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| Founded | 1968 |
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Different Fur Studios (formerly Different Fur Trading Company) is a recording studio located in the Mission District area of San Francisco, California, at 3470 19th Street. Since 1968, Different Fur has recorded music from a wide range of artists, including major Grammy and Oscar-winning musicians as well as many important independent musicians.
Different Fur was founded in 1968 by the electronic music composer and keyboardist Patrick Gleeson and John Vieira. Its name was suggested by poet Michael McClure, while he was being recorded by Gleeson. By the early 1970s Gleeson was doing sessions with Jefferson Starship on his recently acquired 8-track recorder and Moog synthesizer. It was his expertise in early synthesizers, like the Moog, which eventually led Gleeson to collaborations with Herbie Hancock, whom Gleeson credits with helping Different Fur get off the ground. [1] By 1971 Gleeson was working with Hancock on his albums Crossings and Sextant . He went on to record many of the synthesizers on Hancock's master work Head Hunters , as well as several solo albums at Different Fur. [2]
Gleeson eventually sold Different Fur in 1985. [3] However, it remains an active recording studio to this day. The studio is currently owned by Engineer Patrick Brown. [4]
In February 2009, the relatively unknown and very recently signed to Fat Possum band Wavves filmed a video with bloggers yourstru.ly. The project was a three-part live filming of the two-piece band playing some of the songs off their new EP including "So Bored." While the original videos only received modest views after release, they marked the beginning of an ongoing partnership between Different Fur engineers and YoursTruly video producers that have resulted in live sessions with The Morning Benders, Chromeo, Little Dragon, Big K.R.I.T., Toro Y Moi, P.O.S, Girls, Freddie Gibbs, San Bruno's Death Cab For Cutie etc.
Artists who have recorded at Different Fur include Neil Young, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Devo, The Units, Kronos Quartet, Bobby Hutcherson, Primus, Al Di Meola, Joe Henderson, William Ackerman, Bobby McFerrin, Gene Clark, Michael Hedges, Terry Riley, Earth, Wind & Fire, Alan Hovhaness, Joe Satriani, The Residents, Erasure, Mr. Bungle, Autopsy, Yo-Yo Ma, John Zorn, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Morning Benders, Daniel Selby, Herbie Hancock, OneRepublic, Tristan Prettyman, among many others.
Music for Peanuts TV Specials and parts of the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now have been recorded there. [5]
Different Fur was featured in the SF Weekly Music section on June 15, 2011. The article focuses on work done with a number of local bands and artists. [6]
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Herbert Jeffrey Hancock is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, Hancock experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro styles, using a wide array of synthesizers and electronics. It was during this period that he released perhaps his best-known and most influential album, Head Hunters.
The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popular with progressive rock and jazz musicians and found wide use in disco, pop, rock and electronic music.
Head Hunters is the twelfth studio album by American pianist, keyboardist and composer Herbie Hancock, released October 26, 1973, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in the evening at Wally Heider Studios and Different Fur Trading Co. in San Francisco, California.
"Rockit" is a composition recorded by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and produced by Bill Laswell and Michael Beinhorn. Hancock released it as a single from his studio album Future Shock (1983). The selection was composed by Hancock, Laswell, and Beinhorn.
Keytar is a keyboard instrument similar to a synthesizer or MIDI controller that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is held.
Gavin Christopher was an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician, and producer.
Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre whose spectrum is quite wide and ranges from strong jazz improvisation to soul, funk or disco with jazz arrangements, jazz riffs, jazz solos, and sometimes soul vocals.
The Moog Liberation is the first commercially produced "keytar" synthesizer, released in 1980 by Moog Music. The instrument is comparable to the Moog Concertmate MG-1 and the Moog Rogue, but it is most closely related to the Moog Prodigy; however, as a keytar, the Liberation was designed to be played in the same posture as one would play a guitar.
Michael Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author, and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Korn, and Marilyn Manson.
Sextant is the eleventh studio album by Herbie Hancock, released in 1973 by Columbia. It is the last album with the Mwandishi-era sextet featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. Synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson and percussionist Buck Clarke also appear.
Sound-System is the thirtieth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and the second of three albums co-produced by Bill Laswell with the ‘Rockit’ Band. Guest artists include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarist Henry Kaiser, kora player/percussionist Foday Musa Suso and drummer Anton Fier.
Lite Me Up is a pop album with a strong disco-funk feel by Herbie Hancock. It was Hancock's twenty-eighth album and first release without producer David Rubinson since 1969. On this album, Hancock was influenced by his long-time friend, producer Quincy Jones and sessions included many musicians associated with Jones including Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro of Toto. The album was the first on which Hancock played the Synclavier, a digital polyphonic synthesizer.
Sunlight is an album by keyboardist Herbie Hancock. It features Hancock's vocals through a Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder, as well as performances by drummer Tony Williams and bassist Jaco Pastorius on “Good Question”.
Crossings is the tenth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released in 1972. It is the second album in his Mwandishi period, which saw him experimenting in electronics and funk with a sextet featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. The album is the band's first to feature synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson. He was scheduled to "set up his Moog for Hancock to play." However, Hancock was so impressed with Gleeson that he "asked Gleeson not only to do the overdubs on the album but join the group."
Leslie Ann Jones is an American multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer, working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is a past Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Board of Trustees, the organization that awards Grammys, and in 2018 was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame. She is the daughter of novelty drummer, percussionist and bandleader Spike Jones and his wife, singer Helen Grayco.
Patrick Gleeson is an American musician, synthesizer pioneer, composer, and producer.
Patrick (Bischoff) Brown is an American engineer, producer and studio owner. He has been the CEO of several record labels, including Brown Bottle Records and Different Fur Studios. He is the current owner of Different Fur Studios in the Mission district of San Francisco, California.
The Automatt was a sound recording studio in San Francisco, California, promoted for its early mix automation system. During its eight active years, 1976 to 1984, it was one of the top recording studios in the region. The Automatt was founded by producer David Rubinson and opened in an existing studio subleased from Columbia Records, who continued to record in the same building for a few years; thus it was sometimes referred to as CBS/Automatt. Rubinson leased the whole building in 1978 and from that point, operated three rooms for recording and mixing, a mastering room, a rehearsal room, and offices. The studio complex was known for its top-notch equipment, for the hit records it produced, and for the famous artists who recorded there. Under Rubinson and chief engineer Fred Catero it served as the training ground for respected recording engineers such as Leslie Ann Jones and producers such as Scott Mathews.
Pacific Recorders was an independent recording studio in San Mateo, California. Founded in 1968, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as Santana, the Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Moby Grape, and Taj Majal.
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