is this studio worth 25.00 an hour?.

[Spitz]

hey i need a little help i finally found a studio near me i can afford to cut my album in. im listening all the equip they are offering and it also comes with a dude to work all the equip. what i want to know is it worth 25.00 an hour and with this ( cause its primarley a rock studio i think) can i get the sound that id need for a rap album? anyways feedback on this is soooo important please those of you knowledgable in this area hook me up with some feedback i can use.


~THE MIXING BOARD:
The nerve center of the studio is an ALLEN & HEATH
SABER SERIES RECORDING CONSOLE.
The board consists of a 32 channel input section
with 16 subs / busses, an onboard patch bay
& fully automated mute processing. A true gem.

~THE TAPE MACHINES:
Tracking is done on a FOSTEX G24S analog 24 track reel-to-reel
with Dolby S noise reduction.
This machine records on
1" inch 456 Grand Master Tape.

~Digital 2 track mixing is done on a TASCAM DA-30 mkII DAT machine.

~COMPACT DISC RECORDER:
Marantz CDR500 dual tray CD burner.

MULTI EFFECTS PROCESSORS:
~DIGITECH STUDIO 100
~DIGITECH STUDIO 200
~ALESIS QUADRAVERB
~ALESIS MIDIVERB III

COMPRESSORS & NOISE GATES:
~ALESIS 3630 stereo compressor/limiter/gates
~ART stereo compressor/limiter/gates
~ASHLY noise gates
~ALESIS micro gates

STUDIO REFERENCE MONITORS:
~ALESIS MONITOR TWO mid field monitors
~DCM KX8 near field monitors

MICROPHONES:
~ADK (large diaphram) studio vocal condensor with a TUBE
preamp
~SAMSON (large diaphram) studio condensor
~SHURE BETA 52 - kick drum
~SHURE SM-57's - snare drum, toms, and instruments (amps)
~AUDIO TECHNICA PRO condensors - drum overheads, acoustic
instruments, and some vocal tracks
~SHURE SM-58's - vocals and instruments

HEADPHONES:
~SONY MDR-600 STUDIO MONITOR headphones
~SONY MDR-100 headphones
~SONY MDR-250 headphones
~KOSS STUDIO headphones
~JVC standard headphones

POWER AMPS:
~YAMAHA stereo pwr amp
~PHILLIPS stereo pwr amp
~ROLLS headphone distributor pwr amp

PERCUSSION:
~BOSS DR. RHYTHM drum machine - percussion programming and
click tracks.

 

[Sick Wid It]

It's worth the money if the engineer can give you the sound you're looking for. As far as the gear list goes, I'm not impressed. It's mostly stuff you might find laying around the closet or the corner of a studio somewhere but don't let that make your decision for you. Ask to hear a sample of their work and let that be your biggest deciding factor.

 

[Spitz]

thanx dog. i know hes mostly a rock cat but has worked with rap in the past. ill do that though good lookin out

 

[28g w/o the bag]

It's worth the money if the engineer can give you the sound you're looking for. As far as the gear list goes, I'm not impressed. It's mostly stuff you might find laying around the closet or the corner of a studio somewhere but don't let that make your decision for you. Ask to hear a sample of their work and let that be your biggest deciding factor.

surriously... dude might not even know how to utilize the power in all that equipment

 

[Spitz]

well he built it in 97 hisself and has been the dude runnin it scenec hes 60% rock 40% rap but i know he knows how to at least use it all. but as a engineer how big of a roll will he play in my sound overall

 

[Sick Wid It]

hes 60% rock 40% rap but i know he knows how to at least use it all. but as a engineer how big of a roll will he play in my sound overall

The recording & mix engineers are arguably the most important people behind the scenes. They can make you sound 1000x better or 1000x worse, seriously. That's why the top producers are very hands-on with them (if they don't do the job themselves).

The top engineers make 6 digit incomes if not more. That's how important they are. When you're paying money, you don't want to be someones guinne pig. Definately find someone who knows how to do the job because knowing how to hit record and knowing how to engineer are a world apart.

 

[Spitz]

yea thats the same advise im gettin from others to. ima ask the dude to let me hear some rap tracks or do a track free that ill pay when he shows he can do that shit. much love for the feedback.

 

[Spitz]

hey i just talked to the guy i have a follow up question for yall.

can i get the sound im lookin for with analog tape. those two big ass lookin movie reels things. i thought it was all done digitly and put on a disk or dat tape then i have the pressers do the rest from their someone please school me on this. whats the diff between the 2

 

[TronikBeatz]

yo...

What kind of sound are you looking for?? Those big-ass movie reel lookin things are called a reel to reel. If dude knows what hes doing you can get a good sounding product from those. Reel to Reel doesn't sound as good as dat but it doesn't sound bad either, It'll give you a nice warm sound to your songs but you'll get a little bit of tape hiss too.

 

[Sick Wid It]

The only benefit to using analog reel-to-reel is it will give your stuff a warmth without having to manually do anything to it. You can get that warmth digitally now but it's actually a process instead of just simply hitting record. Digital media doesn't drag and stretch unless you tell it to, with analog tape theres no way to avoid it so you get the warmth for free.

By the way, your duplication isn't going to mix or master your stuff. They will simply copy whatever you give them, unless they provide other services and you make arrangements with them to do so.

