Mountain Sounds Recorders in Nevada City, CA is a recording studio in a cedar log house on a ten acre ranch in the beautiful foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. ​We offer both high resolution digital and analog recording options in addition accommodations for visiting artists on and off site.
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The studio is capable of 16 track simultaneous recording with 4 separate headphone cue mixes on hand for recording bands and various ensembles. Additionally, we offer mixing, mastering, remote overdubs, voice over, location and dialog recording, media digitization, instrument and equipment repair, and even live sound.
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The equipment has been built, collected and carefully optimized with a philosophy of minimalism and simplicity. The vintage analog pieces have been restored or modified in-house. The digital equipment has been choosen for great sound, versatility, and workflow. We make our own transformer coupled mic pres with custom discrete op-amps, and we make a fine vacuum tube guitar amplifier, 'The Bourdet-Luxe".
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The property is forested with oaks where sheep and cows wander freely, as does a friendly farm cat. A pond hosts many types of birds. Guest bedrooms, a vintage travel trailer, and a good country kitchen are on hand for visitors. We're located fifteen minutes from the mighty south fork of the Yuba River, and fifteen minutes from the hamlets of Grass Valley and Nevada City. Inquiries are welcome, -JB
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Equipment / Gear List:
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Tape Recorders:
Otari MTR-10 1/4” Half track reel to reel
Teac A1500 1/4” reel to reel
Teac A550RX stereo cassette recorder
Digital Recorders:
M1 Mac Mini running Protools, the latest stable update
UA Apollo 8 converter / processor / interface
Apogee AD-16X converter
Zoom F8 field recorder
Microphones:
Gefell UM 92 large diaphragm tube condenser, three polar patterns selectable
Gefell UM 930 stereo pair large diaphragm condensers, cardioid pattern
Schoeps CMC 6 small diaphragm condenser, hypercardioid capsule
AKG 451 small diaphragm condensers, with cardioid and omni capsules 2pcs.
AKG D19 dynamic mics, branded Revox 2 pcs.
AKG D12 dynamic mic, branded Echolette
AKG D112 dynamic mic
Sennheiser 421, dynamic mic 2pcs.
Sennheiser 416 shotgun condenser
Shure SM57
Shure SM59
Sony Lavalier 1970s phantom powered
Sony Lavaliers with RX/TX packs 2pcs
Fischer speaker mic for kick drum
Guitars:
Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, 1954 custom shop reissue, real 50s soapbar p-90s
Gibson Les Paul Standard, tobacco burst, humbuckers
Gibson Melody Maker, 1965, humbuckers
James Trussart Custom Guitar, telecaster style with Gretsch/D’armond supertron pickup
Squire P-Bass, modified with DiMarzio P-bass pickup and series/parallel switch
Squire Bass VI, 6 string bass/baritone “tic-tac” style guitar
Martin D-28, 1976 acoustic guitar
Lo Prinzi Folk-model acoustic guitar, 70s
Yamaha Nippon Gakki red label FG110, 1960s, currently configured as a “high strung” guitar
Yamaha white label acoustic dreadnaught
Yamaha red label 12 string acoustic guitar
Amplifiers:
1956 Fender Bassman, tweed, 4 x 10” Jensens, tube guitar amp
Bourdet-Luxe 1 x 12” 15watt tube guitar amp combo built in house
Pocket-Luxe small single ended tube guitar amp combo built in house
Matchless Clubman Reverb head and 2 x 12” cabinet, tube amp for bass, guitar and keyboards
Ampeg Gemini 1, 1968, tube guitar combo amp
SWR California Blonde acoustic guitar amp
Leslie passive speaker in spinning drum cabinet from a spinet organ
Keyboards:
Schulz upright piano, 1930
Hammond B-2 modified with percussion, 1954, restored in house
Hammond M-2, 1954, restored in house
Fender Rhodes 73 key stage electric piano, 1977, restored in house
Moog Rogue, 1982
Leslie 122 speaker cabinet, restored in house
Drums:
Slingerland kit, 1970s, 12”, 13”, 16”, 22”, configured as concert toms
Rogers R-360 kit, 1968, 12”, 13”, 16”, 20” coated ambassadors on batter and rest heads
Ludwig Acrolite snare drum, 1971
Various percussion, tambourines, shakers, bells, triangles
Other Instruments
Martin Ukulele, soprano, 1950s
Martin Ukulele, tenor, 1950s
Kay Mandolin, 1960s
Preamps:
Mountain Sounds Recorders discrete opamp, transformer coupled mic pre, based around the Jensen 918 open source design from 1976, 4pcs.
UA 610, tube mic preamps and DIs, 2pcs. using vintage JAN tubes
Soundcraft IC channel strip preamps with 4 band eq, 8pcs.
UA Apollo, high resolution digitally controlled IC opamp mic press 4pcs.
Compressors
DBX 161 VU pair, modified for balanced ins/outs in house
DBX 160a
UA 1176 stock
Other hardware:
DBX three band expander
Panamax power conditioners 2pcs.
Monster power conditioner
Speakers/Monitors:
Rogers LS-1 near fields, excellent examples of the BBC design philosophy, 1970s
Yamaha NS-10 near fields
JBL LSR 8” powered monitors
Stereo Amplifiers
McIntosh MC7100 stereo amplifier
Hafler Trans-Nova p3000 stereo amplifier
Mixer:
Soundcraft 200 modified 1979