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The Playroom Studio

About Me

THE PLAYROOM
$300 a day, but don’t let the low rates fool you, we’re one of Seattle’s best kept secrets. Tons of modern and vintage, state-of-the-art recording gear, alongside a collection of some of the most revered guitars, amps, and keys/synths in rock ‘n roll history.
For the same low price as most start-up, project studios, you get access to not only world class gear, but a great set of actual ears to help you craft your songs. Our house engineer is a talented knob twiddler, amp tech, and general gear geek, and also considered by some supposedly smart people to be a minorly gifted songwriter (fronting the bands Wussy Beat Up The Jocks, New West Motels, and Facts About Funerals throughout the years).
You can take your project anywhere, of course, but to sum up the Playroom experience: our rates are stupid cheap, you get to work with someone who knows the ins and outs of a lot of great gear, and you get to work with someone who’s an actual musican and understands what great songs sound like.
But don’t listen to us, listen to some of the other truly talented people who’ve brought their projects to our studio, like: THE VIVIANS (UK band, recently signed to an EMI development deal), SHAKE SOME ACTION (Seattle power-pop geniuses, heralded far and wide), PALOMINE (amazingly gifted Belgium/UK pop band), PWRFL POWER (AMAZING- with a hugely capitalized “A”- singer/songwriter), FRIDAY MILE (stellar harmonizing Seattle pop band about to unleash an amazing record on the world in 2009), and FACTS ABOUT FUNERALS (true, that’s our engineer’s band, but still a good idea of the studio’s capabilities).
Bottom line, if you’ve got the songs, we’ve got the know-how to record them, and together we’ll both end up with something we’re proud to share with the world. More importantly, we’ll all enjoy ourselves in the process.
Give us a ring to schedule an appointment to come check out the studio. We’d be glad to show you around and talk over your recording needs.
Cheers,
Rob
206.427.2552
PS- This is not just a career, but a passion for us. We aim for the best results possible with each and every project. So, if we don’t think we’re a good fit for your project, we’ll let you know, AND we’ll also help you find a studio more in tune with your needs.
What we offer:
MIXER:
Neve 8816 w/ 100mm P&G faders, total recall, built-in parallel insert buss, and stereo width enhancement
MONITORING:
Yamaha NS-10M *nearfield standards*
JBL 4412 *loud check standards*
Canton Plus S *small check*
Blue Sky Sub
PREAMPS:
(2) Helios Type 69 preamps (Stones? The Who? Zeppelin anyone?)
(2) Neve 1073 preamps
(1) Telefunken V78 preamp
(4) API 312 preamps (fat drum sounds, anyone?)
(2) McCurdy 242 preamps ("top secret" guitar pre's! Often hailed as the "Canadian Neve")
DYNAMICS:
API 2500 buss compressor
Manley stereo LA2A-clone (early version)
1176 rev.D
(2) DBX 163x (heavily modded- same guts as SSL's now)
DBX 166 - original version, classic kick/snare comps
Symetrix CL-100
Symetrix CL-150
Biamp Quad Limiter (shhhh... it's a secret weapon!)
EQ's:
(2) Helios Type 69
(2) Ashly SC-55
(1) White Instruments 4220 Passive Inductor EQ
(1) Custom-built low noise tube mono EQ
(1) I.W. Turner custom 6-bank filter
EFFECTS/REVERBS:
Lexicon PCM70
Dynacord DRP-15
Lexicon LXP-15
IN-HOUSE "SOUND PALETTE":
(guitars)
1951 Fender Broadcaster (repro)
1952 Gibson ES-125 (full-body)
1962 Fender Strat (repro)
1968 Gibson ES-330 (aka the Epiphone Casino)
1974 Fender Tele Thinline (dual humbuckers)
1976 Fender Starcaster (super rare, and amazing!)
(various Les Pauls upon request)
Custom Martin acoustic, Gibson scale neck (Engelmann Spruce/Brazillian Rosewood)
(amps)
1959 Supro singled-ended combo
1959 Fender Champion 600
1962 Fender Deluxe (non reverb)
1963 Selmer Zodiac Twin (Nominee 1- best amp ever)
1964 Vox AC30 top-boost (Nominee 2- best amp ever)
1966 Marshall JTM 45 Bluesbreaker (Nominee 3- best amp ever)
1966 Kalamazoo Reverb 12 (killer 2xEL84 AC15 wanna be)
1966 Fender Bandmaster (non reverb)
1973 Fender Twin Reverb
Roland JC-77 Jazz Chorus
(bass gear)
Bastard '60s/'70s Fender Jazz Bass (same tone as really sweet, salty butter)
Ampeg SVT w/ 8x10 cab
1964 Ampeg B18N flip-top (legendary Donald "Duck" Dunn motown rig)
1966 Kalamazoo Bass 30 (2x7951 vintage tone machine, w/ two 10")
(drums)
Slingerland "Gene Krupa" WMP kit 20"/13"/16"
'70s Premier African Mahogony (rare!) 22", 10", 12", 14"
'60s Slingerland 15" snare (ROCK, BABY!!!)
'70s Premier 3-ply African Mahogany snare (meaty with an Mmmmm...)
'60s Ludwig Pioneer snare (deep, dark, woody classic)
'60s Gretsch-repro Mahogony snare w/ cast rims (the "touch" snare)
'60s Kent COB snare (US-made, great tone!)
'70s 15" Zildjian "A" hihats
'60s 15" Paiste "Giant Beat" crash (SUPER rare, Keith Moon's cymbals)
'60s 20" Paiste ride (LUSH with a 1,000 "L's") ..
(synths/keys)
Hammond M-111 (baby B-3)
Crumar Multi-Man (first analog poly synth-- AWESOME!)
Kawai K3 (digital poly synth with analog filters)
Technics P30 Steinway-sampled piano
1890's Chickering upright Grand
Baldwin Fun-Machine (super cool, Mogwai/Beck thingy)
Yamaha Air Organ
Yamaha DOM-30
Ensoniq Sampled Piano Module
Akai S612 old-school sampler
Entire library of Mellotron tapes (individual samples of every loop/key)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 31/07/2006
Influences: Many great bands and influences throughout the years-- here's a short list of albums we think are amazing recordings: "Surfer Rosa"-The Pixies, "Pet Sounds"-The Beach Boys, "Nebraska"-Bruce Springsteen, "Crime of the Century"-Supertramp, "Laughing Stock"-Talk Talk, "Surrealistic Pillow"-Jefferson Airplane, "Icky Mettle"-Archers of Loaf, "XOXO"-Elliot Smith, "Cop & Speeder"-Heatmiser, "You Can Play These Songs With Chords"(original cassette only)-Death Cab For Cutie, "Ring of Fire"-Johnny Cash, The Kinks (any of the Marble Arch years stuff), "Sell-Out"-The Who, "Flowers"-the Rolling Stones...

