Samples on the bottom of the page.

Location recording is our specialty at Rocky Rhythms. We were founded on the principle that many musicians deserve to get their voices heard. Yet, many musicians do not have access to recording studios for various reasons. This is why we take great care in selecting our equipment to be as portable as possible while being able to record in a myriad of locations. 

We have worked in churches and beautiful concert halls, but we have also worked in basements and living rooms. Of course, the concert hall recordings are very different than those captured in living rooms, but they are still worth publishing. Our post-production services further decrease the differences between living room and concert hall recordings. For more information about our mixing and mastering services, please click here.

Suppose you have access to music halls, churches, large rooms, or any suitable location for recording your music. In that case, we will travel to you and capture your performance at the highest levels. We carry an assortment of microphones, preamps, and all the other required gear. 

We offer special audition discounts for students if you have an upcoming audition and would like to submit high-quality recordings to educational institutes or orchestras.

The following recording was made in the basement of a single-family unit. Low ceilings, parallel walls, carbon monoxide detector going off every 30 seconds. The result is nothing short of spectacular.

Winter (L'inverno) RV297 in F Minor: II. Largo (Arr. for String Quartet)

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Our next demo is from the same recording session, but this time a fuller arrangement. Same room, same microphones, same musicians. But you can hear how the different piece affects the sound captured.

Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo (Arr. for String Quartet)

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Here's a piano recording done in a small living room of a row house in Philadelphia. This is a recording of a beautiful Steinway grand. Close micing the piano on its tail end resulted in a really spacious stereo image with a good blend of detail and cohesion. Special thanks to Hsiao-Han Alice Yang for these beautiful recordings. Check out her website here: https://www.haliceyang.com

Ballade For Adelia

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Another piece from the same recording session:

One Summer's Day (from Spirited Away)

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One more string quartet sample. The following was also made in a basement, with different microphones and seating arrangements. It is not the sound of a regular string quartet. As the song required a more contemporary take on post-production, we decided to go all out. Exaggerated bass frequencies, shimmering highs, delays, and reverbs. Also, the song is far more compressed than the previous two, as this was meant for curated instrumental-pop stations. Genre-specific post-production is extremely important to us.

Oh My God (Adele) (Arr. for String Quartet)

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There will be more samples coming up very soon. Check back in soon for guitar, horns, and other instruments.

No matter your space, the microphone will always capture the room. You might use specially designed microphones to mitigate this and capture as little of the room as possible, but the reality is that you can't entirely remove the room from the equation. Let's discuss how to turn our bad-sounding rooms into better-sounding rooms by adding acoustic treatments.

Let's start by identifying what the issue is. Sound from your speakers does not travel in a straight line. They travel in an omnidirectional pattern, spreading sound waves in 360 degrees. Of course, your ears pick up the signals directed towards your head, but they also pick up reflections from the walls. These reflections create various problems, each requiring specific solutions.

The following chart identifies the most common problems experienced in rooms. Note that this room is rectangular, and if your room has angled ceilings and non-parallel walls, you might require more research to figure out how to tackle your room's issues.

Let's clarify why delayed sound waves from the walls create a problem. To understand this complex problem, we must understand the phase relations of delayed signals. Sound waves can interact with each other to create sums. This is actually how music works. When you listen to a song, you only hear a single sound wave, yet your brain can decipher this signal to different parts, such as the instruments and vocals. The result is a louder signal when we add the same signal to itself. But, if one of the signals is delayed, we get strange results. There is a limit to how much delay there can be in the signal before the original signal completely cancels out. Think of it as adding a positive integer to its negative ( -8 + 8 = 0), and the following graphic depicts this issue.

The signal that bounces off the walls mixes with the original signal as it arrives in our ears. This doesn't cancel the original signal altogether but cancels some of the frequencies, creating a new, false signal. If any music is mixed in a room with reflections like this, the engineer will think they are going crazy because some frequencies will sound so much louder than others, and some will practically not exist. These mixes sound horrible in any other space because the engineer mixed the music to their room rather than mixing in by using truthful sound signatures.

This is such a detrimental issue that we recommend you attack this first. The points (A) from the above graph, depicting reflections, should be treated before anything else. You can have a friend put a mirror on the wall between your head and the speakers and move it until your eyes meet the center of each speaker. Once you can see the speakers, mark those points on the wall. That is where you should place your acoustic treatments. Be sure to read until the end of this article because we will cover what types of acoustic treatments to get.

An equally important issue present in many rooms is the flutter echo from the back walls. This doesn't happen in every room, but there is a good likelihood that you might have heard this before. You can clap your hands loudly to see if you hear any echoes right after. It is called flutter echo because it happens very quickly after your initial clap. If your room has this issue, I recommend you also put some acoustic treatments on the back walls. Even if your room doesn't suffer from flutter echo, you will still benefit from this treatment because the bass frequencies tend to bounce off the back wall and come back to your ears, creating a sense of extra bass in the room.

This bass topic leads to points (C) and (D) on the reflections diagram. Corners are notorious for collecting bass frequencies. I can't explain why and how, but the corners of your room can make you think there's more bass, leading you to cut bass in your mixes, making your mixes sound thin. Point (D), right behind your speaker, is another major issue. Ideally, you would put your table and speakers in the middle of the room, but no one has that much space. So, the bass frequencies from the speakers collect and reflect from the back walls, again creating a sense of the abundance of bass, leading you to cut back the bass frequencies in your mixes. We highly suggest moving your speakers away from the walls, placing proper bass traps on the corners, and placing acoustic panels behind your speakers.

Your ceiling is also problematic. Sounds reflect from your ceilings, just like the side walls, creating phase cancellations and comb filtering. We suggest you hand some acoustic treatments from your ceiling to mitigate this. We will recommend some products at the end of this article. It is easier said than done but trust us; it makes a huge difference.

Something many engineers tend to ignore is the reflections from your table. Your table is a flat surface, just like your walls, reflecting sound waves off of it, delaying the signal and creating phase issues. We recommend tilting your table towards the listener by about 6 degrees. Doing this makes the table reflect the sound waves at such an angle that the delayed signal passes under your head. You can put some folded paper or cardboard under the far legs of your table. Just ensure you don't tilt it so much that things start falling.

There it is. We've made it. I don't want to cover diffusion in this article because we don't recommend diffusion for most rooms as it can create more problems than it solves, but also good ones are expensive. We will cover that in another post.

Let's talk about what types of acoustic panels to buy now. What is worth it? I will tell you right away that you should avoid the thin acoustic foams sold on Amazon and other retailers. Foam is an expensive material. For acoustic treatment to be viable, it needs to be thick. Thin acoustic treatments only absorb high frequencies, not low frequencies. The majority of the rooms don't have issues with high frequencies. Low-frequency absorption requires thicker treatment options, at least 2 inches, but ideally 4 inches. The material used in most acoustic treatment panels is Owens Corning or glass mineral wool. Other materials are out there, but these are the most common ones. They are cheap and effective. For the walls, we recommend you get 4-inch thick panels. For the corners, you will need large and heavy bass traps. I would say get the biggest ones you can afford and fit in your room, but that would be bad advice. To ensure you are treating everything correctly, you can use a microphone and this incredible, free software to find the problematic frequencies in your room. Every time you install a new treatment in the room, you should rerun these tests to make sure you are moving in the right direction.

There's so much more to acoustic treatments than we covered in this article, including room modes. These complicated topics deserve their own posts rather than being squished into this article. Look out for more in the coming weeks.

If you are in the market to buy acoustic panels, we cannot recommend GIKAcoustics enough. They are reliable, effective, affordable, and helpful. They can help you pick the right panels for your room via their personalized shopping guides. They will match you with a pro who will recommend what kinds of treatments will be the most effective. Click here to purchase your new acoustic panels and help us with a small kickback.

