Studio Day at Kaleidoscope Sound

Posted by DJ Roodz on May 22, 2019

I am SO SO happy to be done with college! Not only do I have a chance to breathe and catch up on lost sleep, but I can dedicate some serious time to music before I start my new job. So, when my buddy Josh (aka Statik Link) reached out to me to join him at a studio session, I was immediately on board. Minus the time I went to the Matrix Sessions, I hadn’t really ever been in a real studio environment. I was so excited to check out the control room and ogle at the in-house gear. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed by the experience.

We headed to Kaleidoscope Sound in Union City, NJ. Built in 2001 from an old sewing factory (Union City was once the embroidery capital of the world), you wouldn’t know that the space was there unless you were looking for it. Stepping into the studio is like crossing the threshold into a musician’s Narnia: records and CD’s line the walls to the studio and control room. In the live room, classic amps, synths, and mics line the walls, and the pièce de résistance – a vintage Steinway – dominates the middle of the room. The control room boasts a huge console made by API Legacy and a bunch of vintage gear.

Josh was looking to record samples for his upcoming EP, “Shapes of Music, Vol. 2.” “The idea,” he told me, “is that these projects that I’ve been working on lately are meant to be sampled. I want people to chop up and flip whatever I’m recording. So, I’m looking to lay down some high quality stems on good gear.” Our mutual friend, Basma (aka DJ CarmenSandiego) currently interns at the studio and handled all of our engineering needs. She did an awesome job of working the board and miking up drums, keys, and Josh’s trumpet.

I had recently gotten a GoPro with a Karma Grip and brought it with me, along with my camera. I haven’t gotten to shoot anything in quite some time, and let me tell you, I was having a BLAST! When I’m not DJing, I absolutely love shooting photo and video. One of my favorite quotes sums it up perfectly: “Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.”

This was the first time that I had taken my GoPro out, and it definitely exceeded expectations. The quality is superb for a camera of its stature, and using the Karma Grip produced some seriously cinematic footage. Check it out for yourself below: