I think this is going to be a long post when I have a chance to really get my thoughts down. I’ve been thinking a lot about studios lately. There are so many different approaches, and getting to see how people like Joel Gordon, Adam Abeshouse and Mike Miller like to work has been fascinating. I think, if all goes well, there may be the opportunity for some thought about what an ideal studio would look like for MIT Music and Theater. I am also working on another project at the moment that will hopefully help give a lot of insight to the idea of a multipurpose room which is used by many people. While all of this happens, it seems like new studios and new studio-oriented products are popping up all over the place. The photo is of a new control room in a facility at NYU (run by Robert Rowe) where it was decided that there should be tie-lines to all offices and even bathrooms!
So what makes a good studio? For me, this is the same as asking: What does the studio need to do? How fast does it need to do that? And who will be doing the doing?
Once those questions are answered, it’s a matter of finding the right balance of complexity and flexibility. In my experience so far, the two seem to be positively correlated. Putting in the right amount of digital and analog patching capability while maintaining simplicity for the average use case is really important. And then there’s concrete things like money, construction, room treatment and non-concrete things like mic, speaker and preamp choice.
Anyway, those are some thoughts for the moment…