Bowed instruments are notoriously difficult to record. This is further amplified given that the price discrepancy between good and incredible instruments is upwards of a million US dollars. There are important differences between an intermediate-level classical guitar and a luthier-made classical guitar. Still, the tonal differences are either not too noticeable, or they can be corrected relatively easily by using different microphones or editing in the post. The tonal characters of violins are usually very different from one another. Minor adjustments to the instruments, such as the addition of fine tuners, can significantly alter its tone. Of course, the player's ability to produce the desired tone should not be overlooked either. Sometimes, players tend to exaggerate dynamics, especially when playing fortissimo, rather than focusing on the tone. It is important to note that today's microphones and preamplifiers carry enough oomph to capture every little detail. Players frequently change how they play on recordings compared to how they would have played if they were playing live.

Putting these aside, the actual recording process of a solo violin is just as complicated. It all starts with listening to the violin and the player in the room where the recording will take place. The recording engineer must walk around the instrument and listen to find the optimal location where the instrument's sound is sweet rather than harsh and brittle. Violins produce an incredible amount of overtones. Many of these harmonics need time to develop in the air. This is why the standard Decca recording tradition guides us to place microphones high up in the air. In many of the rooms we record, this is impossible. The following graphic is a simplified depiction of microphone placements for violins.

Only trial and error can reveal which position is the ideal position for each project. For example, placing the microphones a few feet up, facing the player (position A), can give a very natural "roomy" sound to the recording, but if the microphones are not high enough, or if the violin is too metallic sounding, the engineer might choose to place the microphones farther back, and in some cases even below the violin. This might sound counterintuitive as the body of the violin is the resonator, pushing sound away and up, but by placing the microphones lower, we can eliminate some of the harsh overtones while achieving a darker, smoother tone.

But the recording is only as good as the choice of microphones. We frequently get asked why we don't use our Schoeps microphones on many projects. Schoeps makes some of the most accurate microphones, revered by the classical music world. Their cost is justified by their ability to capture the sound as accurately as possible. When recording in a magnificent room, we tend to use these microphones to capture the sound as-is. On the other hand, when we are recording in a basement, attic, or living room on a busy street, we'd rather not capture the reality as-is. For this, we have collected a variety of microphones with unusual strengths and weaknesses.

For example, ribbon microphones have a gentle roll-off on the higher frequencies, as shown in the following graph.

We really like using ribbon microphones on string instruments as their weakness in high-frequency sensitivity results in the rejection of those unwanted overtones generated by the instruments. The result is usually a much darker, sweeter tone. It is also possible to overshoot and capture too much bass. To avoid these, we frequently blend some small diaphragm condenser (SDC) microphones into the mix. SDCs, on the other hand, capture a ton of high-frequency content. By blending these two microphone types, we can achieve a very pleasant tone.

The differences between different makes and models of microphones matter a lot, too. Even the two of the same models of microphones can sound quite different. This is why we carry a lot of different microphones and utilize their strength as the project dictates.

We also advise our clients to re-string their instruments about a week before the recording session. This gives the strings just enough time to break in and perform at their best. If you haven't rehaired your bow in a while, maybe this is a good opportunity to schedule an appointment with the luthier.

The first time we had to load up our van with expensive gear and drive off to a client's house felt somewhat strange. The equipment belonged to the studio, not on the road. As soon as we had set up the gear in the small rehearsal room of a local music school, it started to feel just right: musicians were very comfortable and familiar with the space, and it was a pleasant new challenge for us to quickly learn the room to set up like we would in our studio.

After only a few projects, we realized the complete potential of these recordings. Indeed, not every room is suitable for recording, but with modern tools at our disposal, most rooms are. This might sound sacrilegious for sound engineers who are reading this blog, but it has been our experience. Let's get the negatives out of the way: which rooms are out of the question?

Tiny rooms are challenging to record in. Not only are they difficult to navigate, comfortably set up, and play, but they also have lots of reflections from the walls and ceilings, resulting in unwanted comb filtering in the recorded signal. We don't have a minimum room sizer requirement for location recording projects, but remember that the results will vary from room to room. In short, higher ceilings and bigger rooms are better.

Another problem with many rooms is that the parallel walls result in more unwanted reflections. We DIY this issue using couch cushions, blankets (both household and moving blankets), and sometimes by bringing acoustic treatment. In a studio environment, these reflections are dealt with by hanging 3-4 inches thick acoustic treatments on the walls – usually made from mineral fibers. While we are on this topic, let's get something out of the way: those thin "acoustic foams" sold on Amazon do not work. If you want more information on this topic, please read our article on acoustic treatments.

