Russian Recording

Russian Recording Russian Recording is an analog and digital recording studio in Bloomington, Indiana, owned and operat The studio is located near downtown Bloomington, IN.
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Russian Recording is a professional recording studio owned and operated by Mike Bridavsky. Everything works here. Russian Recording has provided production, recording, mixing and mastering services to over 500 local, regional, national and international artists since 2003. The studio is home to a comprehensive assortment of modern and vintage recording equipment and musical instruments. At the hea

rt of the studio is a fully refurbished 1975 Sphere Eclipse Alpha Series II 24 channel, 16 buss mixing console, paired with an extensive collection of high-end outboard compressors, preamps, EQs and microphones. We also have a generous selection of instruments, including dozens of guitars, basses, and amplifiers, and a wide variety of keyboards, drum sets and acoustic instruments, including a new grand piano. The studio consists of three tracking rooms; a spacious live room (23'x28'x17'), a live isolation room (10'x11'x13.5') and a dead isolation room (9'x10'x12'). Each room has been acoustically treated and has its own distinct sound, providing a wide variety of sonic options, from huge and live to tight and dry. The control room (13'x16'x11.5') is a spacious and acoustically neutral listening environment with plenty of natural light. We also have a roomy lounge with a kitchenette, wide flat screen television, video games and ample couch space. Website: http://www.russianrecording.com
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/jPphT
To inquire about booking a session, email: [email protected]

New cat Mipppens acting like he owns this stuff. The bank owns this stuff, Mipppsy... the bank and the government.BUT TH...
01/02/2024

New cat Mipppens acting like he owns this stuff.

The bank owns this stuff, Mipppsy... the bank and the government.

BUT THEY DONT KNOW HOW TO USE IT, SUCKERS!

new year, new catPlease welcome Mipppens, officially our sixth studio cat since 2003. Feels like he's been here since th...
01/02/2024

new year, new cat

Please welcome Mipppens, officially our sixth studio cat since 2003. Feels like he's been here since the start.

It was an honor to host the Sera Tones' very first recording session of their lives. They are an original rock group con...
12/20/2023

It was an honor to host the Sera Tones' very first recording session of their lives. They are an original rock group consisting of three amazingly talented girls (ages 13-14, I believe) that formed after attending  camp, and they tracked, overdubbed, and mixed an EP's worth of original music at the studio yesterday. They also heroically kicked off our 20 Year Anniversary in September, opting for a day recording time in lieu of getting paid for their performance. Smart kids.

This is also a great opportunity to introduce our new engineer and studio manager, - he was gracious enough to donate his time to engineer the session and knocked it out of the park. I've always insisted that the most challenging part of a recording session isn't turning all the k***s. It's about communication and making the artists comfortable so that they can perform at their best. Pulling this off while working with very young musicians for their very first session in a professional studio is quite an achievement.

Sagan from the group told her dad that yesterday's session was “one of the best days of my life.” Very stoked for the studio to have been a part of that and to see what these ladies will do next.

12/12/2023
Day four of a five day tech visit from our friend Greg Norman. He's been digging into our pile of stuff that needs tweak...
12/12/2023

Day four of a five day tech visit from our friend Greg Norman. He's been digging into our pile of stuff that needs tweaking and fixing, which so far has consisted of primarily tube mic power supplies.

Spent the weekend celebrating this magnificent person's birthday. She's the toughest, smartest, most resilient and deter...
10/15/2023

Spent the weekend celebrating this magnificent person's birthday. She's the toughest, smartest, most resilient and determined person Ive ever met, and I've been in love with her since the first day we spent together, which was more than ten years ago (🤯). I told her so that day, and she didn't run away (😅). When you know, you know.

I'll rollerskate to the end times by your side, baby.

Love ya forever, 😘

It's time to draw the winners for the 20 Year Anniversary Raffle! We will be pulling tickets via Instagram Live right he...
09/13/2023

It's time to draw the winners for the 20 Year Anniversary Raffle! We will be pulling tickets via Instagram Live right here on our studio account at 5:05 pm EST, which is in a few minutes. Tickets will be drawn by Kyle "Hoopty" Houpt.

Winners will also be announced on our account later this evening, and will also be emailed to everyone that submitted their info at the raffle on Sunday, so check your spam folders.

