Situation:
The studio is situated 4 miles east of Mullingar in a quiet, picturesque, country area known as The Downs, just off the Mullingar bypass on the N4 to Dublin. It is easy to get to and has none of the traffic problems often associated with city and large town-based studio's. The area is surrounded by farmland and is a very peaceful and relaxed setting to work in.
Engineering and Production:
The vast majority of the engineering and production is done by myself. Sometimes the artist making the recording likes to get involved in the production elements but in most cases I do production and engineering myself. I have done a huge number of sessions at this stage and have a wide and varied taste in music so I am well used to dealing with all types of material.
Where required I will add instruments to tracks at the request of the artist. In a large number of instances I will provide the complete backing track for the singer/artist. This is usually the case where the artist is a singer/songwriter and does not play an instrument. Or, sometimes a singer finds the recording process intimidating and prefers to leave the backing track to me to do -- which is what I do for the vast majority of people who use the studio.
Gear and equipment:
The studio is based on a digital recording system and comprises of a 24 track Fostex D24 hard disk recording system but also comprises of a PC based sytem running Cakewalk Sonar 4.1 software, which is the very latest update. The studio which began as a Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 System has updated throughout the development of the now highly sophisticated Sonar 4.1 system. Limitless Audio editing is possible with extensive backup available which means loss of valuable data is avoided.
- DRUM SOUNDS -A Tama 5 piece drum kit is available always and Studio tuned to artists who want to use real drums and highly experienced drummers are available for all types of sessions.Artists who prefer to save time, and ultimately money, can avail of the killer drum soft samplers, FXpansions BFD or Dr-008. These software drum samplers are the ultimate tools for fast and efficient drum tracks and with the BFD in particular it is virtually impossible to tell if it is a live drummer or not and drum programming takes much less time to achieve than using real drums. However, not everyone wants to use Drum Samplers so the real drum kit is available for these times. All types of percussions is also available both in software or the real thing.
- OUTBOARD EQUIPMENT - The digital recording equipment used is either the Fostex D24 or either of two 3Ghz PCs which operate with Echo or EMU Audio cards and all A/D conversion can run to 24 / 96 sample rates. Most of the time, to avail of top quality sound rate conversion the studio runs at 24/44.1 which is mixed down to 16bit /44.1 to either CD, MD, or DAT master depending on choice.
Pre amps are either Focusrite or JoeMeek. Other outboard include Tascam MD and CD recorders, Behringer Compressors, and a 32-8-2 Behringer Analogue desk. The desk is used mainly for recording Drums or occasions where a large number of Mics are required. Otherwise most recordings go through the outboard pre amps. Monitoring is done on Spirit Absolutes and Yamaha NS 10s plus final mixes are checked through small hi fi speakers and Beyerdynamic DT100s headphones.
Both the Control Room and Live Room have a high level of acoustic treatment and the Live Room has particular attention paid to the Vocal Recording area.
Studio :
The studio can be hired by the hour or by the track, depending on which suits your particular situation. For example, if you have a song which you wish to demo, have all your parts well off, and are confident of a good take in a few passes, you are best going with an hourly rate. If you do not have much confidence in getting it right in a few takes, or have a bit more work to do on the track, you might be best discussing the Per Track rate.
With both cases, one full mix will be included in the price, but any further mixes or changes to the overall song will cost extra. Usually there will be a price per extra mix, so before embarking on your recording, be sure what you intend doing with it.
Young Bands:
We also have a special "DEMO RATE" for young bands, giving young bands the opportunity to produce a high quality Demo CD at a very reasonable rate. This is so important to kids who have a band that needs to be heard, yet dont have enough cash to get a good Demo done. In these cases, the rates are for the young band doing their demo ONLY. Be aware, also, that a Demo is exactly that - a representation of what the band has to offer. It is never intended for release purposes and the finished CD will reflect that, but will be of a very high standard nonetheless. Remember, it is not in my interest as a producer/engineer/musician/studio owner to let rubbish out of my place....my name is going to be on it also!
OK, That's the brief rundown on VeeBee Sound Studio.....give us a call and we will do our very best to cater for your requirements.
Looking Forward To Hearing From You,
Vinny Baker.
CONTACTS:
087 2706089 / 044 74465 /
Emails: vinnyandjo@eircom.net || veebeesoundstudio@yahoo.com
