We have a fine selection of guitars, amps, synthesizers and outboard gear to make your music sound awesome!

What's a project studio?

A project studio is somewhere between a home studio and commercial studio. This is a home studio that I'm inviting you into to collaborate and explore your music. The equipment is reliable and professional and the studio has been treated with sound panels and diffusers to create a more balanced acoustic environment. It's a little more than a basic home studio but not quite a full on commercial space.

Can't I just record at home or go to a "proper" studio?

Yeah, you definitely can! Many great albums (For Emma, In the Airplane Over the Sea, Nebraska) have been made at home in DIY settings. As an artist myself, I've worked in all three types of studios: home, project and commercial. The project studio sits between the home and commercial studio in terms of accessibility and functionality. You can record at home, but do you have enough mics, mic stands, preamps, and headphones to cut drums or a full band simultaneously? Is your room sonically treated to improve the acoustics? A big studio usually offers all of this and then some: top tier equipment, impeccable design, and diverse functionality. But a large commercial facility also has a higher price tag, usually starting somewhere around $70/hr and up. The project studio is a transitional space. Sometimes as artists we need a producer and engineer to help guide the production or to simply worry about all the technical stuff so we can just focus on giving our best performance. Magic 8 offers a lot of big studio amenities (guitars, synths, drum kit, 16 channels in, analog outboard) at half the price. Personally, I think this is a great deal for artists working on a budget. 

What are some uses of a project studio?

View this as a Swiss army knife. You can do everything you need here. But you could also opt to start tracks at home, bring them to Magic 8 for additional production, mixing, or mastering. You might want to cut your drums at a bigger studio with a great large room sound, but overdub your guitars and vocals here to save some bucks. I've worked with artists where we built the songs from scratch together. You might want to cut your tracks here and send them to someone else to mix and master. That's all good and a natural part of this business. I'm happy to be a part of your music project in whatever capacity you need me to be. At the end of the day, if I'm working on music, life is good!

Can you do a full band?

Hell yeah! We have 16 channels, so we can cut drums live. We have some extra rooms to put amps for separation and enough headphone outs for about 6 players simultaneously. 

What instruments do you play?

I play guitar, bass, some keys/synths, drums, and do midi sequencing. We can also hire sessions musicians to fill out your tracks. 

Where are you located?

We're in a residential area of SE Austin. It's literally my home so you know, we gotta respect that. The nice part is you've got a patio to stretch your legs and a couch to chill on while we recut 1,000 guitar solos.

Can I attend my mix or master session?

This is a passion project and I have a day job, so most of my mixing and mastering is done in the early morning or late evening hours. So generally, the answer is no, unless you are brining me coffee  and tacos at 6am. For clients doing a full album mix and/or master, we can do a final mix or final master session to make any slight adjustments and sign off on your project. I consider this additional studio time and bill at the hourly rate ($30/hr).