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Author Topic: your studio's atmosphere  (Read 12536 times)

breathe

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your studio's atmosphere
« on: September 03, 2007, 01:48:47 AM »

The smoking thread was interesting.  I sort of feel special about my studio now and grateful I live in Portland, OR where smoking is allowed until the end of next year.

What I'm really interested in now is what kind of atmosphere you folks maintain in your studio to keep things comfortable.  Smoking and drinking is how I maintain mine, and I have no art or other decorations around whatsoever (I do have this picturebook laying around of 'Unuseless Japanese Inventions' that amuses everyone).  My control room is cozy with a large soft couch and gray Auralex covering the walls and ceiling to absorb the flutter echo against the mud and taped and painted drywall.  My performance room is totally amazing because how large and high ceiling'd it is (and built of wood in 1924).  I am completely happy with the vibe of my studio, and I consider myself sensitive to those things.  I recently got tours of a couple of 'pro' studios in Portland, and I was really surprised by how clinical they felt.  I sort of understand, vaguely, the concept of a studio as a 'professional' environment (like a dentist office), but it's totally beyond me how artists that I actually like could produce good work in those places.  Maybe artists like Peter Gabriel (who I love) thrive in those kind of places (not smoke filled rooms), where total precision is really the aim, not just a loose comfortable vibe.

And by the way, what's with the lava lamps I see in those SSL studios on the cover of Mix magazine?  Don't other people think those things are ridiculous?
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Tomas Danko

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2007, 01:56:55 AM »

breathe wrote on Mon, 03 September 2007 06:48


And by the way, what's with the lava lamps I see in those SSL studios on the cover of Mix magazine?  Don't other people think those things are ridiculous?


Lava lamps not only gives you a better stereo image when used in pairs, but they also compensate for them dreadful IC's in the SSL.


Oh, and they're nice to watch when you space out for a micro pause minute.  Cool

http://www.danko.se/gearlist.jpg
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Larrchild

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2007, 06:32:43 AM »

Whatever the musicians you record, normally do. (short of Santaria)
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Larry Janus
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J.J. Blair

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2007, 08:23:16 AM »

Old wood paneling in the control room.  Sunlight with a view of the outdoors.  A sweet collection of original Filmore posters in the hallway.  A clean room where everything works.  Great attitude and sense of humor.
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studio info

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Fletcher

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2007, 10:04:10 AM »

My recording space is a 45'x 43' foot warehouse with 16' ceilings and whatever Mercenary crap happens to be taking up shelf and floor space... we have "B-3 land" where the B-3 and Leslie [122] live... we have "amp land" where all the guitar and bass amps live... we have a rug with the studio drum kit always set up but other than that it's a warehouse.

There are some cool signs on the wall from manufacturers and the sign from a legendary Boston nightclub called "Bunnratty's" and all kinds of shit hanging from the ceiling from Fairchild 670 faceplates to an SSL center section keyboard and monitor... dead DBX-160VU [very raped for parts] and a "blowup doll" suspended by a hangman's noose with her hands tied behind her back, mouth taped shut and various stencils and stickers on her.

The piano room has 2 desks in it [as it's also an active office] the walls are painted "bordello red" with gloss black trim around the blacked out windows and the doors... there are full mic and cue line facilities in that room.

The control room [which we'll have pictures of in the coming months] has no windows and the doors in the front of the room [the doors are from the CARS old studio "Syncro Sound"]... first thing you see when you walk in is the back of the console with all it's various wires hanging out but very neatly dressed.

In the front of the room the walls are all blue cloth with wood trim that actaully cover the front of the monitor cabinets [UREI 813's] with the cross over and drivers exposed.  The top of the meter bridge and patchbay extension have the nearfield monitors my "Ancestral Protection Voodoo Doll" a variety of shakers [including a "skull egg"] and a couple of "Beanie Baby" stuffed animals [a Shark and an Armadillo] along with the talkback mic [a Russian Ribbon mic that was stolen from the Politbureau and actually has "CCCP" stamped on it].

The left wall has the outboard racks [3x 16 RU road cases] with a mural/picture that my daughter did when she was 15... it's a woman's face with purple eyeshadow and flowing red hair that comes off the canvas and extends onto the walls.

Behind that is the bathroom which has a "Punisher" toilet seat and "Metal stars" trading cards taped to the wall... skull toilet brush holder and skull lamp with a black light in it... over the sink the lights are red and blue.

On the other wall is another mural my daughter did which features an androgynous figure with green shorts, sweater vest and a red tie talking eating muffins with a skull figure with little face images in it's coiled snake like spine... the skull has a goatee and hot rod flame eyes and tooth decay... they are drinking tea under a tree that has little light brown human like figures... the mural symbolizes "the innocent artist being recruited by the evil music industry to become part of the tree of lost souls" [pretty deep for a 15 yr. old!!].

In the back of the room is a Leopard "fainting couch" on a Cheetah rug with a kidney shaped table that has books about "Von Dutch" and "Big Daddy Roth" and a lamp on either side of the couch [on dimmers so you can read if you'd like] that have white leopard lamp shades].  There is a black box with a skull in it that holds our favorite fruit... chocolate covered espresso beans.

All in all... it's quite a "vibey" joint.

