Booking
If you’ve already submitted the Artist Survey, refer to the email we sent you. There will be a link that will allow you to schedule a visit. If you haven’t, hit up the Artist Survey ... Do it!
If you can’t find the email we sent, hit us up at studio@realgrey.com
After you visit the studio we’ll email you a “Recording Details” document that will allow you to manage your project completely autonomously. You don’t have to call the studio to check for time. Just find the time that works on the studio session calendar and book it. Alternatively, you can log into your Realgrey Account and visit the link below.
You can book a status meeting at will and completely autonomously from the Recording Details document (RDD) you would have received at the beginning of your project. We encourage it and do not charge for these meetings. If you’ve already visited the studio and can’t find your RDD, hit us up and we’re glad to send it to you again.
If this is your first project with us, Hit up the Artist Project Survey and when you submit it you will be emailed an invite to visit the studio along with pricing and session times.
We like to meet artists before we book time. We’ve learned that the best sessions have been well planned in advance.
There’s a few reasons we meet with artists prior to recording. Mostly, we want to know you and have a clear picture of your expectations. It is also an opportunity for us to hear your goals for a song or project, listen to your work, as well as play some of what we’ve been working on ... all on our crazy Focal monitors. Lastly, we want you to “see the joint”. The Environment means a lot so we want to make sure you’re familiar with the studio before you start production.
We ask that one person from a band or ensemble be the contact person for booking. For artists under 18 years of age, we ask that an agent or guardian book and attend meetings/sessions.
We ask for 24 hours notice to change or cancel a session. We know that life happens and so most of the time it’s not a problem to adjust the schedule. We kindly ask that you notify session players if your session needed to be moved or canceled. There’s a $50 change for no-shows. Once that’s paid, you are welcome to reschedule.
To cancel or reschedule a session refer to the confirmation email we send when your time was booked. There are links for both canceling and rescheduling.
Yes, we ask that Artists younger than 18 years of age have an Agent or Guardian schedule and attend meetings and sessions.
Cost
We do not book less than 4 hour sessions. So technically we don’t charge by the hour.
1 Session is 4 hours
A double Sessions is 9 hours including a 1 hour meal break.
For specific pricing please hit up the Artist Survey. You will automatically be emailed an invite to visit the studio along with pricing and scheduling information. Be sure to use a legit email because that’s how we’ll send you that information.
We kindly ask that you pay for your session on the day of your session.
A deposit is collected to book your first session. You can pay that deposit at your studio visit, or anytime prior to booking. If something comes up and you need to change the date of your first session the deposit is transferable to another session with a 24 hour notice.
We ask artists to kindly complete a short 9 question survey. When you submit the survey you will automatically be sent pricing, session schedule and an invite link to schedule a visit.
No, a Realgrey Records engineer is provided in the session rate.
We have artists visit the studio prior to recording so we can work out a budget. We will ask some questions like, how many songs, now many players, do you need us to mix and master? Once we have that info we can put together an estimate. There’s never any pressure there, we just want you to know how to plan. We also want you to be fully aware of what could influence the cost. If you are interested in visiting the studio to set up a budget hit up the Artist survey below and we’ll send you a link to our visit calendar.
Currently, we take PayPal, Cash.app and/or cash at the time of your session.
You can pay with PayPal, Cash app or Venmo online or cash or check in person. Make checks payable to Realgrey Records
Engineers
No, a Realgrey engineer is provided to assist you with your session.
Yes. Third party engineers and producers are asked to come to your studio visit prior to booking your first session. It’s an opportunity to make sure they are familiar with our setup. We will have an internal engineer there to help with patching and use of out board gear.
No, a Realgrey Records engineer is provided in the session rate.
Yes, we can easily connect your interface to our patchbay and you will instantly have access to all of our off board gear, console and tape machine.
Sessions
If you decided you need additional players for your project we have access to area musicians that we can put you in contact with. Realgrey Records receives nothing for this service ... well, maybe an occasional hug, but in the way of compensation that’s complete between you and the player.
We use Google docs for things like playlists and progress spreadsheets, so if you have multiple emails It’s best (but not imperative) to use gmail; additionally, we encourage you to bring a USB drive to every session to backup your working files.
Monday through Thursday 6:30pm to 10:30pm, Saturdays 10am and 2:30pm, and weekday sessions Monday through Friday from noon to 4pm.
For best results, only individuals involved in the recording process should attend your production sessions. If you have questions about this, please just contact us at the studio prior to arrival. And we thank you kindly in advance for that.
As a general rule, please eat before you come to the studio. If you have double or extended sessions you are welcome to bring food and drinks. The live room is a good place to take breaks and eat. We ask kindly that you not eat in the control room or put your drinks on the console desk.
We ask for 24 hours notice to change or cancel a session. We know that life happens and so most of the time it’s not a problem to adjust the schedule. We kindly ask that you notify session players if your session needed to be moved or canceled. There’s a $50 change for no-shows. Once that’s paid, you are welcome to reschedule.
To cancel or reschedule a session refer to the confirmation email we send when your time was booked. There are links for both canceling and rescheduling.
We spend upwards of 2 hours setting up the drums/mics. We like to have the drums as close to ready-to-record as possible. There are some sight adjustments once your drummer arrives, but these can usually be done quickly. Also, we like for the kit to acclimate to room temperature and humidity so as the session progresses the tuning remains as consistent as possible.
Know your music. That would be number 1. One very effective way to lean music and collaborate with others and building and sharing out scratch tracks with a song map.
