When I first took on this month’s column, the editor of this publication counseled me not to write about recording studios in this space. “Live and recorded music are two different worlds,” I was told. Going back that far, it was a sensible admonition: with the exception of a relative handful of professional remote-recording trucks, recorded and live music were for the most part distinct realms. Many — if not most — FOH mixers started out in recording studios, but apart from the basic physics of audio, the differences in skillsets and environmental factors were substantial.
A lot has changed since then. Software-based recording is now de rigueur at the FOH position, with Pro Tools (or some kind of recording rig) integrated into or along with most digital consoles. The need for immediate content following performances, to feed artists’ websites and other distribution channels, has meant that mixing, editing, even sweetening goes on there and in the hotel rooms and buses apres-show. So it’s no surprise that some venues are not only adding multitrack recording capabilities, but also turning to studio designers to address acoustical and noise issues in those clubs.
Clubs: Moving On Up
Noted designer John Storyk, whose long studio client list goes back to the 1969 completion of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland Studios, says the number of small music venues he’s done has shot up in the last two years, with three recent ones in New York City alone. The trend he’s seen is encapsulated in the Rockwood Music Hall, a club on the Lower East Side where noise containment and the ability to manage the sound for up to six acts per night were paramount. Storyk says that latter issue is being resolved with the specification of small digital consoles that can save setups internally.
That ability, combined with their declining costs and growing incorporation of integrated DAWs, has seen them take precedence over the analog FOH desks that he says club owners still prefer, at least sonically. “The cost of the equipment is still important in a club situation, and those kinds of affordable, very capable digital mixers are what make the most sense,” says Storyk.
But after making sure the interior acoustics address the most fundamental issues, which focus on minimizing reflections in the stage area, the biggest design issue is noise containment. That’s because, given the increased costs of fines and stepped-up noise-code enforcement as more people move into the urban core areas that in many cases were pioneered by music clubs, the kind of expensive room-within-a-room, fully isolated space once reserved for recording studios are now becoming more common in live-music clubs, such as the new Fenix club in San Rafael, CA that Storyk designed. “Many newer noise codes are now time based — as the ambient noise levels around a club decrease, such as at night, the thresholds for noise complaints also go lower, making clubs more vulnerable to violations,” he explains. “Avoiding that by isolating the club physically becomes worth the cost.” The Fenix project also includes a complete video production suite in an upstairs space to provide HD video recording/editing for live streaming and/or delayed broadcasting of performances.
Acoustics and More
FM Design is an award-winning, full-service architectural acoustics and media facility design firm based in Mahopac, NY. While perhaps best known for its recording facility designs, company president Fran Manzella says he’s also observed an increase in the number of music club projects he’s been called in on. Some of those are based on the need to isolate the venue acoustically and mechanically from its residential surroundings, yet Manzella says that a rising percentage of them — like Fenix — also want integrated audio and video recording and streaming capabilities.
“Some of our current projects cross over the line from production facilities to performance venues,” he says. “There are at least two projects that are multi-use facilities with the ability to host smaller live events with limited live audiences while capturing the audio/video and streaming the show online. This is an interesting model that seems to be getting some legs.” And, says Manzella, the trend goes beyond the U.S.; one of his recent project is in the Republic of Georgia, in eastern Europe.
Getting Better All the Time
Other collateral benefits to live-sound mixers from this trend include more attention paid to the location and design of the FOH position during the design stage, which continues to fight for space against the loss of revenue-producing seats or standing room, and also in the form of absorptive treatment to lessen reflected sound and increase sonic accuracy. FOH is also becoming, if not a profit center, then at least somewhat self-liquidating, thanks to some clubs charging artists for recordings. And the recent burst of music-venue building has better equalized the bands-to-clubs ratio, meaning that venues are once again using the quality of their sound to compete in attracting both artists and customers.
This trend yields cultural implications beyond merely better-sounding music clubs. These same clubs are the finishing schools for the next generation of music artist. The notion that talent will always trump a rotten-sounding room or sound system is a myth. Musicians are only as good as their instruments, and that extends to PA systems and ambient environments, too.
The same goes for music patrons — they deserve a good environment in which to discover new music, a transaction that takes place increasingly in clubs, where the live performance adds a third dimension to music. As listeners get sharper, music gets better in response. And for an industry that’s been shaken to its core in recent years — recorded and live music alike (tracking that LYV stock ticker?), focusing on quality sound makes perfect sense.
