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 Cut Your Own Demo: Professional Studios Around the Country for $100 OR LESS Per Hour: Part 2 When you make the step up from home recording on a 4-track or using a Pro Tools rig, it's crucial to know where the good studios are that won't break your bank account. This article lists sites across the country to check out.
As featured in: Performing Songwriter Issue #72, September/October 2003. Visit performingsongwriter.com to order back issues or subscribe.
By Jen O’Neill
Part 1 | 2 ARTISTS: Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Earth, Wind & Fire, B.B. King, Beach Boys, John Mayall, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder UNIQUE FEATURE: High-end studio with new recording room designed for independent artists and labels. Soundcastle Studios is a prominent Los Angeles recording studio with high-end gear and an extensive major-label client list. Recently, Soundcastle designed and built a third studio with the independent artist in mind. All three studios were designed to interface with each other, creating the ability to track in one room while recording in another. Soundcastle was originally founded as a home studio in Huntington Beach, Calif., and moved to its current location in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles in 1978. The swanky grounds include a private gated entrance, on-site parking and an open courtyard with basketball hoop. The main lounge is equipped with everything from Ping-Pong to Playstation for fun breaks during long recording sessions. Studio One is a large live-tracking/mixing studio with an SSL J9000 console and a broad selection of mixing gear. Studio Two is mainly a mixing/overdub room and includes the world’s only SSL 4000 G+ “Classic” console with full surround capabilities. Both studios have Studer tape machines and numerous reverbs and effects. Studio Three is the Pro Tools production suite with more affordable rates for those recording on a budget. The room contains a Control 24 console, Pro Tools system and isolation booth. Anyone who records in Studio Three has access to Soundcastle’s vast selection of vintage and standard mics for a very reasonable rate.
ARTISTS: Garbage, Nirvana, Beck, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Jayhawks, Everclear UNIQUE FEATURE: Vintage console purchased from Quad Studios in Nashville. While Smart Studios boasts remarkable talent on its client list, it’s pleasantly surprising to discover how affordable it is. Started 21 years ago by two friends with an 8-track reel-to-reel, the studio is now one of the most prominent recording studios in the country. After Butch Vig and Steve Marker graduated from the University of Wisconsin, they began to record and produce their friends who played gigs in the area. Their lack of quality gear required them to use their creativity to generate quality sound. Their basement venture gained momentum, and eventually they earned enough to move to a beautiful part of Madison on Lake Mendota. While many recording studios are moving more to the digital side of things, the producers and engineers at Smart Studios appreciate analog sound and try to incorporate both recording methods in their work. The studio is filled with gear carefully chosen by a staff that is well-learned and experienced in the recording industry. Studio A’s console, the Trident A-Range, was handmade in the mid-’70s and is one of only 13 that were crafted. The vintage console, purchased from Quad Studios in Nashville in 1999, is “just a gem from the past,” says chief engineer Mike Zirkel. Smart Studios is “unassuming from the outside but striking on the inside,” Zirkel claims. The walls are adorned with photographs and album covers of all the brilliant artists who have recorded there, and each of the recording rooms has funky, old-fashioned rugs and lamps. Like the gear, the decorations are vintage, creating a professional yet laid-back atmosphere.
ARTISTS: Live, PJ Harvey, Jayhawks UNIQUE FEATURE: Comfort and ambiance that comes with having the studio in the woods. Though it is rumored to be haunted, Pachyderm Recording Studio is one of the most popular studios for both independent and major-label artists in the Midwest. Opened in 1990, the studio was modeled on the residential European style. “People say it’s haunted, but they’re usually on drugs,” jokes owner Jim Nickel. Since the 40-year-old, 6,000-square-foot guesthouse is located in the woods and utilizes water heat, the various creaks and opening doors lead residents to believe there is a house ghost. The recording studio is separate from the house and has three different foundations and three different heating and air conditioning systems. “It’s built like a bomb shelter but with big, beautiful picture windows looking out into the woods,” Nickel says. Pachyderm was constructed on a 50-acre plot with a trout stream running through it, so when artists record they have a picturesque view. Pachyderm’s gear includes vintage tube mics and a classic Neve 8068 console. The rest of the gear is very high-end and, as Nickel describes it, “fits the room very well.” The live room is built from maple, creating an ideal area for sound recording as well as a beautiful environment for creative inspiration. Designed by students of Frank Lloyd Wright, the building’s architecture consists of unique geometric patterns. Between major-label projects, the studio decreases rates significantly and opens up to smaller acts and labels. “We’ve always served the independent artist,” says Nickel. In fact, after successfully starting his own label with the band Indigenous, the staff is always looking for new talent. Nickel prides himself on the fact that both major and independent artists return to Pachyderm not only for its quality sound and service, but also for its “comfort and ambiance.”
