Every mic · Every booked session · Automatically
A second recording of every mic, in every session. Without anyone pressing a button.
Panda Backup is the safety net under every take at BAM. It reads the studio calendar, starts recording each room's microphones before the session begins, keeps going until it's really over, and holds the audio securely on site for five days.
Designed and built in-house at BAM Studios, Chicago.
The backup machine's Live view during a working day. Session names here are made up.
Starts itself
It reads the same calendar our team books sessions on. When an ADR, voice, dubbing or Foley session is on the books, that room's mics are recorded. Nobody has to remember.
Catches the edges
Recording starts 15 minutes before the booking and runs 15 minutes past it. If the session runs long, Panda Backup keeps going while the room still has sound, for up to two hours.
Stays in the building
The audio is recorded to a dedicated drive on site and never goes to the cloud. After five days it's deleted automatically, or sooner if you ask.
How it works
A session, start to finish
The engineer records in Pro Tools exactly as always. Underneath, on its own machine, Panda Backup records every mic in the room.
- Booked on the calendar
- Pre-roll, 15 min
- The session
- Runs long? Keeps going
- Post-roll, 15 min
- Kept on site, 5 days
- Deleted automatically
Moved a session? Extended it? Panda Backup re-reads the calendar every two minutes and follows the change, and a calendar edit never cuts off audio mid-session.
Our story
Why we built Panda Backup
In a recording session, the take in Pro Tools is the one that matters. But every engineer knows the moments that keep you up at night: a track that wasn't armed, a drive that fails, a file that won't open.
We wanted a safety net under every take that nobody has to think about.
We had been doing this for years with general-purpose recording software running on a schedule. It recorded all day, booked or not, so most of what it kept was empty rooms. So we built a recorder that knows our schedule.
Panda Backup runs on its own machine on the studio's audio network, separate from the Pro Tools rig, at both BAM locations.
It's built to
- Record every booked session without anyone starting it
- Never miss the first line or the last one
- Stay completely independent of the main recording
- Keep client audio on site, and only for as long as it's useful
- Hand any take back in seconds
What it does
Small tool. Serious safety net.
Every mic, every room
Each room's microphones are recorded together, always all of them. Choosing channels happens later, at download.
Broadcast-quality files
48 kHz / 24-bit Broadcast WAV, one file per room per hour, each stamped with the time of day so it lines up with the session.
Live meters and alerts
Our team can see every room's levels, what's recording and what's booked next, and gets an alert if a room goes silent mid-session.
Record now
An unbooked pickup or a last-minute session? One press records any room for an hour, or until it's stopped.
Any take back in seconds
Find the session, press Download, pick the mics. Each one arrives as its own WAV, joined across the hour boundaries.
Runs unattended
It starts with the machine, updates itself, and rolls back by itself if an update ever fails to start. If the calendar can't be reached, it falls back to a weekday schedule.
Security
Your audio never leaves the building
BAM holds security approvals from the major studios and networks, and Panda Backup was built with them in mind.
- Recorded to a dedicated drive on site, on the studio's own network.
- No cloud copy. Our team's dashboard sees which files exist, never the audio.
- Opened only from approved devices by BAM staff, and every download and deletion is logged.
- Deleted automatically after five days, or sooner on request.
Built at BAM
One of the tools we build for our own sessions
When the tools on the market don't fit how we work, we build our own, and we prove them in our rooms first.
Questions
Frequently asked
Does it replace the Pro Tools recording?
No. Your session is recorded in Pro Tools exactly as always. Panda Backup is a second, independent recording on its own machine, there in case it's ever needed.
Does the talent or the client have to do anything?
Nothing. There's nothing to start, wear or install. If a session is booked, the room is covered.
When does it record?
During booked ADR, voice recording, dubbing and Foley sessions, from 15 minutes before the booking until 15 minutes after it, and for up to two more hours while the room still has sound if a session runs long. Our engineers can also start a room by hand.
Where are the recordings kept, and for how long?
On a dedicated drive in the same building as the studio, for five days. After that they're deleted automatically. Nothing is uploaded to the cloud.
Can our recordings be deleted sooner?
Yes. Ask us, and we can delete a session's backup that same night or immediately.
What format are the files?
Broadcast WAV at 48 kHz / 24-bit, stamped with the time of day, so a backup lines up with the session. A take can be handed over as one WAV per microphone.
Work with us
Record at BAM Studios
ADR, voice over, dubbing, Foley, sound design and mixing for film, TV, advertising and games. Tell us about the project and the dates.
Book a sessioninfo@bamstudios.com312-255-88621 East Erie Street, Chicago