Good Times Recordings

Welcome to the web home of Good Times Recordings! If there's something you want to know about the studio but don't see or hear here, email me and I'll answer your questions.

-Tony

About Us

With two recording facilities in the western Chicago suburbs, Good Times Recordings is Chicago's best deal for professional project and mobile studio recording. Whether your band needs to track a demo to get that gig, make an EP to lure them to the show, or if you're ready to create an album for the ages, you need to contact Good Times Recordings. With tracks that have been featured on television shows such as N.C.I.S: New Orleans, web and film productions like Goose Island Brewery's Grit and Grain, Good Times Recordings delivers professional results that will get where you want to go.

Our Studio

At GTR's main studio location, The Ranch, we have all the right mics to make any guitar, vocal, bass, kit, or other instrument power through the mix. Using our digital recording process, which provides endless tracks at your disposal, you can create your own Sgt. Pepper opus whether you're a solo performer or a large group--or The Beatles. The main recording room is acoustically treated with Rockwool bass traps and broadband absorbers, RealTraps MiniTraps, and a SoundStopper curtain over the windows--ensuring that as a project studio we remain good neighbors. The treatment means whatever is played in the room sounds more like the instrument than the room. There is a smaller, acoustically treated closet for amplifiers or more intimate vocals/acoustic guitars (it's a walk-in). There are larger rooms that can be utilized should the space or sonic variety be needed.

Recording sessions are mixed in-house and can be mastered in-house (but we recommend taking them to a mastering engineer). The Good Times mixing process is good times: Almost as soon as a session is over, we can upload and link you mp3's of fresh mixes for your input and approval throughout the production process before mixing the final product down to a 24-bit (or 16-bit if need be) WAV file. While we can't make you perform better, we will move instruments around the mix, add almost any effect you can think of, and of course make stuff louder and quieter, all based on our experience and with your guidance. And by providing instantaneous mp3's, your whole band can have the mix waiting in your in-boxes by the time you've made it to the car. This means that our production process leaves you with clean, crisp, full recordings that are tuned to your specifications. At the end we will provide final mixes for mastering, or master tracks for duplication.

We've recorded a variety of bands and instruments including electric and acoustic guitars and bass, drums, harmonica, sitar, upright bass, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, accordion, keyboards, piano, clarinet, mandolin, various percussion, and even a foot stomping on a skateboard. And this one time, rain. So challenge us if you want to, we'll work to get the best sound out of whatever you've got. It's good times!

Our Gear

Recordings are processed through a Universal Audio Apollo x16 analog-to-digital I/O device into a Mac mini (in-studio) or MacBook Pro (on location) running Logic Pro X. Tracks can be mastered with Ozone or T-Racks though we really recommend taking our final mixes to a dedicated mastering engineer) We use large and small diaphragm condenser, industry-standard dynamic, ribbon, and pressure zone microphones. We've got a few different bass drum mics to get the right sound out of the kit too. We can record up to 16 tracks simultaneously (although more can be added in extreme cases). And there's no skimping on sound quality on any of our 16 channels. Because we use digital recording techniques, there are virtually limitless amounts of tracks available per recording

Gear list for The Ranch (Good Times Recordings' main location):

    • Universal Audio Apollo x16 augmented with octo-core thunderbolt 3 UAD Satellite allowing for enough high quality UAD plugins to be utilized in complex recording sessions and mixes. We use a variety of classic hardware-emulated plugins in addition to the UAD basics, including:

        • Ampex ATR-102 Tape Machine

        • Studer A800 Tape Machine

        • Empirical Labs Distressor

        • dbx 160

        • Neve 33609

        • Universal Audio 1176 Rev A, Rev E, Rev AE

        • Neve 1073

        • SPL Transient Designer

        • Teletronix LA-2 and LA-2A (silver and gray)

        • Ocean Way Studios reverb

        • Capitol Chambers reverb

        • Antares Autotune

    • Audient ASP880

    • Presonus Firestudio Project

    • FMR Really Nice Preamp (3)

    • Universal Audio Solo 110

    • Universal Audio Solo 610

    • ART DPS II

    • Empirical Labs Distressor (x2)

    • Neumann U87 Ai

    • Neumann KM184 (matched pair)

    • Michael Joly-modified MXL 2003 with Mike's K47 capsule + electronics (2)

    • Micparts.com capsule-upgraded MXL 603S (3)

    • SM 57 (4)

    • Sennheiser MD 421 (3)

    • SM 58

    • Samson CL-8 (2)

    • Realistic/Radio Shack PZM

    • Audix D6

    • Shure PG 52

    • Cascade Fat Head (2)

    • Q-Tom Kit

    • Solomon Mics Low Freq

    • Radial dual Pro direct injection (DI) box and Pro RMP reamp box

    • AmpliTube MAX collection with a huge variety of classic amplifiers/cabinets/microphones (in case none of your amps or ours do the trick)

    • Apple Logic Pro X

    • Presonus Studio One 4 and 5

    • Izotope Ozone 8

    • (sometimes still happily rocking) T-Racks 2 but also T-Racks 5

Audio Engineers

Tony:

Tony Maietta has been recording and engineering audio projects since 1998, when he started tracking his drums, guitar, and bass for band demos and personal recordings. Over the last decade, Tony has built his rig up from a tape deck 4-track to his current Logic Studio setup. Tony learned a lot of techniques and experienced many different recording situations by constantly tracking and improving his own material. Tony is currently a guitarist and vocalist in The Black Oil Brothers, who have recorded several albums which have appeared on web, television, radio, and other media.

Sample Recordings: find the latest recordings at https://levihustle.bandcamp.com/

Contact Tony to get your project going today!



Brian:

The wait is finally over…who is this man of mystery that has remain in the shadows…til now!

Nothing mysterious here…just an audio geek who lives to create, record, mix, and master music of all styles and genres. I’m a Civil Engineer by day and an Audio Engineer by night. I have been working on a wide variety projects for the past 10 years. I would say that blues and rock are the genres I have recorded most. I am always up on the latest technology and techniques but remain true to the analog sounds of the past.

Good Times…

Sample Recordings:

right-click and select 'save as' to download the songs

songs best played back with Quicktime media player or iTunes media player

Coming Shortly...

Email Brian for additional information.