PRODUCING, RECORDING, and mixing
Welcome, songwriters! Maybe you want to record an acoustic demo of a song you've written. Maybe you'd like to add bass and drums, or string and horn accompaniment. Maybe you'd like to record and mix an entire album.
Whatever your artistic vision, I can work with you to make it a reality for an hourly rate you will not find elsewhere.
More photos and videos of the studio below!
My small basement studio can generate a rich, clean sound (take a listen below), and it has most of what you need: drums, guitars, bass, electric piano, and a MIDI keyboard with tons of great sounds. (Full gear list here.)
With a background in theory and composition, I can write arrangements for professional session musicians. We've recorded accordion, cello, pedal steel guitar, and a full string quartet here.
I've been writing songs and making music for 30 years, and I love the look on a fellow songwriter's face when their song has finally become what they knew it could be.
If you're interested, send me an e-mail or call me at 410-375-6350. We can do a free two-hour consult in the studio to talk through your plans and start recording a basic acoustic demo. My rates for producing, recording, and mixing go as low as $30/hour.
More photos and videos of the studio below!
Here are some recordings that came out of my home studio and how I helped them materialize.
Disappearing Ink
I've recorded two full-length albums and an EP for my project Disappearing Ink in my home studio. The most recent, The Charm of Abstraction, was composed and recorded on my Arturia KeyLab49 using various samples, looped tracks of live drums, and the virtual keyboards, bass, and drums in the Arturia V Collection 7. I recorded the other albums with live drums, bass, guitars, vocals, and a Yamaha CP-30 electric piano, which gets good Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and Clavinet sounds.
Joe came to me with a set of acoustic songs he wanted to turn into an album. I took on a producer role in addition to recording:
- helped him add bridges and finish structuring the songs
- tracked basic demos with vocals and acoustic guitar
- wrote a cello part
- collaborated on basic song arrangement
- booked a drummer, accordionist, cellist, and pedal steel guitarist
- played drums, bass, keyboards, and electric guitar parts
- recorded and mixed 10 songs
- wrote promotional materials
I think Joe's record sounds wonderful and gives his songs the sound they deserved all along. He got a good review at Lonesome Highway and airplay on WLOY in Baltimore and 100.5 FM in Vancouver.
Steve Sherman brought a beautiful batch of tunes to the studio, including the gorgeous "Beauty of Your Blues." My work with Steve included:
- recording vocal/acoustic guitar demos of nine songs
- writing a string quartet arrangement for Beauty of Your Blues
- recording and mixing Beauty of Your Blues with string quartet
- playing bass and drums on Beauty of Your Blues
- recording another one of Steve's songs with a lead vocalist that he brought to the studio and added a piano part at his request
"See My Life," from The Charm of Abstraction
Recount (EP, 2021)
Surprises (2020)
Arturia Keylab49 and Mackie XR624 studio monitors.