If you’re a fan of Nerdcore music, you’ve no doubt heard a track that’s come out of Studio 6 here in Port Orange, FL.  Your subwoofers know which ones I’m talking about.  The HT, resident mad scientist, has been an audio engineer for 10 years, turning indie bedroom hip-hop in to speaker crushing hits.  EMPulse Records’ Studio 6 clients represent a wide variety of musical styles from punk, to hip hop, to electronic. If you’re in need of mixing and mastering services, need your tracks done professionally, on budget, and on time, read on.

Here’s how it works.  Step one, contact The HT @ ht@empulserecords.com.  Sometimes, project material, budget, or production schedule simply isn’t compatible with Studio 6.  Along with mixing and mastering, The HT is also the Music Director for Nerdapalooza, an artist, and runs a business.  The schedule around here can get crazy at times.

Step two, a down payment of 50% is required. We accept PayPal (sales@empulserecords.com).  Send tracks in to Studio 6.  They will be mixed and mastered by The HT to your specifications on professional gear.

Step three, once you are 100% happy with every track on the album, we will issue an invoice, accept payment through PayPal, and your fans head’s will explode.  As always, we offer 100% money back if we can’t achieve a sound that blows you away. The HT has been offering this refund for five years now and has never once been asked for money back.

Mixing and Mastering rates are $50 per track, or $25 per hour if there are serious problems with the source material.  Mastering rates are $200/album up to 10 tracks, $20 per extra track.  Mastering is optional when getting an album mixed, but highly recommended. Unique Barcode and Soundscan registration is $50 per album and optional.  Nerdy and Geeky music discounts are available. You know who you are.

For more information, contact The HT directly.

Client Testimonials:

MC Topher: “HT made my music pop the way nobody else could. I like to have control of my music and HT is the only other person I trust to touch my mixes. Oh yeah, and he’s quick and professional. But this is the kind of quality I’d patiently wait for. “

Billy The Fridge: “When I went to HT for mixing, I expected quality… what I didn’t expect was the quick turn around time. The man is a professional. Thanks  again, HT!”

Dr. Awkward: “The HT at Studio 6 is the production mastermind behind both of my albums and simply put, it isn’t real music until The HT has touched it. If you’re not using HT, you’re not making hits.”

Bazuuka Joe: “If God needed to have an album mixed, he would go to The HT at [Studio 6]…”

Solus: “Every time I finish a track, it goes straight to The HT; because I know that what I will get back is a professionally mixed and mastered track that has a professional studio quality sound, regardless of where I recorded or what I recorded with. Simply put, there’s nobody else I would trust to spit shine my tracks other than HT.”

Kaiju: “With HT’s mixing and mastering skills my music has been taken to a whole new level, from amateur quality to professional quality.  When I play my songs for people for the first time they swear that it is a professional recording and it couldn’t possibly be me.  The HT and his use of studio 6 is a killer combo to make top notch quality music, for all your post production needs!”

(want to say something nice? it would rock.  send an email.)

If you’re sending tracks in to be mixed at Studio6, what makes my job the absolute easiest is:

*If possible, use a pop filter. These really do help. Even a nylon stocking on a coat hanger is fine.

*Find a position in front of the mic that you find most comfortable and try to stay there. If the distance between your face and the mic changes, the sound changes as well. As little as one inch can make a pretty big difference.

*Try to always use the same position for every song that is to be on the same album so you sound consistent throughout.

*Make sure all of your EQs are turned off or set to ‘Bypass’.

*If possible, remove any gear that isn’t necessary to record from the chain.

*Ideally, you would have the Mic plugged in to a pre-amp, and the pre-amp plugged directly in to your audio interface.

*Turn off any effects in the pre-amp or the software that may alter the recording (compression, limiters, ‘protection’ circuits, pads, ‘vocal’ presets, etc).

*Make sure you aren’t clipping while you record. Across an entire album, if your peak is -3db, it’s perfect. Anything down to -12db is fine. Anything peaking below -24db may be too low to work with.

*Set your recording software to use 24bit WAV if available.

*Before recording, convert any files you are using to record to (the beat, for instance) to WAV as well.

*MP3 to WAV conversions and WAV to MP3 conversions can change the timing of a track. If everything is kept in WAV the whole time, timing will never be a problem.

*Export your tracks from the very beginning of the song, even the tracks that only have one word all the way at the end, to a 24bit WAV, if available.

*16bit WAV/AIFF is a good plan B. FLAC is an acceptable plan C. MP3′s are normally a terrible idea. You didn’t spend all that money on a microphone only to have an MP3 compressor remove what it thinks is ‘unnecessary’ parts of your recording.

*Label the files in a way that makes sense. This can help avoid mix ups. (Album – Track Number – Artist Name – Track Number – Track Description.wav).

*Zip up the vocal takes, the beat, and if possible, a quick and dirty ‘reference mix’ mp3 along with notes describing how you would like the final product to sound. Links to YouTube video of a similar song by a popular artist is a quick way to explain a sound.

*When listening to your first mix, take note of anything you dislike, anything you love, along with the time (00:24, for instance). Don’t ever worry about hurting my feelings. It’s your album, make sure it sounds the way you want it to.

*When making suggestions, shoot for the moon. Some of the most impossible sounding stuff is quite easy (Can you fix the timing so that I’m on beat?). I can make all sorts of neat things happen (I’m looking at you, SOL). If I can’t do it (make me sound like Bette Midler) , I’ll never bullshit you, will explain why I can’t, try to suggest someone who can, and refund your money plus PayPal fees.

*A project sent to Studio6 is not done until you are in love with it.