River City Studios, Ltd.

Happy 4th of July from River City Studios! 🇺🇸

Sarah E. Westfall in the studio recording her narration for her newest book, "The Way of Belonging!"

It was so great getting to have her in and we're so excited for the release of her book on June 11th! Available for pre-ordering and purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and more! To learn more, check out her website at www.sarahewestfall.com

Stay tuned for more information regarding the book! Congratulations on your upcoming release, Sarah!

These keys were left at the studio - we are trying to locate their owner. Please message us if they are yours!

Welcome to another Mic Monday! Today, we're featuring River City Studios' pair of Oktava MK-012s. This Monday our excerpt about these mics is written by our very own, Joe McCargar!

"From the human hand (or voice) to the instrument (or voice)... A great player or singer is the first in an artistic path that ends in beautiful music or drama.
Then it’s the microphone.

Years ago, I was prepping a recording for the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra in Grand Rapids’ DeVos Hall. Standing on stage, looking up to the acoustic ‘clouds’ above the stage, I saw the fairly usual array of microphones directed at the different orchestra sections. The array naturally contained numerous microphones that are often called, instrument mics or miniature condensers. They’re small, cylindrical mics that are meant to be unobtrusive, close to invisible, so they don’t call attention to themselves.

Looking up, I saw some unusually shaped instrument mics, with a flair (see photo) at the front end of the mic. I asked the Stage Manager what they were. He said, “They’re Oktava’s™. They’re actually built in Russia.”

River City has 60+ microphones, and our top instrument mic is a pair of Oktava MK-012’s. We modified the mics to reduce “self noise” to make the sound cleaner. The larger-than-standard capsule makes the mic sound warmer (or “fuller”) than the standard instrument mic.

The Oktava™ comes with three interchangeable threaded capsules (see photo) that change the mic’s directionality from all-around to just in front.

At $550./ea. (with modification), they’re amazing to use on piano, other stringed instruments, drum overheads and choral voices.

Mics mean a lot. And River City has nice mics!"

Each year, RCS has the pleasure of welcoming the students from Goodwillie Environmental School and Wright McCargar for their annual recording of “We Are the World.” They did such a great job singing and we love showing them around our space!
Thank you again for coming in!

"ANY PLEASANT NEWS" - STRANGE SKIN

A few weeks ago, River City Studios had the pleasure of having STRANGE SKIN (in the studio to record their newest single, "ANY PLEASANT NEWS." Out TODAY on all music streaming platforms!!

Introducing our Community Spotlight series! We're all about community here at RCS, and we have so many great clients and community partners to be grateful for! This month, River City Studios will be featuring Jerry Ford.

When the folks at River City think of Jerry Ford, we think not of U.S. President, Gerald R. Ford from Grand Rapids. Although, he deserves great honor and recognition. We think of Gerald D. Ford, founder of The Eighth Day, an independent advertising agency with whom we’ve had a nearly 40-year relationship.
Our Jerry is a warm, friendly, softspoken southern gentleman with an outside-the-box creative mind. We first met him in the early 1980’s, when the studio itself was brand new.

Jerry is a skilled and persuasive advertising copywriter who understood that music was the door to brand recognition and long-lasting loyalty. That’s why we think of him as The Jingle Man.
With Jerry’s creative foundation and Studio Manager Steve Thrall’s songwriting, Jerry produced dozens of music “hooks” that invited consumers to “sign up and stay with” area businesses. Some of them are still in the game.
The most notable is The Beltline Bar jingle with its Latin inspiration and instrumentation: “the great taste of Mexico, right in your neighborhood.” Even younger Grand Rapidians can sing the tune and the lyrics when they hear the restaurant name.

There’s a long history of area retailers and services that have benefitted from the creative mind of Jerry Ford:

Alger Schwinn Bicycles
Emdin’s Children’s Wear and Toys
Gar’s Honda
The Texan Restaurants
Murray Lake Marina
O’Neil’s Transmissions
The Auto Spa

These businesses owe part of their livelihood to Jerry, as do we. But more importantly, we have a friendship that makes him the perfect client.

Happy Easter from all of us at River City Studios! 🐣🐰

Welcome to the first edition of a new RCS series: Microphone Monday! Each month, we will feature different types of microphones that River City Studios has in our equipment artillery - and we have a lot :)

River City’s first Microphone Monday features the sE VR-1™ (we have two; mic’s are often purchased in pairs). The brand sE™ pays homage to: sound engineering

The sE VR-1™ is in a class of mics called “ribbon mics.” They change soundwaves in the air to sound in an audio recorder using a very thin, corrugated ribbon of metal suspended between two poles of a strong magnet. When the soundwave moves the ribbon, an electrical current is generated. The current is “understood” by an amplifier and then is converted into 1’s and 0’s (digital information) in a digital audio app.
Among many useful things about a ribbon mic is that it can handle quite loud sounds in a very clear and “transparent” manner. So ribbons are great for brass instruments and louder guitar amplifiers. However their transparency makes them very good at reproducing the less-loud character of an acoustic piano.
Another practical advantage of the VR-1™ is that it’s quite small. Most ribbon microphones are “substantial,” so sometimes they require some surrounding real estate to place them properly. A VR-1 can be easily slipped into even the tightest places.

A few weeks ago, we had the chance of welcoming Ashlee Eiland into the studio to record the audio for her upcoming book, "Say Good."

"Say Good" is a timely, thought-provoking book that contains practical insights, empowering action steps, and a solid framework for using your voice with purpose and impact. Embark on a transformative journey of honing both your words and your heart—for good. Ashlee's book will be on sale starting May 7th - stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the release date!!

