Where are you located?
1021 6th Ave Oakland Ca 94606
What do I need to bring?
Bring all the equipment you would use for a show. Don't forget your tuner, extra strings and extra 9V batteries! Bring food and water. (we have a band fridge).
Do I need to buy tape?
We have studio house tape that bands can use at no charge. We keep your tape for 30 days before erasing it and reusing the tape for the next band. If you like, we can convert your tracks to wav files for you after your project is done.
Where can I get tape?
Best place to buy tape now is online. Here's a couple of links:
http://www.recordingdataservice.com/RMG-Studio-Master-911-s/1828.htm
https://atrtape.com/product-category/one-inch-master-tape/
You want either RMGI 900 or 911 1" Tape. There's 33 minutes on a roll of tape.
Where can we eat?
You can bring food, we have a kitchen and a band fridge. There's also decent Asian and Mexican food in the neighborhood.
What's the parking like?
There's almost always parking on our block. On street cleaning days, we'll help you find a nearby spot.
Remember, we're in the city so please don't leave anything valuable in your car.
What is mastering? And why do I need it?
Mastering is the final sweetening of your mix. If the overall sound needs to be a bit brighter, or a bit fuller on the bottom, that's when those adjustments can be made. I'll also match the overall volume of each song, and put the songs in order with proper spacing.
I'll add the song titles so they show up on music players that have that capability.
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We're on the second floor, so there's stairs. There's a landing halfway up, and if you don't want to carry up your heavy bass cabinet, you're always welcome to use ours.
How do you like to work?
I like to record everyone playing live. I believe this makes the for the best possible backing track for your song. When musicians play together they tend to inspire each other, and that kind of energy will shine through on a recording.
After you've recorded a take of the song you like, we'll go through it and fix mistakes.
Vocals and solos can be done after.
We have a nice sized drum room and I'll often put the bass player in there so the rhythm section can lock in with each other.
How many songs can we do?
Typically, a band will book two days and record 3-4 songs. If you're on a fixed budget and want to push out a number of songs in one day, I've done that many times. Frequently, punk bands will record eight songs in a day, but that style lends itself to quick recordings and mixing.
The amount of time you need depends on how many times you want to play a song before deciding on a final take, how many parts you might want to overdub, and how much time you need to save for mixing.
I've never recorded before. What can I expect?
I'll do everything I can to make you feel comfortable and relaxed. This is your project and I'm here to help.
You'll set up like your playing live. The drummer (and perhaps the bass player) will be in the drum room, which is our biggest and livest room. The guitar players will be in a second room. The wall between the two rooms has a large window. The singer might be in a third room, set up to record scratch vocals. Everyone will be wearing headphones
Then you'll play! After your happy with your rhythm track, we'll go back and fix any mistakes. Then we'll add parts like vocals and solos.
Finally, we'll mix your tracks. You'll leave with a CD of your songs.
Do we need to bring CD's?
No, I can burn them for you at the end. I can also mail you MP3's.
Do you take credit cards, or Paypal?
I take Paypal, Venmo, check or cash.