• Recording/Mixing/Production



• Mastering



• Direct-to-Disc

Tracking:
Infrasonic boasts one of the largest tracking rooms of any independent studio in Los Angeles. One will not easily find a room this large without paying well over $1000.00 per day.

Adjacent to the tracking room are three isolation rooms that enable us to track an entire band at once with complete isolation. Alternatively, the band can record all together in our larger room with less extreme “gobo” isolation, such as the Rolling Stones did in the film “Sympathy for the Devil”. The acoustic treatment in the larger room is modular in order to switch from an open John Bonhamesque sound to a tight, dry Al Greenesque sound.

Unless the band or style of music dictates a digital recording, we almost always track to the 2” tape machine. We have 16-track and 24-track heads for the machine that can be switched over in a matter of minutes. Often times we transfer the analog source into the computer system for mixing and editing. This blend of technology provides the engineer and artist the best of both worlds.

Mixing:
The engineers at Infrasonic are thrilled to have a Trident mixing console modified by Steve Firlotte. Steve flies around the world to make radical modifications to consoles for superstar artists and studios and has made major sound quality improvements to the already exceptional Trident console installed in our studio. Whether or not the session is analog or digital, we always utilize the console to take advantage of our arsenal of outboard effects, dynamics and equalization. Without a doubt, tubes, transformers, discrete circuits, plate reverbs and tape echoes sound better than plug-ins and we take full advantage of them. We also have a wide range of plug-in effects if needed.

Infrasonic is capable of mixing down to almost any format. The control room has two analog mix down reel to reels as well as digital recorders.

Production:
The Infrasonic staff all share an appreciation and understanding of an eclectic array of music, not to mention 30+ combined years of experience playing and producing music of our own. We are dedicated to the art of recording music. There are no egos at Infrasonic. We are willing and able to work with anybody in any facet. Any artist or label is welcome to bring in their own producer or engineer without any friction from our staff which may not be the case with other studios.

Rentals:
Aside from Infrasonic’s equipment list, a select collection of equipment is available for use from Vintage King Audio, the largest dealer of “vintage” and high end recording equipment on the planet. This equipment is available for sessions as well as offsite rental. Projects on a budget have the option of using studio time to record basic tracks (i.e. drums) to tape, then transferring the tracks to a hard drive in order to finish up over dubs and vocals in a home studio. With the rental equipment, we can send the band home with the same quality microphones, pre amps and compressors that we have at the studio, saving the client studio time (i.e. $$). Once the songs are recorded completely, the client can revisit Infrasonic to mix.

What You Hear is What You Get…

Taking full advantage of their vintage Neumann lathe, INFRASONIC SOUND RECORDING COMPANY has completed a series of direct-to-disc sessions for some of today’s most pioneering musicians on a piece of equipment that has captured some of music’s most legendary artists.

Under the instruction of Richard Simpson, Infrasonic engineer Pete Lyman inherited not only Simpson’s seasoned knowledge of the recording process, but also the original Neumann lathe on which the work of artists such as ELVIS PRESLEY, DAVID BOWIE and LOU REED (to name a few) have been cut. Most recently, Lyman completed a direct-to-disc session with BECK, capturing a series of singles.

In the Infrasonic studios for one week, musicians JASON FALKNER (past collaborations include AIR, JON BRION), ROGER MANNING, JAMIE LIDELL, MOCKY (both of whom have worked with GONZALES, FEIST) and bassist JUSTIN MELDAL-JOHNSEN all joined Beck on the session.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of the MARS VOLTA also has plans join Pete in the studio for a direct-to-disc session later on this year.

Eliminating the use of a multi-track recording device, direct-to-disc recording captures a live performance directly to vinyl lacquer. The performers must play without stopping, timing their session to the length of one-side of their LP. Unlike multi-track sessions, where the musicians may play in isolation, the recording is done in a live room, with all musicians on the album playing together. Simultaneously, an engineer in the control room mixes the performance and sends a feed to the vinyl lathe located in Infrasonic’s adjacent mastering suite, where a mastering engineer cuts the program to a master vinyl lacquer.

The uncertainty of vinyl’s future in the music industry became a major concern with the advent of CD’s in the early 80’s. As a result, the number of cutting engineers began to diminish. Pair that with a major lack of cutting systems & spare parts and direct-to-disc recording became an incredibly unique medium. INFRASONIC SOUND RECORDING CO. remains one of the few studios left in the world that continues to execute the technique.