Quotes from folks who've been here:

"Thanks Rob! You did a great job - the drums and bass sounded exactly the way we wanted them - nice and full with a bit of grit. Apart from everything else you gave us a great environment where we could knock out 20 songs in a day and a half - that counts for an awful lot too." - SHAKE SOME ACTION

"Rob... You are truly a tone and feel ninja..." - MARK YOUNG

"Thanks Rob for beefing up our tracks! Sounds ace! Be in touch soon..." - THE VIVIANS

"We had the pleasure of recording with Rob at The Playroom, and we were super duper pleased with the results. We went in thinking it would be a good way to demo a new song, but we came out feeling like we'd just recorded the first track for our next record... The atomosphere was relaxed and laid back, but also creative, and the results were top notch." - THE SCHEME

"Rob, we can't thank you enough for recording our CD. It was great having access to all the different mics, drums, basses, guitars, amps and recording gear you have. Even better was the way you instinctively knew which combination to use for each section of each song as we recorded." - THE HEAT EXCHANGE
Sounds Like: All the great recordings of the past, adapted to the very finest modern technology and signal processing.
Record Label: Unknown Indie
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Shake Some Action’s "Sunny Days Ahead" in heavy rotation

Happy to report that our friends' Shake Some Action's "Sunny Days Ahead" is in heavy rotation on KEXP! The basic tracking for drums and bass was done right here at the lovely Playroom.KEXP also revie...
Posted by on Wed, 14 May 2008 14:01:00 GMT