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 Firehouse studios was one of the first commercial studios to chose Digidesign's ICON at RSPE. “I like the people there and they’ve been very good to me over the years. I’ve never had any issues with them. I refer tons of people to them because I know that when they call RSPE they’ll get taken care of.”
Expect the unexpected from Firehouse Recording Studios... Constructed in the livery of Pasadena's 1889 firehouse, the joint oozes cool from every crevice and is packed to the rafters with the sauciest analog gear this side of Abbey Road-- all seamlessly integrated with the latest digital equipment to give you the sounds you've been hearing in your head!
There's even a 7'4" Bösendorfer Grand piano hangin' out, so you know they're serious about sound. Some things you just have to hear to believe.
By Jennifer Kae
Firehouse Recording Studios is a state of the art recording facility with unparalleled expertise in recording and mixing records and film scores. Some describe it as “the five star recording experience.”
 The facility consists of 3 studios, Studio A, Studio B and C.
Studio A is equipped with Digidesign’s D-Control, an expanded six card Pro Tools HD system, with 80 inputs using six 192 I/Os, which does up to 7.1 mixing. There is also two isolation booths and a tracking room adjacent. Studio B and Studio C are smaller but both have a large expanded Pro Tools HD system.
Firehouse Recording Studios is a division of DMI Music & Media Solutions. Their music branding group works with brands to develop their SoundDNA. For AARP, they recently tracked all the strings and did mixing for an original song written by Tena Clark, their CEO, and performed by Aretha Franklin. It will be an integrated element to an important initiative for them. Another exciting project Firehouse has been part of is working on the music branding for "Build-A-Bear Workshop," from original music for the brand to music for TV spots.
RSPE's Jennifer Kae spoke with Ed Woolley, Chief Pro Tools Recording Engineer of Firehouse Recording Studios.
What do you like about working with RSPE?
“I like the people there and they’ve been very good to me over the years. I’ve never had any issues with them. I refer tons of people to them because I know that when they call RSPE they’ll get taken care of.”
What led you guys to choosing Digidesign’s D-Control?
“This was kind of a natural progression from the Procontrol. We’re an all digital Pro Tools studio, and when this came out it was kind of like the natural thing to do, we needed the biggest and baddest digital Digidesign console and we have it now and it’s great! It’s nice having buttons and knobs for everything, compared to the Procontrol where it did have buttons and knobs but it wasn’t as intense as this is.”
What features does this have [that the Procontol didn’t]?
“Well, there’s more knobs and buttons to hit. There’s more dedicated functions as to where the old Procontrol has lots of pages to flip through… The console will actually show you more than the Pro Tools will. So for me it’s easier for me to just look at the console and I can tell what’s going on just by a quick glance rather than flipping through a page in Pro Tools or clicking on something… It’s quicker and more efficient, and it helps when we’re tracking a band and getting headphone mixes, it’s so much easier for one of our assistants, or even the engineer who might be here, to constantly be able to monitor headphone sends and adjust without having to huddle around the screen and see what’s going on… It’s very comforting!”
What are your favorite plugins?
“Good question but hard question, because I like to try things I don't have a set way of doing things, but a lot of the time for EQ, I like to grab the McDSPs. I know them very well and I like the way they sound. The Digi EQ that just came out as well, I've been going for that a lot lately. As for compressors, well anything Waves is great."
What speakers are mainly used?
“We’ve got a set of Genelecs and we’ve got a set of these Adams [S2A]. I like [the Adams] a lot, I tend to use the Genelecs more often, but me being in this room for so long and knowing the mains, the Meyers [X10], those are probably the speakers that I use the most because I’m just so comfortable with them. I know how they translate outside the building… I can hear exactly what’s going on with my mix and not worry about if I’m hearing some artifact in there that is not necessarily in the tune. I know that if I hear it here then I’m going to hear the exact same thing outside [like] in my car or in my home stereo.”
One of the isolation booths in Studio A lives a Bosendorfer piano. Firehouse gets a lot of people, like talented musicians such as Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, coming in strictly just to record on that piano.
“It’s the best piano in any commercial recording studio in L.A.” claims Ed Woolley, Chief Pro Tools Recording Engineer.
The microphone they use to record the piano is the Neumann U89.
“It’s like your standing in front of the piano listening to it when that mic is used. It really brings out the true sound of the piano, which makes for a really great sounding recording!”
What do you look for in a supplier?
“I like honesty, someone who says they’re going to take care of you, they take care of you. To me the price isn’t that big of a deal, if I feel like I’m getting taken care of and my needs are being handled, that makes me happy. If I’m paying a little bit more for that, that’s fine with me.” |
