The incredible studio version of Ryno's song "Please (Studio)". Ryno plays all the parts, except for Trombone by J. Walter Hawkes. Purchasing this song here directly supports the artist.
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PLEASE (STUDIO) - Released DEC 18, 2025
NOTES on "Please (STudio)"
MESSAGE FROM RYNO:
I care for my song recordings, deeply. I happily spend hours, days, months, and years with them—tinkering with their eccentricities—respecting their every need. They become like children. They like to got outside and play. They need my help early on, but eventually leave home.
I want to see them go to college and go on to lead a full and rich life without me. For, once I release them, they are no longer mine alone. They are yours—the curious listener, who is going to attach new memories and images to it.
I'd be grateful if you would spend time with my latest release, "Please (Studio)" [DEC 18].
Notes on the Song:
You may get tired of hearing songs called "Please" from Pretty City Lights. That is because lately, Ryno, the bands sole creator, has been recording multiple versions of the same song, exploring radically different arrangements and voicings, and trying to finally put to bed a song that started 30+ years ago. If you visit his PrettyCityLights.com, you can read and watch more about his quest—there's a free fan-zone called Behind the Lights.
Ryno has a vast treasure chest of songs written, but not recorded or released. , in this first studio grade recording, Ryno has put to task everything he's ever learned about writing, arranging, performing, editing, and mixing music.
Technically, "Please (Studio)" is a masterpiece of DIY creation. All the instruments are performed by Ryno (save for the Trombone). Nearly all the recording was done at home. The drums were tracked in a studio.
BIO, TECH TALK, & DESCRIPTIONS
Genre:
"Alternative" or ”Alternative Rock"
Genre (funny):
"Middle Aged Self-Help 90s Alternative"
THE SOUND:
“The root of Pretty City Lights songs is RYNO’s voice and lyrics. PCL have an alternative rock foundation, but the recordings can approaches a Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' aesthetic. The band loves late-1960's / early-1970's stereo-phonic rock. Songs are mixed in a modern 'up front' way. RYNO plays all the instruments, tracking drums in the studio, and everything else at home. He handles all the editing and mixing on the recordings. The band performs live as a power trio.”
COMMON THEMES:
Loneliness in the Big City
Gratitude for Love
Forgiveness as a Strength
Death & Middle-Age
Songs for Friends
Love & the Reckless
Honesty & Resilience
Reconciliation & Rebirth
Growing up in Suburbia
Fortitude & Self Determination
Grief, Suffering, & Loss
Illness & Recovery
Skateboarding
STYLE IDENTIFIERS:
☆ 3 1/2 Minute Songs
☆ Big Vocal Harmonies
☆ Real drums
☆ Splashy Cymbals
☆ Acoustic Guitars
☆ Wurlitzer Organ
☆ Experimental Recording Techniques
☆ Distorted Bass & Synthesizers
☆ Psychedelic Stereo Effects
STYLE IDENTIFIERS:
🎧 Built to Spill
🎧 Donovan
🎧 The Kinks
🎧 The Zombies
🎧 Fleet Foxes
🎧 Elliott Smith
🎧 Love
🎧 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
🎧 Fugazi
🎧 Nick Drake
🎧 Cat Stevens
🎧 fIREHOSE
🎧 The Doors
🎧 The Pixies
🎧 David Bowie
🎧 Superchunk
🎧 Syd Barrett
🎧 The Police
🎧 Modest Mouse
🎧 The Shins
🎧 Stevie Wonder
🎧 The Cars
SoNG PROCESS EXPLAINED:
When not collaborating with other musicians, Ryno accomplishes his ‘one-person-band’ recordings using a process seldom practiced today. The procedure he uses requires the performer to build a song layer by layer, keeping the target ‘energy' and ‘location’ in a song's unique ‘universe’ the same throughout. Songs are like countries, each with there own set of laws, customs, rhythms and language. Elaborate song records are built upon what many people refer to as, ‘Demos’ or ‘Demonstration Recordings’. It's a cheap term for a magical thing. It's not just a blueprint, though it's referred back to as such. It's THE spark. For many, the demo is better than the final, because of it's purity of notion. It has all of the emotional power and intention required to guide the construction of the final product. It's constantly referred to while building the song layer by layer. If Ryno had money to burn on studio time, he'd still be building demos. They are the only real way for a one-person-band to know where they are headed. Many people consider this kind of forethought a waste of time. Sometimes the demo becomes the final, but, nearly every recording that is considered a ‘hit’ goes through this process. The work of the recording artist is generally misunderstood and often written about incorrectly. Musicians don't really know. It's hard won knowledge.
