top of page
Section 1: Ethnographic
Section 1: Ethnographic: Welcome
About the Ethnographic Section
This section of work is based around studying a studio session from the perspective of someone from the inside viewing the session unfold before them, instead of asking question afterwards.
A way to think about is you would not interview a Lion about how it feeds, but rather watch it from a far and observe the Lion.
Section 1: Ethnographic: About
It is worth starting by explaining what HQstudios are as a commercial studio. As they are more than a recording studio, but a record label as they signed talented artists, schedule and put on gigs/events and do promotions. Like for example the session I was sat in was a promotional session to help developing artists.
In terms of their work space, they have their two studios that are equipped with all the items listed in (figure 1), they have a large communal space where staff can have a chat, make some music, jump on the public address system, and do a rehearsal. They are also very accommodating as they have water dispensers downstairs and upstairs plus private toilets while also having plentiful of seats for clients and staff alike.
Section 1: Ethnographic: Text
Figure 1
HQ Studios Equipment List
Section 1: Ethnographic: Image
HQstudios falls in with Long (2013) article about requirements within a studio, as of so far discussed within this work HQstudios fulfils the functional studio requirement section of Long (2013) but only fails on the handicap access as I did no notice any form of accessibility for handicapped individuals but as Robin & Richard mentioned within the interview section of the work, that can be really hard to accommodate as you do not always have choice on the buildings you work in and if your studio or control room is up a flight of stairs then is not much that can be done to help that. (Long, 2013)
It is also worth noting that Harri (HQstudios recording engineer) that HQstudios started upstairs so that is why the studios are built upstairs in the first place so perhaps if they owned the entire building from the beginning they would have built it downstairs which would have fulfilled the handicap access issue. (Long, 2013)
HQstudios are very much a modern studio, as they do everything “within the box”, or in a computer utilizing software plugins and DAWs. They even use the slate microphone and preamp, which are built to be very neutral in its colouring and frequency but can be altered via software plugins to sound like other famous microphones and preamps. (Slatedigital, n.d)
This decisions to make their studio all digital and even have an emulation based microphone falls in line with current technology trends found in Bell (2014), Hidalgo (2013), Watson (2013), Burgess (2008), Long (2013), Robair (2012), Walzer (2016), Wilson (2011), Herbst & Albrecht (2018) works and shows that even commercial studios are utilizing the benefits and affordability of software based audio technology.
As most studio now days do use DAWs and computers for recording, editing, storing and mixing but they may still make use out of some hardware kit for their timbres, or practicality, or even for a unique selling point like Robin & Richard mentioned in the interview section but HQstudios have opted to ignore all that and go all digital, with the only hardware based equipment they being the Raven core station, which is a DAW compatible digital mixing desk console, in standard terms, it is two touch screen computers built into a desk that has the angled design of a mixing desk. (Slatemt, n.d; Bell, 2014; Hidalgo, 2013; Watson, 2013; Burgess, 2008; Long, 2013; Robair, 2012; Walzer, 2016; Wilson, 2011; Herbst & Albrecht, 2018).
It is also worth noting that this all digital design is based around what the studio is built around, which is practicality, they want to be able to do anything on the fly without needing to mess around with repatching, remixing, or setting up for a certain length of time, they just want to jump into the studio and get straight to it. Which falls in line with Camilleri (2010) article about studios having an impact on how the music is organized depending on the layout and operational structure of the studio so based on Camilleri article this and this ethnographic study, this studio is very relaxed and do not need to worry about getting equipment setup, they get stuff done fast as everything is within arm’s reach and already ready to go for them. (Camilleri, 2010; Bell, 2014; Hidalgo, 2013; Watson, 2013; Burgess, 2008; Long, 2013; Robair, 2012; Walzer, 2016; Wilson, 2011; Herbst & Albrecht, 2018).
This design principle also falls in line with Karl’s opinions from the interview section as he would rather have a free flowing situation than restrictions and he would rather have a vibe and not think about equipment or gear and rather just vibe and record the music.
Harri, whose sessions I sat within, is a musician himself so he is able to relate and further help the clients as he can talk to them on a musicians level, which is very of an entrepreneurship mindset found in Walzer (2016), Burgess (2008), Wilson (2011) articles as he is also often posting on social media about his music, gigs, time in the studio and is not afraid to get in front of a camera, he is currently sat at 2.888 followers on Instagram. (Walzer, 2016; Burgess, 2008; Wilson, 2011)
But he is also an effective and considerate recording engineer, as he works with the musician to figure what needs to be done next and helps the musician bring out the best performance and even offers advice on different approaches to the music and as observed, the musicians was very respectful and respected Harri’s advice and knowledge. This falls in line Bell (2014), Lefford & Thompson (2018), Camilleri (2010), Iverson (2017), Shepherd (2011) articles about music producers and engineer bring out the best of their artists and needing a certain amount of professionalism and collaboration with the artists so the session is a success.
As observed, Harri is a professional, as his actions show that he understand that he there to help this artist record their best music so he does whatever he can to make the artist comfortable and ready for the session, an example being him offering the musician some food and drink during the session break. (Lefford & Thompson, 2018; Bell, 2014; Camilleri, 2010; Iverson, 2017; Shepherd, 2011)
The studio mainly records pop, hip hop, grime, and drill so when it comes to accommodating for those artists they are very effective as for example Harri was able to produce a beat in around half an hour with the artist in the studio in the style of Juice Wrld, which is an emo trap artist.
But in terms of a commercial studio, which is stated to be a facility which is based around accommodating everyone according to Daniel, Robin, Richard & Karl, plus stated in Bell (2014) and Camilleri (2010) this studio does lack in the ability to record bands in a more traditional sense, which as stated was deliberate. They still record guitarists, and instrumentalists as they still have amps and instruments, plus an electric drum kit but lack the space and equipment to record a band all at once but they can have their instrumentalists in the control room plugged into the audio interface using software amps and the singer can be in the vocal booth, but no real drums can be record at the same time. This is at most a minor negative point as their clientele are pop, hip hop, grime, and drill artists anyways and they have a focused demographic of who they want to record and work with. But it is worth mentioning as they limiting their potential work/ client options. (Bell, 2014; Camilleri, 2010).
Section 1: Ethnographic: Text
Conclusion
Section 1: Ethnographic: Text
To conclude, HQstudios are the definition of modern commercial studios and are a look in to the future of what most studios will end up becoming, as they have ditched all hardware gear for more of a streamlined, practical software based studio that allows them to get in and record straight away with no prep time.
They fall in line with both methodologies of commercial and home studios as they are very professional with all their equipment top tier, with a large facility that accommodates everyone involved in the company and any clients, but they are also very software and entrepreneurial based studio.
Their only minor downsides being their handicap accessibility but as stated earlier that is something that cannot be helped depending on the building and them only accommodating certain genres of music and only certain ways to record but this studio is also a record label that is focus on these genres of music it makes sense that their studios are also focused on these same genres of music.
Unfortunately when first planning to conduct this ethnographic study, the original idea was to do an ethnographic of a commercial and a home studio but with time limits in place and a lack of responses from the people contacted, I was only able to get to do the ethnographic study of the Commercial studio at HQstudios.
If I were to do this again, and time was not limited then I would make sure to have done an ethnographic study of both types of studio. But fortunately HQstudios were happy enough to help me out, so thank you to them and their team.
Section 1: Ethnographic: Text
bottom of page