Studio vibe: hows, whys, likes, dislikes.

I literally change the head while it's on the snare stand...  Why untighten it and take it to another room when I can just do it right there and then?  I've been in big studios and I've never seen folks take stuff away to change the heads or whatever.  The broken gear got removed and replaced (or not) and you moved on.  Nobody went behind the curtain to see how the sausage was made.  half the time the gear went into a box and shipped to the manufacturer, or it was put in the car to take to the repair place down the street.  The big places that had techs on staff were the first ones to go out of business.

You don't change the drumheads while they're on the drum stands?  As a drummer of 30 years I have literally done nothing else but swap the heads right there, or perhaps taken them off the stands and put them in my lap, swapped, tuned and then put back.  I don't think I've ever known anyone to do it any other way either!

You'd absolutely hate my workbench then.  It's used to work, and it's always messy because I'm always using it.  I'm not a part-timer who has plenty of sit-around and clean and wait time.  I was making a joke, but it wasn't personal unlike your retort.

A lot of the things you point out are the way things SHOULD be . . . sadly, they rarely are. More and more studios are private studios, like mine, and whilst I will make every effort to have everything perfect for every client, it doesn't always work out because I have way too much clutter, and that's how I function.

A straight ahead rental space that has everything you want, like a turnkey? Man, how many of those still exist? It would be cool, but seems like the impossible dream.

Good post, anyhow.

My space is also far from perfect. Matter of fact its basically the next big item on the list... at the moment there isn't much I can do about it. Looking for the right situation... in due time. 

Still. Yes there are more & more private studios and that's sorta the rub. People don't get the experience of working in a really great ideal environment and so they have no basis for comparison. There's no conception of how good it could be. 

Everyone has a home studio these days. If we're offering a "space for hire" - the turnkey as you say we HAVE to offer a better experience.

I get people who are used to the environment & workflow of their own home studio or maybe have cut tracks in someone else's home studio. Home studios are great and there are all kinds of 'em... from a simple 8 input interface & handful of mics to rooms with serious gear. One thing they all have in common are the distractions & limitations of a domestic environment.

Think I was just called an elitist? I'll proudly wear that. All fuckin' day! That's the environment I came up through & learned in. 

To me that's something to strive for. It implies a certain level of standards. Not just the bare minimum coasting in on flumes but crossing the finish line at the front even if the motors puking fire and wheels are coming off. At one point in time & it wasn't that long ago the audio community at large was striving for excellence. Go big or go home. 

With that as my background I don't see any reason to not offer that level of service to everyone. To not only meet but exceed expectations which yeah... includes a clean workbench. 

Who'd have thought that a simple thing like a clear desktop & having basic hand tools available would ruffle so many feathers?! Not me! That's for damn sure. 

Some of the stuff we're talking about here is really covering basic human needs. A clean fridge and spot to rip into a pizza. 

Has nothing to do with turning knobs but everything to do with making records. Doesn't seem esoteric to me but maybe for some..? I dunno. 

I'm pretty sure I've been called an elitist before. Or at least been thought that of in that way.

I think it has a lot to do with your initial growing up experiences in the biz. Talent aside - if you grew up working in the great studios of LA or NYC or NVille vs. growing up working in home studios you're going to have differing expectations. That has ABSOLUTELY no bearing on your talent or skill - but your expectations are probably quite different in respect to what you want/expect out of a studio.

The days of the big studio's are all but gone, but catering to human expectations are alive and well - and the studios that do it well - even if they are in a bedroom - are the ones people want to work in.

I’ll jump on the side where a tech bench is a necessity. A well lit bench, a scope, oscillator to send tones into the gear, amp and headphones, and a CD player to get program into a piece of gear.

Soldering station, drawer of caps, fuses, resistors, fluke. Might seem pricier, but if you need to bring a tech in to fix stuff it’s nice to have it all on the bench and ready for them to do what they do.

If you have a console, a nice little rolling caddy with a power strip, portable vice, clamp on light and some screwdriver sets are always nice to pull up for them to work in the control room if they have to. Maybe a nice magnifying glass or lens is helpful too. Most techs are pretty old and crotchety so it’s good to start off on the right foot!

I'll say I've got to be just about the only studio around this area that has fixed broken things from guitar jacks to efx pedals to tube amps on the spot. My competition is almost universally incapable. It does keep the session cheaper.....

As far as being on topic, the BIG thing I have learnt is, trying to attract all clients (via the look and the vibe) is a failure waiting to happen.

Don't try and make a facility that will work for every client. A studio will go broke trying to facilitate too many client types.
EG a corporate company's studio vibe is the polar opposite to a rock / punk / metal / electro / rock / jazz environment.

Pick a few tribes, and give them the best they can get. Forget the other clients - let them go elsewhere.

Studio Vibe, and talent behind the steering wheel is probably more important than anything (although GREAT gear is imperative if clients are comparing facilities)

My repair bench is sometimes messy, but my recording sessions :- neat mic cabling, session layout labeling and client communication is second to none

Priorities.

That sounds like a nightmare...

And also why I started drinking my coffee black about 12 years ago.

A surprising number of large studios in Nashville are owned by universities, or large corporations, and getting budgets for repairs approved is nearly impossible or a once a year proposition.

I haven’t done much to speak of at barbershop in a number of years really. If I book a spot out, I grab a few hours a couple weeks in advance and run tone through everything, set up mics I’m planning to use, meet the assistants and see what kind of shape they are in.

Avatar was top notch, haven’t been back since it became school owned, the A room at Kalidescope has a really nice API and great mics and a super helpful assistant that knows his stuff.

There are 2 in my immediate area I won’t go back to again because of incompetence or gear that isn’t up to snuff / broke.

From my journey man days if the room is for hire, a blank slate that the client can bring their vibe to and are encouraged to bring.
The other 2 points I kill for are a bench / storage space and a well isolated lounge.
I want the whole band in the building in case inspiration hits, but things just work smoother if they have a place outside the tracking room or booth.