Chain-O-Lakes Recording studio is made up of four acoustically designed spaces:  The Control Room; the Performance Room; the Vocal Isolation Booth; and the Amplifier Isolation Booth.

The Control Room is where all the recorded sound is brought together, listened to, and processed.  It includes all the equipment necessary for preamplification, digital conversion, editing, monitoring, mixing, and mastering.  Key pieces of equipment in the control room include:

• ADK computer, custom built for music production, and protected by a full system backup
• Sonar Producer music production software
• E-MU 1616m master digital interface
• Two PreSonus Eureka (class A) pro recording strip preamps
• Eight-channel Behringer Ultragain Pro-8 digital preamp
• Event Tuned Reference 8 powered monitors
• Samson S-Phone headphone mixer/amp

The Performance Room is where a group can record together and be in live visual contact.  In larger groups where there are both instruments and vocals, the instruments record their parts first and the vocals afterward.  Instruments that are available onsite include:

• Yamaha nylon-string acoustic guitar
• Fender Strat HM electric guitar
• Roland RD-700 digital piano
• Roland JX-8P synthesizer
• Schecter Diamond Series five-string bass
• Schecter RG Series electric guitar
• Schecter Diamond Series acoustic guitar

For ensembles larger than can be recorded in the performance room, an on-site recording is recommended. Adjacent to the Performance Room is the Amplifier Isolation Booth.  This booth looks suspciously like a closet (and does in fact function as storage at times!), but it is also an acoustically treated room with electrical power and an audio connection to the Control Room.

Adjacent to the Control Room is the Vocal Isolation Booth, where lead vocals are recorded.  This isolated environment helps keep vocal performances unaffected and sonically consistant, so that there is maximum flexibility later to edit and produce them as effectively as possible.

The studio's flagship microphones are a pair of Mojave Audio MA-200 tube condensors, which bring a warm, yet lively, vintage tone to everything from vocals to acoustic instruments to drum overheads.  Other microphones by Shure and Behringer are also available for use.

All electrical circuits related to audio and recording are kept isolated from circuits used for lighting and other things, so ground noise and "buzzing" are not a problem.  Also, the entire studio is set below ground level, in a dry, waterproofed building, up on a hill.  This not only keeps things quiet for the neighbors (make as much noise as you want!), but well-protected from moisture and the elements as well.

Mike's ability as a producer and recording engineer arises out of over 25 years of experience as a performing musician and a lifetime of interest in music technology.  Since 1994, he has produced four CDs of his own piano music—Glory to the Newborn King, Rest, Groovy Church Tunes, and Pieces of Peace, plus the Coverage CD for Uptown, the jazz/pop group in which he plays keyboards. 

Growing up in Eagle River (the "other" Chain-O-Lakes in Wisconsin!), Mike attended Nicolet College in Rhinelander (1986), where a self-produced recording of an original composition was featured in a sound and light show put on by Nicolet's Theater department. He later graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition from UW-Stevens Point (1989), and a Master's degree in composition from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (1991). While at the U of I, Mike studied music technology at the internationally renowned Experimental Music Studios. And in 2003, he graduated with honors in Recording Engineering from the Audio Institute of America.

Mike is fluent in a wide variety of musical styles. He has performed classical repertoire as the principal keyboardist in the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, old-time dance music with John Check and the Wisconsin Dutchmen (with whom he played on two CDs), and big band jazz with River Cities Jazz (he also played on their CD).

Other performing experience include playing keyboard and electric guitar with Rhinelander rock band Equinox and Stevens Point blues band Cold Shot, which was led by accomplished Milwaukee guitarist Greg Koch. As a pianist with various ensembles, he has shared the stage with Janet Planet, Maynard Ferguson, Joan Rivers, and the Neville Brothers.