I was at a large music conference when, after being introduced to a fellow engineer who's work I greatly admired, I found him asking me if there were any "world-class" studios in Portland, Oregon. I didn't think much of it at the time, and mentioned a few in town that are more "full-featured" or had SSL boards and stuff. It wasn't until later that a fellow studio owner and panelist, Craig Schumacher, brought the question back up. "What the fuck does 'world-class' mean anyway?" Craig said, and this got us talking. Why isn't my studio, Jackpot!, considered in this esteemed category? What studios are? Why?
When I think of "world-class" I think of studios in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. They have SSL consoles with 5:1 surround monitoring. There's a big video screen for post-production work. Tracking is done to Studers, several of which are waiting in machine rooms nearby, and also to the latest Pro Tools series with the most expensive converters. The floors are hardwood with tasteful rugs in strategic places. The rooms have been designed by acoustical engineers. There's a receptionist when you come in and there's a bowl of fruit and a fridge full of mineral water and microbrews in the lounge.
You know these places — you can see them on the cover of some "other" recording mag every month.
Jackpot! is nothing like that place. There's cheap indoor/outdoor carpet on the cement floor. The couch in the lounge gets rattier every day. The fridge has only condiments in it and if there's any fruit sitting nearby it's probably mine so don't eat it. The console was bought used off a clueless white reggae band. The tape deck is an Otari, no Studer, but it's damn reliable — and there's no recording computer to be found. The rooms have been designed by trial and error and sound okay. There are some damn good mics on the shelf (Manley, Shure, Royer, BLUE, etc.) and some outboard gear that rocks (Summit, Avalon, Daking, Quad-Eight, Drawmer, Demeter and more). In the lounge there's also a wall covered with some pretty cool CDs that have been done here.