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OUR STUDIO

The Common Mode audiobook recording studio, conveniently located in East Hanover, NJ just 25 miles outside NYC, has been custom designed to facilitate a comfortable and laid back recording experience for authors and narrators alike, while ensuring professional level sound quality suitable for broadcast, audiobooks, and voice-for-video productions.  We have an advanced, acoustically treated recording booth and monitoring room, complete with a dual-monitor Pro Tools setup that allows the vocal talent to control the recording system and record to video if necessary.  We are also equipped for remote connections via Skype and phone patch for out-of-town directing and monitoring. 

 

Our engineers are well known for making clients feel at ease while recording, directing the process and keeping the talent focused and motivated to produce a memorable performance.  Even when working with the best narrators in the business, the input of an experienced engineer is crucial for achieving optimal results.  Time and again, Common Mode’s staff has been recognized for their skill, warmth, and patience when working on long recording projects. 

 

We are committed to making your time at Common Mode studio an enjoyable and successful experience, and we hope you’ll choose us for your next production!

 

 

Comfortable Vocal Booth

Crystal Clear Sound

Professional Engineers

 
To inquire about rates for studio rental or booking a session, please Contact Us.
 
Discounted rates are available for professional SAG narrators!
RECORDING GEAR
Room & Microphone

Once settled in our comfortable, acoustically-treated booth, our recording chain begins with a Neumann TLM-103 microphone, well-known for its noiseless operation, warmth, and clarity when recording voices.  This mic picks up every nuance of a narrator's performance, providing an intimate yet detailed listening experience, perfect for audiobooks and voiceover.

Preamp & Interface

The microphone signal is then passed to a Focusrite ISA One preamp, a single-channel desktop unit whose circuit topology descends from the legendary Focusrite ISA110 module.    Utilizing a Lundahl transformer-coupled input, the ISA is known for its clean, transparent, and focused sound, imparting a slight analog warmth but not overly coloring the signal.   Voices come out sounding natural but slightly larger-than-life.  

 

The built in high-spec (24 bit / 192 khz) digital card takes care of the A/D conversion, which gets sent via SPDIF to a Digi 002 interface, for recording into Pro Tools 10 HD.  A parallel signal gets sent into a backup hardware recorder, and into our vintage Soundcraft console for metering and monitoring.

TESTIMONIALS

 “Thanks Common Mode, for a really great recording experience last week!  Hit a personal best in recording Maya Rodale’s What A Wallflower Wants thanks to the expert production skills of Kevin Mazur – under 13 hours to record an 11 hour audiobook!”    

    – Carolyn Morris, Narrator

 

“Top notch production team, comfy studios and lounge, great company.  I am very proud and lucky to be working with Common Mode.  Glad I discovered them!

    – Veronica James, Narrator

 

"Fantastic team to work with! I had a very good experience working with Common Mode, Inc. Thanks Jess and Kara! I feel like I have gone through my own "I Ching" experience while narrating this book."  

      - Caroline Huang McLaughlin, Narrator

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