One thing to remember is that many studios do not sound great. This might come as a surprise, but there are only a handful of studios built specifically for classical music – in short, to sound amazing. It is much easier to build a room that sounds "dead" and "dry" rather than lush and beautiful. Most vocals you hear on your favorite records are tracked in extremely dry isolation booths. You can simulate a similar environment in a living room. Is it easy? Not really. But it costs ten times less than renting a full-fledged studio.

Many chart-topping, Grammy-winning singer-songwriters record their whole albums in their bedrooms. Then why is it so difficult to get the same results as them when recording at home? A common question from clients pertains to our role in improving these recordings. Is it just our gear? Is it our knowledge? It is a combination of both. Not only do we carry lots of relevant equipment so you don't have to buy/rent them, but we are also knowledgeable on mic placements, room reflections, recording techniques, and solutions to many of the most common problems faced during such projects.

Once you realize that you can record your music in a very affordable way, without leaving your home, get it mixed and mastered, and distribute it in less than a week, it becomes a desirable option. This is why, in our experience, location recording is seeing an uptick in the recording world. A decade ago, location recording was the choice of choirs and baroque ensembles performing at churches or small chamber orchestras wanting to record their performances. It was and still is common in film production to hire location recording professionals to capture the actors' dialogues. Today, location recording is so much more than that. It is in every aspect of music production. As a production company, it brings us great joy to see musicians starting their recording careers after dreaming about it for so long.

A funny comparison in the audio engineering world is between recording the piano and the drums. We can spend so much time tinkering with mic positions to capture different sounds from the instruments. Even after recording pianos for a very long time, capturing the essence of each instrument is still a fun challenge.

Upright and grand pianos are recorded in very different ways. Here are some of our favorite methods to capture your music honestly and beautifully. Note that one of these techniques is probably what we will use if we record you.

For the grand piano, if the space allows it, we like to place microphones on stands like the following graphic:

The microphone pair titled (A) tends to give us the best representation of the instrument's sound as the distance from the instrument (3-6 feet) allows the sound to develop before reaching the microphones. The tail microphones, titled (B), are also very useful, giving us a direct piano sound without any felt noise. Blending these two sets of microphones can result in a beautiful and gentle piano sound. Unfortunately, we don't frequently use this technique, as many of the rooms we record are not good-sounding rooms. On top of that, many living rooms don't have enough space to accommodate this space-hungry technique.

For this, we utilize close miking of the soundboard and the strings under the lid, as the following graphic demonstrates:

We really like the sound of the spaced pair (A), as by moving around the microphones, we can get a perfect balance of bass and treble strings, giving us a very three-dimensional sound. Plus, by using this technique, we don't have to put the boom arm of a mic stand all the way under the lid like the mic pair (B) or other similar miking techniques. Frequently, it is necessary to utilize post-production reverbs to add ambiance to the sound of the piano. We use industry-standard Bricasti M7, and Altiverb reverbs to create the perfect ambiance for your music.

The story is very different for upright pianos. Because of their case size and the mechanical layout, the sound we capture from them differs significantly from that of grand pianos. We approach recording upright pianos in a few different ways.

We prefer to mic the upright piano by utilizing pair A and pair B microphones to blend in the signals in the post. Pair A, placed right behind the piano case, gives a much darker yet lovely tone. Our ability to remove the top cover of the piano affects how pair B will sound. We encourage the musicians to learn how to remove the top cover before our arrival, but we can also help remove the cover. Moving the piano away from the wall is usually challenging, so blending pair B and C has become the new norm in location recording. Pair C includes some of the late reflections of the piano, introducing a subtle yet sweet reverb to the signal.

