Does anyone have a studio out in the country

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whatchamachicken
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Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by whatchamachicken » Sat Mar 27, 2004 6:51 am

We currently have our studio in a basement of a house and do decent business kind of on a part time basis. We are thinking of moving the studio about 35 miles outside of town. The music scene/market around here is pretty shitty sometimes. We mostly do short demo type sessions for clients now with a few album projects here and there. We would be about 35 mins from the city we live in and probably 45 mins to an hour away from another. We are in the midwest so there aren't a lot of big studios around here at all so we would have one of the biggest building/studio probably in a 200-300 mile radius. The building is paid for by the way so no rent or anything like that. It is an old community center type of building in a town of about 300 people. Its a basketball gym. That would be our studio area and on one end there is a stage about 5 ft off the ground that would be our control room. There are a bunch of rooms downstairs that we could make into offices or other editing studios and a lounge area. The building would just make for an awesome studio.

So my question is will people come? How do we sell something like this to turn it into a full time gig for 3 or 4 people? We all have other full time non-studio jobs right now so we are kind of worried if we can even get something like this off the ground. Are people going to want to drive that far out of the way for something like this? What other services do we need to offer people?

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by jspartz » Sat Mar 27, 2004 7:57 am

Hey, what part of the Midwest are you in? I have a similar situation however I am still located in my basement. But the town I am in is about 600 people. Within 45 minutes I have three different college towns. I get some acts in. I don't make a lot of money at it. Maybe it is because I do it more as a hobby, I am not sure. I think that you have to sell the skill more then the gear. I feel that it is hard for small studios to develop a reputation for clients. Most clients around here feel they can by an M-Box and do it alone. Over time some learn while others can't ever figure out why it is not sounding as good as it should. You would have to ask yourself... what are your career goals and does your market offer that potential?

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by penrithmatt » Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:23 am

we are out in the middle of nowhere and we do alright........
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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by coniferouspine » Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:25 am

I think a really good example would be Money Shot in Water Valley, Mississippi -- no offense intended to him but Bruce Watson is in the middle of nowhere and it's a great studio and people outside the Fat Possum roster do come there to record. It brings up a whole 'nother ball of wax -- you don't want to get into the business of running a hotel, but it might help a lot if you had a couple of rooms for accomodations, or even a few fold-out couches, or a nearby motel with good rates. I recorded with Bruce at Money Shot for a weekend once, and I slept in a bed in a spare room that also had a fridge. It wasn't much but it was awesome for me. You don't have to be five-star accomodations with a sauna and chocolates on the pillow or anything. I also don't know if he'd let just anybody do that, I already knew him pretty well. But it's something to think about.

The city you mentioned that's further away, an hour away, or even further, if you've got a great facility, people might be more willing to come there and hole up for a week to record if they had a place to stay. They probably won't want to drive home after an eight hour session. I'm not saying you have to do this, it's just something to think about, I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on it.

Another big-league example from the old days was a place called Studio In The Country, in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Over an hour out of New Orleans, they had full-on gear and recorded several national-level hit records there in the '70s and '80s, but it was out in the middle of nowhere and that was part of how they sold the studio -- come out here and focus on your music without distractions. Just a thought.

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by Harvey Gerst » Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:41 am

Same situation here. We're in the middle of nowhere. But we use that as a selling point to highlight the lack of distractions and a low key, relaxed atmosphere.
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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by i am monster face » Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:02 am

That's kind of like Presto Studios here in Lincoln. They're in a city not really known for it's music and the studio itself is beautiful. They attract clients from all over the US and since Lincoln is such a pleasant and quiet city it's almost like the country. There's a studio I know that's a few miles out of town also that gets some lincoln artists, and that's truly in the middle of nowhere.
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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by marqueemoon » Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:23 am

coniferouspine makes a good point. If you can put people up, then you would really have something. If you go this route though, the question you'll have to ask yourself before jumping in is how much you are willing to babysit.

I think this is the kind of thing you would have to jump into with both feet. You might still be able to do some demo sessions, but a 35-45 minute drive is going to turn a lot of that type of client away. This kind of setup is better for album-type projects where the clients are either full time musicians, or at least able to take extended periods off from their day jobs.

