Midwest Pro Sound & Lighting Recording Studio

Studio Rate Card

Studio Hours Of Operation

Monday thru Friday: 11am - 7pm
Saturday: 11am - 6pm

Rates (hourly)

With Engineer and Producer - $85
With Engineer - $65
Without Engineer - $50

Equipment In Studio

Euphonix System 5 MC Console
24 Tracks of Pro Tools HD
Logic 8
Waves Platinum Plug In’s
Avalon Mic Preamp
Neumann U87 & AKG 414 Microphones
Tannoy & JBL Monitors


Producers & Engineers

Matt Warren

Matt Warren

Matt Warren has been a valuable part of the international music community for over two decades. His many accomplishments have earned him a loyal following amongst DJ`s and club-goers looking for the next beat. Matt began his career as a DJ in 1979. By 1983 he was not only spinning records in some of Chicago`s hottest clubs, but was also serving as a Billboard reporter and working at Chicago's WGCI FM as an original member of the MASTERMIX 6.

In 1985 Matt started his own label, Sunset Records. The first release titled The Razz EP, was a collaboration with Ralphi Rosario of WBMX’s HOTMIX 5. The track (ASI ME GUSTA “BAILA” )was an instant classic. This first release sold very well and the label released a total of 15 more singles, many of which were licensed to record labels around the World. In 1987 Matt established a second label known as AKA Records. Their first release was "Bang the Box" the record was a huge success, selling over 50,000 copies. It was also heavily licensed overseas, all without the benefit of independent promotion or a giant distribution machine. In many circles, this record is regarded as one of the first Hard House tracks ever made. AKA Records scored another hit with the classic anthem (HOUSE AINT GIVIN UP).

Matt’s career as a dj has taken him around the globe, playing gig’s from Hawaii to Switzerland New York to Miami. Over the past 20 years Matt has held longtime residencies in high profile clubs including : Limelight Chicago, Karma, AKA and currently at one of Chicago’s elite nightclubs, Rednofive. From classic house to the latest hip hop Matt Warren always has the dance floor jumping, he is known for being one of the most versatile DJs around.

Matt`s list of credits is impressive. Including projects as a Producer and Re-mixer dating back to the beginning of house music, Matt has produced dance remixes for major label artist’s such as: JM Silk, Poi Dog Pondering, Faith Evans, Barbara Douglas & Byron Stingily. Matt has worked as a recording engineer in many genres of music including Hip Hop working with Kanye West, Crucial Conflict & Twista. and Contemporary Jazz working with artists like Angela Bofil, Fareed Haque & Liquid Soul. He has also worked with rock heavy hitters Ministry, Die Warzau & Nine Inch Nails. His production company has been quite busy on the dance music front lines. With releases on various dance labels including: Trax, Afterhours, Nervous & Strictly Rhythm.

Matt Hennessy

Matt Hennessy

Matt began his career as a jazz musician in Chicago; he received formal training at Berklee College of Music, studying both Performance and Production. While still attending Berklee he began working professionally in the Boston area, assisting in sessions with industry greats such as: Aerosmith, LL Cool J, Guru, Bim Skala Bim, The Wu-Tang Clan, and Ozzy Osbourne. Returning to his native Chicago, Hennessy joined the staff of Chicago Trax and The Chocolate Factory to engineer for R. Kelly, Jay-Z, Twista, Kanye West, J-Lo, Ludacris, DMX, and many others. After leaving Chicago Trax, Hennessy recorded with Disturbed, mixed for Keith Sweat and Public Announcment, and began working with Grammy-winner Maurice Joshua as a remix engineer for projects such as Beyoncee (Destiny's Child), Omarion, John Legend, Mariah Carey, Shakira and the late Curtis Mayfield. He also managed to earn a Grammy for work on Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" Remix in 2004.