We recommend you tune your piano every six months but at least once a year. When tuning the piano, professionals usually care for the instruments in many other ways, including oiling the essential parts, fixing minor problems, and other more severe issues, such as severely grooved felt. If you need recommendations for professional piano tuning services, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

The following examples are mixed and mastered by our studio. If you like the music you hear on this page, please support the bands as we are providing you with their websites, social media pages, and streaming links to their music. All of the music on this page is being shared with the permission of the original performer or the copyright holder. Special thanks to Mike Senior, Weathervane Music, and Lewitt Audio for compiling incredible multitrack collections.

Unless specifically noted, these pieces were not recorded by Rocky Rhythms.

"The Alchemist" by Little Tybee  (Unofficial Remix by Rocky Rhythms Studio)
Recorded for Weathervane Music's Shaking Through
Vol. 5, Episode 7.

Raw - The Alchemist

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Mixed - The Alchemist

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Mastered - The Alchemist

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"Don't Put Me On Hold" by Remember Jones (Unofficial Remix by Rocky Rhythms Studio). Click here to visit the band's website.

Raw - Don't Put Me On Hold

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Mastered - Don't Put Me On Hold

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"How Long?" by J Pope and the HearNow  (Unofficial Remix by Rocky Rhythms Studio)
Recorded for Weathervane Music's Shaking Through
Vol. 8, Ep.3.

Raw - How Long

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"Every Animal" by Half Waif  (Unofficial Remix by Rocky Rhythms Studio)
Recorded for Weathervane Music's Shaking Through
Vol. 9, Ep.3.

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We offer a variety of mixing and mastering services. If we record your music, you get a special mixing discount applied to your order automatically, and every such order comes with free mastering.

We also accept orders to mix and master recordings made independently of Rocky Rhythms. Our rates are competitive, and our turnaround times are transparent. We mix and master many different genres.

Each mixing order includes three turnarounds. This means that we will provide you with three different mixes based on your initial and following two opinions/feedbacks.

Our mastering service does not use AI or depend on automated services. We utilize an in-house mastering suite to make your music ready for distribution. Mastering is a critical stage in music production, as it serves as the last point to fix issues and enhance the music. Even though our studio is geared towards mixing, we take pride in our mastering services. If you would like referrals to world-class mastering studios, don't shy away from asking us. They do cost a lot more than our studio, but you might find that studios built specifically for mastering are able to deliver results that are nothing short of magical.

You can fill out the following form to contact us. We usually return inquiry requests in less than 24 hours. Alternatively, email us at info@rockyrhythms.com or text us at +1 (215) 929-6696.

What payment methods do you accept?

• We accept online card payments and ACH transfers.

When is the payment due?

• Deposit is due on the day of the booking. Rest of the payment is due on the booked project date. If you want to make partial payments or payment arrangements, please reach out to us. In most cases, we are able to provide a fair and transparent installment plans.

Are there any refunds?

• Not if the service was rendered. In case of an emergency, if we are unable to perform your booked services you will receive a full refund. Recording, mixing, and mastering are all artistic tasks. If you are unhappy with your mixes and masters, you will have turnaround opportunities to ask us to change things.

Is there a contract?

• There is a very simple contract outlining a few important things for you to sign at the time of the booking. Please make sure to read the contract carefully, because most of these things are in direct benefit of your performance, such as having enough space around the recording location for microphone stands. In some cases you might have to move a piece of furniture out of the way to make room. 

What is your cancellation policy?

• You can contact us to reschedule your session as long as it is more than 24 hours in advance. You can cancel the session outright, but as outlined on the contract, the deposit will not be refunded. Preparing for recordings takes a long time and we only take one recording per day.

What is the 8% tax on my invoice?

• Pennsylvania based companies are required to collect 6% sales tax for the State and 2% sales tax for the Philadelphia county. This 8% tax is passed on to the State and the City.

File Deliveries

When will I receive the master tape back?

• The average mixing and mastering length varies by the project type, length, and the current backlog. Currently, short projects, especially audition tapes, are being returned 48 hours after tracking.

Do I get to make changes to the mix and master?

• Yes! You are absolutely encouraged to comment on the mixing progress. Of course there is a limit on how much time we can spend on each project, but all the projects will be brought to a level of comfortable satisfaction before being turned over. 

How will I receive the master tapes?

