SERVICES

Recording, mixing, mastering, production, cd/dvd duplication and printing/packaging and studio rate...

Our service here at INSANE SOUNDS is second to none! Most of our clients have been using us, almost exclusively, to make sure their project is done timely and accurately. We always strive to help our clients out - even when the studio's schedule is hectic; whether emailing acappella tracks to a DJ in Germany that needed it 'yesterday' or burning a quick copy of client's song because they misplaced it and the radio station needs it ASAP.

Our computer systems are backed up consistently so there is almost no chance of losing any information. We cannot even count how many times we hear the story about the studio or producer that lost the audio files to a track, or does not have the individual instrument tracks of an R&B track because it has been deleted accidentally and now the track has to be rebuilt. This is something that we, thankfully, because of careful maintenance of our systems, have not had to deal with and don't ever plan on dealing with!

INSANE SOUNDS strives to produce recordings of the utmost quality. We use, in our opinion, the best equipment, instruments, software, monitors, etc.. available. This, along with the engineer's EARS, really sets us apart from any other studio or production facility.

Our rooms are acoustically sound, spacious, and clean.

RECORDING

The recording process, for the most part, is the easiest and most non-demanding - well ... for the engineer anyway! If you have your settings right, and are set up using the correct equipment for the job, it's a no-brainer.

For some artists, however, it is the most demanding and sometimes the most excruciatingly painful part of the project. It does not and should not have to be this way. Preparation is key. If you are well rehearsed, then your time in the 'booth' should be fairly effortless. Of course there are times when one cannot be as rehearsed as one would like. Then, unfortunately, the proverbial bullet must be bitten. But with the help of your engineer at INSANE SOUNDS, you should be able to maintain focus and work efficiently to get you through your project and have it reach its maximum potential.

MIXING

MIXING is the most important part of your project in terms of how good, audibly, your project sounds. As far as how strong the material is, well, that itself shadows mixing. But, there is no doubt, that a great sounding mix will help and often times make a project with mediocre substance!

This is the part of the project where your engineer/producer earns his keep. A strong analogy would be that your engineer/producer acts like a director of a movie.

The director is the one, along with the actor himself sometimes - depending on his caliber - decides which take best enhances and 'makes' the movie. He also decides which scenes are too long, too wordy, too overacted and if the scene had the emotion it needed to get the movie's point across.

It translates well to the songwriting and audio world. Your engineer/producer helps you decide, if you allow him, which take is the keeper, where the song sounds empty, where it's too busy, where it slows down, speeds up, if the tempo is right for the type of material you are creating, if there are enough musical changes in the song to maintain the listeners attention....all of these things, believe it or not, help to make a song a SONG or any project - voiceover, jingle, commercial - the best it can be.

MASTERING

What is it?

It's the last part of the project that pulls the sound together. It's the part that makes the MIX, although already sounding crystal clear and every part - vocally and instrumentally - being heard in all of its glory, a cohesive entity. It kind of puts the gloss coating on the audio, so to speak, so that now your mix sounds like one big giant song instead of a bunch of different instruments and voices thrown together. That's the laymen version of what MASTERING is.  An we are a true mastering house.  Not guys that throw a 'limiter' or 'compressor' on your mix to make it louder and call it a day.  This is not mastering.

From a technical standpoint, MASTERING is the overall Equalization (EQ), Compressing (multiband compressing) and Limiting of your mix. No more are we tweaking individual elements of your MIX, eq-ing the kickdrum or putting extra reverb on the vocal part. Now we are applying dynamic and non-dynamic effects to the entire MIX and treating it as a whole.

Through this process, the resulting Mastered mix will have more presence, more punch, more volume and translate way better to every playback system; car, boombox, PA system, etc., than the original mix.

Please note that when supplying songs to INSANE SOUNDS to get mastered, do not put any compression or limiting or volume maximizer on the outputs of your mix. This decreases the dynamic range of your mix drastically and substantially reduces the amount of audio trickery and manipulation INSANE SOUNDS or any mastering facility can do to enhance your track(s).

