New Albany, In

(502) 949-2002

Like many musicians, Rob Magallon has done whatever he had to do to stay in the business and still earn a living. In his case, that has meant playing with bands from Kenny and the Accents to the Carnations, Chukkar, Autumn, a stint with Wayne Young and Company, and Christopher Robin. For four years, Magallon worked for the Guy Rhodes Agency as a booking agency and at various times during those years, he earned a few dollars as a sound reinforcement and recording engineer. In total, Magallon has been in the business for twenty-three years.

These days, he spends most of his time behind the control board of his own studio, capturing the musical dreams of a new generation of players. His primary contacts have been with rock players, but he also records gospel and rap groups, as well as the occasional songwriter putting down a demo of a new tune. Like many musicians - turned - engineer, Magallon indidcates that he is ready and able to act as de facto producer, should the client request assistance. Magallon also echoes all other engineers when he says that the best use of studio time is achieved when the players are prepared ahead of time. Practicing a song in the studio is very expensive and frequently results in little actually getting completed.

The studio occupies all of a basement, with isolation booths spacious enough for even the most energetic player, yet still within sight of the control room. A drum kit is set up in a dedicated isolation booth, in order to minimize the time required to set up mics for recording drums. The studio has the usual array of instruments available for use, as well as an assortment of microphones to get the various sounds peculiar to each device.

Magallon stresses that his interest is to make the studio experience as low-pressure as possible, in order to get the best take on all tunes. In additon to his standard hourly rate, he has recently begun to offer a flat "Day Rate" for the studio, allowing musicians a large block of time in which to work. For $200 plus tape, a musician can have the studio from 1:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. or from 5:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. on any given day. Several rock and metal groups have taken advantage of this deal, most recently David La Duke, of the group Sinbad, and Magallon feels that this offer will draw more players who have large amount of material to record.

Magallon is also planning on a move in the near future, if all things work out. Information about such a move will be forthcoming. In the meantime, he has time to book in the studio.

Technical Data

Main Mixing Board

Ramsa WRT 820 (20 x8)

Primary Multi-Track

Fostex B-16, 30 ips

Secondary Recorders

Fostex Model 20

JVC Cassette Decks

Noise Reduction

16-track - Dolby C

2-track - dbx Type 1

Cassettes - Dolby B/C

Monitors

RCF SCD 6000; Yamaha

NS10M-Studio; AKG - K-141

Headphones

Monitors Amplifiers

Yamaha 2250

Yamaha 2075

Outboard Effects

Echo/delay/reverb -

Midiverb II; Roland DEP-3;

Ibanez SDR 1000+; Midifex;

Yamaha D-1500 & R-1000;

Midi verb & Microverb II.

Other outboard - Barcus-

Berry 402; Yamaha GC2020;

CDT 8 Channel comp./lim.;

DOD 1/3 Octave;

Stereo 2/3 Octave EQ;

Valley People Gatex;

Micro Gate.

Available Studio Instruments

Slingerland / Zildjian /

Paiste Drum Kit, 5-piece;

Peavy T-20 bass;

Yaire DY-85 Guitar.