A: The recording space is literally like a maze, with a total of 5 rooms/areas that can be used for tracking. Each provides almost total sonic isolation from the others. There is one very open and spacious "live room" where high ceilings and hardwood floors provide for nice accoustics. The rest are sonically neutral; almost dead -- close to anechoic. The combination of lively and dead sounding spaces coupled with the isolation factor provide for a versatile recording environment.
I live and work out of the same space, so technically it is a home studio. It is a converted Bucktown loft that used to be home to a printing press, I believe, so it has a definite industrial vibe to it. It's a homey atmosphere that, for most musicians, is comfortable and easy to work in. It's nothing fancy or plush. My recording space is designed to help me achieve superior sound for my clients, so it's definitely function over form.. In the end, all the listener will care about is that it sounds good, and that is my sole concern as well.
A: That's an extremely tough question to answer. Some bands/musicians can track a song in 5-10 minutes and complete a 10-song CD in a day. Some can take several afternoons on just one song. The two most important factors in determining where you might fall between those two extremes are : 1) How well-rehearsed you are, and 2) How good you want the final result to be.
Example: On average, a 4-piece rock band might take 1 1/2 to 2 hours to set up. Then figure in 15 to 30 minutes per song to track, anywhere from 0 to 30 minutes per song for overdubs and punch-ins (fixing mistakes), and between 1 and 2 hours per song for mixing -- depending on how good they want the final mix to sound. It could take much more or much less time for any of these three steps, depending, again, on how tight the band is, and how serious they are about the project (how good/professional they need it to sound). For musicians that I am unfamiliar with, I make a very bad Madam Cleo, so it's hard for me to predict. Seriously, I don't know. :) I can only guess, and I'm often wrong.
A: It's a harddisk non-linear system very similar to your standard Pro Tools rig. However, it is a more custom setup that I feel gets better sound quality and allows for quicker operation and editing/mixing features. The amount of tracks we can work with is basically unlimited, as are the editing capabilities. Everything goes straight to hard drive upon A/D conversion; a Lucid AD9624 feeds an Echo Audiofire interface to a PC. You'll see a prevailing theme I tend to follow with equipment -- keeping the audio signal clean and in tact by minimizing the clutter, noise, phase, or other artifacts that change the audio in subtle ways.
My strategy is to have a few pieces of great sounding, hi-value gear -- rather than many racks of prohibitively expensive stuff that is mostly there for show. I spend only what I have to in order to get great sound for my clients, while allowing me to keep my hourly rates attractive. It's a very old concept of "passing the savings on down." I would rather my client's money go towards getting a great sound on their recording project, rather than to subsidize the engineer's excessive gear habit. :)
A: I use the Sytek MPX-4As and the Audio Upgrades High Speed as my main tracking preamps. Both are very clean and neutral, and follow along with the "less-clustered audio path" thing. For color, I also have a really nice Tube mic pre custom-moded for me by NWSoundman. It's got a sweet tone to it (Jensen Transformer input and Svetlana 12AX7s, with burr-browns at the output) Also 2 X Groove Tubes Ditto DI's. As for EQ, most of what I have are vintage Orban designs. Also several plugins that I like to use. A good combination of quality analog outboard and modern computer DAW-based processing.
A: I have digital models of the TC Electric M3000, Lexicons, and Eventide. I've also got digital models of just about any type of room or accoustical space imaginable. For other effects, I have a decent stock of plugins. Whatever kind of effect you can dream up, there's probably a plugin for it.
A: An SM-7, Blue Dragonfly, Audio Technica 4050 and 4055, Electrovoice RE-20, and a CAD M177 serve as the primary vocal mics. For instruments, there's the requisite host of SM-57s, Beyer M69's and M88's, as well as some Groove Tubes GT-44 and 33s, Oktava MC012 and Marshall 603 small diaphragm condensers. Lots of nice Electrovoice dynamics; some cool vintage ones, even. Basically anything you'd need.
A: There is a drum set, some Zildjian Custom K cymbals. A Fender Strat and a Precision Bass are available upon request. A Yamaha P90 Digital Piano, which sounds awesome, by the way. Some tambos and shakers. A Marshall JCM2000 combo amp, Blues Junior, POD, and a Sansamp GT2.