Back to home page           Recording at the Back Yard Studio               

Due to requests from fellow musicians, I have decided to open up my private studio (the Back Yard Studio) to recording, anything from demos to full albums. I can record to the depth you desire - from simple demos to fully mastered albums ready to be pressed to CD or for digital distribution. Talk to me to figure out how we can make you project work.

Are you tired of spending $15,000 or more to record your album? I hear that story a lot these days.

Contact me directly if you are interested - in Edmonton at (780) 468-6088 or by email at rickgarvin@shaw.ca  .

You can hear what my recordings sound like - by playing the music on this website. Both my albums were recorded all or partly at the Back Yard Studio.

I have a single room studio (but also with a new vocal booth in March 2011!) carpeted on the floor and walls that has a really nice sound to it. We are located in east Edmonton, near 98 Ave. and 50 St.          

  Style of music - I like acoustic music, jazz, country/swing/bluegrass, folk, acoustic blues and roots, African and Latin, that sort of thing.

  I am not interested in recording hard rock of any kind, heavy electric blues or rock- country bands, the latest pop fad or anything really loud. For those kinds of music you should go to a studio that digs it, not me.

Rate - Generally, $25 per hour (don't worry, I won't charge you for time spent gabbing like some studios do). Talk to me first, we can work something out.

Basic system - Mackie analog mixer, Pro Tools or Sonar (your choice) computer system, M-Audio Delta 1010 multitrack D/A converter, SAE and TOA monitor amps with large and small monitor speakers and subwoofer, 2 - ART tube preamps, headphone monitoring.

   Microphones - bring your own if you wish. I have an Advanced Audio CM-47 FET custom-made large diaphragm condenser, a Studio Projects C1 large diaphragm condenser, an MXL-V67G large diaphragm condenser,  2 * Apex 435 large diaphragm condensers , 2* Rode M3 small diaphragm condensers, 2 * CAD small diaphragm condensers, a generic small diaphragm condenser, a Sennheiser MD441-U dynamic, a Shure Beta 58, a Shure Beta 57, a Shure SM58, an Audio Technica ATM 63, an Apex 125 kick drum mic, and several other mics of questionable parentage. 

March 30, 2011 - Hey, I now have an isolation room for recording vocals or instruments! here is a picture:    

I have many years experience recording sound, sound for video, TV and movies, live sound, and computerized editing of both video and sound. I was the location recordist for the TV children's series "Take Off" which won a Juno award for sound in the 1990s (but I didn't get the credit). I have the tools and the experience to get a great sound for your project at a price you can afford. Call me.

December 2011 to present- The Big Sky Gliders are in my studio now recording an album worth of songs - check out their material at their Bandcamp site here:

February 17 - 19, 2012 - I did the Edmonton Uptown Winterfest sound again this year, again with Brian Parsons. We had some lovely performers, including Cindy Church, Wendell Ferguson, Roger James, Elena Yeung, Shane Chisolm, the Command Sisters, and many others (and I got to play a feature set as well). We received many compliments on the sound quality, and yet again had a lot of fun.

February 18 - 20, 2011 - I did the Edmonton Uptown Winterfest sound again this year, again with Brian Parsons. We had some lovely performers, including Colleen Rae, Brett Kissel, Back Porch Swing, Paul Hann, and many others. We received many compliments on the sound quality again this year, and once again had a lot of fun.

February 12 - 14, 2010 - I did the sound mixing for the main stage at this year's Winterfest. It went well and we were able to give all the performers the best sound to showcase their talents. It was a lot of fun for me, as I used to do sound at festivals and clubs back in the 80's and 90's but haven't had much chance to do live sound since I moved to Edmonton in 1999.