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Made In Waterdown.

Played Everywhere.

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FAQs

Our FAQs answer most questions that clients have. 

If you can’t find the answer to your question here, or would just rather talk to us directly, contact us here.

 

General

We’re tucked away in the quiet little town of Waterdown, Ontario, a stone’s throw away from Hamilton and Burlington. This picturesque town is the perfect creative hideaway built for music and the people who love making it.

Everyone from seasoned pros to total beginners. Whether you’re a songwriter, a band, a voice actor, or a family recording a song for Grandma, you’re welcome here.

Not at all. We’re here to guide you. No pressure, no expectations, just good vibes and great sound.

Recording Sessions

A standard recording session includes tracking, where you get access to our top of the line recording equipment, including state of the art mics, preamps, and instruments. This allows you to create your music with the very best tools in acoustically superior rooms. 

Recording sessions start at 2 hour minimum. If you aren’t sure how many hours you need to book, our advice is to book the minimum amount of time and then we can increase hours as we go if need be.

Absolutely. Bring a friend, a family member, or your whole band — just let us know in advance so we can prep the space.

Add Ons

When you’re booking a recording session, you have the option to enhance your booking by purchasing our add-on services. Add-ons allow you to customize your experience and take your project to the next level, whether that means distribution of your music to major streaming platforms, hiring one of our professional session musicians or pressing your music to vinyl.

Fee: $60 per hour per musician.

We have a roster of experienced, professional session musicians ready to join your session and bring your song to life. Our players are adaptable, reliable, and studio-ready. Just let us know what you need, and we’ll bring in the best musician for the job.

There’s a common misconception that a sound engineer and a music producer do the same thing. In today’s industry, many audio professionals wear both hats, but each role fulfills a very different purpose.

A sound engineer is responsible for setting up the audio equipment, operating the recording console during the session, and managing technical quality control as you record. When you book a recording session with us, you’re booking access to the studio, our professional-grade equipment, and an experienced engineer to capture your performance cleanly and accurately.

A music producer, on the other hand, provides creative direction throughout the process. They guide you through arrangement, melody, harmony, instrumentation, and overall song development—drawing on years of experience crafting records from both creative and technical perspectives. Whether you’re unsure about a chorus melody, need feedback on a hook, or want help shaping your song’s structure, your producer offers the creative leadership that helps bring your vision to life.

If you’d like this level of creative support during your session, simply select the Music Producer Add-On when booking.

Post-Tracking Services

Mixing is the process of taking all the individual elements of your recording, like vocals, instruments, effects, and more, and blending them into a polished, balanced final version of your song.

A mix engineer adjusts levels, EQ, compression, panning, ambience, and tone so every part of the track works together musically and emotionally. The goal is clarity, impact, and cohesion, ensuring your song sounds professional on any speaker system. This process cleans up your recording and ensures that it is fully optimized to sounds its best.

Mixing is an essential step before mastering.

Mastering is the final stage of audio production. It takes your finished mix and prepares it for release on all platforms. It ensures your music sounds balanced, polished, and consistent across every playback system, from studio monitors and car stereos to earbuds and streaming services.

A professional master evens out volume levels, enhances clarity, widens the stereo image, and brings your track up to commercial loudness standards without sacrificing dynamics.

If you plan to release your song publicly on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, radio, or vinyl, yes, you absolutely need mastering. It is the final quality check that makes your music sound cohesive, competitive, and truly finished. Even if you don’t plan to release your music, we still always recommend mastering to complete your song.

Fee: $350 one time payment for one 12″ vinyl pressing totalling 10 mins total (see “available 12″ formats” below).

Our custom vinyl add-on lets you turn your finished recording into a stunning, one-of-a-kind vinyl record.

We take care of everything from start to finish, including:

– Optimizing your track for vinyl pressing.
– Designing (or adapting)  artwork to into compliant sleeve templates.
– Preparing and delivering all  materials to our trusted manufacturing partner.
– Cutting your music by hand directly into high-quality vinyl.
– Undergoing our in-house quality control to ensure your record looks and sounds perfect.

It’s the ultimate way to commemorate your Smokey Hollow recording session, by creating a tangible medium that will not only preserve your music for decades to come, but one that you can also treasure and share.

AVAILABLE 12″ FORMATS:

12″ Single: 10 mins total. 45 RPM. Typically 2 songs.

12″ Maxi Single: 18 mins total. 33 RPM. Typically 3-4 songs.

12″ EP: 26 mins total. 33 RPM. Typically 5-7 songs.

12″ LP: 40 mins total. 33 RPM. Typically 8-10 songs.

A WORD ABOUT PRICING:

Each record we create is a true piece of craftsmanship. Unlike mass-produced factory pressings, our vinyls are lathe-cut by hand, meaning the grooves are physically carved into the vinyl in real time as your music plays. If your song is three minutes long, it takes three full minutes to cut a single copy, while one of our sound engineers listens and monitors the equipment. That meticulous, one-at-a-time process accounts for about half of the cost.

