Evolve Audio Services

Seward · Minneapolis, Minnesota

High-end home studio built around your songs.

Evolve Audio Services is run by a very experienced engineer and producer with high-end gear and decades in the music scene. It's a small, focused room set up for acoustic indie folk and Americana — solo artists, songwriters, and small acoustic acts are especially welcome. The point is simple: make great recordings with good people, without the big-studio clock hanging over the session.

Call 612-293-5081 See rates
Joshua Crapo seated at the desk in the Evolve Audio Services studio, turned toward the camera in his chair. The white desk in front of him holds a computer screen, keyboard, and studio monitors, with a rack of recording gear behind him. To the left are a keyboard on a stand and a small Laney amp; in the right foreground a row of electric guitars stands on a rack in teal, blue, and sunburst finishes. A white dog sleeps on the carpet in front of the desk, and the walls carry a Minneapolis Spoonbridge and Cherry poster and a Johnny Cash poster.
The studio in Seward — Joshua at the desk, guitars at the ready.

Services

Recording, production, and mixing in the home studio — plus options for working remotely and for recording a real grand piano.

  • In the studio Recording, production, and mixing sessions in the Seward home studio, engineer included, with the full gear list below at your disposal.
  • Mixing Send me your audio tracks to mix here in my studio.
  • Mastering Send me your final mix to get that professional mastering touch.
  • Remote recordings Remote recordings are available — you don't have to be in the room to work with the studio. Get in touch to talk through your project.
  • Steinway in a large room When a song calls for a real grand piano, there's the option to rent a seven-foot grand Steinway piano and record in a nice, large room. The Steinway is always professionally tuned.
  • Backing tracks Very low-cost backing tracks — Josh plays all the parts himself: acoustic and electric guitar, bass, keys, and programmed drums.

Rates

Straightforward pricing, engineer included. Pay by the hour, or buy a block of ten hours ahead and save.

Standard rate

$35 per hour

Recording, production, and mixing time at the regular hourly rate, engineer included.

10-hour block

$250 for 10 hours

Ten hours of studio time for $250 — $100 less than the hourly rate. A good way to settle into a project.

Gear you can use

The studio runs high-end recording gear, and clients are welcome to use the instruments in the room. Bring your own favorites, or work with what's here.

Close-up of the studio's rack gear. On top sits a blue Focusrite ISA One microphone preamp with an illuminated VU meter, next to a pair of headphones. Below it is a red Focusrite Clarett+ 8Pre audio interface, and underneath are Warm Audio units including a WA76-A2 dual limiting amplifier with two glowing orange meters and program equalizers with large black knobs.
The rack — Focusrite ISA One and Clarett+ 8Pre over Warm Audio outboard.
A white shelf of guitar effect pedals in the studio. In front are an orange Behringer Super Fuzz SF300, a worn blue Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer, a blue Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer, and a silver NUX Komp Core compressor. Behind them sit a black Behringer pedal, a white Soldano overdrive, a green overdrive, and a gold Actone pedal, with coiled cables stored on the shelf below.
The pedal shelf — part of the ever-growing collection.
  • Interface and preamps Focusrite Clarett 8Pre, Focusrite ISA One, Warm Audio WA-412 four-channel analog preamps, Behringer ADA8200.
  • Outboard Warm Audio 1176-style stereo compressor (one stereo unit), two Klark Teknik EQP-KT equalizers, one Klark Teknik 1176-KT compressor.
  • Microphones Dachman Audio U47-style mic, Warm Audio WA-251 — a large-diaphragm tube condenser in the classic '251 style, with a CK-12-style capsule, JJ 12AY7 tube, and three polar patterns (cardioid, omni, and figure-8) — two Audio-Technica 4400s, two Lewitt 120 small-diaphragm condensers, plus dynamic microphones by Shure, Audix, and Sennheiser.
  • DI and reamping Radial DI boxes, Radial Reamp box.
  • Amplifiers Laney Super Cub 10, Laney Cub, Fender Deluxe, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Orange Micro Terror, Fender 1000-watt 12-inch monitor, custom-built amplifier by Paul Webb.
  • Guitars and bass 1978 Guild Dreadnought acoustic guitar, custom-built lap steel, Epiphone Casino, Harmony solid-body guitar with dual humbuckers, two high-end Fender-style Partscasters, two Chibson guitars (one Les Paul Standard style, one ES-335 style), Squier bass.
  • Pedals An ever-growing collection of pedals, including but not limited to: JHS 3 Series Delay, JHS 3 Series Reverb, Walrus Audio Fundamental Reverb, Walrus Audio Fundamental Delay, Walrus Audio ARP-87, Mr. Black Dark Moon, MXR Dyna Comp, MXR Distortion+, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal.
  • Monitors Focal Alpha, Yamaha DS10.
  • Headphones Headphones by Sennheiser and Audio-Technica.
  • Keyboards Kurzweil 88-key weighted-key piano on a stand, Native Instruments A25 controller.
  • Software Native Instruments Komplete Standard — hundreds of virtual instruments, with great sounding drums, pianos, organs, and synthesizers.
  • Recording capacity 16 tracks recordable simultaneously, with unlimited tracks for mixing.

Listen

Hear Josh's own music — he records and plays as Peaux, electro-acoustic indie folk. The album Minnesota is out now. Download the audio demos to hear what comes out of this room.

Listen to the audio demos Follow @evolveaudioservices on Instagram

Get in touch

Call, email, or message on Instagram to talk about your project and book time.

Exact address provided when you book — the studio is in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis.