LBA Studios

06/29/2025

Weird situation. I normally would not do this, but the circumstances called for it. I had the 150 Watt Mesa Triple Rectifier head turned up all the way and connected to two speaker cabinets with a combined rating of 600 watts. The amp was cutting out. I’m not sure if this is normal because I never maxed it out before. It’s still within the return window. Just wondering if anyone has a thought on this? It works fine at reasonably loud volumes.

06/06/2025

I missed you.

05/31/2025

Well… I got that refund and put a lot of thought into the amp I really want. I probably watched 100 amp shootout videos. I bought a used, but mint, and modern MESA/Boogie Triple Rectifier multi-watt head. It’s tighter sounding than the Triple Rec I used to own and it has more (good) features. I really want the rectifier sound in my collection and this is better than it was before. Amp arrives on Wednesday. Hopefully with no issues 🤞.

05/21/2025

Turns out I’m not getting that MESA Dual Rectifier. The seller called me today to say it hasn’t shipped yet because is non-functional. He just wanted to let me know whats up. I asked for a refund. Thinking about my next move. Suggestions? That new 90’s reissue Dual Rectifier looks interesting, but the price is scary.

05/19/2025

I always regretted selling my MESA Triple Rectifier solo 150 watt amp head many years ago. It was super versatile. I’m very glad to have just purchased this used MESA Dual Rectifier. Same amp, but 100 watts and it weighs less. Even 100 watts is overkill for recording, but it’s about the sound. I know it will get a lot of use at the studio.

05/16/2025

05/02/2025

The best part of waking up is the smell of virgin analog tape in the morning. I’m really excited to be Mastering this particular album today because the client has elected to include analog tape in the process. I’ll first transfer his 96kHz 24bit mixes to tape. Then I’ll master off of tape through an analog signal chain before finally getting recorded back into the computer at 44.1kHz 16Bit through Lynx Aurora converters. The music sounds interesting, so it’ll definitely be a fun day.

03/25/2025

I'm offering an absolutely insane deal for any WNY-based band who wants to record a cover of a Rush song to submit to the Shredd & Ragan show on 97 Rock. Check my blog for details.

I was listening to the Shredd & Ragan show on 97 Rock this morning on my way into the studio and I heard them mention for the second time they are calling on bands from WNY to record a Rush cover and...

02/09/2025

L.A. based drummer, Ryan “Peabody” Blandford laid down drum tracks on the house kit at LBA last night. His energy was intense. Those New Beat hi hats I recently snagged worked out super good. 14 mics on the house kit. It was very likely the best drum recording I ever pulled off. 3 ribbon mics as overheads (pair of M160’s and an R121 in the middle), R88 stereo room mic, toms had 421’s on top and 414’s on bottoms, snare had a M201TG on top and an SM7B on bottom, EV 868 ND on kick.

02/06/2025

Buffalo Derek was back again and he’s the first to try out the Zildjian New Beat hi hats I just bought. They provide a nice sounding sizzle with a little less volume than my Mastersound hats. We just finished recording his 15th and final song for this album. One more session of his next week to record sprinkles of various instruments here and there. This guy comes in and plays all the instruments himself for 3-4 songs each week. A real one man band. I put up 414’s on the toms and the mighty AEA R88 as an overhead. 9 mics total. It was a very clean sound we got.

01/26/2025

I just bought a nice old pair of Zildjian 14” New Beat Hi Hats to have another hat option for the studio. Apparently, this model and size of Hi Hats is the most recorded in history.

01/23/2025

It’s not all Rock n’ Roll up in here. I’m curious what tomorrow’s Artist will present. Tomorrow is going to be a very different genre.