Don Brownrigg Tanya Davis Dammien Alexander Archie Gillis Amelia Curran Wheeler Feral Bliss Jenn Grant CoolDad Night Owls Troy Arsenault Dan Voltan Andrea Curry Becky Simon Jordan Croucher Trobiz Caledonia Night Owls Troy Arsenault The Studio Environment Softwood warmth is the sonic aesthetic of this space. All our lives we’ve been astounded by the relationship of wood and sound. Here we’ve designed the walls to absorb and reflect sound energy using a limp suspension framing design and a spaced wood surface. (See image below) These walls provide excellent reverberant attenuation (in both the low and high frequency range) to ensure clarity in recordings. Yet any remaining reflections (you can never get them all) have been sifted through the wood spaces and retransmitted in a very round and warm fashion characteristic of wood itself. Combine this effect with a warm microphone and tube preamp combination and we’re happy listeners.
Philosophy: Simplify.Listen first, think second. Cherish and love the sound source. Keep asking, “What would waves do?”
Experiment with insight. Fathom the spaces between the lowest and highest frequencies and lowest and highest volumes.
Feel the music in technicolours. Microphone placement outweighs microphone choice. Microphone choice is very important.
Tubes are limited and beautiful. “The Midrange is the key” – Bob Katz The Recording Process Engineering Summary: Simplify.
Sound source refinement and equalization are very important. Find the sound that is worth recording. Place the mic where it sounds best and listen for room reverb/bleed control; strive to capture only the direct field waves and choose the most appropriate kind of microphone. Don’t forget about impedance settings (it makes a big difference). Be cautious of multiple mics picking up the same sound. There is always interference.

Mixing:
“The perfect mix requires no master” - Bob Katz Neutralize the monitors and the control room to ensure the sound you hear is as white as possible. The art and science of blending instruments is challenging but exciting. Many different mixing techniques and secrets exist. The most importance aspects include:
overlapping frequencies: Instrument clarity is compromised if there is competition for specific places in the sound spectrum. Recognise there is limited room in the mix for everything. Don’t rest until you know what should take precedence and why. Listen, scrutinize, and compare famous recordings made by genius engineers - these records hold a wealth of useful information. Compression: Compression is a beautiful and sophisticated tool, however it impedes dynamic range. Use it cautiously. Be confident in knowing why the settings are the way they are. The knobs do change the sound, even if it takes a while to hear the differences.
The stereo image: Locating instruments in a stereo image is fascinating and exciting. Explore panning and pre-delay, and how together they can clarify the stereo image. Strive for 3D – it can be done!
Mastering:
The last step to polish, balance and perfect the sound image. Experience dominates. Neutral environments, tool knowledge, and critical judgment are your best friends.

About Us
Who: Donald Mackay (P. Eng/musician) Aaron Sinclair (Asst eng/musician)
What: A warm, private, and conditioned atmosphere facilitating creativity. Live sound services as well.
When: The studio has been functional since 2005. It’s open all year around, but plan ahead as Mackay enjoys traveling.
Where: Close to the bridge on North St. Halifax on the corner of Wood Ave. (5440 North St.)
Why: We love the concept and practice of recording, production and mixing, science and art, building community ties and birthing exciting new products for musical artists.

Hourly, 25$ with Engineer, 15$/hr without Engineer

Prices are subject to change. If you have an idea, or are interested in the space for a certain project, feel free to present your notion. We’re flexible.