Workbook Studio 1997-2006
Columbus spot specializes in "high-speed recording" Mix Magazine
Workbook Studio may hold the world's record for on-the-fly recording. Located in a converted warehouse that once housed Columbus, Ohio's first Packard car dealership, Workbook owner/engineers Neal Schmitt and Jon Chinn, engineer Dan Wilburn and two other part-timers triumphantly recorded 25 songs by 25 bands in 25 hours. “The original plan was 24, but we got a little over-excited,” says Schmitt.
Aided by chilled Red Bull, hot coffee and the buzz of a revolving door of musicians, Schmitt, Chinn and Wilburn fired up the automated Tascam 3700 24/48-channel console in the control room of their 3,000-square-foot loft space at 4 p.m. one Friday afternoon. Several mic swaps and level-checks later, they sent the last band home at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The lineup of mostly local and regional acts were recorded using Digidesign's 002 LE system (the studio also owns a few Alesis ADATs and a Tascam MS16 1-inch 16-track) with assistance from AKG, Neumann, Shure, Sennheiser and BLUE Baby Bottle mics, and the studio's large selection of guitar amps, drums and keyboards. “We had two drum kits and tons of guitar amps set up everywhere for bands to pick from,” Schmitt explains. “While one band was doing vocals and finishing their mix, the next one was setting up. We worked in two-hour blocks; the second engineer became the main engineer. We thought the hardest part would be filling the late-night slots, but some bands wanted the worst slots!” The fruits of their labor, a CD titled Workbook Studio's 25 Hour Grand Prix, is available through Reverbose Records at Reverbose Records and via Columbus music scene site at Cringe.com, while individual songs can be downloaded from iTunes. |
Click to view my complete discography as a musician, engineer, producer and mastering engineer.
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Workbook Television Commercial
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Part of Episode 1 of Workbook
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Likely Recording Studio Mistakes
As appeared in TapeOp Magazine
This means guitars are setup properly, amps are in working order, and new drum heads are broken in. On hand items include extra strings, cables, batteries, picks, tubes, fuses, and any specialty tools needed for your instrument. The manual for your drum machine wouldn’t hurt either.
Are the songs rehearsed? I mean *rehearsed*. Did you record rehearsal or your live show? Figure out which tempo is correct. This is also a good time to print out your lyrics and finally finish them.
Tomorrow, you can show up at your day job hungover and sleepless. Today, we need you rested, alert and lively. It’s hard work to put emotion onto tape (or convert to 1’s and 0’s).
This is your time. You can’t ask enough questions. It takes time to answer them, but there’s nothing wrong with being educated and informed.
When things are wrong, communicate with band mates or engineers. When things are smashingly good, people like to hear that as well. The worst thing you can do is leave the studio with a problem that could have been remedied.
An invaluable tool. Hearing familiar music in an unfamiliar environment lets you hear the acoustics of the room. They provide a rest for your ears and remind you how much mastering can make a difference.
Recording too many songs at once is a long shot. Recording batches of 3 or 4 songs makes the most sense. You won’t rush or compromise, and you'll have steady content to release while working on the next batch.
Studios can’t give time away. A general rule is a minute of music takes 1-2 hours of studio time. If you want to bicker, take long breaks, or get drunk, expect the session to go longer.
Especially during mix down. If you trust the engineer and have shared your vision, let them do their thing for a while while you catch up on your "article reading."
Waiting until recording is finished means you won’t have CDs for your release party. Nice one, champ.
