FAQ
Send us a message via our contact page. Tell us a little bit about your project, and we’ll get in contact with you ASAP to discuss.
You can see our rates here.
We prefer payment via cash or a credit/debit card, but also accept PayPal and Venmo. If we have an established relationship, we may – at our discretion – accept a check. Please note, if we permit payment via a check, no mixes – rough or final – or session files, will be released until check has cleared that bank.
Yes.
Cancellations made more than fourteen (14) days before a scheduled session will receive a full refund. Cancellations between 7-14 days before a scheduled session will receive a 50% return of your deposit. Any bookings within seven (7) days of a scheduled session are final, and any deposit is non-refundable.
Yes! Our rates include access to all of the great gear we have in-house, including back-line items like our Hammond A100 and Leslie 147 and our vintage “Chicago oval badge” Slingerland drum kit. It also includes access to all of our outboard gear and our mic closet.
No. The “day rate” is only applicable for a full 10 hour day.
No. When you book studio time, that time is yours. In other words, if you book a full 10 hour day session and call it quits after six (6) hours, you are still accountable for the full day rate, and those four (4) hours are not available for use on another day. We strongly suggest thoughtful projection of the time it will take to complete your project (and can help you with this at the time of booking), and booking less time than needed is usually more advantageous than booking too much. Sessions can always be added, and sometimes we can continue working past the session end time – at the hourly rate – depending on the scheduling of other clients, and the availability of the engineer.
Absolutely. We have successfully tracked bands live in our room using strategic mic selection and gobo placement for isolation.
We don’t know. The time it takes to complete a project depends more on how prepared the artist(s) are when they arrive at the studio to record than it does on us. How many tracks are there? Are we recording live or overdubbing everything? We highly recommend thorough preproduction to work out arrangements, harmonies, etc. before arriving at the studio. Once the clock is ticking, that is prime time and unless you have an unlimited budget, that time would be best spent trying to capture the best take as opposed to trying to figure out what to play or sing.
Generally speaking, a well-rehearsed band can lay down basic tracks for an album in 1-3 days. Overdubs can take anywhere from 1-7 days after that, depending on the complexity of arrangements and pickiness. For mixing, figure anywhere from 1-2 hours per song for a basic mix and 3-6 hours per song for a more complex mix. These are not hard and fast rules, nor is this to be accepted as an “online quote” for your project. This is just to give you an idea of things to think about when assessing for yourself how much time your project may realistically take.
One limitation of the “one-room” layout is that we do not have a lounge area. We do have a main floor and a loft area (where the control room is). If you are in the room, you are in a LIVE room. We do have amenities in the form of a snack bar stocked with various munchies and drinks, and a coffee machine that brews some great organic coffee. The staples are covered.
Our space is limited, and the specific nature of the “one-room” studio definitely benefits from fewer people. So our request is that the only persons present should be those directly contributing to the recording process.
The default on this is “no”, but some “grey area” does exist. For instance, if there is no session immediatly before yours and you show up 20 minutes early, there will probably be no issue with you loading in right away and getting setup. However, this is strictly a courtesy, and should not be expected. If you will be using any of our back-line equipment, we will strive to have everything setup and mic’ed prior to your arrival.
No. Your time starts at the agreed upon start time, whether you are present or not. Come on time and come excited! Let’s make something great!