We are a recording studio and mastering facility in Hamilton, Canada that values craftsmanship, innovation, and excellent sound.
We handle a variety of audio work including recording, mixing, mastering, audio post-production, and system design & acoustics consulting.
Our head engineer and owner Travis Stoddart has worked with emerging artists and record labels that make up the southern Ontario independent music scene, including Gattsby Records, Frankie Wood, Edward Sayers, and many more. He is a craftsman, striving to make every project sound incredible and push the boundaries of what is possible in audio. In 2018, he was nominated for a Hamilton Arts Award.
See what some of our clients have said about us:
"I was very pleased with the final masters and the invoice price. Painless and professional."
-Seth Macey, Gattsby Records
"Travis is like the audio equivalent of a mad scientist."
-Koi Getson, Faulty Rivals
"Travis is the master of mastering. The guy has a great set of ears. I highly recommend him!"
-Mike McCurlie, MJM Media
Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.
Credits
5 Reviews
Endorse Alleyway SoundTravis is great to work with, always helpful and friendly. Travis mastered my most recent projects and they turned out great! I would work with him again for sure!
I will definitely use Alleyway Sound again. I am really happy with the mastering they provided. Excellent work!
Working with Travis at Alleyway Sound was wonderful! The atmosphere was professional, relaxed and positive! The quality of my recording was incredible, thank you Travis! Highly recommend this studio!
Alleyway Sound is a comfortable and professional experience. After working with head engineer Travis Stoddart, I am proud to have him at the helm of what I'm recording. It has been great to see someone whom I've known for several years begin to make his mark and become a fresh face with a fantastic resume of experience in the industry.
I met Travis at a show at The Corktown, and went to the Alleyway Sound studio to record my latest album. He gave me an amazing rate to record the full project with him, and was so accommodating when it came to my needs, from the mics that would best suit my voice, to picking which days I could come in and lay down each track. And the wonderful experience was completed by Travis' great skill at mixing and mastering, breaking down the sound in scientific ways that was way above my understanding. An amazing time working with him and a finished product that I am truly proud of.
- LTtheMonk
Interview with Alleyway Sound
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: I think anyone hiring an audio engineer should really get to know them on a personal level and get comfortable with them, especially if they're heavily involved in the creative process, before deciding to work with them. At the end of the day, the studio business is a service industry and to make a great record you need someone who's on board with your creative vision and willing to listen and work collaboratively with you. I also think it's important to remember that recordings are forever. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I really think the analog/digital debate is asking the wrong question. There's a time and a place for both. I still like a totally analog front end while tracking, I think there's some "magic" if you will that analog circuitry imparts into an audio signal, but the recallability of digital when it comes to mixing and mastering is necessary in this day and age. I've used most of the hardware versions of the UAD plugins that I own at some point or another in my career and I think UA has done a great job on their emulations. I wouldn't stand behind them so readily if they didn't sound good.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm consistently inspired and amazed by great songwriters. I think it's got to be one of the toughest aspects of music and they make it look so easy.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been working professionally in audio in some capacity since about 2011, including everything from music retail to live sound to studio work to system/acoustics design. I studied Music Industry Arts and Audio Post-Production at Fanshawe College and started running Alleyway Sound out of my apartment while I was in college, tracking and mixing in the studios at Fanshawe and doing the bulk of my editing at home on a Macbook and my Focal monitors. The studio has definitely come a long way since then! I interned at Catherine North Studios in Hamilton (known for their work with City and Colour, Whitehorse, and Junkhouse) after graduating, while working in construction building studios and rehearsal rooms on the side. In 2017, I made the jump to running Alleyway Sound full-time while doing live sound a few nights a week at local venues in Hamilton.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Something I learned a while ago is that EDM-style "drops" can work in just about any genre. The idea of cutting out most of the instrumentation to highlight a vocal or showcase a riff creates a dynamic low point right before a high point like a chorus that can give a song punch and impact where you want it most. This can even be done in the mixing stage with some creative editing. You have to play with it a bit to make it fit the song and the style, but the fundamental concept is the same.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Honestly, all of it. Life's too short to not love what you do. But if I had to pick a favourite I'd say it's taking something good and making it great. Whether that's making some minor tweaks in mastering to really make a mix stand out or perfectly capturing the emotion in a performance while recording, I like to leave every project I work on better than I found it, even if I'm not the last person that's going to be working on it.
I was the Mastering Engineer in this production
- Mastering EngineerAverage price - $50 per song
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $150 per song
- Recording StudioContact for pricing
- RestorationAverage price - $50 per hour
- Live SoundAverage price - $200 per concert
We're interested in working with you to make the best record possible. That means we're happy to make revisions, try ideas, and work collaboratively with you to realize your creative vision.
- Audioslave
- Monster Truck
- Royal Blood
- UA Apollo 16
- SSL VHD Preamps
- Coleman Audio M3PH MkIII Monitor Controller
- Focal CMS 65 Monitors
- UAD Plugins
- iZotope Plugins
Ask us about volume discounts for 8+ song albums!