The new Planet 10 Studios

James Johnson first treated us to Planet 10 Studios a year ago this month when he was in Barrington. This year, The Engineering and Recording Society of Chicago met at James' recently relocated and massively upgraded Planet 10 Studios -A highlight of which is their newly acquired classic Neve 8108 console pictured above.

The studio has only been open since the beginning of the summer and already Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls, and drummer Paul Wertico are both doing projects here.
I had a great time learning about the history of the facility, listening to some recent recordings, taking lots of cool photos of course, and enjoying the tasty pizza and beer (and soda too).

E.A.R.S. is a very cool organization, and if you haven't noticed, we meet in a different studio every month. Whether you are a seasoned professional looking to network, or just starting out, you will find the group to be very fun, informative and welcoming. In my case, I enjoy learning about recording and seeing how I can apply the knowledge to my music.. err future music.. I also enjoy photographing these beautiful rooms; they are like works of art in themselves and as you know a picture can tell a thousand words.

Anyhow, Planet 10 is located in Palatine, on Northwest Highway, near Rt 53, this facility has been host to several well-known studios over the years, including Studio 53, and Don Griffin's Studio VMR. It was acoustically designed by Carl Yancher, http://yanchardesign.com/ who also designed the second floor studio at Chicago Recording Company, as well as many other studios across the country.

If you want to read about this studio and more about E.A.R.S., check out the EARS website at ears-chicago.org.



The place looks great.

There is a ton of great outboard gear that I didn't get a photo of. Keep in mind that Jimmy prefers Nuendo over ProTools, and therefore this is a Nuendo studio.



Pictured here: myself with EARS Vice President, Michael Kolar behind the Neve. Notice how the console and room are color coordinated? Can you say Bling! Behind us, you can see the custom mounted B&W 808 speakers.

hmm interesting... :)


A variety of guitar amps await you at Planet 10.


The B room houses a number of great Synths, including two Moogs that are autographed by Bob Moog himself. Hey, this just in.. check out the P-10 website's image gallery, some of those are my pictures... not bad.


Two veterans of the music industry, and EARS members: Don Griffin, Proprietor of Studio VMR, now in Brookfield, and Dave Moss, owner of The Thinking Man's School of Drum, and his studio, The Crib (located in Skokie). Don previously occupied this location for two years some time ago.

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Allright..