S o n g C i t y S t u d i o s . c o m

Why Use Us?
One of the great things about our studio, is that we don't have as much overhead, due to our location, which is why we can cut such great packages. Studios on "The Row" or other popular locations have to pay dearly for their space. That's why we can afford such great sounding tracks and mixes, using the same high-end level gear as other popular studios, without charging you an arm and a leg to cover the overhead.

Engineer Costs...
I'm the Chief Engineer for both studios and I DO NOT charge an added engineer fee with our studio rates. Other studios operating at our level of quality charge an added fee for the engineer that they hire for you. They typically don't mention the engineer rate when they quote their studio rate . It's usually an "assumed" cost for the customer.

In other words, when a studio charges, let's say, $75 per hour for their studio, you typically have to either hire your own engineer or use their staff engineer, which will be an added cost to you, adding anywhere from $35-$40 per hour above the cost of the studio. Speaking for myself, I've put a good portion of my life into engineering putting out great mixes, and I can dual with some of the best engineers out there. My fellow engineering and producing peers, which I exchange techniques with, are some pretty serious, top level cats.

What Should You Look for in a Studio
In order to provide more insight and perhaps a little education for those of you who may be challenged when it comes to understanding the science of audio engineering, I've written a detailed summary, as well as a Get to the Point breakdown of some very important things you should be aware of when considering a studio for your next project. That is, if you're interested in assuring yourself that you're getting the best possible recordings.

Reading it this summary will help you know the right questions to ask, and will help you become more knowledgeable when shopping around for a quality studio. Our studio fits all of the following criteria and more.

I'm surprised sometimes how many people don't know what to look for in a good studio, other than asking how expensive or nice the microphones are. Most people think it's only the microphone collection that qualifies a good studio. Although we have a great microphone collection, there are other important factors, which "clearly" makes the difference between your recording sounding like a "demo" or sounding like a "record".

Without these factors in place, all the great microphones in the world won't bring your recordings up to the same level as other master quality recordings that are typically done in Nashville. There are more elements in the signal path that make a huge difference, such as top of the line mic preamps, top quality digital converters and recording platform. We use Steinberg Cubase/Nuendo. So if you really want to know what makes the difference between recordings that sound amazing and recordings that only sound pretty good, click one of the following links.

Please, read our detailed summary of how we do things at SongCity Studios by clicking here. It expands below... It's useful information that will stick to your ribs...

Click here to close the Detailed Summary.

Preface (skip preface)
This summary points out the primary factors responsible for outputting extremely high-fidelity recordings and mixes that have all the luster you're looking for in the final mix of your project. Choice of studio, and the gear they have means everything. It is also important to note, that great gear means nothing if you don't have the right set of ears mixing your project. I've put together this information because it never ceases to amaze me how little the customer knows about what they're paying for, and who they're paying to deliver it. We've gone through the trouble and expense to get all this great equipment, and when I tell our customers about what we have, I usually get a blank stare, or they say, "I don't know anything about that stuff, but it sounds like you do". It's important to us that our customers know the differences between recordings that sound "OK" and recordings that sound "Amazing". You can get one or the other for the same amount of money these days, especially in Nashville and surrounding areas. Everybody and their brother has a recording environment of some sort, and in some cases you get what you paid for and in others you don't. Isolated recording space and the gear means everything.

Many studios rely on the ignorance, or inexperience of their customers. Which allows them to use less expensive, lower quality equipment, and of course, you get what you pay for. There are two levels of equipment available these days. You've got "pro-consumer" level gear, which is mid-grade gear that doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't have that pristine, record quality sheen to it, which isn't bad for composing ideas or making cheap demos. And then you have the "real pro" gear, which is preferred by the most discriminate ears in the audio world. With "pro" gear, there's no denying how great it makes your recordings sound. If you use lesser equipment, it definitely shows up in the final mix. It's easy to tell when you compare a poorly recorded mix to another mix done in a nicer studio using top-of-the-line gear and an engineer who has a more discriminate set of ears.

The difference is revealed in the detailed elements within your mix. If you record with lesser equipment, the individual elements in your mix will tend to get washed out or run together without notable separation, which of course, doesn't allow for the detail of those elements to stand out. Lesser gear forces the engineer, that is if he has an ear for mixing, to have to overcompensate, over-EQ, and work harder than he needs to create the separation desired for the mix. At that point it starts to sound unnatural or contrived.

With "Pro-level" gear, you immediately have clarity and separation as soon as the track goes down. Our goal is to make great recordings affordable without sacrificing master quality output. Many times the customer simply won't know the difference, even after the mix is done. But we prefer that our customers "do" know the difference. Many of our customers are simply not interested in knowing all this stuff and trust that we know what we're doing. Although we're glad that they trust us, we'd like for you to read on, and learn about what makes the difference between demo quality and record quality tracks...

The Critical Elements for Capturing Your Music

The Signal Path - Putting the signal first ...
We wanted to make sure that our Studio-A, which is our "Star" Studio, is nothing short of any other great studio in town. Especially when it comes down to capturing the best acoustics, and sonic quality. So when we deciding on the equipment necessary to yield the greatest results, we of course, made sure to give close attention to the signal path, from the sound source all the way to its final destination, which is the track (recording medium).