Winners must be able to present their ticket coupon to claim their prize.

If any winning numbers are unclaimed by this time on Thursday of next week, we will redraw a winning ticket number then, SO DONT THROW OUT YOUR TICKET STUBS!

Big thanks to everyone that came out, travelled from afar, volunteered, performed, and supported our 20 Year Anniversary...
09/12/2023

Big thanks to everyone that came out, travelled from afar, volunteered, performed, and supported our 20 Year Anniversary event. Despite the last minute change to the lineup, it was an incredibly special day with great weather, palpable excitement, and genuine gratitude from everyone involved. Seeing everyone come together to do one really ambitious and wonderful thing for our community was inspiring, and a perfect reminder of why I decided to open my studio in Bloomington, IN 20 years ago, because this couldn’t have happened the way it did in any other town.

Special thanks to our great friends in Deerhoof, who specifically planned an entire tour around our little event, and truly embody the spirit of doing things for the right reasons.

And a huge thanks to all of the incredibly generous businesses that donated their services, talents and products to our raffle. Every single raffle prize is amazing, and even if you didn’t attend you still have one more day to buy tickets for tomorrow’s raffle drawing at http://bit.ly/RR20Raffle

You can win studio time, vintage mics, incredible artwork, haircuts, out of print records and books, sauna sessions, coffee, and even a professional photo shoot…. and because of how many different prizes there are, you’ve got a pretty good chance of winning too.

Please enjoy some highlights from the event - all of the most stunning photos by

This  set is like this
09/10/2023

This set is like this

Raffle booth is womanned by . check out all the sweet prints from and  you can win 🏆 If you couldn't make it and entered...
09/10/2023

Raffle booth is womanned by . check out all the sweet prints from
and you can win 🏆

If you couldn't make it and entered the absentee raffle, we will respond to you as soon as we are able, don't worry! And if you still want to enter the raffle remotely to contribute to the organizations we are supporting and the chance to win cool mics, studio time, and lots more, click the link in our bio and scroll down to the first hyperlink under "READ CAREFULLY"

Not too late to attend and still catch and . tickets at link or at the event.

this is me obscuring Joe with an obscured 🤙, backstage at the Studio Stage at our 20 year anniversary .lips is one of 50...
09/10/2023

this is me obscuring Joe with an obscured 🤙, backstage at the Studio Stage at our 20 year anniversary .lips is one of 50+ volunteers that made this thing happen and is ensuring it continues to happen, and is one of the reasons that this insane event isn't the last year our studio stays open 😀

TODAY IS THE DAY! And the party starts now!Tickets are still available in our bio, at www.russianrecording.com/20, or wh...
09/10/2023

TODAY IS THE DAY! And the party starts now!

Tickets are still available in our bio, at www.russianrecording.com/20, or when you arrive, and they are still $35. Swipe through for an updated event map, useless parking map (street parking is your friend), updated lineup and times, and some quick shots of the event grounds. 

Even though Murder By Death is unable to play, hometown heroes Busman’s Holiday and Erin Tobey have stepped up to the plate in the final hour to treat us with a full-band full-hour set on the big Studio Stage at 7PM, followed by a 1.5 hour set from Deerhoof.

This event absolutely would not be possible without the 50+ amazing volunteers that have put SO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT into making this happen - it's truly amazing what you can accomplish when everyone works together for the common good. 

100% of net proceeds benefit Girls Rock Bloomington, Lil BUB's Big FUND for Special Needs Pets, and Indiana Recovery Alliance.

SEE YOU HERE.

The 20 Year Anniversary Raffle is almost as exciting as the lineup for the event. Can’t make the event but want to enter...
09/08/2023

The 20 Year Anniversary Raffle is almost as exciting as the lineup for the event. Can’t make the event but want to enter? Well, you can at the link in our bio! (more info there)

There are 15+ incredible prizes you can win and you can choose which prize(s) you want to win - including 2 free days of studio time at our studio (three winners), a free mastering session,  a stereo pair of serviced NOS Oktava ML19 ribbon mics with our Soviet American Audio Systems Deluxe Soviet Transducer Prints and Enamel Pin Set (designed by Scotty of Analog Prints), a framed set of three of Analog Prints’ most coveted art prints, a framed set of five out-of-print art prints from In Case of Emergency Press, rare and out-of-print records from Joyful Noise Recordings and Let’s Pretend Records, free haircuts and styling products from Ruby’s Hair Company (two winners), a free headshot session with Anna Powell Denton Photography, a beautiful woodcut piece from Chris Mott Art, an out-of-print deluxe boxed set of The Residents Vol 1 from Melodic Virtue,  cool stuff + $100  to Hopscotch Coffee, and three 45 minute sauna sessions from Terra Sauna Wellness.