• We are currently sharing the master tapes through cloud services. You will get a link in your email which will have the appropriate files in it.

What formats will I receive the master tapes in?

• You can request pretty much any format! But we return all projects in three distinct formats by default: 
  • 24 Bit, 96kHz WAV format (Uncompressed)
  • 24 Bit, 44.1kHz, 320kbps MP3 format 
  • 16 Bit, dithered, 44.1kHz WAV format (For CD duplication) 

Will you also send us the DAW project files?

• No. We use a ton of outboard gear and a fairly large collection of plug-ins, making the project files very much useless outside our computers.

Will you share the original tracks with us?

• Just let us know if you want them and we will happily include them with your master tracks.

Can you deliver the master tracks in physical file formats?

• Of course! There is a $10 + shipping fee supercharge for a CD or a USB stick master delivery.

Services

Is the quality of the recording on par with industry standards?

• Yes! We use microphones, preamps, and Analog to Digital converters that are not only on par with the industry standards, but usually they are the standards! We track your performances in 24 bit audio at 96kHz sample rate. For comparison, CD quality audio is 16 bits and 44.1kHz sample rate. If you were to upload our master tracks to Apple Music, your release would get a “Hi-Res Lossless” badge. We can accommodate up to 24 channels of simultaneous recording. During some location recording projects, we will opt-in to use recorders made by SoundDevices. These recorders are very portable and are able to record 8 channels in 32bit resolution. This makes them perfect for classical music recordings as they virtually eliminate noise and any possible distortion.

Are you able to splice and edit classical recordings?

• Yes, we are! We use Magix Sequoia, the industry standard Digital Audio Workstation for classical music editing, to accomplish this. Unlike click-tracked music, classical music has variable tempo and an increased dynamic range. It is also recorded using multiple microphones, making it harder to edit it in regular audio editing applications such as Pro Tools, Logic, and Reaper. Sequoia allows us to edit every single fade and cut with incredible accuracy to create extremely transparent edits.

Do you work with Dolby Atmos formats?

• We can mix and master your music in Atmos. Until our new studio is ready and Atmos licensed we will be charging half the regular Atmos mixing and mastering fees. Our work with Atmos is on par with the industry standards. Keep in mind that if you choose to go with Atmos, there will be extra fees on nearly every step of the way. For example, distribution in Atmos formats costs nearly three times as much as regular stereo releases.

For tracking audition recordings, do you follow any standard guidelines for audio editing, etc?

• This is a complicated topic. Each university, each orchestra, and each ensemble have very specific requirements on the type of editing they allow and they do not allow. To make matters worse, some of these requirements are extremely vague. This is why we encourage you to do your own research and make sure that the place you are submitting your recordings to are okay with the edits done to the recordings! For example, EQ adjustments are standard and no institution will say otherwise. Yet, reverb and ambiance effects are more problematic. We try to capture the room sound in our recordings, but if we recorded your music in a very dry room, adding a bit of non-intrusive reverb will make your music sound more natural. This is why for audition projects, we send in both reverbial and non-reverbial master tapes. It is your responsibility to make sure that the institution you are applying for is fine with the tapes you are uploading. As a company rule, audition tapes are not allowed to have any splices.

Do you also mix and master the recordings?

• This is completely up to you! We have a really great set of tools to mix and master the type of music we record. We will gladly mix your music for a nominal fee (compared to big studios), and we provide free mastering on every project.

Can I monitor how the recording will sound on the day of the recording?

• Once we set up our gear, we will do multiple sound checks to ensure that everything is balanced and we have a good sound. We will also record this sound check process so you can hear how you sound before we commit to recording your performance. It is important to know that even when we are happy with how everything sounds, if you have any reservations, we would much rather you tell us. We believe that 90% of the sound of the record comes from the recording stage. Sure, we can fix things in post, but the wiggle room is more limited compared to the tracking stage. Too much ambiance, too much bass, too little body, excessive bow noise, too much string dampening? We can fix those before we commit to recording the whole performance – usually by moving the microphones a little or using a different microphone.

