21 Best Recording Studios In Seattle

Seattle is well known for kick-starting several musical movements. And even today, there is something happening almost every night of the week. Whether it’s rock, grunge, jazz, hip-hop, symphonic, or otherwise, if you want to be entertained, you won’t find any shortage of opportunities.

Whether you love music, play music, or both, Seattle is a city you’ll want to visit in your lifetime. And if you’re planning to record, it’s also a great city to consider.

In this guide, we’ll look at the best recording studios in Seattle and the surrounding area.

Orbit Audio

Orbit Audio offers recording, mixing, and mastering services. They also handle acoustics and sound design for those looking to set up their own acoustically treated recording environments.

Their client list includes the likes of Lil Yachty, Julia Michaels, The Fray, Macklemore, Andre 3000, and many others.

Orbit Audio was established in 1995 by owner Joe Reineke, who is also a producer, engineer, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and educator. Their staff also includes studio manager Domino (who is a friendly dog, ha-ha), co-founder of Seattle Recording Arts Karyn Gold-Reineke, producer / engineer Brian Raffuel, and producer / engineer / musician Robbie Houston.

If you’re in need of recording, mixing, mastering, music production, podcast, acoustics and design, or education services, then you’ve found a studio that can handle it all.

Rates start at $75 per hour and go up from there depending on the studio you’re booking, and services required. The facility includes Studio A, Studio B, live room, and lounge. Orbit is proud of their collection of guitar amplifiers as well, and they should be.

Earwig Studio

Earwig Studio is owned by audio engineer Don Farwell, who got his start in the industry in the early 90s. He’s recorded over 250 bands at Earwig, most of which were local, independent acts. Also on the Earwig team is producer / engineer Lilian Blair.

The team has worked with the likes of Eki Abrams, Deer Venom, Lindseys, Lost Baggage, Mike Mickelson, and many others.

They keep things simple with their rates, too, which we like! To record and mix with Don or Lilian is $750 for the day.

Customers loved the beautiful and comfortable environment, professional engineers, and high-quality equipment. So far, we can’t find anyone who speaks ill of them either.

Avast Recording Co.

Avast Recording Co. has been operating for over 30 years, and they have ties with other studios mentioned in this guide.

Their Studio A features a spacious, multi-purpose tracking room for choirs, big bands, drum tracking, and a great deal more. At the heart of the room is a Yamaha C7 Grand Piano.

Studio B is a 1970s recording studio, ideally suited to tracking, overdubs, editing, and mixing. There’s a Yamaha U3 upright piano in this room as well.

Avast has worked with the likes of Soundgarden, Death Cab for Cutie, Bikini Kill, and others.

Avast also has an impressive array of recording equipment, which they offer as rentals.

Customers loved the mix of vintage and modern gear, great sounding rooms, and friendly, knowledgeable engineers.

MOB Studios

MOB Studios is a creative, 2,000 square foot open area creative facility for musicians, videographers, artists, and more. The studio includes a vocal booth, four isolation booths, and a large live room, to the tune of 1,200 square feet (reportedly one of the biggest in the Pacific Northwest).

MOB Studios has worked with the likes of Dwele, Tiffany Wilson, Highway, Mojo Riot, Eric Kegley, and many others.

The MOB team includes owner / executive producer Josh Menashe, producer / owner Zech Valette, engineer / owner Evan Kolpack, engineer / producer Sig Wynkoop, marketing director Gena Wynkoop, and tech / video lead James Pink.

Studio A, Studio B, and Studio C are all available for booking, but MOB also offers live stream and performance recording, podcasts, and events related services. In addition, they offer remote recording, production, mixing, mastering, editing, video, and voiceover. Their website is a tad confusing, though, because they’ve confused services for rooms, which is not the same thing.

Overall, they seem like a great bunch to work with, though, and the environment is very cool too.

