Tiny Telephone Recording

A+. Great studio, great engineers. Was in town and did some overdubs at this place. Highly recommended. John was very accommodating. Jamie Riotto did great engineering.

I cannot say enough good things about Tiny Telephone. I knew as soon as I took my first tour through the studio with the owner, John, that it was a uniquely magical place. Even just at first glance the inside of the studio is visually fabulous — not only that, but the quality of the gear and instruments there is incredibly high level (the Story & Clark piano in the B Room is a pianist’s wet dream). The atmosphere is relaxed and intensely conducive to creativity and freedom of expression.
I went to TT with a small EP project, my first ever studio experience. I was incredibly nervous before I went in, having no idea what to expect. But within minutes of being there, my nerves disappeared. John (himself a whirlwind force of enthusiasm and graciousness) set me up with an engineer (Rob) and a drummer (Jason), and Rob set me up with a cellist (Shawn). All three guys are masters of their craft. Jason and Shawn hopped on songs they’d never heard before and had them sounding flawless within minutes. The level of professionalism these artists exhibited was incredible. Rob was amazing: easy to work with, instantly intuitive about the sound and vibe I was going for, constantly offering excellent input, and making sure that I was happy with the recording at all times. The final mix of the EP sounds fantastic.
I highly recommend TT — I now can’t imagine using any other studio for future projects. They have my loyalty forever!

We’d never recorded professionally and were super nervous about it. We were looking into other SF Studios when a musician friend told us about Tiny Telephone. We went to check it out and met with John Vanderslice the owner. Immediately we were like, «Yes.»
It’s in this cool gated art community, John greeted us, offered us drinks, showed us around, introduced us to other cool bands recording there. He showed us the insane collection of gear we could use (all egregiously better than any of ours).
There’s a kitchen stocked with coffee, tea, snacks, beer, etc., a groovy hangout room. Very casual vibe.
The day of recording we met Robert Shelton our engineer. SUPER cool guy, knows everything about mixing, mics, tracking. He jived with our goofy sense of humor, put up with our little band tiffs and even ended up playing keyboards on a track.
It’s all analog reel to reel tape so everything has that awesome old school warmth to it but we also got digital copies that we could instantly upload to our Bandcamp and Facebook that very night.
What we thought was going to be this frightening and hectic experience turned out to be incredibly smooth and exciting and fun.
Highly recommend Tiny Telephone. They made us sound better than we actually are.

Thank you JV for this magical place! I recorded here for my EP with Kelley Coyne and had the greatest recording experience. We recorded in studio B which was perfect for my needs. The equipment is top notch and we got to mix with Chris Walla’s console which is pretty badass. ;) Kelley is an incredible engineer and talented producer. She took my music to another level and I couldn’t be happier that I worked with her! I got to meet JV and he is just the raddest and it’s clear how much love he put into his studios!
Tiny Telephone is a gorgeous, cozy and professional space and I loved it so much I wish I could live there! Needless to say, I can’t imagine a better studio than this and can’t wait to come back someday.

I recently followed my singer out to San Francisco to help with a solo record of his that he’d been working on with Dave, our keyboard player, who had moved out West a few years ago. Dave had done his research on studios in the area & chose Tiny Telephone (TT) & after being in TT for all of 5 minutes we he knew picked right.
The staff was friendly, accommodating, & informative about any question we had. Our engineer Jacob Winnik knew the entire studio upside-​down & was an enormous help in the recording process, especially since TT records their sessions on tape, which was a new experience for us but clearly not for Jake haha. John Vanderslice, the owner of TT, was also always around & happy to lend a hand in recording or even just sit down for a chat, which would usually leave everybody laughing. John also provides a myriad of gear & tech for bands recording in TT to use, with no additional charge.
Countless guitars, basses, drums, amps, pedals, keyboards, etc were available for us to use & they were maintained in great working condition. Even grand pianos, Leslie amplifiers, & an echo chamber were fair game. Everything down to the rooms/​building itself were very cool & unique which gave off great vibes for the record. TT also partners with local business to provide great coffee & (make-​your-​own) tea bags in the kitchen to keep you & the band well caffeinated.
Finally, the unbeatable feature of TT was the price. We drove from Cleveland, OH & had our trip fueled by an Indigogo campaign which set a fine limitation on budget. Recording at Tiny Telephone made it very affordable & allowed us to obtain a superior quality record without robbing us blind. If you’re looking for a great place to make a record, look no further than Tiny Telephone. If our word isn’t enough take a gander at the list of artists that have chosen to work there on their official page (
).

