Audio Studio Types

Within audio production industries there are a number of different studio types which are utilized in different professional production scenarios determined by the audio required and for what purpose it will be used for.

For music productions recording studio will by standard consist typically of two rooms, one acoustically treated live room designed and dedicated for the recording aspect of the production where the performance is carried out, connected to this room is then the mixing suite which contains the hardware / software to record and mix the track audio. This mixing room will contain a mixing console which the tracks coming in from the live room are processed through, these are usually routed through a stagebox between the live room and mixing console, which from there then routes via a patchbay to insert external effects as well as to route to the interface and DAW software for recording to tape. These rooms are usually set-up with enough space in the recording room for a band, due to the nature of them being used for music productions, and are treated to ensure that the recorded signal is as clean as possible before post-processing.

In situations where a backing track may already be recorded and the production requires vocals to be recorded and mixed in, then a voice-over studio may be utilized to do this. These studios will usually consist of a smaller live room due to there only being the requirement of one vocalist present, as well as for the acoustic benefit of having a smaller space leading to less reflections and a dryer tone. These studios also will usually be connected to a mixing console in a separate room, however these can also be setup to send the recordings off-site via the internet to a remote studio location which the vocals are recorded into and processed.

Within the audio segment of the multimedia industry, there are a range of other studio types which are used for specific types of sound which are better equipped for the sounds produced. An example of this would be a foley studio, as these are based around the production of sound effects for films and television, as well as radio or even advertisements. These foley studios will have a recording area which the sound designers will use in conjunction with a range of equipment to emulate various real-world sound sources, using props which may match the onscreen visual which they’re to be matched to (doors / shoes / floor surfaces / cars) as well as to create more abstract and original sounds through create approaches that may incorporate a range of different sound sources to the oncreen but are required by those creating the sound design to produce particular atmosphere effects.

Another similar to foley studios would be specifically sound design studios, these focus more on those original audio effect productions and may be found used for video-game sound or special effects audio. Both foley and sound design studios will be connected to a control room similarly to commercial music production studios, which would be fitted with a mixing console and DAW / recording hardware / software.