LUNA SOUND

LUNA SOUND calls themselves a “boutique” studio offering production, mixing, mastering, and re-amping services. Their team includes producer / mixer / engineer Christopher Newton and CEO Anna Wang.

The team has worked with the likes of Glorybots, Tarantula Tapes, and Lomon, among many others.

We’d love to see more information about their facility on their website, as the only thing we’ve got to go on are the relative few pictures they’ve posted. At least there is a clearly marked contact form so you can reach out for further comment.

Reviewers said they loved the friendly and knowledgeable staff, comfortable environment, and smooth sound quality delivered.

Mirror Sound Studios

Mirror Sound Studios has got a very old school looking website, but as they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

As with many old school studios of its kind, Mirror Sound offers an array of services artists and musicians may find helpful – CD duplication and mastering, song demos, full length albums, voiceover, recording courses and classes, song production, session musicians, vinyl restoration, tape transfers, video services, and more.

We’re not sure if everything they’ve listed can even be considered a service or if the terms they’ve used are even commonly used anymore, but hey, if it gets them business, more power to them.

The history of the studio dates to 1985, and their team consists of director of operations / engineer Ken Fordyce, photographer / musician Derek Fordyce, and studio designer Adam Kessler.

There is a ton of great information on the Mirror Sound Studios website (including the story of how they got started), so this makes it easy to do your due diligence before booking a session. A lot of studios could learn from their example!

JWK Studios

JWK Studios specializes in pop, rap, hip-hop, and R&B. But they also offer audiobook, commercial, voiceover, video game related services, and more.

Their rates start at $60 per hour, but they do require a minimum of two hours booked. They record with both Pro Tools and Logic Pro X in case that flexibility is important to you.

Their website is quite minimal, but we couldn’t find any customers speaking ill of JWK Studios. Customers loved the talented engineer, good vibes, and great equipment.

Synergy Productions

Synergy Productions was built with recording, mixing, and mastering in mind. The studio features a mix of high-quality vintage and modern equipment.

Synergy has worked with plenty of celebrity clients, including Dave Matthews Band, Heart, Alice In Chains, Queensryche, TLC, and many others.

Their personnel are comprised of producer / engineer / owner Jason Shavey, producer / engineer Sean Walker, and producer / engineer Alek Edmonds.

Synergy also offers a mix of services for radio, TV, commercials, films, documentaries, web advertising, and corporate communications. So, if you need some help with your multimedia project, they are well worth considering.

Synergy is very proud of their equipment, but I suppose they should be. In addition to their Solid State Logic SSL 4000 G console, they’ve got multiple Neumann mics, a Universal Audio mic pre, SSL EQs, various DI boxes, guitar and bass amps, instruments (guitars, basses, keys, drum kits), and more.

Bad Animals

Bad Animals offers sound design, mixing, original music, and voice casting and recording services. They primarily view themselves as a post-production studio, and this is good to know as someone looking to track down a studio to work with (for reasons we’ll explain in a moment).

The Bad Animals team includes production manager Wendi Wills, sound designer / engineer Mike McAuliffe, composer / engineer Tom McGurk, and sound designer / re-recording mixer Paul Miller.

Their recording rooms include the Blue Room and the Red Room. Both feature a Pro Tools setup, but the gear available varies slightly from one room to the other. And the rooms do keep to the theme. The Blue Room emphasizes blue, while the Red Room features plenty of red.

Bad Animals originally began as Steve Lawson Productions in 1979. At the time, it featured a small eight-track analog setup. Today, the studio belongs to new owners, they’ve relocated to a new building, and the company focuses heavily on post-production.

If you’re looking for tracking, you’ll want to look elsewhere, but if you’re looking to put the finishing touches on an album, Bad Animals might be what you’re looking for. As well, if you need audio and video related services for TV, film, corporate, and video game, Bad Animals specializes in that.

Front Burner Studios

Don’t put it on the backburner… put it on the Front Burner Studios! Okay, that was kind of cheesy. Anyway, Front Burner offers production, engineering, mixing, voiceover, film, and commercial services.

