It may be located in the basement of his country home, but this man’s recording studio produces a professional sound rivaling that of big-city studios. Charlie Oncina II does it all for the love of the music, at no charge to his clients, who have also become his friends.

“If you have to pay for it, it isn’t magic,” said Oncina, now in his 17th year of producing music. “This isn’t really a business — it’s a community service.”

He started Lachine Machine Sound Studios/Opiate Records when he realized the need for a local recording studio.

Many of Oncina’s friends and relatives “were making such good music and I felt it was a shame that every time they finished, it was gone,” he said. “It needed to be recorded. It needed to be saved.”

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Paul Nolan plays a headless purple guitar called “Kryptonite,” which may look incomplete to the untrained eye. Without strings beyond the head or foot, he can stop the sound immediately, with no further vibration or ringing.

He explained some of the details surrounding his obsession with music and sound quality.

“The idea of sound is intimately tied to the speed that it moves,” Oncina said. “What I mean by that is, when you record music with a drum kit like this, the long and short of it is, the snare is the center of the sound.”

Thus, the microphones must be equidistant from the snare drum for the sound to be balanced.

“It won’t go ‘snap!’ It’ll go ‘fup, fup,’ and nobody likes that,” Oncina said. “It sounds bad. So, we have to make the snare sound hit all the mics at the same time.”

That creates a soundstage in which all the speakers are reproducing, and all the sounds will be in between those three mics, Oncina said, noting that is something he learned from taking a “Produce Like a Pro” online course.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Charlie Oncina II describes the professional sound he is able to achieve in his recording studio, Lachine Machine, after many years of practice and study.

“When I go to mix it, I will time align it … so that the sound is hitting your ear all at the same time,” Oncina said as Paul Nolan got ready to record the drums portion of his song, called “Blue-Z Jam.”

Nolan is the resident studio technician/recording artist at Lachine Machine.

He played guitar to the metronome first, then added drums, which Oncina then mixed so that it sounded like all the instruments were played at the same time.

“If all the mics hear the drum at the exact same time, it takes all the mud out,” Nolan added, “and it adds all of that crisp, clear snap that you want,” hitting the snare at the exact same time he said “snap!”

Nolan is a regular at Lachine Machine, using his technical expertise to fix instruments and equipment, as well as build guitars, which makes him a luther.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Charlie Oncina II sits in his basement with his dog Olive. Guitars, a drum set and keyboard behind him await the next musician’s hands to bring them to life in his recording studio, Lachine Machine Sound Studios.

Born and raised in Alpena, Nolan has been playing guitar since he was 12, taught by his father, Paul Nolan, of the Country Poorboys. His grandfather, also named Paul Nolan, agreed to buy him his first “real” guitar if he performed at the Lewiston Timberfest when he was 13. So he did, and Grandpa let him pick out a brand-new acoustic with a cutaway. He played the heck out of that guitar over the years to the point that he ruined it, but he used parts from it to build other guitars he still owns and plays today.

“So, vicariously, that guitar lives on, because that’s what really got me into it,” he said. “I wore the fretboard out on it.”

He recalled how he felt when he first played that guitar.

“It felt real good,” Nolan said, adding that back then he thought, “I like the feeling this gives me, and I want to do it some more.”

He plays because it awakens a fire within him.

“It can’t be extinguished,” he said.

As he continued to play, he got better, but the goal has never been fame or fortune, or “to get girls.” It’s all for the love of music.

Now 23, he has played in several bands, including bass for Mandy = Murder.

Nolan is skilled at playing both guitar and drums. Even headless guitars.

“I named that guitar ‘Kryptonite’ because most guitarists don’t want to pick it up,” Oncina said of the headless purple guitar Nolan held in his hands. “Pauly really likes it, though, because it’s fantastic for guitarists who want what would basically be called a gate, or for the guitar to not ring when you’re not using it … because there’s no strings past the head, and no strings past the foot, there’s no extra vibrations … so that guitar quits making noise now,” he said, snapping his fingers.

“The only part of the string that vibrates is the part that I touch, so when I mute this with my palm or other hand, it’s quiet now,” Nolan explained. “The strings over top of the headstock, that’s all extra real estate, that, in the end, you lose vibration through anyway.”

He explained that a headless guitar is nice for when you want to play something heavy.

“I like these a lot, because less moving metal parts means a lot less that can go wrong, means a lot less for tuning instability,” Nolan said. “I honestly don’t know why more people don’t like these. In the end, it really does come down to they’re scared of them at first.”

Musicians like Nolan inspire Oncina to continue producing music. And musicians love his studio.

“You walk down those stairs, and the room catches you,” Nolan said. “There’s a kind of atmosphere to this place.”

The studio has a laid-back, chill vibe just right for letting the creativity flow, any time of day or night, as musicians tend to keep odd hours, Oncina said, noting that he doesn’t mind. He said recently a very talented musician he works with, Joey Spina, showed up with a broken heart in the middle of the night to record one of the best songs he’s ever heard.

“He’s the most talented man I’ve ever stood in a room with,” Oncina said of Spina.

Spina is the son of Oncina’s late best friend and talented musician, Joseph Spina, who passed away in 2005.

“He sounds better than Neil Young,” Oncina said while listening to a recording of the late Spina. “Everybody knew him as ‘Cousin Joe.'”

Other musicians Oncina works with include Citrus Orange, Wayne Kendziorski of Way Out Wayne, Greg Robbins, Mike and Jason Wagner, Jason Eller, and more.

About 25 guitars line the walls at Lachine Machine, and some of them actually belong to Oncina. Musicians just leave their guitars at the studio and come use them when they drop by.

Oncina owns Charly O’s Pizzeria in Hillman, which was named after his father.

He is going to L.A. this fall to participate in the Sunset Sound Produce Like A Pro Live Recording Masterclass, led by Multi-Platinum Producer/Engineer Warren Huart.

“I’m going to keep getting better,” he said. “I can’t stop myself now.”

To contact Oncina, email lachinemachinesoundstudios@gmail.com or call 989-941-6723.

Oncina added that although he organizes, mixes, and coordinates the recordings, he couldn’t do any of it without the musicians.

“It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about the team. It’s about the music.”

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