::::::::::::: THIS IS MEGAPHON STUDIOS :::::::::::::

ABOUT MEGAPHON

Megaphon Studios has been operating as a commercial sound recording studio facility for 20 years. It started as a partnership venture in 1986, between Guy Dickerson and Shane Fahey and was incorporated as a small company in 1989.

Megaphon soon became well-known as one of the prime independently owned studios in Sydney, proving popular amongst bands such as Midnight Oil (Earth and Sun and Moon, 1993), The Hoodoo Gurus (Armchair Gurus/Electric Chair, 1998), The Cruel Sea (Three Legged Dog, 1995), Cold Chisel (Last Wave of Summer, 1998), and The Clouds (Penny Century, 1991).

Recent clients include::
Waiting For Guinness (Working title – “Friend or Foe”); The Celibate Rifles (recording extra material for their soon-to-be-released box set); Tambalane (self-titled); Further (self-titled album); Kisschasy recording their aria-nominated single and album “United Paper People”; Grand Fatal recording and mixing their debut album ”Allies”; The Panics tracking for their critically acclaimed album “Sleeps Like a Curse”; and The Hard-Ons “Most People Are A Waste Of Time”

The studio also gained a reputation as a first-rate studio to record orchestral music for films at reasonable prices. Film scores recorded at Megaphon include Babe, Idiot Box and Looking for Alibrandi.

All the recording rooms have been thoughtfully designed and fitted out to create the ideal recording environment for musicians, producers and engineers. The aim is to achieve professional recordings at an affordable rate.

	CLASSIC ROOM
	:: Remember the ABC Live-to-Air recording/broadcast rooms at Forbes Street, Sydney or the main recording room of Festival Studios in Pyrmont, Sydney? Megaphon's Classic Room has all the hallmarks of that era, of building and acoustic treatment. The Classic Room, which is the main recording room, has a floor area of 100 square metres. Its floor is the original hardwood strip flooring, laid directly on a solid 200mm thick concrete slab. The slab is supported on chunky, concrete columns surrounding and in between. Consequently the room has a classic construction with a floor slab, which isn't totally massive or damped like a 'slab on ground', or restricted in its response like a slab supported on rows of steel beams. Also, because of its reasonably large volume with a 3.6 metre ceiling height, the room can accommodate a full live band set-up, a 30-piece string section or a 60 strong choir. The room has a warm, live sound that is open, but not reverberant. This is ideal for recording jazz, blues or soul bands as an organic live event. The sightlines to the Control Room, the Crash Room (the second recording room) and the Warm Room (the third recording room) are all very good for when the project calls for isolation between musicians. The 'early sound' response of the room is versatile and can be shaped by the placement of mobile, full height partitions, which contain glass panels for sight and sound. Further modifications can be made using the gobos, rugs and foam absorber panels that are available.

CLIENTS

Adam Brand, Alien Christ, Aronos, Ashtray Heart, Backsliders, Blue Bottle Kiss, Bloody Mary, Bluejuice, Blue Tongue, Blue Train, Brendan Gallagher, Catherine Hunter, Celibate Rifles, Gentle Assassins, Chris Abrahams, Cindy Ryan, Coda, Cold Chisel, Crimson Dawn, Dan Brodie, d-Gare, Dhamor Percussion Group, DIG, Dorian Mode, Drop City, El Duende, Engine Room, Exotica, Exposed Bone, Feather Stone, Fourplay, Frenzal Rhomb, Front End Loader, Further, Gaslight Radio, Gentle Assassins, Gersey, Golden Rough, Grand Fatal, Grinspoon, Hamish Stewart, Hell City Glamours, Helter, Hoodoo Gurus, House of Reps, Hytest, Jacky Orszacsky, Janet Seidel, Jed Whitey, Jive Bombers, John Morrison, Kid Courageous, Kisschasy, Inga Lilljestrom, Leonardo's Bride, Louis Tillet, Love me, Magic Dirt, Martin Ryles, Medium Brown, Mick Hart, Mick Harvey, Midnight Oil, Mink Jaguar, Missy Higgins, Monsieur Camembert, Monster Stomp, Mortal Sin, Nadya’s 101 Candles Orkestra, Paul Mac, Pivot, Pollyanna, Pugsley Buzzard, Rai Thistlethwaite, Redsun Band, Rumanastone, Sarah McCloud, Shelley Rosenberg, Sidecar, Sidewinder, Silverchair, Silvertone, Skunkhour, Social Interiors, Something for Kate, Spiderbait, Stella One Eleven, Steve Clark, Swirl, Tamas Wells, Tambalane, Tegan Northwood, Ten Fold, Tex Perkins, Theatre of Image, Tibu Bachi, Tim Bruer, Tim Ireland, Tim Finn, Tina Harrod, Tonk, Tony Gorman, Triosk, Tripitide, Troy Newman, Tumbleweed, The Angry Tradesmen, The Art of Fighting, The Black Stars, The Butterfly Effect, The Clouds, The Cruel Sea, The Ghostwriters, The Hard-Ons, The Hell City Glamours, The Mark of Cain, The Necks, The Panics, The Shake Up, The Velvet Fog, Ultimate Army of Prawns, Urban Guerillas, Waikiki, Waiting For Guinness, Wendy Mathews, You Am I, Zoe and The Buttercups, 78 Saab.

