Edgard Rivera adding final touches to completed movie mix with film director, Luca Ceccarelli of HDNM Entertainment.
Photo: Boril Rodoykovr
A studio of choice for Oscar-winners and up-and-comers, Stepbridge (Santa Fe, N.M., stepbridge.com) has been providing music/audio services since 1989. In 2006, the studio Tim Stroh originally built from three adobe casitas was sold to musician/engineer Edgard Rivera, who has seen his business through some big moments, and big changes.
“In our studio A, we sold our analog SSL console and 2-inch machines and changed to a digital console,” Rivera explains; the room is equipped with Pro Tools HD3, Waves Diamond Bundle and Neve mic pre’s. “The decision came from reviewing our maintenance costs versus our client’s needs.”
Stepbridge’s clientele has changed since ’06. The studio used to focus on music projects for artists such as Robbie Robertson, Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis and others. Now the big tracking room, Studio A, sees a steady stream of up-and-coming bands, and the B room, with its Pro Tools HD1 rig, is run in collaboration with local film development and production company HDNM Entertainment and attracts high-profile sound-for-picture clients.
“We’ve done ADR for Alan Arkin in Argo, Sam Shepard in Out of the Furnace, Robert Redford in All Is Lost,” Rivera notes. “George R. R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones, lives in Santa Fe; when they’re ready to record director commentary for DVD release, they come here.”
Of course, music and post aren’t mutually exclusive. In 2010, Stepbridge hosted T Bone Burnett and engineer Michael Piersante for the Crazy Heart score. “The playback for the concert scene and a small club scene were recorded here with Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell,” Rivera recalls. “Post is our mainstay; now we offer dailies, and uncompressed picture editing and finishing services, as well as full mixing. We’re busy, in part because we shifted and adapted for both music and post.”
