The importance of a well laid out studio

Sometimes I think we audio geeks throw way too much money in the wrong places. I love getting a new piece of rack gear as much as the next guy, but maybe it's time we all invested a little in making sure our studios function properly.

I will never claim that my ability to put a microphone on a guitar amp or dial in compressor settings is any better than another audio engineer, but here's something I am happy to claim. I know how to set up a studio so that it is an absolute joy to work in, and it is something everybody should do. It will improve your life in every way imaginable (except maybe your sex life, you might be competent at inserting a patch cable, but...)

Here are my top ten (in no particular order) hints to make your studio a rip roaring powerhouse place to work.

1. Connect everything in your studio to patchbays. Half normalize things like direct outputs of your console to your recorder, your recorders outputs to the tape returns on your console. This might seem obvious but I've walked into so many studios where they haven't run everything to the bays and as a result a simple task like patching the main mix to the headphones amps for listening back to takes is impossible. Even if it means buying another patchbay, just bloody run all your gear to' em! While your at it sunshine, label them clearly, because there will come a time when someone who is not you has to use your studio.

2. Create a system so that the band you are tracking can listen to the whole mix (as opposed to their headphones mix), so that you can avoid "I'll just come in and listen to it". You waste probably half an hour to an hour a session because of that trip that occurs countless times a day. If they can listen to a good sounding version through their cans or from some speakers in the live room, you're sweet. Fast session = happy band.

3. Have a unified file storage system for digital recordings and stick to it. In my studio we have a folder on our audio drive which contains another three folders entitled "Nick", "Mike" and "Pete" (Mike and Pete are the other engineers who work here". Inside those folders are folders with artists names, then in those are their song session folders. After each day of work we copy the main folder to an external drive which I take home with me. This means accessing material is fast and organized, and there is always a backup.

4. Lay out your outboard equipment in a logical fashion, even if it means buying more/longer cabling or a different rack unit. There's no point having access to a power supply unit that has no controls on it, just like it is a pain in the arse to lean over to reach one of your commonly used preamps. I'd suggest having one dedicated amount of rack space for preamps (so when you're setting gain structures at the beginning of a session you don't have to move around much, and then another rack for compressors, effects and EQs. Finally, have some racks down out of the way for things like power supplies and noise reduction units. If you have a transport unit for your tape machine you'll probably want to keep that nearby too!

5. For those of you building studios out there, cable the place properly! Have a headphones socket behind where the drums will often be set up, make sure you've go tie lines everywhere! you will not regret this extra expense, I guarantee you. There's nothing worse than a room full of band members with headphones cables all coming from the same spot, it's a nightmare. On a similar note, consider running a VGA cable as well as a USB cable between your live space and your control room. You never know when you might need to record yourself playing drums, and this will save hours of running back and forth between rooms.

6. Spend some money on accessories that will make it better for the musicians you work with. Music stands/keyboard stands/picks/strings/capos are all things that musicians could accidentally not bring with them to the session. If you've got them lying around, the band will love you. On the other hand, If you don't have any music stands etc, the band might have to leave to get them, halting the session and potentially destroying any mood you had going!

7. Ensure the lighting in your studio encourages good work. Ambient lighting is a fantastic way to get musicians to open up and play well, but this is practically useless if they can't see what they need to see. I find that by using lamps in strategic places you can have the best of both worlds.