SUBPHONIC

Located within the cozy interior of the building's first floor Subphonic is the perfect place to lock yourself away to get creative. The 18 square metre room is isolated and acoustically controlled with natural light available by opening the door. With the adjacent recording room the studio can accommodate everything from drum tracking sessions to simple overdubs.

Transferring projects from Megaphon's control room to Subphonic is simple, on either Pro -Tools or DA-88, where you can continue with overdubs, editing or midi programming on the powerful Mac system.

Total of 128 midi channels using emagic Unitor 8. In-house midi instruments include: Kurzweil K2000, Akai S2000, Novation NOVA, Yamaha TX81Z, Yamaha R8, Roland TR808 plus midi >CV control of our classic analog synths such as Mini Moog, Micro Moog, Korg MS 20.

Pro Tools recording / editing via Digi 001 with Bomb Factory and Waves Plugins on Mac G4 800 MHz 512MB + Dual 17" Acer Monitors. With full Midi support from Logic Audio Platinum 5.1. Monitoring through Yamaha O3D digital console and NS10's amped by Amcron Powerbase 2.

Multi track::
Tascam DA88 Digital Multitrack Recorder
Tascam DA38 Digital Multitrack Recorder
Pro Tools - Digi001 interface with
16 customised balanced ins and outs

Two track::
Panasonic SV3700 DAT recorder
Studer Revox C270 Quarter Inch
Dolby SR Noise Reduction - stereo

Digital Synths, Sound Modules & Samplers::
Kurzweil K2000 Sampling Synthesiser + Zip100.SCSI
Yamaha TX81Z
Korg Wavestation WS1
Novation NOVA
Akai S2000

Drum Machines::
Roland TR808 Rhythm Composer
Roland R8 Human Rhythm Composer
Roland Octapad II Pad 80

Analog Synths::
Moog Mini Moog
Moog Micro Moog
Steiner Parker Synthacon Model 174
EMS VCS III Synthi + DK2 controller keyboard
Arp Odyssey electronic music synthesiser
Roland Sequencer System 100 Model 04

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT MEGAPHON

Karma County - Brendan Gallagher::
Album: “Into the Land of Promise”

I have done all sorts of sessions at Megaphon (Karma County, Jimmy Little, LJ Hill, Lyall Adonis, ABC TV Southern Exposure) - full band, drum and bass beds, strings, piano etc. Love the sound of the main room; love the idea that you can see daylight while your working. It has vibe, and vibe is everything. Also it's great value for money. Where else can you ride your bike or play soccer on the roof?

Midnight Oil - Jim Mogine::
Album: “Earth and Sun and Moon”

What attracted us to Megaphon was the sound of the main room, lots of wood and solid tight bottom end. Acoustically, it's not too bright so is great for any live performances...anything sounds good in there and you just have to put a mic on it and away you go, like recording should be. We first did some demos there in 1992 and then recorded Earth and Sun and Moon with Nick Launay...between all of us, we brainstormed some upgrades: the movable glass panels to isolate the drums, and a rebuild of the control room to make it larger (because we're big blokes) and also to include lots of natural light.

