Columbus Studio Tours

This past week I had the opportunity to tour two very different local studios here in Columbus. The first studio was built from the ground up and spared no expense in the process.  The other was built inside an already existing warehouse and was constructed mostly by the owner himself (and who ever he could bribe with pizza and beer).  Our goal was to get a look at both ends of the spectrum therefor when building our own spaces in the future we could decide for ourselves how we would do things. 

 The name of the first studio was Circa Music.  They specialize in composition for commercial clients and they work with international acts and corporations.  Upon my arrival I was blown away at the quality and beauty of the construction.  When the double sealed doors to the main control room were closed it was as close to dead silence as you can get.  To get a clear view into the main tracking room the engineer just pulls out a remote and the large flatscreen monitor lowers itself out of view.  This was by far the nicest studio I had ever personally seen.  When we went into the tracking room I loved the stone wall with bronze piping that acts as a bass trap but is also very aesthetically pleasing.  To limit reflections, there wasn’t a single paralleled surface which also gave the room a very unique design.  I loved the open layout and decent size of the tracking room; a feature I would include in my own studio if i had one.  This emulates a performance vibe for the musicians and also makes for easy visual communication with the engineer. There is also a second control room that is essentially just a smaller version of the main.  My favorite part about Circa music is that the play a sort of “Robin Hood” role in the music industry.  They work with large corporate clients which allows them to employ dozens of local musicians.  They come from a long line of musicians so they truly care about them.

The second studio we got to visit was Oranjudio.  Oranjudio is an independent recording studio that specializes in recording musicians in an open floor plan environment.  The is much more of a laid back vibe at their studio with multiple shop dogs that chill out in the lobby and video production unit that is joined to the studio.  Compared to Circa, Oranjudio had to be done on a much smaller budget so must of the work was by the owner and friends, but you'd never know if he didn't tell you.  Their tracking room also avoids parallel surfaces and has an open floor plan that allows the musicians to be comfortable and creative.  The tracking room also has multiple isolation rooms that connect to it by glass doors.  This allows for more control over certain recordings but still allows bands to visually interact while playing.  This is a concept I would incorporate into my own studio.  Over all I love the vibe of Oranjudio.  It is truly and inspiring place that just oozes with creativity.