Every guest gets 12 free raffle tickets if they buy their event admission online (www.russianrecording.com/20), or 6 free tickets if you buy your event admission at the door on Sunday. You can also buy additional tickets at the event (cash only - there will be an ATM). Then you simply place as many tickets as you want into the jars next to the prizes you want to win! There will be QR Codes everywhere for you to scan enter your contact info to receive the winning raffle numbers next Wednesday, and we’ll also post the winning numbers on our account

If you can’t make the event but want to enter, check the link in our bio!

My long-time friends Giacomo Del Rio (King of Beats) and Colin McClain (who designed and tattooed our Kitty Family Krest...
09/07/2023

My long-time friends Giacomo Del Rio (King of Beats) and Colin McClain (who designed and tattooed our Kitty Family Krest) of Time & Tide Tattoo and the notorious Tree City Allstars have each designed an amazing flash art sheet with cats, mics, hoofs, murders, and deaths for the event (swipe to see), and are donating their time to tattoo your choice of their art on your body for only $100. All proceeds benefit the charities, but you should tip your tattooist. Only 14 total appointments available for the day, and you're the first to know about it so snag one at the LINK IN OUR BIO. You can get your event ticket there too. I’ll be getting the peeking RR kitty and the KINAP 82a1. 

Our 20 Year Anniversary is on Sunday, September 10th, taking place in our studio’s parking and the freshly-vacant adjace...
08/29/2023

Our 20 Year Anniversary is on Sunday, September 10th, taking place in our studio’s parking and the freshly-vacant adjacent lot north of the studio. You can enjoy performances by Deerhoof, Murder By Death, Busman’s Holiday (w/Erin Tobey), and 8 more incredible bands that have recorded here.

Get tickets at the link in our bio (www.russianrecording.com/20) to save $5 and get 12 free raffle tickets that can be applied directly towards winning over a dozen amazing prizes. You can choose which prize your raffle ticket(s) can win, including two free days of studio time with Mike Bridavsky, an original wood-carved painting by Chris Mott, a photo session with Anna Powell Teeter, and more equally amazing prizes. If you can’t attend the event but want to enter the raffle, or just donate to our causes, shoot me a DM.

This event is all-ages, with beer provided by our generous friends at Upland Brewery, canned cocktails from our generous friends at Cardinal Spirits, and non-alcoholic drinks from our generous friends at No Buzz Bottles. 100% of the profits from this event benefit three important non-profit organizations: Girl’s Rock Bloomington, Indiana Recovery Alliance, and Lil BUB’s Big FUND for Special Needs Pets.

We will have two stages (one in the adjacent lot, and one in our parking lot) with 11 terrific female/non-binary-containing bands, brilliant event-themed hot dogs from our friends at Orbit Room, the best Mexican in Southern Indiana from Pili’s Party Taco Truck, and A+ Middle Eastern from the Doner Kebab Truck. We even have TWO posters!

Please swipe to the right to see the painfully detailed Event Map (yes, it is to-scale), as well as some shots of the event-grounds in their dormant state, one with a mockup of Deerhoof playing on the grass where the stage will be.

This event isn’t so much about celebrating 20 Years of the studio - it’s meant to celebrate our local community, the music community, the recording community,  and most importantly to support and encourage  the people in those communities that are most often overlooked, weren’t blessed with the same opportunities, and may have been less fortunate than others.

It’s still hard to believe that we’ve been scraping by for TWENTY YEARS. Swipe for reverse-chronological photos of our c...
08/25/2023

It’s still hard to believe that we’ve been scraping by for TWENTY YEARS. Swipe for reverse-chronological photos of our control room(s) over the past 20 years, including our first location in Brown County (2003-2008).

