MySpace a place for friends

Hi, my name is Mitch Wyatt.  I like to make recordings in my spare time.  If you'd like to see the place, hear some works in progress, and talk about your project, please feel free to email me at soundsunderground@yahoo.com. 

Rates & Terms
Recording/Mixing/Mastering: $25/hr EFFECTIVE 12/1/2009.  With the exception of recording drums, the clock starts when your booked hours start.  That means if you are scheduled from noon to 3pm and you show up at 1 you are still getting billed for 3 hours.  If you need to eat, you are eating on the clock so it is recommended to have a band member run out and get food and eat on the fly while we work.  I make an honest attempt to have everything ready so the session can go smooth.  You should make an honest attempt to show up on time.  Please do not show up early either.  This is my policy in lieu of taking deposits.  It is a pay as you go system.  You pay for your session before you start your session.  If a session happens to go under in time then of course you will be getting that money back.

A special weekend rate of consecutive Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is $475.  This equates to roughly $19.79/hr.

Hours: Weekends noon-8p or 11a to 7p, weeknights 5-9.  I do not record for more than 8 hours.  I have a life.

I typically round in favor of the band (translate: round down) and don't charge for drum setup.  Payment must be made at the beginning of each session in the form of cash or check (payable to Mitch Wyatt) or money order or paypal. If you cannot pay at the start of the session or on a per session basis, then don't record here. I do not give refunds unless your data is lost which will not happen, so I do not give refunds. If, however, you are unsatisfied with the recording process we can terminate the recording and I can give you the unfinished Pro Tools sessions. I have the right to terminate the recording at any time and give you the master files.

You're recording at my house in a family oriented neighborhood. Please respect this and use common sense.

Drums must end by 7pm due to the noise ordinance. It can go to 8 in the summer/early fall months. 

Please park in the driveway.  If you have a van and trailer you can back it up in the driveway.  Do not park in front of neighbor's when at all possible.

Rules
I have some rules.  These are a must.  I can't stress that enough.  You are here to make music, not party or engage in illegal activity.  These rules will help us all make the best production we can possibly make.

-No drugs.

-No weapons of any sort. (if music is a weapon, then that's okay)

-No visitors unless I approve them.  Band members only.  Yes, that includes girlfriends and boyfriends unless your significant other plays in the band with you or plays a part on your recording.  We're here to make good sounding music, not chatter about the drama that is happening on your gf's Facebook.

-If you smoke, please limit your smoking to the porch area.

-You must remain in the basement recording area, unless you are going outside to smoke or use the bathroom.  Translation: do not go upstairs and hang out.

-No pets.

Contact
Contact me via myspace or soundsunderground@yahoo.com for booking. 

Come here with an open mind!  Let's try different snares, different amps, different cymbals.  Leave your brand loyalty at the practice space.  I want to try out different options and you should too.  Let's try different options and see how they sound in the recording.

Drummers:
If you can, practice to a click/metronome before coming in. If you are struggling, do it on a practice pad to start out. Figure out your tempos with the rest of your band before coming in.

Please pay attention to the tuning of your drums.  Does it fit the music?  Let your snares breathe a little.  You're choking your snare drum with a tight strainer.  Let it sustain.  It can be controlled in the mix and your snare drum will resonate like it never has before.  In a dense mix you'll need a little sustain of the strainer and the snare itself.  Just trust me on this.  I know it seems counter-intuitive for some drummers because you're always listening to your kit when it's in front of you and not in the context of a mix.  Studio O rings are the devil, unless you're going for that 70s and 80s drum sound where all the drums have duct tape on them and sound like a short thud.

Put new strings on your guitars.  It makes a big difference.  Thicker guages tend to stay in tune and sustain well while thinner guages are good for a lot of bending and fast playing.  Speaking from experience, Elixir strings sound like plastic when they are recorded.  That's because they're made of plastic.  That includes electric and acoustic guitars.  Would you go to war with plastic?  Did Dimebag Darrel play with plastic strings?  Don't think so.

This is a good video for snare tuning:

Guitarists/bassists:
Intonate your guitars!!! Intonation usually changes with different guages of strings and different tunings.  If you are unfamiliar with this process, see this video:

A can of Fast Fret will help string squeaks on acoustic guitars.

Facts:

If I do not respond to your emails, it means I am not interested in working with your band. Don't take any offense to this; I have a full time job outside of recording. My time is limited.
I'm often booked a month out. Weekends are high demand, they fill up incredibly quick.
I can ride a unicycle.
I backup data religiously.
I am the fastest PT editor you have ever seen.  This saves you $$$.  Don't believe me, ask around.

Gear

1 x Blue Kiwi (?)
1 x Royer R-121
2 x AKG 414
2 x Audio Technica 4033 (?)
2 x AKG C1000s (?)
1 x Shure SM57 (?)
1 x Shure SM81 (?)
1 x Shure SM58 (?)
1 x Audix OM-5 (?)
1 x Audix D6 (?)
1 x Audix D4 (?)
1 x Audix D2 (?)
1 x Audix D3 (?)
1 x Shure SM7 (?)
Apogee Rosetta 800 (?)
Digi 003 (?)
Presonus Monitor Station (?)
Great River ME1NV (?)
Toft AFC-2 (?)
Presonus Digimax (?)
API 550b & API Lunchbox
Empirical Labs EL8 (?)
LA2A
Framus Dragon Top (?)
Marshall 1960B 4 x 12 (?)
Vox AC30 CC2X Custom built SJC kit. Dimensions are 18x22, 8x12, and 14x16 (?)
Snares: 7 x 14 built by yours truly (this is the snare on most the tracks), 6 x 14 50's Ludwig, and a 6 x 14 SJC snare.
Cymals: 14" New Beat hats, 18" Z custom Med crash, 19" Z custom med crash, 21" A custom sweet ride

Pro Tools LE 7.3.1
Music Production Toolkit (?)
Various Waves plug-ins including SSL bundle (?)
Vocalign (?)
Melodyne (?)
Native Instruments Komplete (?)

Rental Gear

There are several items available for use with your recording session.  Please inquire for rental prices on specific items; bulk discounts may be offered.  Please Google if there is any question to what this gear is.  Here is the list of rental gear:

Amps:
Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker Combo
Framus Ruby Riot Combo
Sovtek Mig100
Mesa Boogie Rectifier Cab

Pedals:

Red Witch-Chorus
Red Witch-Tremolo
Red Witch-Fuzz
Red Witch-Phaser
Fender Blender vintage distortion
Voodoo Labs-Chorus
T Rex-Bloody Mary Hi Gain Distortion
T Rex-Replica Delay
T-Rex-Reptile Modulated Delay
T-Rex-Alberta Distortion
T-Rex-Tremonti Phaser
T-Rex-Luxury Drive
T-Rex-Spin Doctor
T-Rex-Viper Univibe
T-Rex-Tremster Tremolo
T-Rex-Twin Boost Tube Screamer
T-Rex-Mudhoney 90's grunge distortion
Line 6-Chorus
Line 6-Flanger
Seymour Duncan-Tweak Fuzz
Morley- Volume Pedal
Morley-Tripler (use 3 amps at once)
Moollon-Fuzz 14
Moollon-Delay
Electro Harmonix-Chorus Delay