Bennett Studios Closed

[Musiclab]

I'm not sure if this was posted before I couldn't find it, but another beauty just closed. Bennett Studios Closes : SonicScoop – Creative, Technical & Business Connections For NYC’s Music & Sound Community

[NEWTON IN ORBIT]

This sucks. Things are bad.

Sorry to hear about this.

john

[ionian]

Yeah - I found out the hard way a month ago.

I've recorded there a few years ago with a band I used to play with. A month ago, the bass player was over my house and wanted to book some time to record some new stuff so we decided to give Dae a call, but alas, it's all over.

That was a great place and Dae was always such a sweet person to deal with. He really dug the music.

Regards,
Frank

[Alex Breaux]

Honestly, I'm sure the economy took its part in this, but I really think more awesome studios are closing because of everything becoming more and more digital. Plus there is so much space and maintenance, just huge amounts of overhead for gear that people literally can't afford to use anymore.. You walk into a studio with a pristine 9096J or 88R and there will be only two faders up... Artists nowadays are to ignorant to know the difference or it seems the labels wont pay for it to get done right. I honestly charge extra to do a mix on my GML, but it seems like only the best musicians go for it. The rest don't care. I mixed in the box for years and I couldn't take it anymore, so I set up analogue and got more then what I paid for and then some "a world of difference". I don't mind my $700-$800 tier 5 electric bill from my console alone, but I don't have the overhead like other analogue studios because its in my house..

Look how many SSL's are on ebay right now. Really. Its sad... When I bought my APC, I had an offer for a 48ch 4000E with a G+ computer recapped for $17k... yeah....

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

Honestly, I'm sure the economy took its part in this, but I really think more awesome studios are closing because of everything becoming more and more digital. Plus there is so much space and maintenance, just huge amounts of overhead for gear that people literally can't afford to use anymore.. You walk into a studio with a pristine 9096J or 88R and there will be only two faders up... Artists nowadays are to ignorant to know the difference or it seems the labels wont pay for it to get done right. I honestly charge extra to do a mix on my GML, but it seems like only the best musicians go for it. The rest don't care. I mixed in the box for years and I couldn't take it anymore, so I set up analogue and got more then what I paid for and then some "a world of difference". I don't mind my $700-$800 tier 5 electric bill from my console alone, but I don't have the overhead like other analogue studios because its in my house..

Look how many SSL's are on ebay right now. Really. Its sad... When I bought my APC, I had an offer for a 48ch 4000E with a G+ computer recapped for $17k... yeah....

The economy and the collapse of the record business absolutely are to blame. I seriously doubt given what many of the recordings done there are about that anyone just had 2 faders up. Personally I think anyone mixing on a world class console and only having 2 faders up is a fool.

Now I don't mean any offense by this but, Alex it seems to me that you recently got your console and built your place. It also seems that you're a pretty young guy, if I were you, I wouldn't be charging anyone extra to mix on your APC 1000, [great console btw congrats]
because I would want to do as much as I can on the console so I could learn it better.

My wife knows Dave Kowalski and Dae Bennett, they are both very nice people, it's always sad to me when a really beautiful place goes away.
I wish them both the best

[AllAboutTone]

Sick, just Sick.

[dave gross]

Wow, that's terrible. I recorded there on a couple different records a few years back - it was a really nice studio.

[Plugses]

what a shame. been there while doing states

[Jeff Hayat]

Shameful.

[VenVile]

I'm not very familiar with their studio, but it saddens me to read this. I absolutely hate the direction the music business, and music in general, is going.

[Toppermost]

Originally Posted by VenVile

I absolutely hate the direction the music business, and music in general, is going.

A lot of us do.

So far, we don't seem to have been able to do much about it, though.

[MickeyMassacre]

Thats a shame. My friend did quite a bit of construction and build out there years back.

[Matt Allison]

Originally Posted by VenVile

I'm not very familiar with their studio, but it saddens me to read this. I absolutely hate the direction the music business, and music in general, is going.

And what makes me sicker are the people that defend piracy, and actively lobby that it hasn't caused any harm. Seriously ****ed up people.

[shortstory]

Piracy is certainly one issue- but the real issue is that everyone thinks they can record there own music. Some even think they can record other peoples music or have a studio based around inexpensive computer set ups.

Look at mike senior's mix article every month- it's not mixing as much as fixing.

Anyone that can run protools thinks they're an engineer even though they know very little about circuits, phase, gain structure etc.