Currently, Matt has found himself working with a who's who list of Chicago urban acts. Concentrating on mixing for clients as illustrious as Crucial Conflict, Belo of Do Or Die, Ric Jilla, Goon Squad, 3-Piece, Grimmyville, Swing, Payroll and Cap-1. Hennessy's work can be heard playing on Chicagoland's airwaves daily. In 2005, Hennessy, aided by his brother Jon, began VSOP Productions as a way to focus his production expertise and provide opportunities for upcoming urban acts from the Chicagoland area. Now in 2006, Matt is Chief Engineer for Chicagoland's Premier Multi-Platinum, Grammy Nominated Producer, The Legendary Traxster. Now spending his time mixing for all the artists currently involved with Traxster Inc/CWAL he is more involved in the classic "Chicago Sound" then ever before and he intends to stay that way.

Maurice Joshua

Maurice Joshua

Grammy Award winner Maurice Joshua is known across the globe as a brilliant producer, remixer and DJ. In the years since he first burst upon the club scene in 1988 with the now classic anthem "This Is Acid", Maurice has earned an extremely high degree of respect from his contemporaries. In fact, in the grand scheme of house music, he is revered as one of the world’s best Producer/Remixer/DJs, as well as one of the original architects of the sound that now dominates dance floors all over the world. With such experience and talent, it’s no wonder that Maurice won a Grammy Award for his remix of Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” in 2004.

Early in his career, “This is Acid” became the catalyst for the chemical reaction that brought Maurice onto the global scene. The single reached #1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play Chart, as well as the Dance Sales Chart. In addition to its U.S. chart success, “This is Acid”, (which was originally released on the Chicago independent label Trax Records) became the milestone for house music. The record was later licensed and released by Vendetta/A&M Records, setting the airwaves of Europe ablaze and earmarking a universally strong beginning to his career.

Many will also recall Maurice’s prominent role as one of the members of Chicago's worldwide famed triumphant trio, I.D. Productions. Along with Steve "Silk" Hurley and Eric "E-Smoove" Miller, Maurice completed the trinity that helped to redefine what a “remix” was. Instead of just extending the length of the song, the track was completely reworked, reproduced and given a whole new form ready to take clubland by storm.

His hit-making flavor soon enabled Maurice to go solo. He then reached greater career heights as the proprietor of Vibe Music & Music Plant (a company with which he is no longer affiliated). During this time, he produced several massive club anthems such as the #1 Billboard hit "For the Love of You" by Meechie. He also produced some of Kiss FM London’s favorite tunes: “House 101”, “House 102”, “Got a Hold On U” by Chantay Savage, “Good Love, Real Love” by D’Bora, “Just Can’t Get Enough” by Mixx Vibes, and “La La” by Maurice Joshua featuring Liquid Soul to name but a few.

For Maurice, timeless hits like these prove that he is consistently ahead of his time by producing massive tunes that set the standard for today’s dominating dance genres. These tracks also allow him to constantly expose clubs to his seamless mixing skills—a talent that fills dance floor after dance floor. With his numerous DJ performances throughout the world, Maurice has “been there and done that” long before many other DJs have.

Whether being played in famous clubs like Ministry of Sound (London), Cream (Liverpool), Sound Factory (NYC), Cocorico (Rimini), and MZA (Tokyo), or at dance festivals and music conferences, Maurice has gained worldwide respect as being one of the world’s top DJs. His sets are more than outstanding: he knows what to mix and when to mix it, reaching his fans’ inner hearts and souls. If you are looking for soulful odysseys, disco filtered dubs, Afro Cuban rhythms, Middle Eastern percussion or even classic disco, hip-hop and reggae, Maurice’s sets are definitely the ones that will lead the way to your “entranced” club journeys.

Maurice has also established his exquisite versatility as an artist by adding songwriting to his roster of talents. In 1996, he struck an EMI Publishing Agreement with VP Jody Gerson. Most recently, Maurice has written tracks for both Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé new albums and his credits also include writing and producing hits for world renowned artists like Crystal Waters, CeCe Peniston, Byron Stingily, Kim English, Whiteboy and RCA recording group Public Announcement. He has even written for McDonald’s commercials. As Maurice has expanded his creative palette and branched out into pop, hip-hop and R&B, he has approached it all from his uniquely artistic point of view.