Their 1,200 square foot facility features a control room, live room, and multiple acoustic spaces like a vocal booth, guitar and bass cabinet isolation room, lounge, and hallway / kitchenette. Front Burner uses all these spaces creatively for recording and sound isolation.

Their website is nicely designed but quite sparse content wise. It appears they may still be in the early stages of growth as a studio, though, so we can’t judge them too harshly.

Either way, customers loved the professional outfit and great vibes.

Quiet Please Recording

The cleverly named Quiet Please Recording offers recording, editing, mixing, and consulting services. Their base rate is $75 per hour.

They’ve had the likes of John B. Williams, Larry Jones, Phil Sparks, Queenie Sunshine, Rob Scheps, War Puppy, and many others through their doors.

Quiet Please Recording is known for offering a personal touch, and clients also liked the relaxed environment and affordable rates.

London Bridge Studio

London Bridge Studio has worked with several celebrity clients, including Macklemore, Pearl Jam, Blind Melon, Alice In Chains, Dave Matthews, and others. From what we understand, they’ve been going at it since the 80s too.

Studio A is their control room, complete with a vintage Neve 8048 and SSL AWS. The tracking rooms include the brick wall high chapel live room and a Yamaha C7.

There are additional production suites, which we assume are the Studio B through to whatever letter they have available. We’re not sure, because the website does not say how many production suites there are.

It’s clear they record, and probably mix and master too, but we’re also not sure about that because their services page is dedicated to talking about Studio A rather than the specific things they do, an approach we’ve seen a couple of times (not sure if it works, though).

London Bridge also offers a historic tour (it’s a well-known tourist destination), something clients rave about. Take advantage if you’re in Seattle.

Customers had an amazing experience at London Bridge Studio and loved the great room and great gear. We can’t find anyone who has said anything negative about the studio.

Undercaste Studios

Undercaste Studios is a go-to destination for rap, hip-hop, R&B, pop, EDM, and anything auto-tune. Their services include recording, mixing, mastering, beat revamp, and artist development.

Rates start at $70 per hour to record at the 24/7 facility, but it’s by appointment only.

Their team consists of engineer Lincoln Nettleton, engineer Randy Ross, and studio owner / booking manager Isaac Meek. They also have an internship program for those who are interested in learning the ropes.

Undercaste Studios can be found in Shoreline, WA, less than 20 minutes from central Seattle.

Titan Recording Studio

Titan Recording Studio was established in 2004 as a project studio by Scot Michael, the owner and in-house engineer. Michael has worked with a variety of clients and different musical styles.

Titan aims to offer everything you need to get your project done, from production all the way over to mastering, which is included in the hourly rate (rather than being separate).

Michael can also work alongside you as a studio musician and help you develop your song ideas.

The studio has both analog and digital capabilities and offers recording, mixing, mastering, music production, audio post-production, sound design, restoration, cleanup, music production education, mobile recording, location recording, voiceover, online services, cassette and vinyl transfer, studio musician related services, and more.

Titan Recording Studio can be found in Shoreline, WA and customers have nothing but good things to say about the studio. Specifically, they liked the value, fast moving engineer, and great sound.

Next time I’m in the area, I might have to look up Scot myself.

Studio Sage

The Studio Sage team includes engineer Tim Sage (clearly the namesake of the company) and Cameron Kayser (whom we know nothing about except what was said about him in customer reviews).

The studio is home to some impressive gear, including Neve consoles and preamps, Tube Tech compressors, a Chameleon Lab compressor, and more.

Their rates start at $120 for two hours of recording time.

Studio Sage’s website is a little sparse, but customers loved the professional and welcoming environment, great rates, and awesome vibes.

You can find Studio Sage about 30 minutes from central Seattle in Edmonds, WA.

Nels Motel

Home to engineer Robb Davidson, producer Charlie Smith, and composer / producer Benjamin Marx, Nels Motel has over a decade in business. If you’re looking to write, track, edit, or mix, this is a great studio to utilize.

