Chieli Minucci

On this photo Chieli plays his old Pensa-Suhr electric guitar.

Digital tracks-horn overdubs, the occasional vocal line and his omnipresent guitar work-are laid down to a single Fostex RD-8; his sequencer is MOTU's Digital Performer 2.2. "This manner of working has been fine with me, both for the work I do here and when I need to record guitar parts at my studio for some out-of-town project," he explains. "However, it's definitely time to move into the world of hard-disk recording."

On this photo Chieli plays his trusty Gibson Chet Atkins nylon string acoustic-electric guitar.

Digital tracks-horn overdubs, the occasional vocal line and his omnipresent guitar work-are laid down to a single Fostex RD-8; his sequencer is MOTU's Digital Performer 2.2. "This manner of working has been fine with me, both for the work I do here and when I need to record guitar parts at my studio for some out-of-town project," he explains. "However, it's definitely time to move into the world of hard-disk recording."

"My friend Steve Skinner just loaned me his Korg 1212 card, and I'll be experimenting with it."

Lots of project studio owners are moving over to digital consoles, but Minucci is sticking with his 8-bus analog Mackie. "It's quiet and extremely useful in my setup," he says. "The main point for me is that all of this technology has given us the opportunity to bypass the demo studio phase and make great-sounding records in our own spaces. Knowing what tools you need is really the pivotal issue, and to me it all comes back to the grounding in music that a player and arranger has to have."