An 'unplugged' session is going to require a very different studio from a techno track bursting with MIDI bells and whistles. Beyond that, choosing a recording studio is down to that elusive spiritual ingredient, 'the vibe'. David Mellor investigates pop psychology...
Once you become a top record producer, you will be able to book one of the top studios. A top studio will of course charge a top price, but since the record company will be footing the bill (and charging it to the band's future royalties), all you have to do is make sure you come out with a damn good record. While you're still an aspiring producer, your budget will be more limited, perhaps to what you yourself can afford. You will be looking for a compromise between the kind of setup you're familiar with at home, and a good commercial studio with the kind of facilities you can't afford. Commercial studios can be split fairly arbitrarily into three types: demo studios, mid‑range, and 'cost no object'. Let's take a look at what you will get from each of these three types of studio.
Rags To Riches
No studio owner will describe their facility as a demo studio, but at the lower end of the price range you will encounter compromises that will reduce the likelihood of being able to make a top‑quality recording. Some demo studios have a general air of crustiness. They obviously don't employ cleaners on a regular basis, the staff are miserable and surly, the equipment, though once good, is now falling apart, and you or your engineer have to work around dead channels and dodgy patchbay connections. You think I'm joking — I'm not. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can make money out of operating a recording studio, such is the competition, but there surely must be a marketing opportunity for a studio that can provide a clean, efficient working environment at a reasonably low cost. To be on the safe side, you would need to look at the upper division of demo studios to have a reasonable degree of confidence that you will be able to get good quality work done.
Moving into the mid‑range league of studios, what you will tend to find is a studio that was once very well set up, but is now looking rather tired, both in terms of equipment and decor. Decor may not be important to you if you can live with torn carpets, lumpy sofas, and equipment which is 10 to 15 years old, and looks it. But as long as the equipment is well‑maintained, then it doesn't matter how knocked about it appears, nor how old it is (within reason). If you don't need an awe‑inspiring environment to do your best work, you can make a great recording in a mid‑price studio — as top producers continue to prove. There is also something to be said for a slightly downmarket atmosphere, in that it doesn't intimidate you or the performers. For many styles of music, you need to be totally relaxed and comfortable within your surroundings to perform at your best. And just as you will feel comfortable in your old worn‑out jeans and trainers, then an old, worn‑out studio (but with good equipment maintenance) may be just right for you.
If you're working with a top act, then you will almost certainly want to work in a first‑rate studio. A well‑respected American artist who flies first class from Los Angeles to the UK and checks into a good five‑star hotel will not wish to be downgraded to a two‑star studio for recording purposes! A good studio should be like a five‑star hotel, with recording facilities instead of a swimming pool. The control room will have coffee and tea on tap, and there should be cafés and watering holes close by.
Mid‑range and top studios should have good acoustics. What you want from a studio's acoustics is a debatable matter, but you will be looking for freedom from outside noise, a pleasant acoustic environment to perform and record in, and an accurate control room for judging the mix. Some studios specialise in mixing, and have only limited recording space, or none at all. The 'sound' of a studio is an important factor, and it is not unknown for producers to use studios on both sides of the Atlantic on a single project, because they have distinctive sounds that suit certain instruments, or combinations of instruments. Also, consider the physical size of the studio. If you have 30 string players to accommodate, you need plenty of elbow room!
Equipment
Frequently, the selection of a studio will be governed by the equipment that the producer or engineer recommends. Even the record company, if they have become aware that a lot of hits are being made using a particular mixing console, will start to think that some of the magic might rub off.
As far as the choice of mixing consoles goes, there are three types: SSL, Neve... and the rest. SSL and Neve still seem to be front runners, and other manufacturers' consoles, good though they may be, just haven't been able to achieve the same status. The reason why Neve is so popular is that the company have been making consistently excellent products since the early '60s. This kind of track record has made Neve number one, and if you are recording in a studio with a Neve V series console, then you have no excuse for not getting it right! SSL haven't been going for quite as long as Neve, but they made an important breakthrough in console design, with what was practically their first product — they incorporated a computer into the console, which could control the multitrack remotely and automate the mix. Studios liked it, bought it, and suddenly it seemed like hit after hit was produced using an SSL console.
These days, a producer will choose a Neve studio for its prestige value. Another producer will choose SSL because he started off as an engineer on SSL, and that's what he is most comfortable with. Judging from the comments of people I have spoken to, there isn't a lot of crossover between the two consoles — you like one or the other, although you will find the occasional producer who will record on Neve and mix on SSL, to get the best of both worlds.
A good studio should be like a five‑star hotel, with recording facilities instead of a swimming pool.
If Neve and SSL are joint top of the console league table, can you make a hit on any other console? Of course you can. Pick a studio with a top‑of‑the‑range Amek, DDA, Euphonix, Focusrite, Soundcraft or Trident, and you are unlikely to be disappointed, since all these consoles and others have made hits; just not as many as Neve or SSL.
