PRESS
Because they're often a necessary expense in a project, tracking rooms become even more important when they can deliver the goods while keeping costs down. Spin Music Studios has made it work in New York City by providing top-quality tracking with much lower rents than the Manhattan big rooms, thanks largely to its location just over the East River in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City.
“We picked this area because we liked the space for the cost,” explains Pete Benjamin, founder/studio manager of Spin Music Studios. “You lose the prestige of being in Manhattan, but get so much space for the dollar. We wanted to build a larger facility, and this is right in the middle of most everything — it's quicker to get here than crosstown.”
Designed by studio architect Alex Kyriavis, the 2,800-square-foot studio focuses on a spacious, reverberant and highly inviting 34×22 maple-and-birch-construction live room, with 13-foot ceilings and variable acoustics. “The room is designed to be loud and just take off,” Benjamin says. “Drum sets are at home here, plus a lot of string sessions — that kind of thing. Everyone is blown away by the sound there. We're all rock guys, so this place is going to be a rock and pop facility, but we've been able to do everything. Plus, we also have the two iso rooms and line of sight for everything.
“The biggest thing I wanted, however, was for people to feel like they were at home. That's important for tracking, because really, feeling comfortable is the most important thing: If you and the client are comfortable, that will reflect in the way they play.”
Nik Chinboukas and Pete Benjamin of Spin Music Studios |
Many clients, like regularly scheduled producer Nik Chinboukas, will mix on Spin's Amek Big console and Pro Tools|HD system after tracking there, but many others will grab their sounds in the live room and then hit their personal studios. “When Pro Tools came out, they said middle studios would get squeezed out,” says Benjamin. “That probably is the case, but we have a lot of factors working for us. In Long Island City, we can keep the rate as low as what we offer. We do a get a certain percentage of people on the local level that track their drums here, then go home and finish everything in the box; or they do their overdubs in the box and then come back here to mix; or they record here and go to Avatar to mix. The room itself usually goes for $600 a day, and then the engineer will negotiate on top of that.”
With a clientele ranging from ultra-indie acts to Chris Caffery (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Clown (Slipknot) and the Flux String Quartet, Benjamin is happy to have found a formula that keeps his studio busy. “The biggest thing is sound-to-dollar value,” he states. “I think in New York City today, everyone is so budget-conscious — even the bigger labels — you almost have to prove yourself to have a great-sounding drum room. People want the most amount of value for no money and to be comfortable while they're doing that.”