TMP History

A Little Bit 'O History...... from the Glenn-meister himself!

Taylor-Made started out as a 4-track TEAC demo room in 1977 in the basement of a house nestled in the idyllic suburbia of Passaic New Jersey. Even though we were short on tracks then, we were always long on keyboards and FX. The clients started to roll in to take advantage of instruments that they normally wouldn't have access to in their respective "live" situations. Although it's typical for studios to offer veritable batteries of MIDI gear today, there were few small studios then, who boasted "Free use of Hammond / Leslie, Rhodes, ARP, Moog, String ensemble. Echoplex", etc..

We continued our growth at an amazing rate; 24-track (3M M79) by 1980. Moving from songwriter & cover-band demos, we started to do small independent label work (Lots of R & B, dance re-mixes, & early metal bands).

As a composer/producer myself, I felt that I was getting stale applying all of my energies to other artists' work. About 1985, I started to change the type of clientele we were seeking and began to work with corporate and ad-agency departments, offering original scoring, jingles and sound design (did they call it by that name in '85 ??). By 1987, we moved to our present location, here in Caldwell, New Jersey. We totally "re-tooled" in this new facility and designed it to accommodate sync-to-picture, layback to 3/4" U-matic, then 1-inch, then Beta SP video and currently, our new DoReMi labs non-linear video system. Later on came digital audio; Pro-Tools editing, workstation composing,, MIDI programming and of course, the traditional music "project" recording we had done all along.

The first piece of gear I saw (and purchased) with a disk drive was in 1982....a good old reliable EMU Emulator One (MIDI'd and still in use !!). It turned the tide forever. The current state of Taylor-Made is a far cry from the Emu-1 days, but it still respects its technologically "clunky" ancestry or as the chic elite say these days.. errr, uh... 'vintage'....... Today, the device with the most over-riding influence on what we do and how we do it, is the computer (duh!)...... We're strictly Mac-oids here! I initially liked it so much I bought two; No kidding. Now we're up to five of them!

Having crossed into the "21st-century", we've installed a 'screamin-fast' 450 Mhz. Mac G-4 in the studio for 'Pro Tools w/ surround' (w/ a ton o' plug-ins!) along w/ the recently added (aforementioned) DoReMi Labs 'non-linear' video capture system for audio- post. For our MIDI-rig we've hot-rodded our 'good old' Power Mac 9500 with a Newer Technologies G-3 card (as well as our office's Mac too!) and are doing our original scoring and composing now w/ MOTU's (latest) Digital Performer. A special thanks here to Digidesign's Joel Krantz for his patience, guidance, expertise and general 'cool-guy' -ness, in overseeing and implementing the massive install we recently survived!!!! As for the other various Macs..... well, they're rumored to be strewn about the premisies in the office, lounge and parts otherwise unknown ....

Back in 1991, the Mac was a big step for us. We previously used a Roland MC-500 dedicated sequencer with an SBX-80 to chase SMPTE. Initially tentative about Performer & the Mac (i.e. learning how to use a new system, down time etc.), I discovered that within a week of setting it up, I wouldn't have been able to take on a project without it..... (Special thanx to Herb Pabst of Next Earth our 'web-meister' for cheering me on to 'Mac-dom')! Performer is easy, fast as heck and flexible; We found it to be a breeze for setting up cues to pix when compared to our previous system. Now, with the addition of digital audio capability within the program you can configure it in a host of different ways to perform different functions in a way that suits you AND the project. The same has been true for Pro Tools digital audio.... You wonder how you ever worked on the dinosaurs that preceded the current state..... And this is from ME, the 'Reluctant Technician'!

With Taylor-Made's vast collection of library music and SFX on CD and CD ROM, the Gefen Systems "Music and Effects Organizer System" is a life-saver for searching FX and library music categorically (once again on the Mac!). It operates essentially like a word-finder program; type in the cue and you're presented with a list of possibilities, including description / variation, CD #, location, index and length. Our input session with Gefen Systems was a challenge (for them...Thanks Hagai!), as we only wanted our database to include the libraries and segments thereof that WE owned (so someone couldn't look up a cue we didn't have, although there are ahem, few that we don't!). When we were done they told us that they'd had never customized an M & E package to the extent they had to for us..... We're such PITA's!

The centerpieces of the studio are our recently-installed 88-input AMEK "Media 51" console and our Pro Tools "high-definition" tapeless audio workstation; The new AMEK features Rupert Neve-designed equalizers amd mic-preamps. As it name implies, the board is "surround-mix-ready" for both the 5.1 and 7.1 formats. The "desk" utilizies the "Supertrue" mix-automation system via a dedicated PC. This system is SMPTE driven and sports complete cut, paste and mix-merging capability, clean graphics and simple operation. Combined with the flexibility of the plug-ins and automation available in Pro Tools, "Supertrue" is a perfect 'finishing touch' mix-companion to the Digidesign program. It's such a pleasure to be able to consistently answer clients with the phrase, "no problem", when they want several variations of a mix, to recall an old mix, or to change a move at the last minute.

Our Macs don't stop in the studio, as our studio office is Mac-equipped as well Here, database programs like "Touchbase" allow us to track clients by name, company, type of service required, their project history, rates, and special needs they may have when they book time at T.M.P.. Microsoft Word is our choice for correspondence and studio documentation, while their "Check-Free" program handles our general accounting and ledger entries.

In this new millennium Taylor-Made hopes to remain a mainstay for all types of artistic / creative and technical audio needs in the performance, advertising and corporate communities....... There are always new toys.. and we're commited to always having what's hot, new or cool....... whatever will give our clients the edge...... (Although it sometimes gives the accountant conniptions!.... sorry J.M.). We are dedicated to the maintenance of the 'cutting edge' of technology here, but we never forget what has brought us this far down the 'pike, after all these years...... good relationships..... and the way in which we respond to our client's needs. Its the cornerstone of any ongoing affiliation, (not to mention a successful organization)...... And.... it's also the predication on which we're building our future here at Taylor-Made Productions!!