It’s also hard to believe that our 20 Year Anniversary Block Party is happening in about TWO WEEKS (Sunday, Sept 10th)! If you buy tickets ahead of time online at the link in our bio  (russianrecording.com/20),  you’ll also get 12 raffle tickets which you can put towards your choice of prizes including two free days of studio time, a vintage mic (tba), a spa day, boxes of LPs and lots more. Here's the thing: 100% of profits benefit Girls Rock Bloomington, Indiana Recovery Alliance, and Lil BUB’s Big FUND for Special Needs Pets.

In the time since we announced the lineup with Deerhoof and Murder By Death a couple months ago, we’ve added five more bands and a second stage called The Switchyard Stage, which will be in the studio parking lot. This stage will feature fully acoustic performances in between the big stage performances, with bands like Busman’s Holiday (w/special guest Erin Tobey), Rodeola, and The Sera-Tones (a Girls Rock Camper Band!). Because of this, we also had to make another poster (by ) swipe all the way to check out the full lineup!

To show our support and to encourage anyone who doesn’t identify as being a “dude” playing music, every band playing the event has at least one female or non-binary member.

More info and tickets at www.russianrecording.com/20 or at the link in our bio

Mic stands are as****es. They take up a ton of space, they’re heavy, bulky, there’s never a good place to put them when ...
08/22/2023

Mic stands are as****es. They take up a ton of space, they’re heavy, bulky, there’s never a good place to put them when they’re not in use, and they love to f**k up your day. But alas, you can’t make a record without them. So we came up with a super simple, easy and shockingly affordable way to store them.  

The #1 most asked question we get from the photos we share on social media (by a wide margin) are about our mic stand hanging system, which we came up with when we first built this studio back in 2008, so I thought I’d share how to build them (it’s stupid easy).

Get a 6 x 2, some paint, some heavy duty carriage bolts, and some utility tool hooks with rubber coating (they’re under 2 bucks a piece!). Cut the 6 x 2 to the size you want, paint it, screw the hooks into it  (spaced about 10-12” apart), then mount the whole thing onto your wall. Be sure to screw the carriage bolts into studs since it’s gonna bear some substantial weight when it’s fullly loaded (especially with Triad Orbit Stands).  As you can see from the photos, we used tool hooks with two small screw holes. They work fine with long wood screws, but if I did it again I’d use the tool hook pictured in the last slide, with a heavy duty bult in screw-end.

This hanging system is incredibly durable (ours has held up for 15 years so far), and can also double as a guitar or cable hook.

As a studio owner, I believe that ergonomics and organization are paramount to an efficient and enjoyable recording experience. I’m looking forward to sharing the dozens of improvements we’ve made to the studio in the past few months/years.

While our studio is known for our eclectic and diverse collection of rare and obscure vintage microphones from around th...
08/14/2023

While our studio is known for our eclectic and diverse collection of rare and obscure vintage microphones from around the world, like the 19a10, 19a13, and ML11b pictured on the right, some folks don’t realize that we also have a full locker of many of the most classic and iconic studio microphones, like the 77D, C12, SM69FET and M49b pictured on the left.   I have always been fascinated and obsessed with discovering the greatest mics no one ever knew existed, and I would happily talk for hours and hours about them.

If you’re someone that might enjoy hearing me talk endlessly about rare microphones, please check out the new episode of Manny's Mic Locker at the link in our bio, where my friend Manny was faced with the daunting task of editing down two hours of me rambling on and on about mics most people never knew existed.

Our friends Major Murphy were in this week, working on some beautiful new songs for the first time since we recorded Acc...
08/08/2023

Our friends Major Murphy were in this week, working on some beautiful new songs for the first time since we recorded Access in 2019. That was four years ago, which is absolutely nuts. They’re also the first to experience our newly remodeled control room, which now has an RTA60 of 230 ms to 260 ms from 20 Hz to 20 KHz (thanks to Emre at Telegrapher Loudspeakers), but more on that in another post.

The Aiwa VM17 was MVP on Jacob’s vocals, unanimously beating out our RCA 77D and three other mics in a blind test. Consecutive pair of LOMO 19a4’s in X/Y as room mics. CAD E-300 on a blackface Fender Bandmaster.

