“A recording studio by definition is first & foremost a performance space.”
We love seeing music live, when people get together and pour out lyrics over chords into a room full of strangers. There’s something essential in the four walls that makes music sound so good. Our studio is kind of inspired by that idea, it’s not too fancy, a single treated live room with lots of space to play, a team of people that live for sound, and the tools to make silent smiles. We’ve also been lucky to record some great artists, It’s their talent that makes this whole thing worthwhile.
We’re accepting new projects. Hours are from 7pm to 1am Monday-Friday, and 12pm to 1am Saturday & Sunday. You can find more information on rates here, give us a call, or schedule a time to come over and take a tour of the studio.
PS – we musta heard “So, do you use Pro Tools?” a hundred times by now. Here’s the answer.
I made my first drum recording when I was 14, with a boombox that looked a lot like this one. The kit was “borrowed” from my cousin for the summer. The boombox was a garage sale gift from my mom, had two mics, and a switch to choose between “diction” and “field” recording modes. I was aiming for the drum sound off Lonesome Crowded West, and I wasn’t satisfied with results.
Then I scored a Nady drum mic kit from a kid at school. He threw stands and XLR cables in with the deal. I was sure that I could now achieve that exact Modest Mouse drum sound. I ran the mics through my Behringer Eurorack mixer and output the stereo mix to cassette tape. Wow, I felt cool – and I was seriously puzzled when the recording turned out much worse than my boombox recordings.
And that’s pretty much how I became interested in audio engineering. How could it possibly be worse?!?! I mean, I had a dang mic on each drum, just like a real recording studio!
The biggest problem – and one I was completely oblivious to – was phase cancellation. Mo’ mics, mo’ problems. For the time being, I resorted to a stereo pair for overheads.
Anyway, that’s ancient history, but it’s revealing. I think a drum kit is one of the harder things to record well – and probably a catalyst to many future audio engineers.
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