Blitz Recording Studios

We went to Blitz Recording with a really poor copy of a really bad mix of 8 songs we recorded in 1997 on an old DAT, the kind that looks like a VHS tape. I really did not think we would ever salvage these songs, which were all strong tunes recorded live in a cheap studio of a house in a flooded basement originally.
Amazingly, Richard at Blitz stripped it down and built it up again. Honestly I always thought the songs were good and now that Richard remastered it, it is amazing. The drums sound so strong and so is the bass, guitars and vocals. Blitz Recording remastered RagStew’s 1997 «River of Slow Return» so incredibly well, I’d put the quality up against nearly any current hard rock or heavy metal release. I am leaving our poor mix on
for a couple of months until our singer completes some vocals. If you are reading this prior to April 2016, listen to our terrible original mix then check out the Blitz remastered after that and you will understand what I am talking about.
You can go to
and watch for when we release Richard’s production excellence. These two mixes are truly night and day and you will not believe he remastered this from the mud of the original DAT.

I am writing this review based on the quality of work done by Richard. All I can say is that I am disappointed for someone who claims to have been in the industry for so many years yet the quality of work was crap just like his personality. I mean the guy milked 3 hours to finish one song. I don’t think he does this on purpose, the guy looks 70 years old, he moves slow (blitz?) and he claims to have 50 years of experience so you can’t give him any direction on how you want your project to sound; he thinks he knows everything. First recording pieces we did went well, but he then threw a tantrum after the 5^th recording piece; which by the way is his job and began to rant on incoherent nonsense (again maybe the age). I think his heart is in the right place (music) but he just does not have what it takes to be a engineer (never heard of people he has worked with); he was moaning and trying to argue with me but the man is like a 100 year old tree why bother trying to fix him. On about 70% of the recording session this guy had me sitting in a couch while he struggled to navigate through ProTools and ranted (complaining) incoherent nonsense about how much work he is doing. Just plain lazy. However even after reading other peoples comments I went in with an open mind because he is the cheapest in town, and it’s just the quality of work is not what is advertised on his website. My cousin and other musicians I work with pointed out it wasn’t mastered correctly (vocals mixed into track). If there was a zero option, I would have felt a lot better about writing this review. He joked about me doing a bad review, which he might think is based on his crappy personality, on the contrary I am a «business man» just like he is, and the rating is based on his quality of work and skills. He gave me good feedback about my music which I appreciate. I think he has some serious demons he needs to work out. I would not recommend him to my worst enemy (competition), don’t hire him, trust me, spend the extra $ 60 on a real professional. Richard you if your not happy doing what your doing you should do something else and not waste peoples time. On a side note I would have reached out to him if I believed he can solve this problem, but I am taking it to a real engineer and more than likely have to record again. So I basically just lost $ 120.00 and had to work alongside a loon, who apparently either does not know or just decides not to do a good job and to be honest I think he is just lazy; your being paid Richard. MY first impression would lead me to believe this was his first day on the job, but I did not have time to do a thorough check on his credentials, but lesson learned I will never hire him or care to even speak on this man again.

I have recorded 5 full length albums with Richard at Blitz Recording Studio, two of which were released on a European label and sold thousands of copies. The studio is well equiped and is always kept up to date with the latest software, plugins etc. The studio is neat, organised and always has a good vibe. Richard is a total proffessional and works quickly, wasting no-one’s time. He is also a multi instrumentalist with a great set of ears and will notice things and make suggestions to improve either your song’s arrangement or your performance.
I came across this page accidentaly whilst googling something related and was surprised by the review by Diane S. below. Richard is always enthusiastic, supportive and encouraging in his approach to pull the absolute best performance out of the musicians. That said, he does not suffer fools to easily. If he actually did tell you your material was not really music and was just trash… then it most probably is. Better you heard it sooner rather than later. Richard WONT just take your money and record you if you are not ready to be in the studio yet, simple as that.

I’ve been using Blitz Recording Studio for over 20 years. I’m an award winning, published jazz songwriter. My songs have been performed at major jazz venues, on television, recorded by famous jazz musicians and aired on over 100 radio stations worldwide
I can’t mess around, I need an engineer who knows his stuff, and, on top of all that, is fun to work with. I rely on Richard, the owner, for his expertise in the studio and feedback on my recordings and he has never let me down. I’ve used many studios in San Diego, and I keep coming back to Blitz, and, in fact, I never use any other studio as of 10 years ago. This is a five star studio on every level at a price that is affordable, and Blitz Recording Studio has been in business much longer than most of the come-​and-​go operators on the scene, and I strongly recommend you take my professional advice, someone who has been in the music industry for 30 years, to hire Blitz Studios, Richard Livoni, for your next project.

If you are looking for a studio that does musician to musician support with constructive, professional encouragement and positive reinforcement THEN THIS IS NOT THE STUDIO FOR YOU! Richard was bombastic, belittling, rude, unprofessional and an egomaniac! Ten minutes with him will tell you that your money will be better spent elsewhere; anywhere but with him. As a new band we came in referred to him by one of his musician friends that he produced before. He showed no loyalty to the lead singer/​guitarist of that band by treating us like dirt. He called our music trash, he told us it wasn’t music, he said our music scared him without telling us what we needed to get a better sound nor did he offer to help us get there. Even as we tried to leave his office he called us back to ask more questions then punch us in the guts with his answers. As young guys going to college who have played at House of Blues, Lestat’s, Brick by Brick, SOMA, Queen B’s, Soda Bar and others he could have taken the time to at least treat us with respect and as a mentor. He crushed us verbally then eviscerated us through his actions! No tenured musician should treat any new musician the way he treated us today! We all start out as hacks but with practice, encouragement and the right amount of support we learn our way either in or out of being a band. Richard forgot how he started, obviously, by the way he treated this band today. The band leader that referred us to him said, «he will never send him another referral nor go to one of the Blitz Bros. concerts again after what happened to us today.» And, I think that says it all.