PROFESSIONAL AUDIO RECORDING AND MIXING
SERVICES
RECORDING
Highest quality audio recordings made with premium studio gear in a beautiful, acoustically tuned live room that inspires musicians to create their best art
MIXING
High fidelity, 3 dimensional, radio-ready mixes that allow your music to stand out in a crowded and competitive market
INTERNET BROADCAST
Come in and use the studio as a place to perform live and broadcast a virtual concert over the internet
EDUCATION
The studio facilities are available to institutional and educational programs aimed at advancing knowledge of recording and audio engineering
At Black Sheep Recording Studios, It's all about having a Great Experience.
ABOUT US
Make the studio disappear. That’s the lesson from Steve Addabbo, grammy awarded studio owner and chief engineer at Shelter Island Sound.
What does that mean? From the perspective of the artist, the studio space, technology, and engineering process should never be in the way, or constrain the artist in any way.
In other words, a great recording studio eliminates barriers to artist creativity and provides an environment where musicians flourish and are inspired to create their best work. And that means producing recordings that are not only brilliant in their performance, but also sonically exceptional.
At Black Sheep Recording Studios, that’s what we do.
It's all about the experience. Located just south of New Paltz NY (Exit 18 on The New York State Thruway), Black Sheep Recording Studios offers premium audio recording and mixing services in a beautiful location at the foot of the Shawangunk Ridge, at the western border of the Great Appalachian Valley.
It's all about the experience.
Artists dedicated to their craft can take advantage of a spacious, acoustically tuned live room, premium studio gear, and an intimate, yet professional studio environment. In addition, as a Black Sheep client, you get a studio owner and recording engineer who will be as excited and as dedicated to your success as you are.
ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Jeff Frey, and I am the owner of Black Sheep Recording Studios.
At 4 years old, I watched The Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan show. And I was hooked. I got my first drum kit at age 9.
Through the years, being a musician fed my spirit and helped pay for college. But it also taught me to listen to music critically, an essential skill for a recording engineer. As my listening skills improved, the more I yearned for great sound. This led to my pursuit of high fidelity audio systems and put me on a path to become an audio engineer and recording studio owner.
I attended audio engineering school which included an internship with an accomplished studio owner, producer, and engineer. In my case, I was fortunate to study under Steve Addabbo, grammy awarded studio owner, producer, and engineer at Shelter Island Sound, NYC.
At the end of my internship, my wife and I built and opened the Kaleidoscope Arts Center, home to Black Sheep Recording Studios. I built the studio because I want to to help talented artists realize their best work, and deliver sonically exceptional recordings we can be proud of.
So, here we are.
Microphones
1 Wunder CM7 GS Tube (M7 Capsule)
1 sE Electronics RNT Premium Tube
1 Neumann KM56c Tube (1970)
1 Chandler Limited TG (Abbey Road)
2 Schoeps CMC6 (Wide Stereo Pair)
2 Gefell M300 (Stereo Pair)
2 Coles 4038 Ribbon (Matched Pair)
2 Royer R10 Ribbon (Matched Pair)
1 Beyer M160 Ribbon
2 AKG e906
1 AKG D112
4 Audix D2
4 Audix D4
1 Shure SM58
Keys
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Hammond B3 Organ (1974) w/Leslie Model 122
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M-Audio Keystation 49 Midi Controller
Bass Amplifiers
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Ampeg PF-115HE 1x15" 450-Watt Portaflex Bass Cabinet with Horn
DIs
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2 Rupert Neve Designs RNDI-S Stereo Active Transformer Direct Box
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Integrated DIs in the Neve and API Microphone Preamps
Preamps
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Leslie 122 Combo Preamp
12 UA Apollo (Gen 2) Unison Preamps
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UA Unison Neve 1073 Emulation
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UA Unison API 212L Emulation
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UA Unison 610-B emulation
Stereo Mix Bus
Dynamics
Guitars & Bass
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Fender Stratocaster (Cream) w/Rosewood Fingerboard (Mexico)
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Fender American Performer Precision Bass w/Rosewood Fingerboard
EQs
Monitors
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Focal SM9 Active Monitors (Control Room)
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Bowers & Wilkins 801 Studio Monitors (Control Room)
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Yamaha NS10 Monitors (Control Room)
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JBL EON15 Active Monitors (Live Room)
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2 Rack mounted Hearback-4 Headphone Monitoring Systems with 9 independent mixers
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8 Pair BeyerDynamic DT 770 PRO 250 ohm Closed-back Studio Headphones
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4 Pair Status CB1 Closed-Back Headphones
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2 Pair Direct Sound EX29 PLUS Isolation Headphones
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Bryston 4B Power Amplifier
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Yamaha Integrated Amplifier
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Nakamichi CA5 Control Amplifier
3 Sonifex CM-LUX1 Balanced to Unbalanced Audio Converters
1 Sonifex CM-ULX1 Unbalanced to Balanced Audio Converter
Guitar Amplifiers
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Marshall 1936 150-watt 2x12" Extension Cabinet
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EVH 5150 III EL34 50-watt 2x12" Cabinet
Drums & Percussion
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DW Clear Acrylic Design Series 6 Piece Drum Set (10,12,16,18,22,14x6.5)
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DW Collector's Series American Maple 5 Piece Drum Set (Amber Oil Finish) (10,12,16,22,14x6.5)
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Pearl Export Series Drum Set (White) (8,10,13,22,14x5.5)
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Pearl Export Series 5 Piece Drum Set (Black) (12,13,16,22,14x5.5)
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Pearl Vari-pitch Cannon Roto Toms 8" and 10"
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Large selection of Cymbals (Zildjian, Meinl, Paiste, Pearl)
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Meinl Luis Conte 3 Piece Conga Set
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Meinl Luis Conte Artist Series Bongos
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Variety of Authentic Hand Percussion Instruments
System & Power
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ProTools 2020.3
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2 27” iMac, 3.6GHz 8-core Intel Core i9, 64 GB memory, macOS Mojave
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Avid Artist Mix EUCON control surfaces (linked), providing 32 automated digital faders
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CyberPower 1000 VA / 700 W, Line Interactive, Pure Sine Wave UPS
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Furman Professional SS-6B Surge protectors and line filters
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Clean AC Power with isolated grounding throughout the studio
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Variable AC Power Transformers controlling all studio lighting
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Logitech C920 Pro HD Webcam
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TeleStream Wirecast One Video Streaming Software
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Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Audio Interface
The Studio
The Live Room is a quiet, spacious 30 x 40 (1200 sq ft), climate and humidity controlled, acoustically tuned tracking space, with a ceiling vaulted to a height of 15 ft.
