My band recorded a four song EP this past week. We play Rock. This was my second recording experience at Smash this past year. I also recorded a single with some friends for a side project this past winter. I have been a client of Smash Studios for well over 20 years, since the early 1990's. I've been around and recorded quite a bit, too. Smash has always provided me and my various bands and projects with great service and scheduling for rehearsals as well. They also have some of the best recording equipment and gear and truly try to cater to a band's needs. My band is a simple Rock n Roll power trio setup with guitar, bass, drums with two vocalists. Our songs were road tested and well rehearsed prior to going into the studio to record (which is my preferred method before laying down tracks because I like to get them as close to a professional production in a very indie manner). As such, we had a game plan of how to divide our time (we squeezed all this into a four hour block; a very tight time frame) and knew exactly what we wanted out of the production.
This time out, Ariel, was our engineer. He took the time to understand the band's goals and sound and worked quickly and efficiently setting up our sound in the studio. We were able to set up and mic all the instruments as needed rather quickly after a dry run of two takes. We encouraged him to offer his recommendations, which we were open to- always good to have another ear- and was very helpful in what he suggested sonically, and in the production mix. He was also pretty sharp using pro-tools equipment. (Considering the records I made using older media of analog and digital tape, cutting, pasting and splicing was easy and quick by comparison; pro-tools didn't leave me too cold as earlier versions of computer mixes had in the past.) Craig and the regular staff at Smash are always cool and very hospitable.
As far as our recording experience, our demo sounds really good. We were able to lay down the basic tracks live for the music and had time to overdub vocals and backup vox to our liking. I was very pleased with our mix; the sound was well balanced and everything we need was on our raw tracks. We probably needed an extra hour or two to get the post production mix down more to our liking. Still, we left with a very solid EP which will serve as a demo for our band's web page (our goal for the record). A five hour block should get a polished and professional band an easy demo, a single or a quick EP cut.
The rate for the recording ($75/hr) is certainly fair considering the level of equipment, expertise and convenience. I'd recommend going for one of their recording specials for block recording time (get on their e-mail d-list!). Rest assured knowing many professional and well-known acts record here as well. I'm at Smash rehearsing enough to have bumped into the entourages of some pretty familiar national touring and recording acts.
I'd like to thank Clay, management and all the staff at Smash for another great record. Thank you for continuing to hold the torch of NYC Rock N Roll high into the future!
Elliot,
Double Birds
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