The remaining portion of the cost covers the time required for the professional preparation that makes your record look and sound exceptional. This includes:

– Optimizing your mix for vinyl.
– Designing sleeve artwork (or adapting pre-existing artwork) to fit industry vinyl standards.
– Managing all the logistics required for manufacturing and delivery.
– Quality control.

The result is a handcrafted, collector-quality record that captures your music in its most authentic and enduring form.

Most vinyl records you buy in stores are much cheaper because they’re mass-produced at scale. Factories create a single master mold and use it to press hundreds or thousands of identical copies, which dramatically lowers the cost per unit. They’re also purchased in bulk (with minimums often ranging from 150 to 500 records!) by distributors and retailers, further driving prices down.

We don’t do that. What we offer is called short-run vinyl, a boutique process designed for music artists who want just one or a few copies without any minimum order requirements. It’s slower, more hands-on, and far more personal. Think of it less like buying a mass-market product and more like commissioning a handcrafted keepsake, something closer in spirit to a fine watch, a painting, or a limited-edition Lego set. Each record is individually made, designed, and inspected to create a high-quality, lasting piece of art that truly reflects your music.

Order quantity for our short run vinyl is minimum 1 to maximum 20. To order more than 20, let us know and we’ll send you a bespoke quote.

The Launchpad is a three-part artist support system designed to help independent musicians release their music professionally. Each tier adds a new level of support — from simple distribution to full PR coordination. Artists can choose the service that fits their goals, budget, and level of experience.

ARTIST LAUNCH:

This service handles all the technical and administrative work involved in releasing your music commercially. At its core, the service gets your music on to streaming platforms, but goes much further than that.

Included:

  • Digital distribution to major streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, TikTok and more)

  • ISRC and UPC creation/assignment (these are the “fingerprints” of your music and are critical to track the activity of your music and, most importantly, royalties owed to you)

  • Prep and master formatting of your audio files

  • Artwork formatting to meet store requirements

  • ID3 metadata optimization (important for solidifying your ownership of your music)

  • Artist profile mapping to avoid duplicate artist profiles

  • Release date setup and scheduling

  • Registration of the works with SOCAN for your publishing royalties

  • Registration of sound recordings with RE:SOUND for your performance royalties

  • Delivery of all final live streaming links

Best for: Artists who want a worry-free, professionally handled release with zero guesswork.

ARTIST PROMOTE:

This service includes everything in ARTIST RELEASE, plus tools to help you promote your new release and present it professionally to your audience.

Included:

  • All features of ARTIST RELEASE

  • A custom artist landing page hosted on the Smokey Hollow website

    • Embedded Spotify/Apple players

    • Artwork + credits section

    • Lyrics section (optional)

    • SmartLink integration

  • A social-media-ready promo card

  • A professional editorial pitch submitted through Spotify for Artists

  • Submission of your track to verified playlist curators

  • Optional licensing pitching, where we share your track with our trusted network of music customers for potential licensing opportunities

Best for: Artists who want a polished online presence and a stronger promotional push for their release.

ISRC ONLY:

If you just need an ISRC code for your release, we can create one for you and embed it in your tracks at point of export. This means that your track will be:

  • Added to our ISRC database
  • Tracked across all stores, platforms and usages
  • Compliant with the IFPI (The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) 

Mixing and Mastering

At Smokey Hollow, every mix starts inside the DAW with detailed, surgical processing, where we balance levels, shape tone, and control dynamics so the song sits exactly where it should. Once the foundation is right, we take the music out of the box and run it through our analog chain: Neve summing, premium outboard EQ and compression, and all the high end colour pieces that give a mix depth, warmth, and character you simply can’t fake.

After printing the mix back into the DAW, we move into mastering, again using a blend of digital precision and outboard gear to add final EQ, compression, and limiting. Everything is checked across multiple playback systems. The end result is a mix that feels alive, translates everywhere, and proudly carries the Smokey Hollow sound.

Yep! We offer mixing and mastering services for tracks recorded at home or in other studios. Just send us clean stems and we’ll take it from there.

It depends entirely on the size of the project! We can advise you on the amount of mixing time required once we’ve assessed your project, but the minimum booking time for mixing is 5 hours.

Booking and Pricing

Use our online booking form or shoot us a message. We’ll help you find a session that fits your needs.

Our base rate is $100/hour with a minimum booking time of 2 hours. We run discount and promos throughout the year where you can often save some money. 

Students bands (high school/uni) get 30% off as standard.

If you need to cancel your session, we require at least 48 hours’ notice in order to refund your payment. Cancellations made with less than 48 hours’ notice are not eligible for a refund.

Need to reschedule? No problem! Just give us at least 48 hours’ notice and we’ll happily move your session to a new date.