Space, The Finite Frontier
by Frank Wells, 02.18.2010
In today’s production paradigms, the technical infrastructure of
old is condensed and compressed, the core studio hardware often
crammed into little more than the frame of a computer with just a
few peripheral devices. This has taken production into the new
frontier of the small room. While audio pros are crafting productions
of excellent quality in these environments, the environment
can be less than forgiving or accommodating in two critical areas.
The first is monitoring. Small spaces (often improvised
spaces) present a host of challenges to accurate monitoring
with loudspeakers. These challenges are well known, and a broad range of products is
available to effectively address the shortcomings imposed by a small space (several of
those solutions are discussed in this issue of PAR).
The second critical area is recording space, and the interaction of room and microphone.
Beyond the control room, legacy studios were conceived with tracking live
instruments in mind, with a myriad of design and construction techniques used to
complement the recording process. This is a luxury beyond possibility for most home
and personal studios.
Certainly, small-studio owners can and do try to make the most of available space,
and similar techniques as are employed for small control rooms can be used to these
ends. The primary issue is simply the finite limitations of available space. Large tracking
spaces aren’t solely desirable for the ability to cram in a full band (or, in a very large
space, an orchestra). Larger tracking spaces also afford more opportunity to design a
space to complement the recording process, as opposed to simply designing to remove
unwanted room to mic interaction.
In the studios I used to call home, our room designer lovingly crafted the various
spaces to complement particular instruments. He knew that a particular EQ bump was
invariably added to acoustic piano, for instance, so he built it into the room. For guitar
amps, a modest space was devoted to providing acoustic compression instead of later
requiring electronic compression. Even where the footprint of a space was relatively
small, high ceilings and trap space behind grille-cloth false ceilings allowed the spaces
to be tailored for the task at hand. Versatility was possible where spaces allowed mic
placement in varied proximity to hard and soft walls or to large trapped spaces behind
grille-cloth coverings.
It’s often lamented by pros that today’s music listeners find compromised playback
equipment and highly data-reduced digital downloads acceptable, because these listeners
have no experience listening to live instruments. Equally regrettable is that we
will have a large portion of future recordists who have never had the experience of
recording in a fine acoustic space. A plethora of products are available to insert some
sense of space back into recordings, and while they can be very effective, they are by
necessity employed at a less than optimal stage of the process.
Kudos to those who are able to preserve our traditional studios, and to those relative
few who can effectively incorporate space into new studio designs. It’s part of the
recording legacy worth preserving.