When is a Studio really a Studio?

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RawDepth

RawDepth

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It sure is something, these days, how many people go around telling everyone they have a recording studio, when many of them are little more than a bedroom computer, some looping software, and a cheap mic or two. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned but, I think that is stretching the truth an awful lot.

Hell, my home setup is starting to get pretty big and elaborate, (almost outgrowing my home,) and I still have trouble calling it a Recording Studio. I guess I have always associated that name with larger, more professional, fulltime businesses.

Oh well, I suppose it is what you make it.
 
When you can create a semi-professional recording, then I'll call it a studio. And by semi-professional, I mean good enough for the average Joe to listen to it and enjoy listening to it, not trying to hear it behind static and crappy mics humming.
 
It's easy. You just need some form of recording media, and one of these.

lavalamp.jpg
 
And you have a lot of people who advertise themselves as recording engineers who have never worked with anything BUT their computer, a copy of Fl Studio and/or Reaper, and an SM57 or two.

It's part of being in a biz that has no recognized accreditation, or indeed, standards of any type :D Anyone can call themselves an engineer.

Can you imagine how that must piss off REAL engineers who need years of study and professional accrediation? :eek:


RawDepth said:
It sure is something, these days, how many people go around telling everyone they have a recording studio, when many of them are little more than a bedroom computer, some looping software, and a cheap mic or two. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned but, I think that is stretching the truth an awful lot.

Hell, my home setup is starting to get pretty big and elaborate, (almost outgrowing my home,) and I still have trouble calling it a Recording Studio. I guess I have always associated that name with larger, more professional, fulltime businesses.

Oh well, I suppose it is what you make it.
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I think a studio is a studio when that studio is only used for studio things. What I'm trying to say is, ok I've got recording equipment, but it's in my dining room, so it's not a studio, but a dining room. Other people have recording equipment in their bedroom, so that's not a studio. But some people have a room(s) dedicated to recording, and only that, and so that can be called a recording studio...
...
...in my opinion. :D
 
fraserhutch said:
And you have a lot of people who advertise themselves as recording engineers who have never worked with anything BUT their computer, a copy of Fl Studio and/or Reaper, and an SM57 or two.

It's part of being in a biz that has no recognized accreditation, or indeed, standards of any type :D Anyone can call themselves an engineer.

Can you imagine how that must piss off REAL engineers who need years of study and professional accrediation? :eek:
Click to expand...
It doesn't surprise me since we live in an era where...

They name trailer parks using words like "Estates" or "Manor". Some local entertainers call themselves Record Companies. Country boys with nothing more than a pick-up truck and ladder call themselves a Contractor. Truck drivers with a single truck call themselves a Shipping Company. I hope this mentality doesn't spill over into Doctors, Dentists, and Judges or we'll all be in jeopardy.

I mean, sure, we all like to impress the chicks once in a while but, are we not bordering on lying here?
 
RawDepth said:
It doesn't surprise me since we live in an era where...

They name trailer parks using words like "Estates" or "Manor". Some local entertainers call themselves Record Companies. Country boys with nothing more than a pick-up truck and ladder call themselves a Contractor. Truck drivers with a single truck call themselves a Shipping Company. I hope this mentality doesn't spill over into Doctors, Dentists, and Judges or we'll all be in jeopardy.

I mean, sure, we all like to impress the chicks once in a while but, are we not bordering on lying here?
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Apparently you haven't had much experience with the court system, :rolleyes:

I agree with the thought that someone with an MXL 990, and a PC doesn't have a recording studio. They have a cheap mic and a computer.
 
You don't even need any equipment! Just set up a MySpace and link to pix of someone elses's studio...
 
Side bar-- when is a recording engineer really a RE?

I read an interesting interview with Wally Sear in TapeOp and he was griping about how all recording engineers used to have degrees in either mechanical or electrical engineering and how they used to build and/or maintain most of their gear. Bill Putnam who started Universal Audio and ran a couple of very successful studios was that sort. I doubt that many RE's these days could meet that standard. That trend continues today with the glut of affordable recording solutions out there but also means that there is a whole lot more music creation good and bad going on out there (infinite number of monkeys on infinite number of typewriters will eventually reproduce the complete works of Shakespeare).
Personally I think I have some decent skills at recording and mixing people's music and have done so to good results, but I wouldn't say that I really know what I'm doing and I cringe at the thought of ever soldering anything.

Short answer though: +1 on lava lamp
 
apl said:
You don't even need any equipment! Just set up a MySpace and link to pix of someone elses's studio...
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::Coughcough::jbraddonaudio::coughcough::
 
apl said:
You don't even need any equipment! Just set up a MySpace and link to pix of someone elses's studio...
Click to expand...


Sounds like half the people on HR... :o
 
andycerrone said:
Sounds like half the people on HR... :o
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Oh, Come on. You're just a sourpuss. I put in disclaimers whenever I think the studio owner has enough money to catch me anyway. :cool:
 
This is a good topic to be brought up because I've debated this myself. I never call my home setup a "studio". I have 2 rooms, one a bedroom turned control room, the other a living room turned studio + a large closet turned vocal booth. I run on a G5, Cubase LE(need to upgrade). I have a D112, Unidyne III, 2 Beta 56's, 2 MXL 992's, and an AKG Perception 200. Some KRK monitors, a Presonus Firepod, etc. I don't have the most expensive professional equipment, but alot of the bands and a lot of my friends refer to my place as a "studio". I never really call it that. But I guess it is a semi-studio or a home studio. I'd like to think that I turn over some decent recordings in there with the equipment that I have. So I guess it all depends on who's viewing it. A bigtime studio owner might say "that's not a studio" while some local band might think it is the coolest "studio" they've ever been in.
 
I think the real descriptor is what comes BEFORE studio. I call mine a home studio. Anyone who comes over to record knows what I can or can't do. They know my space and sound limitations. HOME studios shouldn't be marketed as professional spaces, but I hear a lot of really great stuff coming out of home setups. As always, what it really comes down to is your own abilities, and not always the gear.
 
Milkman said:
I think the real descriptor is what comes BEFORE studio. I call mine a home studio. Anyone who comes over to record knows what I can or can't do. They know my space and sound limitations. HOME studios shouldn't be marketed as professional spaces, but I hear a lot of really great stuff coming out of home setups. As always, what it really comes down to is your own abilities, and not always the gear.
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I guess BlueBear's place isn't professional then.
 
a Recording studio and a home studio/personal studio are different.

i dont not use 'recording studio' becuase im in a 20x15 room in my parents basement, and i dont know what the hell i'm doing.. (almost a year later)
 
I don't know.... whats in a name..
Fender puts their name on Tennis Shoes these days.
The Starcaster by Fender for $29....made by chimpanzeese's in africa.

I've heard great HR stuff and recently some crap from a "studio" that charged $3800...

I've even bought a Guitar Gods CD that had Jimmy Page, and several others on it and its the worst recorded piece of shit, technically recorded, that I own. Horrible crap, blobby bass, ear bleed highs.... and a new one. I threw it on the floor of my car and people step on it...I don't even care.
 
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