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chunkdz wrote:

Frodo wrote:...it's clear that an important era in the long tale of music recording is over.

and yet....

it refuses to die.

Indeed-- the big blue Red Bull.

Like any other aspect of evolution, there are species that become extinct while other similar species manage to redefine themselves for the sake survival.

I suppose there will always be a need for such facilities, especially in the more musically active city centers. But there must be a revamping of the business model where the bulk of the income for that studio comes from other sources rather than from the big record companies so much.

Frodo wrote:Hey npatton:

Your general story is not uncommon-- but to find a gem of a person who knows his stuff that happens to be in the neighborhood is a real blessing.

Curious-- how close are you to Portland? Have you ever worked at Kung Fu Bakery?

I'm in Eugene, about two hours south of Portland. LOL, when I said I was finishing up my third project with this small studio, I meant I was finishing up my third project, period. So, no, I haven't even heard of Kung Fu...

I've recorded in a couple of the bigger studios here (Gung Ho, Don Ross), and they're very good people to work with. Nothing like those pics you posted, though! What an experience it must be to make music in places like that!

The niche I'm carving out here is where I can take an inexperienced person who has written some good tunes and who wants to see them "finished up" and recorded properly, help them flesh out their arrangements and give them a good, fun and relatively affordable experience in a studio. This would be nearly impossible using the above-mentioned studios, unless my client is buckly loaded. Finding a project studio like the one I described is indeed a blessing! A good quality CD (tracked, mixed and mastered in-house with a live band, moderate overdubs and editing), if prepared properly, can be had for under $15,000 (including graphics and pressing).

My job is to keep the cost down by streamlining the process before we even show up at the studio. That's where DP and Finale come in. My client and musicians have mock-ups before they ever set up a mic.

What's nice, then, is that with what we've saved on overhead and preparation, we DO have time to mess with mics, try experiments with crazy overdubs and plugins, etc. Obviously not on the scale of these mega-studios, but more than enough to put a smile on my clients' faces! On this last project, we completely rewrote two of the tracks once we found that the vibe wasn't there with my original arrangements. No problem. The clock was running, but at a pace we could still afford.

Overshare, I know. Back to work...
n

It's just a phase we're going through. I think there are a lot of factors at work. It eventually comes down to money. Too much of it or too little of it. Too much money breeds elaborate facilities that simply cost a fortune to operate, making them off-limits to all but the biggest of musical projects. It's been my observation that the bigger projects these days use their own equipment and engineer things themselves, or they get someone within their circles to do it. One can rent a nice concert hall off-hours for far less than a studio costs. So, there are simply cheaper alternatives. The old model of the big, full-service studio just doesn't make as much sense as it once did.

Plus, I've seen some big, wonderful studios practically break their owners, who were exceedingly wealthy. Well, it wasn't just the studios, but an extravagant lifestyle of which the studios were only a part. As nikki-k said, there's nothing quite like working in a place like that. It's sad to see them go, but as the need returns, so will the facilities. It's not like they're ALL going to close.

Meanwhile, surely I'm not the only one who thinks it's really cool that Altiverb has permanently captured the acoustic signature of some of these places. This is the 2nd one in about two months that I've heard about closing, for which I have a set of IR's of their spaces. What was the other one? Cello Studios? Clinton? Both? I don't remember.

Shooshie

Hmmmm we have plugins that emulate virtual spaces, why can't they also emulate virtual images so it looks like you're in the studio you're emulating? I'm just sayin'! Hmmmmmm maybe that could be our plugin for April Fools for 2009?

BradLyons wrote:Hmmmm we have plugins that emulate virtual spaces, why can't they also emulate virtual images so it looks like you're in the studio you're emulating? I'm just sayin'! Hmmmmmm maybe that could be our plugin for April Fools for 2009?

Or at least emulate the break room. Virtual Break Room. VBR. What every musician need to fully experience the epitome of cool in his/her own project studio. (Coffee not included)

Shooshie wrote:

BradLyons wrote:Hmmmm we have plugins that emulate virtual spaces, why can't they also emulate virtual images so it looks like you're in the studio you're emulating? I'm just sayin'!

Kinda funny to think that Altiverb itself includes photos of the rooms. Someone is onto something here!

BradLyons wrote:Hmmmm we have plugins that emulate virtual spaces, why can't they also emulate virtual images so it looks like you're in the studio you're emulating? I'm just sayin'! Hmmmmmm maybe that could be our plugin for April Fools for 2009?

Maybe it's not as far fetched as that Brad, you might be onto something:

http://technology.newscientist.com/arti ... -away.html