a creative environment
 Welcome to
Raptor Recording Studios!
Located in Fargo, North Dakota,
USA, Raptor Studios is a professional
digital recording facility featuring a Mackie HDR24/96 24-track
hard disc recorder and four Tascam DA-78 and DA-88
modular digital multitrack recording decks, a Mackie 32-Channel
8-Bus Mixer with six auxiliary buses, numerous outstanding effects
and signal processors, Tascam DA-40 and Tascam DA-30 mixdown
decks, and Alesis Monitor Two three-way midfield monitoring as
well as Alesis Point Seven nearfield monitoring in the Control
Room (pictured below).
The result is pristine, superior
digital audio with an organic warmth generated by the hardwood
floors of the Main Room (pictured left), isolated studio rooms
(pictured below) and a full professional complement of premier
brand microphones including Neumann, Sennheiser, AKG, Audio Technica,
Beyerdynamic, Electro-Voice and Shure.
Now in its tenth year of operation,
Raptor Studios has recorded
a broad range of CD projects for artists throughout the Upper
Midwest. Under the expertise of producer/engineer
Mike Coates, artists from rock, blues and country
to classical, folk and jazz have released successful
and musically outstanding projects. Co-owners Mike
and Linda Coates remain committed to their original vision
of a recording facility that offers top-quality production values
to regional musicians at affordable prices.
The page below will give you
an overview of our studio's history, aesthetic philosophy and
a look inside a typical recording project. You are also invited
to check out recordings produced here at Raptor Studios by artists on our Barking Dog Records label,
independent clients who have recorded full-length
CD projects, and a limited number of demo/short
CD projects.
If you are planning a recording
project and are checking out recording studios, please read the
rest of this page to see what we are all about and take a moment
to look at the illustrated equipment
list. If our studio seems like a good fit for your project,
you can find contact information and rates here.
History
and Mission Statement
by producer/owner Mike
Coates
"When Linda and I created
our professional recording studio/record label business in 1995,
we did so with several specific goals in
mind:
First, we resolved to create a first-rate facility predicated
on superior contemporary technology --rich in artistic ambience--
that would enable exceptional area & regional artists to
record CD
projects exclusively (i.e., we
don't do advertising campaigns or produce "jingles")
in an inspiring, relaxed and comfortable, highly affordable creative environment with optimum artistic control and personal freedom.
Founded on extensive personal experience, we conceived Raptor Studios as a direct
challenge to the traditional "big studio" recording
scenario with its crippling prices, revolving door clientele,
long, stressful sessions, inflexible scheduling, and technicians
wholly unfamiliar with the artist and his or her work--all typically
at a long commute, both physically and psychologically, from
the artist's home.
Secondly, we wanted to create a facility that would serve
as a creative
vehicle
for our own classical guitar/vocal
duo projects. We simply really enjoy performing together and
plan on recording many albums and performing live until we're
even older and grayer.
Third, and supplementary to our own performing/recording
agenda, we elected to take an even greater calculated risk by
forming our own Barking Dog Records
label to assist in releasing and promoting both our Mike & Linda Coates product
and that of artists we chose to take on as special status "label
projects." Initially we felt that the label would deal exclusively
with acoustic and classical artists, but since that time we have
expanded that paradigm into a broader, "regional artists"
concept. It is our ultimate hope and goal to advance the career of every Barking Dog Records
label artist by conquering
the immediate upper Midwest region -- through live performances,
record sales and distribution -- and to eventually attract the
interest of major labels and distributors for a national campaign.
Fourth, we both wanted to be involved in a business venture
where we could seriously exercise our personal
chops. After spending
ten stifling years in academia (and sick to death of office politics)
I was itching to return to performing and recording our own efforts
and to design a recording facility according to my specs where
I could work and interact closely with artists in a broad and
stimulating range of musical styles--classical to rock. Linda
had achieved such remarkable success in the community as director
of the Lake Agassiz Arts Council and the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony
that we were anxious to challenge and exploit her marketing skills
in these treacherous waters. And working as a graphic design
artist with our recording clients offers her the opportunity
to practice her considerable visual arts skills. Of course, as
lifelong career musicians with Masters Degrees, the opportunity
to practice our craft in art is vital to our personal happiness.
And finally, we both felt it was important to give me--a self-avowed
workaholic--an opportunity to work in an environment where I
could be home and near our two kids more than I was when I taught
at Moorhead State University. If the professional need arises
some day to build a larger "downtown" facility with
multiple rooms and expanded functions (e.g., video facilities)
we will examine the options, but for now, Raptor Studios is our
dream come true--our own personal "batcave."
Comfort and flexibility...
We have worked with many fine
artists and people over the years and have been thankful to be
a collaborative part of all the exciting, innovative, and diverse
music that has graced our facility. We have quickly established
a reputation in the region for quality and care that are second
to none. Extras at Raptor have always included special
pluses like flexible
scheduling which includes
lock-outs at no additional cost (we do projects one at a time!);
living
room monitoring (via
a Tascam DA-20 and our Pioneer home stereo) to augment our control
room main and nearfield monitoring (a great comfort feature for
artists); in-house
graphic design including
full color laser printer for promotional materials and in-house
color proofs; use of our 6 1/2' Kimball grand piano as well as vintage Marshall and Fender guitar amplifiers, various keyboards, and 760 Leslie speaker at no
additional cost to the performer; and even an adjacent guest suite for artists who need to stay for extended periods
of time. However, Linda and I are dedicated to the notion of
constantly upgrading our facility and our personal skills, and
during the past couple years we have made a number of improvements that I feel make us competitive with
just about anyone. See our full complement of equipment and instruments
here.
Facility features...
Our isolation/vocal booth (left) allows us to comfortably accomodate "full-band"
or "live" recording scenarios and still maintain individual
track integrity for optimum mix flexibility and overdub/punch-in
 options.
Featuring sightline accessibility to both the control room and
the studio, what we are most excited about is the size of the
room ( 9' x 7' ) and the fact that it maintains the acoustic
properties of our main room, due in no small part to the custom
hardwood floor.
A slightly smaller, second isolation
room (right) provides
further flexibility in group tracking. Typically used for guitar
or keyboard amps, this acoustically treated space makes it possible
for bands to simultaneously track drums, bass, guitar and vocals
to get a true ensemble "feel" yet retain complete track
isolation.
Location recording
Our full complement of remote recording equipment (featuring Yamaha's ProMix 01 16-channel digital
mixer) allows us the flexibility to offer location recording--all
in the digital domain--with our best house microphones. We then
return to the studio for post-production, final mixes and mastering
utilizing all of the studio gear.
Take a moment to check out our
illustrated equipment list.
LATEST
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