Creativity in Studios

PaulBrewer

I've just been watching Dave Fanning talking to PJ Harvey .

She's adamant that the 'sterility' of a studio chokes her art and refuses to do any recording in a regular studio again.

I can see where she's coming from.


What do the Brothers do to keep their studios 'Musical' as opposed to 'Technical' spaces.

What are the difficulties making a space work from both perspectives ?

i57dwun4yb1pt8

i have it covered in multicolored led xmas lights

madtheory

Sociable hours, well maintained gear, plenty of natural light, good food and beverages, a garden and a homely sitting room/ kitchen. Sounds like Middlewalk!

PaulBrewer

I think it was studios like Middlewalk that she meant.

jtsuited

close the curtains. open the curtains. chill in the same space as you work in (i know it goes against all common wisdom).
i used to be a neat freak but realised i work best when the place is fcuked and i haven't slept in a good while.

krd

PaulBrewer wrote: »

I've just been watching Dave Fanning Talking to PJ Harvey .

She's adamant that the 'sterility' of a studio chokes her art and refuses to do any recording in a regular studio again.

Yeah. I've heard talk about this years ago. There's a documentary on line of her recording her last record - you can see what she does.

She's been pissed off with studios for years. Like her 4-track demos for Rid of me, although the technically they're really really messy. The 'studio' versions sound sterile to the point of castration.

U2 recorded a lot of unforgettable fire at Slane Castle.

Michelle Shocked's best recording was done on a sony walkman sitting around a campfire.

I think it's a case of vibes, as Dave Fanning might say.


An interesting analogy: Limerick hospital has a special (private) maternity room. It's got all the equipment and stuff hidden behind wood panelling (they can wheel it out if they need it). The room is specially designed not to look or smell like a hospital room. The reason being - when a woman goes into labour - she produces special hormones for the purpose of giving birth. There's also a natural defensive mechanism that can stop the flow of these hormones if the woman is in danger and needs to move to avoid being eaten by a bear. It's a big problem in maternity. Many women get freaked out by the hospital and their labour stops - and they need to be given injections of hormones for the labour to be induced.

Creativity is just like giving birth - Whether consciously or not, you're not going to allow your baby to be born into a bad vibe.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

madtheory wrote: »

Sociable hours, well maintained gear, plenty of natural light, good food and beverages, a garden and a homely sitting room/ kitchen. Sounds like Middlewalk!

Last studio we were in had all those things bar the kitchen. Was a home studio, so there was a big garden with with footballs and goal posts for the kids. was good fun going for a kick about when someone was recording a guitar bass track. combined with a sound friendly engineer, it was a great experience, we never felt "under pressure" to get it right in the least amount of takes.

tweeky

PaulBrewer wrote: »

What do the Brothers do to keep their studios 'Musical' as opposed to 'Technical' spaces.

What are the difficulties making a space work from both perspectives ?

Don't be afraid to record in the control room if you are in a traditional studio,
set up a sound as quick as possible and hit the record button as soon as the artist starts to play.
I think these days you can record anywhere as different acoustics both good and bad can be used to great effect (eg. Depeche Mode/Daniel Lanois) just make sure you can hear what is going onto the tape. Use headphones if necessary and keep the hard drives away from the mikes.
I would always mix in a good room (wherever that may be.)

Seziertisch

Of course, there should be a distinction made between recording in a non-traditional space with persons who know what they are doing and persons that don't necessarily.

Unfortunately a lot of times recording in a non-traditional space means amateur/not very experienced people manning the controls. This is the downside of the home recording revolution; producing and engineering used to be crafts which those working in the area spent years honing, now you buy the gear, plug it in and you are a producer/engineer.

Rockshamrover

Interesting thread.

It was hardly performance anxiety with PJ, but that can be a problem for some people. Being comfortable and not being uncovered as a crap player by those engine ears can be a big issue for some. That'a probably why there is lots of work for session musicians.

This can probably work the other way round though, as in up and coming producer gets chance to work with rock gods but freaks out because he thinks he'll be uncovered as a charlatan.

I remember reading about a guy who was producing the rolling stones. Mick Jagger was singing the wrong words in a chorus and the guy was afraid to point this out to him.

On the subject of performance anxiety, the Ramones were held at gunpoint by Phil Spectre when he produced them (not for the whole record obviously) . I think they were happy enough with the results but they didn't send him any Christmas cards:D

Welease

In PJ's case..

I'd setup soft ambient lighting and have her favorite music playing when she arrives. I'd have a selection of her favourite healthy foods on offer so she feels at home.
When she was ready, I'd lead her into the room, sit her down making sure she was comfortable in the environment and ask if anything needs to be changed. Then I'd learn across slowly, move closer her to her ear, and gently tell her to "pull her fkin finger out and start working, her "art" is costing us 2K per day".

tweeky

Welease wrote: »

In PJ's case..

I'd setup soft ambient lighting and have her favorite music playing when she arrives. I'd have a selection of her favourite healthy foods on offer so she feels at home.
When she was ready, I'd lead her into the room, sit her down making sure she was comfortable in the environment and ask if anything needs to be changed. Then I'd learn across slowly, move closer her to her ear, and gently tell her to "pull her fkin finger out and start working, her "art" is costing us 2K per day".

Brilliant!

Maybe she should just stop recording altogether.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

Seziertisch wrote: »

Of course, there should be a distinction made between recording in a non-traditional space with persons who know what they are doing and persons that don't necessarily.

