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by David McGee
CEDAR FALLS, IA - Cedar Falls, Iowa may seem like a distant
and unlikely outpost for a thriving recording facility. However,
one exists here and has for nearly 18 years. With Tom Tatman
at its helm, Catamount Recording has secured its niche by concentrating
on one thing: music. Period. No jingles. No post work. Barely
even a suggestion of anything but music.
"I think that's part of our appeal,"
Tatman said recently while taking a break from mixing a new album
project. "Great records are generally made by people who
don't do anything but make records. We concentrate on making
albums."
Located in the community surrounding the University
of Northern Iowa, Catamount is an outgrowth of a band management
business Tatman started in the '70s. In a rehearsal space he
setup some eight-track gear, along with a console custom-built
by his then and current partner,electronics whiz Rick Bisbey.
"We were always making demos to help our bands get gigs
and to try to shop them. At some point we thought, 'Wouldn't
it be nice if there was a wall with a window in it?"
From Manager to Producer
Tatman came out of the experience burning
with a passion for music production. Over the
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"I've always seen myself
as a person who produces albums, not someone who runs a studio..."
Tom Tatman, Catamount Recording
years the 600 square foot rehearsal space and demo studio
has been expanded to about 2000 square feet. Its control room
now houses a Neotek Series IIIC board (with JLCooper automation)
that Bisbey has refurbished and modified; an Otari MX-80 2-inch
24-track machine; four Alesis ADAT-XT units with BRC; an Otari
MTR 10C with Dolby SR; Tannoy SRM 15X monitors in the wall; KRK
7000Bs and Auratone 5C Super Cubes on the board. Tatman credits
his extensive complement of vintage mics and outboard gear as
being "a key to our sound. I think we have more of that
than most studios at our rate."
A lively local music scene around the university
provides Catamount with a steady flow of business, but out-of-
town and out-of-state business is vital to the facility's health.
On that front it has been so far so good, solely on word-of-mouth
from projects coming out of Catamount on major labels or on indie
labels with national distribution. "If your product is good
people will notice," Tatman said. "Yesterday I had
a call to do a mix for a band
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from Ohio. One label sent us bands from Florida, Arkansas,
and New Jersey. That's usually a result of exposure from label
distribution. Word-of-mouth on that level has gotten us a lot
of projects." With two employees, plus Bisbey's technical
expertise ("He can fix anything within 24 hours. All down
the line he's given us an edge."), Tatman feels well situated
for the years ahead. He has been booked virtually 100 per cent
of the time since 1984 and sees no reason why that trend should
fade, as long as he keeps his focus in the right place.
Even though we have space to build a second
room, we haven't because our main focus is to record music, to
get it right," he explained. "I guess I've always seen
myself as a person who produces albums, not someone who runs
a studio. I view the studio as a tool, not a cash cow. I've always
believed that if you're dedicated and do your job really well,
the money will take care of itself. We don't try to shop for
record deals. I view that as a whole different profession. The
best thing I can do to help our artists get a deal is to produce
a hell of an album for them. I really believe in that concept."
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