Sweetwater recently asked our customers to show us their creative spaces with our Share Your Studio page. And why did we do that? Easy — we love to geek out on gear as much as you do. We had a blast paging through all the entries we received. All the spaces were cool and creative, and many were worthy of envy. Your studios got us so pumped up, in fact, that we decided to reach out to a handful of the owners of studios that were particularly inspiring and interview them! Here’s what they shared with us.
Track Ops Music
Toronto, Ontario
Track Ops Music is a songwriting/production duo from Toronto, Ontario. In their impressive studio, UEC and Marcos Deltoro — both members of this production dream team — have crafted music that’s been featured on MuchMusic, MTV, TSN, the Food Network, OMNI TV, and more. These talented songwriters/producers specialize in Top 40, pop, urban, dance, hip-hop, and R&B. They were gracious enough to answer a few questions about themselves and their enviable production space.
First of all, let’s learn a little bit about you. What’s your musical background? Do you play any instruments yourselves? What inspired you to get into music?
UEC: Growing up in a traditional Chinese family, my parents absolutely needed me to learn four languages and four musical instruments before I turned four years old. So I started Royal Conservatory violin when I was three and Royal Conservatory piano when I was five. I also took all the music theory courses that go along with the curriculum — all the way up. I got my songwriting start with rap and hip-hop — the lyrical and storytelling abilities I developed as an emcee luckily just happened to translate very well to the Top 40 style of music we make today.
Marcos: I grew up in southwest Detroit, and music was what we got into to stay out of trouble, and DJing came pretty naturally to me. By the time I was in high school, I was DJing local events, house parties, and nightclubs five nights a week — real turntables, too, not the MIDI controllers you can fit into a backpack these days. Eventually, I felt like I wanted more out of music, so I started looking at production as the next logical step and went out and bought Pro Tools.
How long have you operated a studio? How did it evolve? What kind of gear did you cut your teeth on?
UEC: I used to own a studio in Scarborough, the east end of Toronto, from 2010 to 2012. I didn’t have the budget nor the know-how we have now, so it’s not even worth comparing the two. One thing that experience did teach me, though, is that no matter how much gear you have in a room and no matter how good the gear is, the key is still that the people operating the gear have to know beyond a doubt what they’re doing with that gear, and that no amount of gear or processing can make a bad song good. After Marcos and I met in 2013, but before we opened Track Ops Music in 2016, we were in and out of different studios all over the city for our sessions. It was tough, but we got it done.
Marcos: I had some KRK VXT 8s, a MOTU preamp, Pro Tools, and a Waves plug-in bundle; I did my sound design using Komplete plug-ins (Kontakt, Massive, FM, etc.), Nexus, and Sylenth like almost everyone else starting out, but I also had secret weapons such as a Fantom X6, a Motif XS6, and a Virus Ti2 kicking around. After I met Yui [who goes by UEC] in LA, I went all-out upgrading — I gave him my old gear so that he could get to work, and I maxed out all my credit to get a pair of Focal SM9s and Pro Tools HD. Then I invested in some of Universal Audio’s UAD plug-ins to help with mixing.
You’ve produced music for MTV, VH1, E!, Oxygen, TSN, MUCH, CBC, and more. Tell us more about the type of music you create — is it music you’ve performed, or do you bring in outside artists?
UEC: We produce everything from R&B to country to EDM to pop ballads to trap/hip-hop, but the production/sound we go for is definitely geared toward Top 40 radio play. While we are not billing ourselves as the performers on this record, we did do the production, and for most of these songs we were lucky enough to get the singer with us in the room for the songwriting process — less than 1% of all songs on the radio are written by one person alone, so co-writes and collaboration are key!
Marcos: We’re trying to be like the Chainsmokers, minus the part where they have to leave the studio to do shows.
What’s the focus of your studio (producing, recording, mixing, mastering, voice-overs, etc.)?
