MAIL: PO Box 31 Burswood WA 6100
E-MAIL: bergerkstudios_hotmail.com
TELEPHONE: 0402740792
Specializing in recordings for original musicians and bands, Bergerk! Studios creates quality recordings for all types of budgets, whether it's an album, demo or pre production recording.
Owned and run by engineer Alan 'DrAlien' Smith, who for 15 years has worked as a recording engineer on countless projects, the studio features quality recording equipment, great sounding recording spaces and the skills of an experienced engineer.
The studio itself is located in Rivervale, Perth, Western Australia and features a large control room, 2 spacious recording rooms and a kitchen.
RECENT PROJECTS
Some of the bands who have recorded, mixed or mastered at Bergerk! recently are The Disappointed, Shock Octopus, Alex The Kid, The Yokohomos, Andrew Ewing, Honeywheeler, SSA, Dying Sun, Fatal Intentions, Coalminers Sect, The Hunt, Drowning Horse + many more.
LATEST GEAR NEWS
We now have a 5 piece Sleishman recording drum kit, a Giles Audio Modded CAD Trion 8000 Valve mic, a REDDI Tube DI, Peterson Strobe Stompbox Tuner, a BLA Microclock, a pair of BLUE Bluebird mics and an AKG C-414 XLS at Bergerk!
MUSIC PLAYER
Our music player contains songs recorded at Bergerk! by Honeywheeler, Andrew Ewing, Foxes, Shimmergloom, The Devil Rides Out, The Origin Of, Extortion, Minute 36, Chainsaw Hookers, Heytesburg, Taipan, Hooper's Store, Atolah, No Shelter, Abbe May, Eleventh He Reaches London, Defeat and Jonny Taylor.
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At Bergerk! Studios, we can record, mix and master all projects for bands and solo artists including Singles, Albums, EPs and Demos. We can take care of every step in the recording process all the way through to the master disc (including mastering for Vinyl).
Each recording project is unique and different so please get in touch for a reliable quote.
RATES
Our general rate is $60 an hour or $480 per day. All other costs like master discs etc are included in that price. All costs include GST.
A deposit is required when making a booking.
If you are a WAM member or an RTRFM Subscriber, you recieve a discount rate of $55 an hour or $440 a day when you present your cards.
Take advantage of a professional studio environment, great sounding rooms, mics and (most importantly) an expert engineer and record anything you require.
Need to record a full drum kit but don't have enough inputs or mics in your home set up? Can't get a vocal sound at home that sounds pro enough?
We can record anything for you and provide you with the data to take home and use yourself.
Or better still, keep the project inhouse and get Bergerk! to mix and master your project as well.
Once your project has been recorded, bring it into Bergerk! to have it mixed professionally and creatively by engineer Alan Smith. We use Samplitude, which has the best mix engine in the business, along with a host of plugins and creative mixing tools and techniques.
All we need is the multitrack data bounced down to wav or aiff.
As for mastering, whether its for CD, Vinyl or the best sounding MP3's for the web, we can do it all. Just bring in the stereo mixes of your songs and we can polish them up and give you all the masters for whatever way you are going to press or distribute your music.
OUTBOARD
Compressors - FMR PBC-6A, FMR RNC, ART PRO VLA (tube mods), MXR Dual Limiter, McMartin LR-1004a.
Equalizers - 2 x PTM EQ Section parametrics.
SOFTWARE
Plugins from Waves, Sonalksis, PSP, Universal via UAD-1 and more. Drumagog and Sampletank.
EXTRAS
Headphones by Extreme Isolation, Sony and AKG, Voodoo Labs Amp Slector, ProCo Rat Distortion, Moen Violent Metal distortion, Flying V noise machine, Behringer Keyboard + MIDI controller, Tamborines, shakers and various percussion, wood and tin whisles, Radial DI's and Re-Amping boxes.
MICROPHONES
AKG C-414 XLS
Blue Bluebird x2
M-Audio Sputnik (TAB Funkenwerk T-14 Mod)
Shure SM7b, SM81 x2, SM57 x4, G5790, Beta57
Audix D6, I5
Sennheiser E602
Kel Audio HM2D
Placid Audio Copperphone
Beyer M201
CAD M179, Trion 8000 x2 (One modded by Giles Audio, the other with valve and capsule mods)
Audio Technica ATM25
ElectroVoice N/D468 x2, 635A
Alctron Modded Ribbon mics x4
Egg-Static Harp Mic
Various old pzms, CB and speaker mics.
