Toledo Ohio recording studio Firefly Studios

Finding the right Studio

Find out if they're using "The Good Stuff"

Premium analog equipment is where most “Studio Magic” resides… and it’s not cheap. Analog EQ and Compression produce fat, warm, punchy, and larger than life types of recordings that have pleased ears for the last half-century or so. Many studios skimp here in a big way and their recordings show it. Our vintage mixing console, racks of high end mic preamps, compressors, EQ's, and analog effects, large microphone collection, and all of the best digital ammenities make FireFly a premium music production facility.

With a little help from my friends...

Find a producer that you can work closely with, because you’re going to be spending a lot of time together during the making of an EP or album. The producer plays a very important role during production… Their responsibility is to oversee the entire project from start to finish. No small task, so you'll want to make certain you’re in capable hands. Listen to the clips on the FireFly site to hear the different ways artists are "produced" here. We have a great time...

That glass window sure is pretty...

Pretty rooms with angled walls and glass windows are nice and all, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the studio sounds like a million bucks. Listen to samples that the studio makes available, and your ears will tell you how their rooms sound. Each room here at FireFly is sound treated with acoustic paneleing, and foam filled walls for even greater seperation between the control room and multiple isolation booths used for recording. We also have a 10x12 room, completely open without acoustic treatment. This room is used for exotic "small room" effects during production.

Featured Firefly Gear for May 2012

Sennheiser e609 Dynamic Microphone

This thing kills on electric guitar overdubs.... Really... We use it mostly for heavier rock type stuff around here, but I could see it being used in Alt-Country or Country Rock...

May 16th, 2012

I'm about to do some updating to the FireFly Studios Mastering site. Yes, I have a dedicated mastering website!!

May 15th, 2012

Louis was in tracking harmony vocals for The Comeback. We wrote the parts together, experimenting for a few hours. Then laid 'em down!

May 13th, 2012

Day 2 of tracking for People Being Human. We have 11 songs in the works now... overdubs have begun... they are back in studio in just over 2 weeks to continue overdubs.

May 12th, 2012

People Being Human got down to work today. Super fun songs, and great use of the sonic textures that FireFly has to offer. Awesome band.

May 11th, 2012

Louis (guitarist/vocalist from The Comeback) was in chopping my hair off today! We listened to some Joe Jackson during the cut ;) People Being Human is going to be in studio over the weekend...

May 10th, 2012

I met with a potential intern today here at FF... his name is Steven... he is interested in taking audio production classes here.

May 9th, 2012

Max Machon was back in today... a little bit of mixing, and a few more overdubs.... a vocal passage and some cowbell performed by his neighbor Eric (?). Fun stuff!

May 8th, 2012

Will Johnson has another session scheduled for today. We're going to be mixing his first track.

May 7th, 2012

Max Machon was in for another mixing session yesterday. Also Nathan Baird was in for his first day of shadowing this week... he'll be around all week.

May 5th, 2012

Milano was in all day today. We tracked vocals for his track Beautiful Skies. That song is fantastic and will be posted on this site at some point.

May 4th, 2012

Willl Johnson in tracking more hip hop... all from scratch. Very fun stuff.

May 2nd, 2012

Jason Goss performed all sorts of percussion for Milano today. Tambourine, claves, shakers, hand drums, wood block, and even sleigh bells! The session went great...

April 30th, 2012

Just finished a great mixing session with Max and Keven Machon.... we now have working mixes for 2 songs!

April 26th, 2012

Also had Milano in studio for some vocal production today. We tracked lead vocals for his song "Lottery." Yep... samples up eventually!

April 26th, 2012

I mixed for The Sanderlings today! A cool track called "Love and Cannabalism." Took almost 5 hours, thanks to Josh's complex guitar work! Good stuff...

April 25th, 2012

I did a bit of recording for Milano today.... layered some guitars and put a hip-hop loop in for one bar of a song called "Lottery."

April 24th, 2012

Justin, formerly Aaron Shock, was back in studio today, tracking some hip-hop. Justin travels from Georgia to record here at FireFly, because he can't find somebody who will do a project the right way down south!

April 23rd, 2012

Several more overdubs for Milano today... keys, beat mapping, guitar, vocals...

April 22nd, 2012

Milano guitar and keyboard overdubs today... also, the BOOM-WHACKERS (super cool instrument) have officially been used on a record! On a song called "Lottery."

April 21st, 2012

Milano back for more! Just Bob in today... we have plenty to do yet.

April 20th, 2012

Milano is session! We are cranking out 5 songs this week... guitar overdubs and bass overdubs all day today...

April 19th, 2012

Local drummer Jason Goss laid some fantastic drums down today for milano. Wow... really nice performances.

April 18th, 2012

Milano is officially in studio! We had a great first day, about 10 hours of work. Scratch tracks and drums tomorrow.

April 17th, 2012

I'm prepping the studio for a long week with Milano. Alex Dausche is flying in from San Diego this evening, and he'll be developing songs and tracking parts with us for the next 6 days! It'll be awesome to have him back!

