At JM Recording
Studio, I can offer clients the opportunity to build a song from just an
idea to a fully arranged track and finally into a professional mastered
digital recording, with powerful automated editing and mixing features using
a ProTools Mix Plus (computer based) hard disk recording system. My goal
is to earn your business for as long as you want to record by providing you
with a very high quality product at a very reasonable and fair cost. It is
very important to me that you, as the client, feel very comfortable and
relaxed while recording and working in my studio and working with me, so
that you can produce your best work as an artist. I am totally comfortable
working with each client in whatever role(s) you would like me to – whether
that is only doing a drum, percussion or keyboard track, only
engineering/mixing/mastering or functioning in all the roles (musician,
engineer, producer, and mastering) necessary to help you get your music to
where you want it to be.
If you are interested
in using my services and studio, I invite you to contact me so we can
discuss your project. If you desire, I also offer to help you put
together a budget for your project. I invite you to take a
listen to samples of work I have done. Listed
below are some descriptions of each of the services I’m offering.
· Sequencing/arranging
– creating up to
full professional instrument tracks (ex: drums, percussion, bass, piano,
keys/synths, pads, strings, etc.) using a midi sequencer and a wide
assortment of pro music midi sound sources. I rely on my experiences as a
keyboardist and drummer (member of a rhythm section) along with several
years of sequencing (and essentially studying) hundreds of songs that have
been arranged and produced by many of the music industry’s greatest
arrangers and producers. I can build your tracks and arrangements basically
from scratch or whatever level of development the song is at when you bring
it to me (**please see notes below re: songwriting/co-writing) – if you
already have a melody and lyrics, I can add the chords and develop your
concept of an arrangement, or I can develop it from a previously recorded
version or an example/demo that you bring to me.
·
Recording facility – for live recording (non-midi tracks), the studio is set up to
record solo miked performances (ex: vocals, saxophone, guitar, etc.)
and instruments that plug directly into the recorder interface (ex: guitar,
bass, keyboards, digital piano, electronic drums, etc.) and can accommodate small choirs (3-4
person). All of these can be layered with the sequenced tracks to get a
“big sound” if desired. A couple things I’m not set up to record live in my
studio (at this time) are large choirs and acoustic drum sets. However, if
you want to record live acoustic drums or a large choir, these tracks can be
recorded at a larger Pro Tools (see PT description below) studio and brought
back to my studio to complete the song(s). Any session previously recorded
in another studio using Pro Tools can be edited or mixed in my studio, and
likewise tracks done here can be taken to work on in another Pro Tools
studio (it’s a commonly used software among studios). And as I mentioned
above, your comfort level recording and working in my studio is of great
importance to me.
·
ProTools
recording system for
Recording, Editing
and Mixing - this
powerful computer based system allows for subtle, detailed automated editing
and mixing settings/edits that functions essentially like several engineers
mixing live simultaneously on a traditional mixing board. The greatest
benefit is that all these subtle, detailed changes are saved and instantly
recalled when you return for your next session! Also, as mentioned
above, the compatibility with other studios is a key benefit. I am
using an assortment of high quality software plug-ins (see equip list below)
for processing – ex: reverbs, effects, compression, eq, and auto-tune.
When mixing, I like to do lots of “referencing” to major label CDs to make
sure the mix of your song stands up very well when compared to any CD (of
similar style/sound) out on the market. The reason for this is, often
mixes sound great in the studio on studio monitors, but the bottom line is
they need to sound great when you take them outside the studio and play them
on other systems. Frequent referencing to CDs familiar to your ear
helps me to achieve the sound you are looking for. I’ll encourage you
to bring in CDs (of material similar to yours) that you love to listen to
for use for
referencing while mixing your songs.
·
Producing
– when I am in the role of producer, it is my goal to try to help each
artist maximize his or her talents, drawing out the production ideas the
artist has, and helping to develop each song to the best of what the artist
is imagining or “hearing” in his or her head. It also involves overseeing
all the details of the recording to ensure that the quality throughout is at
a high level. I offer my production services as a part of renting my
studio, (basically free with the use of the studio if you choose to have me
function in that role), but that is an individual decision that is up to you
and we’ll discuss what role you’d like me to play up front.
·
Songwriting/co-writing
– I have written
several songs under my own publishing company (SESAC affiliation) and have
co-written songs (only by mutual agreement) with artists who have done
recording projects at my studio. In each situation, the co-writing
relationship was discussed and agreed upon and the song was developed. **If
you bring a song to me that you feel is finished, and you need a track arrangement – no, I will not try to hit you up with a “co-writer”
relationship or copyright credit as a “co-writer” for that song – that is
your song! Though I may be doing an arrangement of your song, you are the
writer and entitled to all your rights as the writer. If you come to me and
ask me to help you finish a song (ex: help to come up with a bridge or add
an additional section or sections that you feel your song might need), or if
I bring a track to you and ask if you’d help write lyrics - then we would
discuss a “co-writer” relationship for that song and only by mutual
agreement.
·
Mastering
– is putting the final touches on each mix and ensuring that the entire
recording flows consistently in volume and eq throughout - going from one
song to the next as well as when going from listening to your CD to other
CDs on the market. The end result is a master CD that you can take to any
duplicating plant to duplicate your CDs. I offer mastering using a
combination of Pro Tools software plug-ins, the TC Electronics Finalizer
Plus 96K and the Alesis Masterlink.
STUDIO
EQUIPMENT
