Music Recording
Editing
Mastering
Restoration/Forensic Audio
Composition and Sound Design
Duplication
Graphic Design
Mission Studios has been constructed to provide the discriminating artist with a comfortable place to create while offering the highest calibre of equipment to capture their performances. With 40 channels of analogue (24 of them on our 2" Otari MTR-90, for when you just have to have that classic sound), an effectively unlimited number of non-linear digital tracks, an array of high-quality microphones, and racks of select signal processing gear, we've got the right tools for any job. More importantly, we offer the advantages of an investment of over $100 000 in acoustic treatment, resulting in an extremely accurate (and great sounding) recording space. We're proud to say that the quality of Mission Studios' sound is matched only by that of our clients. (back to top)
With two SADiE systems (a Classic and a 2496), Logic Audio Platinum, and Sound Forge at our disposal, we offer the ability to take on any editing task from cleaning up or comping tracks for that "perfect" take, to drastically restructuring an entire song. High-quality analog-to-digital converters insure that your signal is never abused during its voyage through our processors. Unless, that is, you want it to be, in which case we have an arsenal of creative and esoteric plug-ins that will appease even the most demanding (or deranged) sound designer. (back to top)
Mastering is where individual songs become an album - placed, spaced, faded, and matched. Mastering in its essence consists of two vital phases - the acoustic and the technical. On the acoustic level, mastering is that final sweetening to enhance your individual mixes, while matching all the tracks on your album in level and timbre. To do this properly, it is imperative to have a sophisticated and acoustically transparent room such as Mission's carefully designed control room, so that what you hear coming out of our speakers will translate well to any other system.
The technical side of mastering requires something well beyond the capacity of your average CD burner: the ability to create an error-free master. Thanks to our precision equipment, we can guarantee that our masters are without error and meet the criteria of being "technically ready for duplication". If you are considering trusting your masters to somebody who can't make that same guarantee - run! In addition, our SADiE systems allow sophisticated editing of the PQ codes which provide location and timing information for each track, and the overall layout of the record. They also just happen to sound amazing. (back to top)
As recording formats continue to evolve, we are seeing a tremendous interest in clients restoring and preserving older recordings on vinyl or cassette onto newer and more durable media. We offer full click and hiss removal, noise reduction, and even clipped peak restoration. These processes can be applied quickly to do a general enhancement of overall sound quality, or alternatively as a sophisticated process that could, for instance, isolate a conversation out of a roomful of unwanted ambience. (back to top)
Despite different backgrounds, specialties, and interests, everybody in the extended Mission family shares a common love of music. The studio offers two Hammond Organs (a B3, and anM3, each with its own Leslie Cabinet); guitar amps by Marshall and Fender; guitars by Ibanez, Sigma, and Fender; an Alesis D4 Drum Module, and a Kurzweil K2500 synthesizer with over 10 Gigabytes of samples. With the right tools for the job, and experience in genres ranging from classic R&B to the most contemporary electronic sounds, we're happy to provide you with custom music for:
...or anything else you may need!
Additionally, many clients looking to do a "karaoke"-style session prefer to have us record a custom version of a given song rather than rely on a pre-made CD, so that key, tempo, and overall groove and feel can be customized to the client's specific taste. Moreover, Mission's relationship with the area's finest musicians provides a rich pool of premiere players available to enhance any project.
Clients requiring sound design can make use of Mission's extensive sound effects library, including over 40 hours of material from industry leaders Sound Ideas. Those in search of custom effects will find a variety of acoustic spaces at Mission, ranging from the serenity of the tracking room to storage areas, carpeted bedrooms, concrete hallways, and a fully functional kitchen. (Sometimes you need the sound of cutlery rattling. Sometimes you need a BLT. Either way, we've got you covered.) (back to top)
Mission Studios is proud to be the Northern Ontario Sales Rep of Cinram International, and as such can offer our clients excellent rates from an industry leader in duplication, able to handle any order, no matter how big. However, for our clients who may not need the standard minimum order of 300 units, Mission is happy to provide in-house short-run duplication of cassettes, audio or data CDs, and floppy discs. We exclusively use a top quality multi burner duplicator and high quality media. Your work is done both quickly and locally, and we can typically facilitate most in-house clients within just a few days. (back to top)
Mission's graphics suite offers Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Corel Draw, and can handle as sophisticated a layout as you'd like. Customers using our in-house duplication service will have the exceptional printing quality of our Hewlett-Packard 8550 colour laser printer. In addition to album artwork, many clients have also used Mission's graphics services to augment their promotional packages with custom business cards or posters. (back to top)
