Village Squire, 1979-12, Page 35were basically Gary's brainchild." accord-
ing to Tom, with advice from a Toronto
firm.
They started from the bottom and
worked up. building new floors, walls and
ceiling';. New walls were built inside the
existing walls; air space cutdown noise
penetration. Large amounts of fibreglas
insulation were used in the floors, walls
and ceilings, not only to reduce heating
costs but also to absorb sound. The walls
were covered with sound panelling of a
new fibreglas material called 'nubby
board'.
The 750 -square -foot recording studio has
two isolation booths at the rear - one for
drums.; the other for vocals. Different
surfaces were used to obtain different
sounds. For example. the inside of the
drum booth is a fairly hard surface, which
gives a very reflective or 'live' sound;
plexiglas was used around the upper part
of the drum isolation booth.
Outside the drum booth is a carpeted
area that gives a 'dry' sound, while in
front of the control room window is a
parkay floor that helps to provide another
'live' area where vocal and string overdubs
may be done. The ceiling in the studio is
high to give a spacious atmosphere as well
as improved sound.
In the control room, no walls are parallel
to each other. This prevents reflective
sound. Equalizers can be used to adjust a
room and speakers to a certain desired
sound. but Gary and Tom designed the
Maxim control room and studio in such a
way that equalizers are not needed. The
sound that comes out of the speakers is
'true' sound.
Besides the control room and studio. the
lower level contains a lounge and a
kitchenette. Upstairs in a loft in the front
half of the church is Tom and Gary's office.
another lounge and a guestroom for clients
requiring overnight accommodation.
Every detail must be considered in terms
of noise reduction. For instance. electric
heating will be installed for its quietness as
well as cleanliness. No furnace, fans or
duct work, which can create transient
sounds in the floor, will be needed.
The first session booked at Maxim
Canada was by Jim Rae in late August. Mr.
Rae is a country artist from Stratford. His
single "Playfairville" was released in late
October. Maxim has also worked with Bob
Burchill from Mitchell and Felix, a
Kitchener rock band. among (,hers. News
of the studio has spread by word of mouth
primarily, but in early November, Jim
Rae's single and Maxim Studio received
full page coverage in RPM - a trade paper.
"To get a quarter page is fantastic,"
says Tom, "but to get a full page is
amazing!"
Tom and Gary hope to eventually attract
clients from the London area and as far
away as Toronto as well as from the
immediate Mitchell/Stratford /Kitchener
area. Maxim Canada offers in-house
arranging, custom record pressing, pub-
lishing, studio musicians, session produ-
cers, management and the creation of
commercials and jingles. For the past few
months, Gary and Tom have operated two
publishing companies - Carlingford Music
and Maxim Music. Thus artists can have
complete production, management and
distribution packages, if they want them.
Bob Doble, a qualified audio engineer.
handles the sessions. However, if an artist
prefers to work with his own engineer or
producer, the studio does not object. Bob is
on hand to supervise and to make certain
there are no problems with the equipment.
At the present time, Maxim staff is
comprised of Tom, Gary and Bob, but they
anticipate hiring a part-time secretary/
bookkeeper in the future.
Another service offered at Maxim is a
l0 -week technical course. The studio has a
franchise with the Recording Institute of
America (RIA). Two courses are available.
The first is for beginners and touches on
various studio techniques, such as sound
generators. types and characteristics of
microphones, how the tape machine and
console operate, tape editing and live
sessions.
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