Aside from touring the world, producing essential club cuts, and remixing both pop and urban artists, Maurice has even hit the airwaves hosting his own exclusive mix show for Chicago’s B96 (96.3 FM). His goal was always to educate and entertain his fans by providing them with the freshest and funkiest house/garage and hip-hop/R&B/reggae tunes, long before they were officially promoted to club DJs. While on the air, Maurice was considered to be one of the few U.S. radio DJs with the ability to effortlessly break records into airplay – whether dance or urban –by playing them for his audience of more than two million listeners. Artists and record labels (major and minor) always made sure Maurice had two copies of every project, considering him at that time to be the USA's answer to the UK's Pete Tong, Judge Jules and Gilles Peterson.

Years ago, because of his ongoing effort to infiltrate new markets and genres, Maurice predicted the next big thing in music that would take Generations X and Y by storm would be R&B and hip-hop. He also realized that this genre had no DJ/ producers providing dance mixes of the original tracks. So he gave it a chance…

Sure enough, Maurice became the darling of the R&B/hip-hop circuit, adding his magic touch to artists such as Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Omarion, Michael Jackson, Faith Evans, and Amerie. He also produced the dance version of Mary Mary’s contemporary gospel hit “Shackles” and became the Exclusive Remixer of the world’s hottest pop/R&B group, Destiny’s Child, remixing all of their tracks on their albums, and ensuring him a position on the production of upcoming LPs for the group and its members.

This type of success though did not come easy for Maurice. Continuous requests for remixes by major label A&R executives would not be possible if he hadn’t put his entire heart and soul into his craft. The mixes he delivers are not simple edits, additional dance beats and computerized stretching of the vocals. He puts in the effort to completely reconstruct a song from scratch. The beats are fresh, not sampled; instruments are live; melodies are new. And most times, the vocals are re-cut, giving a whole new meaning and flavor to the track. Essentially, Maurice produces the artists and does not simply “remix” them.

The ultimate achievement for Maurice came in 2004 when all of this hard work earned him his first Grammy after three previous nominations. He also signed a management deal that year with MusicWorld/Sanctuary Music Group (run by Beyoncés father, Mathew Knowles). Even in the midst of this success, Maurice has remained humble and thankful; he realizes that his Grammy win is a simple acknowledgement of his hard work and that more hard work was about to come. “It’s hard to get on top, but it’s easy to fall down,” Maurice said of his Grammy Award in a recent TV interview. “And you will fall down faster than you got up if you do not realize this.” When asked how it felt to be a celebrity, Maurice replied with a smile of satisfaction: “I love style, fashion, glamour, expensive cars, elegant houses and the whole entourage that follows a superstar DJ/Producer, but nothing comes for free and nothing stays for free.”

And as Maurice prepares for his future goals – making more hit records, artist development and a new recording studio – one thing is certain: he has truly earned every moment and accolade in his career.

Midwest Pro Sound & Lighting is proud to bring you the best in DJ Gear, from DJ Audio Equipment like Turntables, Mixers, and CD/HD Players to Lighting, PA's, Speakers, and DJ Equipment Cases. We carry a complete selection of Pro Sound Equipment for Stage and Studio, and all the Pro Lighting and Live Sound Gear you'll ever need for Club, Stage, and Arena setups. And we're Chicago's top choice for PA/Sound System Rental, Lessons for Video DJs, DJs, Lighting Engineers, Recording Engineers, and Sound Engineers, and Equipment Repair. In addition, we've just added a Professional Recording Studio to our storefront at 1613 W Belmont. Come by and check it out! Chicago's best Pro Sound / Pro Lighting company brings its exceptional knowledge and customer service to the world via www.midweststereo.com. Check us last and you'll buy from us first!