The Importance of a Recording Studio

Recording Studio Stuff

Recording at home is easier and cheaper than it has ever been. David Mellor wrote in Sound On Sound in 1999 that project studio equipment was becoming ever more affordable and better in quality. So why do professional studios still exist? Mellor gave an answer in the same article, and other writers have added to it.

This post pulls together what working engineers and producers say a studio gives you that a spare room usually does not. I have kept it to what those named sources say and flagged my own opinions as such.

1. A room you can trust to tell you the truth

The first thing is the listening room. Wikipedia’s article on home recording says an untreated room has an uneven frequency response, so any mixing decisions are based on a sound that is “colored”, because the engineer cannot accurately hear what was played. Acoustic panels and bass traps can improve the sound in the room.

A professional control room is built to avoid exactly that problem. In a May 1996 Sound On Sound article, Mellor listed what to look for in a good studio’s acoustics: freedom from outside noise, a pleasant acoustic environment to perform in, and an accurate control room for judging the mix. Wikipedia’s mastering article makes the same point from the other side: the results depend on the engineer’s skills, the accuracy of the speaker monitors and the listening environment.

A hand reaching across rows of knobs and faders on a large mixing console

Image: A mixing engineer working at an analog mixing console by Max Rayden, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

2. Space to perform, and gear you do not have to own

Mellor’s 1999 article gives two reasons to leave home. A project might need more musicians than will fit in your studio, or you might need the acoustics of a large room to capture a better sound. He adds that a purpose-designed space is always a better productivity tool than a converted bedroom: there is only so much equipment you can fit into a four-by-three-metre room, and you have to compromise between the studio and domestic life. Sound leaking from the studio can annoy the neighbours.

Wikipedia adds that major studios often keep large, heavy instruments in the live room, such as a grand piano or Hammond organ, that would be impossible or impractical to hire for a single session.

3. People who record for a living

Mellor’s second reason for the continued existence of commercial studios is that they become centres of professionalism and expertise. He argues that if the equipment and acoustics are good, top artists will want to record there and bring top engineers and producers with them, and assistant engineers learn from them.

At the level of one session, Sound On Sound’s Neil Rogers, writing in September 2020, lists a good engineer’s habits: knowing when to suggest a break, how long to spend on an artist’s new idea, and when to slow or quicken the pace. He says to tell the artist what you think right after a take, because silence can be disheartening for a performer who is unsure of a take.

None of those jobs are about equipment, which is why I think they are the hardest part of a studio to copy at home. (That last bit is my own opinion.)

4. A second set of ears

The producer Travis Huisman, in an Audio-Issues article, points out that when you record at home alone you are wearing two hats, the artist and the engineer, and one or the other usually suffers. His advice for lead vocals is to record them in a studio, in part because a good producer will make the singer better, and a singer recording themselves can lose focus on the performance. That is his opinion as a working producer, and not everyone would agree. It does name the real benefit: someone else is responsible for the technical side while you perform.

What a studio can’t do

A studio doesn’t fix a weak song, and it doesn’t replace practice. It also isn’t the only way to get a good result. Huisman himself suggests recording background vocals and keyboards at home to save budget, and Mellor says home equipment can now be every bit as good as pro gear. (That’s his 1999 view, and my own comment is that a lot has changed since then, in both directions.)

So when is it worth it?

My own suggestion is to book a studio when your project needs something your home setup cannot provide: a large room, a room you can trust for the mix, or a person who has done this hundreds of times. If you are not sure, the series post Studio Monitors and Headphones: How to Hear Your Own Recordings explains why accurate listening matters so much and how to improve it at home.

Sources