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America’s home for alternative music is still turning out
the tunes, proof that Seattle’s best includes more than just coffee. Robert Lang Studios is among the most
established in the city, and after over 30 years, is still going strong. Nestled in an upscale neighborhood
overlooking the bay, this full-scale studio offers musical quality at its best.
Robert Lang Recording Studios was built over 30 years ago,
and has since become a full-service recording facility providing top quality
recording and production services.
Targeting the professional community, they are equipped with the latest
technology, placing them among the best in the industry. Paul Wieser has worked as the studio manager
for the last three years, and is well versed in keeping up with an industry
that is ever changing. “We use Pro
Tools, which is what most of our clients prefer,” Wieser said. “It gives us versatility, along with the
ability to upgrade easily and exponentially.”
The studio itself was first opened in what was then a
two-bedroom house. When expanding became
necessary, the house was stilted, a common practice in the Seattle area where
flooding can occur, and major additions were made. These included building several new rooms,
and adding another story. The changes
that occurred made it among the most structurally unique studios in the area.
What started out as one live room and a control room has now
been expanded to include two live rooms for recording entire bands and some
miked instruments, a vocal booth, drum booth, and a control room. One of the most unique features is the verb
room. This large, all-concrete room is
located in the basement, and is used primarily for recording large drums and
pianos. Its natural reverberations help
bring out the acoustics of the recording source, which makes using simulated
effects unnecessary. A smaller verb room
is also in the works, and will be used for recording smaller instruments that
must be miked.
Over the years, Robert Lang Studios has managed to grow with
the burgeoning music scene, and when Seattle became a hot bed for the
alternative genre, it was the chosen place to record many of the bands. That hasn’t changed. The list of artists who have taken advantage
of this superb facility includes: Nirvana, Death Cab For Cutie, Candlebox, Foo
Fighters, Bush, and Dave Matthews, to name a few. “We get a lot of local musicians who are well
known around the area, but also see a lot of bands who come to us while passing
through on tour,” Devon Tremper said, who works for the studio as a composer
and producer. “Many bands who are from
here who have made it big keep coming back, as do other engineers and
producers.”
In addition to recording a variety of artists and bands, the
crew at Robert Lang also record voice-overs for commercials, as well as music
for sound tracks and other musical occasions.
Tremper handles a majority of the composing and arranging, and said he
has a formula he usually follows that works well for him. “I usually just start with the melody and
build from there,” Tremper said. “I then
add drums, and bass, then the other instruments, and that’s when the whole
process really starts to take shape.”
While some artists have a preference when it comes to vocal
and instrument mics, Tremper has one that has come to be the most popular vocal
mic they possess. “The Neumann U47 is
the mic we use most often for vocals,” Tremper said. “It’s a tube condenser mic, and really
produces an unbeatable sound.”
A variety of other mics are also used when recording
instruments, such as Sennheisers, and sometimes Shures, when miking amped
instruments like guitars and basses.
Some artists also have techniques that work best for them, and these are
adhered to when they are the preferable method of getting the job done.
No matter the equipment or technique, the staff at Robert
Lang Studios is still pleasing many musicians around the country. The list of artists and musical genres
recorded there only continue to grow, a testament to a professional reputation
built on years of experience and dedication.
“We really enjoy what we do,” Wieser said. “We’re proud of the work done here, and are
happy to play a part in the creation of such unforgettable music.”
