DATA MUSIC SERVICES —
                    MORE THAN A RECORDING STUDIO
 
By Robin Clark Noll
 
       Data Music Services is owned and operated by David Villani. Dave had a love for the piano at an early age and started piano and music lessons at the age of 6. After high school, he played professionally in between stints at college eventually landing in Philadelphia playing music full time while attending Temple University.
       Dave holds a BM degree in jazz/arranging composition from Temple University/ Philadelphia and a Masters degree in theory/composition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dave has also studied musical acoustics at North Texas State University and electronic music with Robert Moog, (world renowned inventor of the Moog synthesizer) at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Dave is currently a doctoral candidate in music at Boston University. He is also an adjunct professor at Penn State/Altoona teaching basic audio, advanced audio and the history of jazz. During the advanced audio course the students come to Data Music Services to experience hands on recording.
Dave continues to perform live with partner Paula Glunt at 4D’s Lounge every Saturday night. They have been performing there for 18 years. He also does various jazz events throughout the year. Playing piano is like breathing to Dave. He has been composing and arranging music for years, several of his compositions and arrangements have been used throughout the country in a multitude of projects.
   While at Temple University, Dave studied computer music programming (UNIX on a DEC PDP11) and got into MIDI when the spec was introduced in 1983. Dave’s long term professional experience with the most common programs used in recording studios and his strong creative abilities are among the many reasons clients choose Data Music Services. Dave has used MOTU Performer/Digital Performer since version 1, (1985) Finale since version 1 (1988), Digidesgn Sound Tools since version 1 (1989), and Pro Tools since version 1 (1991). As a dealer and consultant for over 1600 music tech and pro audio products, Dave maintains a current pulse on an ever-changing industry.
   An experienced performer, keyboardist, pianist, MIDI programmer and producer, Dave has been recording and engineering music for over twenty years. Data Music Services started as a small 4 track analog facility in 1986 and quickly grew to 8 track and then 24 track 2-inch analog. Along the way as new digital technologies were introduced, they were added as well. In 1989 Dave moved Data Music Services to Altoona. He was an Altoona native and knew the area had a multitude of talent with no outlet for recording that talent professionally. Today the studio features 24 track two inch analog recording, and a high definition (192k) Pro Tools/HD3 system. The studio is capable of recording and mixing multi-channel (5.1) high definition audio.
    The studio outlived 4 other sites before settling into the current facility in 1994 - a former nightclub. The building was everything Dave was looking for as far as a foundation structure. He took his years of experience and education and designed a studio with optimal goals for sound, technology, visual sight lines, and comfort in mind. Dave focuses on creating an organic feel and comfort level for every musician and client who comes through his doors. He knows recording sounds best when the clients are comfortable with their surroundings.
    Just a few of the clients Data Music Services have worked with include: Frank Tiberi – leader of the Woody Herman Band, and Berklee College of Music sax instructor, Jordan Rudess – Dream Theater, Paul Winter – Grammy award winning saxophonist, Dianne Bish – internationally acclaimed classical organist, Bruce Watkins – Nashville session guitarist and Dolly Parton co-producer, The Rude Boys – Atlantic recording artists, The Amernet String Quartet – winner of the 1995 Banff Festival, NBC Television – the Miss America Pageant, Hal Leonard Publishing Corp., Honda  America – National television spot, Mike Reid – Grammy award winning songwriter, Penn State University, University of South Carolina, Benedict College, Mansfield University, Clarion University, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Sheetz Corp., Ward Trucking Corp., The Hite Company DelGrosso Foods, DelGrosso Amusement Park and hundreds of regional bands and solo artists……an impressive list of recording and mastering clients that demonstrate a cross section of all styles of music.
     Data Music Services philosophy and goal is to provide the very best recording atmosphere and equipment at a very reasonable cost. With over 20 years experience, Dave gives each project his ears and knowledge to make it top notch.
   The main tracking room is 25 x 40 with a sound stage. It was carefully designed by computer to feature the ambience musicians want in a room yet maintain the feel of a live club…..optimizing the feel of the entire recording process.
   Likewise, for more intimate or multi-tracked projects, the studio features 3 iso rooms for complete separation when miking. The studio features 56 total inputs throughout. JBL playback monitors and up to 10 different headphone sends are available. Each individual artist can control his own headphone mix providing a level of headphone monitoring optimized for artist comfort.
   The room can easily accommodate rock and jazz bands, chamber musicians, big bands, and choral groups.
    Instruments include: 7 ft.Yamaha C7 grand piano, Hammond B-3, two Leslie speakers a.k.a (Leslie East and Leslie West). Classic analog synthesizers include Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Mini-Moog, Oberheim OBXa, Roland TB-303, Roland CR-1000, Korg Poly Six. Many other samplers and digital synths including: Yamaha Motif ES8, Yamaha S90ES, Yamaha DX-7, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand, Kurzweil PC88 MX, Kurzweil K-2000, Ensoniq ASR-10, EPS, Mirage, EPS-16, Korg M1-R, E-Mu Proteus 2000, Roland RD-600, Roland JV-1010, Roland JV-1020, MOTU-Mach 5, Garritan GPO. Marshall JCM900 half stack, Fender twin, Fender bassman, GK 800 and SWR 500 amps.
   The 15 x 15 control room houses the AMEK/Scorpion II 40 x 24 console and Pro Tools/HD3 system. Outboard mic pres are from API, Focusrite, DW Fearn, and Millennia-Media. Complete Midi programming is available with 88 key controllers, MOTU Digital Performer, and rack mounted synths and samplers. Monitoring is by KRK Expose 8’s-5.1 system, (this system was purchased from surround guru Elliot Scheiner-these actual speakers were used on the Sting, Toy Matinee, Toto IV, REM, Donald Fagan, and Beck 5.1 releases), UREI 811Bs, Yamaha NS-10s, and Auratones. All analog effects are housed in a convenient island that facilitates client comfort for mixing. Numerous plug ins are used in conjunction with the Pro Tools/HD system including Waves Platinum, URS, Antares, and Lexicon.
       Dave, being a musician himself and a composer believes that everyone’s music is sacred and when you enter his studio he treats each project with the respect it deserves. When he engineers a project all those participating generally are involved in the mixing process. He allows his clients to listen with him and does as they request. He encourages the client’s input during the mixing process. They are there to create their own unique sound and style of music. His goal is for them to be totally satisfied with the end result.
When asked to produce sessions, Dave supplies his years of musical experience and takes more control over the mix and oversees all aspects of the production. Dave would not have maintained the reputation or client base he has without providing the attention to detail that he does.
    Dave adheres to several simple but important rules in the studio:
1.    He is first and foremost a musician. He understands clients needs and knows what it is like to spend hours at a time perfecting a recorded performance. As a trained musician he can arrange charts, read music scores, orchestrate parts, and help solve typical musical problems such as pitch, intonation, and rhythmic inaccuracies.
2.    He will always go out of his way to make a project sound as good as possible, even if it means spending extra (non-billed) time on a recording that is in distress.
3.    He never (unless asked to by a client) interferes with an artist’s ideas or creative process. The priority is to capture a performance with the highest quality audio possible.
4.    The studio is a private commercial facility. There is only one session booked at a time. There will never be strangers or spectators walking into sessions.
 
   Besides being a top notch recording studio Data Music Services offers sales and consultation for numerous music technology and pro audio lines. They are experts at design and provide cost effective solutions to your music technology requirements. Clients include Penn State University, University of South Carolina, Benedict College, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, WPSX TV, and WPSU radio just to name a few. The following lines are available: Digidesign, Pro Tools systems, MOTU – hardware and software, Sonar – sequencing/digital audio software, Edirol audio and video software and hardware, Sennheiser, EV, AKG, Shure, SPL, Earthworks, Neumann, JBL, M-Audio, Event, Finale, Sibelius, Cakewalk, Hhb, SKB, Tascam, and many others.
    Dave and I talked for two hours for this interview and it was a pleasure meeting him and discussing the whole recording process. I barely touched on all the points that he made. Dave came across as a studio owner and musician whose greatest desire is to record musicians’ music the exact way they want it to come across on the finished project. He provides the best tools he can lay his hands on to provide a top-notch studio and also provides years of hands on experience and education for that to happen. So there it is folks, just like the website at www.datamusicsvcs.com states …The experience…the toys…the room…and the price…all in one convenient studio.