First, I cannot thank Richard enough for his level of music production. His ability to communicate with artist on their project spearheading the vision to a masterpiece is unquestioned. From our first session I instantly realized that I was embarking on a journey of knowledge in music. Richard's canning insight on musical timing, experience and ear for sounds is exceptional. I call this dude a Music Wizard. Just to let you people know If I have any major projects I am working on and if he is available, he is my #1 choice hands down!!! I have worked with many engineers and no one communicates like him. First and foremost, I would tell anyone that comes to his studio to come Prepared to Work!!! I am a business professional and if you are a Musician or Artist you need to be prepared. I say this because this man deserves... For you... To be ready...When you come in to get a session done come in with the right energy and your results will be amazing. My number one song on Spotify Lovecraft Country was engineered by Richard and has over 400K Streams which I released January 1st, 2021. I do not care how long you have been a musician or artist there is always something new you can learn. This man has helped put money and my pocket... I have nothing but respect for the Old Rockstar... Richard you the Man... Cannot wait for AI TECHNOLOGY.... MUSIC WITH NO LIMITS ALLEN B AE MUSIQ LLC Lovecraft Country- Allen B https://open.spotify.com/track/4hPQrqQac4ycyJJcD4hIZX?si=bdf125bafce24f2d read more

Blitz Recording Studios - Studio Session at Blitz Recording Studio in 2020 - Recording & Rehearsal Studios Near Me - San Diego, California

This review is a long time coming . Richard Livoni is a master at his craft. He works efficiently and is always ready with constructive criticism. As a musician, he has a keen ear and a creative flair other sound engineers lack. I have had two sessions with this gentleman. I am completely satisfied with the results. I have every confidence in him to make my next effort equally rewarding and musically enjoyable. Victor Pinzon read more

Richard was extremely helpful in editing a couple sound clips for me. Excellent service for a great price. Much appreciated!

It was The Shallow End; sent by Jeff who played drums with us and produced our cd! We stand by our review of what an unprofessional jerk you were and probably still are! read more

Richard is a phenomenal guy to work with and always makes the greatest recommendations to make your song pop! Highly experienced engineer along with a great ear to make the production of your song pop that much more!! Highly highly recommended. Keep up the good work Rich! read more

We went to Blitz Recording with a really poor copy of a really bad mix of 8 songs we recorded in 1997 on an old DAT, the kind that looks like a VHS tape. I really did not think we would ever salvage these songs, which were all strong tunes recorded live in a cheap studio of a house in a flooded basement originally. Amazingly, Richard at Blitz stripped it down and built it up again. Honestly I always thought the songs were good and now that Richard remastered it, it is amazing. The drums sound so strong and so is the bass, guitars and vocals. Blitz Recording remastered RagStew's 1997 "River of Slow Return" so incredibly well, I'd put the quality up against nearly any current hard rock or heavy metal release. I am leaving our poor mix on www.reverbnation.com/RagStew for a couple of months until our singer completes some vocals. If you are reading this prior to April 2016, listen to our terrible original mix then check out the Blitz remastered after that and you will understand what I am talking about. You can go to https://www.facebook.com/RagStewBand/ and watch for when we release Richard's production excellence. These two mixes are truly night and day and you will not believe he remastered this from the mud of the original DAT. read more

I've been a working professional drummer/musician for 25 years in this area and every project I've done with Richard has evolved like a well-oiled machine. Blitz Recording is one of my favorite places to track drums and the atmosphere is relaxed, professional and clean. Richard's expertise and ear lends itself to getting the right take for the song every time we record together. There's three studios where I love to do my work in here in San Diego, and Blitz Recording is one of those three. When Richard accepts a project it's going to get all the love and attention that it needs to prosper; he is a true "artist" rather than merely a "recordist". When you hire Blitz Recording to take on your project he instills a sense of creativity, knowledge and expertise that spans 40+ years of experience. Not to mention that Richard has a network of competent musicians and other peripheral services related to the music business at his fingertips; being a great engineer involves more than just knowing how to twiddle a few knobs. It's as if you're part psychologist, babysitter, crossing guard, plumber, bookie, hit man and caddy. Richard covers all bases! In the world today where quantity is sought more than quality, you'll be pleased to know that Blitz Recording is "oldschool" in that you are going to get the results you're after and those results will most likely eclipse what you really expected. Record one song with Blitz and I'm pretty certain you'll be back to finish the rest of your album there. read more

