Visual Edge Studios has managed to stay in the business of recording, mixing, and mastering since 1999. The way it has been around for so long is not a misteak, not luck. Visual Edge stays on the visual edge by following a few basic business strategies. VE maintains a position as a product differentiator and a cost leader at the same time. This is very extraordinary for any business in the world, especially for a recording studio business model. VE has a JIT(Just in time) nature to its production and creation strategy. This particular production strategy allows the ultimate flexibility to adapt to the current demand of the market, whatever it may be. VE maintains the ability to keep it's customers happy with the unbelievable sound quality of the end product, and the efficiency of it's daily opertaion. Those loyal customers keep enthusiastically referring all of their non-competition aquaintances back to VE for the undeniable value that it adds to any community that it has any working realtionship with.
Since 1999, VE has maintained it's niche very well. The unending niche for VE has proven to be the ever changing face of the Hip Hop genre. Recording artists are very fickle, and it has not been easy to satisfy their ever demanding creative visions with honor and pride. VE keeps it's customers coming back for all of their creative media needs, especially for recording, mixing and mastering. Most of the satisfied customers have expressed the frustrations of working with other studios, most of which are gracefully addressed by this company. VE's customers have shown appreciation for the proficient and professional style of doing business displayed on a reliable, consistent basis . VE maintains uncompromised end product in record time, in comparison to it's seemingly endless competitors. VE can be as rigorous as the particular situation demands. With it's seemingly endless technical knowlede of all aspects of music production, VE can "take the Pepsi Challenge" with any other studio in the world with great pride, confidence, and positive enthusiasm. VE does not claim to be the absolute best in the world, but the true grit and rigor that recording and production demands is displayed at the very heart of every production project when the customer has been willing to take their production to uncompromised levels.
VE is run by musicians, for musicians with great attention to detail in catering to the artist's creative flow. Drew Hardwick, engineer, has been playing drums and working with other musicians for over 22 years. He is cuurently self-teaching piano with a little help from his friends. Drew has the confidence in his musical talent and his creative expectations do not end at piano and drums. Drew will not be satisfied until he has a chance to learn guitar and bass and the human voice. After all of that is accomplished, Drew will have the creative autonomy that he desires so much, enabling him to create good music at will. His unlimited understanding of the act of producing music, and his "alligator skin" allows the intricate details of music writing and creation be tended to with a surprisingly resiliant attidude and an unbelievable problem solving stategy.
VE has a track record of maintaining an incredibly low occurrance of system instability and workflow ineficciencies. VE's engineer, Drew Hardwick has full competency in the Information Systems(IS) aspect of it's operation. Most, if not all, of the hassling kinks of running a computer have been ironed out. The sound quality presented to the atrist is very satisfying during all stages of production from the vocal sound monitored during recording all the way to the end product. VE's customers are very oftenly surprised and fueled by enthusiasm by the confidence they have in the end product, right from the very first 5 minutes of cutting tracks. This is, by no means, an act of faith on the customer's part, but due to the undeniably impressive sound that they hear right from the start.
Visual edge maintains the following opinion on the subject of "Mastering".. There are far too many definitions for the word "mastering" out there, most of which are dreamt up by the mastering engineer for convenience, whether it be to justify a high price tag, or a simple "Easy Out" for lumping all of their incompetencies into a mysteriously powerful word that maintains the "black box" of ignorance. Most engineers have no clue what mastering really is, so when VE gets somebody calling in for just mastering, most of the time the production engineer has already destroyed any hope of clean, clear, loud mastering. All of this is a big paradox that can keep, even the most undemanding artists, very frustrated and confused. VE is able to take a "no-bull" approach to solving this terrible problem. VE does not currently charge extra for industry standard CD mastering. All mastering of VE's own work is done on a complimentary basis. VE's engineer, Drew Hardwick will tell the customer honestly, selflessly, fairly and justified what the real truth is. Sometimes the advice goes unheard and Drew just keeps pushing past any resolution to satisfy the customer's needs, but the unadulterated truth is always available upon request. There is no compromise that goes unnoticed by Drew's unending attention to detail and he can tell the customer the weaknesses of any production. Drew will stubbornly withhold his "A-1" stamp of approval until all compromises have been properly addressed.
We have two 6 X 9 isolation booths and a 13 X 18 room to record and mic drums and so on.. We have the legendary Neumann U87 Microphone, and the industry favorite Avalon Vt737sp Microphone Preamp. We also have a small arsenal of instruments, such as ,a Yamaha U1 Upright Acoustic Piano, 2 Acoustic guitars, a '95 Fender American Standard Stratocaster, a '60s gibson Falcon Tube combo amp, a '94 American Standard Fender P-Bass with "thru-body stringing" like a Telecaster, a late model Fender 73 Key Suitcase Rhodes with it's own speaker and amp with 4 10" speakers in a double sided stereo cabinet. We also have a 5 piece Premier Drum kit with modified tom-mount hardware for less shell damping.
Listen to a few examples below. Most of these recordings have live instruments and some of it has Drew on drums...
