Introduction

The development of sound recording studios advanced steadily from the 1920s to the 1980s almost entirely in the hands of trained professionals. By the mid-1980s the professional studios had achieved a high degree of sophistication, financed by a recording industry which drew its money principally from the record, film and advertising industries. These client industries were themselves mainly professional industries, and were accustomed to paying professional prices for professional services.

By the late 1980s, much less expensive recording equipment of ‘acceptable’ quality (at least on the face of it) became available on an increasing scale, and the imminent arrival of domestic/semi-professional digital recording systems was soon to lead to an ‘explosion’. This saw the sound recording studio industry fragment into a myriad of small facilities, which severely damaged the commercial viability of many of the larger studios. It broke up huge numbers of experienced teams of recording personnel, and consequently much of the generation-to-generation know-how which resided in many of the large professional studio complexes was lost.

This boom in the number of small studios spawned a worldwide industry supplying the necessary technology and equipment, but the whole recording studio industry has since become ever more dependent upon (and subject to the wishes of) the manufacturers supplying its equipment. It has largely become an industry of recording equipment operation rather than one based on the skills and knowledge of traditional recording engineering. So much recording is now software-based, and so many people in the modern industry are now largely self-taught, that only a relatively few people out of the total number involved in music recording have, or will ever have, experienced the benefits that a really well-designed studio can offer.

Clearly, things will never be as they were in the past, but although many great advances are taking place in recording technology, some of the basic principles are just as relevant now as ever they were. Good recording spaces, good monitoring conditions, good sound isolation and a good working environment are still basic requirements for any recordings involving the use of non-electronic instruments, which means most recordings, because voices also come under the ‘non-electronic instruments’ heading.

The general tendency nowadays is to think of the equipment first. Many so-called recording studios are in fact no more than several piles of rather sophisticated equipment set up in any reasonable room that will house them. Many owners realise all too soon after the inauguration of their ‘studios’ that there is more to recording studios than they first thought. The real needs become all too obvious, which then often leads to some trial and error, and sometimes very wildly misguided attempts to convert their already-purchased, unsuitable space into what they think that they really need.

The sad fact is that there are now enormous numbers of bad studios producing recordings of very arbitrary quality. As this situation spreads with the growth of the less professional industry, many standards are being eroded. The norms of the industry are being set by the mass market, and no longer so much by the skilled professionals with their valuable knowledge of what can be achieved, which seems to be a pity.

It is all the more a pity because modern technology and the knowledge passed down through the generations can together reach previously unattainable levels of excellence. What is more, the cost is not necessarily prohibitive. Rather it is ignorance which is the enemy, because the cost of doing things badly is often no more than the cost of doing things well. People waste an incredible amount of money by their errors, and lose much valuable income by not being able to offer the first class results which they should be able to achieve from their investments.

When The Townhouse studios were completed in London in 1978, the two studios had cost around one million pounds sterling (about 1.4 million euros) and were staffed by two recording engineers, five assistants and five qualified maintenance engineers. The cost of each studio per hour was around £85, which probably relates to something more like £300 (€400) in 2011 money. Few sane people would now spend such a sum of money (inflation adjusted, of course) on a comparable facility. Almost nowhere in the world would it be possible to charge such an hourly rate for music-only recording. We therefore need to be realistic in our approach to modern day designs. Nevertheless, the good news is that with the developments in the recording equipment, the advanced nature of new acoustic materials and techniques, and a much greater understanding of psychoacoustics compared with what was known 30 years ago, we can now achieve comparable, and in many ways superior results to those which were achieved in the original incarnation of the classic Townhouse, and for much less money than ever before.

The financial pressure on recording studios is great. Competition is fierce, and what was once seen as a genuine industry is now often seen more as a glorified hobby. Where banks used to finance many studio projects, large and small, they are becoming unwilling to do so in the twenty-first century. The recording industry is often seen to be unstable, with ill-conceived ideas and a poor track record of adequate professionalism. Banks may still finance the purchase of buildings, which they can sell if the studio fails commercially. Leasing companies may be interested in supplying recording equipment, which they will continue to be the true owners of until such time that the lease is paid in full. However, few organisations will risk the financing of the acoustic control structures that actually define a professional studio. This is simply because if the studio does fail commercially, the labour costs involved in the construction are lost. Furthermore, most of the materials used will not be recoverable in any way that would enable them to have any resale value, and the demolition costs of the heavy, space-consuming acoustic work can be considerable if the next occupiers of the building require it in its ‘unmodified’ state. The lack of available financing for the acoustic work is one reason why it is often now not afforded its rightful attention. Somewhat unfortunately, the neglect of this one critical aspect of the studios can be a prime reason for their failures to perform, either musically or commercially. Many studio owners and operators are beginning to see this, and it is being realised that much of what was once considered an essential part of all serious studios is still an essential part of all serious studios.

What this book will now discuss are the fundamentals of good studio acoustics and monitoring, in a language that will hopefully be recognisable and accessible to the people who may well need the information that it contains. It will deal with the basic principles, their application in practical circumstances, and the reasons for their importance to the daily success of recording studios. Because of the importance of good acoustics to the success of most studios, and because of the financial burden which failure may impose, getting things right first time is essential. This applies equally to studios large and small.

It is being presumed that the majority of readers will be more interested in how these things affect their daily lives rather than wishing to make an in-depth study of pure acoustics. Bibliographies at the end of most of the chapters will point interested readers to other publications which may treat the specific subjects more formally, but inevitably we will have to begin with a couple of chapters which set out a minimum of the fundamental principles involved, in order that we can proceed with at least some of the basic concepts firmly in mind.