Big Apple Spotlight

For three decades, William Garrett ’78 has honed his talents as a producer and engineer and created a home away from home for many New York music industry folk at Electracraft Music Works. Artists such as Claude Kelly ’02, Norah Jones, Mary J. Blige, the Jonas Brothers, Cyndi Lauper, and Makeba Riddick ’99 are just a small sample of his clientele. Riddick refers to the work of Garrett and his team at Electracraft Music Works as “the best recipe for creating hit records.”

For 15 years, Garrett ran the in-house publishing studio at Sony/ATV Music Publishing uptown at 550 Madison Ave. When it closed in November 2005, he opened Electracraft a few months later, in February 2006. When the building that housed his studio was slated to be turned into a homeless shelter, Garrett moved his operation to a new location in lower Manhattan on East 31st Street in February 2011.

Electracraft does a range of work including preproduction and song creation for TV and films, voice-overs, album overdubs and mixing as well as demo sessions for top songwriters. The studio’s gear includes Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and Reason software; an array of great mics, preamps, compressors, and studio monitors; and a selection of soft synths and MIDI gear.

Garrett and his staff—which fluctuates between three and five engineers— have created a niche by catering to publishing companies, songwriters, and producers. “Electracraft’s blend of technology, talent, and personality generates a vibe that breeds creativity and creates great music,” Garrett says. “Quality and vibe are my main concerns.” Business is good for Garrett and, knowing that big- ger is not always better, he has no plans to open satellite facilities elsewhere. “For now all my energy is focused on keeping our standards high at our New York City location.”

For more information, visit www. facebook.com/electracraft.