Steampunk Octopus Studio

Named after the boiler in my basement, a giant gravity furnace from the turn-of the-century that vaguely resembles an octopus, my studio is ideal for small emssambles or even full bands. Though it could handle a project from pre-production through mastering, I find it best to stick with demo and EP production. Since the studio is located in the basement of a (almost) 100 year-old house, there are some noise issues, creaking floors, doors, the birds outside, but acoustic insulators and noise dampening drapes provide a fairly quiet microphone environment most of the time. There’s a recording space which doubles as a little stage (for video production). While you could fit drum set in the space available, I don’t recommend it. I use a MIDI controller to trigger high quality drum samples. While this means using samples for percussion tracks, the controller does a decent job of keeping the feel and performance of an actual human being holding drumsticks. The studio is also available for voice over, podcast, and other types of audio/video production. This section of the blog tags anything related to local music and any current projects.

Hipster Transvestite Disclaimer: I’m not interest in bands trying to record thinly-veiled Nickleback covers. This is Portland, everyone has a studio of some sort, and there are countless places that will be happy to take your money and set a microphone for you. I do this to support the local music scene because every time I turn on the radio I am disgusted and disappointed by the state of music today. While we all need to pay the rent, if given the choice, I would rather record a band whose music I love and not get paid than get money to record a crappy band. I want to do my part to make sure Portland continues to be a hub for the creative and weird if you fit that catgory do contact me.

About the Engineer: I completed a program in “Music Recording Technology” at NVCC. I was a Member of the AES for over 5 years (eventually the fees were too expensive to keep up). I’ve been mixing on the same set of AUDIX monitors for over ten years. A lot of recording engineers are technophobes, I honestly don’t give a crap how fast a computer is or how much you paid for your microphone/instrument; I care more about what you do with it. I play guitar and bass and attempt to play drums. If you’re interested in setting up a jam or a recording session, the best place to find me is at the Alberta Streep Pub on Wednesday nights supporting Open Mic Night.