07/04/2023

Exactly one year ago today, I jumped in my car and drove from No Fun Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba to John's house in Minneapolis, MN after exporting the final mixes for Deerhoof’s “Miracle Level” LP. It was 11 pm on the 4th of July as I was driving through downtown Minneapolis, the new record on full blast, fireworks exploding literally a few hundred feet from my car as I was cruising over a bridge on the freeway.

I cut together a 10 minute video of footage from the session that goes into great detail about making this record, plus a bunch of behind-the-scenes footage including some mixing clips, overdubs, and an eclectic selection of wondrous dances performed during the session.

This video here is just a short teaser, you can watch the whole in-depth video on our new YouTube page here: https://youtu.be/-ULGDLBAbnY

Today is the 43rd anniversary of my birth, so I figured it's a perfect opportunity to announce our Russian Recording 20t...
06/21/2023

Today is the 43rd anniversary of my birth, so I figured it's a perfect opportunity to announce our Russian Recording 20th Anniversary Party and Community Fundraiser which is happening on Sunday, September 10th in the freshly excavated lot next door to the studio. More info and advance tickets (with early-bird pricing) are available here: https://bit.ly/RR-20YEAR

In the spirit of supporting the people and animals of our neighborhood and community, 100% of the net proceeds of this event benefit three important local non-profit organizations: Lil BUB’s Big FUND for Special Needs Pets, Indiana Recovery Alliance, and Girls Rock Bloomington. To show our support of Girls Rocking and to inspire more ladies to rock, we invited bands that have made records here and have least one female member.

Here’s the all-star lineup for the day:

Deerhoof
Murder By Death
Major Murphy
SERVICE
Heaven Honey
Brenda’s Friend
Girl’s Rock Camp Band

We’re going to have a big festival-style outdoor stage, PA and lighting rig in the empty lot, local beer and drinks, food trucks, and tons of family friendly activities like face-painting, on-demand screen-printing, tarot card reading, and flash-art tattooing in the studio parking lot on the other side of the studio, with all activities raising funds for our beneficiary organizations. We will also have a huge raffle with prizes that include free studio time, vintage microphones, and tons of prizes from your favorite local businesses (you can buy raffle tickets separately from event tickets, if you want to enter but can’t make the show).

I can’t believe I’ve been alive for 43 years, and that the studio has thrived and survived for the last 20 years of it. That’s all thanks to the amazing people that have trusted us to make their records and the vibrant music community in our town and beyond. LOVE YOU + THANK YOU.

Kick-ass poster designed by our old pal Shawn Knight

Ridiculous-ass photos of me acting like an idiot in an empty field by our old pal William Wi******er Claytor

DEMOLISHED - PART 1!This January, we bought the condemned property next to the studio to prevent a developer from puttin...
06/21/2023

DEMOLISHED - PART 1!

This January, we bought the condemned property next to the studio to prevent a developer from putting a condo there (and putting us out of business). After getting the keys, I walked over and discovered a homeless dude living on the covered porch of the little house. He was friendly and introduced himself as Ash. I also discovered a burst pipe filling the yard with water, seeping into the ground and flooding the studio’s basement next door.

It was cold, and it would be months before we would get our demo permit, so I told Ash that if he cleaned up the porch, gave me a clean path to enter the home, and promised not to break into the home itself, that I would let him stay for the winter. By 5 pm that evening, Ash had cleaned everything up. I got him some breakfast the next morning.

Three months later we were ready to tear it down. We hadn’t seen Ash in weeks but noticed strange people coming and going, so I went to check it out. One guy saw me and ran away while another guy just stood in the yard. I asked if he knew Ash - he did not, but explained that several folks had been living out of there, taking turns cleaning it up. The front door was busted open, the house full of sleeping bags, food, hypodermic needles, and even a fire pit (yikes). With only a few left days before the demo, I wrote the folks a kind but firm notice and hoped for the best. The next day they were gone and they left me an unexpected thank-you note. After months of stress, self-doubt and regret that I had made the wrong decision to let folks stay there, it felt good to know that I had done the right thing.

