Recording studio with a mixing console, studio monitors, computer monitor displaying 'Phaser Control Recording Studio,' and acoustic wooden walls.
The Phaser Control desk — mixing console and monitors under warm light, with the live room visible through the control-room window behind.

Est. 2012San DiegoDesigned by Rod Gervais

Great records are made in this room.

The perfect blend of the best in analogue recording and the latest in digital recording tools work in synergy with a live room built from the ground up to capture that vintage warm analogue recording room sound.

Make your recording vision a living, breathing reality.

Book a session See rates & packages
Location
6320 Riverdale Street
San Diego, CA 92120
Phone
760-846-2301
Services
Tracking · Mixing · Production · Mastering

Credits

Artists who chose Phaser Control

Recordings tracked and mixed in this room. We are proud to be part of these artists' recording history.

Notable recordings

  • Death Cab for Cutie
  • The Offspring
  • Descendents
  • Manchester Orchestra
  • The War on Drugs
  • CHVRCHES
  • X Ambassadors
  • Inhaler
  • The Revivalists
  • Rainbow Kitten Surprise
  • Dashboard Confessional
  • SYML
  • Local Natives
  • Skegss
  • WALK THE MOON
  • I DONT KNOW HOW But They Found Me
  • Momma
  • The Interrupters
  • Alice Merton
  • TALK
  • Passion Pit
  • Peter Murphy
  • Cold War Kids
  • Silversun Pickups
  • Metric
  • Mariachi El Bronx

San Diego artists

  • Louis XIV
  • The Donkeys
  • The Frights
  • miniaturized
  • The Album Leaf
  • Pepper
  • Switchfoot
  • Ricky
  • Desponders
  • Year of the Kid
  • Go Scarlett
  • MoonDaddy
  • Hingada
  • The Ardent Ember
  • Kasberian
  • The Palace Ballroom
  • Dark Alley Dogs
  • Nena Anderson
  • Buckfast Superbee
  • Hey Chels
  • Goodfeels
  • Reality Session
  • Amalgamation
  • Johnny Wagon
  • Sulcus
  • One Eye Red
  • DEVORA
  • The Beautiful View

Tracked and mixed at Phaser Control by Patrick Ryan Heaney and Timothy Joseph.

Your record Start here →

"Phaser Control has definitely made a name for itself."

NBC San Diego — naming Phaser Control one of the top six recording studios in San Diego

The Room

Most studios were converted from pre-existing rooms. This one was built for one sole purpose.

Rod Gervais designed Phaser Control from the ground up, and it was completed in 2012 with a specific target in mind: the sound of '70s-era recording rooms, which represented the heyday of analogue records. That meant building for real acoustic behaviour rather than dead neutrality.

The main room's shiplap woodwork is a piece of spectacular craftsmanship in its own right, and it is the reason drums, amps and live ensembles sound like they were played in a room instead of assembled on a computer.

Up to eight players can track together, and there are eight headphone feeds — so each player gets an individual headphone mix instead of a compromise everybody has to live with.

True real-room recording has become a rarity. San Diego has no shortage of places to record. It has very few rooms that were actually designed for it from the ground up.

DesignerRod Gervais
Completed2012
Acoustic intent'70s · warm real-room sound
Live room35 × 30 ft · 15 ft ceiling
Control room15 × 12 ft · 14 ft ceiling
Iso booths3
Max tracking8 players
LoungeNo
ParkingFree · easy load-in
ComplexInside Studio 350
The live room, empty and lit low — diagonal shiplap walls on every surface. Close on the console faders mid-session. The control room seen from the doorway, monitors and desk ahead. Ceiling detail — timber run on the diagonal, built rather than converted. The desk from the left, outboard racks and near-field monitors in view. An iso booth with the window kept, so players keep their sightlines. Listening back from the control-room couch. A ribbon microphone hung under a timber frame in the live room. The control room wide, with the upright piano at the left. A Polaroid from a session held up in the room. The console head-on, monitors either side.

Tap any photo to open it full size.

Gear

Neve and API, in a room that was designed for it

Neve for weight and warmth. API for attack and forwardness. Between the two you can put almost anything in front of a microphone and land in the right neighbourhood on the way in — which is how records used to get made, and why mixes here start from a better place.