Recording at Tiny was a monumental experience. We hadn’t done much in the way of professional recording before, and our time here truly set the bar for future sessions (which we hope to do here again!).
John was incredibly accommodating when my bandmate initially contacted him and got back to him with a quote within the day! Although it’s apparently very difficult to schedule time due to consistent bookings, he informed us of two open spots as soon as he had a cancellation. Awesome customer service and attention to detail.
It’s no mystery that music recording can be and often is extremely expensive. As others have mentioned, you really cannot beat the pricing for the studio space and engineer. We chose to work with Kelley Coyne, who expertly guided us through the recording process and helped us stay on track to finish the record in an extremely short period of time. She truly went above and beyond and we really hope to work with her again!
In terms of equipment, Tiny is an analog studio with some insanely cool antique instruments available for playing pleasure. We employed the use of a vintage Moog synth and their 1907 Story & Clark piano with a personality of its own. They also stock a variety of guitar pedals and percussion instruments, and I was blown away by the quality of the mics. Case in point: if you go into recording at Tiny with an open mind about your songs, you can develop some really interesting voices within them with equipment you wouldn’t have thought to use otherwise, accompanying the state-​of-​the-​art modern tools they already have.
Plus, they have amazing loose leaf tea and Ritual on hand, as well as Marvin the adorable studio cat, to soothe recording jitters. I already miss being here and can’t wait to come back again to do more recording!

I LOVE THIS STUDIO! I can’t say enough good things about it.
Pricing — For a studio with this much amazing and unique gear, you really can’t beat the pricing. The engineers are friendly and super-​professional, as is the owner, John Vanderslice. Also, they don’t charge you for the analogue tape!!! That stuff is not cheap.
As a female, I also really appreciated that there are women working in the studio. That is not extremely common, unfortunately, so it made my experience there much more comfortable.
AND the studio is clean and organized, and it looks pretty! They have rad décor, a cute little kitchen space, artwork up on the walls. It doesn’t feel like your typical studio, because it’s clear that the owner continues to put money back into the business.
I’m a fan for life!

my band Electric Strawberry spent 6 days in the B room of this awesome studio. this place is LEGIT. all the equipment is top quality and meticulously maintained and our engineer jacob was extremely professional, friendly, and helpful. JV was great as well. he wasn’t around too often but made sure to come by and say hello whenever he could. he and jacob also lead us to some amazing eateries in the area. the attitude and atmosphere was really warm and welcoming as well. JV and his engineers are all pros with some serious credentials but they were still super cool. i mean they gave marvin the studio cat/​mascot 2 separate websites, so you know no one is taking themselves too seriously.
they also have some fantastic instruments and gear that was totally free to use! it was all included in the booking and because of this we were able to get some great sound that we just couldn’t have gotten with our own gear. we went in the studio with a rough outline of an album and left 6 days later with a product far better than my wildest expectations.
lastly, and i think most importantly, john, jacob, and johns assistant were all easily kept in contact and returned all of our phone calls and emails promptly. i hate having to sent out multiple calls or emails trying to get in touch with someone and this was never a problem. I would be more than happy to do another album at Tiny Telephone if i ever get the chance.

Man, where do I begin? Hmm… I guess I’ll start with a really cool interaction I had with JV (John Vanderslice, the owner of the studio) that made me realize we totally picked the right studio:
My band was running a Kickstarter campaign to fund our first album, and in the video we said that we wanted to record at Tiny Telephone, because it’s all-​analog and that is like the grooviest thing ever. I awkwardly sent the link to the campaign to JV, just so he could see we were intent on recording with them. I specifically said PLEASE do not think I am asking for a contribution (dear god, no), I just want to show you the video, blah blah, and pressed Send. Then I instantly felt like a schmuck because I thought my email would be misinterpreted. But then I saw that he wrote back saying how awesome it was of us to mention them, and he was so excited to work with us, and he even pledged some moolah to get us closer to our goal. That definitely put a smile on all of our faces.
Well, we did end up making our goal, and the booking process was so smooth and stress-​free, and JV answered all my questions really clearly and kindly. Even the dumb questions that a total newbie to recording would ask.
We got paired with Jacob Winik for our engineer (who seriously made our album ten times better than we could’ve imagined) and had 8 incredible days in the studio. Let me tell you something… how do I put into words how fantastic of an experience it was…
Bah. I can’t. Just know that Tiny Telephone has this vibe that just relaxes you and makes you feel at home. The equipment available is incredible, the whole recording-​to-​tape experience is real and raw and fantastic, and everyone who works there KNOWS THEIR SHIT. This is especially important for people like me, who are afraid of trusting anyone at all, let alone trusting someone with handling a lot of your time, money, and dreams in their magical knob-​turning hands.
Trust these people. Trust Tiny Telephone to help you make the best album possible, in the funnest (most fun? Funnerest? Fuuuu…) way imaginable, at a REALLY fair price. You won’t regret it.

