This is the OLD SITE of our digital studio, home base of Rough Draft
and

BigFoot
Welcome to the NEW SITE

Setup
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Setup:
The studio consists of three recording rooms (drum section, guitar section, vocal recording booth) plus a mastering/control room. They are all acoustically insulated (fiberglass and acoustic tiles) and separated by glass doors and soundproof windows that allow for eye contact. All rooms are wall-wired. Musicians can plug their instruments directly into the walls, and use headphones. Micing amplifiers is also possible--the studio includes extra space for amp micing purposes. The range of available amps in the studio include: Peavey, SWR 12' , Hartke 15', but musicians are welcome to lug in their own gear.

 

Drum section:
The section includes a full drum kit, independently miced (2 XY condenser overheads, double dynamic mics on snare, reversed phase, one dynamic for each tom, a bass drum mic). All microphones are gated and compressed before committing them to tape. We typically record drums on 9 tracks, but electronic drums have been known to be recorded on two only, with good results.
Recording rooms:

They are all wired for independent headsets, with full control over your own headset mixes. The guitar section can accommodate up to 8 independent signals or "ins" (four XLR/microphone signals, and 4 TRS.) We typically use two microphones for scratch tracks. The rest of the "ins" can be used for guitars, keyboards, etc.

 
Monitoring:
The headset/monitoring system is built around a Furman Headphone Amplifier. Each musician can monitor his/her headphone signal by way of a remote Furman unit. The unit supplies a "Main Mix" button and allows to add up to 4 different independent signals on top. Therefore, each musician can have more of his own signal on top of the main mix. There is one Furman unit in the drum section and two in the guitar section. Up to eight units may be added, if need be. All rooms all have extra headset outlets powered by a separate Rolls headset amplifier, providing a separate stereo signal of the VS monitor output, with click track capabilities. Each room is also wired for powered monitors, in case a "live sound" is preferred.

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    • Various Demos:

     

     

    Availability:

     The studio is also available for practice purposes. Please contact March (319-339-8862) for scheduling. You are welcome to use our setup or bring your favorite drum kit or amp for independent micing. Please let us know beforehand if you intend to bring your own drums or amps, so we can reconfigure the rooms.

    Hourly Rates:

     For practice purposes, the rate is $10.00/hour, including setup time. If you decide to record your practice and have a tape or a CD at the end of the session, the rate switches to recording time. The recording rate is $30.00/hour, with a discount for session blocks (4 hours=$100). Typically, for a first recording session, we will charge you for actual playing time at this rate. At the end of the session, I will do a rough mix and burn a CD for you at no extra charge. If you are happy with the results, you may have the CD and pay only for your recording time. If you are not happy, you don't have to pay for the first recording session at all. You may have the CD upon full payment and additional copies are available at a rate of $3, up to 10 CD's. If you recommend this studio to your fellow musicians and help us advertising it by bringing in a new group, your rate drops to $25.00 an hour.

    Pre-Mastering:

    The pre-mastering includes cleaning up the tracks, compressing them if necessary, running them through outboard processors, and so forth. All this takes time. For a mastering session, I will provide you with a final mix based on my perception of the song, and adjust it based on your suggestions. You may also attend the mastering session and I will be happy to have your input and work together with you towards your final goal. The pre-mastering and mastering rate is $30.00/hour.

    Duplicating:

    We are planning to add a dedicated CD duplicator to our setup, in the near future. For the time being, we have the capability of producing up to 50 copies without feeling that we have to play patty-cake with the CD burner. We can label these copies for you by using CD-stickers (some people have reported problems with labels, as they may get unstuck in a multi-charger CD player, but we have found them pretty reliable). Duplication rates over 10 copies are $4 a copy which includes the blank CD and case. Add $75 for stickers and and color case inserts. Cover designs are also available (you provide the pictures) and rates depend on the complexity of the projet (typically $100--a double insert requiring photo scanning, color/picture balancing and precision work will run $200, while a generic cover that we can whip up in no time will go for free). If you need a higher volume of copies, you may want to refer to Oasis, Diskmaker, or another company specialized in duplicating (or help us get the duplicating unit as soon as possible). As things stand, high volume duplication ties up the studio like there is no tomorrow so please allow several weeks for delivery.

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