 

[HERESY]

I'VE SEEN STUDIOS IN VALLEJO WITH LESS EQUIPMENT BUT RATES EQUAL OR *MORE* THAN THE SPOT YOU ARE GOING TO. IF I WERE IN YOUR SHOES I WOULD RECORD DIGITALLY AND MIXDOWN/MASTER TO AND FROM A REEL (RECORDED AT 15 IPS.) TAPE HISS CAN BE ELIMINATED BY USING NOISE REDUCTION (ON BOARD) AND OTHER TECHNIQUES. AS FAR AS SOUNDING AS GOOD AS A DAT THATS A MATTER OF PREFERENCE/OPINION. IF YOU RECORD AT 30 IPS YOU WILL USE *MORE* TAPE, IF YOU RECORD AT 15 IPS YOU WILL USE LESS TAPE. THE MORE TAPE THE MORE LOOT OUT YOUR POCKET.

HAS HE MENTIONED HEAD RENTAL FEE'S OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? IF POSSIBLE ASK FOR SERVICE RECORDS (IN REGARDS TO HIS TAPE MACHINE)


MY FIRST ALBUM (FINALLY COMPLETED AND WAITING TO BE RELEASED IN 2004) WAS RECORDED DIGITALLY AND DUMPED TO 1 INCH (OR HALF INCH I CANT REMEMBER) 2 TRACK REEL AT 15 IPS. I USED 2 REEL TO REELS FOR AN ALBUM THAT LASTED JUST OVER AN HOUR. I JUST STARTED ON ALBUM 2 AND IM GOING TO DO THE SAME THING.


WHEN I DID MY *FIRST* "FINAL MIX" WE WENT FROM AN SSL TO A REEL TO REEL MACHINE (STUDER IF IM NOT MISTAKING), DAT (FORGOT WHAT MODEL) AND ALESIS MASTERLINK. I HAD MY MUSIC ON HARD DRIVE, DAT AND REELS. TO BE HONEST I DIDN'T LIKE THE OUTCOME OF THE PRODUCT BECAUSE THE ENGINEER USED BUSS COMPRESSION, DIDN'T SLAM THE SHIT TO TAPE HOT ENOUGH (SHOULD HAVE HIT TAPE AT LIKE +6DB) AND DIDN'T UNDERSTAND A LOT OF THE STUFF I WAS TELLING HIM.

I WAS STUCK FOR A MINUTE, NOT KNOWING IF I COULD FINISH THE PROJECT AND WHAT NOT. WELL I TALKED TO KHAYREE AND HE WAS LOOKING FOR A STUDIO TO MIX OUT OF. I REFERRED HIM TO THAT STUDIO AND HE CAME IN ON ONE OF MY SESSIONS TO TAKE A TOUR OF THE SPOT. I MADE IT A POINT TO TELL HIM TO BRING HIS OWN ENGINEER (WHEN HE STARTED TO MIX) WHO WAS FAMILIAR WITH *HIS* TYPE OF MUSIC AND THE CONSOLE. A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE HE STARTED HIS MIX SESSION WE HAD A PHONE CONVO. I WAS FRUSTRATED/HEATED AT MYSELF, THE ENGINEER AND MY PRODUCT BUT HE DROPPED IT ON ME. "IF YOU KNOW ALL OF THAT AND HAVE THE SKILLS WHY DON'T YOU MIX IT YOURSELF?"


SOMETIMES WE NEED OTHERS TO JUMP START US...HERE I AM GETTING PAID TO HELP MIX OTHER CATS ALBUMS BUT IM IN FEAR OF MIXING MY OWN ALBUM AND PAYING $650 (LIKE A FAGGOT) FOR TEN HOUR BLOCKS BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE "TOO CLOSE" TO THE PRODUCT....WELL GUESS WHAT? I REMIXED THE TRACKS MYSELF (EVEN RE RECORDED SOME VOCALS) AND DROPPED IT ON REEL WITHOUT BUSS COMPRESSION. *NOW* IT SOUNDS HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO. IN MY CASE I WANTED SOMETHING DONE RIGHT SO I HAD TO DO IT MYSELF. I BLAME ALL THE BAD SHIT THAT HAPPENED ON MYSELF. INSTEAD OF CLANKIN THIS GUY IN THE HEAD WITH A BLUNT OBJECT I WAS PASSIVE (HAND IN THE LIONS MOUTH) AND LET HIM FUCK MY SHIT UP. ALL A PART OF GROWIN AND LEARNING.


WHATS THE MORAL OF THE STORY?

MAKE SURE THE ENGINEER KNOWS YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC. *YOU* ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TRUST HIM BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE AN IDEA ON HOW YOUR MUSIC SHOULD SOUND.


TELL YA WHAT...ASK THE ENGINEER IF HE USES AN EXTERNAL CLOCK.

IF HE RECORDS TO DAT ASK HIM IF HE USES EXTERNAL CONVERTERS.

WHEN SICK WID IT SAID HE COULD MAKE YOU 1000 TIMES BETTER OR WORSE HE WASN'T LYING...LMAO!!!! TAKE IT FROM ME MAN BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THROUGH IT.


:HGK:


PS WHEN YOU HEAR A SAMPLE OF HIS WORK ***VERIFY*** IT WITH OTHER ARTIST IN YOUR AREA WHO HAVE USED HIS SERVICES.

 

[Spitz]

thanx to you cats soooo much yall went so far past what i was lookin for im takeing note of all your names when the albums done ill be sending each of you one no charge. thanx again.

 

[kev ski]

man, id take that setup over a digi001 anyday

 

[six50]

NAW