A lot of the middle-of-nowhere studios I've seen market themselves to touring musicians so that would be one angle you could try to work.
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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by AnalogElectric » Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:26 am

I second the idea of having sleeping/living quarters. There's a studio about an hour SE of Minneapolis, Pachyderm (where Nirvana did 'In Utero', and Live did 'Throwing Copper' to name a few), and they have a whole house with an indoor pool. It's always fun to go out there and record, it's like a camp retreat.

To be upfront though, I'd say 90% of the larger studios here in Minnesota are not doing so well, money-wise. They're studios that have a great reputation, been around for a long time, and have the 'ins' to get major label clients but it seems lately (the last 6-8 months) things have died out. It's VERY stagnant around here. I've been recording full-time for 7 out of 10 years of recording and right now is the worst I've ever seen it. I'm actually looking for a job type job right now, that's how bad it is.

Unless you have some good ins with major labels, awesome engineers, awesome gear (and a lot of it), a few Grammy's under your belt, and a unique place, I'd keep your day job for now.

The 'if you build it they will come' statement would've worked several years ago but right now smaller studios are snapping up indie acts, not to mention bands buying their own gear and doing it themselves. I have a studio in my home and I'm even feeling the pinch. I had a large studio in Downtown Minneapolis later to close it due to lack of business no matter how hard I tried to get people in.

I don't mean to be a total killjoy but unless you win the lotto I'd investigate it a little further. Studios are built on reputation. That?s just my observation and opinion.

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by PatrickBrown » Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:37 am

Make sure you're insulated from external noise. The 'quieter' countryside can be louder in its own ways. When I lived out of town, on the highway, I got more interesting whooshes of cars passing by outside on the road than I really wanted. It can make for some interesting sound effects,,but it's generally not wanted. Of course, you might not be on a highway like that, but there are sources of sound that become more apparent in the 'quiet' country, and little burgs therein.

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by whatchamachicken » Sat Mar 27, 2004 11:07 am

Thanks for all the replys. Penrithmatt, that studio looks sooooo awesome. Man I would love something like that.

I too am in Nebraska right now, so that is also part of the issue with Presto being in town and they have a great reputation around here. We were thinking along the lines of marketing it to touring bands and whatnot and making it kind of a retreat where people could get away with some sort of living quarters like a few people mentioned above. There is also a house next door that will probably be up for sale soon that the owner of this building is also thinking of buying. He also owns the town restaurant/bar that is right across the alley so food would be right there too and bands could even play at the bar a night if they wanted a gig too. The music scene really kinda sucks around here though. There aren't many fulltime gigging musicians/bands around here. Everyone pretty much has a day job too and wants to do shorter sessions at night. But the building is paid for and would be rent free and not to mention it would make for a killer studio.

I really have nothing to lose in this situation, but the others involved might. I'm sure I could get my job back if I had to go back in a year or two. This might not be the case for the others.

Thanks again for all the good feedback. Keep it coming.
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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by i am monster face » Sat Mar 27, 2004 11:49 am

I am in Lincoln as well, living down in the North Bottoms. I myself have a small studio in my basement and recently just came upon a major find in terms of old microphones. I know I cannot compete with Presto but I too am shooting for smaller indie bands and the university kids who are in bands. It's convenient that I'm close to campus.
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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by Dingo » Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:19 pm

If I were you I would do a full blown business plan. If you aren't willing to do that I would reconsider opening a business.

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by Jay » Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:30 pm

I have a modest little setup at my farmhouse here. It's sure nice opening the door and having a horse look in. She tried to come in once, which would have been a problem.

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Re: Does anyone have a studio out in the country

Post by TrumpsHair » Sat Mar 27, 2004 6:02 pm

paddyopossum wrote:Make sure you're insulated from external noise. The 'quieter' countryside can be louder in its own ways. When I lived out of town, on the highway, I got more interesting whooshes of cars passing by outside on the road than I really wanted. It can make for some interesting sound effects,,but it's generally not wanted. Of course, you might not be on a highway like that, but there are sources of sound that become more apparent in the 'quiet' country, and little burgs therein.
Yeah, the sound of crickets at night and birds during the day are something no one ever considers. They can ruin good takes. But soundproofing a big room can also be very expensive.

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