Hedback knocks it out again...

if those rooms are the best the worlds top designers are producing then the worlds top designers are in serious need of exposure to the worlds top designers. the actual worlds top designers.....there i said it...

p.s. i don;t include wes lachot in that commentary.

I could not agree more. Wood, cloth, texture, warm colors, soft lighting, creature comforts, curiosities, style, vibe, clean air, fresh smells . . . there are so many little things you can do to make a studio a productive pleasant workplace.

That ethos seems to have escaped some folks

I was the lead carpenter on a room that ended up in Mix class of 2007 or 2008... there's certainly some behind the scenes politics involved with how they choose what to feature. 

Having been involved in the process (outside looking in) sometimes the picture they choose can be sorta odd and maybe not a great representation of the whole space. With June Audio, IMO there are more eye-popping pictures available then what they chose to publish. Handful of years ago I mixed an album that Scott Wiley tracked in his old spot and damn, it sounded good coming in...

He documented the whole build of that new space. The storage locker for instruments is insane. Never seen anything like it.  

Anyway certainly more to building a nice space then some choice gear. As time marches on that's like, one of the least important things to me at a shop given that there's at a least a particular level of integrity. 

If you spend a lot of time in a studio its gotta be comfortable. And there needs to be space to get away from everything and maybe even fix a borked piece of gear... Been in a number of studios where the lounge is a tiny afterthought, there's zero storage with shit all over the place... total visual distraction and not even a place to change guitar strings. 

Could have the most bad ass gear on the planet but if I can't find a spot to check and adjust the intonation on a guitar I'm not coming back. 

Regardless of my thoughts on current state of Mix Magazine its just really nice to see that people are still investing in the build out of new spaces. And there's room for all kinds of studios doing all kinds of different work. I only see the positives in that. 

And while I haven't had the pleasure of meeting or working w/ Jeff Hedback, he did design and build the room for a guy I've sent many albums to over the last handful of years. My pal Cass Anawaty at Sonoran Mastering can't say enough good things about him. 

2020-2021? How many great studio's actually got built this last year. Especially with Covid and the business the way it is. I think Mix is lucky that ANY got built.  

But as to Jeff - Hedback is an amazing designer.  And better than that - an individual who is adept at solving PROBLEMS rather than dictating his personal design agenda.  (That got 2-3 excellent designers fired here before they ever got started.  It was their way or the highway, and I had to be subservient to their creative vision - not the other way around.  Not sure how they can even get work.  Sad.)

That creative problem solving mentality was the #1 reason I hired Jeff.  That and stellar recommendations from guys I know who had used him before me.  At the end of the project (and is there really EVER an end... ) my room came out ruler flat from 180Hz to 20k - and virtually identical left to right.  RULER flat.  I've got glass doors on one side that are affecting with a small 1.5dB dip around 180Hz that is slightly different between Left to Right (glass), but I knew there would be compromises going in.  Hedback overcame virtually all of the problems I threw at him thanks to creativity, and open-mindedness on his part - and his commitment to my vision of bringing the OUTside forested area INto the studio.  He killed it.  Add to that that he's a wonderful person, and it was a win, Win, WIN!! for me.  Couldn't be happier.

As for the other studio's in mix magazine...  The bottom line is in the SOUND not what they look like on paper.  I'm not quite sure how some folks can seemingly judge that from reading an on-line article.     But whatever.

All true, and the snipped parts too. However, the aesthetic is so important when you are doing anything besides foley work.

You and I both have beautiful looking and sounding studios with obscene amounts of gear in them . . . and what happens when clients/collaborators/others walk in? "Oh wow, what a great place to work".

Design first (thank you Jeff and others), construction, equipment and appointment. Ergonomics are incredibly important. I've been in some studios that are so 'cold', I want to leave immediately.

YMMV.

I feel like Mix Magazine should feel lucky they're still in business and anyone still cares. But that's probably a whole other discussion.  

Regarding design, pictures and the annual "Class of" piece... having been there... 

I feel it can be exceptionally hard/disappointing/joyous/overwhelming... "insert adjective here" to take a project that was $100k + and a year or more of your life and have it distilled down to a single photograph and a paragraph or two. 

All that time money and effort? It becomes a postage stamp that's incredibly hard to judge. 

New studios open and old studios close all the time, regardless of what a magazine does or doesn't feature.

this is why designers need to take control of what's written and what imagery gets used. what gets printed is what defines the work to new clients.

that goes for everyone on the team, from the builder through to every consultant. the firms i've worked for that do the best work are also the ones that have a say in who the rest of the team are and what gets published. 

one particular company i worked for had a group of 4-5 builders that built everything. clients who wanted a different builder were moved along because we just couldn't guarantee the level of quality the client was asking for without using a builder we knew was top of the game. the same philosophy was applied to the entire consultant team.

Derek Trost designed my space...he told me that business has actually increased this year!     


 

Geez, that's a little condescending, don't you think? Jeff participates in design and works his acoustic magic in conjunction with design, which he is a part of.

Does he have a website? I saw one image online that looked pretty cohesive but didnt find much. Is he designing camera gear now.

I think you are wrong there.  He is both.  His main emphasis may be acoustics, but he is active in design as well.  And in practical situations, IMO, the two overlap completely.  One affects the other - and vice versa.

I work for architectural practices. My background 30 years or so ago was as a building designer so more of a technical based education but my focus over the past 20 years has been design underpinned by my technical skills.

So Have worked for design based architectural practices for most of my career in 2 countries designing, documenting and delivering many different project types from schools to theatres to aged care to high end residential and multi res.

Certainly have a passion for residential so have enjoyed a lot of work in that area.

I understand a basic level of acoustics. Have designed and built a small number of studios from the ground up including the wiring, furniture and treatments. I deal with acoustics and buildings daily and work with acoustic engineers regularly.

Dont consider myself an acoustic engineer or an electrician but do feel im more than qualified to enter into a conversation about designing spaces.

Im not here to sell stuff or pick up clients, if you want to have an open conversation about good design then im all ears.

maybe we could tone down the patronising commentary about egotistical designers pushing their own philosophy and actually dig into what makes a good design.