CORE SYSTEM
Sountracs FMP 24 channel desk (with Audio Upgrades Jim Williams channel Mods) into an M-Audio Profire 2626 interface for 26 ins and outs via PC, running Samplitude ProX Suites software with unlimited tracks, clocked by BLA Microclock II
MONITORS
Adam A7's
Avantone Mixcubes
AMPS + INSTRUMENTS
5 Piece Mapel shell Sleishman Drum Kit
Eminar 70's150W Valve PA head for Guitar and Bass
Quad box with 70's Celestion Blackbacks
Eminar 80's Bass Amp combo (15inch)
VOX 15w Practice amp
Fender Squire Jazz bass
Monteray Acoustic Steel String
Flying V Noise Machine
Stylophone
DRUMMERS - Firstly, try and re-skin your kit. It can be an expensive exercise, but its well worth it. Try and re-skin a week before the session and play the skins in during 1 or 2 rehearsals so that they stretch in before recording. Secondly, If you aren't the worlds best drum tuner (and be honest with yourself) but you know someone who is, get them to come down to the session and help you with the tuning. Its always better to tune them on the day, while they are in the recording room. Thirdly, try and clean your cymbals. All drum shops sell special cymbal cleaner and unless you're 'very precious about not cleaning a vintage cymbal set' then its well worth cleaning cymbals. It can really restore that special shimmer to a cymbal.
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BASS PLAYERS -Firstly, re-string your bass a few days before the recording session. This will allow you to play the strings in a bit but still keep the attack of new strings. There is always talk of boiling your bass strings to restore them to near new, and while it works to a degree, its not really a substitute for new strings. Secondly, make sure that you have NEW spare strings with you in case of braking a string. Having old strings as spares won't work too well in the studio. Thirdly, if you have an active bass, change the battery before a recording session. In fact put all new batteries into any tuners or pedals you have.
If you are considering hiring something like a bass or an amp, make sure you hire it a day or two before the session so you get a chance to play around with the sound you want. Alot of time can be wasted in the studio if you bring down an amp you have never used before. Also keep in mind that an 8x10 fridge is a great live amp, but in the studio a 4x10 is just as good because you're only going to mic up a couple of speakers and massive amounts of volume doesn't always equal a great sound.
GUITAR PLAYERS - Guitar strings tend to wear out quicker than bass strings, so always re-string your guitar the night before a recording session. Also have a spare set of NEW strings and make sure you have plenty of new 9V batteries for pedals and active pick ups. Always have a tuner handy and double check your guitars intonation. If notes start to go out of tune up the neck, you should consider taking it to someone who can set up guitars properly and adjust the intonation. Its another good idea to go over your collection of leads. Check them all and weed out any that might have dodgy connectors, or look like they are going to fall apart. Make sure you are using the right sort of cable, you need a dedicated speaker cable to connect an amp and a speaker box, don't use a guitar lead, and visa versa. If you are considering borrowing or hiring extra gear for a recording, make sure you get access to it before your session so you can get to know it and find the sounds you are after.
SINGERS - First and formost, you need to look after your voice. Try and get a good nights sleep and dont hit the piss too hard before recording sessions. Print out 2 copies of your lyrics to bring in to the studio, one for yourself and one for the engineer. You might know all of your lyrics off by heart, but its great to have them there as a back up, plus the engineer will appreciate having the lyrics in front of him while you are tracking your parts.
There are plenty of other 'throat' tips but the ones i think work the best are these. Don't drink milk products, drink plenty of water and try some apple juice. It coats the vocal chords in a good way that keeps them moist. Whatever you drink, make sure its not cold or hot, room temperature is best, or warm in the case of teas and coffees.
Every singer needs to warm up before singing. If you don't feel like belting out some lalalas in front of the rest of the band, find a quiet corner and just do some humming. Its the best way to get the vocal chords moving without stressing them out.
AS A BAND - Pre-Production! Even if its just a mic in a room while you are jamming, demos are really important. It allows you to step back and listen to each members parts in a song and gives you an idea about how the songs come together as a whole. So often, for example, I might hear a guitarist say to a bass player 'I didnt even know you played that riff'. By doing demos, you can identify parts of songs that might needwork and sort those issues out before you come into the studio.
Another issue is click tracks or metronomes. I get bands occasionally who come into the studio and ask to use a click track for recording. There are great advantages to using one, but there are downsides too. Firstly, click tracks are very hard to play to. If you haven't been rehearsing with one in the jam room, don't expect to be able to use one in the studio. You will end up listening too hard to it and your performances will go out the window. However, if you have been rehearsing with one, it becomes second nature and it will enhance your takes rather than thwart them.
A lot of time, money and panadol can be saved in the studio by preparing in advance. This is a quick list of things to do before you come into the studio.
