Mummy, I do not want to own a studio: A critical analysis comparison of Commercial and Home studios.

MSc Creative Technologies Project

Introduction: Welcome

About This Portfolio

Abstract | History

At first, Professional recording studios were only capturing performances, instead of defining the music and experimenting with musical ideas and production techniques, a studios sole purpose was to just record a live performance and reproducing it to make it seem like the listener had the best listening position. (Bell, 2014) Then Les Paul in the ‘60s started making use of the recording studios as more of a musical tool than just capturing performances, which saw musicians and producers collaborate to create the music and give more time to craft the songs. (Bell, 2014; Camilleri, 2010).

With digital technologies becoming more viable with synthesizers, drum machines and MIDI in the 1980s and the uprising of Hip Hop and electronica music, musicians were finding themselves being able to write complex musical arrangements by themselves, which made session musicians not necessary and making the studio budgets much smaller. (Bell, 2014; Theberge, 2004).

But despite this, the commercial studios were still a necessary asset to record and produce music, but it was not until the invention of the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that the musician and sound engineer can become one in the same, this and computers powerful enough to be affordable and accessible led to more home-based studios, as consumers were believing that producing high quality music was as easy as word processing and they quickly jumped on the computer-based audio production. (Bell, 2014; Herbst and Albrecht, 2018; Watson, 2013; Burgess, 2008; Hagan, 2016; Theberge, 2004).

Camilleri (2010) also states that the recording spaces layout and operational structure has an impact on how the music is organized as well and how the record is a sonic print of an artist or band in the period that the music was created, like how music from the 1980s has a sonic print of a gated reverb snare hit from a lot of records from the time. (Camilleri, 2010; musicradar, 2020) (Appendix 2)

Introduction: About

Aims, Objectives, & Current Findings

This proposed report will uncover which studio is more effective and where it is best utilized with the use of ethnographic research, survey, back up research from journals, acoustic and modal information comparisons, interviews, and more of a hands on research with studio recording sessions.

The proposed report has found that home studios and commercial studios have both got advantages and disadvantages, such as home studios are cheaper, and easier to run and can still deliver high quality music whereas commercial studios have access to bigger rooms, facilities, and even higher quality recording equipment and that despite digital technologies being the meta of the recording industry, there are young people who still interested in old, vintage recording equipment and have an interest in the music genre, Lo-fi (Low Fidelity). The research also points towards home studios needing to compromise their studios for the situation they are in, and that despite having access to the internet that houses a load of musical recording tutorials, they do not know what to look for and thus their knowledge is limited.

Introduction: Text