>i will be building a studio in the near future and
>want to hear what some of you guys would suggest
>doing with the budget if you had it.
>budget=$200,000
I must first admire your enthusiam. Its great to see someone so young have such lofty aspirations. And not to cut the wind from your sails, but I will share some thoughts and experience I have running a semi-pro studio over the years (on and off).
First, I looked through your equipment list, in a lot of cases, good choice. Protools has more or less become the standard in which pro-class studios run under these days, probably due to their marketing efforts. Anyway, I wouldn't go overboard with the midi synth gear, because the stuff becomes outdated the minute you see the annoucement from the vendor
Anyway, here goes:
1. Business Plan. Regardless of the business you want to be in, you need a solid, verified business plan. List out all the costs you forsee. Research potential facilities, whether it be your basement, a converted house, a warehouse, retail space in a mall, etc. Research it, compare prices, investigate zoning laws/rules, and document your findings. Have your partners (if any) do the same, and possibly double check your efforts (and you double check theirs). Then, create a project plan of timeframes from facility acquisition to "grand opening" signs. Form relationships with construction companies that have experience making studios. Just because company "A" knows how to apply glue on the walls and stick Aurelex foam on, doesn't mean they do this with any thought or knowledge. *I* could glue foam on the wall haphazzardly
2. Facility.
Before you purchase one thing (even light bulbs), select, design, then aquire the facility. If you are located near a major city, or within city limits, space costs will be much higher than if you are rural. Of course, the more rural you are, the less clients you have. Mariah Carey doesn't record at "Bob's Midi Farm" in Montana
. Once you have selected your space, and its within your business plan's budgetary goals, you can then have the facility designed out based on the available space. Where will the control room be? Center? Will there be one live room, or three? How many sound booths? Will the midi gear be in the control room (in a larger facility, I'd say no - keep the soda out of the control room!). What construction method will you use? Seperate rooms isolated by air traps? Or is it small enough to force shared walls, staggered studs or not? How many dead rooms? How many outlets? Outlets are cheap, but electricians are not. Also, how much of the construction can you do yourself? Depending on your facility's location, you may be required to use union labor for certain things. Here in NYC, we have pipefitter unions (heating and HVAC), plumbing unions, sheet rock unions, electrical unions, and the list goes on. This gets expensive quickly. How about parking? Do you need parking, or are you near mass transit?
3. Clientele types.
I'm sure you realize you can't be all things to all people. Obviously a bedroom or small loft studio can't record 20 piece brass bands, and it would be expensive for a solo artist to record in a studio that has 5 sound booths, two control rooms, and four live rooms. Obviously your facility will dictate the size of your studio, and of course, the architect's design might enable more functionality in less space. One example is a control room that can service two live rooms. Two consoles, two engineers, for especially busy days. Anyway, are you going after flagship performers such as Madonna, Mariah Carey, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi? or are you planning on offering demo CD/Tape mastering services? The available clientele and their needs are primarily what will dictate the space, facility, organization and design of your studio.
Are you going to record superstars? Starving metal bands? Solitary performers who have no musical backup? Songwriters? Cello players?
4. Operation costs.
If you have the clientele/business growth to support an internal accounting function, great. More than likely, you will outsource that, or do it yourself, and seek advice during tax time. Also, consider heating and cooling as a major part of your studio. Performers do much better in a climate controlled environment than if its blazing hot from the facility baking in the sun. Of course, the larger the facility, the significantly more heat/cooling you will need to make the place comfortable and condusive to creativity and expression. Electricity, HVAC, plumbing, water, sewer all should be taken into consideration when choosing a facility and writing a business plan. You'll also find that location determines (and varies) a lot of these costs. Some towns for example in Upstate NY are centrically labeled. For example, "Harriman NY" is a vast space. "Village of Harriman" is located within "Harriman", and this municipality charges more in taxes because there are more advanced services such as public sewer, public septic, public this, public that. Salaries are also a consideration. Will you be mixing and producing your client's materials? If you have that ability and recognition, thats fantastic. if you do not, well, these functions need to be hired out. For larger labels they usually walk in with their own engineer, producer, and even free-lance performers to provide backup to the recording artist. If you deal with smaller labels, you might have to provide this function. This costs more. You have to pay these people
>studio design: this is where im lost
>i will need a main control room
>a main recording room
>a vocal booth
>a midi room
Not unreasonable.
>who do i hire to do construction?
>what will it cost,and with what materials?
>HOW MANY SQUARE FEET DO I NEED?
To construct a studio, you have three choices:
1. Design, and build, yourself. Use internet resources, copy another design, and tune the rooms with foam and reflective materials.
2. Hire a sound-oriented Architect, and build the rooms yourself based on the paid-for blueprints and designs.
3. Outsource the whole thing.
I listed them in cost order, lowest to highest, but the last choice gives you a fair chance at getting the rooms acoustically right, though sad to say, not always.
>also any suggestions on how you would most
>efficiently link the midi room to the protools
>setup for 32 track seperate track recording
>.......patch bays etc????
Yes, and lots of them. Same for audio. Label every jack clearly and precisely. Saves time later on when trying to patch things "funky" for a strange request.
>commercial enterprises, it requires continuing
>investment, profit margins are low, and income
>not guaranteed.
I will confirm this. In my immediate area (nice upscale NJ neighborhood, 35 minutes from NYC) there are five recording studios that I have found within a 10 minute drive from my house. The most expensive one charges $55 an hour including the engineer, and the least expensive one is "in a guy's house" and charges $35 an hour, including his engineering abilities. These are not significant dollars considering the investment. Larger studios recover some of their physical costs by having their control room service multiple live rooms, thus able to have multiple performers record simultaniously. While each band/performer would require their own engineer, a single room & producer can manage both projects if you are that lucky.
>whom have other income and can support
>the studio - just 'coz they love it.
Yes, this is done through the owner's flexibility, charm, comfort level with the staff and facility, and most important, quality of the final recording.
>Decide what you want to do with your life.
>Do you want to be a musician? A recording
>engineer? A producer? Or a studio owner?
>They are different things!
They are absolutely different things, with different ability/skillsets associated with each "function". In my own case, I'm a hobby musician who likes to write, play, and record for my own entertainment. I have rented out my "semi-pro" studio to others in the past as a means of aquiring new equipment that I will not purchase out of pocket - but not as a means of surviving financially. I've always had a "real job" so to speak. I would agree with your statements to our enthusiastic friend, to make this decision now, and not flutter between them later on.
I hope I've added value to the conversation.
Frederic
