Some Projects Start as a Song. Others Start as an Idea.
We work with artists at every stage — from the first rough concept to a fully realized production.
Production That Starts With Listening
Not every artist walks into a studio with a finished arrangement and a clear roadmap. Some come in with a beat and a vocal idea. Others have a fully written song but no sense yet of how it should sound. A few arrive with nothing more than a feeling they’re trying to capture.
Cloud 9 Recording has worked with all of them.
Music production is the process of shaping a song into a recording — developing the arrangement, choosing the instrumentation, building the sonic character of the track, and guiding the performance until the result matches the vision. At Cloud 9 Recording, that process is collaborative by nature. Jack and Joe Napoli have spent nearly five decades on both sides of the glass, and that experience shows up in the room as the ability to hear what a song is trying to be and help it get there.
Pre-Production Is Where Productions Are Won or Lost
Before a single sound is recorded, the most important work happens away from the console. Pre-production is where arrangements are locked in, sonic references are established, and the vision for the project becomes specific enough to actually execute.
At Cloud 9 Recording, we treat pre-production as a non-negotiable part of the production process. The clearer you are about what you want before the session starts, the more of your studio time goes toward building something great rather than figuring out what you’re trying to build.
That means coming in knowing:
- The core arrangement of the song and any flexibility you want to explore within it
- The sonic references that point toward the sound you’re after — records you love, moods you want to capture, textures you’re drawn to
- Which elements will be tracked live and which will be produced in the box
- What the finished production needs to accomplish — whether that’s a streaming release, a sync placement, a demo, or something else entirely
The more of that work that’s done before the session, the better the session goes.
Live Instrumentation and Studio Resources
One of the advantages of working at Cloud 9 Recording over nearly three decades is the network that comes with it. Our Rolodex includes some of the finest session musicians in the industry — players who have worked with Meat Loaf, Queen, Broadway productions, and more. If your production calls for live drums, bass, guitar, or other instrumentation beyond what your core team brings in, we can help connect you with the right players.
Our production setup runs through a custom 32-channel inline analog console with 64 outputs on mixdown, tied to a 32-in, 40-out Pro Tools HD system. For productions that call for the character and commitment of tape, our vintage 2″ 24-track MCI analog tape deck is in the room and ready.
Who This Is For
Music production at Cloud 9 Recording is built for:
Emerging artists building their first serious body of recorded work and looking for both a collaborator and a technical partner
Singer-songwriters who have strong material but want a producer’s ear in the room to help shape it
Artists working with existing beats or productions who want to add live instrumentation or elevate the arrangement
Bands who want to capture a live sound but also want production depth beyond a straight tracking session
The Production Doesn’t End at Tracking
A full production engagement at Cloud 9 Recording can carry a project from the first pre-production conversation through tracking, mixing, and mastering — all in the same rooms, with the same engineers, and with a consistent sonic vision from start to finish. That continuity matters. The engineer who helped shape the sound during tracking is the same person making decisions during the mix, and that context doesn’t get lost in translation.