Laughing All the Way to the Bank
By Keith May

Have you ever heard of a recording studio with a public mission statement? Laughing Tiger Productions has one. They are a full-scale studio/production company located in San Rafael, CA. And to serious artists who don’t necessarily have major-label backing, it is quite appealing. Laughing Tiger’s mission is "to offer an atmosphere that allows each artist to achieve creative fulfillment, while providing the producer, engineer and record company with a high-quality and affordable studio." Quite frankly, that’s no mean feat, but happily enough, having such a mission hasn’t kept Laughing Tiger from turning a profit.

Laughing Tiger features two great studios that were designed with the artist in mind. Their list of available services also reflects an artist-centered orientation. They offer live tracking, mixing, digital editing, mastering, production, programming, voice over, lock to picture and layback, but they also help artists write, refine and record original music. Regardless of whether a major label is backing a project, or a fledgling singer/ songwriter wants to record a high-quality demo, Ari Rios, the owner and founder of Laughing Tiger says "we provide the same quality of service regardless of the rate of compensation."

Rios understands that Laughing Tiger is "not in the middle of the pipeline like we would be in LA.” That hasn’t stopped him from working with some well-known and well-respected artists, including Jackson Browne, Peter Gabriel, Al Green, Train, Darren Hayes (Savage Garden), Rick Nowles (Jewel, Madaonna, Dido), Stanley Jordan, Sammy Hagar, Gregg Allman, Ledisi, Disturbed and D’Wayne Wiggins (Tony! Toni! Tone!).

Off the clock, Rios penned a song on the record that got Train signed to CBS. Rios is also excited about his work with Gimbo, which is his first production project for Garageband.com.

Rios was born into an upper class family in pre-Castro Havana, where he was influenced by Cuban music. He later immigrated to New York and fell in love with soul music. A bit of a vagabond, he moved to Miami and steeped himself in the scene at the University of Miami Jazz School. Subsequently, he decided to learn the business of music and the craft of songwriting, and relocated to Nashville where he collaborated with Even Stevens and Eddie Money.

Over the course of many solo and full-band gigs in the Southeast, Rios discovered that the more he traveled, the more he realized his love for music in its different forms. Along the way he was befriended, influenced and inspired by Rod Stewart and Duane Allman.

In spite of the fact that he was touring frequently, Rios never got the big break that eludes so many talented musicians and he eventually retired from touring, went into business for himself, and opened a car dealership. He recalls, "The market was really good at the time and I made a ton of cash, but I was miserable. I wasn’t playing. I was just working, but I kept writing music. I had an 8-track Tascam recorder that I used to record my songs, but for a new tune, instead of playing everything myself, I hired the best players in the [Bay] area to play on it."

Rios did a demo of one tune and sent it to Al Schmitt, one of his mentors. Schmitt usually told Rios that he liked his songs but couldn’t really hear them on the radio. But after hearing this one, Schmitt said "Who is this?! What did you do? I know it’s you singing, but what did you do?!"

Schmitt loved the tune, but was blown away by the sound quality of the recording that Rios had made. After hearing that recording, "Schmitt told me that I should think about a career as a recorder of music!"

Rios put his business up for sale the next day, but it took him six months to liquidate his inventory. "I was 36 years old," he says, and "in those six months I realized I didn’t want to start out as an intern. I decided to buy myself a two-track machine and learn how to engineer in a trial-by-fire sort of way by just working hard at it every day."

Rios’ mission evolved as his skills increased. When his studio was born nine years ago, Rios’ plan was "to put together a world-class studio that would support the community of artists already in the Bay Area." He continues, "I realized that there were no studios geared at working with serious musicians without record deals."

The caliber of the gear has evolved as well. When Laughing Tiger Productions first opened its doors, it was located in a house in San Anselmo. The board was a Peavey 2400. After moving to San Rafael and settling in, Rios bought an SSL G+4052 w/E-series EQ’s througout, Total Recall and Ultimation! Studio B boasts a Mackie 32-8 with Ultramix, remote talk back modification and a 576 point "TT" patch bay. Clients have their choice of KRK Expose 8's, KRK 12" subwoofer, Yamaha NS10&Mac226;s, Optimus 7’s, Meyer HD1’s, KRK 9000&Mac226;s or Auratones for monitoring.

