FAQ

Q. What are your rates?

A. We care deeply about supporting our local scene, and we are only here thanks to the support of Local artists over the last 15 years. Because of this, we offer very competitive rates to the Greater Louisville Area. We also understand many bands are on a tight budget, and we will work with you to find the best fit for your project. We also offer discounted rates for booking large blocks of time, full album mixing, and lockouts. For non-local artists, we still offer lower than industry standard pricing, with packages for guest Engineers, Bands with their own engineers, and standard productions with our house engineers. We also offer practice space rentals, and DeadBird Live productions, Which are live shows with audience, and full production recordings of the show. Please feel free to contact us for more information!

Q. What should i bring to a session?

A. We have plenty of well maintained instruments available for use, but we suggest bringing whatever you feel most comfortable with. If you are comfortable on your guitar, amp, or drum kit, we can start there, but of course, all our instruments are available for use. We do expect drummers to bring their own cymbals/breakables. Please see our Gear List for a full list of available equipment.

Q. How does mixing work?

A. After tracking is all finished, we would love to mix your album! Mixing time can be very hard to calculate, and really depends on the performance, and depth of the tracking. Some recordings consist of a drum kit, bass, and an acoustic and a vocal, all live in a room. Other recordings have 350 tracks and 15 instruments to navigate, edit, and carefully balance. Editing and tuning can also add to this time. On average, after editing and tuning are accounted for, a full 8hr day session per song is our usual rough estimate, however, that may change based on the Artist’s budget, or the tracks complexity. We can usually give you a quote for total mixing time by the end of the tracking session, but we strongly encourage you to book mixing time at the same time you book your tracking sessions, especially if you are looking for a fast turnaround for a mixed album.

Q. Do you do mastering?

A. Yes we do! If you are looking for mastering of a project you have already finished, please contact us about rates! We are also happy to master an album you did with us at DeadBird, however, we strongly suggest that you consider finding another mastering house to do the job, simply because the most important part of mastering is “different speakers, different room, different EARS”.

Q. Do you have any session musicians available?

A. We have a ton of friends that are super talented here in Louisville. If you want guitarists, drummers, background vocals, keyboardists… you name it, we know someone who can do it! Rates vary based on the musician and scope of work.

Q. do you make beats?

A. No. We are primarily a recording, mixing, mastering, and production house. However, all of us here at Deadbird are musicians, and are personally available for commission to write music with, and for you- but, that is generally outside the scope of DeadBird Studios. If you are looking for beat makers or film scoring, we can negotiate something with you directly, or put you in touch with some friends!