Sonic Vista Studios

Sonic Vista Studios is a recording studio located in a 400-year-old Villa in the hills of Ibiza, Spain.[1] Sonic Vista offers services such as: audio recording, mixing, mastering, remote recording, music production, voice-overs and overdubs.[2]

Sonic Vista Studios (Villa Entrance)

Background
Sonic Vista Studios (Studio A)

Founded by L.Henry Sarmiento II, Sonic Vista Studios officially opened in November 2004. Conceptually, the studio was created around two main influences: Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas and Rick Rubin's "The Mansion" in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles. The objective was to offer artists an escape from the noisy city life as well as an inspiring location to create music.[3]

The studio's first client was Hideo Kobayashi[4] from Tokyo, Japan in 2004 who needed mastering for his album "Yellow Diamond".

In 2004 Apple's iTunes needed mastering services for their "iTunes Exclusive" releases and with a list of songs that needed to be polished before releasing them on iTunes Store. These songs were written and performed at Bad Habit Recordings[5] (formally Sy Klopps Studios) in San Francisco, California by artists such as Goldfrapp, Bloc Party, Flaming Lips, Cat Power and Nouvelle Vague.

That same year was when the Pacha Group also became an official client.

In 2007, Ms. Dynamite wrote and recorded a record with Rez Safinia and Niara Scarlett.

In 2008 when Ibiza Rocks Hotel began hosting live music bands and Dj's, Sonic Vista put together a high-end remote rack for the occasion and has been recording their live performances ever since. Live recording and then mixing back at Sonic Vista for the Ibiza Rocks show on MTV England. Artist include: Ellie Goulding, Dizzie Rascal, Jake Bugg, Florence and the Machine, Calvin Harris and Biffy Clyro to name a few.[6]

In 2009, Lady Gaga went to Ibiza accompanied by her producer RedOne for a show at Eden Club[7] in San Antonio. Whilst on the Island they booked a songwriting/recording session with Sonic Vista and recorded the song Alejandro.

A few songs from Sounds from Nowheresville by the Ting Tings were written/recorded at Sonic Vista Studios in 2011. Other A-list artists also include Swedish House Mafia,[8] David Guetta, Akon, Taio Cruz, Ne-Yo, Mousse T, Ms. Dynamite, Idris Elba, 50 Cent, Ester Dean, Andy Taylor and Priyanka Chopra.

In 2011, Eva Herzigová recorded a Voice over for a Dolce & Gabbana commercial.[9]

Redfoo from LMFAO worked on his remix for Carly Rae Jepsen's song This Kiss in 2012 and David Guetta,[10][11] Akon recorded the song Play Hard at Sonic Vista in July 2012.[12]

Sander Kleinenberg worked on remixes for Katy Perry and Robin Thicke at Sonic Vista in 2013.

That same year, Sonic Vista mastered the official aftermovie for Ultra Music Festival in Miami.[13]

Also in 2013, Lena Headey of HBO Game of Thrones recorded a voice over for their DVD collection.

The 400 year old villa in which the studio is located was previously occupied by the late ibizenco artist Vincent Calbet, knowned for his amazing paintings of mediterranean landscapes and his coloring techniques using striking brushworks.[14]

It was the first studio to bring Pro Tools HD to Ibiza in 2004 and is the first to have a Pro Tools HDX system on the Island.[15]

In 2014,[16] Sonic Vista Studios became a writer for the music business column of "Headliner", a music technology lifestyle magazine.[17]

Equipment

The first piece of equipment that entered the studio was Pro Tools HD system and a special Roland digital chorus DC-50 previously owned by the Grateful Dead. Today, Sonic Vista Studios is the most equipped studio on the island having the very best of analogue and digital technology: Avid Pro Tools HDX, Burl Audio,[18][19] Millennia, GML, Manley, Thermionic Culture, Elysia, Solid State Logic, Crane Song,[20] Argosy Console, TC Electronic, Akai, Softube, Waves, Kush Audio, sE Electronics, Dynaudio, Monkey Banana, Yamaha, Modulus and many other brands.[21]

Louis Henry Sarmiento II
Louis Henry Sarmiento II (founder)

