National Recording offers technical excellence and a passion for music and the art of recording., 30+ years of experience in production on both coasts and internationally, with many credits for domestic and foreign indie record labels, music for TV shows & commercials, sound libraries for software companies, sound effects for film.
You'll find great equipment and vibe in the lab, reflecting our appreciation of the best of both digital and analog technology, and our respect for your musical goals. CONSTANTLY upgrading, we've got both the latest in computers and software, but choose to mix entirely in the analog domain on a high-end Studer console for the sort of big and unconstricted sound that can only be created outside the computer.
Our facility, built in 1870, features hardwood floors, wood paneling, a high pressed-tin ceiling, and a great atmosphere and sound in the tracking room. We have a Whisper Room vocal booth, LOTS of vintage analog keys (Korg, Akai, Yamaha, Roland, Elka & Crumar synthesizers, Hammond, Wurlitzer EP200, Hohner Clavinet, Fender Rhodes, Farfisa and more), modern synths and samplers by Kurzweil and Yamaha, other musical instruments (Baldwin piano, vibraphone, bass, guitar, syndrum, congas/bongos, a Yamaha drum set with 4 different snares to choose from such as Pork Pie, etc.), Fender, Orange, and vintage amplifiers by Marshall (JCM 800), Ampeg, Magnatone (460 and 260R), Pine, Cordovox (leslie), etc..
We also have some of the most cutting edge synthesizer and sampler software/hardware, courtesy of Native Instruments, for whom we have developed sounds and demos in the past. We've got the latest versions Kore II, B4, Reaktor, Kontakt, Absynth, Massive, FM8, Guitar Rig, and ""Maschine"".
For the techies:
Our audio gear includes classic items by Studer, Neumann, SSL, Soundeluxe, Otari, EMT, AKG, Manley, Eventide, Electrovoice, Universal Audio, Focusrite, MCI, Sony, Summit Audio, Drawmer, Seventh Circle Audio (Neve, API, and 2 Millenia type modules), Audix, Shure, JBL, Beyer, etc. You will NEVER SEE any junk - NO Mackie, NO M-Audio, NO Alesis, etc., - at our studio! :) On the digital side, our 24-channel SSL conversion system provides a richer, bigger, more spacious sound than the ""prosumer"" systems used by many of our local competitors. Many people don't know that analog to digital conversion is a key determining factor in the quality of your end product. Our SSL 24 channel conversion system is world class, and costs up to 15 times more than the run of the mill Pro Tools LE systems a lot of the low-end places employ.
We mix on a beefy, world-class Studer analog desk, because the qualitative difference to computer ""in-the-box"" mixing is completely obvious.
We offer the full, classic analog tape experience as an alternative for those who don't dig the digital world (We love BOTH). You can track to our MCI JH-24"" 24 track analog recorder (nominal surcharge) and mix to our Otari MTR10 two track tape machine.
Upgrades:
We've just over the past 3 months added a brand new stereo pair of AKG C 414's, a pair of vintage AKG 451's, a Universal Audio DCS stereo preamp, a 1960 Twilighter (Magnatone) amp, a Marshall JCM800, and a freakin' 1954 Fender Deluxe amplifier! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The studio rate is $40/hour for independent/local productions (nationally-distributed label releases @ $50).. In addition to our complete digital and analog tracking and mixing setups, we also offer superb mastering services, using all of the analog and digital tools at our disposal. And the cost is perhaps only a few dollars more than the bedroom mouse-jockeys: $10 per minute of music, ie: $30 for a 3 minute song (nationally-distributed label releases @ $15/minute). We can now convert your Pro Tools files so that they can be read by other software.
Thank you for looking!
Pros: * digital and analog recording, superb mixing & mastering
Cons: * makes you feel you got way more than your money's worth ;)
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