UEC: Track Ops Music is first and foremost a songwriting and music production duo — the fact that we have a beautiful studio to call home is a bonus to us. The main goal is really just to make our records and connect with the music community in Toronto as music creators rather than as audio engineers. Because of this, we generally try to avoid providing only studio services (such as recording, vocal tuning, mixing, and mastering) to any given project unless there’s a bigger picture being painted.
It looks like your room is built around a Pro Tools HD rig. You’ve also got an inspiring array of outboard gear, including some cool synthesizers. What are the key pieces of gear that you use? Are you an old-school, in-the-box, or hybrid guy? Favorite mics? Favorite software? Favorite sample libraries?
Marcos: I’m definitely a hybrid guy — over the years I have grown to love how easy it is to throw on multiple instances of my favorite compressor/EQ/de-esser over multiple tracks and tweak them differently to get different results. Being able to recall and save all my presets in my plug-ins in Pro Tools is key to dialing in the sound I want in my mixes. However, as great as plug-ins are, I found that if I use analog summing coming out of my Pro Tools HD rig going into my Dangerous 2-BUS, I gain depth and space in the mix with plenty of headroom that was not there before. Generally, we’re working in Pro Tools HD Native with a pair of UAD-2 Satellites with all the plug-ins. UAD plug-ins are by far the best-sounding plug-ins on the market; I love how their LA-2A compressor sounds really close to the hardware (which we also happen to have in the studio). The (outboard) LA-2A and the Neve MBP play a huge role in our vocal chain, as do the Blue Bottle Microphone and the B6 caps, all bought from Sweetwater.
Your studio looks pretty impressive! Did you design and build it yourself?
Marcos: Yes, we built our headquarters from the ground up, with lots of help from Yui’s cousin, who is a private contractor and has his own company — they were invaluable in bringing the vision I had to reality. Previously, I had built a studio in my home in Michigan, so I had some experience with acoustic treatment (our studio is built using 100% Primacoustic panels and corner bass traps), but in this case, working with a much bigger budget and more resources, I found myself building the airplane while it was in the sky, so to speak. The live room itself has five layers of QuietRock on all four walls and ceiling with a heavy-duty rubber mat in between the layers of drywall to stop the low sub waves and is closed off with dual solid-core doors. Once we could lay claim to the fact that no sound leaked into the live room (even with the control room speakers at full blast), it was just a matter of picking the gear we wanted to work with and then getting on the phone with Sweetwater! We bought the space in the summer of 2015, and by January 2016 we were fully operational.
What’s your favorite part about being a Sweetwater customer?
Marcos: Aside from the fact that Sweetwater had every piece of gear we were looking to put in our studio (and aside from the fact that you guys give customers a 2-year warranty on everything — thanks for the peace of mind), it’s gotta be the customer service. The people at Sweetwater have a wealth of knowledge and lots of real-world experience to share — all the advice we’ve been given has served us well! Bob Mondok is the man to talk to — he hooked us up with all kinds of deals and kept us apprised of any promotions the store had going on so that we could time our purchases to save money. He even got us this feature after going the extra mile to show our studio off to your marketing team — we can’t thank Sweetwater enough for taking Track Ops Music to the next level!
Learn more about Track Ops Music
Mark Winter’s Studio at Wintertainment
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Mark Winter built his home studio to his own personal specifications. He uses it to create in-house projects for himself and his band, ILUSION, as well as for handpicked up-and-coming artists. Mark produces a wide range of genres, including rock, EDM, country, and hip-hop. Surrounded by his classic Peanuts figurines and his favorite “dinosaur” synths, Mark’s studio is the ideal environment to get his creative juices flowing.
First of all, tell us about yourself. What’s your musical background? Do you play any instruments? What inspired you to get into music?
Mark: Music is in my DNA, it has always been who I am. I’ve been playing the piano and keyboards since I was three years old. I gave my first concert when I was six! After I graduated from Boston University, I wrote and produced jingles for radio and television. I wrote the theme song for the Ziggy cartoon and Roller Palace, the first roller-disco record of the 1970s. In 1980, I created Musikard, the first musical greeting cards. After that, I worked as the Creative Director for WDHA/WMTR radio. I’m a founding member of the band ILUSION and wrote and produced the 1998 dance hit, “I Want Your Love in Me.” Beyond that, I wrote “Be Proud to Be in New Jersey,” which was selected by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to become the official state song. In 2002, I became the executive producer at Party 93.1 radio in Miami, and in 2005, I became senior producer at WebmasterRadio.FM. In 2007, my son and I created Pet Life Radio.
