Visitors can record, play or just listen in the Tank’s profound sonic environment. Our recording facilities are superb, with onsite engineers and new digital equipment in a control room next to the Tank. The region also offers spectacular scenery, hikes and other attractions in the high desert of the Colorado Plateau. You can visit on a half day or full day basis. Morning and evening sessions are recommended in warmer months. We offer connections to local accommodations, guides and tours, and we can tailor a visit to suit your needs.
Reservations
The TANK’s season runs from May 1st through October 31st.
Reservation requests will be reviewed as we receive them at info@tanksounds.org. Requests should include the number in the party, a preferred date and an alternate date. Let us know what you’d like to do at the Tank, whether you plan to record, and if you’d like a half or a whole day.
Once we’ve arranged a date for your visit, we will send you a payment link. We require payment in advance in order to confirm the reservation. We’ll also communicate with you about your visit, to give our staff needed information to prepare. Reservations that are cancelled more than one month before the visit are refundable, otherwise not.
Fees
You can visit the Tank for free, each week during Open Saturdays, 9am to 1pm. You can also reserve the Tank just to play in it, without recording, at $35 for one hour. We recommend half-day and full-day bookings, for the full experience of the Tank. A half day visit without recording at the Tank is $150, a full day $3o0. A half day with a Standard Recording Session by our Resident Engineer is $350, a full day $700. If you’d like to video your Tank session, or use our video crew and equipment, there will be an additional fee.
Put Your Head in the TANK
You can also experience the Tank without traveling to Northwest Colorado. During the pandemic, we perfected a system of remote connection, which allows you to hear yourself playing in the Tank and even to record there, from your home. To bring you into the Tank’s full sonic space, we have a binaural head (we call her Miranda) and our other network of mics, some of them hung high in the tower to capture the most transparent overtones in the reverberation.
Our rates for remote recording are the same as onsite recording. We require at least a two-hour booking, fee $175, and we recommend a four-hour (half-day) booking, fee $350. You’ll need headphones and a microphone, and we strongly suggest you connect your computer directly to the net with an ethernet cable, which will cut down the latency. Also you’d need a Zoom link, and a Sonobus connection–that’s a free download.
We show you how to connect over Zoom, and we use SonoBus to receive your sound and return the signal. We record the result with Pro Tools in the Tank studio and send your files back online that same day. Musicians in California and New York have already recorded in the Tank this way, with stunning results. To book a remote recording, send an email to info@tanksounds.org and put “Miranda” in the subject line.
COVID-19 Guidelines
The Tank and all instruments are cleaned and the facilities ventilated before and after use. We generally limit the number of visitors in the Tank at one time to three, to allow for social distancing–exceptions for vaxxed parties and pods. Staff will maintain a six-foot distance. Facemasks are required for staff and visitors. If you are at a higher risk for COVID-19, let us know in advance. If you have questions about our other precautions for safe visits during this pandemic period, just ask.
The Tank’s Sonic Qualities
The profound reverberation inside the Tank is unique, the product of accidents in its history. Constructed around 1940 for the steam engines of the Rio Grande Railroad, this soaring seven-story water tower tank was moved to Rangely in the mid-1960s for fire-suppression. This plan was never realized, as the underlying shale proved unable to support the weight of the filled tank. However, the bed of gravel upon which the Tank was placed bowed its floor into a gentle parabola, giving it its remarkable acoustics. The Tank has a reverberation with a beautiful swirling resonance, sustaining some notes for up to 40 seconds. Its resonance is longer and richer than the Taj Mahal’s.
Technical Information about Recording at the Tank
Everything in the Tank, from the microphone hoisting system to the control room, is custom-made. The Tank has an 80″ x 40″ doorway for access, which allows entry of instruments and equipment. Inside the Tank we have theatrical lighting, with LED spots and upwashes, and a theatrical fly system to lift microphones into almost any position. The control room is housed in a separate structure, connected to the Tank by 12 mic lines, 4 returns, 2 Ethernet lines, and 2 BNC lines for video. Recording capability consists of DPA, Rode, and 3dio pro binaural microphones, Grace Designs preamplification, RME conversion, and Pro Tools. Recordings can be delivered on a USB stick, with output in two-track stereo or six tracks for later mixing and mastering. Sessions are run by our Resident Engineers, or by outside professionals with experience at the Tank.
Accessibility
The Tank is committed to making visits and recording sessions broadly accessible to everyone. We will work with you individually to provide help with filling out an application, providing descriptive print materials in accessible formats and tailoring accommodations for concert events and recording sessions. To find out more, or to make alternative arrangements for applying to and visiting The Tank, write us at friendsofthetank@gmail.com or call 518 789 4182.
Climate and Conditions
The Tank is in the high desert at 5,297 feet above sea level. Weather conditions can be extreme and unpredictable, with high winds, strong thunderstorms, and widely variable temperatures, from 100 degrees in the day to the 30s at night. Bring a sun hat, sunscreen, bug repellent and clothing in layers. You might want to bring nasal saline to counter the desert aridity, as well as a water bottle of your own. We ask everyone to remove shoes inside the Tank.
Location and Directions
The Tank Center for Sonic Arts is located at 233 County Road 46, in Rangely, Colorado 81648. The nearest airport with rental car service is in Vernal, Utah, about an hour away. By car, Rangely is roughly five hours from Denver, four hours from Salt Lake City, and two hours from Grand Junction, Colorado.