Both studios have 24 bit ProTools systems, Apogee 1000 A/D converters and Alesis ADAT 24 tracks. When only analog will do, Studio A has a 2", 24-track Studer A80 and a 1/2" Ampex ATR 102. Not to be left out, Studio B has a 2", 24-track Otari MTR90 with VSO.

Rios feels that people underestimate the ability of the musicians in the Bay Area. He says "all the really talented artists who didn’t want to fit into the other scenes (NY, Austin, Memphis) moved here." Rios isn’t alone in that view. The lure of the studio and the gear has been strong enough to allow Rios to work with Jerry Harrison, Dawn Atkinson, Bill Cutler, Karl Derfler, Preston Glass and Narada Michael Walden. It has also enticed Atlantic, Capitol/ EMI, Giant, House of Blues, Motown and Warner Brothers in addition to a number of independent labels.

In spite of the impressive list of credits Rios has achieved on his own, Laughing Tiger Productions is not a one-man show Rios has assembled a staff of people who believe in the mission - to keep the quality of the work as high as possible, while allowing multiple projects to move forward concurrently in a cost-effective manner.

Jim Reitzel (producer/engineer) has worked with Michael Hedges, Will Ackerman, Patty Larkin, Pattie Labelle, Michael Manring, John Gorka, Dawn Atkinson and Stroke 9.

Evan Reiley (producer/engineer) earned a B.S. in Physics at UC Santa Cruz where he focused on electronics and acoustics and completed the electronic music and sound engineering program.

Daniel Daniel has worked as a producer/engineer in both Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, and with artists including LA Guns, Kingfish, Chris Stills and Tonic.

David Simon-Baker (producer/engineer) began studying music at the College of Marin under the direction of Paul Smith and Martin Fricke and studied Music Composition at U.C. Santa Barbara.

Matt Cohen (producer/engineer) was a founding member and BAMMIE and WAMMIE award-winning member of the swing/lounge/cabaret outfit, Lee Press-On and the Nails. He plays guitar, bass, drums, trumpet and keyboards.

So why should you record at Laughing Tiger? In Rios’ own words, "we have a passion for music that mirrors your own, and we understand that quality, comfort, budget and convenience are key. We are proud to provide a supportive environment that is truly conducive to creativity."

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(Laughing Tiger has some great outboard gear, too. Studio A has an AMS rmx16, 2 Empirical Labs Distressors with mods, Fatso, Urei 1176, 4 Urei LA4&Mac226;s, dbx 165, dbx 160x&Mac226;s, stereo Tube Tech LCA 2B, ART PRO VLA, 2 Drawmer 1960’s, Lexicon PCM91, Lexicon PCM70, T.C M5000, EMT 245, Lexicon PCM41, Lexicon PCM42, 2 T.C. Electronics 2290&Mac226;s, Eventide H-3000S, 2 Yamaha SPX 90 II, 2 Drawmer D S201, Alesis Quadraverb, Aphex Type B, ADA 2FX and Delta Lab Effectron I.

All the outboard gear is interchangeable between the studios, but the outboard that usually resides in Studio B is a Sontec MEP 250 Stereo 5 band parametric EQ, 2 API 512 mic pre’s, 4 API 550B 4 band EQ&Mac226;s, 2 Neve 31105 mic pre's with DI&Mac226;s, a Tube Tech LCA 2B stereo tube mastering compressor, Drawmer 1960 stereo tube compressor, 2 Urei LA4 compressor, DBX 166 stereo compressor with gates, DBX 266 stereo compressor with gates, an Orban 424A stereo compressor, 2 Drawmer DS201 stereo gates, Ashly CL100 Compressor/Limiter, Furman LC-6 stereo compressor gate, Symetrix 525 dual-gated compressor/limiter, DBX 363X Dual Gate, Lexicon LXP1 multi-effect, Lexicon LXP5 multi-effect, Lexicon MRC controller, Alesis Quadraverb II, Boss DE-260 Digital Delay and Peavey Adverb.)