How long have you operated a studio? How did it evolve? What kind of gear did you cut your teeth on?
Mark: I built my first studio with my friend when we were 16 years old, in my basement. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but we did have an isolation booth and recorded on an AKAI sound-on-sound 1/4″ reel-to-reel player. I still have it — it kind of works. That was in 1972.
During college, I started recording songs for myself in professional studios and found myself in House of Music in West Orange, New Jersey (Southside Johnny, Meat Loaf, Kool & The Gang, Paula Abdul, Keith Richards, and more), where I really learned my way around a professional studio. I continued recording and producing in various studios in the New York/New Jersey area throughout the ’80s and ’90s. My home recording gear at that time included a TASCAM 4-track cassette recorder.
In the late ’90s, I built a small home studio using hard disk recording with Cubase and a computer with Windows 98.
Once we bought our new house, I built my present studio, and I record using a 24-channel PreSonus mixer with Studio One (which is awesome, by the way!).
It looks like you’ve got some albums on your wall. What kinds of artists have you worked with? Or do you record yourself? Or both?
Mark: Mostly for myself and my band ILUSION. I record only in-house projects for myself and some up-and-coming artists that I like. As a producer, I like getting to span music genres, producing everything from EDM to country to hip-hop.
What’s the focus of your studio (recording, mixing, mastering, voice-overs, etc.)?
Mark: Twofold now. I’m still writing, recording, and producing music and use the studio, of course, for that. I am also the founder/executive producer of Pet Life Radio, the largest pet radio network, which features over 75 pet-related talk shows and podcasts. I record, edit, and produce the podcasts in my studio, as well as broadcast live radio shows.
Love the classic synths! What models are those? How long have you had them?
Mark: I do love my old dinosaurs! I have a Vox Continental Baroque organ that my parents bought for me when I was 15 (with a Leslie 710 amp). I also have an ARP Axxe and Mini Korg from the 1970s, a little Casio mini keyboard, which I believe was their very first, a Korg DW-6000 and Casio Keytar from the ’80s, and a Korg M1 from the ’90s. They all work, and I just can’t seem to part with them!
What are the key pieces of gear that you use? Favorite mics? DAW of choice?
Mark: Now as far as sounds, I’m using a Korg Krome for both sounds and as a controller for my other sound modules, which include the Yamaha Motif-Rack, Roland Fantom-XR, and Roland Integra, as well as five or six other sound modules and samplers.
My go-to for recording is Studio One Professional, which I love by the way. I’ve used both Pro Tools and Cubase, but I think Studio One is the most user-friendly. The mics I’m using most are the Neumann TLM 103 and Blue Spark SL.
I like the layout of your studio — nice iso booth! Did you design and build it yourself?
Mark: Yes! When I bought my new house, I decided to build my studio exactly the way I wanted. I did my research and built it myself. It was a fun project. I loved that Sweetwater had the console, mixer, and monitors I wanted too!
I couldn’t help but notice your Charlie Brown figurines. Are you a Peanuts fan?
Mark: Yes! Since I was a kid, I always loved the Peanuts characters. All the professional studios I recorded in, in the 1970s and 1980s, always had little stuffed animals or figures on the monitors for good luck, so I did the same. I also have Pinky and the Brain figures on the monitors of my edit bay. I don’t know if people still do it, but I kind of like it.
What’s your favorite part about being a Sweetwater customer?
Mark: Okay, I was going to say the free candy, but I have other reasons as well! The prices are competitive, and I really, really love the fact that I can spread the payments out over 24 months with zero interest. Definitely an incentive to buy things. Also, Sweetwater usually has what I want in stock and it usually ships the same day. I’ve been really impressed with the service! Every time I order a product, I get a phone call from my Sweetwater rep (Justin Sunday), thanking me for the order and letting me know he’s only a phone call away if I have any questions or concerns.
