© 2008 Studio Wizard

Studio design consultancy has become a minefield in recent years; with a plethora of under- (or in some case completely un-) experienced firms and individuals claiming to offer such services.

 

When we started running ads in Sound-on-Sound magazine in 1992, we were the only company in the UK offering design & build services advertising - the magazine had to invent the classification for us!  Since then others have attempted to copy our business model - with varying degrees of success...

 

Local ‘noise consultants’ (see yellow pages under ‘acousticians’ and that’s what you’ll get!)  are reluctant to lose a ‘gig’ and will hardly ever admit their lack of studio specific knowledge, and although they might design you a fine room to keep the noise of a lathe in - you wouldn’t want to have to mix in it!

 

Likewise, many of the more recent companies in the field may have only a few projects under their belt, and are still learning ‘on the job’ from their mistakes.  Many don’t even understand the basic terminology of acoustics and few have a qualified acoustician to hand! Building their best mate’s studio from a ‘how to’ guide off the net is not the best grounding in acoustic design - do you really want your studio to be their next attempt at ‘getting it right’?

 

Even more worryingly, recently we have seen some of our competitors sending spam emails and adverts promising huge discounts to undercut other companies’ quoted prices - sight unseen - by margins much too high to be realistic. There have been other companies hustling us for crumbs of work from our table too - its a recession and some people will quote/do anything for a little more cash-flow!  Do you want yours to be the project they are half way through when the receivers are called in?

 

A plethora of ‘stick-on’ acoustic treatments have come onto the market - being designed and sold by distribution companies who no-longer have black boxes like reverbs to sell now such things are largely plug-ins.  Needless to say, these products promise much more than they deliver - and are always lightweight foam products that are easy to ship and not long-lasting.  They will NOT soundproof or keep any noise in, and the corner ‘bass traps’ made of foam are too small to have real effect at any frequency below the midrange!

 

Rest assured our team is probably the most experienced in the industry, and will absolutely not try to sell you that sort of snake oil!  Treatments will be calculated and tuned to suit the specific requirements of your room.  

 

We have developed our network over many decades and are rightly very proud of it and all that we have achieved. Our team includes:

 

3 build teams who have between them experience of building not just amazing home studios, but some of the most iconic major facilities of the last 30 years along with major public works & institutional studio projects.

2 acousticians highly specialised in recording studio and theatre acoustics, including a contributor to the UK government building regulations governing recording studio construction.

An IT specialist who is on the APRS education steering committee and is also the published author of several educational Music Technology texts.

2 Architects who have been heavily involved in the design and specification of recording and broadcast facilities for the last 2 decades.

A cabinet maker of national repute who has specialised in the construction of studio furniture for 15 years.

 

And finally our principal, Howard Turner, with 25 years experience building and running studios, an extensive production cv, an early pioneer of music technology training, and 2 decades of experience troubleshooting ‘difficult’ rooms.  To quote: ‘I’ll never design a room I’m not happy to work in myself’.

 

Whatever the task you set us - we are sure to step up to the plate and have the experience on tap to handle it with ease...