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Press Archives
 Stepbridge Attracting Big Names
By DAVID PRINCE
17 May 1996
Although curiosities like a cumbersome, ? & The Mysterians era wooden Hammond B-3 organ and an amplifier once tortured by Joe Walsh might provide the greatest thrills for casual visitors to a recording facility, for potential clients the main draw is technology.That's why Tim Stroh, owner of Stepbridge Studios, is quick to point out that the Solid State Logic (SSL) mixing console in Stepbridge's ``A'' room is the unit responsible for ``between 60 and 80 percent of No. One Billboard hits, in all their respective catagories,'' or why their promotional literature is filled with references to ``baffling and separation, dual channel signal paths'' and ``routing capabilities.''
But despite the studio's collection of arcane equipment and plethora of vintage microphones, it's the massive SSL 32-track recording\72-track mixdown console that is Stepbridge's major drawing card. ``The reason why we bought the SSL-4000,'' Stroh said one balmy afternoon last week, ``is because the user interface is what other engineers are used to.''
British engineer David Bottrill, known for his work with Peter Gabriel's Womad and Real World projects, spent several days at Stepbridge not long ago working on the studio's board to mix tracks by King Crimson's Trey Gunn. Last year, Ladysmith Black Mambazo stopped off to cut a tune, Herbie Mann overdubbed his Peace Pieces flute parts, and Gene Hackman recorded some advertising voiceovers at Stepbridge. More recently, Geffen Records brought the rock band Southern Culture On The Skids in to do a Christmas seasonal single, a sign Stroh finds particularly encouraging - once the majors start recognizing your name and booking time, anything can happen.
Stepbridge opened its doors in 1985, and they've been at their current location at the end of Jos, Street since 1992. The studio's first credit of note was Ottmar Liebert's Nouveau Flamenco, a record that immediately translated into high local visibility for Stepbridge. When the SSL-4000 was installed in 1994, it enabled Stroh to enlarge the studio's scope and clientele.
They've just added a smaller ``B'' studio room and hired sound specialist Bob Hodas to tune Studio A's audio environment. The net result is studio rates presently running from $75 to $85 per hour, including engineering services, with discounts for large blocks of time.
Stroh began his music career playing bass and guitar in rock bands. Born in Detroit, he came to the Southwest to attend St. John's College, and decided to stay. He was, at one point, a member of Brian Curley's 27 Devils Joking. His conversion from bassist\guitarist to sound engineer\studio owner happened gradually, spurred on by the collection of equipment he'd amassed over the years.
Spreading the word about what Stepbridge has to offer hasn't been easy. ``People who read newspapers generally don't use recording studios,'' Stroh said, ``and regular adveritsing in big trade magazines is prohibitive, but we do go for listings when we can. Occasionally, something gets reviewing in one of these maga.zines.'' For example, the studio's name is listed prominently in a recent Mix Magazine article that discusses Tulku, a world-beat type recording featuring Jim Wilson, Jai Uttal and Geoffrey Gordon on Triloka Records.
Stroh said that operating a recording studio is ``a pretty wild business. Every five years the character of the equipment and the tools completely change. Clients look for a certain amount of vintage equipment older microphones of the large diaphram, tube condenser type but basically, the dynamic range of all these recorders has been changing rapidly over the years.
``Right now, we're the only studio in the state that is offering this caliber of equipment,'' he said. ``There are definitely three or four other rooms that are as expensive, and they're not nearly as well set up to serve a professional market.'' |