Unfortunately a lot of times recording in a non-traditional space means amateur/not very experienced people manning the controls. This is the downside of the home recording revolution; producing and engineering used to be crafts which those working in the area spent years honing, now you buy the gear, plug it in and you are a producer/engineer.

not strictly true - some of us take the home stuff very very seriously
ive been at it for nearly 3 years now , and am only now getting to the stage of being ready to be actually letting stuff out to be heard.
( from a production POV - never mind the song quailty POV)

and i have to thank many of the regulars here for tips and advice that helped me aload on the way.

old gregg

crikey, in PJ's case, I'd just have a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a few throw cushions and see how long it would take for us to nail a decent cover of "Je t'aime"

madtheory

old gregg wrote: »

crikey, in PJ's case, I'd just have a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a few throw cushions and see how long it would take for us to nail a decent cover of "Je t'aime"

That's a ****ing brilliant idea!

Seziertisch

DaDumTish wrote: »

not strictly true - some of us take the home stuff very very seriously
ive been at it for nearly 3 years now , and am only now getting to the stage of being ready to be actually letting stuff out to be heard.
( from a production POV - never mind the song quailty POV)

and i have to thank many of the regulars here for tips and advice that helped me aload on the way.

For every person that does that, there are countless others recording and mixing in untreated rooms, using the minimum of gear and a shed load of pirated software. These people make albums (usually though not always pretty terrible), which they are fully convinced sound as good as *whatever big production professional recording*. They then make up their own press kits and pr material, they enter themselves for the Meteor awards ... They essentially play at being signed artists with fans.

PMI

Ive been in a fair few studios now over here and UK and I can state that when I record I cant relax for more than 1 hour in any of um, I need to leave.....even my own....

Paul will vouch for that I prefer emailing stuff......

I am only relaxed in my home setup truthfully, and I mean my 2nd bedroom, only place I really can relax and record....

Only other place I felt that was strongroom by night only....

splitrmx

My studio is also my sitting room, so it feels pretty homey already.

dav nagle

As you can see the vibe at my studio is sweet. This is Glen from 'The Urges' completely incapacitated after a session with me. You can clearly see he is just so relaxed listening to playback in the recording environment, this is key.

Paolo_M

dav nagle wrote: »

As you can see the vibe at my studio is sweet. This is Glen from 'The Urges' completely incapacitated after a session with me. You can clearly see he is just so relaxed listening to playback in the recording environment, this is key.

Indeed, this man does appear to be quite "relaxed".

dav nagle

Paolo_M wrote: »

Indeed, this man does appear to be quite "relaxed".

Indeed music is a powerful medium.

MilanPan!c

An extremely important part of the whole home v studio argument is that, almost across the board, going into a studio means involving 'outsiders' in your art/music.

There's NO guarantee that those new paid for relationships will be good or even vaguely work.

Yeah, it's harder to produce anything 'pro sounding' in an home enviroment I guess, but for creating (initially) the sound of the band, I wouldn't trade my home studio for anywhere. I need to make mistakes and try a million iterations to find the sound that moves me... Very few people can afford the studio time necessary for that kind of growth work.


Still, if anyone wants to record a few songs in a studio, let me know.

krd

David Gray recorded three full albums in proper studios before he did White Ladder; Recorded on a fostexs 8 track, with a Roland MC 505 and a Korg stage piano and some shure mics.

And all his records have been recorded in big expensive studios since.

In a interview with him years ago, I heard him say that the cost of the studio really screwed up his mind. A clock was running in his head of how much everything was costing, and made him seize up.

Like

David "sail awa,.cough" - "we'll have to do that again David - you realise, your cough has cost you twenty quid - enough to live on for a day?"
"Alright, I try get it this time 'Sail a Weeee fro me,, cough'"
"David do you realise you've just blown 70 quid in total - enough to get you drunk, get a kebab and a blowjob."

White ladder is great record. I don't care what anyone says. Bits and pieces would've sounded smoother had it been all done in a big studio - but he may never have been able to write those songs.

And all his records have been recorded in big expensive studios since. And none of them have come near White Ladder.

He'd better served by setting up a studio in his house and paying an engineer to come round and do all the mucky work.

PaulBrewer

krd wrote: »

David Gray recorded three full albums in proper studios before he did White Ladder; Recorded on a fostexs 8 track, with a Roland MC 505 and a Korg stage piano and some shure mics.

And all his records have been recorded in big expensive studios since.

In a interview with him years ago, I heard him say that the cost of the studio really screwed up his mind. A clock was running in his head of how much everything was costing, and made him seize up.

Like

David "sail awa,.cough" - "we'll have to do that again David - you realise, your cough has cost you twenty quid - enough to live on for a day?"
"Alright, I try get it this time 'Sail a Weeee fro me,, cough'"
"David do you realise you've just blown 70 quid in total - enough to get you drunk, get a kebab and a blowjob."

White ladder is great record. I don't care what anyone says. Bits and pieces would've sounded smoother had it been all done in a big studio - but he may never have been able to write those songs.

And all his records have been recorded in big expensive studios since. And none of them have come near White Ladder.

He'd better served by setting up a studio in his house and paying an engineer to come round and do all the mucky work.

He owns his own studio now, what was 'The Church' in Highgate previously owned by Dave Stewart.

MilanPan!c

PaulBrewer wrote: »

He owns his own studio now, what was 'The Church' in Highgate previously owned by Dave Stewart.

Watch me be anal:

That's not Highgate, it's Crouch End.