Recording & Overdubs
An ideal location to write, record and mix an entire album. A 300 square foot live room and a 10×8 foot isolation booth have great lighting a sight-lines great for recording live off the floor.
With a wide selection of microphones, effects, amps, guitars, preamps, and compressors, the Playhouse is a great place to record overdubs at a fraction of the cost. Compared to larger studios where the client is paying a for a big space they are not using, the Playhouse is a streamline studio…
Mixing
A great collection of software and hardware used in conjunction with the Dangerous Audio 2-Bus Lt Summing Amp make for the fusion of analog and digital mixing. The best of both worlds.
Analog Summing (Pre-Mastering)
The concept can be tricky to understand but the principle is simple. When mixing digitally (in the box), as you render all the tracks to your master fader (summing), this process creates a bottleneck issue as all the sound is funnelling down one pipe. When you take tracks that are digital in nature and sum them together digitally, the final mix is compromised. Being hard to verbally quantify, digital summing can sound smaller, harsh, with less of stereo image and an inferior top and low end. Ideally, my job is not to repair a mix but more of an enhancement of the mix you have created. Once you have rendered stems (separated groups ie: Kick 1, Snare 2, Drums 3&4, Bass 5, Vocals 6, guitars 7&8 and so on, up to 16) the mix is then put through the analogue-summing amp.
What usually happens next is there is more room to push the sound because the tracks are now going through their own outputs and can be enhanced by slightly added analogue EQ or Compression to strengthen your mix further creating a warmer, with a wider imaging, deeper low end, and a more open top end. In general, if there gain staging has been done correctly and you are happy with have a good mix, analogue summing will help make your sound thicker and juicier! But remember, I cannot make a bad mix sound better.
Songwriting & Collaboration
The beginnings of a catchy melody, a unique beat or harmonic concept, Snappy Homefry enjoys working on music from the ground up and is always looking for a good song… the Playhouse is a perfect launching pad for ideas.
Equipment
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