FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What's the difference between engineering, production, mixing and mastering?
Engineering is the actual recording - setting up microphone(s) in a treated room and tracking what you play.
Production is the processing of those recorded tracks through EQ, compression, and other hardware or software to make each track sound the best it can. It's possible to do this (in part or totality) during the recording session, depending on how the engineer decides to route the signal.
Mixing takes those processed tracks and fits them together to form your stereo mix, usually by adjusting levels, panning and other tweaks.
Mastering your stereo mix applies the final polish that optimizes the sound to ensure consistent playback across all formats and systems.
As an analogy to cooking, engineering is the tilling of the soil and the planting of the seeds. Production is watering, fertilization and environmental management to ensure your food grows to its fullest potential. Mixing is harvesting your ingredients, chopping them up and combining them together with the right amounts your recipe calls for. Mastering is the extra spices and the final plating to make sure everyone loves your meal.
Can I send in music I have already recorded to be produced, mixed or mastered?
Absolutely! Export your tracks from your DAW of choice as mono and/or stereo 48k, 24bit .wav files.
If we're producing your music, please make sure to take off any plugins and only send us the raw files - however, you are more than welcome to also send us the processed tracks or demo mixes for reference.
You can upload these files to Google Drive and share them with us, or send them via a large-file transfer service, such as WeTransfer or MediaFire.
Please do NOT send us .mp3s! There are few situations in which this format meets the quality standards required to provide an acceptable final product.
If this is your first time exporting tracks, or you need a refresher on how to do so, please refer to the following walkthroughs:
If you'd like to join us in the studio while we work on your music, you're more than welcome to! Let us know this when you reach out about your project.
I'm coming in for a recording session. What should I expect when I arrive?
In the interest of mutual respect, there are some things you can expect of us, and some things we expect of you:
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM US
We will clean and set up the studio at least 24 hours in advance.
You are welcome to use any of our listed equipment.
While we have our preferred mics and setups for various recording situations, if you would rather us use something else in our arsenal we will gladly oblige.
We will endeavor to work at your pace - as quickly as you want to go, or with as many breaks as you need.
WHAT WE EXPECT OF YOU
Care about what you're creating. The more you care about your music, the more excited we are to help you make it.
If you are using our equipment, treat our gear with respect - any broken or damaged pieces must be replaced on your dime.
All cigarette and meal breaks must be taken outside of the studio. Beverages are acceptable inside as long as they are covered.
We value your time and expect you to value ours - a deposit may be required to reserve your time on our calendar. Rescheduling or cancelling your session must be made at least 7 days in advance to receive a refund of said deposit.
Any cancelations or rescheduling within 7 days of your session will result in forfeiture of your deposit, and a new deposit will be required to rebook.
We are a safe space and are intolerant of any forms of hate speech, including, but not limited to, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and misogyny.
Any language or comments reflecting such will be met with a warning.
Repeated comments will result in an immediate cancelation of your session, forfeiture of your deposit and payments made thus far, and destruction of all recordings.
Please feel free to let us know if you require any additional accommodations - we will endeavor to fulfill them to make you as comfortable as possible.
My music is going to be pressed on vinyl. Do I need anything specific for this?
It is highly recommended that you have a vinyl-specific master if your music is going to be pressed as such.
Our masters aim to be competitively loud while not taking part in the loudness war (-8-9 LUFs) to work across most digital formats, such as CD, download or streaming. However, vinyl is a much more limited format with heavier restrictions on certain aspects of your music, such as the amount of low-end signal in the stereo field or the overall loudness of the final product.
If this is relevant to your project, please let us know what formats you intend to release your music on, and we can discuss rates for multiple masters.
Working with a studio is expensive! Can't I just do this myself?
You absolutely can!
The barrier to entry on producing your own music has never been lower. If you have a computer (or even a smartphone), you can get started with a basic interface, microphone and headphones for around $300 or less.
There are also tons of free resources online to help educate you - we even have our own Twitch channel where you can watch us work live and learn!
However, some aspects of this industry require much higher levels of investment - getting professional grade recording often requires large, acoustically treated spaces, a massive arsenal of expensive gear, and years of experience and education.
This front end investment (and for us to pay our bills, feed ourselves etc.) is why our services cost what they do - that said, we understand that no matter how we set our prices, there will be people who simply don't have the capital required to work with us. This is especially true of marginalized individuals, like those in the trans community.
To combat this, we established the Trans Musician Fund, a crowdfunded initiative that seeks to help offset the cost for trans musicians to acquire high quality recordings they wouldn't otherwise be able to access.
I have more questions that you didn't address here!
Feel free to ask any additional questions when you book your session, or send us a DM on any of our social media platforms.