ARTISTS: Alan Jackson, Jewel, John Hiatt, Natalie Imbruglia, Lyle Lovett, David Wilcox, Jars of Clay, Faith Hill UNIQUE FEATURE: The studio itself has a rich recording history in Nashville. Preserving the tradition of Nashville’s recording history, OmniSound Studios has produced country greats like Randy Travis and Alan Jackson as well as pop stars Jewel and Natalie Imbruglia. Located a block from the famous Music Row in midtown Nashville, the studio is a prime player in the city’s music industry. The building was originally a musician’s union, then it became Marty Robbins’ recording studio, and a group of five singer-songwriters bought it in 1985. Coowner Steve Tveit says that while the studio’s clientele includes many big-name acts, “in the last couple of years we have really tried to appeal to the independent market.” Most of the staff has been involved with the industry for years, and they know how it feels to be struggling in the music business. Tveit describes OmniSound as “Art Deco-y,” with old radios and microphones used as objects of decoration and vintage photos of the older recording studios adorning the walls. “We’ve really tried to vibe it out,” he says. The studio has a collection of vintage outboard gear and microphones, but a big draw is the high-end API Legacy console. A new addition to the recording gear is the iZ RADAR24, a top-end hard-disk recording system. OmniSound provides various services to help the artist achieve creative excellence. “We’ve got ways in which we try to help everyone stay within their budget,” says Tveit. The studio usually charges a block rate for artists and bands to use the cutting room and an hourly rate for the overdub room. The fees include studio time and the services of one of three engineers on staff. OmniSound also provides packages that include studio musicians, mixing and mastering, for the artist who wants an entire project finished in two to three days.
ARTISTS: Goo Goo Dolls, Jonatha Brooke, Nile Rodgers, The Band, moe., Bruce Hornsby, Hot Tuna, Rosanne Cash UNIQUE FEATURE: Located next to a lush state park only a half-hour outside of Manhattan. Many people are surprised by the location of BearTracks Recording Studio, which borders Harriman State Park, a 43,000-acre recreational area in Bear Mountain, N.Y.While it seems secluded from the fast-paced music scene in New York City, BearTracks is only a half-hour drive from Manhattan. BearTracks Recording Studio was built out of a stone barn and farmhouse. The oak and cedar studio has one main recording room with a 27-foot cathedral ceiling that can be adjusted as low as 10 feet, according to the acoustics desired by the artist. For relaxation during or after a long session, the studio offers a pool, sauna, cable television and video games. These are welcome luxuries during one of BearTracks’ most popular sessions, the 12-hour lock-out for $1,000. BearTracks boasts high-end new and vintage gear for recording. The 72-channel Focusrite Studio Console includes Flying Faders automation. The studio has two of the original outboard Fairchild 660 Limiters, manufactured 50 years ago.
ARTISTS: Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Eric Clapton, Laura Love, Harvey Danger, Pete Droge, Afghan Whigs, Lionel Richie UNIQUE FEATURE: Built in an unintimidating barn outside of Seattle. Family-owned and operated, Bear Creek Studio is run by Joe, Manny and Ryan Hadlock. Father, mother and son have been handling everything from engineering to business management since the ‘70s, when Joe, who had worked in production for years, decided to open his own studio. Bear Creek is set in a large barn 20 minutes outside of Seattle. Hadlock bought the 10-acre plot for his studio knowing that the studio would go in the barn, which he renovated for great acoustics. He kept the comfortable feel of the farm but also created one of the most notable recording studios in the Northwest. What sets Bear Creek apart from other recording studios is its large rooms. The main recording room, with amazing acoustics, can accommodate up to 40 people, and the natural light gives the studio a relaxed feel. Hadlock feels Bear Creek sparks artists’ creativity because of its “vibe and aesthetics.” “It’s like a big house,” he says. “We try to make people feel at home.” The Hadlocks also offer the charming 1920s farmhouse to artists who book long sessions and need lodging. Bear Creek’s console is a Trident TSM 32x24 with Uptown moving fader automation. A collection of vintage gear accentuates the classic feel of the studio, and “there are many esoteric preamps,” according to Hadlock. The location of Bear Creek gives the studio and anyone who records there access to some of Seattle’s most talented engineers, composers and producers.
ARTISTS: Mary Chapin Carpenter, John McCutcheon, Cheryl Wheeler, Dave Matthews Band, Sweet Honey in the Rock, BÈla Fleck, Eddie From Ohio, The Chieftains UNIQUE FEATURE: Close engineer-artist relationship. Washington,D.C., is brimming with talent, both new and old. “There’s so much going on here,” says Gloria Dawson, manager of Bias Recording,which is located 10 minutes outside of the city. The studio has a strong following in the acoustic community, and all types of acoustic acts return to Bias because of its personalized service. Bias Recording is a two-studio facility built in 1980. Each room has separate concrete walls, slab and ceiling, and sound transmission to other areas is minimized by further division of the slabs under the drum booths and piano pads. Each of the studios has an API console with Audio Kinetics Mastermix automation. Harddisk recording and editing is done with the help of a 24-bit, 192 kHz Pro Tools HD system. Bias also has some top-quality instruments, such as the Yamaha C-5 Conservatory Grand, Yamaha Custom Drum Kit and Fender Precision Bass. One of the characteristics Bias prides itself on is the quality of the engineering. “Our engineers, and the way they interact with the clients, are what sets us apart from other recording studios in the area,” says Dawson. “The clients don’t have to worry about anything technical, they just do their music.” This is why Bias’ team of four engineers has received numerous Grammy nominations, and their clients have garnered multiple gold and platinum records. The very personal relationships the engineers create with their clients keep performers who could afford to record anywhere returning to Bias again and again. Part 1 | 2 Community features are exclusively available to Songwriter101 members. Membership is free! Join now
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