Louis Henry Sarmiento II was born in October 1971 of a Swedish mother and Colombian father.[22]  Growing up in New York,[23] his musical endeavors started in 1988 when he hitchhiked to a Max Creek show and suddenly accompanied the band on the road as their roadie for a few shows.[24] The experience was so enriching that the following year, during the summer of 1989, he decided to gather the remaining $200 in his pocket and drive west towards California to pursue a career in the music industry. After numerous trips across the country, he finally got offered his first official job as a roadie for the reggae group Strictly Roots in 1991 at the age of nineteen years.[25] From roadie he went on to become the band's mixing engineer in 6 weeks, this attracted the attention of other groups such as Inka Inka, a band for which he engineered until 1996.[26]

In 1997 he got involved with a Dot-com start-up company by the name of muzic.com.[27] This new adventure encouraged him to move to San Francisco where the upcoming company would be housed at Herbie Herbert's warehouse with Sy Klopps Studios and Nocturne Productions. The company's reputation grew and got the attention of key figures in the music industry; doing demonstrations at MIDEM, Cannes as well as partnering up with Liquid Audio technology, the new start-up was one of the first to materialize the notion of digital distribution, a model that is now the main reference to how music is discovered, purchased and listened to by audiences today. muzic.com was at the forefront of the digital music revolution just waiting around the corner but never skyrocketed to success because of the Dot-com bubble that was soaring at the time.[28]

However Herbie Herbert saw something special in Sarmiento and decided to keep him as Studio Executive/Engineer of Sy Klopps Studios.[29] Before he knew it, Sarmiento was already recording significant bands such as Tower of Power, Starship and Trichromes (led by Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead and Herbie Herbert). He worked at Sy Klopps until 2004, the year he decided to leave to Ibiza to found Sonic Vista Studios.[30]

His first experience in Ibiza was actually in 2003, when he came on holiday with friend/producer Miguel Migs who was doing a show at Pacha. At the time he felt that the music scene in San Francisco was becoming stale and thought about relocating to an Island. In 2003 Ibiza was already an important destination for music tourism but lacked in professional studios services. Sarmiento hence saw an opportunity and founded Sonic Vista Studios one year later. The first session being held on 29 November 2004.[31] He is also the first person to bring a Pro Tools HDX system to the Island.[32][33]

In 2016, Henry Sarmiento was featured on Billboard (magazine)'s story "The Real Ibiza".[34]

Clients[35]

[36][37] [38] [39] [40][41]

Artists Studio Session Description
Lady GagaVocal RecordingLady Gaga and Red One wrote Alejandro
50 CentVocal RecordingSongwriting for G-Unit Inc.
AkonVocal RecordingWriting Play Hard with David Guetta
Ne-YoVocal RecordingSongwriting Session
Taio CruzVocal RecordingWriting for Def Jam
David GuettaEngineeringWriting for 2U (song) with Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd
David GuettaVocal RecordingProducing Play Hard with Akon
Swedish House MafiaVocal RecordingProducing Session
Ting TingsRecordingRecording songs for Sounds from Nowheresville
Priyanka ChopraVocal RecordingRecording New Album with RedOne Team and Ester Dean
KelisVocal RecordingSongwriting Session
Idris ElbaMixingRemix of Something Really Bad
RedfooProduction and MixingRemix for This Kiss for Carly Rae Jepsen
Andy TaylorRecording/MixingNew Album
Lena HeadeyVocal RecordingVoice Over Sessions for Game of Thrones DVD
Eva HerzigováVocal RecordingVoice Over Sessions for Dolce & Gabbana Commercial
Plan BRemote RecordingLive at Ibiza Rocks
GoldfrappMasteringMastered for iTunes Exclusive
Yeah Yeah YeahsMasteringMastered for iTunes Exclusive
No DoubtMixingAnthony Gorry Remix of Settle Down
Dizzee RascalRemote RecordingLive at Mallorca Rocks Hotel

References
  1. Mobile Roadie, Staff. "About this Sonic Vista Studios Ibiza App". Mobile Roadie. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  2. Gumble, Daniel. "Studio Spotlight: Sonic Vista Studios, Ibiza". Audio Pro International. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  3. Argosy, Staff. "Argosy Desks Add to Ambience and Ergonomics at Ibiza's Sonic Vista Studios". Argosy. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  4. Hideo, Kobayashi. "Hideo Facebook Profile". Facebook. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  5. Brislawn, Gordon. "Bad Habit Recordings - Background & History". Bad Habit Recordings. Bad Habit Recordings. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  6. Henry, Sarmiento. "Sonic Vista Insights". headlinermagazine.net/. Headliner Magazine.
  7. vxvxv, 99. "Lady GaGa @ Eden Ibiza". Youtube. Retrieved 29 March 2014.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. Sonic Distribution, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studios Launch Sonic Vista Academy". Sonic Distribution. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  9. Sonic Vista Studios Profile, 99. "Dicogs". Discogs. Retrieved 1 January 2015.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. Rolt, Amber. "Dj Dreamin': How three young aspiring DJs won Ibiza residencies". The Ibiza Paper. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  11. Guetta, David. "David Guetta SOS Interview". Sound On Sound. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  12. Gear Slutz, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studios:: Ibiza, Spain". Gear Slutz. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  13. UMF, TV. "RELIVE ULTRA MIAMI 2013 (Official Aftermovie)". Ultra Music Festival. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  14. José, P Ribas. "Artists of Ibiza: Vincent Calbet". liveibiza.com. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  15. Davies, David. "L. Henry Sarmiento: Professional in Paradise". PSN Europe. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  16. Rebeka Brown, Pili y Kenzie. "Con mis ojos - Baleares". rtve.com. RTVE.
  17. Sarmiento II, Louis Henry. "Sonic Vista Insights". Headliner Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  18. Sarmiento, Henry. "Burl Artist Henry Sarmiento". BURL. BURL. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  19. Sarmiento, Henry. "BURL ARTIST". BURL. BURL. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  20. Ibiza Blog, Staff. "Another visit to Sonic Vista Studios". ibiza-blog.com. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  21. Media Pros, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studios". Media Pros. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  22. PSW, Staff. "Argosy Desks Add To Ambiance And Ergonomics At Ibiza's Sonic Vista Studios". Pro Sound Web. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  23. Audio Media, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studio's Henry Sarmiento II". Audio Media. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  24. Coca, Cola. "Sonic Vista Studios Masterclass". Coca Cola Company. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  25. Airtime, Magazine. "Paradise Island". ISSUU. DBXPRO. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  26. Essential Ibiza, Admin. "Making Music Sonic Vista Style". Essential Ibiza. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  27. Liquid Audio, Staff. "muzic.com Teams With Liquid Audio to Offer Free Download of New Joan Jett Release 'Fetish' to be Distributed Exclusively on the Internet at http://www.muzic.com/". PRN News Wire. Retrieved 24 March 2014. External link in |title= (help)
  28. All Studios, Staff. "Essential Ibiza - INTERVIEW WITH HENRY SARMIENTO 2014 II". Essential Ibiza. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  29. All Studios, Staff. "SONIC VISTA STUDIOS - INTERVIEW WITH HENRY SARMIENTO II". All Studios. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  30. Heartbreaker, Daisy. "Sonic Vista Studios". Ibiza Style. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  31. Dynaudio, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studios". Dynaudio. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  32. Avid, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studios: Bringing Pro Tools HDX to Ibiza". Avid. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  33. Forum, Avid. "Sonic Vista Studios Bringing Pro Tools HDX to Ibiza". Avid Forum. Avid. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  34. Billboard, Billboard. "The Real Ibiza, Episode 3". Billboard Youtube Channel. Billboard. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  35. Sound Better, Staff. "Sonic Vista Studios". Sound Better. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  36. Miss, W. "Interview: Rebeka Brown". White Ibiza. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  37. Miss, W. "Interview: Liam Gerner". Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  38. Lucky Life, TV. "Marco Bailey: The Documentary". Lucky Life TV. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  39. Dash Berlin, World. "Paul van Dyk: "And it's a wrap! Great session at Sonic Vista Studios. Now time for a little break in the balearic sun"". Dash Berlin World. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  40. Paul Van, Dyke. "Behind the Scenes of Paul van Dyk's Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  41. Sarmiento, Henry. "2U (Victoria Secret Sound Department)". IMDB. IMDN. Retrieved 18 November 2018.

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