Coronavirus Health Precautions for Studios

[phillip haut]

Hello,

I'm concerned about going back to work in studios as the lockdowns are relaxed.

I've been looking for information or discussions on protocols for cleaning equipment, running sessions while maintaining distances, studio ventilation, new workflows to keep everyone as safe as possible, etc. If anyone has insight or ideas about this, or if there are discussions/threads please let me know. I've found information from Shure and DPA on cleaning microphones but thats about it.

Thank you

[digitaldrummer]

I'm sure that is on many folks minds. I know I've been thinking about it a lot. right now I'm not ready to have people singing. that just sounds like a great way to forcibly propel saliva (and anything that goes with it) into the small amount of shared air (especially if nobody knows if they have it or not). I have a mix session planned this weekend. should be a couple hours, but kind of difficult to social distance too. We'll wear masks and try not to breathe on each other. I've got hand sanitizer. We are not in a known 'hot-spot" but since the "grand reopening" we are already seeing a slight uptick in cases for the area. It's hard to know what the right thing to do is just yet.

[phillip haut]

Thanks Mike. The biggest concern that comes to my mind is the singing also. There's also the question of what will make people comfortable enough to want to come into the space and perform/record.

Phillip

[Recycled_Brains]

NYS has been in phase 1 of re-opening (which is incredibly limited in scope) for a couple weeks and I'm already getting hit up for sessions. Like, the minute Cuomo lifted a minimal amount of restrictions, people are taking that as "welp, looks like we're outta the woods, let's just start hanging out and going about our days." A lot of folks, frankly, have been VERY liberal about being out in the world this whole time, many of them are musicians.

I'm flat out not comfortable with that at all. I was talking to a fellow engineer, and he spelled out what I was thinking... no real developments have been made, we still don't fully understand how this virus works... beyond singing, what about drummers flinging their sweat everywhere and breathing heavily in a confined space? What if it gets into the HVAC? How you going to clean and properly disinfect a microphone capsule? We'd have to get tested regularly to insure we're not exposing clientele, and clients would want to let us know that they had been recently tested and it was negative. That's not feasible, because testing is so heavily vetted (at least where I am) before they even consider using one on you. The list goes on... So many unknowns. So many things we need to responsibly think about and address in order to insure our own safety, and that of our clients. It's still so new and unprecedented that we need to just move slow and be smart. People are still wearing masks everywhere, curbside pickup is still the normal M.O. for most businesses, gatherings of more than 10 properly social distanced people are still not permitted.

My gut reaction when I got asked was "are you kidding me? Already?". People get so soft in their resolve to be patient when shit hits the fan. It's been less than 3 months since quarantine started. Just hang in there in the short term and we'll all be better off in the long term.

[Nick Sevilla]

I would:

TEST.

Test myself.

Require tests for any client coming in. Zero exceptions. I don't care how famous they are, no test, no coming in the studio. NO POSSES, NO SUDDEN VISITORS OF CLIENTS ALLOWED IN.

Keep detailed logs of clients, for contact tracing, should that become necessary.

I know I know, not all states have tests on demand. We just began testing without the need for a doctor prescription last week. Hopefully in your area it will eventually be possible. San Bernardino County, in California, has been lucky in that we did not get slammed with Covid-19. But our curve is only now flat. We are ahead of LA County, which is basically Zombie Apocalypse Central now. I feel terrible for all my friends who are trying to work there.

As to the space itself, it will require cleaning before each new session, no exceptions. Here are the official requirements for cleaning:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... oyers.html

[digitaldrummer]

I've had to tell one band, that had completed the basic tracking but now needs to do vocals, that we are still on hold, even though I'm excited to get back at it too - the tracks sound amazing so far! My own bands are on hold too. I encourage them to use their home recording rigs to write new material in the meantime - but I think it's mostly going to be demos as I don't always agree with the quality of the tracks. But that's the limitations of recording at a house or an apartment in an untreated room and when all you have is a 58 with a dent from when it fell off the stand at the last gig...

I'm not even sure that we know if the tests are all that accurate - there are different kinds (antibody vs. infected). I haven't had one myself, and even if i did today, would it still be meaningful next week? I'm not even sure who to believe? the government? Big Pharma? Big Pharma wannabes hoping to cash in? i saw a report that each test costs about $150 (this was the state of TX testing in nursing homes). Even if it's less $$, it's not free, and I don't see it feasible to demand testing on each visit. Musicians are usually broke and uninsured. At this point I'm just being very selective about who I'll work with, and then going very slowly.

Luckily the remote recording work is there in the meantime...

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I'm starting to get into the same situation here. Recording studios were permitted to reopen last week and I've already had some calls about it. I'm in no rush at all though.
My room (a repurposed garage) is too small to effectively distance and the washroom facilities are in my house. Beyond that, my wife is in cancer treatment and my 82 year old mother in law is living with us at the moment. Strikes 1, 2 & 3.
People have been understanding which is great but I have some fears about what this is going to do to my client base going forward.

[Scodiddly]

How about a minimal vocal-chain package that includes easy Internet transfer, so people could record vocals at home?

[Recycled_Brains]

I'm starting to get into the same situation here. Recording studios were permitted to reopen last week and I've already had some calls about it. I'm in no rush at all though.
My room (a repurposed garage) is too small to effectively distance and the washroom facilities are in my house. Beyond that, my wife is in cancer treatment and my 82 year old mother in law is living with us at the moment. Strikes 1, 2 & 3.
People have been understanding which is great but I have some fears about what this is going to do to my client base going forward.

Fuck cancer man. Been there, as has most of my extended family. I hope everything works out for your wife (and you).

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Thanks. She's doing alright. We're 5 years in and she's stable and healthy. I'm eternally thankful for Canadian healthcare and the fact that we live 10 mins away from one of the world's top cancer research hospitals.
Things could be worse.

That said though, no sessions at my place for who knows how long.

[gregovertone]

slowly reopening in IL.

I had a band want to finish vocals.
4 hour session.

I allowed only the singer.

he couldn't touch anything

made him bring his own music stand / pop filter / headphones.


I may be buying cheap pop filters and tossing them out after vocal sessions for a while.
maybe even double up.

[drumsound]

About a week ago a turned down a session with a singer because she insisted on bringing her manager and designer (or some shit, I can't remember the other person's title). I've done one thing with vocal recently, and a long term project has cut a demo of just me and the songwriter. The distance drumming thing is working great. I'm pretty thankful for WeTransfer right now.

[digitaldrummer]

it's a tricky balance of physical health, mental health, and financial health.

as for mics, if I did have a vocal session, I think I'd just put that mic in isolation for a few days. I think after 2-3 days the chances of any transfer are extremely low.

got through the first mix session today. wore masks, social distancing as much as possible, and wipe down whatever was touched. I hope it works.

[phillip haut]

Thank you all for the input. It helps. Does anyone know if AES members would have access to more information or discussions about post-pandemic best practices for studios? I'm not a member but would join if these discussions were happening.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

There’s an interesting discussion over on the PRW Production forum about this. Normally I wouldn’t link to a different forum but there’s some valuable info there from folks running lager scale operations than many of us. A few posters lay out the difficulties and risks better than I could -

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/proreco ... 12369.html