So real engineers that studied their craft and opened a quality shop are struggling just to pay the bills.

It's really a sad state of affairs.

[Matt Allison]

I feel like that situation has existed for quite a while though; at least since the Teac 3340 showed up.

What's different is that those small studios used to take care of demos and real studios made the real records. But there just aren't budgets for that anymore because the labels have been devastated by piracy.

[Alex Breaux]

Originally Posted by Matt Allison

I feel like that situation has existed for quite a while though; at least since the Teac 3340 showed up.

What's different is that those small studios used to take care of demos and real studios made the real records. But there just aren't budgets for that anymore because the labels have been devastated by piracy.

I don't think labels are that devastated. I think they figured out that they can push a poor quality recording/ poor music to the public and get away with it.

When the consumer doesn't care, what is the point of quality control? I mean, that quality control is expensive!! ; )

The bottom line is this-

Regardless of what industry it is, what the demographic is, 95% of people today try and do the least amount of work possible, yet they expect to make a killing. Thats also why so much work goes to China, because the Chinese are not afraid to work a 14-16hr day.... : /

[Matt Allison]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

I don't think labels are that devastated. /

Trust me, they are. On the studio end, we generally see it as massively lower budgets, and less time spent making music, but at least some of us are still working. Label-wise both the majors and the indies have laid-off literally thousands of people.

A very sad, very real effect of how things have changed for the worse.

[gussyg2007]

The Sad reality is that commercial music is just not worth what it used to be, and things being the way they are ATM.. places like this can't survive
Damn shame !! And unfortunately they won't be last

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by shortstory

Piracy is certainly one issue- but the real issue is that everyone thinks they can record there own music. Some even think they can record other peoples music or have a studio based around inexpensive computer set ups.

Look at mike senior's mix article every month- it's not mixing as much as fixing.

Anyone that can run protools thinks they're an engineer even though they know very little about circuits, phase, gain structure etc.

So real engineers that studied their craft and opened a quality shop are struggling just to pay the bills.

It's really a sad state of affairs.

So true man, the good thing about it, the artist that think they are a engineer just because they have PT end up with a crap recording, they are only hurting themselves.

[Slipperman]

Ahh me.

Where to begin?

Well, sorry to see Dae go out. He was a good guy in my limited intersection with him.

Helped me out at a few times when he certainly didn't HAFTA, and I'm grateful for it.

Hey! As a lot of these larger shops close... there will be those sizable studios who will NOT go away.

Maybe, it's not really that big of a leap from a Spinosaurus to a 30ft. long Crocodile given some time and a bit of good fortune.

So much of this is about WILL, and the ability to suffer a parade of modestly outrageous indignities as we wait for the eventual truth to surface.

And that is:

AE is a LIFE PURSUIT if you wish to do it at the highest levels.


Musicianship is a LIFE PURSUIT if you wish to do it at the highest level.

There are MORE musicians than ever who are starting to figure out that even IF they could master both... They don't have the stomach or time for it.

To say nothing of the money:

Here's the back of our AES NYC 2011 shirt on the subject:




In case yer having trouble reading it, it says: "Filled with a desperate desire to burn $70k of my parents money... I went to a RECORDING SCHOOL!!! (and I didn't learn f*ck-all).

I have trained DOZENS of guys in the past 15 years who would WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with this sentiment, AFTER doing EXACTLY THAT.

And it's "Pick a side of the glass".

All over again.

And it will continue.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but: Audio engineering as an apprenticed craft ain't over.

Not if I can help it.

And I still can.

People who know the craft, directly teaching those who aspire to knowing the craft... WHILE actually MAKING the records under the pressure of "Hey they're paying us for this" conditions(and building their credentials while doing just that), undergo a crucible of experience that is almost ALWAYS going to trump anything you can teach a kid in a classroom.

Like... 99 times out of 100.

I never met a kid who endured the system here who didn't think similarly, usually in MUCH MORE extreme terms than the sentiments expressed in this post.

And the shirt.

That's the "PG" version.

I've got kids here who paid almost DOUBLE that for their "diploma/degree/placemat".

HOHOHO. But also kinda sad... really.

A lot of them DIDN'T have "Mommy and Daddy" to pay back the loan.

THEY gotta do it.

And many of them graduated at the top of their classes.

Best regards,

SM.

[VenVile]

My take on the education of it is, if you want to learn music, go to a school. If you want to learn engineering, go to a studio. But, I digress...

