One Good Tern Studio
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Why “One Good Tern”? |
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The name One Good Tern memorializes my late architect father, a brilliant artist whose wonderful and ridiculous cartoon terns (a typically black and white seabird) adorned every napkin and envelope his pens touched. He used to joke of doing a comic strip after his retirement from architecture. He'd call it As the World Terns, or perhaps One Good Tern. I always liked the pun and the implication that doing a good deed might bring about more good deeds in the world. So I named my studio after his dream deferred. I am my father's son: a humble architect of songs and the dreams of those who write them.
One Good Tern has permanently taken up residence at The Sound Boutique Studios in Burbank, CA. Whether here or anywhere I work, my ambition is to help artists realize, refine, and expand their unique vision of themselves and their art, and to honor that vision with fresh arrangements and compelling soundscapes. Whether we're at the Steinway B grand piano meticulously maintained by LA's resident genius David Andersen in "The Triple-A Room" (The Andersen Atelier Annex, whose motto reminds us that we are "Always An Apprentice"), the wood tones of the rooms foster a warmth and creativity. I am fortunate to utilize a call list of some of LA's best session musiciains to help make these arrangements happen. And with the miracles of digital technology, we can enlist great players all over the world. My artists emerge from our time together not simply sporting a great sounding and looking product, but having experienced a rewarding, enriching, affirming process that arms them for the next step along their professional and creative paths.
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Name dropping (tern droppings…) |
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As producer, session player, or engineer, I have worked with these and other outstanding people and musicians:
Kat Maslich-Bode (Eastmountainsouth)
Greg Leisz (Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, kd lang)
MC Lars (Nettwerk Entertainment)
Lucy Hale (American Idol Junior Winner)
Sean Hurley (Vertical Horizon, John Mayer, Alicia Keys...)
David Henry (Ben Folds, Josh Rouse, Guster)
Ryan Brown (Nick Lachey, Jesse MacCartney, Bo Bice)
Sheldon Gomberg (Ryan Adams)
Billy Hawn (Charlotte Martin, Indigo Girls)
Ed Toth (Doobie Brothers)
Dale Baker (Sixpence None the Richer)
Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones)
Brandon Bush (Train, John Mayer)
Derek Jones (Jerry Douglas, Nickle Creek, Cirque de Soleil)
Doug Derryberry (Bruce Hornsby)
Claire Holley (Yep Roc Records)
Allie Moss (Ingrid Michaelson)
Matthew Tifford (Shannon Worrell)
Nic Brown (Athenaeum, Ben Lee)
Chad Barger (Cravin’ Melon)
Eddie Walker (Chuck Folds, Snuzz, Ben Folds)
Steve Sidley (Sam’s House)
Dave Takahashi (Ryan Cabrera)
Beth Balmer (Tyler Hilton)
Amy Farris (Kelly Willis)
Paul Lacques (I See Hawks in LA)
Romero Wyatt (Pat McGee)
Will Straughan (Emma Gibbs Band)
Justin Rosolino (Matt Wertz, Dave Barnes)
Ruut Demeo (The Matrix)
…and many other talented players and singers.
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Gear |
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A complete gear list is available upon request. I prefer to work in Nuendo (and can interface easily with projects done in Pro Tools or any other platform) at sample rates up to 96khz. Converters and master word clock by Apogee and Lynx; Studio Monitors by Dynaudio and Mackie; tube and solid state preamps by Avalon, API, Great River, A-Designs, Sytek, Metric Halo, Apogee, and RME. Outboard compression by Rupert Neve Designs, Empirial Labs, FMR, Avalon; Mics by Shure, Peluso, Audio Technica, Neumann, AKG, Rode, Sennheiser. D&R 4000 mkII analog console. Full complement of Universal Audio and TC Electronics plug-ins, Antares Auto-Tune, Reason, BFD, dot dot dot. Mogami cables, Monster power conditioning.
Instruments: Yamaha G5 grand piano; keyboards by Yamaha (Motif ES 8) and Korg; vintage and newer acoustic guitars by Gibson, Takamine, Martin; dobro, mandolin, lap steel, baritone guitar, hi-strung guitar; e-bow, glass and metal slides; keyboards; electric guitars by Gibson, Fender, James Tyler, Line 6; amps by Marshall, Fender, Ampeg, Bad Cat, and Line 6; cabinets by Fender and Dr. Z.
It's not the gear, it's the guy who runs the gear. But this is good gear. Here in Los Angeles it is easy to rent whatever a project demands if we don't have it.
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Buy online at
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Rob Seals is an officially endorsed artist of Elixir Instrument Strings.
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