Mike Froedge, Bruce Butkovich

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MASTODON records Three Dog Night cover @ Open Sky Studio for EA video games' "Army of Two" TV commercial!!! View the "making of" documentary clip here!!!

Welcome to Open Sky Studio in Atlanta, GA!

This large, centrally-located, creative space is available for recording sessions, live rehearsals, video and photo shoots. We specialize in the recording of big, live, loud rock and roll, and we do it VERY well!.... But anyone, any style, any sound.... All are welcome.

We have a GREAT sounding, large live room with 25-foot high ceilings!!!... Drums track GREAT in this room! We can get any drum sound you want, from John Bonham-roomy and huge, to Don Henley-dry and tight! We have vintage drums, new drums, stacks of snare drums and cymbals... any drum sound you can think of! Our collection of guitar amps and effects pedals is large, and always growing! Whether you prefer warm vintage flavor, or modern high-gain crunch... low-wattage combos or paint-peeling full stacks.... we can do it all! We also have a great-sounding vocal booth, two iso-rooms for guitar cabs, etc., a balcony lounge overlooking the main room, and a very comfortable and great-sounding upstairs control room, also overlooking the whole studio!

We have ProTools (of course!).... But here's the FUN stuff: We have a 32-input vintage Soundcraft 600 recording console, with GREAT-sounding EQs on every channel! We also have some VERY nice mic pre-amps, including API, Joe Meek, Altec Lansing, dbx, and custom-built Neve-copies!!!... There's also FMR/RNC, Distressor, and dbx compression,... Racks of gear by Avalon, Joe Meek, vintage Altec Lansing, Empirical Labs(Distressor), Universal Audio, Chameleon Labs, PreSonus, Heil, AKG, Samson, Sony, Aphex, Audix, CAD, EV, Groove Tubes, Ampex, Sennheiser, Shure, Yamaha, Roland, White, MXL, Carver, SSL, MoreMe, a Tascam 1/2" tape machine for mixdowns (an optional service, tape cost additional), control room monitors by Roland, Samson, Event, JBL, and Behringer... a brand-new 6-channel Furman headphone monitoring system!!!.... and we're always adding more gear as fast as we can! ;)

Be sure to take a look at all our photos!.... The entire studio has a great sound, great gear in every corner, and most importantly, a very relaxing, inspiring, creative vibe. Say goodbye to clinical, nervous, sterile recording experiences!

Booking time with us includes access to our large assortment of nice vintage guitar and bass amps, cabinets, drums, cymbals, effects pedals, etc. (some of which are visible in the attached pictures). We have old Marshall, Ampeg, Vox, Fender, Roland, Danelectro, Orange, Polytone, Univox... FUCHS Audio has built us some amazing new custom guitar heads and pedals!!!!... U gotta' hear 'em to believe how awesome they are!!!.... Budda, Bogner, Goodsell, Guild, Mesa/Boogie, Peavey... pedals by Fuchs/Plush, Boss, Ibanez, Electro-Harmonix, Big Muff, DigiTech, Budda, Rotovibe, Vox, MXR, Crybaby, Prescription Electronics, Aphex, Line 6, Creation Audio Labs, Polytone, Electro-Harmonix, ..... Gibson Les Pauls, Fender Strats, Yamaha and Taylor acoustics, Jerry Jones (custom Danelectro copy), EVH model, Paul Reed Smiths, Ibanez, guitars and basses, Fender, Spector, Ibanez, Univox, and Peavey basses (fretted and fretless)...... Pearl, Slingerland, Ludwig, Rogers, Ayotte/Keplinger, Fibes, Leedy, Northern Drum Company, Sabian, Zildjian, Wuhan, etc... We can accomodate almost any drum set-up... We have kick drums ranging from 18" to 28", we have toms from 6" to 18", shelves full of snares and cymbals of all sizes.... We have two upright pianos, a Hammond organ, A Rhodes electric piano, microKorg.... We are total gear fanatics, so our collection is always expanding!!! And if there's a specific or unusual piece of gear you need that we don't have in-house... we have an ongoing partnership with Avatar Events Group, the biggest gear rental company in town, which gives us discounted rental access to just about ANY amp, keyboard, drum, or other music gear you may need, and it's all literally right down the street!!!

For rehearsals, we have a brand new, great-sounding Electrovoice (EV) PA system that rivals the systems in many small clubs/venues!

We offer discounted rates for bookings of a week or more! We can offer you a package deal price on recording your entire album with us!

Local bands, solo artists, regional and national acts looking for a place to write/rehearse/demo/track a single or an entire album/overdub.... Whatever you're trying to accomplish musically, we can help make it happen for you!

It is also an EXCELLENT space for photo and/or video shoots!... Great lighting and colors, a large mirror wall, interesting and varied backgrounds, great angles from the balcony..... The pictures on our photo pages are nice, but you have to SEE the place to truly appreciate the vibe we have here.

Mike Froedge, a well-known and in-demand drummer in the Atlanta area for a number of years, has done session work at studios in Atlanta, Miami, Boston, NY, CA, SC, KY, OH, and elsewhere. He has performed, produced, or engineered on songs, albums, and/or tours by: doubleDrive, Injected, Shinedown, Scott Stapp (Creed), Open Sky Separators, Bloodsimple, Sister Hazel, Edwin McCain, Sevendust, INXS, El Pus, Mastodon, Moses Mayfield, Collective Soul, Christy Hemme (TNA/WWE Wrestler, 2005 Playboy Playmate), DJ Hurricane (Beastie Boys), James Hall, Stuck Mojo, Urban Grind, Corey Glover (Living Colour), Jesse James Dupree (Jackyl)/Dixie Inc., Iron Steel, Johnny Colt, Ryan Hamner, Erase the Grey, Lauryn Hill (Fugees), Quitter, Lazyeye (Ludacris back-up band), Bobby Selvaggio, Jessica Mitchell (Canadian Idol), Ryan Daniel, ShadowWax, Trial Kennedy, Summer Seed, Southern Hostility, Warm Gunns, Siberia My Sweet, the Tealights, Apocalyptic Visions, Queen of a Rebel, and with members of Seether, Queensryche, Black Label Society, Evanescence, Dark New Day, Fozzy, Skid Row, Megadeth, Jackyl, The Black Crowes, Train, Sugarland, James, Hall, Rockstar Supernova, Brother Cane, Blackberry Smoke, DragonForce, and many more...

