Live Performance
Sponsor of 4th Annual Phoenix Music Awards
The Saltmine Studio Oasis is a private, secure, artists dream come true for those seeking a unique recording experience. This complex has ive separate recording facilities that has everything from a 50-channel vintage Neve tracking room (Studio A) to a classic SSL 6064 E/G+ (Studio B). Clients include: Lil Wayne, G-Unit, DMX (who September 11th had a world wide release of his highly anticipated album ” Undisputed ” which has been in the works at The Saltmine for several years) others clients include: Bone Thugs N Harmony, Eve, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Timbaland, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Ne-Yo, Meat Puppets, Jonas Brothers, Soulfly, Styx, Cassidy, Swizz Beatz, Hi-Tek, Ice T, Ministry, Megadeth, Sevendust, Uncle Kracker, Sheryl Crow, Mudvayne, Nonpoint, Crossbreed, Royce da 5’9, DMC, Mike Jones, Jim Jones, Cory Gunz, Goose, Fieldy, Next, Jonathan Davis, Sunny Ledfurd, MCA Records, J Records, and Interscope Records.
For the more modern approach, there is Pro Tools everywhere and HDX in all three large studios. The Saltmine recently added their ifth room which they call “The Bungalow.” The Bungalow is a “live-in” overdub room/patio home. This 1,300 square foot bungalow will house ive people comfortably including a master bedroom suite, bunkroom with three beds, kitchen, lounge and two bathrooms along with a great overdub space with Pro Tools and monitors. So, if you have a great idea in the middle of the night, you don’t have to wait to next morning record it. The Bungalow also has a private yard if an artist wants to bring their pet. Studio D known as “The Villa” has a similar setup anchored by previous owner David Foster’s SSL 4056 G that was installed at The Saltmine by the Desk Doctor. This studio is coupled with its own living space, private bedroom, kitchen and rehearsal area complete with JBL PA system, large mirrors and kickback space.
Reprinted from Music Business Registry
If Jim Morrison lived long enough to see this desert studio dream vision, he would of recorded at The Saltmine. The Saltmine Studio Oasis is a dream come true for those seeking a unique recording experience. This complex has five separate recording facilities that has everything from a 50-channel vintage Neve tracking room (Studio A) to a classic SSL 6064 E/G+ (Studio B). Also available is an abundance of tracking and mixing gear and complimenting both main studios are Studer and ATR analog tapes machines.
The Saltmine is located in Mesa, an east-side suburb of Phoenix, Arizona and is easily accessible by plane or car. Mesa is roughly 350 miles east from Los Angeles, an afternoon drive or a blink-of-an-eye flight. The climate in Mesa averages a gorgeous 72 degrees. Tempe, the home of Arizona State University is only ten minutes away, so if you are itching for music nightlife, you can check out local talent or catch a concert. There are lakes, golf courses, 5-star hotels and great restaurants near by, also natural untouched deserts and wildlife parks perfect for photo-ops. “This secure 16,000 square foot compound is private, walled and gated, and can serve as a live outdoor music venue which can entertain up to five hundred guests. You could also just chill out on the misted patio and BBQ while enjoying the serenity of three Mexican fountains. You’ll never have to leave if you don’t want to,” says owner/ producer and manager Don M. Salter. “The studios were an evolution of sorts. It starts with one step that leads to the next, and you end up at the gates of The Emerald City! It happened that way with us. We did it one room and one expansion at a time. It was very logical really.”
In 2003, Don felt inspired to expand his busi-ness beyond an industrial park bay and moved The Saltmine to its current location at 48 S. Macdonald St. in the Downtown Arts District in Mesa, less than a block from the $100-Million Mesa Center for the Arts and the Mesa Amphi-theater concert venue. “I found this great space, an open air triage of buildings with one-foot thick masonry walls. It was built in 1914 and originally housed The Mesa Tribune newspaper business. The original building burned down then was rebuilt in 1956 and became a church. It availed itself to be a church the way the main building and the two outside buildings were all connected. It had a church-like atmosphere of peace, security and privacy. When we turned it into a world-class recording facility in 2003, it became a creative palace compared to its former existence. The facility was fully modernized; new plumbing, all new electrical, as well as all studio rooms being built to be world class specs and shapes, from cut concrete floors to 14’ sand-filled masonry walls.”
When you visit The Saltmine you can feel the love and care put into its conception. Salter mortgaged his home to make sure the renova¬tions and its completion were exactly how he saw it in his mind’s eye. The Saltmine has been home for many celebrity clients and caters to Hip Hop and Rock acts, but with the five amazing studio environments there is something for everyone. Some of the acts who have immersed themselves within its walls are Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, Eve, Ministry, Bone Thugs-N- Harmony, Jimmy Eat World, Sevendust, DMX, Megadeth, Soulfly, Tegan and Sara, Trisha Yearwood, Wyclef Jean, producers Rick Rubin and Timbaland, Che Vicious among many others, most notably Swizz Beatz. The Saltmine has an unbelievable wealth of gear and instruments to use as well. On their website www.thesaltmine.com visit the section called “The Vaults” for a list of available microphones, outboard gear, guitars and drums, effects pedals, keyboards and modules as well as guitar amplifiers.
At The Saltmine, you are provided with our house engineers and producers. You are welcome to bring your own producer/engineer and we will assist them as we sculpt the project together.
The Saltmine welcomes all producers and engineers who come through their doors and are very supportive of outside production talent. The Saltmine staff will make the artist feel welcome and get the sound they desire. This full-service facility is ideal for tracking, mixing and mastering. “We do everything here. We are Arizona’s recording one-stop, we do everything from start to finish, so a local artist can walk in with an idea and walk out with a duplication master,” says Don. On rates for the studios, “We have book rates, and local rates. We won’t let rates stand in the way of killer music being produced here. We do what we need to do to make people happy and work within any reasonable budget.”