Parallel to the choice of console is the choice of multitrack format. It is just as important, but you have more flexibility, since you can hire any multitrack you like, and bring it into the studio of your choice. Mixing consoles, in comparison, are very firmly fixed assets. As a top producer, you will be choosing from four formats: 24‑track analogue, 24‑ or 48‑track DASdigital, ProDigi 32‑track digital or Otari Radar. It seems that ADAT, DA88 and Pro Tools haven't made it into the top league yet as a main recording medium, although they are often used as a component in the recording process.
Twenty‑four track analogue machines are still very popular, probably because all the major studios have them already, and the damned things just won't wear out. It seems that a properly maintained 24‑track can go on just about forever. Many producers still prefer the sound of analogue tape, so I suspect that 24‑track machines will be around for decades to come. Whether or not manufacturers will continue to make new ones is another question. King of the 24‑tracks is probably the Studer A800, with the Otari MTR90 MkII next in line. The A800 is not a current model, and you could argue that the more recent Studer models are better, but A800s are everywhere, and people love them. Synchronise two of them together, and you have 46 tracks of pure analogue magic (you lose a track on each for sync). Furthermore, they will probably be included in the basic rate for the studio. Remember to budget for lots of tape. £300 of tape (two reels for 46‑track) lasts just over 15 minutes, at 30 inches per second!
Cutting A Dash
If you have a little more money to spend, then you might look at working with the DASformat. Sony and Studer make DASmachines, although the Sonys are far more common. The 3324A is the model you will see most often, and for certain styles of music it is considered to be a workhorse machine. People who know Sony DASmachines speak very highly of them, and the premium you will pay to have one on your session (even if the studio owns it, usually) will be worthwhile.
Although Mitsubishi pulled out of the digital audio market several years ago, there are still many 32‑track ProDigi machines around doing good work. In our home and project studios, we often fall into the trap of always chasing the latest gear. In pro studios, 'tried and tested' is more often the motto. ProDigi isn't perfect, but many well respected artists and producers are happy to work with it. The other multitrack recorder I'd recommend isn't a tape recorder — but it thinks it is! The 24‑track Otari Radar digital multitrack will probably need to be hired in specially, but machines similar to it (such as the new, 16‑track Akai DR16 reviewed in SOS this month), are doing much to break down prejudices. You'll find that these have the simplicity of tape, with the editing capability of hard disk. If you need more tracks, hire a couple!
Aside from the mixing console and the multitrack, everything else is pretty much the icing on the cake. But you would expect a well equipped studio to have a good mic selection, a well‑stocked outboard rack, a grand piano, maybe the odd MIDI keyboard and sampler if you are lucky, and an assistant engineer to help you out with all those knobs and buttons!
I have mentioned maintenance already, because it is vitally important. Also important is the line‑up of the equipment. Analogue recorders need regular alignment, ideally for each session, to perform at their best. This is particularly necessary if you plan on recording some instruments in one studio, then taking the tape elsewhere for further work. It also helps if the assistant engineer zeros the console by setting every switch and every knob to a neutral position, making it a blank canvas on which you can paint your sound picture.
Booking The Studio
Although you can book for shorter periods, it is common to book studios by the day. A 'day' will be around 14 hours, which means that either you get out at the appointed time, or move onto another hourly or daily rate. Alternatively, you can block‑book a studio, in a 'lock out' arrangement. These means that you have 24‑hour access to the studio, and you can leave all your equipment set up between sessions. A block booking will attract a special rate of course, but you have to bear in mind that time will be wasted while you and your musicians are sleeping, or even taking days off over long periods of recording. Residential studios often operate on a lock‑out basis.
Studios won't like me saying this, but rates are often negotiable. It depends how much clout you have of course, but a major record company will expect to see a discount — somewhere between modest and bailiff‑inducing. Indeed, the reason why many studios have gone bust is because record companies have been playing off one studio against another, to drive rates down. Obviously, business is business, and it comes down to survival of the fittest, but for what you get in a top studio in terms of equipment, acoustics and accommodation, the price you pay is often extraordinarily good value, if you consider what a decent studio costs to set up and run.
The quoted rates would include standard equipment, analogue multitrack and an assistant engineer. If you need an experienced engineer, then expect to pay according to the depth of that experience — you know what you get when you pay peanuts! Having the piano tuned will be extra, as may be the use of the studio's Hammond organ or other exotic equipment. Studios normally prefer to supply tape, rather than allowing clients to bring in their own. Obviously this is another profit centre for them, but it allows a degree of quality control, and certainty that the tape machines will be lined up correctly for that particular brand and type. If you do bring in your own tape, as you may if a project has been started elsewhere, then expect to pay the studio a handling charge to cover editing, leadering and labelling etc, as you would pay corkage if you took your own bottle of wine to a restaurant.
