From The Owner - Robert Scott Richardson

Hello everyone. Now that you have made your way to this page I would like to tell you a little about After 7 Studios and the people behind the scenes. After 7 Studios originally started out as Scott Wray Studios in 2000. We had some great success with the design of the rooms but it was only an experiment. We had to build with the walls already up and it limited us to what we could do towards sound design. We were fortunate enough to sell the building in 2004 and start fresh with a new block building that had been gutted by a fire. This allowed us to float the floors and erect double walls that are not parallel with each other. We were still limited to what we could do with space so it had to be designed almost sideways. One major thing we wanted to do was to make the control room spacious. The previous studio had a small control room and we learned how cramped a band could be as this is where most of the time was spent during sessions. All in all, everyone who has tracked here has been pleased with the results.

So why would you want to record here when there are so many other studios in the area that charge less per hour? It all comes down to our staff and our gear. While there are some talented engineers out there, a good engineer will not be able to achieve professional results with cheap equipment. If this were not true, why do all national acts go to studios with the same type of gear we have? We encourage you to do some research of studios in New York City, Nashville and LA. What systems do the majority of professional studios use? You will find Pro Tools HD, Neve, API, Lexicon, Eventide and Urei mentioned almost all of the time. Hopefully you have already checked our our gear list. Look familiar?

All of this gear means nothing if the people using it are clueless. At the present time we are lucky to have our head engineer, Jason Shaffer. Jason studied at the infamous Full Sail Audio School in Florida and graduated with honors. He joined us in the beginning of 2001 and has been here ever since. He has earned the reputation as one of the finest engineers in our area and we are proud to have him on our staff. He will surely go on to bigger and better things so if you are thinking of recording in the near future don’t delay.

We also have three people who can help as producers. This would be myself, Jeff Feltenberger and Jason Shaffer. A producer is one who can help guide you through your project and has had a great deal of experience in the industry as well as being an accomplished musician. It is a good idea to have a producer involved in your project to be that extra member of the band to bounce ideas off of. Hey, even the Beatles had a producer so don’t believe you don’t need one.

Business 101

Please allow me give you some advice. If you are in a band just to pick up chicks and get free booze then there is no better job you can have. Eventually you will grow up and be unemployable unless you are lucky enough to get locked up and thrown into a rehab. For those who want to make a true career in the music industry you have to pay your dues. Very few bands make it and if they do get signed to a major label it may be short lived. The corporate mentality of the music world is looking for the one hit wonders that are young enough to handle the brutal schedule for no real money. The days of signing a band to make 4 or 5 records are gone.

So why not be in business for yourself? Most beginning bands don’t have a lot of money so you need to make some. Your group should write 20 songs, copyright them and play them to whoever you can and get paid for it. Start saving some of this money or you could ask your parents for some cash as I am sure they will be glad to help. It is more satisfying if you can earn this money the old fashion way. Earn it!

The next step is to set up a live mobile recording through After 7 Studios. The idea is to record 4 or 5 of your best out of the 20 songs you have written. Trust your audience from previous shows to let you know which ones are the best. We will record each song and take the files back to the studio to mix them and prepare a “Mastered” CD. You may have to come in to fix any mistakes made at the live performance so it is best to be as prepared as possible for that great take. This should cost somewhere around $450.00 unless there is a lot of fixing up to do at the studio. Take this master and start making copies on your computer and sell them to your friends. Notice I said “sell them”, not give them away. Your friends will give you money as your enemies will not.

If you figure your cost to be $450 plus $100 to make 200 CD’s and you sell them for $8 each, you will gross $1600. Subtract the $550 from the $1600 and you end up with $1050 to put in the bank. Do you think you can sell 200 CD’s? This is a business and you can make a lot of money if you think like a businessman. Save all of this money to prepare yourself to get to the next level and make a full length CD. A typical regional project has a budget of $10,000 for studio time and $2000 to mass produce 2000 CD’s but when you sell through 2000 CD’s at $15 each, you now have $30,000. Subtract $12,000 cost and you just put $18,000 in the bank. Hopefully now you see when a band sells 1,000,000 copies, you have an idea of the money involved.

Are You Ready?

Who is your favorite artist? Is the music you are writing similar to the style of your favorite artist? I am a big fan of prog rock. Many of the musicians who play prog rock have been studying their instrument since they were 6 or 7 years old. Some of these artist rehearse 8 to 10 hours a day, everyday. They have logged in over 50,000 hours of study and if you think about this they would have to play 8 hours everyday for 20 years straight!

The point is to try to find what you are good at and study other artists who influence you. Always remain teachable. Finding the right members for your band is difficult and you may have to make changes if someone is not carrying their weight. You can have a great singer and guitar player but if the bass player or drummer is not producing a solid groove, it may suck. It might be a simple case of not enough experience. I was a late starter on keyboards and when I joined my band I sucked. I wanted to do this so bad that I did practice 8 hours a day, everyday for 2 years. The band members could have replaced me for a more experienced player but they witnessed my drive and stuck with me. Eventually I graduated out of the suck category.

My band toured extensively for 5 years before we recorded our first album. We had started by playing locally at college fraternity parties and smaller bars. We signed with an agency from Atlanta, Georgia and they filled our schedule to play 6 nights a week up and down the east coast. I remember our first time out, the agency booked us for 48 nights in a row and they were all one nighters at clubs from Pennsylvania to Florida and back. When we returned to Pennsylvania we were really good and I mean really good. We had played so much that playing was as easy as breathing. Our fans noticed it to.

Playing in a recording studio is much different than playing at a club. It is much more than a sound check. Engineers are very concerned with the quality of the drums, amplifiers and guitars. We have a first rate drum set you can use but if you choose to use your own make sure that it is in the best condition it can be and replace all drum heads. Check for those squeaky pedals. It is also very important to make sure the intonation of all the guitars and bass guitars are adjusted.

Practice the songs you are going to record as much as you can and then practice a little more. The more prepared you are the more money you will save in studio time. Decide if you are going to play to a click track and get used to doing this as you rehearse. I personally always recommend using a click track. It also makes editing much easier.

We look forward to helping you reach your goal. Call 717-591-9000 to set up an appointment with one of our experienced staff and we will always try to merit the confidence you have shown in us.

Thanks,

Robert Scott Richardson
After 7 Studios, Inc.