NYC Recording Studio

[Lord Fear]

So I'm going to NYC to produce an album and I am not quite sure where to begin studio wise. I'd love to find a place in the city with a vintage Neve or API a 2" machine and some nice outboard/tube mic's (u67's u47's fet 47's etc). How much should I expect to pay for a studio in the city with those requirements. Also the studio needs to have a great sounding piano. I'm looking Brooklyn recording but I'd prefer something in the city. Any thoughts???

[seaneldon]

when are you going to be doing this record? i'm currently putting together a room that may be of interest to you.

[Lord Fear]

talking about doing it after the first of the year. feel free to PM me.

[pramrod]

seer sound, avatar - neves, 2", nice pianos, well maintained, high end. expect to spend money for a nice room. enjoy- pram

[LoopQuantum]

Originally Posted by pramrod

seer sound, avatar - neves, 2", nice pianos, well maintained, high end. expect to spend money for a nice room. enjoy- pram

Have you worked with Walt? I've heard stories about him being a bit difficult to work with.

True?

[Lord Fear]

Originally Posted by pramrod

seer sound, avatar - neves, 2", nice pianos, well maintained, high end. expect to spend money for a nice room. enjoy- pram

I expect to spend money because thats usually the first thing one expects when looking for a studio. But I'd love to know what Seer Sound and Avatar usually go for per day. The super lame thing I've noticed about a lot of NYC recording studios which you don't run into much in LA is the extra rental charge to use the house tube gear (mic's etc...) thats realy uncool. Why not just up your day rate by $50 and include everything??? Seems kind weird to me.

[soundeq]

check out Clinton Studios.... Heard cool things about it... and I booked a session there a while ago, and they were a bit less than other rooms in the city... I'd still guess a deal would be $1500 a day...

They have a steinway D and a yamie C-7 piano...

[stereomixer]

Thats nothing, wait till you get to the $200.00 overtime an hour after 12 hours!! Not to mention the parking and the hotel fees, The place is insane. You never get what you pay for there its about $1500.00 a day plus outboard. Plan on roughly 2k a day. There are deals to be had, BUT....they will bump you out with no given notice. There is a reason most of them are closed. I would try Water in Hoboken NJ or Bennett studios in Englewood, same gear, half the price 15 mins from the city.

Originally Posted by Lord Fear

I expect to spend money because thats usually the first



thing one expects when looking for a studio. But I'd love to know what Seer Sound and Avatar usually go for per day. The super lame thing I've noticed about a lot of NYC recording studios which you don't run into much in LA is the extra rental charge to use the house tube gear (mic's etc...) thats realy uncool. Why not just up your day rate by $50 and include everything??? Seems kind weird to me.

[Jan Folkson]

Both Sear and Avatar are between 1.5 and 2k/day for their A rooms depending on how many days you'll need. That's for a 12 hour lockout. Piano tunings and some microphones will be extra at avatar but not at Sear (I think Walter has more 67s than the rest of the world combined).

Clinton is great, but they really don't have much in the isolation department.

Don't get me started on new jersey.

[Lord Fear]

So you can't get a high end tracking room in NYC with "standard" gear for less than 1500??? Thats really interesting news. I can get rooms like this in LA for $1000, and real estate here isn't much better...

[pramrod]

I have worked extensively over at Sear and Avatar and let me say both are fine rooms and well worth the money. ESPECIALLY Sear- walter is not a problem at all to work with imho, in fact he and roberta are brilliant and serious old school new york characters- the hardest part is to stop listening to walter's stories and get to work. but i always tell clients of records i'm producing or engineering that i can get more done in one day at sear than i can in a lot of studios in days and days. walter maintains all his gear meticulously, he's got more outboard and mics than is fair (ok i'm kidding, but he's got like a million fairchilds and tube mics- it hurts...), an intimate knowledge of what all his gear does and how to fix it, and it all just works- for this alone it's worth the price of admission- want to know that tape machine is perfectly maintained- walter's got it covered- i've seen him get under the console during a session on a number of occasions and start pulling modules and tweaking- sear is WELLLLLLLLLL worth the $ and you will get GREAT results out of there. avatar is excellent too, but i find the staff at sear truly outstanding. i love working there and recommend it 100%, over just about every other room mentioned in this thread actually. avatar is fine/great too, sear is just beyond tweaked- it's a thing of beauty. and if you work there, ask to see some of the b horror movies walter and roberta scored/produced in the 70's- especially blood sisters- HIgh-larious!!! enjoy pram

[Slipperman]

Originally Posted by Jan Folkson

Don't get me started on new jersey.