I am currently about 3/4 through recording my 3rd album at Blitz studios. Richard has incredible ears and recording skills. His years of working in several genre also helps because he has good constructive suggestions from a producer's point of view. He is also available to add to the performance by playing guitar, bass, or keyboard. He cares about his work and he his honest about what he hears and makes suggestions accordingly. I read one negative review from a past patron and find it hard to believe they weren't happy because Richard can make anyone sound better and produce a worthy recording they'll be proud to share with others. Maybe the person wasn't satisfied because he/she was not open to constructive comments about the quality of their performance or about the song. read more

GREAT EXPERIENCE AND QUALITY RECORDINGS!!! My co-writer and I recently went to Blitz recording studio with a number of songs to record on acoustic guitars. From the onset Richard was personable, inviting and a genuinely fun person to be around. After the initial setup to get the mics right (which took about 30 minutes) we jumped right in and were very pleased with how everything sounded. Richard provided excellent input and encouragement. We had the sense that he took great pride in what he was doing. We'll be going back this week to continue our projects with additional acoustic and electric guitars on the docket! I will recommend Richard to anyone wanting to get in the studio! read more

I've been using Blitz Recording Studio for over 20 years. I'm an award winning, published jazz songwriter. My songs have been performed at major jazz venues, on television, recorded by famous jazz musicians and aired on over 100 radio stations worldwide I can't mess around, I need an engineer who knows his stuff, and, on top of all that, is fun to work with. I rely on Richard, the owner, for his expertise in the studio and feedback on my recordings and he has never let me down. I've used many studios in San Diego, and I keep coming back to Blitz, and, in fact, I never use any other studio as of 10 years ago.This is a five star studio on every level at a price that is affordable, and Blitz Recording Studio has been in business much longer than most of the come-and-go operators on the scene, and I strongly recommend you take my professional advice, someone who has been in the music industry for 30 years, to hire Blitz Studios, Richard Livoni, for your next project. read more

Richard did such a fantastic job with my first session in a studio, recording a song for my sister's wedding. The song came out great. He was very helpful and is considerate of budget and time. He has an incredible ear for detail and and I hope to work with him again very soon! read more

Richard Livoni is THE "Go To" musical/production creative genius I highly recommend, bar none! My father (a best-selling author and motivational speaker) has been using Richard for over 20 years for all his audio recording projects. Richard worked his "magic" on a series of "brain entrancement" meditation audios, as well as a few original songs for me, and the quality/finished product was exceptional! He has an exceptional knack for sound mixing, and enhancing vocals and all instrumentation. Really fun to work with ... and I can't wait to go back for more!! read more

My experience with Richard was awesome!! My future stepdaughter and I wanted to sing a popular love song as a gift for my fiancé for our first dance at our wedding this coming June! I can't wait to see his face when he hears the song! My stepdaughter can sing but i can't sing very well but Richard was very patient and made our song sound wonderful. Not to mention, the editing, and all of the technical stuff he did.... I was fascinated! Oh! I also brought along my 7 year old and 21 year old future stepson and he let them give a little shout out at the end of the song for their father. It was such a special day for me and Richard made it happen!! Such a nice and professional man. read more

The song I recorded at Blitz Studio came out WAY better than I could have ever imagined! I had four other friends record it for free in their homes, using various Boss and Zoom recording rigs. I tell you - it's not that these boxes don't do a good job, it's that my friends didn't have anywhere near the experience that Richard does. The song was finished in just under one hour, and sounded so much better that the best 'bedroom job' did. ( Richard uses a 128 CH. Latest Protools rig ! ) I have since recorded three full albums with Richard. He is very kind, very patient with listening to my ideas- but where I really appreciate him is if he thinks a sound or idea can be improved upon, he asks me if we could try it. All of his ideas are better than any I could have ever come up with. I agree with Taz and Patrick- there is no reason for me to try anybody else at this point. Plus- he works very quickly and efficiently- he is not trying to "run up billable hours" like a lawyer would. He wants you satisfied, and his business has been thriving since about 1986 on referrals mainly. He programs drums so well, that pro drummer friends of mine ask me who played drums! They sound polished and pro. And I can't say enough good things about the quality of MICs he has on tap also- plus the fact the studio has air conditioning!! That was huge this past summer. If needed, he has a list of players he calls in for any instrument- ie: best bass players in San Diego, best keyboards players, pedal steel- you name it, Richard is friends with the best there are. The review posted using the name Diane S. does not ring true in any way- and if Richard says that person NEVER recorded there, I believe him 100% My guess is that it was posted by another studio, not a person that can prove they spent any money at Richard's facility. The best advise I can give any musician or songwriter that is thinking about spending your hard-earned money on recording: Try Blitz Recording on one song. One song only. And if you find him a prince to deal with, and dig the way your mastered song came out, you have found a new home. Richard earns his living by making magic, and dreams come true! read more