April 16th, 2012

Tax day always sucks...

April 13th, 2012

Will Johnson was in starting a hip hop project today... we're doing everything from scratch. It's a lot of work, but it's a blast. Have a good weekend everybody-

April 12th, 2012

A bit more editing for Max Machon this morning, then a session with Louis. We tracked vocals for the chorus on their single "Sick World."

April 11th, 2012

I edited a bunch of Max Machon's songs this morning/afternoon. Two more songs to go, then the record is prepped for mixing.

April 9th, 2012

We are starting a session with the talented local drummer Jason Goss. He is trying out for a band out west called "Muraeu."

April 6th, 2012

Meaghan Roberts and crew back in as previously mentioned! Session drummer is Adam Renchen, and the session bass player is John Weisberger out of Nashville, TN. Fantastic players...

April 5th, 2012

Meaghan Roberts and crew were in... We had a fantastic Drum and Bass session. Same thing for tomorrow!

April 4th, 2012

Max and his father Keven Machon both tracked at FireFly today. Max finished his last remaining bits of tracking, and Keven layered some cool guitar lines into 3 of Max's songs, of which we will mix seperately.

April 3rd, 2012

Louis from The Comeback tracked vocals for a sweet new single called "Sick World." It reminds me a little of Jimmy Eat World, but it's a bit more rockin'.

April 2nd, 2012

Meaghan Roberts was in tracking this morning, also doing some prep work for our longer sessions scheduled for Thurs/Fri.

April 1st, 2012

Louis and Josh from The Comeback have partnered with Jason Goss, and are recording a brand new song. It's a hot pop-punk track (I'll post a clip of it after it's completed), and it's super high energy. Nice work fellas.

March 31st, 2012

Highland in for day 2 of tracking... went fantastic! Highland partnered with the Dirty Damn Band for a DDB song, and DDB played on a Highland song. Everybody wrote wonderful parts...

March 30th, 2012

Highland was back in studio! So nice to have them back. They've been working toward completing their second full lenght "National Road" for over 2 years! It's going to be well worth the wait...

March 29th, 2012

I did some testing and experimenting with studio gear today... mostly mic preamps.

March 28th, 2012

NEW ARRIVAL!!! MXR Pitch Transposer (model 129) is here and wonderfully functional. This is one of the most exotic vintage effects we have around here. From the early 1980's, this thing can create interesting and on-point harmonies, or can sound like an ATARI. Straight up!!!

March 27th, 2012

Max Machon was in tracking today... extra percussion like shaker, tambourines, pipes... yep, I said it. Pipes.

March 26th, 2012

Dirty Damn Band here in studio tracking a bit more on their song "ice creamy." These girls are just fantastic!

March 24th, 2012

I'm going to try to get in studio today for an experimental session... test out the tape machine, maybe some mic pre's and some mics. Experimenting is key because it is one way to find great new sounds to use on future sessions.

March 23rd, 2012

Billy Sunday was in studio tracking vocals for an original song of his (hip hop).

March 22nd, 2012

Max Machon was in for a percussion overdub session... tambourines, shakers, wood blocks, etc... we planned all of the percussion parts we're going to record for the 9 song full length, so we'll track them on Tuesday.

March 21st, 2012

2nd Post already today, but I will have an intern visiting for possible placement here at FireFly later today. Looking forward to it.

Click below for past entries...

March 21st, 2012

New toy on the way! MXR Pitch transposer... from the early 80's (like a lot of my other gear)... should be a wonderful and fitting addition to FireFly Studios. It will be able to add harmonies or even dissonance to absolutely any instruement. I'm looking forward to trying it on guitar, vocals, keys, and drums...

March 20th, 2012

The plan is in full force to BUILD A CUSTOM PLATE REVERB FOR FIREFLY STUDIOS! cR@zy c0oL!

March 19th, 2012

Max Machon was tracking more lead guitar, and his father Keven helped produce the session... good times!

March 17th, 2012

The Dirty Damn Band was back in... great session, recording mostly vocals. The studio smelled like wei wei... a delicious local chinese restaurant of course!

March 16th, 2012

Max Machon tracked lead guitar overdubs for about half of his record. We also tracked some organ (Crumar Toccata) on a couple songs. Everything sounded great-

March 15th, 2012

Back in studio today... need to get organized after the trip! Lots of artists recording here right now, so book your time soon if you want to get in!

March 10th-14th, 2012

Went to Nashville to work along side a very successful producer and song writer, Rand Bishop. We worked on a Milano song titled "Trouble" which will be marketed in several parts of the world. It was a great trip in general... Created some cool music and saw/heard so many talented artists. Also toured the city and several attractions. Nashville easily gets two thumbs up.

March 9th, 2012

Another new band begins tracking at FireFly today! The Signals... very bright young talent.