John Vanderslice runs a professional operation. He is knowledgable, thorough and VERY kind.
Their prices are the best in town. And with sound engineers like Jacob (such an absolute pro), you get tier 1 service along with reasonable prices.
Highly recommend!

A fantastic experience for my daughter and her friend. As inexperienced young musicians, they immediately felt at ease with Jacob. He was professional, kind and patient, spending a full day with them and what a gem of a guy he is! John Vanderslice was so great and helpful too answering my naïve questions.. .
You won’t go wrong with Tiny Telephone; I was seriously blown away and so impressed with this great recording studio. We are definitely going back!!!

There is no question that Tiny Telephone earned all 5 of these stars. We just finished tracking our 11^th album at TT, our first time here, and have a lot of experience in studios… enough to say that this place is a total champ.
Imagine Abbey Road without being stuffy, and without costing $ 4000 a day. This place is so vibrant and alive– super talented engineers who are actively invested in projects, a real community feeling. These dudes are a collective– all talented, all super easy to work with. Dynamite.
And the gear? NUTS. Better instruments, equipment, EVERYTHING than we’ve seen anywhere, period. We really didn’t need to bring a single piece of gear with us– everything at the studio was better. This was our first time recording to 2″ after a lot of trepidation about leaving the comfort of Pro Tools (a total dream to do)! Tons of great synths, guitars, drums… How can this place be so affordable?
And let me take a moment to brag HARD on TT’s proprietor, John Vanderslice. The guy’s 100% class– funny, loose, super fun to work with but with an audio geekery under the hood that’s impossible to match. «Oh yeah,» JV says, «that’s why Freddy Mercury sounded so good» as he layers a third dolby double on our vocal track.
Jamie Riotto is a killer musician and equally killer engineer– he was a dream to work with. Instantly supportive of the songs, full of great musical ideas and just a super genuine and warm guy. How did we get so luck to work with both of these guys?
The only reason I hesitate to suggest that you immediately book time here is that we want to make sure you don’t take our spot when we come back next year.
Okay, fine. Book time here. Your record will be good.

Great sound, people and atmosphere!

Absolutely no less than 7 stars. Seriously.

My band The New Kinetics spent a week here in June/​July to record our new record. We are from San Diego, and the search to find a studio in California where we could record an all analog record for a decent price proved to be extremely difficult.
I found Tiny Telephone via Google Search, and was immediately blown away by all the helpful information on the website. I sent an email looking for a quote — 10 songs, about 35 minutes of music for a rock and roll four piece. John Vanderslice emailed me back within the hour with a fantastic quote: 3 days in B studio for live tracking, 4 days in A studio for vocals, overdubs, and mixing, and JV himself producing the whole crazy thing… Under $ 5000! Holy shit!
This is the best decision we have ever made as a band. The record sounds fantastic, and even since we left JV and our engineer Jay Pellicci have been available to answer an questions and help in any way they can.
Go with your gut… Record here!
For examples, visit
and listen to «Be Mine».

my band, Seventh Day Breakdown, recorded in Tiny Telephone’s new B-​Room! it was a truly fantastic, seamless time, and a total blast. Our engineer was Ian Pellicci, and the guy’s a wizard. really nice, knows what he’s doing, and has a boss beard.
somethings about Tiny Telephone. It’s owned by a musician who really cares about your time recording. when setting the recording up, john answered all my calls and questions, and was a vast wealth of information for our first time recording. he checked in with us several times to make sure we were all set in, and later to make sure we were going well!
now about the B-​Room itself. well, its amazing. when we first walked in, i was actually rather surprised it wasn’t the main room! it is very spacious, and very comfortable, with 2 Iso booths. we all really had a blast recording in this room, and we really couldn’t ask for more. it was well equipped, and was damn well convenient for everything. don’t hesitate to book this room if you’re on a budget or cant get the main room! it’s bloody awesome!
now, what good would a studio be without a good engineer? we have nothing but praise for Ian, who’s the nicest guy ever, and has a beard to rival Brian Wilson of the Giants. he did so much for us! first thing he did after saying hi, was tuning one of my sorely out of tune toms to PERFECTION! he did alot to make sure we got through our 2 days well. not to mention he mixed our 4 songs damn well for the time constraint he had! if you have a chance to record with Ian, don’t pass it up!
the overall experience was fantastic. The fellas behind Tiny Telephone made our first time recording as smooth as possible, and gave us a fantastic finished product. we’re so coming back the next time we record! Big thanks to JV and Ian!
(also, shameless plug, check out our band, Seventh Day Breakdown on Facebook!)

