Number 9 Audio Group

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Number 9 Audio Group is a recording studio located in the Cabbagetown area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 222 Gerrard Street East. Number 9 produced the World Jazz For Haiti charity album in 2010, appeared on Much Music's DISBAND in 2008, and recorded Canadian acts Barenaked Ladies [1] and Amanda Marshall in the 1990s, while they were still emerging artists.

Toronto Provincial capital city in Ontario, Canada

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the most populous city in Canada, with a population of 2,731,571 in 2016. Current to 2016, the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA), of which the majority is within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), held a population of 5,928,040, making it Canada's most populous CMA. Toronto is the anchor of an urban agglomeration, known as the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario, located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Ontario Province of Canada

Ontario is one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province accounting for 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is also Ontario's provincial capital.

Barenaked Ladies Canadian band

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band, formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band quickly developed a cult following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release ever to be certified gold in Canada. Their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992.

Contents

History

Number 9 Audio Group was founded in 1981 by George Rondina, who continues to operate the studio to this day. [2] The title of the studio is a nod towards the Beatles' Revolution 9. The recording studio is currently housed with a renovated Victorian building, featuring two live rooms, a single control room and small production lab. In 2010, Number 9 Audio Group was profiled by Canadian Musician magazine due to its long history in the Canadian music industry. [3]

"Revolution 9" is a sound collage that appeared on the Beatles' 1968 eponymous release. The composition, credited to Lennon–McCartney, was created primarily by John Lennon with assistance from George Harrison and Yoko Ono. Lennon said he was trying to paint a picture of a revolution using sound. The composition was influenced by the avant-garde style of Ono as well as the musique concrète works of composers such as Edgard Varèse and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Canadian Musician is a Canadian magazine that is published bi-monthly by Norris-Whitney Communications Inc.

Beginnings (Number 9 Sound Studios)

After touring extensively as a keyboardist during the 1970s, George Rondina decided to make a career change to producer/engineer. He took $500 of his savings and opened up the first incarnation of Number 9 Sound Studios in the back of a local record shop. The studio grew quickly and took on a variety of clients from the Toronto area.

As business picked up George formed a partnership with Jim Zolis to further grow the studio. They switched locations to a basement studio on Jarvis street in Toronto, in order to better serve their increasingly metropolitan clients. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Number 9 welcomed artists such as Jane Siberry, Amanda Marshall, The Nylons, The Waltons, Barenaked Ladies and Jeff Healey through their doors.

Jane Siberry Canadian singer-songwriter

Jane Siberry is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as "Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels". She performed the theme song to the television series Maniac Mansion. She has released material under the name Issa – an identity which she used formally between 2006 and 2009.

Amanda Marshall Canadian singer and musician

Amanda Meta Marshall is a Canadian pop-rock singer. She has released three studio albums, the first was certified Diamond in Canada, with the latter two certified 3x Platinum and Platinum respectively. She is best known for her 1996 single, "Birmingham", which reached number 3 in Canada and was her only song to reach the US charts.

The Nylons are an a cappella group founded in 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, best known for their covers of pop songs such as The Turtles' "Happy Together", Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

Number 9 Audio Group

Although the studio had gained great popularity by the mid 1990s - earning multiple Juno Awards and Gold Records - the two partners decided to go their separate ways in 1996. George went on to build the business that is now known as Number 9 Audio Group, while Jim founded his own company entitled Zolis Audio Productions.

The business continued to flourish throughout the 1990s and 2000s, working with an eclectic mix of clients including Van Morrison, Duran Duran and The Rolling Stones. In 2006 the studio moved into a new location; a renovated Victorian home in the core of downtown Toronto, which it occupies to this day.

Van Morrison Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician

Sir George Ivan MorrisonOBE, better known as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. His professional career began as a teenager in the late 1950s playing a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Van Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them, with whom he recorded the garage band classic "Gloria". His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968). Though this album gradually garnered high praise, it was initially a poor seller.

Duran Duran English New Wave band

Duran Duran are an English new wave band formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band were one of the most successful acts of the 1980s, but by the end of the decade, membership and music style changes challenged the band before a resurgence in the early 1990s. The group were a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the US. They achieved 14 singles in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the Billboard Hot 100, and have sold over 100 million records worldwide.

The Rolling Stones English rock band

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of bandleader Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. The band's primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and continues on guitar in tandem with Richards. Since Wyman's departure in 1993, Darryl Jones has served as touring bassist. The Stones have not had an official keyboardist since 1963, but have employed several musicians in that role, including Jack Nitzsche (1965–1971), Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981), Ian McLagan (1978–1981), and Chuck Leavell (1982–present).

disBAND

On Monday August 25, 2009, Much Music came to Number 9 to film an episode of their popular show disBAND. [4] The featured band for the episode was pop duo Karamel, who recorded with head engineer Bernie Cisternas with the assistance of Treble Charger frontman Greg Nori. Although the recording session was a success, Karamel received a "thumbs down" from the disBand jury at the episode's climax.

Treble Charger is a Canadian rock band formed in 1992 in Sault Ste. Marie, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Greig Nori, vocalist and guitarist Bill Priddle, bassist Rosie Martin and drummer Richard Mulligan. It began with a melodic indie rock style, but evolved into more of a pop punk band after signing to a major label in 1997. It disbanded in 2006 and reunited in 2012.

World Jazz For Haiti

Following the disastrous 2010 Haiti earthquake, George Rondina worked in tandem with producer/musician George Koller to produce the World Jazz For Haiti charity album. [5] Over the course of six months the duo recorded a variety of Canadian talent at Number 9 Audio Group, including John McDermott, Holly Cole, David Clayton-Thomas and many more. [6] After months of hard work the album was released at a fundraiser event at Hugh's Room in Toronto. All profits from the album sales and release party went towards the Red Cross' disaster relief fund. [7]

Present Day

Number 9 Audio Group continues to operate as a full-service recording studio to this day. Asides from the usual audio activities, the studio works towards promoting its charity projects [8] and diversifying its client base.

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References

  1. ↑ "ENC-EN - Page 89762". Irapl.altervista.org. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  2. ↑ McKinnon, Donna Jean. (February 22, 1993) "Recording studio finetunes profits with a personal touch" The Toronto Star, Page B1 (available via Toronto Star archives, with subscription)
  3. ↑ "Press". World Jazz For Haiti. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  4. ↑ "disBAND (Ep. 107) Karamel". Muchmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  5. ↑ "Sept 24 Column". Scribd.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  6. ↑ "Cabbagetown studio putting out star-studded jazz CD for Haiti". InsideToronto Article. 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  7. ↑ ""World Jazz for Haiti" CD launch party « Red Cross Talks". Redcrosstalks.wordpress.com. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  8. ↑ "Player". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
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