CEDAR FALLS -- At a table in the quiet hallway outside Catamount Studios, Billy Peiffer from The Lynn Allen Band pens new lyrics for a song, mouthing the words to himself between bites of a deli sandwich.

It's early afternoon; and in a few minutes, Peiffer will lay down vocal tracks for the Quad Cities band's new album, "Petrified Ice Cream" on the European label Megarock.

He wanders into the control booth and watches producer-engineer-mixer Tom Tatman fiddling with levers and volume controls at the vintage Neotek mixing console. "Cool -- I'm ready," Peiffer says, smiling. It'll be a long night, he says, because there's a lot to accomplish.

Tatman winds a reel tape onto the tape deck and flips a switch, and music tracks recorded earlier by the Lynn Allen Band blast from the speakers. It's great stuff, a big rock sound, even in a rough mix.

Peiffer appears relaxed, but excitement gleams in his eyes. "I like recording here - Tom's great, he gets a great sound," the singer comments.

He isn't alone in his praise. Kansas City's New Times publication singled out Tatman and Catamount Studios as the "best area producer and studio" for 1994. Oil, another popular rock magazine, calls Catamount "the hottest recording studio in the region."

Downbeat magazine gave UNI Jazz Band I's compact disc, "Come Fly With Us," recorded and produced by Tatman, a rare five-star rating.

Everyone, it seems, is beating a path to Tatman's door.

The studio is fully booked at least two months in advance -- all the time -- and sometimes four or five months ahead.

To date, a total of 36 nationally distributed albums have been recorded and/or mixed at Catamount Studios, including the House of Large Sizes' "My Ass-Kicking Life" on Columbia Records, Tripmaster Monkey's "Faster Than The Dwight" for Sire/Warner Bros., Amy Wolter's self-titled LP for Word/Epic, and The Starkweathers' new release on Sub-POP.

Best-selling author Robert James Waller has recorded all his book tapes for Time/Warner Books at Catamount -- "The Bridges of Madison County," "Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend," "Old Songs in a New Cafe" and the latest, "Border Music."

"There are some groups that insist on coming here to record. Waller wanted to record here, House of Large Sizes came back here. We've built the business mostly on word-of-mouth. Someone hears our product, likes it and calls us to ask if we can record their group," Tatman explains.

Mike Ireland and his band, The Starkweathers, don't mind driving from Kansas City, Mo., for a two-hour production meeting.

The band Haven arrived here from New Jersey for their recording sessions, and Code of Ethics drove from Florida, both for R.E.X. Records.

"I believe in taking the band as it is. I don't get them in here and turn them around and make them into something they're not. My job is to help them realize their musical vision. If you over- produce a band, you'll end up with something like Milli Vanilli," Tatman points out, laughing.

Ireland says Tatman has a great ear for details. "And he tries to get inside the band's head to find out what they're trying to do. He doesn't impose his taste, which is rare for a producer."

Tatman wants bands to feel at home in the studio, and he's a master at setting nervous musicians at ease - mostly with bad jokes.

"I also encourage them to perform in the studio exactly how they do on stage. It's amazing how much better they play when they're jumping around and standing on their heads," he says with a smile.

"An engineer or producer can't make a great recording from a lousy performance. I can clean up mistakes, sure, but I can't engineer an exciting performance. It has to happen in the studio."

The producer/engineer, however, can mold a good song until it's better. "With today's technology, there's no reason for a cymbal to crash out of place or a bass note to be the wrong volume. Technology allows you to make a technically perfect record."

Tatman professes no discernible musical prejudices and is as excited about recording an alternative rock band as a folk singer or jazz ensemble. He's frequently asked if he's a musician himself. "I say I have a guitar. That's about it."

Musicians like Peiffer frequently mention the "warm sound" Tatman achieves on their recordings. The key, Tatman says, is that Catamount prefers analog over digital recording, although the studio has full digital capabilities.

"Some professionals think digital sound is brittle and hard," Tatman explains. "We keep the process analog -- recording on 2-inch tape at 30 inches per second, which compares favorably to digital -- right up until it's time to manufacture compact discs.

Each group leaves the studio with a master tape in hand, not a demo tape.

"The band can send the tape to a record company, and if they're picked up, the record label can immediately manufacture the compact discs without remixing or re-recording," Tatman says.

Producer/composer Mark Pence of Cedar Rapids, who produced rock vocalist Brian Fuller's LP, praises Tatman's work, saying, "If I'm working on a project that has national potential, Tom Tatman will mix it."

Tatman remains unruffled and modest. "I've been lucky to work with some really great bands. It's been a privilege for me."