Triangle-to-Atlanta recording studio

July 21, 2012 4:00 PM

Help me find the best Raleigh-to-Atlanta recording studio that fits my needs!

I'd like to find a recording studio that will be able to do a good job with Blondie/Ellie Goulding/The Knife-style vocals. Google turns up so many options that I find it difficult to even begin to narrow them down! I'm willing to go anywhere from the Raleigh area to Atlanta to find the right place. It's fine if your recommendation is based on hearsay.

posted by semaphore to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

I've had the good fortune of living in two music meccas: Atlanta and Athens, GA. This is purely hearsay, but I would recommend Southern Tracks in Atlanta and Chase Park Transduction in Athens.
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 4:51 PM on July 21, 2012

Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound and the Oblivians lives in Asheville now. He did a great job with my husband's band back when he was in Memphis. I'm not sure where he's working, but he's good.
posted by Madamina at 5:07 PM on July 21, 2012

Southern Tracks is closed. It is missed.

If you are just doing vocals anywhere with a good mic, a few pieces of good gear, and a good person working the knobs will work. You don’t need a giant studio. The person doing the recording is way more important.
posted by bongo_x at 5:52 PM on July 21, 2012

Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem.
posted by rhizome at 7:44 PM on July 21, 2012

Best answer: Instead of looking for a studio, I'd focus on finding a good engineer or producer. The thing about recording vocals is that the magic is not in the equipment. You don't need a fantastic sounding room like you do with other acoustic instruments (although you want something better than a tiny bedroom), since the mic will be so close to the source. Having the right mic and preamp combination (as well as a good compressor and eq if you go that route pre-mix) are good, but what you really want is someone who can help to get the best performance possible. This means someone who can hear when the good stuff happens so that you can edit together a good take, and also someone who can hear what little changes should be made to make it go from good to great. An impartial set of ears that knows when you need to take it down a notch, or add some more breathyness, or pause slightly longer, etc. That, with the ability to comp together takes quickly, is the most important thing to look for. As far as the equipment goes, any decent studio (bedroom or otherwise) should have the equipment needed to track clean vocals.

So, if you do a search for a good vocal engineer or producer in that area, you may get a better set of suggestions, and have a better end result.
posted by markblasco at 7:11 AM on July 22, 2012