Mike has worked with producers such as: Michael Barbiero, Jeff Tomei, John Kurzweg, Kevin Shirley, Noel Golden, Ben Grosse, Jack Joseph Puig, Nick Didia, Butch Walker, Rick Beato, Kevin Kadish, Bobby Selvaggio, John Briglevich, Rusty Cobb, etc.... and for numerous record labels including: Wind-Up, Virgin, Universal, MCA, Roadrunner, Atlantic, Epic, Sony, TVT, Island Def/Jam...... Totaling 20+ years' worth of professional experience in the music business.

Mike has recently been recording and producing or co-producing new songs for several well-known and soon-to-be well-known Atlanta rock bands such as Last, Greedy White Citizens, Renegade Jane, Siberia My Sweet, Quitter, Blacksmithz, Halcyon Way, Age Of Consent, Apcalyptic Visions, A New Effect, Johnny Colt... also a great band from Augusta called My Instant Lunch.... Mike also played drums on a 20-track album by Jesse James Dupree and Dixie, Inc. (available since July '08 on iTunes, etc... Videos on YouTube)... He is also finalizing mixes for the next Open Sky Separators album. Also, Mike is co-producing, engineering, mixing, and doing drum tracks for several songs for the next James Hall album, drumming/engineering/co-producing on a project called Amaninacannon (with Josh Sattler, his old bassist from doubleDrive), tracked drums for a solo album and soundtrack work by Los Angeles-based producer Bobby Selvaggio, drumming and engineering on songs by Queen of a Rebel, played drums on an upcoming album by WWE/TNA wrestler and Playboy Playmate Christy Hemme, and an upcoming album from Canadian Idol contestant Jessica Mitchell. Mike also did some engineering and drumming for Iron Steel (new metal band featuring acclaimed rock videographer Fran Strine, Dave Ellefson from Megadeth, Morgan Rose from Sevendust, members of DragonForce, Chaimira, Skid Row, and several other guest stars!)... they are returning soon to do some more tracks. He also recently finished writing, drumming for, and co-producing, a brand new project called Speed X, with Nick Catanese (Black Label Society), Mike Stone (Queensryche), and Josh Sattler (doubleDrive), which is due out sometime in 2009.

Bruce Butkovich has his own independent record label, 185 Cool Records, which has released music from artists such as Heather Luttrell, the Mikel K Band, and Universal Overdose. He is also the bassist for Atlanta icons James Hall, Heather Luttrell, and the band Brain Box.

Recently Bruce has been co-producing, engineering, mixing, and bass-ing on new material with James Hall, and he just finished recording and mixing a new The Lord Is My Shotgun album, (out now, check their page)! He also recently finished projects with Bouldercrest Singing Group, Day Mars Ray, and Alias Patrick Kelly (the very busy bassist for The Goodies!, Open Sky Separators, The Greater Vavoom, and The Warm Gunns). He has been tracking lately with Atlanta instrumental/prog-rock band Sorry No Ferrari, and 2-piece punk rock with Jesse Nobody. Bruce also shared engineering duties with Mike on the new Apocalyptic Visions album. He also recently finished up a batch of new songs for Spectralux and Dig Your Hole, and in his pre-Open Sky Studio days has worked with The Goodies!, Uncrowned, Heather Luttrell, Jimmy Gnecco & Ours, the Sudden Rays, Grand Moff Tarkin, Te Ju Belle, Armazilla, Clocked In, Moonwater, Heroine (the drag-less alter-ego of the infamous Atlanta band Impotent Sea Snakes), the 185Cool Collective, 5 More Dead ...

Mike and Bruce also recently split the engineering duties when Atlanta metal heroes/grammy-nominated MASTODON were in the studio to track a cover song for a nationally-televised video game advertisement..... Look for the EA video games TV commercial for the new game "ARMY OF TWO"! (on television or on YouTube) Mastodon also did extensive pre-production and preliminary recording for their next album with us, and the studio will be featured on their upcoming "making-of the new album" DVD!

We also have several high-caliber local Atlanta session players on-call (at additional cost) who are very skilled, work fast, and are well-versed in a variety of styles. So if you're a solo artist, singer/songwriter, or even a band that's currently minus a member or two... Don't worry!... Not a problem! We can STILL help you complete a GREAT sounding recording!!!

We also do a lot of "e-sessions"... If you have already recorded guitars, vocals, etc. for your songs, but need some huge-sounding drum tracks, bass tracks, etc., just send us the session files on hard drive or DVD, and we can track great-sounding drums/bass/whatever to it without you even having to be present!

We have our own in-house guitar, bass, and drum technicians who are available (at additional cost) to intonate, tune, set-up, or repair your guitar, repair your amp, repair and tune drums... anything to help you create the best possible sounds for your recording!

We are flexible and probably can find a way to work within almost any budget and any schedule. To discuss your next recording project with us, e-mail here on myspace, or call Mike or Bruce:

Mike: 404 277 3842

Bruce: 404 376 6023

We would like to use this space to give props to some gear manufacturers who have taken VERY good care of us over the years, and who have helped to equip our studio with such awesome gear!!!!:

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