We specialize in location recording services, focusing on capturing the sound of reality as accurately as possible. Be it a concert hall, a church, a rehearsal room, a studio, or even your living room, we will produce accurate and pleasant results. We use state-of-the-art equipment while adjusting our techniques to fit the instrument, genre, piece, and the room we are recording. We travel very light, and our recording equipment can fit on a simple tabletop.

Mixing & Mastering

We mix and master our recordings in-house, using our extensive digital and analog gear. We also accept standalone mixing and mastering projects that another recording engineer recorded. As a company policy, we master every track we record for free. Compared to many other companies, we do not utilize A.I. mastering tools, as mastering is a very personal process that can help elevate the good part of the track while attempting to adjust and fix certain aspects of the recording before publication.

Distribution

We utilize our partners in the music industry to publish your music on all the platforms you are familiar with. On top of this, we are able to publish classical music on all the major classical music streaming services, such as IDAGIO and Apple Music Classical. Our classical publications are also available in China, exposing your music to a much bigger audience.

Orchestration, transcription, arrangements, and accompanists

Through our extensive partnership with Philadelphia String Quartet, we are able to provide you with award-winning musicians for your recordings. We are also able to provide you with transcriptions and arrangements of your favorite songs. If you would like to perform a concerto with a full or chamber orchestra, please let us know and we will arrange your requests.

Archival Recordings

Archival recordings are recordings made to archive the performances or speeches rather than publish them. These recordings are made with minimal equipment and only one or two microphones. The quality of these recordings will be less than those recorded for publishing. Still, they come at a much lower price (usually half or even less). They are meant to be visited later for educational or historical purposes. On top of audio recordings, we can also provide a simple camera setup to capture the video of the performance.

Podcast Production

Having a great quality audio production from the first episode can result in higher audience retention rates. This is why for a one time fee, we consult you on the equipment you need to purchase to have the best sounding podcast. We will also set up the equipment for you, walk you through on how to use them, and of course assist with the post-production work. This is a one-time service with a one-time fee, but we can also mix your episode if you want.

Audiobook Recordings

Audiobooks have specific requirements in both the audio quality and the characteristics of the recordings. To meet these requirements, we setup a recording studio at your house or office, capture the performance, edit it, and then publish on all major audiobook retailers. The equipment used for these productions is minimal and the process is very simple.

Live Sound

We have extensive experience in live sound. We frequently work with local and traveling band, and houses of worship to setup and manage their live sound. We can provide all the equipment needed for a band to perform, but we can also manage the band's own equipment. This service can be booked for a single event, or for an ongoing tour/series of performances.

Vocal Capture

Conferences, meetings, and panel discussions might want to have recordings made. These recordings also require fully remote and wireless equipment, multiple layers of fail-safe systems, and clean microphones. We can provide handheld microphones, microphones on stands, or lavalier microphones to accommodate various venues and events.

Label

Rocky Rhythms also serves as a label for the musicians we record. Unlike many big labels, we do not sign long-term contracts or own your master tracks. We will help you with publishing, distributing, and marketing only for a nominal fee taken from your streaming revenue.

Rocky Rhythms is an independent studio that specializes in location recording of mostly acoustic music, mixing, and mastering services.

Based in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is home to many things, including cheesesteaks, fascinating architecture, rich art museums, a statue half dedicated to us and half to the lesser-known "Italian Stallion," and an incredible music scene. Our goal is to elevate the music of those who do not have access to recording studios or are in genres considered too difficult to record. Although our mission extends the borders of Philadelphia, our heart lies in it.

Dedicated to musicians who are masters of their crafts

We frequently record musicians who have played their instruments for over two decades. Yet, they have never stepped into a recording studio. This is a loss of art and creative energy. We want to share those voices with the rest of the world. The current state of record labels and streaming revenues has created a toxic place for newcomers to record and publish their music. That is why we are steadfast in our goal of making studio access more affordable and plausible.

No limits on creativity

We record all types of music and encourage our clients to put forward their most creative works. We focus our production capabilities on artists and pieces that will be seen as fresh and unexpected in the overly saturated music world. In our experience, organically well-performing albums constantly push the boundaries of creativity.