Apr 1, 2001 12:00 PM, RON SIMPSON

Nestled on the edge of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, Kyle W. Harris' project studio, PlayR Recording, has been up and running in various incarnations since 1992. By combining the best of analog and digital technologies with a passion for acoustic music, Harris has found his niche as an engineer and producer, representing artists who could best be characterized by the Americana/folk music genre.

Working in Phoenix as a bass player since the '70s, Harris began playing sessions in the 1980s and became hooked on the recording process. One of his first clients after opening the doors at PlayR was Irish recording artist Matt Manning, who was accompanied by famed Irish music producer (and author) P.J. Curtis. According to Harris, “Everything I know about making a record is thanks to P.J. Curtis, an artist in the true sense of the word. He taught me to value performance more than perfection and to give the artist the most comfortable space possible to create in.”

The heart of PlayR's sound is a strong analog front end that starts with a matched pair of Lawson L47 tube microphones, a pair of Avalon VT-737 mic pre/compressor/EQs, and a Trident Model 24 24-channel, 24-bus console. “My goal from the beginning has been to assemble gear with analog warmth and accuracy on the front end and to combine it with the ease and convenience of digital mixing and editing,” says Harris.

After trying several different DAW configurations, Harris installed E-mu/Ensoniq's PARIS (with 16 channels of 24-bit A/D) saying, “The PARIS converters are the reason to go to PARIS. It sounds more like analog tape than any other DAW I've tried to date.” When not using PARIS for the A/D conversion, a Mytek Workstation 20-bit AD/DA interface is used. And, while Harris loves the sound of the Trident, he's found himself mixing in PARIS more often than not. With very few exceptions, once the tracks are in the digital domain, they stay there.

The monitoring is provided by a Klein & Hummel 096 powered three-way system, Dynaudio PPM2 and Chameleon A2 amplifier, with an Auratone Super Sound Cube reference.

Unlike most project studios, the absence of MIDI modules, sequencers and samplers in PlayR's arsenal is too obvious to ignore. Harris states, “Working in acoustic music, my focus is primarily on capturing the performance and interaction between the musicians. To date, my clientele has not expressed any interest in using MIDI synthesizers or samplers, opting instead for a more organic sound and feel in the music.” In 1999, several of PlayR's clients began to receive national airplay and favorable reviews from both Performing Songwriter and Sing Out! magazines.

But it's not all about folk music, as Harris has pulled in a range of artists. One of his favorites was D Squared, whose second album, Big Sky Full O' Dumb Stars, was tracked and mixed at PlayR. “That project represented the ultimate convergence of artist, songs and technology,” he says. “The difficulty in recording this project was in balancing the fragility of their sound [harp and guitar] with the power of their lyric. Big Sky Full O' Dumb Stars is a song cycle representing the personal cosmography of Don Charles and Deb Gessner. This project was one of those rare moments where everything came together and allowed me to capture the magic of this unique duo.

“Also, Lee Hazelwood dropped a very unique project into my lap,” he continues. “We recorded three new songs and then married them to a collection of 19 previously recorded demos representing over 30 years of Hazelwood's career. The tracks consisted of vocal and guitar duos up to fully produced master tracks, all of which featured studio legend Al Casey on guitar. The album is called 22 Demos and 1 Tattoo.”

Though his tracking room is fairly small, it hasn't stopped Harris from getting a good rhythm sound. “It's all about the living room,” he laughs. “The family gets temporarily relocated upstairs, and that opens up about 1,000 square feet of recording space. Using a combination of ASC Tube Traps, Sonex baffles and converted office dividers, I'm able to create a viable recording space — in addition to the isolation booth.”

And, as he says, you know you have a project studio when you have…“dogs, semi trucks and aircraft. Our Australian Shepherds, Django (Dogheart) and Sadie, have added unsolicited, unscheduled backing tracks to more than one record.”

Kyle Harris can be contacted by e-mail at playr@qwest.net and on the Web at www.geocities.com/playr_rec.

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Ron Simpson is a freelance writer and Web audio technologist based in Phoenix, Ariz.