There are so many issues contributing to this, from piracy to cheaper technology. 15 years ago, most people wouldn't have dreamed that they'd be able to produce an entire album in their bedrooms (I won't go into the quality of that yet), and because it's so easily accessible now, people do it simply because they can. Many of them don't really know the depths of this craft. I was one who didn't, until I decided to make a career out of this. Because of this ignorance and unwillingness to learn, the quality of the product has greatly declined.

Another major issue that I think most people fail to see is the responsibility of the owners to remain in this business. I'm not putting any blame on any owner of any company for their company's shortcomings (I don't know all the facts), but I know that many people in the business refuse to see the changes taking place around them and aren't adapting to those changes. There is great passion in the arts, but when dealing with the business side of things, passion doesn't exist, only an onus to the business exists. You have to do both. For instance, the digital albums are on the rise because of the convenience the consumer gets in return. The effect? Physical copies aren't as lucrative as they once were. In fact, you may suffer losses by pressing CDs. Because hardware is generally more expensive to maintain and acquire than software, many studios are going almost entirely ITB. Many people think that full album releases may not be very lucrative in the future, instead, singles may be where the money's at, especially for new artists. But that's something we'll have to wait and see. The point remains; this business is highly competitive and a lot has to be done to cut expenses...maybe even if it sometimes means sacrificing some of the passion of the art. I know Dae cut a lot of expenses, and it still wasn't enough. But, this may not be the end for him. It may be another beginning. I hope it is!

[toneguru]

Always sad to see a good studio close. It is usually sad but a bit of a relief too for the owners as they breathe easier and consider the opportunities ahead.

As for the reasons studios are closing, most are obvious and there are many.

Down in LA I have friends and relatives who are quite busy and still able to make ends meet.

Up here in San Fran the biz seems tied more to indy bands and I have seen ads for some amazing studios here at rates that are 80% lower than they would have been in the 1980's. That is for a huge room with analog machines a load of vintage amps and a rack of gear that is off the hook. A great opportunity for bands that want to record at a very high level. $300/day.

I will start feeling better about the biz when I see national and worldwide annual gross revenues start to rise again. A significant rise in record sale revenues will be the elixir that brings health back to the industry.

One thing for sure, the future is going to be amazing.

- Cheers

[DITN]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

Personally I think anyone mixing on a world class console and only having 2 faders up is a fool.

Rob Orton?

/devil's advocate

[crille_mannen]

When reading that article it makes me wonder if there will be any big commercial facilities left in a couple of years. This studio still had world known artist recording there??

[shortstory]

Originally Posted by VenVile

My take on the education of it is, if you want to learn music, go to a school. If you want to learn engineering, go to a studio. But, I digress...

There are so many issues contributing to this, from piracy to cheaper technology. 15 years ago, most people wouldn't have dreamed that they'd be able to produce an entire album in their bedrooms (I won't go into the quality of that yet), and because it's so easily accessible now, people do it simply because they can. Many of them don't really know the depths of this craft. I was one who didn't, until I decided to make a career out of this. Because of this ignorance and unwillingness to learn, the quality of the product has greatly declined.

Another major issue that I think most people fail to see is the responsibility of the owners to remain in this business. I'm not putting any blame on any owner of any company for their company's shortcomings (I don't know all the facts), but I know that many people in the business refuse to see the changes taking place around them and aren't adapting to those changes. There is great passion in the arts, but when dealing with the business side of things, passion doesn't exist, only an onus to the business exists. You have to do both. For instance, the digital albums are on the rise because of the convenience the consumer gets in return. The effect? Physical copies aren't as lucrative as they once were. In fact, you may suffer losses by pressing CDs. Because hardware is generally more expensive to maintain and acquire than software, many studios are going almost entirely ITB. Many people think that full album releases may not be very lucrative in the future, instead, singles may be where the money's at, especially for new artists. But that's something we'll have to wait and see. The point remains; this business is highly competitive and a lot has to be done to cut expenses...maybe even if it sometimes means sacrificing some of the passion of the art. I know Dae cut a lot of expenses, and it still wasn't enough. But, this may not be the end for him. It may be another beginning. I hope it is!

I do appreciate that it may be a new beginning for him and I hope it leads to great things-

but to your idea that businesses have to change with the times? Going ITB is not an option for everyone. As someone who came up as an apprentice in 1981 and has learned engineering from some of the finest analog engineers in the best analog studios, 'normalizing' tracks & using plug-ins is just not going to happen. The science is too deeply ingrained to hand it over to an emulation- normalizing is to gain structure what a TV dinner is to a T-bone on an open-fire.

