About Pyramid Recording

Few people realize that behind every successful artist are dedicated recording studios, engineers, and producers.  A well equipped studio combined with a knowledgeable engineer/producer is a necessary ingredient towards any goal with music in a very competitive market.  From early work with Shawn Klush (Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist) to current originals such as Jonny The Saint in Dallas Texas, Lil Dap, Brooklyn, NY, Kermit's The Collective, "President Clinton's favorite band" Daddy-O and the Sax Maniax, and many other artists relied  on Pyramid Recording's production/engineering skills and dedication that got the job done.  The "no excuse/can do attitude" combined with experience in Rock, Folk, Rap, Country, R&B, Punk, Books on CD, Commercials, Celtic, Christian, and other special projects are the tools needed today.

The studio was constructed in 1996 and began operating in Northeast Pennsylvania, eventually working on projects across the country and into Europe via mail, Fed-Ex, UPS, and Internet FTP.  Pyramid Recording Studio has facilitated projects  from single artist to bands - amateur and professional.  We have worked with interstate as well as intrastate production companies and businesses with the need for professional voice over, video, and music tracks, in formats designed for CD, DVD, Internet, computer software, and more.

Pyramid was the first Pro studio in NEPA to introduce digital editing (to and from ADATs via ADAT Edit card) and the first to use Antares pitch correction version 1.1 when it came out on a floppy format in December 2000! We also started recording to hard disk with Cubase VST when most were still using ADATs.  Many years of experience in software based recording continued with Steinberg's Nuendo, a premier high end pro software company that developed the ASIO drivers and VST plug-ins. This digital system used at Pyramid has top quality converters going into Nuendo with the capability for 100's of fully automated audio tracks. 

Music today compared to yesterday

Despite the technology, music produced by record companies today does not have the quality of music 20-30 years ago. Lack of proper production, arrangements, and poor recording techniques, though acceptable as standard, have contributed to a lack of interest.  Another issue is the desire of record companies to have the loudest CD.  This is easily accomplished by compressing the digital audio to the point of having no dynamics - it's just loud with no depth or punch.  For more information on dynamics, CLICK HERE.  As far as radio play, keep in mind that songs with a lower level (more dynamics) are raised automatically with the station's compressors.

Fortunately, there is now a trend to reduce the levels of compression which makes the music come alive.  If the CD has a lower volume level when compared to another, simply turn it up and experience the depth dynamics bring!  You will find that listening to a CD with more dynamic range (less loudness) is also more comfortable to listen to.  At Pyramid, we can match the same loudness as other commercial releases, but are eager to restore dynamics that gives music depth.  

Analog Tape: It just sounds better!

There are many popular radio stations playing songs from the 70s-80s across the country.  Besides the music being played by humans rather than computer generated, the one thing in common is that they were recorded to analog tape!

Studios like Pyramid of NEPA are still equipped with professional tape machines from that time period.  Tape combined with the right production can help return this sound quality to music. Analog recording will give you better low end punch, overall fullness, soft natural compression,  and a sweet top end that digital can't touch.   The machine used here is an excellent 2" analog 24 track Otari picked up from Nashville.  These tracks may be transferred to digital for editing and further recording (no loss of analog tape effect).  If desired, the recording can also be mixed to our MCI 1/2" mastering tape machine using external automation to completely bypass digital recording taking advantage of the wonderful analog tape sound.  From there, the project may be transferred to the computer @ 96kHz 24bit again retaining the quality of analog we all love (listening to the classic rock and oldies stations) or even sent out for vinyl!  As many of us know, digital has been constantly compared to analog tape - yet even today it still does not compare to the warmth, soft compression,  and clean highs analog provides!

Thanks for taking the time to visit our website and best wishes!

David Hodorovic