Big Blue Meenie Recording Studio

The facility is located on 512 Paterson Plank Road, near Washington Park,[1] and was built in the late 19th century. Prior to 1981, it was used by a chandelier factory,[2] until it stopped operation in the late 20th century.

The front entrance to Big Blue Meenie.

The Amek 9098i console in control room, Studio A.

The 2 floor building has a total area between 8,500-square-foot (790 m²)[3] and 9,000-square-foot (840 m²)[2] and has 3 main performing studios, named Studios A, B, C and a fourth room D,[11] as well as "The Batcave",[15] a mixing room solely for beat-making and editing. Overall, Big Blue Meenie contains 4 control rooms, 2 live performance spaces,[8] and features 4 ISO rooms and 3 editing/support DAW suites. On the second floor, Big Blue Meenie had its own mastering outfit, named Surgical Sound,[2] but the second floor is now used by studio D. The studio has used analog and two-inch tapes to record the initial take, and then upload them into a digital environment for further editing. In an interview regarding the reasoning behind this approach, Gilles stated:

We don't even mention the 'd' word around here. I have digital gear around here, but everything gets done on analog and 2-inch. We're old-school analog guys. And a huge amount of staying in the business is keeping the studio operational, and we suffer zero downtime.[2]

He also states that he is most comfortable using the two-inch tape,[12] as he is familiar with what this process does to the recordings. Processing the sound in this manner according to Gilles, gives the music the studio mixes and masters a unique thumbprint, and an authentic sound.[12] But depending on the client request or specification, the team does use digital recordings, and are not limited to either process singularly. Big Blue Meenie has worked exclusively with Apple and uses their software Logic Pro for mixing after analog recording.[12] Other high end equipment and devices used in the studio include an Amek Mozart RN, ADAM S3A monitors, Yamaha NSTO's, and SL1200 turntables,[11] as well as an extensive mic locker with limited and vintage microphones, and "boutique" outboard equipment.

Since the facilities inception in the 1980s, all genres of music have been worked on; although under Quantum, more pop and R&B artists were mixed as opposed to many of the bands that record at Big Blue Meenie today, which are mainly more rock or metal oriented groups.[16] With the equipment and editing software and hardware it has, the recording studio offers studio time for any genre of music, from Rock to Hip Hop and voiceovers.[17] Over the years, the facility on Paterson Plank road has been renovated several times, and the business has grown from about $2000 of gear used by Gilles in his basement to record and mix his own band, to an estimated $2 million studio.[2] It is considered one of the oldest and largest "Open for Hire" studios on the East Coast.[3]

• Dupler, Steven (October 18, 1986). "A Quantum Leap". Billboard magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 98 (42): 122. ISSN 0006-2510.
• Dupler, Steven (December 20, 1986). "Sound Investment". Billboard magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 98 (51): 80. ISSN 0006-2510.
• Hagstrom Map (2008). Hudson County New Jersey Street Map. Hagstrom Map Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-88097-763-0.
• Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books Limited. p. 376. ISBN 0-9582684-0-1.
• Verna, Paul (June 12, 1999). "Studio Monitor". Billboard magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 111 (24): 100. ISSN 0006-2510.
• Verna, Paul (September 25, 1999). "Big, Bad and Blue". Billboard magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 111 (39): 108. ISSN 0006-2510.
• Whaley, Julie (1988). Songwriter's market: where & how to market your songs. Writer's Digest Books. p. 512. ISBN 0-89879-333-5.

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