a song written by South Philadelphian Gus Giudici in remembrance of the child massacre in Dunblane, Scotland, last March. Giudicci's song was well received all over the world, including in Dunblane, and was recognized by Queen Elizabeth of England. Molinaro donated his time and studio to record the song. "It was great to be a part of something like that because it makes you feel good inside", he reflects. "It's great to give back. In music your rewards are not always monetary. This gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside that has nothing to do with money."

But that's not to say that money isn't important to Molinaro. His state-of-the-art studio did not come cheap. Combined with his student loan for computer school, Molinaro is still paying for his recording equipment. "I could have bought a house for what I dropped on my stuff", he says. "The wiring alone cost $5,000. I don't even own this, the bank does. I have loans out the ying-yang. But in order to compete, you have to have what they [other studios] have." Because Molinaro works out of his own building, he says he's able to charge much less than most recording studios. He charges anywhere from $35 to $45 an hour while many studios charge $100 or more per hour. Molinaro also advertises a 24-hour block rate special for $1,199 in various area trade magazines. And, if needed, he supplies musicians, vocalists and equipment for customers for an additional fee. Molinaro says his services can take a budding artist from the idea stage for a record through pressing a CD and getting it out to the public. He's currently working with some rap artists, heavy metal bands, rhythym and blues performers and even some country singers.

Molinaro feels that by helping young bands try to make it, he is giving back to the music community. He says he doesn't mind charging less than other studios because he knows his bands will be able to finish their records with him; many bands spend all their money before they finish a recording and get stuck. And without finished recordings, Molinaro adds, bands go nowhere. "It's like the lottery," he explains. "You can't win if you don't buy a ticket. If you don't finish your recording, you can't get discovered. It's like having a zero-in-a-million chance to make it."