R.S.V.P. (Recording Studio at the Ver Project)
R.S.V.P. is a professionally built recording environment with ideal acoustics and studio workflow in mind. It functions primarily as an education space but can be booked by community members at an affordable rate.
Whether you need to track vocals in our treated isolation booth, a large space for huge drum sounds or a comfortable room for your band to perfect your live performance, Vera’s recording studio can accommodate projects of all shapes and sizes.
During each session at Vera, you’ll work with a staff engineer and volunteer assistant, use our diverse selection of studio microphones and have access to our drums, amplifiers and various instruments. We record and mix the majority of our projects to REAPER or Protools 11 through our Toft ATB32 mixing console, a handful of outboard signal processors and an extensive library of digital plug-ins. At the end of the session, we can provide you with raw session files for off-site mixing or we can schedule time for one of our engineers to mix your songs in-house.
For more information contract our studio manager jak@theveraproject.org, call 206-956-VERA, or reach out directly to one of our in-house engineers.
Meet the House Engineers
Max Thorn: Recording engineer, mixing artist, producer, sound designer. maxvgn@gmail.com
Max is a Seattle-based recording and mixing engineer with 8 years of experience helping artists bring their music to life. Passionate about the art of sound, he focuses on capturing authentic performances in the studio and enhancing them through thoughtful, detail-oriented mixing. Max’s journey began like many others — recording his own band and friends — but his love for music has since let him to work across genres like Punk, Jazz, Experimental, Classical, Folk, and beyond. As a live sound engineer, composer, and musician, he brings a versatile, hands-on perspective to every project. Max is also available for arrangement work, helping artists scale up or strip down their songs to perfection. Let’s work together to make your music sound exactly how you’ve always imagined.
Jak McKool: studio engineer, mixing artist, and videographer jak@theveraproject.org
Jak McKool has been recording bands for 15 years. He began his recording career in the informal network of Seattle’s DIY scene, converting basements and living rooms into makeshift recording spaces. Jak has since formalized his music engineering scheme but still emphases the affordability, accessibility, and the reciprocity of the DIY community. In 2017 Jak started Whalehouse Studio Cooperative, a recording studio/arts space in South Seattle where he has since recorded scores of bands. Jak’s genres of choice include Punk, Experimental, Ambient, Indie, and Lofi. He also specializes in location based recording, using lightweight battery powered equipment to capture audio off the grid. As an engineer Jak seeks to create a safe/creative environment where artists can experiment sonically to add a bit of studio strangeness to their compositions. He is an expert in Reaper (computer based Digital Audio Workstation) and achieves a speedy workflow to maximize time for creative experimentation. Jak is also a capable videographer and can produce video content upon request.
Recent Work:
M.O.S.S. – Rock/Indie/Americana
Brat – Indie/Punk
Medium Weekend – Experimental/Collage Rock
Sam Parkin – Singer Songwriter
Moonarchy – Experimental/Lofi/Narrative
Robert Wahl: Recording Engineer, Mixing Specialist
Robert Wahl is a recording and mixing engineer with 8 years experience. He initially began as a guitarist who quickly discovered a fascination with sound sculpting possibilities with the electric guitar. Robert learned how to solder and got to work building and modding several guitars, pedals and amps. Following his heart, he decided to broaden the focus to music production, not just guitar.
Robert then completed the Audio Engineering program at “Seattle Recording Arts” and earned a Pro Tools certification in 2017. As a newly minted audio engineer, Robert began the search for clients to record in an economical yet high quality way. He used his DIY background as a means to reenforce his gear locker. He built several outboard analog effects, preamps, and even a few mics.
Additionally, he used bass traps and diffusers to make poor recording environments more viable.
Robert is open to recording all kinds of music, but is more experienced at recording/mixing: Singer/Songwriter, Rock, Folk, and Jazz. When recording, Robert puts and emphasis on capturing great recordings first, believing that they are building blocks of a strong mix. Like in cooking, the best ingredients only lead to a better dish.
Sam Hendricks – Recording and mixing engineer, producer, live sound engineer
Sam is a Seattle audio engineer with a 10 year recording history. She loves to utilize the Vera studio’s excellent live room to capture big drum sounds and energetic full band recordings. She also runs efficient, professional vocal tracking sessions, prioritizing artist comfort and great performance. As a mixing engineer, Sam dives deep into the heart of the song to unify all sonic elements for maximum emotional impact and listener enjoyment. She is also available for guitar-centric production work to help songwriters flesh out their ideas into full band arrangements. Sam works on projects from a broad range of genres including Punk, Indie, Folk, Hip-Hop, and RnB. Sam’s audio journey started like many engineers – casually recording bands with minimal equipment and knowledge. She steered her skills towards a more professional pathway with a formal training from the UW Audio Engineering program and an internship at Studio Sage, Seattle’s premier Hip-Hop studio. Sam hones her audio instincts daily as a live sound engineer and musician. She looks forward to having fun collaborating with you on your next project!
Recent Work:
Miscomings (art punk) – Recording and mixing
DeShawn Rivers (RnB) – Mixing only
Worms in Dirt (indie punk) – Recording and mixing
Alexandria Boe (indie folk) – Recording and mixing
In House Equipment
Console: Toft ATB32
32 channel, Vintage Series 80 EQ, 8 mix bus
Outboard Preamps
- ART PRO MPA II (2 channels)
- Electric and Company EC3 Mic pre (1 channel)
Compressors
- DBX 160XT (2 channels)
- Symetrix 501 comp/limiter (2 channels)
- Warm Audio WA76
Recording Software
- ProTools
- Reaper
- Ableton 10
- Logic
- FabFilter Plugin suite
- Roland Cloud Ultimate
- Mac Studio
Monitoring
- KRK VXT6 w/ matched 10s Subwoofer
- Yamaha HS5
Headphones
- (3)Audio Technica ATH M30x
- (2)Sennheiser HD280 pro
- (2)Sony MDR V900HD
- (1)Vic Firth SIH3 Isolation Headphones
Microphones
- (2) AKG 414
- (1) Shure SM7b
- (1) Shure PG42
- (2) Shure SM81
- (1) Shure KSM44
- (7) Shure SM57
- (2) Sure SM58
- (1) Shure Beta58
- (2) Cascade Fathead Ribbon
- (1) Cascade X-15 Stereo Ribbon
- (1) Heil PR40
- (3) Audix F10
- (1) Audix F12
- (1) Audix D6
- (1) Audix i5
- (1) Sennheiser MD 421
- (2) Sennheiser e609
- (2) Sennheiser e604
- (1) Warm Audio WA-87 r2
- (1) Warm Audio WA-47jr
Direct Boxes
- (2) Radial ProDI Direct Boxes
- (1) Acme Audio Motown DI
- (1) LR Baggs “Venue” Full Isolation Bass DI
Amplifiers
- Fender Silverface Twin
- Fender Blues Deluxe
- Vox AC 15
- Orange Crush 50BXT
- Ashdown MAG300 Bass head
- Ampeg BA-112 Combo Bass Amp
- Ampeg Micro-Cl Bass Amp + Cab
- Ampeg 4×10 Bass Cab
- Ashdown 2×10 Bass cab
- Avatar 4×12 guitar cab
Instruments
- Fender Stratocaster
- Epiphone Les Paul Standard
- Tokai Electric Jazz bass
- Weather king banjo USA made
- Washburn D10S12 12 string acoustic guitar
- Takamine 6string acoustic guitar
- Tama Swingstar 4 piece drum set