CJLO’s The Oven sounds warmer than ever

The ConU radio station revamped their recording space with fresh new equipment

CJLO 1690AM, Concordia’s campus radio station, just renovated their recording space and it now has all the features a band would look for to record their latest tunes—a warmer sound, enthusiastic and experienced engineers, and sunlight. CJLO has been recording bands for live broadcasts and pre-recordings for a while. The room has been filled with the sounds of Montreal locals like Ought, Nancy Pants, Motel Raphael, and so many more. CJLO’s production manager, Patrick McDowell, recorded Montreal band Fleece’s latest album, Scavenger, in the space as well. The Concordian caught up with McDowell to talk about what The Oven hopes to cook-up next.

The Oven. From CJLO.
Recording sessions are $5/hour for Concordia students and free for CJLO DJs and volunteers.

The Concordian (C): Could you give me brief introduction of what the new studio looks like, and why it’s important for CJLO?

Patrick McDowell (PM): We acoustically treated the live room, so it sounds a lot better and looks a lot better. There’s fresh hardwood on the floor now, we painted the walls and put-up new acoustic treatment on the walls, new panels, and it’s a lot brighter in there and welcoming. The reason it’s important to CJLO: one, we have always done our live sessions out of there—like, say a band tours through, we can broadcast performances live on air. We can also pre-record it and share it on social media.

C: If someone wants to record an album, can they rent the space?
PM: We really want to get the community involved, especially students involved in recording profesional albums there, which has been done a number of times in the last few years. We just wanted to take it to the next level, promote it more, and have that happen a lot more often. My goal is to make it a place which is known for creating, you know, profesional albums—whether it’s an EP or an LP or any format, really.

The Oven. From CJLO.
Inside The Oven at CJLO.

C: Would bands be working with an engineer?

PM: Yeah absolutely: me and Marshall Vaillancourt. We’re the engineers there at this point, and we’re always interested in meeting more people. If people get involved, say, like, volunteering with us, it’s a really good opportunity to learn a thing or two, or to just practice your skills. Eventually, down the road, who knows, those engineers could start to do their own work with us.

C: What kind of backlined gear and equipment do you have?

PM: We have the latest version of Pro Tools, we have a new focusrite interface, we have a new Urei 1176 compressor, which only nerds will know about, but they might enjoy it. We just have a drum kit, so that’s all we really offer in backline. We’re working on finding [more equipment] either through sponsors, or once we start creating revenue and stuff, then we can invest, more and more, into the space.

Recording sessions go for 10$/ hour for non-students, 5$/ hour for students and free for CJLO active DJs and volunteers.

CJLO will be hosting a re-launch party for The Oven at Le Cagibi April 2 with performers, Saxsyndrum and Fleece. They’ll be hosting an open house to visit the studio April 7 from 3 to 8 p.m.

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