Megaphon is run by people who play music as well, and that always makes for a better, funkier atmosphere...and I have always loved it, and have used it since then with most things I've produced eg. silverchair, Mick Hart and Suzy Flowers. The variety of acoustical 'rooms' with lots of isolation makes it really versatile and the board sounds great. In fact the rough mixes we did there sound better than some of the finals mixed on an SSL...at the record company's insistence, and our own, we used the rough mix of 'Trugannini' we did at Megaphon as the single in the US! Shouldn't forget to mention the roof, which is a great place to hang out, especially in the evening...lots of fresh air and views of the city skyline, the ocean and bucolic 'Newtown South'.

Grinspoon – Phil Jamieson::
Album: “New Detention”

Megaphon was a great studio for us to record in as it was a no pressure environment where we were able to take our time and enjoy making the sounds rather than feeling like we were working to a time clock. We went into Megaphon on January 2 2002, and did guitar and vocal overdubs for songs on New Detention: “Lost Control”, “No Reason”, “Make it Happen” and “Gone Tomorrow”. It was a great experience and a fantastic warm studio environment. The falafel rolls down at the mall are ace too!

The Mark of Cain - John Scott ::
Album: “This is This”

Megaphon has an industrial quality attached to its surroundings that well and truly suits The Mark of Cain's preference for lean precision machine-like qualities, with little outside distractions. We found the Megaphon atmosphere to be self-contained and conducive to the hard work ethic we thrive upon. We recorded and mixed the X song "Degenerate Boy" for director David Caesar's film "Idiot Box" with Nick Launay, and liked the sound so much we came back to record our fourth album, "This is This" with Phil McKellar. What we call the drum room, built with halved 44-gallon drums imbedded in the wall, is one of the features we like about Megaphon. We also like the large control room, which allows a comfortable area in which to listen and mould the creative process. For a great sound we always love to record at Megaphon.

Frenzal Rhomb – Lindsay::
Various bits and pieces

We've recorded at Megaphon a few times and always been impressed with the place. Stuff we've done there as demos has been so good they've ended up on albums, and that's no testament to our song-writing ability, believe me! It's got everything, close to shops and transport, great views and a roof that's perfect for the filming of child porn/snuff movies. Now if they just got a bloody lift...

Augie March – Glenn A. Richards::
“Strange Bird”

We at Augie March decided to go to Megaphon Studios to record the bulk of our new record largely because we were disenchanted with the sterile atmospheres of many of the larger, more expensive studios we'd looked at. While perhaps not over-loaded with hardware, (though certainly adequate), Megaphon is primarily a 'feel' studio, with history in its floors and blood on its walls. The people at Megaphon are lovely and the results they get, as you will hear when you buy our record, are even lovelier. Whether slogging it out in the 'engine-room', delicately augmenting in the side-chamber, or blowing smoke over the city-scape out on the giant roof-top cricket pitch, Megaphon never fails to deliver on that elusive composite of professional and home recording experience which every self-respecting, nay, self-producing band should be looking for. Best of all, you'll go to tape hot, and don't even start us on the other argument. Thanks Megaphon, I know we'll be back.

Waikiki - Juanita::
“Presents…”

Megaphon Studios holds a very special place in our hearts. It’s where we recorded our first EP with Tim Whitten. Considering we were really nervous and inexperienced, I guess it helped that we were working in such comfortable surroundings. We've recorded there since, and it always sounds great, the people are nice and the balcony is HUGE, so you practice any manner of outdoor sports!

