Chapters of one recording
Ridgeline Sound Rooms records, mixes and masters from a studio on Foundry Walk, and publishes every price before an artist asks.
Studio film, 10 seconds, silent, playing in the opening above. It holds still for anyone who has asked for reduced motion. Picture and film credits
Six services, each with its price
Every service carries its own scope and its own published figure. A price marked "from" is the lowest for the stated scope, and a custom price is quoted in writing before anything is set aside.
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Take 01The microphone set before the first pass 01
Tracking session
$620 per day
Eight hours in the main room with one engineer, the house microphones, preamps and console, recorded to multitrack. Setup and sound checks come out of the eight hours, and the session files are handed over on the day in a format any recording program opens.
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Take 02The monitors the vocal is judged on 02
Vocal overdub
$240 per block
Four hours in the vocal booth with an engineer and one microphone chain chosen for the voice before the first take. The block covers lead and backing vocals over an existing recording, and the comped takes are delivered the same evening.
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Take 03One mix, one pass, one set of files 03
Mastering pass
$150 per song
One finished stereo mix mastered for streaming and for disc, with loudness, balance and the gaps between songs set by ear on the room's monitors. One round of revisions is included and the final files come back within five working days.
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Take 04The console a song is mixed on 04
Attended mix
From $380 per song
A song mixed on the console with the artist in the room to hear every change as it is made. The mix is printed with an instrumental and a vocal-up version beside it, and the figure is confirmed in writing once the track count is known.
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Take 05A matched pair for the room 05
Live-room day
From $900 per day
The live room for a full band recording together, with two engineers, the house drum kit, two amplifiers and the upright piano. The fee covers up to five players and is confirmed in writing before the date is held.
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Take 06The transfer desk, calibrated before each reel 06
Analogue transfer
Custom quoted in writing
Quarter-inch, half-inch and two-inch tape, cassette and DAT transferred to digital files on calibrated machines. The price depends on the format, the number of reels and their condition, and a written quotation follows a look at the boxes.
One booking in the rooms at a time
Ridgeline Sound Rooms runs one booking at a time on purpose. The engineer who sets up the microphones is the engineer who hands over the files, every price is published before an artist asks, and nothing is added on the day that was not agreed in writing beforehand. An artist reads the price for the stated scope on the Services page, and the figure in the written reply is the figure that was on the page.
The console, the booth and the desk
The control room, the live room and the vocal booth sit on one floor on Foundry Walk, with the equipment photographed where it is used.
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Control roomThe big console before a session, with the window through to the recording room beyond. -
ConsoleThe channel strips of a mixing console, photographed along their length from the armrest. -
MicrophoneA condenser on its stand, set up and waiting for the first take. -
MonitorsThe corner of the room a mix is listened to from, with the patch rack beside it. -
Vocal boothA condenser in its spider mount with the pop filter set where a singer stands. -
Editing deskThe screen a session is edited on, above the controller and keyboard.
The four engineers who run the rooms
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Maren Holloway
Founder and head engineer
Maren Holloway opened Ridgeline Sound Rooms on Foundry Walk and still engineers most of the tracking days, placing the microphones, setting the preamps and handing over the session files at the end of the day. Enquiries about tracking and live-room days are read here first.
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Dev Okafor
Mix engineer
Dev Okafor mixes on the console with artists in the room and runs the vocal overdub blocks. Every change is made where the artist can hear it, and each mix is printed with an instrumental and a vocal-up version beside it.
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Colette Price
Mastering engineer
Colette Price masters finished mixes for streaming and for disc, setting loudness, balance and the gaps between songs by ear on the room's monitors. A mix that needs more than mastering can fix is said so in the first reply.
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Silas Wren
Assistant engineer and transfer technician
Silas Wren answers the contact form, calibrates the tape machines and runs the analogue transfers, and sets up the vocal booth before each overdub block so the session starts on time.
What artists wrote after their sessions
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I booked a single tracking day for six acoustic songs and was hearing myself in the headphones inside forty minutes. Setup came out of the eight hours exactly as the page said.
Colin A. Tracking session
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I sent four mixes on a Monday and had the masters back on the Friday. The revision came back the next afternoon and the invoice matched the Services page.
Dessa L. Mastering pass
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Four hours, one singer, one microphone chain picked for my voice before I sang a note. The comped vocal was in my inbox by nine that evening.
Mariel D. Vocal overdub
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Eleven reels of quarter-inch tape had sat in a garage for thirty years. I had a written quote the same afternoon, and ten of them are now files I can actually listen to.
Yusuf V. Analogue transfer
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I sat in for the mix of one song and was never made to feel in the way. Every change was played to me before it stayed, and I left with the main mix, an instrumental and a vocal-up version.
Andre B. Attended mix
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Our five-piece played together in the live room and the headphone mixes were sorted before midday. The figure confirmed in writing was the figure on the invoice.
Harriet C. Live-room day
Questions artists ask before booking
How does an artist choose between a tracking session and a vocal overdub?
Read the two descriptions on the Services page and choose by what is already recorded. A tracking session is a full day in the main room for recording parts from the beginning, with the house microphones and the console; a vocal overdub is a four-hour block in the booth over an instrumental that is already finished. Both are run by an engineer and both hand over the files on the day. Anyone unsure should describe the song in a message rather than guess, and the studio replies with the one that fits.
Are the prices on the Services page final?
Three of the six prices are final for the scope described beside them. The attended mix and the live-room day carry a “from” figure because the track count and the number of players change the work, and analogue transfer is quoted in writing for the format and the reels. In each of those three the exact amount is confirmed in writing before anything is agreed. Nothing is added on the day that was not in that written figure.
What should an artist know before a first session?
Ridgeline Sound Rooms has one control room, a live room and a vocal booth, and runs one booking in them at a time. Bring the instruments, strings and sticks that are played every day, a drive for the files and a written list of the songs in the order they should be recorded. The house microphones, preamps, headphones, stands and cables are all provided. The rooms are on one floor, level from the pavement on Foundry Walk.
Can a session date be held before anything is agreed?
Yes, and it is the only thing the studio holds in advance. One date is held for seven days through the contact form: a message names the date, the service, the number of players and anything the engineer should know, and a written reply confirms the date and the amount before it is held. Nothing is charged for the hold, and a date nobody confirms goes back into the calendar at the end of the seven days.
Does this website book a session?
No. Every Book action on this website opens the contact page, and sending that form starts a conversation rather than confirming a date. The form is read during opening hours and answered in writing, and no message is treated as a booking until that written reply is sent. A day is not free until the studio has said so in writing.
How is a booked session moved or cancelled?
Send the change to the address the written confirmation came from, or telephone during opening hours. A change of date, a change in the number of players and a cancellation are all handled the same way, and the studio confirms the new arrangement in writing before it stands. A message arriving outside opening hours is read on the next day the studio is open, so a change for the following morning is best telephoned.
Chapter 01 closesThe desk in the dark, photographed a few minutes before the rooms are opened up.
Contact
Send an enquiry, or telephone the studio
Book a session and Send an enquiry open the same form on the contact page. The message goes to the studio, and the studio confirms availability in its reply, by email or telephone during opening hours. Nothing is held until that reply arrives.