I am the manager and producer of a local band and this is my experience with Richard Blitz. From the time of first walking into the studio and attempting a first take of our song, three and a half hours had passed. This is how long it took Richard to set up everything. And now this wouldn't be a problem but when we performed the song we were told, and I quote, "You guys wrote a song you can't play." "You guys aren't ready to record." "Did you guys rehearse?" The specific critique on his part was on missed notes, and supposed incorrect tempo when hitting the notes. I understand that everything you play is heard so a little mishap would be heard by the trained ear, so we accepted the harsh words graciously. But my thing, which I mentioned, to Richard was that we had no intention to be meticulous in the nitpicking of small errors. We were completely fine playing a certain bassline the way we were playing it. And since regarding his word as the word of a professional at the time, we took his word for it. And I would have put my own creative input into had it not been for when mentioning that we did not want to take ten takes if we were to become happy with one of the takes regardless of his preference. I was told the whole "I won't let them shoot themselves in the foot. I've been in this business for 30 years, I think I know how to produce a song. So, are you done? Shut up." That is also a direct quote. So at the end of the 10 hour day day, what we ended up with was two songs filled with auto tune, a basic strum pattern and flow of instruments and a missing 450 dollars. All because he thought we couldn't play what we wrote and that his suggestions were better than our preconceived ideas for the songs. He even changed the chords! He battered us in with subjective criticism that he expected us to take as objective simply because he was saying it. Its funny cause we laugh at the fact that we were a ska/punk/reggae band but our song literally sounds like one from a boy band. After I, the producer was told to shut up, my band did not have much input in the creative process because they were being cautious of Richard and his overwhelmingly pretentious considerations. And thats why I would not recommend Richard, at least not to a band just starting out, or a band that wants to play how they want to play. Simply because his creative sense is hindered by his own understanding of what a song is supposed to sound like. Which is to sound "correct" not to sound "good". read more

We've recorded 4 tracks in November 2014 and have just recorded 2 more at Blitz, Richard is top notch, the experience, knowledge, he definately has an ear for all instruments. Richard becomes part of the Band during the recording session. He's a blast to work with. i recomend any body ready to record to meet him in person. Go to reverbnation.com and listen to MURDER OF FIVE that was all him recording, engineering everything. read more

Even though I reside in the Bay Area, I have utilized Blitz Recording Studio for two CD projects, and the production and recording quality is unmatched. Richard is quite simply one of the best in the business, I wouldn't consider recording anywhere else. read more

I am writing this review based on the quality of work done by Richard. All I can say is that I am disappointed for someone who claims to have been in the industry for so many years yet the quality of work was crap just like his personality. I mean the guy milked 3 hours to finish one song. I don't think he does this on purpose, the guy looks 70 years old, he moves slow (blitz?) and he claims to have 50 years of experience so you can't give him any direction on how you want your project to sound; he thinks he knows everything. First recording pieces we did went well, but he then threw a tantrum after the 5th recording piece; which by the way is his job and began to rant on incoherent nonsense (again maybe the age). I think his heart is in the right place (music) but he just does not have what it takes to be a engineer (never heard of people he has worked with); he was moaning and trying to argue with me but the man is like a 100 year old tree why bother trying to fix him. On about 70% of the recording session this guy had me sitting in a couch while he struggled to navigate through ProTools and ranted (complaining) incoherent nonsense about how much work he is doing. Just plain lazy. However even after reading other peoples comments I went in with an open mind because he is the cheapest in town, and it's just the quality of work is not what is advertised on his website. My cousin and other musicians I work with pointed out it wasn't mastered correctly (vocals mixed into track). If there was a zero option, I would have felt a lot better about writing this review. He joked about me doing a bad review, which he might think is based on his crappy personality, on the contrary I am a "business man" just like he is, and the rating is based on his quality of work and skills. He gave me good feedback about my music which I appreciate. I think he has some serious demons he needs to work out. I would not recommend him to my worst enemy (competition), don't hire him, trust me, spend the extra $60 on a real professional. Richard you if your not happy doing what your doing you should do something else and not waste peoples time. On a side note I would have reached out to him if I believed he can solve this problem, but I am taking it to a real engineer and more than likely have to record again. So I basically just lost $120.00 and had to work alongside a loon, who apparently either does not know or just decides not to do a good job and to be honest I think he is just lazy; your being paid Richard. MY first impression would lead me to believe this was his first day on the job, but I did not have time to do a thorough check on his credentials, but lesson learned I will never hire him or care to even speak on this man again. read more