Peace.
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CN Fletcher

mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33
We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid


"Recording engineers are an arrogant bunch.  
If you've spent most of your life with a few thousand dollars worth of musicians in the studio, making a decision every second and a half... and you and  they are going to have to live with it for the rest of your lives, you'll get pretty arrogant too.  It takes a certain amount of balls to do that... something around three"
Malcolm Chisholm

Rick Sutton

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2007, 12:34:54 PM »

I work a lot with acoustic instruments and I've always liked wood in the studio so my vibe is based on that........
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compasspnt

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2007, 05:37:15 PM »

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Eric H.

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2007, 07:15:08 AM »

compasspnt wrote on Mon, 03 September 2007 22:37

http://members.aol.com/compasspnt/movie.html


Very Impressive man!

great place!

Eric Harizanos
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eric harizanos

amorris

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2007, 11:19:03 AM »

I used to not care what the studio looked like, "Who cares what it f-ing looks like, were not filming any of this" maybe I got older and now I really enjoy a professional look. But you can charge more with a better looking space. And I think the bands take it more seriously in a nice space.

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M Carter

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2007, 12:43:41 PM »

That's an interesting thought.  I've noticed the stark difference in attitude when a musician is working in a home studio vs. a place they are paying for at ALL - a lot more work seems to get done when the clock is really ticking.

However - a lot of my friends in indie bands probably wouldn't be interested in recording at Legacy.  The general trend with those guys is that the bigger the pain in the ass it is for the engineer - the better the vibe for the band.  I don't totally understand it.

Once I was told by a band leader during a session in a room in Brooklyn (which shall remain nameless) where shit just did NOT work - "its funny how it's always the rooms that the engineers hate that the musicians like the best".  That doesn't sway my opinion from the fact that a band records better in a room where the gear works....
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Matt Carter
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trock

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #10 on: September 04, 2007, 02:09:27 PM »

JJ i was checking out your site and pics of the studio, thats a really nice setup. fletcher do you have any pics?
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NelsonL

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #11 on: September 04, 2007, 06:13:16 PM »

Our place has a pretty informal vibe, people seem to like it-- there are some decorations but you can't really tell from the pictures.

    http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=421734917&contex t=photostream&size=l

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=421730670&size=m &context=photostream
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Jim Williams

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2007, 10:14:48 AM »

My place has that Polynesian look and feel. Besides the studio, there's the dozen 30 foot queen palms in the back with a few sago palms, banana trees, citrus and of course the pool and spa. A large stone Tiki god rules the entire area.

Once someone gets into the pool and spa it's hard sometimes to get them back to work.

Then again, this is San Diego county, it's hard to get anyone to work around here especially if the surf's up.
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Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

Kendrix

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2007, 04:51:33 PM »

Atmosphere?- You workin on new age music???

Name   Symbol Percent by Volume
Nitrogen  N2  78.084 %

Oxygen O2 20.9476 %

Argon Ar 0.934 %

Carbon Dioxide CO2 0.0314 %

Neon Ne 0.001818 %

Methane CH4 0.0002 %

Helium He 0.000524 %

Krypton Kr 0.000114 %

Hydrogen H2 0.00005 %

Xenon Xe 0.0000087 %

All this plus some water vapor makes those longitudinal sound waves oh so happy bouncing off the walls at 1100 feet/second.

OK OK - I promise to post something useful next time. Very Happy

FWIW- My personal studio has got lots of posters/artwork and small objects hanging around to contribute to the vibe.  My dog can work wonders with his supreme vibey-ness as well. Also got those Japanese shoji lantern/lamps to provide low/soft lighting.   If things get rough I also have the option of turning the lava lamp on.
Red is the best vibe-wise.

I also tend to leave many of my instruments out on stands.
Its good to have them easily accesible AND this definately adds some mucically-oriented vibe.
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Ken Favata

breathe

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Re: your studio's atmosphere
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2007, 05:20:56 PM »

Hey Jim nice to hear from you.  I have an Aphex Compellor that I've been meaning to send you, but I 've been using it on every session so it's been hard to part with for a few days.

Speaking of trees, I actually have this tall fake potted tree in my studio that I really dig the vibe of.  I could totally get a bunch of them and create a tropical vibe in my huge recording room (not my control room).  Right now it's covering up this patch on one of my walls that some evil dipshit graffitied on during my last party that I roughly painted over with some paint I had left over.  I love having parties at my place with bands playing, my place is ideal for it, and I get to record all of the band's instruments/vox in multitrack which I can later mix down like an album (awesome!), but the risk of just ONE asshole destroying property is almost too much to take.  There are a few shows where I know nothing would ever happen, but some shows where there's a slight risk, it seems I would have to hire several security guards just to watch over things inside and especially the parking lot (the cars of the nearby businesses come to mind), which might really intimidate the guests of mine that I don't want to intimidate.  It's a really delicate balance.  In Santa Cruz where I got my first degree, all the shows were in people's living rooms, and there was this particular magic of being in a room where absolutely everyone was there for the music (the scenesters would be out socializing in the back yard).  I don't think I'll ever have it that good, with that level of trust, again.

Nicholas


Jim Williams wrote on Wed, 05 September 2007 07:14

My place has that Polynesian look and feel. Besides the studio, there's the dozen 30 foot queen palms in the back with a few sago palms, banana trees, citrus and of course the pool and spa. A large stone Tiki god rules the entire area.

Once someone gets into the pool and spa it's hard sometimes to get them back to work.

Then again, this is San Diego county, it's hard to get anyone to work around here especially if the surf's up.

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