Since 1994, Private Ear has been one of Winnipeg’s premiere recording studios. Nominated 3 times for Studio of the Year at the Western Canada Music Awards, Private Ear has recorded several Juno-winning and -nominated albums, plus over a dozen WCMA-winning and -nominated albums and three Engineer of the Year nominations. (Download our awards list.) We are also a Manitoba Film and Music-accredited studio.
The Private Ear rooms captured my imagination immediately for my live approach to recording, the piano has fantastic character, and John Paul couldn’t have been better at drawing the best out of me and the band.” — Matt Epp
Our original location on Dagmar Street was home to recordings by artists such as The Watchmen, The Wailin’ Jennies, The Weakerthans, The Guess Who, Nathan, and many more. The studio moved to its present location on Gertie Street in late 2007 under the guidance of original owner Neil Cameron and new partner John Paul Peters.
The new Private Ear Recording is a 3000 sq. ft. music recording facility designed with acoustics, comfort, and vibe in mind. The utmost care was taken when designing and building the studio to ensure the space “sounds good” musically and that excellent acoustic isolation was maintained. We used “isolated room within a room” building techniques with double 2’ x 6’ walls, plus two layers of 5/8” drywall separated with “Green Glue” acoustic treatment. Special care was taken with all electrical systems utilizing all cable with audio purpose run separately with ground isolation. A custom-designed HVAC system with insulated ducting keeps sound transfer to a minimum.
In addition to excellent-sounding spaces, Private Ear Recording has an efficient and practical layout. All rooms in the main studio are connected two ways to the control room making for a very accessible environment. (View the studio floorplan.)
Live Room
The 1020 sq. ft. live room has 12’ ceilings for a wonderfully open sound, and is perfect for recording percussion, piano, vocal, choir, horns, and virtually anything else. A large curtain and a healthy supply of sound baffles allow the room to be controlled to taste. The live room boasts a 1950’s-era 7-foot Heintzmann Grand, lovingly rebuilt and maintained by master tuner Fred Redekop. Also residing in Live A is a Hammond C3 organ with a 147 Leslie as well as a tasty selection of vintage tube guitar and bass amps. Mics by Gefell, Neumann, AKG, AES, Audio Technica and more ensure accurate and musical recording. (Please check our gear list for all the details.)
Isolation Rooms
Two isolation rooms (140 sq. ft. and 60 sq. ft. respectively) are equipped for recording additional instruments and vocals in isolation, and can accommodate enough inputs for a multi-mic’d drumkit.
Main Control Room
Our 400 sq. ft. control room features 11’ ceilings and provides a comfortable listening environment with balanced, accurate sound reproduction. It features Manitoba’s best sounding recording console, a Neotek Elite II, and is large enough for the whole band to use for listening and recording. Mixes done in our control rooms translate very well in other listening environments.
Gear and Recording Platforms
We can record to a variety of platforms including ProTools HD 2 Accell, RADAR, and our Ampex MM1200 two-inch tape machine. We are equipped with vintage outboard gear such as a Western Electric tube mic pre and a Urei compressor, plus more modern gear from manufacturers such as API, Avalon, Focusrite, Joe Meek, Orange County, True Systems, Drawmer, BSS, and more. For a complete gear list please click here.
Second Studio Suite
Additionally, Private Ear has a complete and entirely separate second studio useful for taking both overflow sessions and additional recording and mixing projects. The 360 sq. ft. control room is spacious and supports a large isolation room (170 sq. ft.) for general multitrack recording, overdubs, and even drum tracking. This suite is also available for hire. Please contact us for details.
Additional Studio Features
- Secure Parking
- Loading Dock
- Wheelchair Accessible (Ramp)
- Kitchenette
- Rental Drumkits (DW Collectors Series)
- Wi-Fi
- FTP Server
- Secure Instrument Storage
Recent Clients
The Waking Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, A Textbook Tragedy, Jodi King, Deco Dawson, JP Hoe, High Five Drive, Joel Fafard, Matt Epp, Jason Maas, Coda, Evil Survives, Subcity Dwellers, Tele, Comeback Kid, Fame, Sons of York, Hope Atlantic, Peacemakers, Matthew Patton/Guy Maddin, AM Glory, Crisis Jane, Broken Halo, Common Lives, Too Many Times, Jordan Janzen, Arms Around the Stereo, Quagmire, Matt Ward, Royal Canoe, Joey Penner, The Ripperz, Making Waves, The Furr, Pat Wright, Hawksley Workman, Xplicit, Colleen Skull, Blackout Brigade, The Shouting Ground, Roslyn, Slattern, Julie Penner, Skylite Descent, Monty Yanks, Zach Cherry, Hundredfold, Living In Red, DL STRATEGIC, Fall and Assault, Blaster Master, Ryan Setee, Larche Project, J Williamez, Dormant Ember, Electro Quarterstaff, Richard Moody, Your Worst Enemy, Excurses (Former),