We assume the name is reflective of the fact that Nels Motel is like a getaway, but that’s mostly speculation.

Nels Motel has worked with the likes of Rik Rude, Kairos, Hoopdreams, Whiskey Club, Galen Green, and many others.

They are very proud of their gear selection, which includes an array of preamps, DIs, compressors, EQs, microphones, monitors, instruments, amps, and effects. If there’s a specific tone you’re looking to achieve, you can probably find it here with a little help from the staff.

Reviewers liked the staff and the working environment.

BoomHouse Studios

Previously Jinx Productions, BoomHouse Studios can be found roughly an hour and 30 minutes from central Seattle in Bremerton, WA. Look, Seattle and surrounding area are very populous and busy, so we’re not promising everything will be close together! That said, if you enjoy scenic ocean routes, Bremerton might be just the ticket.

Since 2007, the facility has been run by producer / engineer Chris Dean who has over 1,000 producing and mixing credits. Rates start at $50 per hour.

Customers loved the producer and the crisp sound he delivers, great rates, and relaxing environment.

MIXMEUP STUDIO   

MIXMEUP STUDIO offers studio rental without an engineer, with an advanced engineer, and with an elite engineer. The studio specializes in pop, hip-hop, trap, and R&B but can handle a variety of genres.

The 24/7 facility’s rates start at $65 per hour for a minimum of two hours.

Their website could use a bit of cleaning up and would benefit from some additional information about their facility too.

Anyway, you can find MIXMEUP STUDIO in Kent, WA, about 40 minutes south of central Seattle.

Reviewers said they loved the customer service, affordable rates, and professional owner.

uberbeatz

uberbeatz is a fully equipped rehearsal studio with plenty of guitar amps, bass amps, drum kits, PA systems, and accessories on hand. But they also have a recording facility, which is “state of the art” (everyone likes to say that). To be fair, Queensryche has recorded here.

Whether you need a mix of rehearsal and recording services, or one or the other, uberbeatz is worth considering.

You can find uberbeatz roughly 30 minutes north of central Seattle in Lynnwood, WA.

Customer sentiment is overall very good. They loved the clean facility, great equipment, helpful engineers, and quality results.

Gossard Studios

Located less than an hour northeast from central Seattle in Lake Stevens, WA, Gossard Studios was once known as Trax Recording. The 1,500 square foot facility features a 600 square foot live room with 20-foot ceilings, a control room, and two isolation booths.

The namesake of the studio, Jeff Gossard is the owner and operator of the studio. Gossard himself is a musician and started out on the violin before transitioning to the guitar.

Gossard has worked with the likes of Boxcar Tourists, Direct Divide, Everett Symphony, Lid Whisker, Lizzy Weber, and many others.

Gossard encourages you to reach out directly if you’d like to know what it costs to record at his studio. So, go ahead and drop him a line if you think this might be the studio for you.

Customers loved the engineer, great sound, and great studio.

Foundry Studios

Located in Bonney Lake, WA, a little over an hour south of central Seattle, Foundry Studios says it’s anything but your average studio. Care to elaborate, Foundry? We’d love to know more! But their website only says so much.

Their services include recording, mixing, mastering, and their rates start at a moderate $45 per hour, which is very generous.

Their project list includes Two Story Zori, Six Gun, and Glass Heart.

Customers found the staff friendly and helpful.

Final Thoughts

From the inner city to the outskirts, the coastal metropolis of Seattle and surrounding area is not only a great place to record, but also a great place to do some sightseeing, visit historic sites, enjoy some great food, and more (I’ve only visited once but I happen to know a thing or two about that!).

Get inspired in a creative city that has become strongly associated with acts like Heart, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, and even Jimi Hendrix (thanks to the statue, which I’ve visited).

Have fun in Seattle! And if you ever travel, we also cover studios in other places like Miami and Atlanta.