Art of Fighting::
“Wires”

We recorded our debut record "wires" at Megaphon in 2000. It was an easy choice as one of our favourite records of all time was recorded there (Crow's Li-Lo-ing) - and by the same sound engineer/producer guy Tim Whitten. It was great to be up in Sydney and feeling very focused on the task at hand, and as is true of most recording experiences we had a lot of trouble getting everything finished with the time and money we had. We loved the proximity to excellent Turkish pizza, the beautiful balcony, the bluebottle kiss sticker on the fan, and Tim's great stories about people he'd worked with and his skating days. We didn't love staying at the Camperdown Towers Hotel and being woken every morning at 6 am by the demolition going on next door. Marty took full advantage of the keyboards on offer (the piano and organ) but we all steered well clear of the befuddling moog synthesizers. T’was probably the most sober week in the collective history of AOF because there was no free beer.

78 SAAB – Ben Nash ::
“Sunshine”

We recorded our first album “Sunshine” in 1999 at Megaphon with Tim Whitten, and we are currently working there (again with Tim) on our second album. The studio sounds great and the availability of the wide array of keyboards/piano/hot water facilities (as opposed to bringing extra stuff in) was a huge factor in choosing to use Megaphon. The band feels that the recording of “Sunshine” was the best sound we have got so far in our recording career, and this was the decisive factor in us coming back. Saab never felt fitter or happier while they were at Megaphon.

CONTROL ROOM

Based around a 40-channel Raindirk Symphony ILN console (known as one of the last of the hand-built solid state consoles) the control room at Megaphon has natural sunlight and space in bucket loads.

Designed and built by Guy Dickerson, Shane Fahey and builder Gordon Fraser, the control room continually meets expectations of sound quality, flexibility and vibe.

With all the patching options associated with the console, 48 MTR ins and outs, plus oodles of easily accessible outboard tie lines all appearing at the patch bay, the control room can easily accommodate the largest of outboard setups.

Megaphon offers the fidelity and warmth of a real analogue recording and the flexibility of industry standard digital recording. The reliable performance of our Otari MTR90 MKII two-inch 24 Track tape recorder combined with our Logic Pro 7 / Protools G4 means projects can be recorded, edited and mixed on your favourite format.

As well as its nominated use as a listening room, it's actually a pretty popular acoustic recording space, particularly for vocals and acoustic guitar.

Console::
Raindirk Symphony LN 40 channel in line console.

Monitors::
Richard Priddle Designs - “Red Pills” powered by proprietary amplifier.
Tannoy – “DMT 215” powered by Brook Custom Amplifiers (tri-amped)
Yamaha NS -10s Available on request - -

Multitracks::
Otari - MTR90 MK II 24 track 2” Tape recorder.
Digidesign - Pro-tools Mix + – three 888/24s with three DSP farm cards
Logic Audio or Pro-Tools 6.4 - -
Sync to tape via MOTU MTP/AV
Tascam – 2 x DA-88 digital PCM recorders

Two Tracks::
Revox - C270 ¼” recorder with Dolby SR noise reduction
Sony – PCM R500 Dat recorder
Sony – CDR W66 CD recorder

ENDGAME RECORDS

endgame records is an independent record label that gets its sound and vibe from Megaphon Studios - one of Sydney’s legendary, privately owned recording studios. Megaphon has been frequented by the likes of silverchair, Augie March, Grinspoon, Midnight Oil, Frenzal Rhomb and The Mark of Cain, to name a few.

endgame originated in 1997 when Shane Fahey – studio owner and founding member of the M Squared label’s experimental rock group, The Makers of The Dead Travel Fast, and the electro-punk outfit Scattered Order – decided to create a new platform for the kind of music that has continually been drawn to Megaphon over the years, namely, independent, creatively ambitious acts who have a flair for song writing and live recording. endgame is devoted to strong, diverse artists, whether they be live bands, singer-songwriters or project groups with programmer stripes.

endgame’s roster currently features musicians possessing a wealth of talent and wide recording histories, during which they have found time to master their song-writing abilities: the electro-acoustic programming and medieval instrumentation of “Azeruz”, electronic beats and synth programming of “Durango”, crafted melodic folk-pop songs of ex-Died Pretty member, Steve Clark, as well as the rootsy rock stylings of Sydney outfit, “Gentle Assassins”.

endgame offers its artists exclusive creative support in writing, pre-production and final record production. The heart of the endgame’s music stays with the family; the final product is not influenced by the sort of managerial and policy movements that are endemic to the larger labels or major record companies. The label is not interested in short-term gains of larger artist turnover; instead, it aims to foster its artists over the medium to long term to create and deliver quality recordings.

