GEAR At Mocking Bird, your music follows a signal path through equipment that has won the respect and trust of leading audio engineers world wide. Our gear offers plenty of tender loving care to ensure that the sound of your instrument translates effectively to the context of your final mix. At Mocking Bird Recording Studio we begin with the end in mind: A satisfied client who had a great experience making great music and a great recording. The Recording System that Captures and Preserves Your Sound The Heart of Our System: At MockingBird we use one of the world’s most popular mixing boards, hard disc recorders, and audio software programs from one of the world’s most respected audio design companies: Mackie. The Mackie d8b mixing and control board, Mackie HDR 24/96 hard disc recorder and Mackie’s d8b v5 custom recording software provides a tightly integrated system with a feature set that represents some of the most advanced recording capabilities on the planet.* What this means to you is that MockingBird Studios can record and store your sound with great sonic accuracy, efficiency, and stability. These are the same components used with confidence by top producers Don Was, Ed Cherney and Walter Afanasieff. Other Mackie d8b system users include Naughty by Nature, Crystal Method, Usher, Metallica and Luciano Pavarotti. Mocking Bird’s Mackie system is also a favorite of New York’s Lincoln Center, VH-1, and National Public Radio. You may have heard this system if you watched the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics or if you play DreamWorks Interactive “Medal of Honor” series of video games. More Mocking Bird Microphones: At MockingBird you will have within your reach some of the best known and most widely used condenser and dynamic microphones in the world. For example, our Neumann U87A is revered by top engineers, producers and studios the world around. An industry standard since 1967, this $3000 German engineered wonder sets the bar by which all other microphones are compared. This is the mic that is featured in our custom vocal booth and is capable of responding to every nuance of your vocal style. Other mics in our closet include a matched stereo pair of Neumann KM 184’s, two AKG C414B-ULS (another industry standard) a Shure Beta 52, and, of course, a whole bunch of Shure SM 57’s. (You’ve heard these mics in some way, shape or form on nearly every Top Ten Hit you’ve listened to in the last 40 years!) Additional mics include an Audio Technica AT 4033 and an AKG C 1000 S among others. More Preamps: We match our mics with some of the finest mic preamps found anywhere, such as the classic tube driven Drawmer 1962. The Drawmer is a great match for our mics adding, warmth, dimensionality and character to your sound. More Multi-Effects: In addition to the advanced sound shaping software found in our Mackie d8b system, our rack features digital hardware devices that can enhance your tracks with compression, equalization, reverb, delay, flanging, pitch correction and dozens of additional effects. These devices include: Eventide H3500, TC Electronics M 2000, and a DigiTech 256 XL. More Studio Monitor Speakers Just like our Neumann mics, our Genelec 1031A monitor speakers set the industry standard by which all other monitors are compared. You’ll find these sonic works of art at Abbey Road, the Record Plant, Electric Lady Studios, etc. etc. Clean and precise with a balanced frequency response, these speakers will reveal every last detail of your recorded tracks and your mix. We’ve got them precisely situated in our acoustically designed control and mixing room to provide you playback with astonishing tonal accuracy, pinpoint imaging and superb soundstage height, width and depth. More Keyboards and Synths MockingBird studios features two keyboards: the Korg Triton Studio and the Kurzweill PC 88. These same instruments are used by top performers such as Beyonce’ Knowles, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, and many others. The Triton can lay down convincing acoustic emulations including strings, brass, percussion, choral backgrounds as well as nearly every electronic synth sound you can think of! The Kurzweill, on the other hand, is our go to keyboard for emulating the pristine tones of an acoustic grand piano. With its weighted 88-key action, you’ll feel right at home playing this remarkable instrument. (May we suggest a potent combination? Either set of keys along with Chief Engineer, synth programmer and classically trained keyboardist Derek Pisano.) Add a vintage Yamaha Analog Synth, a Korg DW-8000 a Korg NS-5 Sound Module and a Fatar 88 Key Midi controller! More Drums Always on hand: TAMA Stage kit with Zildian, Sabian and Istanbul cymbals mic’d up just right. (You are, of course invited and encouraged to bring you own set.) Additionally, we have the noted classic workhorse of drum machines, the Boss DR-660. (Derek has worked with this box since its release in 1990. He’s a power user who’s discovered ways to finesse natural sounding rhythmic textures to enhance your tracks.) More Piano Mocking Bird houses a Steinart & Sons Piano circa 1970. The piano has been reconditioned and restored by the legendary Buck Rogers of Craftsman Piano in Attleboro, Mass HOME | ROOMS | SERVICES | GEAR | ABOUT US | SPECIALS | DIRECTIONS | CONTACT US