Because there’s always a chance song tiles can change we give each artist a 2 letter ID followed by a song number. So let’s say Elvis Presley just tracked vocals on a the 7th song in a project. The bounce after that session would be…
EP07.01.09 Vocals
EP07 means ... Elvis Preley’s 7th song
EP07.01 means ... it’s the first rendition of the song. Sometimes that changes too. When the rendition or arrangement, say, changes so does that number
EP07.01.09 means ... it’s the 9th iteration of the session file.
Once you’ve paid for your session/s the assets are yours and we make them available to you. We’ve found it is best for all everyone if the artist manages file transfer to 3rd parties. The expectation for how a song is mixed and/or mastered needs to come from the artist (you). That will insure that the out come has been communicated as directly and concisely as possible.
If/when there are specific specs requested from 3rd parties for file export, we are glad to prepare the files to those specification. We ask that that information be provided before the export and delivery.
Technology
Pro Tools, Logic Pro, LUNA
Realgrey Records retains no rights to any of your work. When you pay for your session, you are welcome and encouraged to copy the working files from our work drive to yours. Most of the time a USB flash drive works great for this. This is also why we ask that there be a spokesman for a band or ensemble. That person is the “owner” and Realgrey will only make the files available to them. We ask that the spokes person manage the sharing of files.
It’s typical for us to “bounce” a track after each session, we share these via Dropbox. These are yours to share with others involved in the production process. We’d encourage not to make them public until they have final mix status.
Yes, we can easily connect your interface to our patchbay and you will instantly have access to all of our off board gear, console and tape machine.
We kindly as that no software be installed/updated or upgraded during your session.
Know your music. That would be number 1. One very effective way to lean music and collaborate with others and building and sharing out scratch tracks with a song map.
Once you’ve paid for your session/s the assets are yours and we make them available to you. We’ve found it is best for all everyone if the artist manages file transfer to 3rd parties. The expectation for how a song is mixed and/or mastered needs to come from the artist (you). That will insure that the out come has been communicated as directly and concisely as possible.
If/when there are specific specs requested from 3rd parties for file export, we are glad to prepare the files to those specification. We ask that that information be provided before the export and delivery.
Tape
No extra change for studio time, but you will need to buy a tape if you want to keep your work. One thing to keep in mind is, the analog process can be a bit more time consuming. So though we don’t charge more for the use of the tape machine, your project may cost more just from the time it may take. If you try it ... you’ll like it.
For best results we use:
ATR Master Tape 2″ x 2,500′ 10.5″ Precision Metal Reel Tape Care Box™
MTR-90 MKII Gap Length: .25
Bias: +3 overbias
Recording Time per tape: 0:33:20 15 IPS
At this time we are not baking tape. But if we know you are coming we might bake a cake.
Technically, it should all be the same to you as the artist but the reality is, recording to tape is more about capturing performance. It is less punching in and less editing. Honestly it boils down to the artist and their discovery level of their song, timing and pitch.
Wading into the analog world might find us tracking the drums, bass, and guitars to tape on the way to the DAW and then doing post in the computer. This can give us the best of both worlds.
In a word, “Saturation”. Tape is know for sounding “fuller” and “richer”. The hi end is still present but with a little more equality in representation, meaning, peak frequencies that may standout in the digital domain are attenuated a bit on tape. So think of it as sandpaper, it smooths out the high end peaks while providing a nice punchy low-end.
Internships
Though many of those who participate in our intern program are college students, we also have a good number who “walk on” so to speak. If you are interested in interning please send us a message through our contact form.
General
A scratch track is a temporary recordings, usually to a click track (time reference) that includes the core rhythm instrument ... piano or acoustic, which ever element is driving the song rhythmically ... and a vocal reference.
Scratch tracks give the artist, producer, engineer and studio musicians a way to dig into the song prior to beginning production. It’s completely stripped down so what’s happening musically can be clearly discerned by all who will play on the song. Chord structure, timing, dynamics and part consistency throughout the song can be discussed and defined.
Song mapping is defining all the parts of the song and deciding where they appear in the song structure. This is where the producer and artist can learn a common language ... this is the hook ... this is a bridge ... this is the A, B or C part ... the actual terms aren’t important, but that everyone working on the song understands them in the same way is very important. Saves hours in the production process.
A well mapped scratch track can make it possible for someone fairly unfamiliar with the song to understand it quickly and be able to interact with it spontaneously.
As a general rule, please eat before you come to the studio. If you have double or extended sessions you are welcome to bring food and drinks. The live room is a good place to take breaks and eat. We ask kindly that you not eat in the control room or put your drinks on the console desk.
We ask for 24 hours notice to change or cancel a session. We know that life happens and so most of the time it’s not a problem to adjust the schedule. We kindly ask that you notify session players if your session needed to be moved or canceled. There’s a $50 change for no-shows. Once that’s paid, you are welcome to reschedule.
To cancel or reschedule a session refer to the confirmation email we send when your time was booked. There are links for both canceling and rescheduling.
When you sign-in to you account:
1. You can see studio pricing
2. You have access to the visit calendar
3. After you visit you will have access to our booking calendar
Once you’ve paid for your session/s the assets are yours and we make them available to you. We’ve found it is best for all everyone if the artist manages file transfer to 3rd parties. The expectation for how a song is mixed and/or mastered needs to come from the artist (you). That will insure that the out come has been communicated as directly and concisely as possible.
If/when there are specific specs requested from 3rd parties for file export, we are glad to prepare the files to those specification. We ask that that information be provided before the export and delivery.
REAL people, doing what we really love, organically, honestly and with people we really love. Superstars not required. We are GREY, Average, in the middle, maybe even typical but collectively we have found a way to do something exceptional.
REALGREY™ RECORDS RECORDING STUDIO
Phone: +1(330) 732-5127
Email: studio@realgrey.com
Location: Historic/Arts District, Canton Ohio
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