Forte Studios

06/10/2024

Busy weekend! We finished the wireless microphone and headphone installation at a local church, did some recording and instrumental production with Adriana Ballew, and recorded a new song for a hip hop client who will be partnering on his production with a studio in Florida.

Check out the cabling organization for 8 receivers and 8 transmitters all networked and combined into an antenna distributor that will soon be strategically remote mounted near the stage.

06/02/2024

Finished the construction and stain for a video system rack at Sacred Heart Church in Boone. After dry time, we will polyurethane and finish up installing the audio and video components.

05/18/2024

Simplicity at its finest…
For folk music, that is exactly what you want. This time, the overheads will be the star. Capturing the tone and our beautiful drum room. We put them behind the drums to get a better picture of the kit. And then after that, the kick and snare mics are used as accent mics.

We had Dan Huisenga with his friends James on bass and Xander on drums.

04/22/2024

This was a fun production. A live recording to capture the raw and natural sound of Scott Kirkhart Music and his message.

Midwest Country Music Organization Musicians of Iowa

47 likes, 4 comments. “Bad Decisions LIVE at Forte Studios Streaming LIVE EVERYWHERE!!”

04/02/2024

An honor to be nominated for a Midwest Country Music Organization award! Congrats to and stay tuned for voting nominations.

03/19/2024

We are 4 episodes into the Game Changers Podcast by the Iowa High School Athletic Association! Tune in every week to hear about the various "game changers" that are making the high school sports experience better every day.

It has been awesome to be able to produce this content. We look forward to many more in the future!

02/23/2024

New song in the works for Adriana Ballew! Look out for that in the near future 👀

Hard to beat that U87. Almost always a good fallback for pop vocals.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

02/13/2024

We are proud to be a sponsor & donor of this event again this year. Going to be a fun time!

We are less than a month away from this year's Gala! It is going to be such a fun event with live entertainment!

Purchase Tickets here:
https://secure.qgiv.com/event/fshsgala24/

Check out Entertainment here:
https://youtu.be/kVviD2nN4WA?si=l2Mygh2OKaE-1d3j

01/20/2024

A recent project that was done as a live recording versus a typical fully produced project. Relatable lyrics by Scott Kirkhart Music and great videography by TFC Photography and TFC Photography & Film.

Contact us today about live music video packages as low as $475 per song.

Iowa Record Makers Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association Midwest Country Music Organization Musicians of Iowa Recording studio

01/14/2024

Iowa High School Athletic Association’s official podcast is underway!

Great to work with people who have the same vision for innovation and excellence.

Some of their goals are:
✔️educating the audience in all that goes on behind the scenes
✔️highlighting various “game changers” in high school sports across Iowa

These definitely match up with what we hope to do here at Forte.

We desire to:
✔️educate our clients and followers so that they can see and understand our methods and how we fit into their music journey.
✔️highlight the game changers in music that we get to partner with each week!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

01/10/2024

Live acoustic recording with the other day! Had his video crew in as well, so there will be a music video out soon. Be on the lookout for that 👀

Hope you all are staying safe in the winter blast we've got going on here in Central Iowa.

Stay safe and warm out there!
-
-
-

12/26/2023

Had the chance to record a cover of "Silent Night" as a gift for my amazing mother-in-law with my wife and other family. .jjade, my fantastic wife and audio engineer-in-training, got to test out her skills on Pro Tools and the Preamps!

So thankful for this season to be able to enjoy family and reflect on the year. It has been a wild, amazing 2023. Look forward to more progress in the new year!

12/22/2023

Passion for the art. It is so invigorating to work with passionate musicians who have mastered their craft. Makes every part of the process more efficient and enjoyable!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

12/15/2023

Denilson just got his original Christmas song Recorded, Mixed and Mastered...What about you?
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

12/07/2023

Keeping Studio and mixes mud-free since 2014...

This is not something you think of for life at the studio. Yes there is the creativity, the fantastic rooms, the awesome mic collection, and the awesome artists that we work with. But all of those things create or build up dust and dirt overtime. Even the creativity if you think about it! Your space is a reflection of where your mind is at in the moment. When filthy, you tend to be in a time of laziness (I've been there!). When clean, you tend to reflect that with innovative thinking and proactivity. Not saying that every piece of property that you own has to be clean all of the time. But for us as a business serving the people of Iowa, we want to be seen as a place in which they can come with their art, uninhibited by any external factors.

A clean space is a creative space.

12/02/2023

Great group of students interested in music and production. It was an honor so share our story and knowledge.

Boone Community School District Lindsey Hyman

11/07/2023

Everett killing it on the keys for Michael Nesbit's new record 👀
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

10/30/2023

Morgan has been classically trained in Opera and came to sing backing vocals on Dan Huisenga's new track that we are working on. Got in some gang vocals as well!

Recording vocals is a somewhat complex process. finding the right mic is super important, but it is easy to forget the headphones' role in the performance. Many singers, especially those who often perform live, prefer open-back headphones. they want to hear and feel their voice within the space of the room while also being able to sing with the music. Every singer is different so it is important to have options.

perfecting the vocal recording experience down to the very headphones the performer uses.

10/25/2023

Michael Nesbit was back in the studio recording some final touches on his album. Look out for that soon!

10/20/2023

We are excited to share Caleb Ostermann has achieved a certification!

We believe in continuously learning to enhance efficiency and the experience for our customers. Caleb’s commitment to this core value is commendable and worthy of not just the recognition but his personal commitment to be an expert.

Join us in congratulating Caleb!

Musicians of Iowa Recording studio Iowa Record Makers Avid Pro Tools Users Support Local Music Iowa Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association Midwest Country Music Organization

10/18/2023

Takes a good understanding of your space to find that perfect room tone that adds character to the performance and doesn’t take away from the tone.

We went with second photo: the Omni mode on the faced almost inside of Iso room 1.
✔️Captured the natural reverberation and warmth
✔️added nice character to the performance

10/14/2023

There's something soothing about acoustic guitar, smooth vocals and some harmonica to relax those shoulders and lift weight off the mind.

was in the studio again today to add some doubled vocals and finish out recording for one of his songs. On to the next!

10/13/2023

Taydem is getting ready to release her newest single check out the context and message behind this piece. Definitely a message we agree with.

This, That by Taydem Shoesmith

10/12/2023

for our close mic on Huisenga's new track. The mic up to capture room reflections.

10/09/2023

NO POP FILTER?? that is a mistake that many audio engineers make (Myself included at times). Default solutions aren't always the best solutions. The U87 was actually intended to be used without a pop filter. As long as you find the right angle and distance away from the vocalist, there is no need.
benefits:
✔️ you aren't losing any highend that can be absorbed with the pop filter in play
✔️ easier for the artist to interact with the mic itself
✔️ It just looks nicer

Had Jesse Wilson and cowriter Jared Benson Music in the studio the other day to track some vocals on Jesse's new track that will be out soon!

09/22/2023

Using the L22 Sphere modeling microphone from on Anyit’s rap vocal recording project. With every session, and especially in vocal sessions, we want to find the best mic for their voice and style. Every voice is different and this microphone allows us to have the modeled classics at the click of a button. It also allows for efficient selection of the real analog microphone.

It was down to two:
The ❌
- though this generally is a good option for many voices, the top end just wasn't coming through as well as we wanted.

The ✔️
- Anyit has a nice warm tone to his voice and the 414 gave us both the brightness and the warmth without emphasizing either too much.

Support Local Music Iowa Musicians of Iowa Iowa Record Makers Recording studio Hip hop music Iowa Music Awards

Audio & Music Production designed to help you be heard!