Amigos/Amigas,

I am on the hunt for a somewhat unique recording place...I've seen a lot (and heard quite a few projects) that were done in the "studio without walls" idea...a seriously large room (say 30W X 75L X 25H) without any real walls to separate the control and tracking areas...

The idea is to get the intimacy between control and tracking areas, but still have enough distance between sources and monitors to 'get it right going in...' I've seen photos of a place in the Catskills that does this (among others, the Norah Jones releases were done there)...BUT

My clients (past, present, and future hopefuls) run the entire gamut of musical genre (except hiphop/rap/synth stuff...) so there is NO telling if the one room approach will work when simultaneously tracking 6 drums mics, 4 gtr mics, etc...

Anyone here have any experiences with 'studios without walls' of a similar size? If so, what issues did you encounter, and how did you work around them?

Hopefully this will be a fun thread, and when things work out right, y'all will be part of the design team...

Any takers? Anything I should know before contacting lawyers and realtors?

I personally love this type of recording environment. Its great being with the artists and making it a bit more personal. I've done it a few times and isolation is always and issue but its kind of an isolation vs feel thing. Musicians can feel eachother and play off eachother a bit better but bleed is worse. Some good gobos are key. The more the marrier. If you know of a good carpenter I can give you plans.

I say go for it.

Nick Fournier

Thanks Nick...a friend read a similar post on another forum, and suggested there may be some problems with producers, engineers, and commercial clients discussing things that are not meant to be heard by the players...I'm thinking about a few workarounds for that, but I am really drawn to the idea...

As for GOBOs, we have 7 of em here already buit...obviously will need LOTs more...

Thanks.

Are they the 4' tall ones or the 8' tall ones with a glass window? Those are very nice for what you're trying to do. Treating the room as a whole will help out with isolation as well just so the sound can't bounce around the room a bunch and get in all the mics.

Do all musicians get headphones with their own mix? It doesn't effect the acoustics I was just wondering how you were doing it. Do you have any pics?

Thats a good point about the words that aren't meant to be heard. At the studio I work at the live room is down the hall so we use a video system that lets the control room see the artist but the artist doesn't see us. Sometimes it sucks but sometimes its GREAT.

Nick Fournier

Scott Gould "digitmus" is around SF sometimes. He has a "studio without walls".

http://home.earthlink.net/~digitmus/

Wireline, maybe putting something more descriptive in your topic with get you better responses.

Maybe something like, "Looking for Some Feedback: studio without walls"

Sorry for the confusion, Dot...changed the title...

And thanks for the link...

I'm doing it all in a much smaller space, so my experience probably doesn't help. My only problems are the sound of hard drive fans. I surround that gear with 703 panels when needed, but good condensor's still hear it.

I've found lots of advantages for it. The biggest are that the musicians can use me as a sounding board. I help people keep time and come in solid. I help reassure. Sometimes, I'm the audience that helps push the playing up. A lot of time, musicians can hear, "you can do that better" when they're looking right at you. I think its great for the process and a lot more fun for me.

Nathan Kunkel does the studio without walls thing. There was an article somewhere about him recording Crosby & Nash. Might help.