Tracking, Mixing, and Mastering
TRACKING
A great studio vibe can make you feel relaxed, inspired and help bring out the magic while recording. Sound Temple has a very unique “Zen” vibe that does just that. Most studios focus on the equipment, but don’t put time and effort into creating a beautiful space that supports your creativity. Sound Temple does both.
Recorded music feels and sounds best when it is recorded as a group, instead of one track at a time. However, most studios can’t accommodate more than 2 or perhaps 3 musicians at a time. At Sound Temple, bands and studio musicians have 6 separate isolation spaces with carefully balanced acoustics. In addition to the large live room, there’s three big iso-booths and two small iso-booths. The three big iso-booths have double doors that can open wide to turn the entire studio into one really big live room if desired. Everyone can always see each other while recording through big windows throughout the studio.
Sound Temple’s signature acoustics are intentionally neutral to allow instruments and voices to be heard and recorded in the most natural way possible. These acoustics are based on the acoustics found in nature (specifically the golden ratio and fibonacci scale), resulting in a sound that’s both natural, and the best possible expression of the music.
One of the most important aspects of the Sound Temple system of recording happens the day before the musicians arrive. Because of the meticulous preparation, transitions between songs that can take an hour in other studios take seconds at Sound Temple. This saves money, allows the creativity to flow, and maximizes the musician’s ability to be in the moment with the music.
As expected, there’s amazing microphones, outboard gear, an SSL mixing console, instrument selection and individual headphone mixers at Sound Temple. More details can be found on the “Gear” page.
If you’re a solo artist and can’t be at Sound Temple in person, we offer a Hybrid ProHome tracking system. We use top notch local studio musicians at Sound Temple and set up a listening station for you at your home to hear the session “live” and enable you to give feedback throughout the session. We’ll also help sort out the technical issues for you to record great vocals and any other tracks you want to record at home. When you hear the final mix of all the tracks together, you’ll never know they were recorded from two different locations!
Our head engineer and owner, Robert George, has 35 years of very diverse experience (in genres from funk to jazz, and singer-songwriter to classical) and is excited to track your project, or to assist and host If you want to bring your own engineer and producer.
PRODUCING YOUR RECORD
Do you want to make the real transformation from giging musician to recording artist? Do you want to take your next recording to another level to advance your established career?
If you answered yes to either of the above questions you probably need a producer to help you.
What does a producer do and do I need one?
A producer is the equivalent to the director in a movie. The song is the equivalent to the story in a movie and the musicians are the equivalent to the actors. How do you think a movie would turn out if there were no director?
Most successful records recorded over the past 60 years have had great producers. There’s a huge benefit to having a seasoned pro guiding you and your music to the finish line.
While you might be considering self producing, there is an opportunity in working with a producer that can hear possibilities you’ve never considered. Some of the things a good producer can help with during tracking include:
Is the song really at the right tempo for groove and the pace of the lyric? Would making it SLIGHTLY faster or slower improve the musicality?
Would changing the key place it in the sweet spot of your singer?
Is the intro really drawing the listener in or not?
What instrumentation would set up the movement between verses or sections of the piece?
Does the song need multiple solos? How long should the solos actually be?
Are all of my choices in the arrangement serving the song and the listener?
Is the groove too busy and getting in the way of the lyric? etc.
Robert George has been producing and engineering for over 3 decades, in almost every genre of music, and has developed a unique system for getting the best out of each track. The benefits of using a producer like Robert don’t just apply to tracking. A good producer will guide you through the mixing and mastering process as well. You and your music deserve this expertise. Let’s talk about it.
Please check out a track Robert produced at Sound Temple of a song by Samara Jade called Building a Bridge. This will give you a great idea of what can be done to create an awesome project for you. The original artist demo is here . The final produced track is here.
Please go to the “Listen” page to hear more of how Robert takes good demos and produces them into a great recordings!
Call for rates and more information about tracking at Sound Temple and producing your record at 828-633-2149.
MIXING
Mixing is as important as tracking. The right mix can take a great song, and make it sound like a hit record.
Robert George has been doing just that for 35 years. Using his signature mixing system, he treats a song as a piece of art, and a mix as a beautiful frame that makes that art look even more beautiful. Robert has worked in almost every genre, from symphony orchestra to jazz, pop, rock, alternative, country, americana, folk, funk and everything in between. He mixes most of the projects he records, but is also asked to mix music from artists and producers from around the country.
Many of Sound Temple’s clients contact us to mixi both professional and home studio tracks because of Robert’s signature mixing system. The Sound Temple System honors the intent of the artist while achieving the six ‘Master Mix’ elements: clarity, balance, warmth, size, density, and depth.
Mixing in a way to hear the clarity of the individual instruments, while having them sound like a unified whole, is a challenge that Robert excels at.
Mix revisions from clients are taken seriously – and typically very few are requested – because of the attention to detail and communication that goes on before mixing begins. Robert’s mixes always translate well on different devices because of the natural acoustics (Wes lachot Design and Brett Acoustics) SSL Mixing Console and calibrated monitoring in Sound Temple’s mix room, and decades of experience.
Please go to the “Listen” page to hear some examples of mixes.
Call for rates and more information about mixing at 828-633-2149.
MASTERING
The most common studio question that gets asked is “what’s mastering and why do I need it”? Mastering corrects small (and sometimes big) anomalies in your mixes, makes them more consistent, brings the songs up to proper, consistent levels so your music plays well individually, and in playlists with other artists’ tracks.
“But if I’ve got a good mix, why would it need to be mastered?”
The best engineers in the world ALWAYS have their mixes mastered. These final tweaks put the polish on your masterpiece to make it shine, and top engineers never skip this step.
Tracks come into Sound Temple to be mastered from home studios and professional studios. Both benefit from Robert’s signature system of mastering, and are treated differently due to the additional corrections and enhancements typically needed with home studio mixes. Home studio mixes typically need more from the mastering process to make them sound like top-notch professional recordings, and Robert George is very experienced at doing just that.
Robert works with clients from all over the country and has mastered records in most every genre, from symphony orchestra to jazz, pop, rock, alternative, country, americana, folk, fun and everything in between. This means that levels and tonal balance are appropriate for YOUR genre of music, and Sound Temple mastering means that your music is optimized for streaming, which is essential in today’s music industry.
Call for rates and more information about mastering at 828-633-2149.
STUDIO RENTAL FOR INDEPENDENT ENGINEERS
Sound Temple Studios is also available for rent by the hour, day or week to independent engineers and producers at surprisingly affordable rates. A very qualified engineer is available to assist full or part time. Sound Temple has become a favorite place to track in Western North Carolina because of the great acoustics, gear and vibe. It has also become a favorite place to mix due to it’s amazing control room and is truly one of the best control rooms you have ever heard!
FREE LODGING
Opposite the studio is a beautiful lounge and artist/producer apartment with a full bath, and laundry facilities. Information on free lodging is available here. Come to the Blue Ridge Mountains, make music at Sound Temple and stay right in the apartment!