Here's a detailed production journey of how Ryno works, for the curious.
- Write song - free
- Decide On: tempo, time signature, and arrangement - free
- Record Demo: synchronized to click track, which can be designed to speed up, slow down, and ramp for song parts - free
- Record Demo Drums (takes): with a single mic, record rough drum takes, then edit together into final design for drum part - free
- Record Demo Vocals against demo drums. Sometimes these remain as final vocals - free
- Record any other integral sounds needed for Studio Drum performance - free
- Practice the drum part. Enhance the arrangement with invented drum fills, rests, cymbal effects, etc - free
- Rent Studio. Record Professional Drum Sounds. A very expensive step that often involves more than 15 microphones on a drum kit. Usually more than one song is tracked - expensive
- Edit Final Drum takes to replace Demo Drum takes from 4. above - free
- Edit Final Song Structure: adding or incorporating intros, outros, or any inventions unearthed during the above processes. These are the moments that make one-person-recordings special. They feel like a seasoned band.
- Record Final Vocals, Backing Vocals, and expand on new vocal ideas. Sometimes there are other instruments that get recorded first (after the Drums are finished) that inform the vocal performance.
- Record all remaining layers in an order of importance to the feel of the overall song.
- Song Editing. This modern step can take a really long time. One can go too far. There's often a lot of selective muting. Many effects are designed and experimented with at this time. Some require further recording.
- Song Mixing: Most recording artists do not mix their own songs. It's a highly technical step that requires years of practice before proficiency. Ryno is a member of Puremix, an online mixing collective that aids in the rapid growth of home mixing enthusiasts.
- Mastering: This step in Ryno's process has always been handled by one person: Adrian Morgan at Timeless Mastering in New York. Adrian is amazing artist. Please visit his website timelessmastering.com
There are some fine examples of this method are easily found in music history. The entirety of Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, as well as Paul McCartney's, “Back in the U.S.S.R.”, were recorded in this way. Ryno also takes the DIY production a step further. He resourcefully builds his own social media content by videoing himself throughout the entire production period with a multi-camera home studio setup that utilizes the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Extreme ISO video live switcher to capture and sync all 8 cameras onto a hard drive for later editing. It's an additional elaborate process that is not factored into the above journey account.
GEAR LIST (primary Uses)
Microphones:
- Vocals & Acoustic Instruments: Lauten Atlantis FC-387 Multi-Pattern Condensor, Rode NT-2A
- Drum Mic Essentials: Shure SM57, Shure SM7b, Shure KSM 141, Sennheiser MD-421, AKG 414 (studios usually have interesting options)
- Home Demo Making: iPhone Voice Memos + Zoom H2 + H6 recorder
Instruments:
- Acoustic Guitar 1: Gibson SJ-200 (same guitar as Elvis, Cat Stevens, Tom Petty, etc). Recently purchased (July 2024) dream guitar.
- Acoustic Guitar 2: Martin DC-15E - mahogany cutaway, purchased in 2006, refretted once. This guitar is on all of the original Amateur Blonde recordings.
- Nylon Guitar: Cordoba C5-CET thin body classical nylon guitar. It's thin body and delicate sound makes it rather intimate sounding guitar, yet not as tiny sounding as a ukulele. Oddly, this instrument's sound is best captured with microphones at a distance.
- Electric Piano: Kurzweil MP-15. Designed by Stevie Wonder in early 2000s, this keyboard has many interesting sounds that Ryno incorporates or modifies, including a MIDI output, which can further cue virtual instruments. Mainly used on ‘Wurlitzer’ and ‘grand piano’ setting.
- Synth 1: Nord Electro-3 (61 keys): Ryno's go-to live performance cherry-red keyboard. It's versatile and Ryno has custom built his own sounds which he's loaded onto the the keyboards internal memory. He often runs the output of this keyboard through guitar pedals such as delay, distortion, tremolo, chorus, digital sustainers, and ultimately a UAD 1176 modeled compression pedal to control this keyboards tendency towards volume spikes. In the studio, this keyboard is connected via Midi as a controller for Synth 2.
- Synth 2: Novation K-Station (16 keys): Received as a birthday gift in 2003. This oscillating keyboard features many controls on sound and can be used as a pass-thru device, allowing for sounds to be highly manipulated. It has built in Arpeggiators and portamento (long smooth sound ascents and descents). It's onboard sound library is extensive enough to score an entire movie from. Huge low end rumble and wild stereophonic soundscapes at the push of just a couple buttons. Novation has not made another one that comes close.