Forget Throwback Thursday, how about a Flashback Friday?

River City Studios circa 1981. Is your memory as good as ours? NAME THAT BAND!

Pretty Sure in the studio recording their first LP!
Can’t wait to hear the grooves that are on the way. Keep your eyes peeled for release dates! Engineered by the one and only, Ryan Elvert.

recording her upcoming book, Say Good with coming out in May this year 🎉🎉
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At home in the Maridell Canyon studio 😎 with gear by River City Studios, Ltd. and expertise by Austin Ruhstorfer .

Happy to all who celebrate! Pictured below is a photo from 1982 of Tim Heldt, Wright McCargar, and Carl Andrews in a jingle session at RCS' first location on Fulton street. The recording console seen here is an Auditronics 501 - River City's first board!

Happy Birthday, Koty!
Join us in wishing our favorite bassist and fantastic audio engineer, Koty, the best of birthdays today! Thank you for all that you do around the studio and always making us and our clients feel even MORE at home! Have a great day today and cheers to another year around the sun! 🎸🤘🍻

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2023 was another great year, but we can't wait to see what's in store for 2024!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at River City Studios!

Need a last minute Christmas gift? Get a River City Studios gift card for the aspiring musician in your life! Whether you want to record your music, make a podcast, or even record an audio book, this gift card is perfect for all your audio recording needs!
Your purchase of a gift card grants you studio time for recording, production, mixing and/or mastering with our professional engineers.
Call us at (616) 456-1404 or email us at [email protected] to purchase one today!

Happy belated birthday to our amazing owner, Roy Wallace!
Life has been busy around the studio, but we absolutely wanted to still get a very special birthday shoutout to Roy! He is, quite literally, the life blood of our business and we couldn't ask for a better captain to our ship. Thank you for everything that you do for us and we hope you had a great birthday on Saturday!
Cheers to another year! 🍻

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at River City Studios! 🦃

Last month, River City Studios had the honor of hosting The Verve Pipe for a very special fundraising live studio session. Here's a quote directly from Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe about the evening:
"What an amazing night.
We tried something we’ve never done before—recording a live studio session with a studio audience of 50 people, concentrating on the covers we’ve done over the years. Songs like “The Chain,” “Don’t Fear The Reaper,” and “Take The Long Way Home,” have been staples in our set for years, and now will be available to our fans. Five more cover songs were recorded as well, with the audience participating on one. Proceeds went to Aquene, an organization dedicated to feeding our indigenous people, and sports4kids, a South African charity that gets sports equipment to those in need. Roy Wallace and his team went above and beyond to make this event as spectacular as it was. We are so grateful that the night was a huge success."

Thank you again to The Verve Pipe and the rest of their team for choosing us to host this event! We are so grateful to have had a part in this meaningful cause!

Though your birthday may have been yesterday, we hope you’re celebrating your special day this entire weekend! Join us in wishing our chief engineer, Austin Ruhstorfer, a happy birthday!
We wouldn’t be where we are without you and we hope you had a fantastic birthday yesterday.
Raise a toast for another member of the RCS family! Happy birthday, Austin!

Wednesday is here to tell you that there's only TWO WEEKS LEFT of our Halloween special!

For any session now through October 31, show up in full costume and get 25% off your session!
At the end of the month, there will be a voting over all the costumed-clients. Best costume gets a studio credit of $300!
Terms & conditions: prize credit good for 1 year, excludes CD duplication and analog tape materials, cannot be redeemed for cash. BOOK YOUR SESSION TODAY!

Ryan the Purple Crayon says: RECORD @ RCS!

For any session now through October 31, show up in full costume and get 25% off your session!
At the end of the month, there will be a voting over all the costumed-clients. Best costume gets a studio credit of $300!
Terms & conditions: prize credit good for 1 year, excludes CD duplication and analog tape materials, cannot be redeemed for cash. BOOK YOUR SESSION TODAY!

Drum Dreams 💭… Yamaha Recording Custom Birch. Ludwig Acrolite, Sabian AAX, Sony C-48, Shure Sm57, Neumann U47FET, AKG C-414 B ULS, Electro Voice RE-20, API 312, Great River MP2-NV, Mogami, Canare, River City Studios-Studio A. -studio

HALLOWEEN HAS ARRIVED AT
RIVER CITY STUDIOS!
For any session now through October 31, show up in full costume and get 25% off your session!
At the end of the month, there will be a voting over all the costumed-clients. Best costume gets a studio credit of $300!

Terms & conditions: prize credit good for 1 year, excludes CD duplication and analog tape materials, cannot be redeemed for cash.
BOOK YOUR SESSION TODAY! We can't wait to see all the fantastic costumes

It’s Kaylie’s birthday!!
Wishing River City Studios’ very own, Kaylie Dibrowa a fantastic birthday today! Thank you for bringing your creativity, kindness, and overall cool factor to the RCS team. We couldn’t have asked for a better assistant engineer/dinosaur.
Cheers to another year around the sun! 🥂🦖🥳

Back to school season has arrived! 📚✏️🎓
Backpacks, notebooks, binders, and a River City Studios gift card??
Purchase the perfect back to school gift for your musician. OR, maybe they even want to start a podcast! Either way, you can use this gift card for so many different things! We just help your ideas come to life.

Your purchase of a gift card grants you studio time for recording, production, mixing and/or mastering with our professional engineers.
Call us at (616) 456-1404 or email us at [email protected] to purchase one today!