There’s no placebo here, no double blind; this is what happens when authentic meets polished. A little like watching that movie ‘Eternal Sunshine…’ when you’ve already seen it once — like laying on the ice and feeling like you’ve never been more alive. The band settled in really quick, mostly because Jay and Ian give as much as they get, they let the sound worry around that warm wooden room, and it ferments and carbonizes so potential and possibility eek out in a shotgun spread, listing and promoting mutual strife. This is what makes a great recording, an honest sonic diary that pitches sugar and might in equal proportions; I saw the geek love when the new microphones arrived via Fed Ex. I spoke with Bill from TapeTape, Marvin basking on my car, the freeways exploding with bombast meters away. Sure I was impressed by the vintage blah blah and the rack of post-​production values, but what I was really excited about was that I unselfconsciously played my ass off and it didn’t take me more than a minute to figure out these guys have no interest in telling me what they thought I should do, they wanted me to do exactly what I felt like doing.
This is a rare and beautiful thing. Thanks to Tiny Telephone Recording, I love music and they love recording me loving music and for these grizzled old ears there aint nothing better than that.

Nothing short of amazing. John Vanderslice and Scott McDowell are clearly passionate about music, and in particular, about getting the right sound for you. Their skill level is extremely robust — like watching Iron Chefs at work, but the secret ingredient is rock.
Their work ethic is amazing. For such talented musicians and engineers, they are so incredibly relaxed and easy to work with that I almost forgot we had a tight schedule to follow. I felt right at home from the very beginning. Maybe that’s just because I’m the bassist. Or, maybe because they go out of their way to make us feel completely relaxed. Every inch of the studio is devoted to musicianship, right down to the blue walls, the ceiling stuffed with denim, the Yamaha, and Marvin. Everything is conducive to rock.
I feel lucky to have been here. I feel I had a life-​enhancing experience here. Also, i managed to end every paragraph with rock.

3 great milestones in my musical journey:
1. Figuring out how to projectile fire my spit valve all over the snot-​nose 1^st chair violinist’s back without her knowing.
2. Finding out all those marching band «instructors» that made me do pushups for mistakes still live with their moms today.
3. Recording at Tiny Telephone with Festizio.
Relaxed atmosphere helps you get your creative juices flowing. Clean bathroom lets you get your other juices flowing. Easy parking, easy location. No stepping on human poop wrapped in newspaper or used syringes on the way to this studio. John Vanderslice owns the place. A studio owned by a brilliant musician is obviously the way to go. You should see/​hear for yourself. His gear and mic selection is heavenly… playing that vintage rhodes through a handmade compressor is mind blowing. Mind. Blowing.
They have everything you need for a warm, organic sounding record. Tracking on 2″ tape really makes a difference. And no, your tape simulator plugin won’t outdo it. To top it all off, JV is probably the nicest guy any of you will ever meet. He does everything in his power to cater to the musician (s) in the studio at the time. He always checked in constantly to make sure we had what we needed to have a good recording experience.
Recoding with Scott McDowell was equally amazing. Check him out:
The dude is a genius in protools. With his arsenal of mics, faders, switches, and awesome boxes, he was able to blend a bunch of parts together into one big pot of f$%# yeah. He also pointed us to some of the best burritos, falafel, and coffee in the city. 5 more stars for that. F$%# yeah.

My band, Festizio, just finished recording our new album at Tiny Telephone!
Having had known about John Vanderslice’s much beloved studio and the incredible records they create, I honestly didn’t think we had a shot of securing session time here. I describe Tiny as the French Laundry of recording studios — consistently desired and seemingly always booked. But I was feeling serendipitous one day and figured it never hurts to ask… The easiest way to open a locked door is to knock.
We worked with Scott McDowell, an amazing engineer with a knack for creating atmosphere in audio. The studio itself has a great vibe, probably owing much to JV’s positive attitude and work ethic. The kitchen includes an array of organic teas, books on philosophy, a PlayStation and Alf cards. Parking is ample and the sound of children from the adjacent park offers a nice change of sound after you’ve been rocking out all day long.
In comparing this studio to the legendary Hyde Street Studios in the Tenderloin, where we recorded our first album, I have to say I greatly prefer the environment at Tiny Telephone… at the very least because I don’t much care to navigate around coked out hookers that early in the AM.
Photos:
And, yes, I said Alf cards.