DEATILS + INFO

What is Sonic Summit: 2020?

Sonic Summit is a two day education in professional recording for beginners and audio connoisseurs alike. Attendees will learn, question, and create alongside an award-winning audio engineer — in the very studios where some of their favorite albums were mixed and mastered. This intensive experience will impress upon attendees Michael Kolar’s fundamentals of mixing and mastering to both digital and analog.

This is more than just a two day seminar: you’ll record with a surprise artist, sip ever-flowing Dark Matter Coffee, attend a hotdog battle at Lola’s Coney Dog, enjoy bites from Blue Door Kitchen & Garden, join Michael for a wrap party at Paulie Gee’s Pizza, and leave with an incredible gift from Shure Incorporated. (All food, gifts and events included in tuition price.)

Where is Sonic Summit: 2020?

Sonic Summit: 2020 will be hosted at Soundscape Studios, located at 2510 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Click here for a map.

What will I be doing on each day of Sonic Summit: 2020?

    • DAY 1 - Saturday, February 22:

      • 9:30 AM

        • Tour of Dark Matter Coffee Roasters and caffeine fix

      • 10 AM - 11:30 AM 

        • Studio Tour and equipment overview

      • 11:30 AM - 12 PM 

        • On-site light lunch provided

      • 12 PM - 1 PM

        • Set-up; philosophy on getting ready for a recording session

      • 1 PM - 3 PM 

        • Recording with an artist with a focus on mood, lighting, feng shui, choosing the right mic, setting up the right vocal chain (choosing mic pre, compressor, eq, etc) and getting a good headphone mix

      • 4 PM - 5 PM 

        • Nailing the rough mix and setting the tone for the proper mix down

      • 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM 

        • Free Chicago VS Detroit hotdog battle at Lola’s Coney Dog

        • Will have AV content going on while we eat, but the focus will be comradery

    • DAY 2 - Sunday, February 23:

      • 10 AM - 10:15 AM: Get Freshly Roasted 

        • Enjoy free on-site Dark Matter Coffee

      • 10:15 AM - 11 AM: EARientation

        • Everyone will get to listen to one of their favorite mixes (from a 3 rd party) to warm up their ears and set the bar for the day

      • 11 AM - 12 PM: Mix prep

        • This will focus on ProTools/Logic session organization, file import, labeling, busing and routing of analog gear

      • 12 PM - 12:30 PM: Lunch with Michael

        • Onsite catered lunch (included in Sonic Summit registration fee)

      • 12:30 PM - 4 PM: Nailing the mix

        • This will be an in-depth, all hands on deck mixing session where we will talk; apply E.Q, Compression, Side-Chaining, panning; Leveling, VCA assignment, adding of effects to enhance emotion

        • We’ll then jump back to the rough mix from the previous day to make sure we elevated the mix to its highest use

      • 4 PM - 6 PM: The black art of Mastering

        • This will be a “all hands on deck” mastering session of the mix we just completed

        • We will focus on digital mastering vs analog mastering, hybrid approaches and using tape our 1971 analog Reel-to-Reel Tape Machine to take the final mix to a complete master that can compete with today’s Top 40 hits

      • 7 PM: Wrap party and dinner with Michael Kolar @ Paulie Gee’s Pizza

        • Enjoy Chicago’s best pizza and time to further pick Michael’s brain and celebrate your newfound expertise with your fellow Sonic Summit comrades

How many will attend Sonic Summit: 2020?

Sonic Summit: 2020 will be capped at ten (10) humans.

Where can I learn more or ask additional questions?

We’d love to hear from you! To contact Michael Kolar and the team at Soundscape Studios, send an email to info@soundscaperecording.com.