March 8th, 2012

Session starts in a few minutes actually... the Dirty Damn Band! Can't wait-

March 7th, 2012

Had a fantastic session with Meaghan Roberts and her drummer Adam. House drum kit sounded incredible with Adam on it.

March 6th, 2012

Max Machon tracked vocal harmonies today... they added a very classy element to the record imo. Also, I'm going to see Hot Tuna up in Ann Arbor later this eve with a student of mine... a member of the band Clemency, hint, hint.... See you this eve John!

March 5th, 2012

Meaghan Roberts is OFFICIALLY back!! And I must say, better than ever! Wow--- we're tracking her new record.... the songs are fantastic.

March 2nd, 2012

New visitor in today... his name is Will... we are about to embark on quite a hip-hop production for him... from the ground up. I'm looking forward to starting... Also, Max Machon was in performing vocals for his upcoming release. They came out great...

March 1st, 2012

Planning the Nashville trip for work... should be very cool, and quite an experience. Also doing a little bit of mixing here in studio today. Sam will also be in for recording production classes later today.

February 29th, 2012

Leap Day! Weird. More studio maintainence today. Also found out that I'll be going to Nashville in the middle of March! Going down with Milano to work with some new talent and meet some peeps ;)

February 28th, 2012

A few rooms were cleaned/arranged here at the studio today. I'll probably shoot some new photos too. Everything is moving along wonderfully here.

February 27th, 2012

Max Machon was in for some acoustic guitar overdubs, and also a live acoustic/vocal performance for his record.

February 25th, 2012

The Sanderlings were back in today... mixing, tracking, writing.... all good stuff. Everything went really well.

February 24th, 2012

Billy Sunday (hip hop / pop) was back in working on his album today...

February 23rd, 2012

Max Machon tracked a bit of rhythm guitar overdubs and then all of the bass parts for his 9 song full length. Also, Sam (intern) was in for class today.

February 22nd, 2012

Billy Sunday (hip hop & pop) was in for his first session today... He makes his own beats and brings them into FireFly for vocal production. We got some really cool "gritty" retro type vocal sounds for the track we did. Sounded great.

February 21st, 2012

Max Machon is about to start a session in a few minutes... tracking rhythm guitars.

February 17th, 2012

Updating a little in advance... doing a bunch of mastering tomorrow... Milano, Alex Zander, AB, and Blue Ray all to be worked on...

February 16th, 2012

About to dig into some vocals for "Candy Rain."

February 15th, 2012

More work on the blue-ray song today. It's called "Candy Rain." Vocal production tomorrow...

February 14th, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day ya'll... busy in studio laying down tracks for a blue-ray song which will be featured in promotion of a children's book... more on this later.

February 13th, 2012

Off to a great start today with hip-hop act AB doing some work here. They laid it down. Also have a Sanderlings session later tonight too... going to do a little work on some old but new tracks.

February 10th, 2012

Sam was in for recording class today. Also doing some song pre-production with milano later today... we've got some new material in the works...

February 9th, 2012

Tom Drummond starts a project later today... looking forward to it. Sam (intern) will be attending the session too. I think Tom is starting off with a few covers to try and get more gigs.

February 8th, 2012

More meetings/interviews with new artists here... Looks like 2012 will be very busy!

February 7th, 2012

More work on the mastering website and this site today. Seems truly endless. I suppose it is! Anyway, check out a bunch of new songs over at the mastering site. www.firefly-audio-mastering-services.com

February 6th, 2012

I had a meeting with a local artist named Tom Drummond today. He'll be in later in the week to track a couple of acoustic covers.

February 5th, 2012

I don't like either the Giants or the Patriots. I hope they figure out a way to both lose.

February 3rd, 2012

I am going to be preparing some masters for a few different clients today...

February 2nd, 2012

I did a bit of website design today... also, my current intern Sam was in for recording class.

February 1st, 2012

Bob Milano was in for a visit today... always nice to see. Also, Aaron Thomas, current student at UT was in to check out FireFly Studios. I'm anxious for him to experience song making here... I think he's going to have a great time-

January 31st, 2012

I did some mastering on a few old but new Sanderlings songs. They sound amazing through the console and all of the other gear. I will be posting something from these mixes soon... Also, the band Blue Ray was in tracking scratches for a new song. It's going to be used in conjunction with promoting a book... more info later...

January 31st, 2012

Max Machon was back in to finish up his drum work... oh, and the Fibes kit is here for a few more days too... ;)

January 28th, 2012

Max Machon was back in for drum work today. We are using the old GIGANTIC Fibes kit that FireFly used to own (for those of you who have been around for a while) so it's pretty cool to see it again. I should also mention that Max is making the kit sound great!

January 27th, 2012

Max Machon was in tracking for his upcoming full length. We got all of the scratch tracks down for 8 songs today.

January 25th, 2012

Alex Zander sent a song from the west coast yesterday... we may be submitting it to Shadow Mountain Publishing through Milano Music LLC. Bottom line is it could be sweet! Keep the great tunes coming Alex!