Custom Music Composition
Tim Reppert and Nate Richardson are both highly talented and experienced custom music composers, with the rare ability to work convincingly in a wide variety of different styles.
Whether it's scoring your film, audiobook, video or advertisement, or just working with you on your own composition, we can do it all. Demo reels of our work, including songs and advertising jingles, are available on request.
Here are some examples of our favorite recent projects:
Network Health
"Get the Benefits"
Tompkins Trust Company
"Why I Bank with the Trust Company"
Jetsetter
"Time Bender"
Incredible Voiceover Talent
We have been in the advertising business in Ithaca for over two decades and have amassed a huge talent list for all your voiceover needs. This includes standard narration, various ethnic accents (including foreign language talent), celebrity impressions, children's voices and the like. Come in to the studio to direct the talent in person, or call in by phone and we can patch you in so you can direct the actor from wherever you are. This is by far our most popular service and we perform this function daily. We also have 16 years of experience producing audio for telephone surveys. Visit our Voiceover Samples page to hear some of our most requested voices.
Tracking
Besides choosing and placing mics for optimal sound quality, and helping musicians get setup just right in the recording room, we are experts in creating a comfortable atmosphere. We've worked with enough artists over the years to know that when you are comfortable you will create your best work. Sometimes you may need creative input, other times you may need critical feedback, or just some quiet time to think, usually you just need some coffee! In any case you can count on us to hit record before the magic happens and capture it without getting in the way of your creative process.
Overdubbing
Once you've got your basic tracks down, there's no limit to the layering. This stage can be used to achieve results that are subtle or, not so subtle.
Editing
You'll be amazed to see how much can be done at this stage. If you haven't been in a recording studio in the last 10 years, come in and see how much has changed. We can fix a myriad of problems such as the timing and pitch of each element. If you don't like the sound of your drummer's kit we can go in after the recording and replace each individual attack with sounds of a top of the line professional kit. Singer didn't quite hit that high note at the end of the last chorus? No problem. We'll grab the performance of just that note from the first chorus and paste it in, seamlessly. Of course we prefer the sound of the classic, natural recordings we grew up on, but we're happy to take the time to comb through the smallest details and perfect every last note, delivering a product that is competitive in today's music industry.
Mixing
Once your tracks are recorded (and edited, if necessary), the real fun begins for us. Getting just the right balance is sometimes as simple as "set it and forget it", but our fully automated control surface gives you TOTAL control over every element down to the smallest details. You want to add some low end to bass, but only for the intro and ending of the song? No problem. Does your lead guitarist tend to let his instrument buzz and feedback every time he gets to the bridge? No problem. You can hear all the instruments, but the whole thing just lacks that vibrance that you hear on your favorite albums? We can apply echo, reverb, eq, dynamic compression and/or expansion in just the right amount to make your song come to life. These are tools, which, in the hands of less experienced mix engineers, can ruin a perfectly fine recording. But you're safe with us because we've been doing this long enough to know how much is too much. We are equally comfortable mixing to 5.1 surround sound format as we are working in standard stereo.
Mastering
Mastering is the last step in the production of your music. We'll take the mixes, done here at REP or elsewhere, and shape them into the best possible final master for duplication. When we master a project it comes out loud but not "squashed"—we hold dynamic range in the highest regard! We'll give you a master that sounds great in your car, at home, on the radio, or on your old boombox... even on your iPod!
Audio and Video Transfers
Almost everyone over 30 has a box of tapes, or vinyl if your over 40, or reel to reel if over 50. Same thing goes for VHS tapes, Betamax, Hi8 etc. in the video realm. And then there's minidisc, DAT, ADAT. The list goes on. Well we've been maintaining all our old decks for years so that you can bring us your boxes and we can turn them back into experiences for you and your family and friends to enjoy for years to come. Virtually any old format! All done meticulously, and in house. Noise reduction, clean up, and editing available.