My experience in the Studio that John Designed for me

[Leo Dale]

I'm writing to document the great experience I had with John at design and build stage of my studio here in Melbourne. The studio has been open for 6 years now, and every day I marvel at the intelligence that went into the design of this place.

http://wefostudios.com

I have three skill sets, audio engineer, musician (sax player) and video producer and a long history in all of these. Ten years back I realised that it would be essential to provide high quality video documentation while recording musicians well. Simultaneous production of both. This meant that I had to have a very flexible space for recording and great site lines for filming, as well as the option for natural light and artificial light.

John and I first met on the phone a couple of years before the build started. I rang him because I'd had ten years of experience recording at home, at first in the lounge room and then in the converted garage that many musicians have. I read the forum extensively and made the decision to get the man himself involved in the design. Good decision.

The brief was to build a professional studio at home. A building separate from the house, designed from the ground up. A floor plan of 6x9 metres. Great site lines for filming, The option of plenty of natural light. Three rooms: Live Room, Control room, Booth/storage. The option to record in all three.

The control room has the desk and outboard gear on wheels. They can be wheeled to the side of the room for tracking and I've had all sorts of instruments tracked in there. I run these sessions from the couch which if conveniently out of site of the cameras. Drums are great in the control room with this set up. And I use the booth as an amp room at these times, for the lead guitarist in the live room.

Spectrum in the studio.
I'm operating cameras here, Jem Savage was the tracking engineer, Mix by Myles Mumford
https://youtu.be/XkEqfyVSEco?t=237

Its an incredibly flexible space for making video demos for the jazz and art music musicians, that I know through my playing
http://wefostudios.com/musicians

Albums, Documentary post production, Drum tracking, Corporate promos. The list is long long of the projects that have been through here. I made 170 videos here last year.

John was very patient with the long list of things I wanted to incorporate at design stage and INCREDIBLY helpful and available at build stage. He was literally always available to call even though he was living and working in a different time zone at that point. I can't tell you how much it reduced the stress of a meticulous build to have the voice of experience on the end of a call when I had a tradie about to knock a whole through something. He had suggestions on subfloor (its on stumps), on roofing and everything in between. Advice that saved me money, time and heartache.

I find myself more and more busy here each year and I'm having the time of my life producing some great work.

Thanks John, the studio is an absolute winner.

Leo Dale

[gullfo]

thanks for this! it's always great to see John's work in action - new or old(er)