Humming Bird Studio
Although it pays homage to the Hummingbird in its nature, by flying from one place to another, Humming Bird Studio is grounded in recording music that is deeply rooted in the archetype of the songbird. A little birdie, sitting on a tree branch, sharing its song… lala la.
This humble recording studio, which developed over the last 2 decades, arrived at full maturity in 2019 as Raphael began recording for this fall’s releases, Potential and Happily Ever Now. Here is the story of its evolution in his own words.
“I have been recording music since I got my hands on a cassette recorder in the 80’s. Yet it wasn’t until the 2000’s, when technology developed and recording at home became more accessible, that I slowly dove in…
Humming Bird Studio
on the mountain with Samson
Behind the studio
With no teacher or guidance, I began to dig into Garage Band in the 2000’s on my Mac laptop. My early recordings involved multiple tracks of my voice, guitar, programmed drums and bass, vocal percussion and other unusual sounds, both electronic and natural. At this time, only sharing with my friends and family, these songs took on a life of their own in my musical soundtrack, and built the foundation for future inspiration. A few of these early tracks can be heard on my Soundcloud page.
In 2014, I moved to a cabin at the top of a small mountain here in Vermont. While there, I spent 5 magical years going deeper into knowing myself and learning to live in peace. It was challenging at times, as I faced my personal “shadows” and learned essential lessons in love and compassion. This is where the next layer of my studio production unfurled. Here, I recorded some of the album, Potential, and explored deeply my ability to arrange thick grooves, lush harmonies and playful counterpoint. At this time, my sole microphone was the onboard microphone of my 2011 iBook laptop. I recorded everything by getting close to my computer…low tech indeed!
Humming Bird Studio
in the tiny house
The tiny house studio afforded me the luxury of having my recording studio down below and my sound healing sanctuary up above. Naturally, all of the instruments were drawn upon at any given time. Many examples of my woodwork can be found in the tiny house studio pictures, including the main table and the flute rack (pictured above), as well as the gong stand and the spirit bear bench pictured below.
Original pencil drawing for “Potential” by Ryan DuPont.
What you hear on the title track of Potential is almost entirely from those original recordings. As I left my mountain top retreat, the studio moved temporarily to a nearby forest. In the forest, during the 2020 lockdown, fancy microphones and a quality interface were purchased and I upgraded to running Logic on my Mac. There was much discovery and experimentation as I continued to be self taught (save a couple brain picking sessions with my mastering guru, Jeremy Mendecino). A large portion of both of Potential and Happily Ever Now were recorded in the forest. And the, last year, Humming Bird Studio flew to the tiny house pictured on the right. Here, I finished remixing and recording the two albums as well as began producing my dear friend, Zach Cohen’s upcoming EP, Remember. As a side note, Zach made many of the bamboo flutes I play, as well as taught me how to build my own, which I built to be in tune with my hand pan and can be heard on the song, Care, from my upcoming album, Potential. Zach is pictured below, as he made his way up to the tiny house for a recording session last winter.
Humming Bird Studio continues to fly about, as I have recently moved once again. Yet, with it’s joy and lightness in nature, it is quite adaptable to most spaces. Stay tuned, as my next plan is to use my carpentry skills to build a tiny studio on wheels…
Photograph: Robert Rapatski