We had to borrow even more money to cover the exorbitant cost of excavating the property. We’re going to be selling over 250 fully serviced vintage mics, a ton of outboard gear, and lots of other nice studio equipment to help us pay this project down. If you’re interested in seeing what’s for sale, sign up for our newsletter at https://bit.ly/SAAS-Mics or shoot me a DM or email [email protected]

Check out the demolition video at the link in the comments, it's pretty amazing.

Check back tomorrow for Part II of DEMOLISHED! to see what the property looks like now and find out what we’re doing with it.

06/01/2023

Here’s a sneak peek of TONIGHT's incredible storytelling performance by Durand Jones for our inaugural Small & Mighty Concert Series. It airs tonight at 8 pm ET at https://veeps.events/SmallAndMightyConcertSeries - but tour ticket allows you to watch it at any time for 90 days after tonight's broadcast.

100% of the net proceeds benefits Lil BUB's Big FUND for Special Needs Pets and Girls Rock Bloomington.

As a rescue pet owner, contributing member of the animal welfare community and a recording engineer, producer and studio owner of 20 years, this concert means so much to me on so many different levels by directly supporting special needs pets, enabling underprivileged youth, supporting our creative community, and utilizing my studio to its fullest capability in support of our local music community, the art of recording music, and supporting those that need extra help to succeed (pets and people).

What is most inspiring about this concert is Durand Jones and his band’s commitment to their music and art - this performance in particular. Durand’s storytelling is second-to-none - hearing him talk about the process of writing and recording his record from the room the record was produced and recorded in while being backed by the band and producers that made the record is a rare treat.

The amount of hard work and logistics involved in taping, recording, editing and mixing a seven-camera, sixteen channel shoot/recording of a 90 minute performance by a six-piece soul group in a 600 square foot live room with an audience of 40 people and a crew consisting exclusively of over a dozen volunteers is staggering.

What is most inspiring about this concert is Durand Jones and his band’s commitment to their music and art - this performance in particular. This entire 90 minute storytelling performance was performed 100% live in one take, and was only the band's third live performance ever. Hearing Durand talk about the process of writing and recording his record from the room the record was produced and recorded in while being backed by the band and producers that made the record is a rare treat.

I’m so proud of how this turned out on every level and can’t wait for people to see it, hear it (I’m really proud of this recording), be inspired by it, and enjoy it all while knowing that it was all done to help those less fortunate.

Our first Small & Mighty Concert featuring a brilliant performance from Durand Jones and his band airs on Thursday, and ...
05/31/2023

Our first Small & Mighty Concert featuring a brilliant performance from Durand Jones and his band airs on Thursday, and I can’t wait for people to see and hear it. Here are some wonderful photos taken by Anna Powell Denton / Photographer & Filmmaker on the day of the taping.

I have been mixing and Will Claytor has been editing this seven-camera shoot non-stop for the past 2-3 weeks. Between planning, setting up, recording, and post-production I’m not sure if we’ve ever put this much time and effort into a project like this before - and I think it shows.

You can watch and listen to the entire 1.5 hour performance by buying a streaming ticket at bit.ly/LBSM-Durand - all proceeds benefit Girls Rock Bloomington and Lil BUB’s Big FUND for Special Needs Pets. Even though the broadcast goes live at 8pm on Thursday, anyone with a ticket can watch it as many times as they want for the next 90 days.

Stay tuned for a sneak peek and an in-depth mixing video coming up this week too.

We did an interview with Vintage King, who are celebrating their 30 year anniversary the same year we are celebrating ou...
04/09/2023

We did an interview with Vintage King, who are celebrating their 30 year anniversary the same year we are celebrating our 20 year anniversary. They've been our primary source of audio equipment for the past 16 years, and that's because they understand the needs of a small studio trying to keep its doors open to bands on a daily basis.

Deerhoof’s “Miracle Level” is out today! You can listen to the whole record from top to bottom anywhere you like to stre...
03/31/2023

Deerhoof’s “Miracle Level” is out today! You can listen to the whole record from top to bottom anywhere you like to stream music, here: https://lnk.to/sdlmtyas.

