ANDREW WADE BIO
It all started on a dual cassette recorder in his bedroom more than a decade ago. For about 9 years, Andrew has been recording and producing music for himself and other musicians. His parents were very supportive and let him use their house, but after sometime the studio grew to the point where it needed a new location. The studio had to live on. A few of Andrew's friends believed in his studio so much that they offered their homes as a temporary place to record.
"Since I couldn't record at my house anymore, I needed a new place to put my studio. Fortunately, I knew a good friend, Philip Shorb, who would let me record at his house. He's currently the drummer of Fireflight (Flicker Records). Well, I recorded there as long as long as I felt comfortable; I know how bothersome it can be at times to have strangers come into your house and play loud instruments all day. So after about two months, I actually moved my studio back into my parents' house. I tried doing recordings in a different way, which was programming drums and using virtual guitar amps. I did it that way so I could keep really quiet and not bother anyone. But, I really couldn't stand doing it like that, so I was pretty much forced to stop recording. (My) next move after that was college."
Andrew was accepted into a limited access program at a major university to acquire a BFA in graphic design. He gave up a 100% scholarship, the support of his parents, and other great opportunities to pursue his career solely as an engineer and producer.
"So, I tried the whole college thing for about a year, but things just didn't work out. Then I remembered an offer I got a while back from my friend Scott Kauffmann. Well, I gave him a call and needless to say my studio was in (his backhouse) after only a few days. That place was crazy, but I was so excited to be there! Scott's family used it mainly as a storage place. When I first got there, boxes were stacked all the way to the ceiling... that ceiling was 9 feet high! And of course there was hardly any room to walk. There was no bathroom, the electricity would go out if I used the air conditioner too long, there were tons of random odds and ends like a washer, dryer, a bathtub, boxes, a canoe, a freezer, and not to mention all of my recording equipment! ...I sure will miss that canoe!"
He's had several offers from other studios, engineers, and investors to start a business relationship or to run another studio, but he's remained a one-man show for years. He explains his current situation and how things worked out:
"I was being released from Scott's backhouse after being there for almost a year. It was then I got a call from another local engineer/producer who wasn't able to maintain the rent at his studio. Everything seemed to just fall into place. I moved all my equipment over there, and it's great-I've been there ever since. The other guy moved his studio somewhere else and is doing well."
Andrew's been at his new studio location since November of 2006. He says it's much easier to focus in such a relaxing and creative environment.
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FAVORITE ARTISTS
HERE ARE SOME OF ANDREW'S FAVORITE ALBUMS THAT HE'S GROWN WITH AND BEEN INFLUENCED BY. HE THINKS EVERYONE SHOULD OWN THESE:
• Rockin' the Suburbs, Ben Folds
• Deja Entendu, Brand New
• Rush of Blood to the Head, X&Y, Coldplay
• Beneath the Medicine Tree, In Motion, Copeland
• Plans, Transatlanticsism, Death cab for cutie
• The Moon is Down, Further Seems Forever
• Emotion is Dead, The Juliana Theory
• Give Up, The Postal Service
• Mmhmm, Relient K
• Saosin, Saosin
• Page Avenue, Story of the year
• Self-titled, Third eye blind
• The Artist in the Ambulance, Thrice
• Bringing Down the Horse, The Wallflowers
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STUDIO INFORMATION
The studio is very easy to get to (only 1 turn after you get off the highway). Even though the studio is on a major road, it's tucked away so there are no distractions. It's less than a mile from hotels, restaurants, and the local mall. The studio has a security door and a security system so equipment is safe if left overnight. The 3 main rooms are the tracking room, the mixing room, and a hangout area.
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GEAR LIST
*Must request before session
MICS
• Neumann U87
• Neumann KM 184's (stereo pair)
• Sennheiser MD421 (2)
• Sure SM 57 (5)
• Rode NT5 (2)*
• Sure Beta 87a (3)*
• Sure Beta 52a
• CAD m179
• Audio Technica AT3031 (2)
• Sound Professionals SP-TFB-2HT Binaural Mics
PREAMPS
• Universal Audio 2-610
• SSL Alpha VHD
• 2-channel Neve Strip*
• PreSonus MP20
• ART DPSII
• ART TPSII
• Digimax LT
CONVERTERS
• Apogee Rosetta 800
MONITORS
• Dynaudio BM5A's
• Altec Lansing small reference speakers
INTERFACE
• Firewire1814
SOFTWARE
• ProToolsLE
• MPToolkit - Up to 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks at up to 96 kHz
• All the plugins that come with ProTools plus the following:
• Synchro Arts VocAlign
• Drumagog 4
• Digidesign Hybrid synthesizer
• TL Space Native Edition convolution reverb
• Smack! LE compressor/limiter
• SoundReplacer drum replacement tool
• DINR LE intelligent noise reduction tool
• Multi-track Beat Detective rhythm analysis and correction tool
• FXPansion VST to RTAS Converter
• and many more...
MIDI CONTROLLERS
• Fully weighted 88 key*
• Studiologic 49 key
COMPUTER
• ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
• 2GB DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz Socket 939 Processor
INSTRUMENTS, ETC.*
• Marshall 1960AV 4x12 Cabinet
• All sorts of instruments from guitars to drums to rhodes available upon request.
• Studio musicians also available upon request.
• Drum tech's equipment list:
SNARES
14x6" DW brass
14x8" Modern Classic maple
13x7" Pork Pie Pig Lite acrylic
13x6" Pork Pie custom maple w/ 56 vent holes
13x5" Yamaha Dave Wekil series maple
14x5" Yamaha Ctage custom
14x5.5" Ludwig acrilight aluminum
DRUMS
C&C custom maple (burnt orange sparkle)
Diameter/depth:
10x7" rack
14x14" floor
16x16" floor
22x20" kick
Premier genista birch (forest green stain)
Diameter/depth:
10x9" rack
12x10" rack
14x12" floor
16x14" floor
22x18" kick
CYMBALS (all zilidjan)
18" A custom medium thin crash
19" Z custom medium crash
20" K custom ride
21" A sweet ride
14" A custom New Beat hi-hats
18" ZXT china
KICK PEDALS
Pearl double pedal
DW double pedal
STANDS
5 boom stands
3 straight
3 snare stands
2 hi hat stands
1 remote hi-hat stand
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