2J Studio POLICIES

 

The session begins when scheduled whether or not you are present. We may not be able to make up time due to tardiness. You are financially responsible for your entire scheduled session. You must call and cancel and or reschedule at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled session start time or you will be charged 50% of your total session fee. If you make a deposit and no show or cancel within 48 hours of start time, your forfeit your deposit.

 

Q: Do you have different prices for recording, mixing or mastering?

A: No, everything is based on our regular hourly or bulk rate, whether you are recording, mixing, making radio edits, or creating performance tracks.

  

Q: What is the minimum session length?

A: 2 hours

  

Q: Is an engineer provided and included in the rate?

A: Yes, a staff engineer will always be provided and included in the rate. 

 

Q: Can I bring my own engineer?

A: Feel free to bring your own engineer, but as we are not a freelance studio, our policy is that one of our engineers must be present and there will be no deduction in rate as our engineer will be present.

 

Q: What do I need to bring to my session? 

A: Your music and lyrics in an acceptable format: CD, flash drive, hard drive. We are a Macintosh studio, so make sure your hard drive is Mac compatible. It also makes sense to have your material downloaded prior to your session, as you don’t want to use your paid studio time to download files. If you plan to bring analog hardware please make sure you have all appropriate power cables, zip disks, the manuals, etc. and any proprietary accessories. We are very knowledgeable with analog hardware synthesizers, but to make sure your session goes off with out a hitch, please contact your engineer prior to your session to let us know the particular equipment you are bringing so we can be prepared.

  

Q: What if I’m a first time 2J Studio client? 

A: We need a 50% deposit at least 4 days prior to your scheduled session. Deposits are non-transferable and non-refundable. If a client “no shows” or cancels within 48 hours of start time, the deposit is forfeited. 

Q: When do I need to pay a deposit? 

A: All first time clients and 10 hour sessions require a 50% deposit at least 4 days prior to your scheduled session. If you are booking a session with less than 48 hours notice, a deposit will be required at the time of booking to reserve the time. 

  

Q: If I do not use all of my booked time, can I apply it to a future session?

A: No, studio time is non transferable. 

  

Q: At the end of my session, will all of my songs be put on a CD? How many CD’s will I receive?

A: All songs “bounced” during the session will be put onto a CD, 1 CD per customer, additional CD’s cost $1.00. We recommend having the engineer bounce your song when it is completed to avoid completing your hours without adequate time left to “bounce” your songs. Please remember ProTools “bouncing” is real time. (a 5 min. song takes 5 min. to bounce), plus the time needed to burn a C.D.

  

Q: We booked a recording session and would like to have someone film during our session, is that okay?

A: 2J Studios loves when people share that they have chosen to record here with their fans. We just ask that you credit 2J Studios in your video.

 

Q: Will you save all of my sessions? 

A: We will save your sessions for 60 days. Upon receiving payment in full for your session, we are more than happy to back up all data to a personal hard drive and/or flash drive provided at the end of your session. If you do not have a hard drive or flash drive ask us to back up to a DVD (it takes about 10 min to back up to a DVD-R). Please remember to budget enough time to backup during your session.

  

Q: What if I need a bounce or a few revisions made and don't want to schedule a full session?

A: If bounces were not made during a scheduled session and JUST a bounce needs to be made it will be $5 if needed within 24hrs.  All revisions are done in 15 minute increments at an additional $15.

  

Q: What is your late/ cancellation/ rescheduling policy?

A: The session begins when scheduled whether or not you are present. We may not be able to make up time due to tardiness. You are financially responsible for your entire scheduled session. You must call and cancel and or reschedule at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled session start time or you will be charged 50% of your total session fee, up to $100. If you make a deposit and no show or cancel within 48 hours of start time, you forfeit your deposit.

 

Q: How do I get there/ Where do I park?

A: We are conveniently located in the South side of Chicago. Unlike most city neighborhoods, we have FREE street parking. For exact directions please go to our contact page.

 

Q: What are acceptable forms of payment?

A: Cash

 

Q: What does vocal production include?

A: As many of you know, Julio Meléndez, is an extremely vocalist arranger, and producer in addition to being an Engineer.  He always goes the extra mile to transform your vocals.  With Melodyne, Auto Tune Live, Julio is now well equipped to offer vocal production services. The rate for this service will be an additional $30 p/hr to have Julio take the necessary steps (coach, arrange, produce, Melodyne, Auto Tune, etc.) to give you the best possible vocals.  

 

Q: What is a flat rate mix?

A: A flat rate mix allows Julio Meléndez to really focus on one song with out having to work against the clock.  He will spend as much time as your song requires.  This ensures that your record is the first thing Julio hears when he gets to the studio, avoiding ear fatigue. During the mixing process he will listen to your song in multiple environments outside of the studio (i.e. car, laptop, home theater system, etc.) to ensure your mix translates well in all environments.  This will also include two, 1-hour revisions with a total turn around time of 3-7 business days.  A 50% deposit will be required 48 hours in advance and the remaining 50% will be due upon pickup.  Call us for a custom quote when purchasing more than 3 flat rate mixes.

  

Q: What if I’m working on a small budget for a mixtape? 

A: When working on “for sale” album quality songs, Julio needs 3-6 hours to achieve major label quality. 2J STUDIO prides itself on being able to work with clients of all budgets, and excellent results can be achieved in as little as 2 hours for multi-track songs. This is ideal for independent artists and mixtapes. As most mixtapes are usually 2-tracked (all sounds and instruments blended together), it only takes one hour to mix and master, unless it has an elaborate hook.

  

Q: What are the pros and cons of multi-track vs 2-track mixing

A: A multi track results in the best possible mix allowing the engineer to manipulate all aspects of the song, (beef up kick, brighten snare, spread out synths, etc.) however, it takes more time to mix a multi-track session, thus requiring more studio time. It takes Julio 2-6 hours to mix and master a muti-track record to industry standard. (Most national records are mixed from multi-track.) A 2-track is more cost efficient, however, is not able to be manipulated in all aspects (can’t remove vocals, turn up the kick or snare, etc.) It takes Julio about 1 hour to mix and master a 2-track session.

  

Q: I see you’re a ProTools studio, what if I have Logic or Reason files? 

A: 2J Studio's can work with all software program’s file type, provided you take a few small steps to prepare them. All files must be consolidated WAVS. (all must start at the same time as ProTools won’t recognize Logic’s time stamp and vise versa) Please export WAVS at the bit depth and sampling rate you have selected when you created your Logic or Reason file.