Often times clients call to have their self-produced projects mastered. This in itself is not a problem and is welcomed. But, more times than not, the clients says that their mix sounds very good, but there a couple parts where the vocal level isn't right, or where the string sound in the track is a little low. This type of thing can only be fixed in the MIX. Sure there are compromises that can be made when MASTERING to fix things like these, but at the expense of changing something else in the MIX. EQ-ing a certain frequency might help to raise or lower a vocal section, but not without raising or lowering other elements of that mix that reside in that same frequency. Remember, in MASTERING, normally the client will either provide a stereo 2-track on CD or preferably the .wav file at original bit depth and sample rate, where the individual elements can no longer be tweaked.

To bring up another analogy, it would be like trying to take a little sugar out of an already baked cake that in the end was just a little too sweet. So... we always recommend that the customer bring in the MIX, with all of the separate instrumentation and vocals so that, if necessary, some tweaking can be accomplished.

SONGWRITING and BEAT PRODUCTION


INSANE SOUNDS does a lot of writing here at the studio; whether it's an instrumental a rapper needs for his lyrics, or a vocalist that needs music for the lyrics he or she wrote. There are 2 concerns that plague a lot of artists when they have someone helping with their material:
1. "Does the producer know my style and does he have the ability to give me what I want?"

2. "Am I still the copyright owner?"

Let's tackle concern #1. Whether an artist is dealing with INSANE SOUNDS or any other producer or production facility, it is up to you, the artist, to convey what style of music you are looking to create. Bringing in CDs from commercial artists that you listen to can be very helpful as well as pointing out different tempos and other facets of your favorite industry songs you would like to incorporate into your own song. If you have a melody for your lyrics, that's a big jump start as well. Then INSANE SOUNDS can show you, hopefully, some finished projects that are close to what you are looking for.

Ok...copyrights. This is what gives you the ownership of your work. A song consists of 2 parts: Lyrics and Music. We've come across clients wondering why they have to hold a co-copyright with a producer when they, the client, already wrote the song. Well, we try to inform our clients that they wrote a part of a song. Without the music part, all they have is ... poetry. Maybe even great poetry! Maybe even great poetry with a beautifully sung melody - all of which can be copyrighted for sure and the artist can own that free and clear. BUT... once you mate it to its musical counterpart, that now completes the song! So unless the person wrote both the words AND the music, he or she will most likely hold a joint copyright with music producer.

This by no means is the end of the world. You may have an agreement with the songwriter that by no means is he or she allowed to have anyone else use the instrumental. This would allow you to have an exclusive to that music and will deny anyone from taking that instrumental and writing new lyrics to it without your permission.

As with all studio services, all production is charged hourly at the current studio time rate. We do not charge per song or beat that we write. If we help you write an R&B track and it takes us 3 hours, then that is what you pay for the track. If it takes us a 2 hours to help you write a chorus that you love, then that is what you pay for. This entitles you a co-copyright with INSANE SOUNDS and have excusive rights to use the lyrics and music as you wish. INSANE SOUNDS will never let anyone else have access to the material created at the studio on your dime!

PRINTING & DUPLICATION

INSANE SOUNDS specializes in 'short-run' printing and duplication but can also accommodate larger runs

We have the ability to provide as little as one unit in retail-ready packaging. This would include a duplicated CD with full color printing, full color insert (up to 4 pages), a double side tray card insert (underneath the CD) in a clear full sized jewel case.

For promotional type runs where a client is trying to minimize his cost for his giveaway or promo cds, we recommend putting the printed CD in a slim case without any inserts.

If larger runs are necessary, then replication would be the desired route. Duplicated CDs are burned, replicated CDs are stamped from a physical Glass Master. The latter would be the preferred method if one was in need of 1000 units or more. Duplicated CDs are convenient but become more expensive as one nears the 400-500 mark where you could be getting 1000 replicated CDs for about the same price.