Top 5 reasons to record in a professional facility.

[Ryan Silva]

Not in anyway intended to discourage home recordist?s, but not all aspects of a professional recording studio can be provided by emulation (although it is pretty amazing what can be done).

All right, my list:

1. Drum ambience ? Nothing like the sound of drywall to screw-up those room mics.
2. Guitar Amps ? Volume, volume, volume. Hot Plates are cool, but moving a large room full of air around with an amp turned up to 11, nothing beats it.
3. Control Room isolation ? I can live with microphone bleed in varying amounts, but a leaky control room with wisps of drums coming in 100 milliseconds behind, can make someone go crazy.
4. Hours of operation ? If I want to re-amp through a Marshall Stack at 2am, I should be able to.
5. Heating/Air Conditioning ? Try cranking up the AC in-between takes, and see how easy it is to keep those guitars in tune.

Next?

[CurtZHP]

No black looks from the missus when your unshaven, smelly cohorts gouge the kitchen cabinetry with road cases on the way to the basement.

[Nick Sevilla]

1.- Expen$ive gear you cannot afford is right there.

2.- A runner to go get you coffee and donuts, at any time.

3.- Dark atmosphere with which to "get in the mood"... for recording that is...

4.- The large bill hanging over artist makes them show up.

5.- Can fart indiscriminately without family or friends complaining.

[@?,*???&?]

Maybe revisit this thread:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... tudio++daw

[roscoenyc]

maintenance & service

ie, everything works and everyone is working for you and your project.

[2leftears]

+1 on the drum ambiance. I have a killer DW kit in a room w/sheet rock walls.
Love the pro rooms. All it takes is a budget.





www.bryanthamesmusic.com

[drumsound]

Engineer/producer who's worked on lots of different records who can help you achieve your goals.

additional instruments and amps

possibility of session players that are known by said engineer/producer

Someone else doing the recording so you can focus on being the musician

[Fletcher]

1) You don't have to fumble around with wires - its there, it works, you can roll

2) No unrequested outside distractions

3) Generally - a pool table

4) You can move to a different room / studio if you're not getting what you wanted

5) Support staff and infrastructure so all you have to worry about it music.

[Kel]

1) Drum sound! (Probably my main reason)
2) Good mics/pres for vocals.
3) Mixing (I've always loved a good mix room.)
4) Atmosphere
5) Can work late into the night without those annoyed neighbors.

[accordion squeezist]

1. You get to feel intimidated as you walk past the platinum records on the way to the smoke-free studio.
2. You get to smell stale pizza all day, the same pizza that the platinum artists ate three years ago.
3. You get to pock away at the snare for an hour as an intern dials it in. You wonder why a robotic device has not been invented to do this so you can go outside and have a smoke.
4. The 2? tape machine fans the room as it goes into full rewind. This is cool. You silently pray for more full rewinds.
5. You get to have a falling out with the producer as he decides to butcher your song by adding this ?really cool? part. No one can comprehend this. He wins.

[Nick Sevilla]

3. You get to pock away at the snare for an hour as an intern dials it in. You wonder why a robotic device has not been invented to do this so you can go outside and have a smoke.

I'm working in this one...

[JWL]

Great thread.... however I wanted to point out that bad drum sounds don't come from drywall per se, in general it comes from small, untreated rooms. Drywall is mostly-reflective, as is wood, concrete, and other common wall surfaces. For more detail on this, see: http://realtraps.com/art_surfaces.htm

[drumsound]

I forgot my last one:

A pro studio is a dedicated, creative space, not somewhere you decided to set up instruments and mics.

[svbsound]

I shall be directing on-the-fence potential clients to this thread...

[Kel]

I forgot to add:
Work with people who know what they're doing. Not someone who bought a bunch of gear for a home studio and doesn't know how to work any of it. It seems like most the business I've gotten lately is from people wanting me to 'fix' badly recorded tracks in the mixing phase. Just get it recorded right the first time dammit!