In my years of engineering, I've come to understand that the signal path is the one key element that feeds everything else that follows it... And if you don't get that part of it right, then you're spinning your wheels. You've got to maintain the highest fidelity you can at each "stage" in the signal path. There really are a lot more things to take into account when capturing your music than just making sure your mic cable is plugged in to your bargain-basement, garden variety microphone, and then plugged into a consumer line all-in-one mixer/recorder. So if you feel like getting a good general education of the proper steps in getting great recordings, continue reading this summary, which breaks it down to each stage in the signal. Again, we want this to be an informative website for our customers as well as anyone else who would like to know more about what it really takes to make great recordings.

Critical Signal Stages
When a recording takes place, the sound is greatly effected at each critical stage, more so than you may realize. This plays a major role in the clarity, warmth, detail and separation of your final mix. The signal flows in this order:

Room acoustics - tuned rooms make for great recordings
Microphone choice - the right mic for the job. Skimp here and you're hurting yourself.
Microphone placement - proper distance and location around the source
Cable quality - always use well shielded, quality cable
Microphone Preamplification - without great mic preamps you're in for a murky (unclear) mix
Trident Soundboard - Trident consoles are considered among the best.
Digital Converters - Analog to Digital / Digital to Analog conversion (very important)
Recording Platform - the recording & mixing interface (platform)

The above links will take you to the related detailed information below.

Room Acoustics
Room acoustics is a science that can only come to you through time and experience. The more you tinker with and experience how certain rooms sound acoustically, the more you start making better assessments regarding acoustical environments. Our rooms sound great. A true test is how it sounds over the mic when you place some distance between the it and the source you're recording.

Microphones
The second stage is how you capture the signal at the source. Your microphone choice is key at this point. If you chose the wrong mic or use a cheaper or lessor quality microphone it will indeed discolor and misrepresent the characteristics of your sound and make it more difficult blending it into the final mix. Admittedly, we are microphone snobs here at SongCity Studios, and are very critical with our microphone selection as well as mic preamplifiers. We didn't hold back on spending in order get the best tools for the given tasks.

Microphone Placement
Microphone proximity plays a strong role as well, in how "focused" or how "live" the vocal or instrument sounds. It's according to the musical treatment your going for. It is definitely possible to place the mic too close or too far away from the source. If you want to hear more of the room on the mic, you will want to give more space for the mic to capture those elements. The closer the mic is to the source, the more focused it will sound, and the more chance you have of distorting the sound, which is what you never really want, unless that's what you're going for. You're better off to split the difference in most applications, just to be safe. Or to use multiple mics in varying degrees of distance and location.

Cable Quality
Our mic cable and wiring system is made from either "Proco", "Mogami", or "Redco" wire, which is well shielded and industry standard for professional studio environments. These brands are known worldwide for their signal reliability and sturdiness.

Microphone Preamplification - instead of using the soundboard
Did you notice we don't have our soundboard listed as one of the stages in the critical recording signal path? There's a reason for that. We don't use the soundboard before channeling the signal to the recorder. We only use the soundboard as an overqualified headphone mix, post the recorded signal. We use great microphone Preamplifiers to amplify the true sound of the vocal or instrument before it is captured to track, thus bypassing the board altogether. If you've ever listened to Alison Kraus & Union Station albums or Nora Jones recordings, this is how they get their astounding clarity, warmth and presence. The best, and first step of any great recording, is to capture the truth of the sound and all of its nuances. You can always make any of your necessary adjustments after the truth has been captured. Like they say, "It's your choice what you decide to do with the truth". It is just as relevant to shape the sound of your recording during the final mixing stage, as it is to do it during the recording. It's my personal opinion, that I would rather do my extensive treatment to the signal after recording, during final mix, than to narrow my options by over-EQing and possibly giving too much treatment to the signal during the recording process. There's always a chance of certain tones getting squashed or dialed out during the recording process, if it's too treated going down, which that you may want or need later on in the final mix.

So note, that aside from picking the best mic for the job, picking the best mic preamp is one of the most critical choices you can make with your recording. We have an assortment of great mic preamplifiers. The ones I love to use the most at this time are the API 3124® and the Millennia® HV-3D. They sound amazingly full, with unbelievable fidelity. And because the Millennia is nearly impossible to distort, it allows us to record good, hot signals levels without having to use much limiting if any at all. Thus keeping it sounding very lively and not over controlled. We also have Universal Audio® 6176, another well established classic brand of tube mic preamplifier, which is the same mic pre they used on Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and many other great classic artists.