I know I’ve posted a ton about the making of this record over the past eight months, so there isn’t much else to say except that I am really proud of how it turned out, I feel miracle-level lucky to have had the opportunity to work on it, and I am eternally grateful to Deerhoof for trusting me with producing their first “studio album”. The only thing better than the record itself is the experience and camaraderie that came out of it. Ed, John, Satomi, and Greg are four of the kindest, most gracious, and lovely people you could ever hope to work with or be around, and I strongly encourage you to go see them perform live on their current tour.

I am also beyond grateful to Rob, Riley and Sierra at No Fun Club for making this record possible. No Fun Club is one of the most incredible studios in the world. An extra special thanks to Riley for operating the Professional Tools, working long hours, coming up with brilliant solutions to any obstacle, and being a true pleasure to be around 14 hours a day for 14 days straight. If you’re within 1000 square km of Winnipeg, Manitoba, you should go make a record at No Fun Club with Riley.

Also - if you’re gonna give this record a listen and have the ability to listen in Dolby Atmos or Spatial, check out the spatial mixes on Apple Music. I spent five days at Primary Sound mixing the record in Atmos, and my only intention was to make sound like you are sitting in the middle of the studio with the band performing live using only analog mix stems and the original ambient stereo mics. I hope it worked!

03/30/2023

To celebrate today's release of another single from Deerhoof’s Miracle Level, “Phase Out”, I’ve put together one final video that features the band playing the actual take from the record, live. As the song plays, I solo each individual mix stem in the sections where that instrument really shines.

This is one of my favorite songs on the record for a number of reasons - the main one being that it rips. But also, it contains my favorite drum sound I’ve ever recorded, which is mono using just three mics (kick, snare, kit mic) - you’ll hear it in the video. It’s one of those times where the part, the playing, the instruments, the room, and all of the mics and k***s align perfectly for a few measures. This song also features some of the interesting effects using the various room mics we put up (no effects processors were used in the making of Miracle Level), as well as every overdub that appears on the record: claps, organ, synth bass, and piano.

Please note that this is an abridged version of the song. You can hear the whole thing by watching the amazing new video animated by Nespy at think in our comments.

And you’ll be able to hear Miracle Level in its entirety tomorrow, cause that’s what it comes out. Thanks for watching these videos, they have been fun to make.

03/23/2023

Here’s a one-two punch: recording Satomi’s bass and recording Greg on piano.

The bass setup remained the same throughout the record, although we adjusted the tone as needed for each song. Her bass was split three ways. One signal went to a DI, which was then converted into MIDI (by our main man Riley, house engineer at No Fun Club) for some bass synth stuff on a few songs. The second signal went to a 70’s Ampeg SVT for a full bodied clean tone, and the third signal went to a Japanese Evans Vocal Echo tape delay/solid state amplifier. The tape delay on it is truly amazing, but I quickly discovered that the amp itself sounds great when you really blast it. This was used for some distortion and bite, and was blended as needed during the mix. Just a little bit gave it presence, a ton gave it growl. This video highlights each of the different sounds (no snyth bass, sorry) on the song “Little Maker”. I’m still trying to confirm if that'’s a Dune sandworm reference - a perfect question for today’s online listening party at 4 pm ET (SOON!) and Q&A at https://deerhoof.bandcamp.com/live/miracle-level-advance-listening-party-q-a

Second half of this video is Greg playing piano - he played the piano live on two of the songs on the record. He specifically want an upright with a damper pedal for that dark and moody sound. This is a challenge to record! It’s super quiet, and picks up all the mechanical noise of the piano. BUT - this is what we loved about the sound, it sounds like you’re on an old creaky pirate ship. I used a rare LOMO 19a53 stereo mic for the hammers, and our trust pair of Sony C48s on the sound board. It required quite a bit of EQ in the mixing process, but resulted in a really unique piano sound.

You can listen to Miracle Level in its entirety today at 4pm ET followed by a Q&A with the band and me:
https://deerhoof.bandcamp.com/live/miracle-level-advance-listening-party-q-a

Address

1021 S Walnut Street
Bloomington, IN
47401

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 10pm
Tuesday 10am - 10pm
Wednesday 10am - 10pm
Thursday 10am - 10pm
Friday 10am - 10pm
Saturday 10am - 10pm
Sunday 10am - 10pm

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+18123238777

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