- Electric Guitar 6-String: Fender Telecaster Thinline: This guitar features hum-bucker pickups and a hollow upper acoustic chamber in the body which distinguishes it greatly from a traditional ‘country’ sounding telecaster.
- Electric Guitar 12-String: Reverend Airwave 12 String electric. This is an incredible instrument that you will hear all over Pretty City Lights recordings. One note is 2 strings, typically an octave apart. When paired with delay, this guitar can sound like a harp or a harpsichord. Ryno typically loads up this guitar's sound with experimentation in audio plug-ins. It can be made to sound like almost anything
- Bass Guitar: Fender Jazz Bass - a classic bass guitar, which Ryno typically records 4 channels at once: Mic on amplifier; Stereo Mic in Room; Direct Input Dry; Direct Input FX Pedals. The 4 options are blended in a custom way for each song. Sometimes they are different from verse to chorus.
- Acoustic Pianos & Drums: Ryno owns an upright piano and drumset he hopes to be reunited with soon (currently in storage in NYC). Any drums or acoustic piano you hear on his songs were ‘stolen’ from an instrument, typically by dragging microphones to a rehearsal space in Seoul.
Gear + Software:
- EXTC Stereo Effects Re-amper: An underrated tool, this allows for vocals and other sounds to be sent out and through guitar pedals or amplifiers, then re-recorded back into the machine. Imagine putting a vocal though a guitar amplifier in an underground parking lot and blending that into the mix. This device helps achieve that.
- Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)(Audio) of choice: Pro Tools Studio
- Non-Linear Editing (NLE)(Video) of choice: Davinci Resolve Pro
- Computer Audio Interface: Universal Audio X4 + Console software (virtual inputs) - This allows for the home recording artist to monitor echo and effects on their voice (or instrument) in a noncommittal way during recording. The recording is ‘dry’ (no effects), but the performance is rendered with effects in the ear. It's important distinction that effects the outcome of the song greatly. The bespoke effects can be further enhanced or reduced later, after the performance has been captured.
- Headphones 1: Sennheiser HD650 for mixing - detailed low frequency and definition - partially opened ear backs create a lot of bleed if used in tracking
- Headphones 2: Sennheiser HD 280 pro for tracking - closed ear brighter and less low end for clarity and precision tracking - not for mixing
- Metronome 1: Boss “Dr. Beat” DB-90 - lots of controls
- Metronome 2: Tama Rhythm Watch RW-30 - limited controls but small
BIO TEXT SHORT - 14 words (81c)
“Pretty City Lights = Alternative rock for people dying of middle of middle age”
BIO TEXT MED - 75 WORDS (471c)
"Pretty City Lights is the music project of Amateur Blonde creator, RYNO (aka, Ryan OToole), an American living in Seoul, South Korea. Ryno's songs have been featured in film and television, notably The Walking Dead (S10 Ep21). He writes genre bending alternative rock songs which explore themes of love, death and middle age, experientially. RYNO arranges and records all the song parts on his own, performing, recording, and mixing the instruments from a home studio."
BIO TEXT LONG - 313 WORDS (1863C)
Ryan OToole—aka, Ryno—is an Arizona boy who has lived all over the world. He is now making songs in Seoul, South Korea. Ryno has been "doing and making stuff up" for as long as he can remember. It was only when he got older that someone said those things were 'art'.
Skateboarding & music have been there since the start of all this 'stuff' making—around age 14—but it was Ryno's interest in photography and drama that led him to pursue a career in film—mostly as a film editor.
After receiving a Masters degree in film editing (AFI, 2004), Ryno spent 4 years working in London for the BBC as an editor and editor's assistant. In 2006, he moved to NYC where he returned to playing songs during his free time. Since then, his music and collaborations have been featured in television and film - notably, The Walking Dead (S10 Ep21).
Ryno's songwriting is personal. It's informed by his circuitous life-journey, which hasn't gone 'as planned'. Songwriting is now his singular focus—his life's work.
Most people know Ryno from his songs released under the name, Amateur Blonde—2012-2021. You can still buy his a full length debut album on vinyl, as well as all his EPs an singles. You can also listen to Ryno in collaboration with other artists and bands (as a drummer and producer), notably—Central Plains.
He has never stopped writing his own songs—a great many have never been recorded—which have become the focus of his current music project—Pretty City Lights.
Ryno makes music in a DIY fashion, writing, performing, recording, and mixing all the instruments in his home studio. While chipping away at a series of albums, he's performing live in Seoul regularly. You can follow his gigs from Bandsintown, Songkick, Instagram, Facebook, or visit the Shows page on this site.
Pretty City Lights has a VIP Fan-Zone called... Behind The Lights