Any experienced engineer will agree with the fact, that great mic preamplifiers, costing quite a bit per channel, sound amazingly better and truer than the built-in mic preamplifiers in most commonly used mid-grade soundboards found in many "project" studios. When I say "commonly used mid-grade", I'm referring to budget -line soundboards like Mackie 8-bus, Soundcraft, Alan & Health, etc. Although they have "adequate" mic preamps for live mixing, in the studio they pale in comparison to the clarity, presence, tone and truth that you can get from a high-voltage / high-fidelity mic preamp. SSL, API, Trident or NEVE boards are in a league all their own, as they have built in mic pres that are of the quality that I'm talking about. Even in the top level mic preamp, each are known for adding a different tone, or coloring the sound a certain way, or not coloring the sound at all. Either way their clarity and quality is amazing.The mic preamps we're using are of that quality. This is what will make the difference between your music sounding like a demo or a record. Record your demo here and you'll have the option of making it your next single if you can get the the right attention with it.

Believe me... we've compared our API 3124® , Millennia® HV-3D and Universal Audio® 6176 mic pres against other mid-grade built-in soundboard mic pres and ZOWIE! Hearing the signal through those great mic preamps were like having someone remove the earmuffs!! I could go on about the amazing difference these mic preamps have made in the overall sound of our mixes, but I'll curb my enthusiasm and move on to the next critical stage in the signal path, the Digital Converters, which explains the importance of using the best digital converters to take your sound from the analog domain into the digital domain.

Trident Recording Console
We have recently purchased a Trident 24. Tridents are British Consoles that have been putting out hit recordings every since the Beatles. This model has 28 channels and 24 Buses and it sounds fantastic. Its crystal clear, warm tone is hard to beat. This board was originally manufactured in 1989. Before we moved it into the studio, we had this board completely rechipped and recapped. We also upgraded the built-in mic preamps with more accelerated chips than the ones that were originally installed when it was new. So this board isn't only like new, it's better than new!! This is a great performing console and sonically nothing short of amazing...

Even if we chose not to use any of our 'other' great sounding external mic preamps, this board alone can deliver fantastic sounding recordings with the same separation and clarity I've discussed earlier.

With our collection of external mic preamplifiers, along with our our Trident console, we've armed ourselves with plenty of tracking options. You can see more pictures of our console by clicking here.

Digital Converters - RADAR® is the only way to fly...
Just as important as the mics and mic preamps, it is crucially important how you capture all this truth and fidelity down into digital tracks. It would be a shame to put out a great performance, using legendary mics, through amazing mic pres and then pump it all through a set of budgeted, consumer level, demo quality, digital converters. No concern for that here, because we use RADAR® for our high-end digital recording. RADAR® is one of the top choices for professional, master quality studios worldwide. When we first started our studio, we used MOTU converters on our first 2 sessions and after we heard it in comparison to the RADAR®, we decided that the MOTU converters had to go. Sorry MOTU... you sound decent for home studio recordings, but you don't sound as great for the money as the RADAR®. The RADAR® is the choice of the pros because it sounds identical to 2 inch analog tape. Many studios have gotten rid of their 24 track 2 inch Studer tape machines and replaced them with the RADAR®. That's a pretty big statement for RADAR® and the quality sound it puts out. RADAR® pretty much ended the old argument that digital doesn't sound as good as analog.

Recording and Mixing Platform
Our recording and mixing platform is Steinberg Cubase ®. It is one of the top 2 universal standards in the recording industry with regard to digital mixing and recording software. ProTools used to be the only standard on the digital plain, but over the last 12 years or so, Steinberg Cubase ® has upped the annie on what you can do now in the digital world. Although it's not cheap, building a Steinberg Cubase ® based recording environment is considerably less expensive than ProTools, and can perform the same task at the same quality level, using the right converters. And for those of you concerned about getting trapped into a format that you can't move around, that's not an issue either. Tracks recorded through Steinberg Cubase ® are transferable to ProTools, as well as any other known platform. There is the old way and the new way to record and mix projects. The new way is actually a healthy "mixture of the old and the new". This is why we love using Steinberg Cubase ® with the RADAR®. The converters in the RADAR® same big sound of classic 2 inch analog tape, without the maintenance required with for those old clunky analog tape machines. With RADAR® there is no loss in warmth or tone when the signal leaves the analog world into the digital world and visa versa.

Getting to the point... The End Result = a lot more bang for the buck!!
With the total recall automation capabilities available in Steinberg Cubase ®, combined with our great collection of microphones (Neumann, SounDelux, AKG, Shure, Audix, Rode, etc.) and the quality of our microphone preamplifier collection, along with capturing all that great sound through the RADAR®, we are capable of achieving the same sonic excellence and performance as any other type of total-recall sound board systems costing more than many studios can afford, like those you would find in million dollar facilities.

We send the mic signal straight into our incredible sounding mic preamplifiers, then to compressors (compression is rarely used unless necessary during tracking, to keep the sound as pure and flexible as possible). At this point we pass the signal through our Trident 24 recording console, and then the signal is passed straight through the RADAR® analog to digital converters into Steinberg Cubase ®. No outrageously priced soundboard is needed. We're able to extensively edit punches on the fly (as the track is being laid) as well. One thing to note about other studios of any size is, if they're not using a great soundboard, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're using high-level mic preamps and converters in the place of a great sounding board. You should always investigate this important point closely with whoever you are considering for your tracking session. We are covering every stage of the signal-to-track process very efficiently.