8

channels of Neve preamps
Neve 511

12

channels of API preamps
API 212L

Pro Tools

HD, current release
Apogee Symphony conversion

2012

Purpose-built by renowned studio designer Rod Gervais

Microphones

Large condensers

  • Neumann M 149 ×2
  • Neumann U 67
  • Neumann TLM 170 R
  • AKG C12
  • Mojave MA-300

Small condensers

  • Neumann KM 185 ×2
  • Shure Beta 87A

Ribbons

  • Royer R-122 ×2
  • Coles 4038 ×2
  • Grundig GBM 125 1960s
  • Nady RSM-4
  • Nady RSM-3
  • Ocean Way Audio RM1-B

Dynamics

  • Sennheiser MD 421 ×2
  • Sennheiser MD 441
  • Shure SM7
  • Shure SM57 ×5
  • Shure Beta 57A ×4
  • Shure Beta 58A ×4

Outboard, conversion and monitoring

Preamps

  • Neve 511 ×8
  • API 212L ×12
  • Neve 1073

Compressors

  • Empirical Labs EL8-X Distressor ×2
  • Universal Audio 2-1176
  • dbx 160X 1980s ×2

Conversion & DAW

  • Pro Tools HD current release
  • Avid HDX
  • Apogee Symphony
  • Mac Studio M2 Max

Monitoring

  • Genelec 8040A ×2
  • Yamaha NS-10M ×2
  • JBL LSR4312SP subwoofer
  • Hafler P3000 Transnova
  • 8 headphone feeds one per player

Backline and instruments

Guitar amps

  • Satellite Handwired Custom 30 2×12 cab
  • Vox AC30 Super Twin JMI, 1964 · 2×12 cab
  • Fender Prosonic 2×10
  • Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4×10
  • Fender Deluxe
  • Satellite Custom 15W 1×5"

Bass & keys amps

  • Eden VT40
  • Mesa/Boogie Walkabout
  • Ampeg Legacy 4×10 bass cab
  • Roland KC-550

Guitars & basses

  • Fender Stratocaster ×2 one Custom Shop Jeff Beck design, 2007
  • Fender Telecaster
  • Fender Toronado
  • Rickenbacker 350
  • G&L ASAT
  • G&L SB-1 bass 1985
  • Gibson J-45
  • Martin D-12

Drums & keys

  • Ludwig Vistalite 1974
  • Ludwig Black Beauty 13" snare
  • Farfisa Compact Duo 1964
Close-up of the console faders, lit warm, with channel markings visible along the strip.
Twenty channels of hands-on Neve for weight, API for attack — committed on the way in, the way records used to get made.

Team

Who you'll be working with

Black and white portrait of Timothy Joseph, owner of Phaser Control Recording Studio.

Timothy Joseph

Owner · Recording artist · Songwriter · Producer · Vocal producer

TJ built Phaser Control in 2012 and is the engine behind it. A professional songwriter, producer and recording artist, he brings a lifetime of work to every project just as he does with his own records — which matters, because it means you get a producer who sits in the same chair you do. He writes and tours with miniaturized, and has released music as the Palace Ballroom and with Buckfast Superbee. He works across genres, orchestrations and collaborations, and is known for being quick and precise about it. Songwriting, arrangement and vocal production are particular strengths: finding the right part, the right take, the melody line and the arrangement that turn a song into the best version of itself. Artists he has recorded include The War on Drugs, Descendents, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Murphy, The Offspring, Manchester Orchestra, Super Furry Animals, Louis XIV, Michigander, Barns Courtney, The Interrupters, J Roddy Walston and The Business and Rainbow Kitten Surprise.

Music is the great connector. It's called to me my whole life. It gives me great pride to help you bring your vision to fruition in the best sounding way imaginable. TJ
Black and white portrait of Patrick Heaney, head engineer at Phaser Control Recording Studio.

