Rec. Studio in NYC: Records in Logic, gives me the files?

May 7, 2008 9:36 AM

I'm looking for a recording studio in Manhattan or Brooklyn that can record Drums, Standup Bass, and Ukulele (at the same time, not overdubbed), in Logic Studio. I'd then like to have the Logic Project files given to me, so I can work on the rest of the arrangement in my bedroom.

I want everything to be recorded properly, by someone who knows what they're doing. I'm not even sure there is a common practice of requesting the project files from the studio, but that'd be extremely important as it'd just the be the basis for the rest of the recording.

A rate on the cheaper side would be nice...

posted by defenestration to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

I'm not in NY, so I can't speak to that part of your question, but you don't necessarily have to limit the studio's digital audio platform to Logic to get what you're looking for. There are ways to export projects in a cross-platform format, allowing collaboration across different DAW systems. Here's a link on some of these cross-platform compatible file formats.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:44 AM on May 7, 2008

(Also not in NY). Expanding on what saulgoodman said, all you need are the WAV (or AIFF) files for each track per song. Make sure they all start at the same point, then you can open a new project in Logic and drop them in. (In other words if you do any editing or punch-ins while recording basics, bounce the edited version out to a single file for transfer).

The main thing to pay attention to is the sampling rate and bit depth. If your home system can only deal with 44/16 files, then either record your basics at that lower rate, or downsample to 44/16 after you have picked out your keeper takes. (If your target is 44/16, then record at 88/24 -- the math is better for downsampling).

One reason for picking an original studio that uses Logic would be if you want to go back there for final mixing after all your overdubs are recorded.
posted by omnidrew at 10:14 AM on May 7, 2008

Does NYC have a Yellow Pages? Otherwise I'd just put an ad up on MetaFilter Jobs/Projects or Craigslist. Depending on your requirements for signal-chain quality, there may be a lot of home studio people who could do this with you.
posted by rhizome at 11:25 AM on May 7, 2008

I did exactly that at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn.
posted by SampleSize at 11:39 AM on May 7, 2008

The yellow pages doesn't contain personal recommendations/insight!

Thanks saul and drew, for clearing up that it doesn't need to be recorded in Logic... I sort of figured as much, but I wasn't entirely clear.

SampleSize: was it a good experience?
posted by defenestration at 1:14 PM on May 7, 2008

Just poking my head in to say that, especially in the case of drums, you might want to spend the few extra bucks to record to tape and have them transfer to digital for you. (It looks like the studio SampleSize recommends will do this for $25 a day.) Drums love tape compression. Just watch out how many tracks you're stacking, if you're concerned about tape noise.
posted by uncleozzy at 1:17 PM on May 7, 2008

I would highly recommend Serious Business in SoHo. The tracking room is a good size and Travis does a very nice job of capturing drum sounds, in particular. They're Pro Tools/Mac based as far as digital, rather than Logic, IIRC, but do have a 2" tape machine and managed a transfer from 2" to digital (in order to mix elsewhere) very smoothly.
posted by andrewraff at 2:15 PM on May 7, 2008

Yes it was. Reasonably priced, and a good, clean recording.
posted by SampleSize at 7:19 PM on May 7, 2008

If you send me your email, I'll send you a couple tracks I recorded there.
posted by SampleSize at 7:21 PM on May 7, 2008