| Author |
 Topic  |
|
otto
Gold Member
1791 Posts |
 Posted - 07/25/2010 : 11:51:42 AM
|
My God, I think every studio I've seen for the past 2 decades have lava lamps. What is with that? Ok, I've got one too. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Also, Studio Chick thinks they are sexy to watch. What can I say.
Jim, you don't have to worry about bashing Otto, Scott did a pretty good job all by himself. |
Edited by - otto on 07/25/2010 7:57:17 PM |
Report to Moderator  |
|
|
pdlstl
Member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2010 : 4:54:52 PM
|
Jim,
No problem regarding questions.
1. The design (as it were) was done by me. The building was built in 1895 so I kinda' had to work within the parameters of the existing structure. Some walls were added and some had additional sound containment products added. I don't achieve complete isolation between all rooms but good enough to work with.
2.I had a guy and his helper do all the buildout. I still had a day job at that time so I would stop by in the evening to see what had been accomplished that day.
3.It took about 90 days if I remember correctly (it's been 4 years and I'm 57 so the hard drive between my ears is small and needs to be defragged.) I spent roughly $20k putting it together. As soon as it got to the point where I could starting working in there, construction stopped. There were a few small things left that didn't get done (paint trim, blah-blah) but who cares? Listeners of music produced at my place don't have a clue the trim isn't painted.
4. I'm about 50 miles west of the Metroplex of Dallas/Fort Worth in a small town of about 17,000 people. I'm able to keep the wolves away from the door. I pull a lot of business from the Metroplex due to my pricing structure. I charge by the song rather than an hourly rate. I'm able to offer very competitive pricing because of my low overhead. Charging per song also lets me edit/mix to the extent I want which is usually more than a client would want to pay for if hourly. This translates into a product which will stand on it's own and brings repeat/new business. Additionally, I get better performances up front because the client is relaxed and not worried about a meter running.
Hope this gives you some insight and answers your questions. If you would like to discuss further (off-forum, my email at home is pdlstl52 AT suddenlink DOT net.
As a side note, I played pedal steel for almost 30 years (hence my email addy) and spent 8 years in N'ville as a session player. While I was always being recorded, I watched and learned from what I saw on the other side of the glass. It was a great education!
Thanks,
Earl |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
pdlstl
Member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2010 : 5:34:24 PM
|
Steve,
Yeah, regarding the lava lamps, it's always been said that they bring vibe to a recording space so I figured if one is good, 17 would be really good! 
I currently have in my lunchbox:
1 A-Designs P1
2 Purple Biz
1 OSA MP1-C
1 Reracked Brent Averill (The old one, made from vintage API components)
1 Great River MP-500NW
In addition, I have, 1 rackmounted Great River ME-1NV, 1 Avalon M-5 and a D.A.V. two channel BG-1.
Do I think they are worth the investment? Absolutely!!!! This is one of the things I feel sets me apart from a lot of other small studios. Pre amps and mics, that's the ticket. If it's s*it going in, it's gonna' be s*it comin' out. Clients continually tell me things like, "Wow! My guitar has never sounded this good at XYZ studio!" or "What did you do to my vocals? They sound fantastic!" Well the answer is knowing your craft and equally as important, having the proper tools to get the job done!
Regarding EQ's and comps...I don't have any externals. Well, I do have an old TC Electronics multiband compressor which doesn't see much use. As far as compressing, I feel that gain structure is the key during tracking and if something is getting a bit out of hand I'll just grab an inline pad to tame it down. And I really prefer to do all of my EQing in the box. I am a plugin junkie! I also have to 2 UAD cards in my machine. The UAD LA2A, and the Pultec emulators end up on most tracks in a project. The Fairchild sees a lot of use as well.
I am very satisfied with my BLA mod! Great folks too!
Hope this info helps!
Thanks,
Earl
PS - These last two posts of mine might make y'all sorry you asked.  Sorry being long-winded. Earl |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
garrigus
Moderator
USA
5170 Posts |
|
|
firefox
Gold Member
USA
1264 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2010 : 08:54:16 AM
|
| Wow! I've got 20 grand in just bulding my 2 rooms. 2 rooms inside 2 rooms I have double walls though which adds to the cost bigtime. You really need double walls and non flanked walls to get the acoustic decoupling and a low noise floor so you can talk and monitor in the control room while your tracking with no bleedover, which is important to me. Nice spot Nice gear! Now go buy Pro Tools hehehe... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
dirtysteve
Silver Member
USA
601 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2010 : 12:14:53 PM
|
| You're all set for pre's Earl, wow and with a really nice variety of colors. I'm jealous of your Great River stuff. There's something about GR pre's that I love for acoustic instruments. I like the UAD1 Pultec EQ too. The mids on the pro version are fantastic. |
Always fly high |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
pdlstl
Member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2010 : 07:13:10 AM
|
Larry - I was surprised a lot when I found out that bleed from control room to the other live rooms room is very, very slight during tracking provided I keep the JBL's at a decent level. And there is a live room between the control room and vocal booth so it's basically non-existent.
I do have a full inch of sheetrock on both sides of common walls which were already built and the same on any walls we built, which were built using 2x6's for top, bottom plates with staggered 2x4 studs. Just lucked out on that issue. Now I was experiencing enough noise from the central air that we were having to track with ac/heat off. However, recently I got Izotope's De-Noiser, and man does it work nicely! CPU hog for sure. But after tracking vocals, I put it on the vox buss, bypass any effects and bouunce the vocals to a new track. Then I dump the De-Noiser and all is good!
Just say NO to Pro Tools!
Steve - If you decide to get a lunch box, I highly recommend Brent Averill. I have two and Averill's power supply can power two boxes. My 2¢... |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
garrigus
Moderator
USA
5170 Posts |
|
|
pdlstl
Member
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2010 : 11:26:28 PM
|
James - Not sure why I called you Larry. Sorry, thought I was talking to lawapa I guess. |
Edited by - pdlstl on 07/30/2010 11:27:22 PM |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
firefox
Gold Member
USA
1264 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2010 : 09:31:37 AM
|
| Oh that's OK. I'm glad you don't have a bleed issue. Actually I've noticed that if you take advantage of a mics null point, you can get acceptable isolation in the same room. |
| Report to Moderator |
|
|
pdlstl
Member
USA
29 Posts |
|
|
Topic |
|
RSS Feed