Patrick Ryan Heaney

Head engineer · Producer · Mixing

Patrick has more than twenty years behind the console as a producer, engineer and mixer, and works out of Phaser Control with artists across the US and internationally. His mixing credits include Skrillex, Tiësto, Lord Huron and The War on Drugs — festival-scale electronic production and patient, textural indie rock, without losing the thread in either direction. His own compositions have charted on the Billboard Top 30 and Top 10 and have been placed in League of Legends, Dancing with the Stars, Love is Blind, Hawaii Five-O, Red Band Society and Betas; in commercials for 7UP, Under Armour, Lexus and TUK; and in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Pitch Perfect 2, Vacation, Sisters and Things Will Be Different. He travels for work and has recorded in studios from South America to Europe to Asia. Major label, indie or passion project, the commitment is the same.

Black and white portrait of Nigel Dean, mixer and producer at Phaser Control Recording Studio.

Nigel Alexander Dean

Mixing · Producer · Engineer

Nigel came up at Phaser Control as an apprentice to Patrick Heaney and has since worked with The Offspring, Cold War Kids, X Ambassadors and Walk the Moon. His own records are house and dance music, built on strong harmony and melody, and he has played Nova, Bloom, PB Avenue, AC Lounge and a run of underground shows, supporting Last Heroes, Morten, Henry Fong, Ekonovah and Bass Jackers. He is available here for mixing and engineering — and if you are making electronic music, he is the one to ask for.

Learn in a working room

Instructional recording classes

We teach here as well. Instructional recording classes run on request, in this room and on the same desk the records are made on, rather than in a classroom mock-up of a studio. Tell us what you want to learn and we will quote it.

Rates & Packages

Straightforward pricing

Most studios make you ask. We'd rather you knew what a finished record costs before you pick up the phone. Hourly billing makes you watch the clock instead of the performance — these are flat rates for a finished, release-ready master.

Most booked

The Single

$2,200One song · tracked to mastered

Everything needed to release one song, at a price fixed before you load in.

  • Pre-production call to plan arrangement and approach
  • Up to 2 days tracking in the live room
  • Full production and arrangement input
  • Mixing and mastering to streaming spec
  • 2 rounds of mix revisions
  • All session files and stems, yours to keep
  • 10 business day turnaround
Book the Single

The EP

$5,900Three songs · save $700

Everything in The Single, across three songs — at a lower rate per song.

  • Up to 5 days tracking
  • One sonic identity developed across all three songs
  • 2 rounds of revisions per song
  • Sequenced and level-matched as a body of work
  • 3 week turnaround
Book the EP

The Album

From$14,000Six to ten songs · quoted

Full-length records vary too much to price off a list.

  • Tell us the songs, the players and the timeline
  • A real quote, not a range
  • Payment spread across the project, not up front
  • Pre-production planning included
Request a quote

Already recorded? Send us the files.

You tracked it yourself and it isn't landing. It's the most common problem we solve, and you never have to leave home to do it. We work with clients anywhere.

MixingIncludes 2 rounds of revisions · 5 business days $600per song
MasteringThrough our partner mastering houses · delivered to streaming and distribution spec · 3 business days $120per song
Mix + MasterBooked together · 7 business days $700per song
Mix RescueDiagnostic pass and an honest assessment before you commit — credited toward the mix if you go ahead $150per song

Mastering runs through our partner mastering houses, so your record is finished by a dedicated mastering engineer with fresh ears rather than by the person who mixed it. The per-track price comes down when you send more than one song.

By the hour, if you prefer

Some projects don't fit a package — overdubs, a single vocal session, a band that knows exactly what it needs. Four-hour minimum.

Recording with producer / engineer $150per hour
Day rate8 hours, engineer included — saves $200 $1,000per day
Room only, your own engineerWe will assist as needed $100per hour
Additional engineer or assistant $50per hour
Instructional recording classOn request, in the room Inquirefor pricing

Podcasts, voiceover & commercial

The same room, the same Neve and API front end, the same engineer — for spoken word. A properly designed space is the difference between audio that sounds professional and audio that sounds like a spare bedroom.

Podcast session90 minutes, engineer-run, edited episode delivered $350per session
Podcast hourly $250per hour
Voiceover & audiobook narration $150per hour
Monthly podcast retainerFour episodes recorded, edited and delivered — saves $200 $1,200per month

30% off

Rehearsing in the building? You're already halfway here.

Phaser Control sits inside the Studio 350 complex, and tenant bands record here at 30% off the standard rate. You already know the load-in, the parking and the building.

