What To Look For When Shopping For A Studio

From that rumblin’ in your stomach to that excess energy you can’t do anything with to those paranoid thoughts that seem to involve alien abductions… Wait, is that just me when I’m anxious? Well, learn something new every day.

Today marks a first in my career, a milestone that many people before me have already hit, but I was rather surprised at the lack of conversation concerning your first demo. Sure, you’ve got what not to do in the studio, but what are you supposed to look for in said studio? Luckily, I live in a city, but this actually worked against me in my search. Most recording studios in my area were music only, having little to no knowledge on how to work with voice over. Within my first few calls I realized that I would need to ask their previous experience in voice over and what type of projects they were accustomed to. In this way, I didn’t need to rule out studios if they primarily worked on music.

Another thing I discovered during my cold calling was that the studios I kept on my list were the ones that actually took the time to engage in conversation with me. This isn’t something most people will tell you because you’re instructed to look for the best, but I discovered that any that could answer my concerns versus reading off a fact sheet were just in general more appealing. The last thing I wanted was a studio that just didn’t care because I wasn’t a big production or simply because I was inexperienced.

I already had a general know-how of “Dos and Don’ts”, which you can easily find by using a search engine. I probably didn’t need a mantra that told me not to hit the microphone, but it repeated in the back of my head for an hour (or several) just as a friendly reminder. A few good tips I knew from my work on 91.8 The Fan had to do with clothing. Yup! Better watch what you wear. It’s a little harder trying to balance business casual and clothes that don’t create noise or static. No jewelry, no hats (with bills specifically), no polyester, leather, or nylon, and keep those heels stowed in the closet!

In addition, while some studios even have kitchens, I would highly recommend bringing your own bottle of water. I have done this for every studio I’ve gone into, and I followed this tradition when I rented the studio time myself.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering where my studio search led me? I worked with the chill guys over at Digital Insight Recording and arrived roughly fifteen minutes before my appointment full of jittered nerves. It was like auditioning for that role in the school musical when you can’t sing. That feeling of dread all over again, but once I met my engineer, Ryan, I knew I was in good hands. Probably the best advice I’ve ever heard, and I mean this, is to actually get to know your engineer. In a normal studio environment, you’ll have the director, maybe the client, and the engineer. Don’t ignore that guy just because he’s not saying a whole lot. He is the one that can make you sound fabulous and the least you want to do is get on his bad side. Despite the fact my teacher was calling in, my engineer at Digital Insight Recording was nothing but accommodating and willing to be patient with any questions I had.

Ironically, getting into the studio itself and doing the reads was the easiest part. Boom, boom, done! We had all of our takes in literally fifteen minutes, but my mentor loves to push me so we used the rest of the time to work on nitpicky things. It was an extremely stress-free hour, and I can say pretty confidently that, if I hadn’t really dug deep to research studios in my area, I wouldn’t have had such a good experience.

Was it scary? Sure! Was it exciting? Definitely! However, I was able to learn about booking a studio versus the client letting me know where to go. Below you can listen to the final product and judge for yourself: