Valve Studios could be defined as musician-centric…if that was a word. The studio was built up by musician/producer Casey DiIorio as a place where bands/musicians would be inspired and relaxed in the recording process while having access to a gear list that features some of the best vintage and modern compressors, mics and mic pres. You have the option to record to an apogee fronted Pro Tools HD2 Accel rig, the Studer A80 MkIV 24 track 2″ tape machine or both. And at the heart of the studio is a modified Neve 8128 console with Uptown automation along with Barefoot MicroMain27s for accurate monitoring. With our recent installation of Endless Analog’s CLASP system, you can now record to the Studer tape machine directly into ProTools, instantly (see below for more details). Valve’s live room is a large 900 square feet with 15 foot ceilings…easily accommodating a whole band set up and getting Bonham-esque drum sounds if so desired. The large theater curtains are on a sliding system to allow further adjustment to the room’s acoustics. The studio also offers a large number of amps and instruments included with the studio rate. Our Studio B now contains our second Pro Tools rig to allow for editing and cleanups on larger projects or a more economical way for overdubs for smaller projects. We believe with better gear choices, you can make a more interesting and better sounding recording.

CLASP

The CLASP system allows you to record to the Studer tape machine directly into ProTools. And therefore no tape transfer time…it’s immediately in ProTools. This not only allows you to utilize all the digital editing, playlists and punching capabilities of ProTools while recording to tape, but also saves lots of time. Lenny Kravitz along with many other great producers, engineers are already using CLASP. The system opens up many possibilities while recording. You can audition the different tape speeds for different sounds…while the whole band is tracking or just an overdub…and pick the speed that sounds best to your ears. You can also easily re-record your digital tracks (from home or wherever) through CLASP to improve sonics and the new tape track will print right in your session, sample accurate. For bands/producers coming in just for drum tracks, you could record unlimited takes and you would have all your playlists for any desired editing later. Straight from the tape machine…instantly in the session. And after adding to it digitally at home, you could still come back and print/overdub with tape! This goes for mixes too. You can run them through the tape machine along with any of our other outboard gear. You can even easily create cool tape effects like ADT, as heard on many Beatles recordings. All of these printing directly into your PT session with sample accuracy. It allows all the digital convenience and fast workflow that most are accustomed to, while getting great sounds from the Studer 2”. And for tape costs, this system allows a band to purchase only one reel of tape for a whole album, instead of 3 or 4. And if you come in just to do overdubs, Valve has rental reels available.

Neve Console History

This 32 channel Neve 8128 was originally bought new from Neve by Michael Jackson in 1984. Michael used the console to do overdubs for the Bad album which he produced along with Quincy Jones. That album has the most number one singles of all time from one record. After its completion, he then sold the console back to Neve and it was then purchased by PBS Chicago. They had the console for a few years and then in 1994 Jason Orris bought it from PBS Chicago and had it until 2007 in his Minneapolis studio The Terrarium.

Jason kept the console in great condition and he used it making records for artists like the Jayhawks (Sound of Lies), Beck, Soul Asylum, Roger McGuinn, Fastball and many others. The console was globally recapped in 2001. Around the same time, 32 channels of Uptown 990 moving fader automation were also added. On a technical note, the console has had all 4741 opamps in the audio path replaced with quicker slew rate opamps. Jason believed this sounded better…and so do we. The bussing system is also in perfect working order. Once installed at Valve, we spent the next year slowly replacing pots and switches so over half the console’s switches and pots are brand new!

Staff

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