Ursus Pacificus

Studio A — Paul Tourville started toying with sound recording at the age of 14 (around 1982). At that time, he set up his first “studio” in his bedroom. A number of silly spoof commercials and skits were recorded there, both solo, and with Scott Martin (long time collaborator and bit wizard). Most of what happened in Studio A exists, now, only in Paul and Scott’s memories. During this period, Paul also began doing mobile DJ work (fall of 1986) which provided new justification for equipment and music purchases. This was a good thing. It was also during this period that then name “Slipped Disk” for Paul’s live and recorded production efforts came into being

Studio B — In the summer of 1987, following the divorce of his parents, Paul moved with his mother into a new house. This move was reflected in the creation of Studio B. Studio B was the sun-porch at the back of Paul’s mother’s new house. It was here that multitrack recording first came into the picture, with Paul’s purchase of a Fostex X-15 four-track Cassette unit. Some of the material written and recorded in this period include “National Nosehair Institute Public Service Announcement”, the original “Rug Club For Men” ad, the “Lumpy-Beaver” political campaign ad and the “Americans In Distress Card” ad. The Studio B period lasted until early 1989, when Paul moved back in with his father.

Studio C — In early 1989, Paul moved back in with his father, and occupied the finished basement at his house. This afforded a large space to spread out and be silly. Paul and Scott Martin really began producing a prolific amount of quality material at this time, including 2 Jurgen Fahrquaherraherraherrar record commercials, the “Planetary Correspondence Classroom” ad, the “Dripalob” beer ad, the “Drone Publishing’s Learn To Play Guitar Home Video Instruction Course” ad and the mega-opus “Rock Bios #42: The Life, Times and Music of Jurgen Fahrquaherraherraherrahr” sketch . By spring of 1990, Paul had also teamed up with Lance Davis (a keyboard player who worked at WNLC/WTYD with Paul) and formed the garage band “Bathroom Humour”. As Bathroom Humour, Paul and Lance had written and recorded 12 songs, including “(Got No) Paycheck Blues”, “A Shock To The System”, “Ragtop”, “The Radio Song” and “The Rest Of My Life”. The Studio C era mostly ended when Paul left for Navy Boot Camp in June of 1991, although, subsequent to that, but prior to the forming of Studio D, some additional recording did take place in various locations. The results of those sessions are generally associated with Studio C. Some of these include the “Sagan Rap” and the “Multiflex 8000″ ad.

Studio D — In 1993-94, Paul briefly set up shop in an apartment in San Diego, CA. This period yeilded the “Interview With A Disposable Razor Repairman” sketch, the 2 bogus Simpsons promos (which were little more than bladfaced Navy-bashing) and the big hit “The Ballad of Juan (and His ‘76 Monte Carlo). The musical endeavours of this period were done under the name “Trevor Stockman”. For details on where the name and concept of Trevor Stockman came from, check out the Dummyhead page.

Studio E — In August, 1994, Paul and his new bride Autumn bought a condo in San Diego, CA. This move set Paul up with almost an entire room all to almost himself… This was an exciting development, to be sure. A door and four real walls!!! By November ‘94, Paul had moved into the realm of 8-track recording with the acquisition of a Tascam 388. It was also during this period that the Hammond and Leslie were added to the equipment list. Studio E was the setting for some very slick production, such as the “Speak Without Inhaling” ad the “Terms Of Endearment Action Figures” spot (written by and recorded with Scott Martin) and the “Licketysplitstudy” infomercial (written by and recorded with Scott Martin) as well as some polished song recordings, including “PickThumb BooBoo”, “The Theme From S.W.A.T”, “Can’t Get Arrested” and a redux of “The Ballad of Juan (and His ‘76 Monte Carlo)”.

Studio F — By 1997, condo life was beginning to wear a little thin. Paul and Autumn began house-hunting. They ended up moving, in March, 1998, to Temecula, CA, where Studio F resides. At Studio F, the Tascam 388 has been replaced with a Roland VS840EX, and there is now a complete drum kit to take up enormous amounts of space.In preparations for a move toward the East Coast, Paul sold his Hammond and Leslie in September of 2002. Studio F was dismantled in November of 2002 in preparation for the move.

Studio G — In late November of 2002 Paul moved to Western Pennsylvania to continue working for Sony at the Sony Technology Center, Pittsburgh. In Early December of 2002, Paul moved into a duplex in Scottdale, PA, with plans of setting up the new studio in the living room on the ground floor. As of New Year’s Eve 2002, the drums and desk are set up, but there is still a way to before the studio is fully functional again. Before any finished work could be output from Studio G…..

Studio H — In late January of 2003, Paul got some disturbing news. The division of Sony he’d just transferred to Western Pennsylvania to work at announce it would be closing at the end of March. A frantic job search landed Paul a position with a consulting company with contracts in New London, CT. Paul moved back to CT, and ended up occupying the house that was the home to Studio A and Studio C. Now the studio is in the living room, upstairs, overlooking the water. It’s quite a site… and quite a sight. All the pictures on the Studio H page are from the new location. Some entertaining bits were recorded here, including the Vomito Sabroso ad and “You Never Believed Me”. Entertaining

Studio I — In November, 2003, Studio H was dismantled. Paul moved yet again. Back to the site of Studio B (His mother’s old house). This was a comparatively prolific period. Dummyhead version of the theme from Futurama was recorded here, as well as “You Let Love Die” and a couple test-recordings of “Pick Thumb Boo-Boo”. 33 “Macrobloat” spots were recorded, as well as “Scrapee FFR”, “Refridgerrhoid”, “Panic Immersion Language Training”, and several others. November, 2006 saw the dismantling of Studio I for yet another move.

Studio J — In November, 2006, Paul moved to an apartment in West Warwick, RI, to be closer to work. New versions of “The Ballad of Juan (and His ‘76 Monte Carlo)” and “Pick Thumb Boo-Boo” got recorded here. This period also saw the Roland VS-840EX being replaced with a Korg D-3200, and the Pearl Export kit being replaced by a highly-modified Alesis DM-5 Kit. A couple new Conneaut mics joined the fleet, too.

Studio K — In February, 2008, Paul bought a house all his own. Finally. As of this writing, It’s not ready for occupation, but this will be where you see news about developments there.