Inside Gary V’s home studio
Singer Gary Valenciano said he intends to remove all of his music-related souvenirs from their home in Antipolo City and put them in storage—at least, until the family’s plan to put up a museum comes to full fruition.
Until then, his supporters will only get a peek into his recording studio, where some of the most up-to-date musical equipment is housed—as well as copies of his old videos in mini-DVs, master tapes, recording journals, and vinyl records—through this feature.
The singer recently spent an afternoon with Inquirer Lifestyle—the first media organization to be let into the Valenciano home.
“A lot of this is going to be cleared after the concert,” he said. Valenciano was referring to “Gary V, Pure Energy: One More Time” that will be held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Dec. 20 and Dec. 22.
“I want to simplify my surroundings. Right now, it feels good because I see a memory everywhere I look, but I cannot live in the past. That means I’m going to have to clear up a lot of these spaces,” he told Lifestyle.
While the Valenciano home was designed by National Artist for Architecture Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa, his recording studio—the only section we were permitted to photograph—was by recording engineer Mike Pedero.
As a way to describe the studio, Valenciano quoted Pedero: “It’s a box within a box.” He then recalled the time one guest, a European sound engineer, came to check out his studio some 10 years ago. “The first thing he did when he entered was clap his hands. He said, ‘That’s a pretty flat response. You have a great room for recording, Gary.’ He told me to just change the speakers.”
Mounted at the center of the room are several musical keyboards (“Because I’m a frustrated keyboardist”). On one side is an even smaller “box” that is Valenciano’s vocal booth, which now doubles as storage for a lot of his mementos. There is also a computer desk where he would stay for hours on end, researching the latest synthesizer models and absorbing everything he could to achieve his next goal—to become a film score composer.
Was the set-up inside the studio intentional? Valenciano said this wasn’t so in the beginning. “It was just two keyboards placed here and there, and one computer monitor. Then I started getting more keyboards after realizing that they each have their own characteristics. I really enjoy the stuff I invest in. What you see here is only one-fourth of what I actually have.”
Gary’s ‘guys’
At the time of our visit, Valenciano had nine keyboards inside the studio, and another eight stored in different areas of the house. Interestingly, he would call them his “guys.”
“For example, this guy here (a Roland System-8 plug-out synthesizer) produces dance-y kinds of sounds. You won’t get from it the piano sound that you might find in something like this (a Korg Prologue). Both brands really excel at what they claim the keyboards do,” he explained.
Valenciano said his Arturia PolyBrute is the most expressive synthesizer—it has tech that he has only scratched the surface of. He also has a Yamaha Montage M8x.
He described another keyboard, the Kontrol S61 by Native Instruments, as “quite amazing,” because with the right plugins or software synthesizers, it can tweak sounds. “Not only does this guy control the parameters of the sound, it can control the mix as well. So while you’re playing it back, you can listen and then fix up everything here.” He has a smaller version of this, the Komplete Kontrol, which is what he takes with him when he goes on tour.
Valenciano also has a TheoryBoard midi controller Kickstarter, which is “kind of weird,” he said. “Since I don’t know much about music theory, what I do if I want chords that I’m not sure of is to just press these keys, and they will create chords. While it’s interesting to use, I think it has a steeper learning curve so that you can know exactly how to use it and then incorporate it with what you’re already doing.”
Valenciano then explained why he got the Sequential Prophet XL analog synthesizer. “In the ’80s, there was a keyboard called the Prophet-5. It had so much character that it was used in many of the hits back then. I saw that this one has ‘XL.’ This means it offers more,” he said.
Superhero inspiration
When we entered the room, the first object that caught our eyes was an action figure of the ’90s animated superhero “Captain Planet” standing proudly at the center of Valenciano’s desk. He explained that the lead character was designed after him, and that this was confirmed by his friend who works in Hannah Barbera Cartoons Inc.
“His hair was designed after mine at that time,” he pointed out. “I should show you a concert video where my hair was funky like that. It kind of became the inspiration for this guy.”
Valenciano also invested in several mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras like the Sony a7S III and a9, as well as a DJI Gimbal, which he used to record his bike vlogs.
He also showed his DAT (digital audiotape) player, which is no longer manufactured these days. “This was the kind of format that I used to put all my masters in for albums like ‘Shout for Joy,’ ‘Revive,’ and ‘Rebirth,’” he said, and then showed us samples. “All of these still work. I just have to digitize most of them and put them in hard drives.”
Valenciano then brought out some of his Ampex 456 master tapes, particularly those of his albums recorded in the 1990s, like “Letting Go,” “Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos” “Babalik Ka Rin,” and “Hataw Na.” He also has a copy of his concert in 1995, titled “Move.”
We also spotted framed photographs of his family (wife Angeli, sons Paolo and Gab, and daughter Kiana); his best friend, the late Manolet Santos; and even the house where he grew up in, in San Juan.
Valenciano has managed to preserve his vinyl record collection. From one pile, he fished out a copy of “Each Day With You,” a recording of Martin Nievera, his archrival in the ’90s. “I can still play them in the record player upstairs. I won’t ever get rid of this,” he declared.
The singer then admitted that sharing his collections and souvenirs with us brought back a flood of memories. “Maybe we can transform a portion of this house into a museum. This can be a functional studio, so that if I’m around the museum, I can take people through the experience of recording. I’ll keep some memorabilia here so people can get the feel of what it was like when I would work here,” he said.
Everything documented
“I have clothes galore upstairs and things that I’ve also been encouraged to keep by different stylists. There could also be a restaurant upstairs, where they can check out pictures and watch videos of my old concerts. Everything is documented,” he added.
Asked whether he was ready to conquer Araneta once again for two nights this week, Valenciano said: “Physically? Not yet, but I’m not far from it. I’m working out now. There are days, too, when I play golf. I do this because I have to make people see me up there at my best,” he declared.
“I’m excited, and actually quite emotional, much like when I saw Bini recently.” Valenciano was one of the guest performers in the three-day “Grand Biniverse” concert last month. “I kind of felt sad when I was watching them rehearse. I told Angeli that it’s because I can see how I used to be when I was younger—may gigil. That’s hard to do now at my age,” he admitted.
Valenciano then defended Bini from talks that the members are already experiencing burnout. “The girls are still in shock. They never thought they’d ever be as big as they are now. They’re not used to it. So when they shy away like that, it’s because they don’t know how to respond,” he said.
“They’re doing great. Galing! If they don’t feel good, they should let people know. They should just be vulnerable and transparent, and people will understand.”