[Solar]

Very very sad indeed to hear and see Studio Monuments fade away like this. Hope that life bring to the people that worked there and owners great ventures.

"Dommage" as we say in french

Peace

[drBill]

Originally Posted by Musiclab

Personally I think anyone mixing on a world class console and only having 2 faders up is a fool.

Thanks.

I guess I'm a fool then as I've done several of the above on the largest flying fader equipped API in the US at now also out of biz OHenry's. Actually, I didn't even technically HAVE 2 faders up as I was coming back in a 2 track return. Of course, I was catering to my clients needs, requests and budget, but what the hell do I know.........I'm just a fool.

Wait a minute - if I didn't have 2 faders up, and I still a fool???? (Holding out hope......)


PS - Mixed in ONE PTHD system, out 40 channels of Stems into a second PTHD system, and printed the Stems in the second system, which summed to 2 track and returned in the console. Client required and requested. I did use the big-azz CRM volume pot on the API which is a work of art just on it's own - does that count for something???

PPS - the owner - Hank - had pretty much the same impression as you, but at least he was nice about it when he took close to 2k a day of my budget.....

PPPS - sorry to hear about Bennett. Hate to see the good ones go.....

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Alex Breaux

Regardless of what industry it is, what the demographic is, 95% of people today try and do the least amount of work possible, yet they expect to make a killing. Thats also why so much work goes to China, because the Chinese are not afraid to work a 14-16hr day.... : /

No the work goes to china because they work much cheaper and have national health care, amongst other things.

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by drBill

Thanks.

I guess I'm a fool then as I've done several of the above on the largest flying fader equipped API in the US at now also out of biz OHenry's. Actually, I didn't even technically HAVE 2 faders up as I was coming back in a 2 track return. Of course, I was catering to my clients needs, requests and budget, but what the hell do I know.........I'm just a fool.

Wait a minute - if I didn't have 2 faders up, and I still a fool???? (Holding out hope......)


PS - Mixed in ONE PTHD system, out 40 channels of Stems into a second PTHD system, and printed the Stems in the second system, which summed to 2 track and returned in the console. Client required and requested. I did use the big-azz CRM volume pot on the API which is a work of art just on it's own - does that count for something???

PPS - the owner - Hank - had pretty much the same impression as you, but at least he was nice about it when he took close to 2k a day of my budget.....

PPPS - sorry to hear about Bennett. Hate to see the good ones go.....

BILL I'm not going to have this silly argument with you.I assume you were at O'Henry for the room not for the console. Consider yourself excluded from my statement. Which still applies for everyone else

[jindrich]

The Recording Business is dead. The sooner we all assume this, the better. There's room for 30 studios (rooms), 30 engineers and 30 producers all over the world and that's it. Everybody else will work for peanuts, which is ok when you're young, but at some point people realize they can't raise a family on peanuts and they finally give up.

BTW, don't blame piracy.
When was the last time you sat to listen to music? There you go.

-Music has lost all its value. The MTV turned music into wallpaper, the background for visuals, which is what truly matters.
-Mp3 made possible to have 100.000 songs on your pocket, so you don't care for any of them.
-DAWs and computers have turned everybody a "musician and an engineer". People are too busy recording themselves to listen to real artists.
-The big speakers and stereos of yesteryear are now computer speakers, or laptop speakers. Or even worse: teens 'listen' to music nowadays through their cellphone speakers. You see this everyday.
-Huge TV screens and a million TV channels have gotten people away from listening to music, which is harder to do than staring at a Tv screen.
-Music is only 'listened' to in the car on in shopping malls with an absurd signal/noise thresold (read: nobody listens)
-Teens used to gather to listen to music. They now do it to play the PS3, and that's if they gather at all, cause they might be alone in their beds with Internet and facebook.
-Disposable income? Teens have a very limited one and nowadays, rather than in records, they spent it in Cellphones, Computers, Videogames, iPads/iPods and other gadgets. There's nothing left to buy a CD. None of this existed a decade ago.


The list goes on and on. Piracy didn't do that much, it's all the other stuff that killed music and the pleasure of listening, enjoying and become passionate about music, that 'old poison who used to corrupt teen's souls'.



Another one bites the dust.