Northwall is a small studio in Atascadero, California. We record a wide variety of musical genres, including folk, country, indie and garage/rock. We are best suited to musicians with original songs who enjoy working in a creative, comfortable, intimate environment where organic sounds and passionate performances are privileged over fancy post-production trickery. We're down to help you get your music out into the world in whatever form you need, from basic demos to full-length albums, at rates that you can afford.
Our philosophy of recording is simple- we prefer to track live rhythm sections, and, with our two rooms, we can easily accommodate direct interaction between drums, bass, rhythm guitars and even vocals during the tracking process. Overdubs are then layered as needed; at all stages of the recording process we aim to capture the feel and sound of real musicians playing together rather than a sterile, highly separated patchwork of individual instruments walled off from each other. We don’t care to make shiny, processed pop records- we are working musicians who understand the uncanny connection between players on a stage and our recordings and mixes seek to reflect that energy.
We also mix projects recorded elsewhere, and we offer mastering services either in-house or through another local mastering engineer who we often collaborate with.
Audio Interface: UA Apollo 8 Duo
Converters: UA Apollo / Lucid 8824
DAW / Mixing Software: Harrison Mixbus 32C V4
Outboard Gear:
While plugins are cool, we like to fiddle with real knobs and faders, so we’ve got a healthy selection of outboard gear; from preamps to compressors, from EQ to effects processing, we like to think outside the box as much as possible. And of course you’ll find a nice selection of mics ranging from classic dynamics to small and large diaphragm condensers, ribbons, and even some strange vintage stuff.
Instruments:
While most performers tend to bring in their own gear, we do have some great tools on hand, including a couple of vintage tube amps, a cocktail sized Hoshino drum kit with a variety of cymbals, a few random custom cabinets, a number of vintage and modern bass, electric, and acoustic guitars. There are also a few vintage electric pianos.
Rates:
Tracking: $ 30 per hour (studio and engineer) $60.00 / per day minimum
Rough Mix: $ 30 per hour
Stem Exp: $ 10 per song (fee applies only when sending a tracked project for outside mixing)
Mixing: $ 120 per song (subject to change for larger projects.)
Mastering: $ 50 per song in-house or $ 75 per song through MacLane Mastering at Portola Studios
Producing: $ 200 per project (includes a pre-production session)
Rehearsal: $ 15 per hour per room
Booking Deposit Fee: 20% of total
Rates begin at the designated load in time for the session per our prior agreement with the artist. A non-refundable deposit of 20% of total fee is required at time of booking. We do our best to prepare in every way possible for each session ahead of time so that the hours you book are spent as efficiently as possible.
Recent Projects / Artists:
Mother Corn Shuckers
SLO County Stumblers
Angie and the Nightmares
The Creston Line
Phil Lee
Mishka Shubaly
Arthur Watership
Otherhouses / Morgan Enos
Kevin Coons
Shawn Clark Family Band
Dave Wilson
The 40 Hour Work Week
Clark Andros
The Blind Willies
Jenny Ashley
The Brothers Gerhardt
Andrew Redel
Our philosophy of recording is simple- we prefer to track live rhythm sections, and, with our two rooms, we can easily accommodate direct interaction between drums, bass, rhythm guitars and even vocals during the tracking process. Overdubs are then layered as needed; at all stages of the recording process we aim to capture the feel and sound of real musicians playing together rather than a sterile, highly separated patchwork of individual instruments walled off from each other. We don’t care to make shiny, processed pop records- we are working musicians who understand the uncanny connection between players on a stage and our recordings and mixes seek to reflect that energy.
We also mix projects recorded elsewhere, and we offer mastering services either in-house or through another local mastering engineer who we often collaborate with.
Audio Interface: UA Apollo 8 Duo
Converters: UA Apollo / Lucid 8824
DAW / Mixing Software: Harrison Mixbus 32C V4
Outboard Gear:
While plugins are cool, we like to fiddle with real knobs and faders, so we’ve got a healthy selection of outboard gear; from preamps to compressors, from EQ to effects processing, we like to think outside the box as much as possible. And of course you’ll find a nice selection of mics ranging from classic dynamics to small and large diaphragm condensers, ribbons, and even some strange vintage stuff.
Instruments:
While most performers tend to bring in their own gear, we do have some great tools on hand, including a couple of vintage tube amps, a cocktail sized Hoshino drum kit with a variety of cymbals, a few random custom cabinets, a number of vintage and modern bass, electric, and acoustic guitars. There are also a few vintage electric pianos.
Rates:
Tracking: $ 30 per hour (studio and engineer) $60.00 / per day minimum
Rough Mix: $ 30 per hour
Stem Exp: $ 10 per song (fee applies only when sending a tracked project for outside mixing)
Mixing: $ 120 per song (subject to change for larger projects.)
Mastering: $ 50 per song in-house or $ 75 per song through MacLane Mastering at Portola Studios
Producing: $ 200 per project (includes a pre-production session)
Rehearsal: $ 15 per hour per room
Booking Deposit Fee: 20% of total
Rates begin at the designated load in time for the session per our prior agreement with the artist. A non-refundable deposit of 20% of total fee is required at time of booking. We do our best to prepare in every way possible for each session ahead of time so that the hours you book are spent as efficiently as possible.
Recent Projects / Artists:
Mother Corn Shuckers
SLO County Stumblers
Angie and the Nightmares
The Creston Line
Phil Lee
Mishka Shubaly
Arthur Watership
Otherhouses / Morgan Enos
Kevin Coons
Shawn Clark Family Band
Dave Wilson
The 40 Hour Work Week
Clark Andros
The Blind Willies
Jenny Ashley
The Brothers Gerhardt
Andrew Redel