The room you've walked past every week was built by Rod Gervais for exactly what you're doing in your rehearsal space.

Tenants also get a free 30-minute assessment session. One song, no commitment, no pitch. Bring your set, we'll record it, you keep the file.

Claim your tenant session
30% off the standard rateEvery service on this page, at 30% off for tenant bands.
Free 30-minute assessment sessionOne song, tracked live. No commitment and no pitch.
Zero load-inSame building, same door, same parking you already use.
A room that was designedBuilt by Rod Gervais in 2012, not converted from a garage.

Booking

How it works

Tell us about the project

Songs, players, timeline, budget. We'll tell you honestly whether this is the right room — and if it isn't, we'll say so.

Book a tour

Hear the room before you commit. No charge, no pressure.

Reserve your dates

A 50% deposit holds the calendar. Balance due on delivery.

Make the record

Then we get out of the way of the performance.

  • You own your masters and your session files. Always. No exceptions.
  • Deposits are non-refundable within 7 days of the session, and transferable to a future date with more notice.
  • Sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours' notice are billed at 50%.
  • Revisions beyond the included rounds are $100 each.
  • Files delivered as 24-bit / 48kHz WAV, MP3 references, and full stems.

Bring us your record.

Tell us what you're making and we'll tell you honestly whether this is the right room for it. Usually the same day. Tours welcome.

Call 760-846-2301 Schedule a tour

Start the conversation

Tell us about the project

The more you put in here, the more useful the first reply is: how many songs, how many players, the dates you are holding, and roughly what you have to spend.

Would rather not fill in a form? Email 350control@gmail.com or call 760-846-2301. Usually the same day, either way.

On camera

Recording sessions, filmed in this room.

Touring bands come through here to play live on camera — whole band, one take, cameras running. The line under every one of these videos is somebody else’s, not ours: “LIVE at Phaser Control Recording Studio in San Diego, California.”

Death Cab for Cutie Roman Candles The War on Drugs Red Eyes Descendents Victim of Me The Offspring Behind Your Walls Peter Murphy The Prince and Old Lady Shade Rise Against Swing Life Away Switchfoot All I Need Silversun Pickups Freakazoid CHVRCHES Graffiti Cold War Kids So Tied Up Manchester Orchestra The Gold The Interrupters Take Back the Power Lord Huron When the Night is Over The Shins Name for You Best Coast Everything Has Changed Local Natives Coins Dashboard Confessional Hands Down Nothing But Thieves Sorry X Ambassadors Ahead of Myself Walk the Moon One Foot Rainbow Kitten Surprise Black and White K.Flay Bad Vibes The Head and the Heart Lost in My Mind Pepper Ho's
Show all 71 sessions Show fewer
The War on Drugs Pain Descendents Spineless & Scarlet Red Peter Murphy Gaslit Peter Murphy I'll Fall With Your Knife Peter Murphy Seesaw Sway Rise Against Hero of War Silversun Pickups It Doesn't Matter Why The Interrupters A Friend Like Me / By My Side The Interrupters A Friend Like Me / By My Side (360°) The Shins Young Pilgrims Local Natives Dark Days Dashboard Confessional Heart Beat Here Nothing But Thieves Trip Switch Rainbow Kitten Surprise Devil Like Me Louis XIV Air Traffic Control Louis XIV Playtime Alice Merton Lash Out Alice Merton No Roots Barns Courtney 99 SWMRS April in Houston SWMRS Too Much Coffee White Reaper Might Be Right Pinegrove Moment The Revivalists Keep Going The Revivalists Wish I Knew You Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness Cecilia and the Satellite Twin Shadow Brace Twin Shadow Saturday Basement Reason for Breathing SYML Break Free SYML Where's My Love Missio Middle Fingers Mansionair Easier Mansionair Violet City Michigander Misery Inhaler It Won't Always Be Like This Inhaler My Honest Face TALK Hollywood (medley) TALK Run Away to Mars Teenage Wrist Swallow The Frights For Someone Else's Sake The Frights Kicking Cans The Frights Simple and Strange Skegss Up in the Clouds Wilderado Astronaut momma Medicine I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Social Climb