Young musician opens all-analog recording studio

This is a story from a local news station. Pretty neat. I wish him the all the best and hope his studio find success.


Waukesha musician rejects the digital age with analog-only recording studio



GDR Studios

 

He he fares well!

 

Best of luck to him!

 

I wish him well, but his web site shows that he charges $20 an hour for recording/mixing. That's a good way to starve to death.

 

While ensuring that clients spend more money per project than they would spend recording digitally for 3x that hourly rate.

 

Hopefully it will start a trend.

 

And an even better way to get a lot of projects under one's belt and learn the craft.

 

I don't see this working. No 24-track. Tape costs were ridiculous before, astronomical now.
Even at 20/hr., I would pass.
I could see him getting business from people who own those other formats and want to transfer them, but there again...no Pro Tools.


Dan

 

Go!

 

My. Young doesn't need the money. I think the dirt-cheap rate is to encourage people to record analog. Besides, the cost of blank tape should off-set that low rate.

 

You don't need no stinkin' Pro-Tools. Why can't you record, mix, and master old school? Oh how did we ever survive before digital recording?

 

Reality check: today you do need Pro Tools.

I forgot where I was. SH forums. Analog good, digital bad. Every time. Silly me.
Sorry, that just isn't true.

The reason why you can't do it old school is simply cost. Harsh reality.

Tape was great back in the day, when everybody tracked to 2" and you could go around to multiple studios and work.
That changed in the 90's with smaller studios with ADAT and DA-88s.
Now, the only hope you have is Pro Tools.
The A/D converters used to be trash. Not anymore.

I did survive before Pro Tools, did plenty of work on 2" tape.
In fact, I am doing a project where we are tracking on PT and mixing to 1/2",
and EVEN THEN people are rolling their eyes at us.
We're doing plenty of things that would just be impossible on 2", especially with our budget.

As I said before, tape was expensive, but doable. Now it's almost twice what it was.
And with the ever-shrinking, if not non-existent, profit margin of selling an album, those are real concerns.

In terms of running a business, you want to maximize your compatibility, not be the only kid on the block.
I don't even understand what the workflow on a project would be. No way would I be taking home rough mixes on
cassette. Those TASCAM decks were the biggest joke. I hated them.

So many people have home setups, so good, bad, or otherwise, the DIYers have choked the studio industry.
THAT is a tragedy, not the format.

It's funny, I'm willing to bet that the loudest pro-analog shouters today are people who either have never made an album
or haven't done so in a very long time.



Dan

 

Analog! Ha! It'll never work.

 

Well, I wasn't talking about cost of overall production. I also mis-read the topic to mean Neil Young, probably because it's something he would do.

Dan, I believe your mindset is on the professional world. I'm thinking this guy is small-time in an isolated area, and not technically in the industry as you are/were. My reply still applies in that if the guy is wealthy or something, he doesn't need to charge more, but all that other stuff will cost.

Technically, you don't need Pro Tools (or any other digital interface) to record, mix, or master, unless you are going for a digital product. If you have an analog multitrack deck, tape, and analog board, where does the digital come in? I'm sure there are still people out there with refurbished or preserved analog gear.

 

I checked his website. Here's what he's got (so far):

Tape Machines:

Tascam 32 (2 track)
Tascam 22-4 (4 track)
Tascam 38 (8 track)
Otari MX-70 (16 track)

Console:

Soundcraft 8000

Outboard:

Roland Space Echo 150 (Tape echo) Fostex 3180 (Stereo spring reverb)
DBX 160A
DBX 266XL
Yamaha SPX90 (This will be replaced with our plate reverb)
Alesis Microverb 4 (This will be replaced with our plate reverb)

Microphones:
AKG D12VR
2 AKG C414EB P48
AKG C451
Shure SM7b
Shure SM57
Shure SM58
3 ART ribbon mics

Amps:

Fender Twin Reverb (70s)
Fender Quad Reverb (70s)
Fender Bassman 100 (70s)
Silvertone 1484 (60s)
Silvertone 1485 (60s)
Yamaha B100
Ampeg 6x10 cab

Drums:
Ludwig Black Beauty snare (LB417BT) Ludwig 26x14 bass drum
70s Silver Rodgers Kit
Paiste 2002 Sound Edge 15" hi-hats
Paiste 2002 20" Crash
Paiste 2002 24" Ride
Ludwig Breakbeats (Silver)

Monitoring:

Avantone CLA-10 (pair)
Yamaha HS8 (pair)
FM transmitter (for car monitoring)

Not a bad start for a young guy in 2019. He has more than my father had in his tiny studio when I was a kid. And there are worse 1" 16s out there than the MX-70 (imho).

 

You're right, you don't technically need it, however....all those things need expensive maintenance to stay running. I wonder who he could find to even work on the stuff, or even find parts.
That's really prosumer stuff...the Tascam 38 is, from what I recall....ok. I have never worked with a 1" audio format and probably wouldn't.

I say that the story makes great copy, but IMO he is peeing in the wind.

Whomever works there has to be really careful, because a) he/she will have to all of the work there and b) not all mastering studios even have tape machines--at least the ones you would find at a $20/hour price point project.


Dan

 

Wow it took a entire four responses for negativity to flare up and deflate something that would enhance Music for mankind.

 

As the skills and equipment become in shorter and shorter supply, their value will certainly rise. We need people to take on the challenge of setting up this sort of studio even if its actual usefulness is highly debatable.

 

Switching to horse drawn buggies would be a similar boon

 

Not to hijack the thread, but this type of thing has a much bigger following in Europe. Sound on Sound did a great mom-documentary video of a studio in England that is completely setup with 1950s recording gear. I wish the kid good luck. As someone who has been recording at home digitally for almost 20 years, I admire his passion. And while most music today is made on digital systems, much of the software being used are replications of old vintage gear.

For those interested in the Sound on Sound video:

 

So what does a band do with the tape when their project is finished? Unless they’re going straight to vinyl there’s going to be an A/DA conversion. I have a home studio with some Universal Audio gear and their A/DA converters are pretty fantastic, I’d be hard-pressed to believe non-pros on this forum could tell a sonic difference (outside of tape hiss, and I could even emulate that if I was so inclined... which I’m not).

If I’m in a band, I want for my material to get ‘out there’ (YouTube, iTunes, etc.) with as little headache as possible. Getting an analog master means a digital conversion to get that done.

 

What, no mention of Lon Van Eaton? Come on then, how did he charge?

 

Negotiated a rate for the project, not per hour. I did two songs in another studio where I paid $50/hr for Engineer & Studio and produced myself.

 

SM-58s and a Black Beauty snare?

I'm in!

 

He he enhance Music for mankind.