Artists signed to endgame records ::

:: Azeruz: Self Titled album: Azeruz

:: Steve Clark: Debut Album: Where the River Meets the Sea

:: Gentle Assassins: Debut Album: If You Will

:: Durango: Debut Album: Heavenly Delinquents

Click HERE to go to the ENDGAME RECORDS website

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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Bookings::

• Day Bookings: We describe a day as a ‘lock-out’ from your nominated session start time (including load-in and set-up) until whenever you want to finish working, without exceeding 24 hours including pack-up time. Engineer/assistant rates apply from your nominated start time until the completion of your sessions load out / pack up time.

• Hourly Bookings: Hourly studio and engineer/assistant rates apply from your nominated start time to the time you and/or the engineer/assistant finishes working in the studio. The pack-up time for hourly sessions is on us.

• The studio reserves the right to move sessions of less than a day if a firm booking for a number of days including that day eventuates.

• Studio rates do not include an engineer or an assistant. Please note that most sessions will at least require an assistant for setup ($75, up to 4 hours’ setup) unless your engineer works here frequently.

• All sessions require a deposit of 50% of estimated studio costs (detailed on the booking confirmation form) to be paid 2 weeks before commencement of your session. The remaining 50% is to be paid upon completion of the session, before any tapes and/or digital media leave the building.

• Payment can be made by cash, cheque or direct deposit only.

• Cancellation charges are calculated at 50% of the total booking estimate if less than 24 hours notice is given, and 25% of the total booking estimate if within 3 days.

• Megaphon rates, equipment list and specifications are subject to change without notice. Check with us for any special requirements you may have.

During your session::

• It is the Client’s responsibility to account for all expenses incurred during the session, for example: extended studio and engineer/assistant hours, phone calls, courier charges, recording media, instrument/amplifier hire.

• A session with an in-house engineer or assistant has a daily limit of 12 hours unless previously negotiated with the engineer/assistant. This is to protect the working conditions of our staff.

• Where the client is found to be responsible for damage to Megaphon property, either while on the premises or whilst hiring Megaphon equipment on another premises, the client will be responsible for the cost of repair or replacement.

2” Tape::

• In order to offer the benefits of high quality analogue recording without the high cost of purchasing reels Megaphon has a number of pre-loved reels of 2” tape available for hire. Many projects recorded at Megaphon use these tapes for the initial band recordings, which are then transferred to Pro Tools or another digital medium. All sessions using analogue tape will incur a standard machine alignment fee of $82.50. This is to ensure the machine is always maintained to its best operating standard.

2” hire terms are:

• $88 Initial hire fee is for 4 weeks from the last session date you used the tape. Extended hire fee is $44 per additional 4 weeks.

• Where no extended hire arrangement is made within the initial hire period, Megaphon reserves the right to erase the recordings and reuse the tape without notifying the client.

• Where the client has purchased the tape, it can be stored at the studio until project sessions are completed, at which time it will be transferred to the client’s safekeeping. The studio does not store client recordings for extended periods.

Data Backup::

• While we encourage clients to supply their own hard drives for data backup and storage, we do have a number of drives available for use. If you let us know how much space you may need prior to your session, we can provide storage on one of our Firewire drives for up to 4 weeks from the last date booked.

• Megaphon reserves the right to erase data where the client has not arranged to have it transferred within 4 weeks of the last date booked.

• After session-archiving can be done at the client’s request and is charged at standard hourly rates plus media costs.

• It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure all relevant session files are contained within a clearly labeled project folder and backed up at the end of each day’s work.

• Megaphon Studios and staff will take all reasonable steps to ensure data/media safety but will not be held responsible for any loss of or damage to hard drives, data, analogue tape or equipment for any reason whatsoever.

Welcome to megaphon studio's..........If you would like to be kept up to date with what is happening @ megaphon then click HERE to subscribe to our newsletter or check back often for information and updates..............