Main Street Music Studios
Brewer, Maine
Main Street Music Studios is a round-the-clock, state-of-the-art recording/production facility in Brewer, Maine. Their versatile production team provides complete engineering, production, and creative services to artists in every genre, from hip-hop to jazz. And they’re highly sought-after — clients travel from Boston and New York City to record there. Main Street Music Studios also offers quality music lessons from eight in-house instructors.
Andrew Clifford, a distinguished member of the Main Street Music Studios team, took the time to chat with us about their unique business.
First of all, let’s learn a little bit about you. What’s your musical background? Do you play any instruments yourself? What inspired you to get into music?
Andrew: I grew up around music. My father played guitar for Chubby Checker and Frankie Valli. I play drums in all styles, having backed Mike Stern (Blood, Sweat & Tears), Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), Nigel Hall (Soulive, Lettuce), and I’ve been honored to share the stage and studio with many other phenomenal artists. Music has always been my life since I was young.
How long have you operated a studio? How did it evolve? What kind of gear did you cut your teeth on?
Andrew: I’ve run a studio for about 15 years now. My current business, Main Street Music Studios, is extremely unique in that we house eight music educators and two audio engineers. We not only operate as a full professional recording studio but also specialize in one-on-one instruction for just about every instrument. It’s our 10th year in business, and it continues to grow. In addition to the many artists that call this studio home, I’m equally proud to say thousands of kids and adults take music lessons here as well from some of the best music educators in the state!
You recently worked with Pentatonix. What was that like? Who else have you worked with?
Andrew: What an amazing experience. I have to say witnessing them in the studio — their workflow was very relaxed and effortless. Their intonation, phrasing, and raw talent is stunning. They deserve every bit of the success they’ve achieved in the industry. Sony/RCA was a pleasure to work with as well. We also work with Nigel Hall (Soulive, Lettuce) frequently. Also, Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) and many other talented artists stop by. All wonderful friends and talented beyond belief.
What’s the focus of your studio (recording, mixing, mastering, voice-overs, etc.)?
Andrew: We do mostly recording, mixing, and production, although we have also done voice-over work. Not long ago, we did the voice-over for Minecraft and Telltale Games, and the V-O talent was John Hodgman (Comedy Central). Also, recently we recorded a Jerry Hamza interview (George Carlin’s former manager) just to name a few.
It looks like your room is built around an Avid D-Command. What are the key pieces of gear that you use? Are you an old-school, in-the-box, or hybrid guy? Favorite mics? DAW of choice?
Andrew: Yes, we love the D-Command’s versatility. I enjoy analog mostly, but of course enjoy the speed of digital editing within our Pro Tools HD set up. We love our SSL 2-buss, A Designs EM-EQ2, and Neve 542. We also have more outboard gear from Manley, Avalon, SSL, Universal Audio, and more. Favorite mics would be AEA R84, Neumann TLM 102, Royer 121, AKG 414. Really digging Focal speakers lately.
Your studio looks pretty impressive! It looks like you have a control room, live room, and a couple of iso rooms. How many rooms do you actually have? Did you design and build them yourself?
Andrew: You nailed it! We have a nice-size treated/tuned live room, iso room, vocal booth, and mix suite. Yes, I built them and designed them myself.
What’s your favorite part about being a Sweetwater customer?
Andrew: Sweetwater has outstanding customer service. I can’t express how confident I feel purchasing high-end audio equipment from Sweetwater. I can buy top-tier analog items I want, knowing they are backed by a wonderful company. Also, the candy in the box is a nice touch!
Learn more about Main Street Studios
Build the Studio of Your Dreams
All these customers own jaw-dropping production spaces. And what do they have in common? Easy — they rely on Sweetwater to help them equip their studios. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned pro, we’ll help you build the studio you’ve been dreaming about. Give us a call at (800) 222-4700, and we’ll get started! And if you haven’t already shown us your space, click the link and Share Your Studio with us.