About Us

The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
Recording Center

Levine School of Music's Northwest DC Campus has the perfect studio for classical and jazz recordings. Featuring a 9-foot Steinway D concert grand piano and state-of-the-art digital recording equipment by Harman International, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Recording Studio can accommodate solo performances, chamber groups and small ensembles. Professionally trained and experienced engineers will guide you through every step of the recording process, from 24-bit digital recording and digital editing of classical scores to producing a CD master of your performance.   Please note: we do not offer video/DVD recordings, although clients can arrange on their own to video tape their recording session(s).

Rates

• There is a $30 set-up and strike fee for every session.
• All rates are determined in 15-minute intervals for additional time beyond the initial booking.
• * Guests are musicians not affiliated with Levine who wish to use the services.
• Students and guests are required to use the Levine Recording Studio staff.
• † Includes currently enrolled students only, plus Levine employees and their immediate families.

All required paperwork plus a full 50% deposit must be delivered to the school (NW DC campus) no later than 2 calendar weeks in advance of the first day of any recording project; otherwise, any deposit will be refunded and the reservation cancelled.

For more information regarding the use of the Cafritz Recording Studio, please contact Maria Mathieson.  

Policies

• A minimum of 3 weeks of advanced notice is required to schedule a recording.
• 50% deposit based on estimated time for project due no later than 2 weeks before the (initial) recording session.  Fees should be paid to Levine School of Music.  Balance is due after completion of the project and upon receipt of final invoice.  Recordings and other materials will not be turned over until payment is made.
• Cancellation notification must be made no later than 2 business days before the scheduled session to receive refund.  Payment in full will be required for clients who do not show for sessions. 
• Additional CD copies will be provided with the session at $3 each. 
• Rates are for recording session use of the Kunen Theater/Cafritz Recording Studio and do not apply to use of the Kunen Theater for other purposes.
• Rental of the facilities to non-Levine individuals or groups is at the discretion of the school.
• Use of the Kunen Theater for recording by outside engineers is at the discretion of the school and does NOT include access to the recording booth; engineers must provide their own equipment. This option is available to current Levine students and employees only.
• All materials and sound recording files will be archived for 6 months from the time of recording. Archived copies can be purchased from the studio for a fee to be determined depending upon the size of the project. 

Fall 2009 Recording sessions:

Our recording studio is available for daytime sessions throughout the week and for evening sessions on Mondays.  Please be sure to include several schedule options.

Equipment

(Audio Equipment provided by Harman International)

• Macintosh G4/500 dual processor
• MotU Digital Performer recording software
• Jam CD burning software
• Metric Halo Channel Strip
• Metric Halo SpectraFoo analysis software
• Waves Native Gold
• Pluggo FX plug-ins
• MotU 1296 and 2408 digital multi-track recording interfaces
• MotU MIDI Express XT USB interface
• Soundcraft Spirit 56 X 8 X 2 console
• Spirit 328 digital console
• JBL LSR monitors
• Lexicon FX: 480L, 300L, PCM 81 & 91
• AKG microphones
• Steinway-D piano