Dude.

That was so wrong.

LMFBO.

SM.

[Jan Folkson]

Thought you might appreciate that one SM.

[Jan Folkson]

Originally Posted by Lord Fear

I can get rooms like this in LA for $1000

Yeah, but you've gotta deal with being in LA. Personally, I'd rather pay another $500/day.

[rll]

another plug for sear-- amazing gear, wonderful vibe, and total characters there. staff is totally ace--can't say the same for avatar.

[ronzie]

What about Loho? Anybody given them a whirl? I think they have most, if not all of the requirements.

Ron Allaire, Skyline

[Lord Fear]

Originally Posted by ronzie

What about Loho? Anybody given them a whirl? I think they have most, if not all of the requirements.

Ron Allaire, Skyline

do they have a website?

[seaneldon]

yep

http://www.lohostudios.com/

by the way, pardon my french, but ron's place is quite "the tits". http://www.skystudnyc.com

[ronzie]

Thanks again Sean, for the plug. Your very generous. But I've gone to the "dark side"(or better yet? the "bright" side?) as I have now sold my last remaining 24trk (a mm1200) and I'm straight up Pro tools. Sigh. Nor do I consider my Neve VR "vintage"... or a REAL "Neve" for that matter. I'll grab another 2" soon though. I'm having a hard time dealing without at least (1) floating around. The question is which one, and do I feel like maintaining the bastard?

Ron Allaire, Skyline

[u b k]

Originally Posted by ronzie

The question is which one...

the 820

Originally Posted by ronzie

and do I feel like maintaining the bastard?

yes, yes you do.

let me know if i can be of any further assistance .



gregoire
del
ubk
.

[wwittman]

Depending on a number of factours, I'd recommend:

Magic Shop (in Manhattan)

Pie Studios (in Glen Cove Long Island)

Watermusic (in Hoboken New Jersey)

all three have "vintage", discrete, Neves

[themaidsroom]

i sent you a pm



be well


- jack

[LoopQuantum]

Originally Posted by pramrod

I have worked extensively over at Sear and Avatar and let me say both are fine rooms and well worth the money. ESPECIALLY Sear- walter is not a problem at all to work with imho, in fact he and roberta are brilliant and serious old school new york characters- the hardest part is to stop listening to walter's stories and get to work. but i always tell clients of records i'm producing or engineering that i can get more done in one day at sear than i can in a lot of studios in days and days. walter maintains all his gear meticulously, he's got more outboard and mics than is fair (ok i'm kidding, but he's got like a million fairchilds and tube mics- it hurts...), an intimate knowledge of what all his gear does and how to fix it, and it all just works- for this alone it's worth the price of admission- want to know that tape machine is perfectly maintained- walter's got it covered- i've seen him get under the console during a session on a number of occasions and start pulling modules and tweaking- sear is WELLLLLLLLLL worth the $ and you will get GREAT results out of there. avatar is excellent too, but i find the staff at sear truly outstanding. i love working there and recommend it 100%, over just about every other room mentioned in this thread actually. avatar is fine/great too, sear is just beyond tweaked- it's a thing of beauty. and if you work there, ask to see some of the b horror movies walter and roberta scored/produced in the 70's- especially blood sisters- HIgh-larious!!! enjoy pram

Good to hear. I had a friend that did some work over at Sear that apparently just didn't connect with him. But, knowing my friend, I'm inclined to believe you.

[lane thaw]

Jack at the Maids Room will never toot his own horn, but Rufus Wainwright among other heavies have tracked there, Jack is also one of the good guys. Worth looking into and from what I have heard, the place has a very cool vibe.