Recording and Producing

Clients

Woody's House/ Esperanza Clients include:

Solar Punch

Pete Seeger

Katherine Pritchard

Steve Chizmadia

Pat Wictor

The Jukebox Romantics

August In Between

Hudson Valley Sally

John Flinn/ David Amram

Scoot Horton

Leo Harmonay

Tony Jefferson

Chris Conte

Chris Barickman

Red Molly

Abbie Gardner

Carolann Solebello

Anthony DaCosta

The Yayas

Tribes Hill

ABC TV

MSG Network

Fox-TV

Steve Kirkman

Scott Urgola

Demarco Brothers

Phil Dollard

Johnny Miles

Joe Duraes

Period Comma

Matt Turk

Julie Corbalis

South County

CMJ Music Marathon

James Durst

Work 'O The Weavers

Jeff Eyrich

Lipbone Redding

Susan Kane

Circus Guy

Roshni

Fin Folsom

McComb's Dam Bridge

Rich O'Hanley

Alan Goodman

Greg Jacquin

The Greenheart

Brooke Campbell

Don Treistman

Andy Kusisto

Elza

Susan Wright

Laura Bowman

Joe Virga

John Banrock

Laura Copel

Ron Chambers

Linda Draper

Adam Love

Judy Kass

Red Hill

      Fred Gillen Jr got the recording bug early in his musical life. As a teenager he would make sound on sound recordings by recording to cassette using the built in microphone on a Realistic tape recorder, and then playing that back on its tiny speaker while playing along, and recording that onto a separate cassette machine. His first four-track cassette recorder o ... 
      Fred Gillen Jr got the recording bug early in his musical life. As a teenager he would make sound on sound recordings by recording to cassette using the built in microphone on a Realistic tape recorder, and then playing that back on its tiny speaker while playing along, and recording that onto a separate cassette machine. His first four-track cassette recorder opened a new world to him, and he read books about the Beatles bouncing tracks and distorting tape. In his twenties he recorded a handful of artists on an 8-track 1/2" tape machine and early digital on DA-88's. Once digital improved in quality to 24 bit he got into the MacIntosh computer. Throughout all of it he was constantly collecting gear and learning. From 2005 to 2021 he recorded, mixed, and produced most of the artists listed on this homepage, along with a bunch of his own albums. The majority of the work was done at his Croton-on-Hudson studio Woody's House, with occasional forays into other studios. In the winter of 2020/ 2021, after moving to Athens, NY he built his new space, "Esperanza Recording Studio." In May of 2021 his friend and music collaborator John Banrock helped him move all of the gear to the new studio and he set it up. The room features two large windows and during the day it is possible to record with these windows uncovered, creating a bright and cheery environment unusual for a recording studio. The new room has a different sound than the old studio, and so far this has been a nice surprise! Athens is a couple of hours from New York City and Fred and Peg have a guest room in case a client needs to stay over, or there are some beautiful Air BnB's in the area, which is a busy tourist destination because of proximity to the Catskills and Hudson River. The beat goes on!

Gear

Microphones:

1 Aiwa CM-28

1 Audix D-6

1 BLUE Baby Bottle

1 Beyer Dynamic M422

1 Beyer M260 N(C) Ribbon

1 Crown PZM 30D

1 Cascade Fathead Ribbon

2 EV 635A

2 EV 664

1 EV BK1

2 EV RE 11

1 EV RE 18

2 EV RE 20

1 Karma K-6 Active Ribbon

1 Karma K-55 Tube

1 Michael Joly 990 mod

3 MXL 1006

1 MXL 2001

2 Nady CM88

1 Nady DM80

1 RODE NT1a

2 Shure BG 81

1 Shure Beta 57

2 Shure sm 57

2 Shure sm 58

1 Sony ECM 66B

1 Warm Audio WA-251 tube


preamps:

1 Ampex 351

2 ART TPS

2 Aurlex 107 Tubessence

2 Five Fish sc500mk1

1 Joe Meek SixQ

2 Pre Sonus Blue Tube

2 Rupert Neve 511

1 Symetrix 528

1 Warm Audio TB-12


compressors:

1 dbx 118

1 dbx 165

2 dbx 166

2 dbx 166A

2 drawmer DL 241

1 Urei LA-4


amplifiers:

Vintage Music Man 212

Ampeg GVT 15H

Acoustic 136 bass amp

Vintage Peavey Mark 3 Bass amp with 2X15 cabinet

Peavey TNT

Darkglass m200 bass amp with Phil Jones Compact-2 cabinet


instruments:

Vintage Ludwig 4 piece drum set with Zildjian cymbals

1966 Fender Jazz bass

1974 Fender Jazz bass

Kojdogg Strat with P-90 pickups

Kojdogg Strat with humbuckers

Fender MIM Telecaster

DeArmond M-72

Kojdogg Telecaster

Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow

Ibanez Strat

Guild Pilot bass

Guild D-25

Guild D-25M

Guild DV6

Gretsch Americana


Computer:

Mac Pro Quad/ MOTU 16A converter/ Pro Tools 11 Native