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Booking

POLICIES

Big Blue North is a professional, commercial-for-hire audio recording studio. Customer service and satisfaction are our top priority.  We welcome freelance engineers and producers. Call anytime to schedule a tour, either virtual or in person.

 

In order to begin the booking process, we will send you a written quote detailing the studio dates, rate and residence dates (if applicable). A 50% non-refundable deposit in advance of your session will guarantee your time slot. Dates are NOT secured until payment is received. The balance is due at the end of the last booked day of the session without exception. No product of any type including CDs, DVDs, master tapes, reels, MP3s, session folders or any other media will be released until the balance due is paid in full. There is a 48-hour cancellation policy; last minute cancellations will forfeit the deposit. Deposits will not be refunded for lateness or no shows.

Studio time starts during setup and ends after breakdown. Sessions begin promptly at the time booked, whether the client is present or not.


Client is responsible for final project archive (masters) and will provide their own media, preferably in the form of an external hard drive or tape. Time to transfer material to/from the drives will be charged as studio time. The studio will save active projects on its house drives as a safety back up. Once the project is finished, it will be erased from the active house drive and archived for one year. Tape will be archived for two years.
 

The piano is tuned on a regular schedule. We are happy to have it tuned especially for you, but an additional fee may apply.

RATES

So how much is all this fabulousness gonna cost me? Here is the long answer: we could give you a strict hourly rate, but then you’d be stressing and watching the clock during the whole session instead of thinking about music. The other problem with quoting hourly rates is that they are only half of the equation – you still don’t know how many hours you need, so that number alone doesn’t really even answer your question.
 

We have found that a better solution is to give clients an individualized, project-based quote that includes the studio, engineer and residence (if you are coming from out of town). As a general rule of thumb, we are in the $50 per hour range including the engineer and our workday is ten (10) consecutive hours plus a one-hour dinner break.
 

If you are thinking about working here, please give us a call to chat about what you are trying to make and together we can come up with a plan that fits your needs, your budget and your schedule.
 

We accept:

  • Cash

  • Checks

  • Credit Cards

  • Money Orders

  • Wire Transfers

  • Purchase Orders from record labels

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