Revival Post 3: Less is more?

sei046

For some reason i never ever liked having loads of gear in my studio.. I just alwasy was clearing stuff out i didnt really need. I like having my keyboard, small small desk, daw controller and the very bare essential outboard. I really thinks this makes recording much more painless and easier. Some guys have their 46 MD machines, 569 reverbs just in case and their compressor that doesnt work but looks cool. I know their is a lot be said for this to impress clients dont get me wrong.

When i walk into my studio and its Very neat, very tidy and ergonomic, I feel i could work the 24 hours no problem. I like Feck all in it and nice low lighting.

Any thoughts?

studiorat

I used to be assistant in a pretty big studio and I always thought it was funny how the studio would look different with each gig that came in. After one crowd was there for a week or so they would put their own stamp on the place, two weeks later the place would look different again.

I try keep it tidy but the place usually looks like Frankensteins lab, by the time I'm finished. I always seem to find a reason to have to run cables around the room.

dav nagle

Yeah I have cleaners clean my home studio. I find the cleaner the room is the more work I do. I give away any gear that is sitting around, I cant stand clutter it effects my mixing skills!

jtsuited

i can't stand it when people buy a load of hardware just to make their studio look 'cooler'. My set up at the moment is as minimal as it gets but i've got the room tweaked and everything fairly calibrated, and bringing in a load of gear just wrecks the buzz.

It also annoys me, the way no studios are willing to keep their studios as minimal and neat as they should be, for fear of not impressing clients and the general public with all the pretty outboard with flashing lights etc.

sei046

well it is sad fact that it does affect whether you get a client. I have heard of studios just putting protools as their background so clients see it and are like OH MY GOD he has protools. and they are actually running cubase. I def think i do more focused work with a clean streamlined studio

jtsuited

well i can understand the protools thing just in terms of compatibility with other studios, but i agree that there would be some clients who will not go for anything that doesn't look like the stuff that they've seen on the telly.

sei046

reminds me of Decy Cambell telling he these lads would always come up to him at the end of gig saying "Why arent you using a marshall? They are expensive but worth it!" and Dec would be like "Just because you dont know who Mesa Boogie is doesnt mean its not good" lol

Niall - Dahlia

Not the owner of the studio where I work, but as for flashy light; absolutely. Everything on! Bonus points if it's got a knob with a funny name that you can make wild stories about.

PaulBrewer

sei046 wrote: »

When i walk into my studio and its Very neat, very tidy
Any thoughts?

Yea! You're right odd!!;)

PaulBrewer

On a more serious note -
I've found it often the case that from a studio client's point of view (someone who's not techy, as many Musos aren't) the appearance is all -
If you're using a Digi001 with a Big Console in the photo the phone will ring more than you in the corner with HD3 and Posh A2Ds/D2As.

That's the reality of the studio business - similarly if you're studio is too posh (as if it could be!!) that may stop people calling you thinking 'ah well, I can't afford that' - I can think of one city centre studio that suffers from that!

If your studio is pro or semi-pro the Music Biz operates the same as any other - image IS as important as content from a business perspective.

This was a lesson I learned far too late after I ran a moderately successful operation (but not successful enough) facility.