If your session goes on until the early hours, then you will have to pay taxi costs for the studio's staff, and any telephone calls you make will be logged and charged to your session. Don't forget the VAT on top of all this. You may negotiate a discount for payment in advance, but if you don't, bear in mind that you probably won't be taking any tapes away until you have paid in full — not unless you are known to the studio anyway, and have set up an account with them. All of these extra costs may seem alarming, but they are all part of the recording process, so just keep in mind how much money you hope to make at the end of it all!
The Studio Owner's View — Jerry Boys
Jerry Boys is the owner of Livingston Studio, a twin studio complex in Wood Green, North London, with SSL 48‑track and Amek 24‑track rooms. He is a widely respected engineer, with credits including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Kate Bush, and more recently, Everything But The Girl, Lisa Stansfield and REM.
- CHOICE OF STUDIO
"One factor is the type of record a group is making; is it a largely MIDI‑based record, or is it a 'musician'‑based record? In the latter case, they would need a decent recording room with proper acoustics, and a good selection of microphones.
"In the former case, they might need other technological‑type facilities. Most of the upmarket studios would try and cover both areas, but their main rooms would be leaning towards 'musician' recording. Like ourselves, they would all provide a basic computer, software, some sort of sync interface, and a few sound modules. Some studios have a separate MIDI room as part of their facility."
- RATES
"In this day and age, we try and be competitive. We are not among the cheapest, but we offer excellent value for money. Price‑wise, we're in the lower third of the top tier. We range between £475 per day in our smaller room, and £650 in our bigger room — plus VAT." - HOUSE ENGINEERS
"Our house engineers are important, and have become a more important feature in recent years. In the '80s, it became the fashion not to use house engineers, but it has sort of come back in fashion. I guess it is because they are often cheaper — but they're often better too, because they know the studio and how it works, and how it sometimes doesn't work!" - THE CONSOLE
"The console would be a major factor in a producer's choice, whether he wants SSL or Neve, or something cheaper or different. We have an Amek room, and people will choose that if they perhaps don't want to go SSL, but also if they are on a relatively tight budget. Most of the major manufacturers' consoles are OK in terms of sound these days. It's really down to ease of operation and whether they have the facilities you want. The top‑line consoles like Neve and SSL have sounds of their own, and they have automation systems that people are familiar with." - GEOGRAPHY
"We find geography is important. People come to us because we are a long way geographically from the record companies! They like to feel they are locked away from involvement with the A&R department, shall we say. On other occasions, where the A&R people are having a strong input, we may lose the gig because we are not close to the record company." - VIBE
"I think the most difficult thing to quantify would be what we call 'vibe'. I think that's the one thing where you can, as a studio, create your own unique space in the world. Most studios these days are built by competent acousticians, and they have equipment from the same manufacturers. There is not a lot of difference, apart from the mixing console and the colour scheme. What you can influence, and where you can carve out a particular character, is the vibe. We try to be very informal, and yet efficient at the same time." - RECREATION
"We provide private lounges for both studios. There's a general entertainments area upstairs with a pool table, music, TV, satellite and all that sort of thing. If you have got a band in, a lot of people want to be able to sit somewhere outside of the control room. Wood Green is well endowed with all sorts of restaurants and takeaways: Chinese, Malayan, Greek, McDonalds, Pizza Hut. There are plenty within ten minutes walk, and many within half that distance. We provide a kitchen here, and some people cook for themselves." - MAINTENANCE
"Maintenance is important in terms of keeping people happy while they are with you, and you hope then for return work. It is an area that is quite expensive, and you have to be careful that you provide a proper level without spending too much money. We have a guy who comes in three times a week, and then he's on call the rest of the time. Then there's normally myself or another experienced engineer on site. A lot of faults are not really faults; they're operator errors. Most things, in fact, get sorted out by someone who's already here. On the odd occasion when we do get a major breakdown, the maintenance engineer can be here within half an hour."
The Producer's View — Stephen Street
Stephen Street is a producer with both a musical and an engineering background. Bands he has produced include The Smiths, Blur, The Cranberries and Catatonia.
- CHOOSING A STUDIO
"Initially, the main thing is that it has got to sound right. I have to be able to put up a mix or something that I have done, and be happy with the way it sounds in the control room. There has got to be a good playing area for the band to record in. You have to capture people at the peak of their performance. They have to be relaxed and in a good frame of mind. You want something that is conducive to that kind of session, so for me it's a good, well‑arranged control room where I can set up a few bits of gear that I take round with me. I want a little bit of space, but I'm not a great lover of huge control rooms. There was a time when a lot of studios were building huge control rooms and tiny little playing areas, and I am not very keen on that." - ACOUSTICS
"I prefer wood rooms to stone rooms. Having said that, I have been using Maison Rouge for the last few years and that has a stone room, but I have been pressing them to try and put some wood down." - EQUIPMENT
"It's nice to have a good selection, but it is not the main thing for me — the main thing for me is a well‑maintained desk, well‑maintained machines and good‑sounding speakers."