In a world moving towards a completely digital recording process, we chose to be a hybrid studio, incorporating the best that both analog and digital have to offer. See #9 of this page for a small sampling of our attitude towards working in analog. In general, we are non-dogmatic about the whole issue. Most of our favorite records were recorded solely in analog, and we prefer working in analog, but are comfortable and adept in the digital environment. The editing and manipulation possible in digital is a mixed blessing, especially for bands on a budget. Just because you can do all that stuff doesn't mean you have to.
NEWS ITEM #1: We are keeping true to our name by embarking on a serious construction project. This will be done in stages, so we can continue to run sessions throughout the process. Improvements include a couple of new recording spaces, improved acoustic treatment to the existing spaces, and better isolation from the rest of the building. Our good friend and fellow engineer Brian Hood (Strychnine, Everything Must Go) is helping us enormously with the process, and we are grateful and very excited. We'll post new pictures once everything is pretty and painted; in the meantime here is a sketch of the new floor plan.
NEWS ITEM #2: Stephen Jarvis, the premier gear rental dude in the Bay Area, has a storage space in our building. He is now offering us a HUGELY discounted rate on tracking and mixing racks of vintage, highest-quality gear. Here's a picture of the mixing rack, which houses an AMS dmx 15-80s delay, AMS rmx 16 reverb, Eventide SP2016 reverb, TC 2290 delay, Neve 33609C compressor/limiter, 2 Focusrite ISA131 dynamics processors, 4 dbx 902 de-essers, and an RCA BA6A compressor!!! All of this for only $150/day or $750/week! This is highly recommended if you'd like to take your mixes to the next level. Of course we like our own outboard gear quite a bit, but this is a rack full of history at an extraordinarily low rate, and we're looking forward to many of our clients taking Stephen up on his generous offer.
Click here for our rate schedule.
For an attempt to answer the ubiquitous question "How long will it take to record my band?", click here.