The room is large enough to accommodate artists, instruments, and recording equipment without the cramped and cluttered feel of smaller tracking spaces. Oak hardwood floors are installed through out the studio, and 6 beautiful sky lights channel natural light into the room.
In addition, the recording space is equipped with 3 distinct and acoustically isolated rooms used to avoid tracking leakage from other parts of the studio. The space is designed so that everyone in the studio, whether in the live room, control room, or any of the isolation rooms, has line of sight to everyone else in the studio.
The control room is a dedicated, acoustically isolated 800 sq ft area with large double glass window visibility to the tracking rooms. The room is spacious and furnished to host musicians, engineers, producers, and support staff comfortably during the recording and production processes.
The room is thoroughly acoustically treated with bass traps, anti-reflection panels, and diffusers to create the most anechoic listening room possible for monitoring, mixing, and mastering recordings of highest possible quality. All critical components in the control room are redundant to enhance studio reliability.
Session Pics
Scenic New Paltz, NY (Home to Black Sheep Recording Studios)
I had a great experience recording my next album at Black Sheep Recording Studios. Enjoyed the location - right near my house. Enjoyed the clean, full of light and large studio setting with excellent equipment. Really enjoyed the Hammond B3 in the house!
It was fantastic to work with Jeffrey and he was always on time and gave 100 percent. I recorded 16 songs so was there for a few days.The musicians I hired where from all over so they stayed at the Hampton Inn , New Paltz. I would recommend this studio highly.
Rebecca Coupe Franks - Musician, Composer
Great resource, easy going, beautiful space!
Jessica Jones - Musician, Composer
As both a producer and an artist I would highly recommend recording at Black Sheep Recording Studios with the one and only Jeffrey Frey.
The studio is state of the art with an incredible microphone collection, great amps, three isolation booths for band sessions and a spacious live room full of natural sky light that inspires imagination and creativity.
Jeff is incredibly patient, knowledgable, and supportive with a presence that allows you to relax and be who you are in order to achieve your best recordings and mixes. He doesn't rest or quit until you're happy with your product.
The best feature of all? The sound! The signal chain at Black Sheep is absolutely delicious to your ears especially from the comfortable control room with its impressive set up of reference monitors. If it sounds like I'm bragging, you're right, I am. I love this place and it feels like home to me and my clients.
Thank you for doing us all a favor and turning your dream into a reality Jeff. I'll see you on the other side of the microphone.
Paulo Coelho - Musician, Composer, Author, Producer
Jeff at Black Sheep mastered my latest album.
He did a fantastic job, highly professional, very patient, very positive. I didn’t need to use the studio for recording but can’t wait for the next project so I can! I highly recommend him.
GO JEFF and Black Sheep Recording Studios!
Debbie Gulino - Musician, Songwriter
The studio is a beautiful peaceful space that allows the artist room to relax into their craft.
Jeff is so patient, positive, quick with a joke (if needed), and pays attention to details. I always feel he is going that extra mile on our projects. All in all, a great experience at Black Sheep.
Sarah Williams - Director of Choral Activities and Senior Lecturer of Music, Marist College
It is rare that you find someone who is as passionate about your work as you are.
I've had the honor and privilege of working with Jeffrey Frey for the past three years with my a cappella group, Time Check (from Marist College). Each year, the quality of our recordings has gotten better and better.
Jeff became a great supporter of what we do and pushed us to work harder as musicians. We have yet to finish our most recent CD, but Jeff has been so accommodating and just as eager to finish the record as we are.
The studio is an incredible space and one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. If you are looking to record, be sure to check out Black Sheep Recording Studios!
Thomas Vestuto - Singer, Social Media Director for Time Check at Marist College
