Situated in bucolic Chatsworth, California, just steps away from the Santa Susana Mountains, Mulholland Music is located on the site of the former Cherokee Ranch Studio. Originally built in the '60's as a quiet, private music space to foster creativity, the building has been the site of many historic and popular recordings, notably Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic. The area is studded with picturesque oak trees, and only a discreet waterfall logo indicates to the outside world that the studio is here.
Once inside, visitors are greeted in the reception area by the requisite platinum sales awards, as Mulholland Music has been the point of departure for over 100 million units of recorded music, be it record album, compact disc, or digital download.
An outrageous collection of arcana, ephemera, and music industry flotsam and jetsam is housed here, and the wandering eye is repeatedly snagged by an almost impossible variety of collectibles.
Wes Dooley's AEA 44 gets a warm but very live sound in the room, which features original 70's era cork on some walls, and unique period batik textiles on others. High-end condenser and dynamic mics are also in the collection, the better to record anything from a quiet acoustic guitar to a wall-pinning Marshall stack.
Five keyboards stand at the ready: a Baldwin mini grand piano (from the home of Dick Nash), a vintage Cromwell four octave celeste (from Whitney Studios), an original Fender-Rhodes, an excellent Howard upright piano, and the mighty Baldwin Encore electric organ.