STUDIO OVERVIEW

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Rooms::

Classic Room 100m sq. floor space, 3.6m ceiling height, tallow wood floor, variable 3.3m gobos.

Crash Room 25m sq. floor space, 44 gallon drum walls, perforated metal ceiling.

Warm Room 25m sq. floor space, Oak floor, damped walls, bass trap ceiling.

Control Room 60m sq. floor space, LEDE acoustics, super sized listening couch, natural light.

Gear::
Tannoy DMT 215 Soffit mounted main monitors, Red Pills near field monitors, Yamaha NS 10 monitors, Raindirk Symphony ILN 40 channel inline console, Pro Tools Mix+ with 2 x Farm cards and 3 x 888’s, MOTU MTP-AV synchronizer, Otari MTR 90 2” 24 track analogue recorder, Revox C270 ¼” 2 track recorder, Stereo Dolby SR noise reduction, Sony PCM R500 DAT recorder, 2 x Empirical Labs Distressors, 2 x Empirical Labs LilFreq, API 3124+ mic preamps, UREI 1178 Stereo Compressor, UREI LA-4 Compressor, 2 x Brook 1176 type compressor, 2 x DBX 160x compressor, LA Audio stereo compressor, 4x Drawmer 201 noise gates, Brook Pultec type EQ, SPL Vitalizer, Francinstien Stereo Enhancement System, Behringer DE102 stereo suppressor and SNR 2200 Denoiser, Lexicon LXP 15, Master Room Stereo Spring Reverb, Roland DEP 5 and SRV 2000, Yamaha Rev 5 and SPX90, Zoom 9200, Behringer Virtualizer, Alesis Quadraverb, Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer & Eventide Eclipse.

Microphones::
Neuman U77 x 3, Neuman km 84 x 2, AKG 414 x 2, AKG 451 x 1, AKG SE300B x 2, AKG D3600, AKG D112, Sennheiser MD 421 x 2, Sennheiser MD 521 x 2, Sennheiser 441 x 1, Beyer M88 x 3, Beyer M380 x 1, Beyer 201 x 2, Shure SM 57 x 4, Shure SM 58 x 1, Sony C48 x 2, Geffel UM92S, Geffel M94 x 2, Rode K2, Rode NT 2000, Rode S1, RCA DX77 Ribbon, Coles 4038 Ribbon, SE electronics Gemini & Audio Technica 4033/4041/2020/2021.

Instruments and Amps::
Yamaha C5 Grand Piano¤, Hammond C3, Leslie Cabinet model 145, Wurlitzer 200 A, Fender Rhodes Seventy Three, Kurzweil K2000, Korg Wavestation WS1, Yamaha TX81z, Moog Mini Moog, Moog Micro Moog, Steiner Parker Model 174, Vox AC30 reissue Head¤, Fender Bass Man 100W head¤, Fender Twin Reverb 100W combo¤, Marshall 4x10 Quad Box 4 Ω, Marshall 4x10 Quad Box 16 Ω, Yamaha Custom Oak 5 piece kit¤, Roland 808, Roland R8.

¤ daily charge

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Rooms:	Control room\| Classic\| Crash\| Warm room
Gear:	Instruments and Amps\| Microphones\| Outboard

	MICROPHONES
	Neumann :: U77 x 3 Kmi 84 x 2 AKG :: 414 x 2 451 SE300B x 2 D3600 D112 Sennheiser :: MD421 x 3 MD521 x 2 MD441 Beyer :: M88 x 3 201 x 2 M380 Shure :: SM57 x 4 SM58 Sony :: C48 x 2 RODE :: K2 NT 2000 S1 Geffel :: UM 92S M94 x 2 SE Electronics :: Gemni Audio Technica :: 4033 4041 2020 2021 Ribbons :: Coles 4038 RCA DX77 Headphones :: Fostex T20 (7) & Fostex T7 (12) DI Boxes :: Emo (2), Bennett (2) Brook valve (1), ADL Stereo Tube (1) SCV (6) Accessories :: Music Stands (12 +) Orchestral Seating (12+)