Village Squire, 1978-12, Page 11Prices for renting the studio. he hopes, will be at least half that of
other studios.
A fairly Targe percentage of recordings today are coming from
the small studios. Ernie states. Speaking to some of the
professional performers they tell him that if they want a
complicated recording with strings and full orchestration in the
background then they'll go to a big studio but what they like
about a smaller studio is the smaller cost and the fact that
smaller cost lets them relax more. If they're in a studio that's
costing $80 an hour and they make a mistake, he says the
pressure builds up and causes them not to sing normally, not to
play normally. If they're in a cheaper studio if the accoustics are
reasonably good they feel they can make up any difference in
quality (and he says it's a very small difference with the modern
equipment now available).
Many individuals today don't want to be associated with big
recording companies anymore, Ernie says, because "they lock
up your master (original recording from which all copies are
made) and you can't get it again." Today the trend with lesser
known musicians at least is to produce their own recordings and
distribute them themselves, often at concerts or wherever they
are playing.
And the number is expanding rapidly. In the record collection
sold by his store, he estimates there are 45 albums recorded by
artists from Western Ontario. The new groups don't really care if
they make money on their albums. he says. they feel that once
they've recorded it's sort of a symbol of their professionalism.
And in a v: ay, he says it helps their professionalism because once
they start recording if the equipment is anyway decent, they
stare picking up mistakes they never really realized that they
had. They can tell that their pronounciation and their clarity of
tone and their expressions aren't that good. This kind of
experience was brought home to him when he first began
appearing on television he said. People began writing in to him
telling him of nervous little things he was doing that were
irritating to the audience.
Once they have recorded people begin to pay more attention to
the quality of their instruments too. "The kids of today are very
different than what we used to be. If they're musically inclined at
all. they're going to be superior. They're going to be a superior
musician. not necessarily showman. but a musician, because
they're going to really work on it and they're going to tape and
record and listen to themselves and pick out their own mistakes.
While when 1 was in the business full time. you never had too
much opportunity to do that."
The quality of equipment too has changed. he says. In the old
days when he was travelling with the CKNX Barn Dance they
didn't have the equipment to that bring out sour notes or slips.
Today the equipment is so much better that mistakes can't be
hidden. Kids today have ears trained to listen for better quality.
The idea of the studio was actually to prepare cassettes for the
use of the groups. For a cost of about $100-$150 the group can go
home with a few cassettes of their own music to keep for
themselves or give to friends or relatives.
He sounds a little sad that he didn't have the same opportunity
to record himself in his younger days. "I've been playing around
in music since 1948 in this area. I've got some old soft disks that
were recorded at CKNX and that's the only thing I've got. I
couldn't even give my mom and dad a little cassette of myself as
a souvenir." Music is a hobby for many people he says like
hunting or photography and they're ready to spend just as much
on it, always improving their equipment.
So. he says, if the studio can break even, pay for the
equipment and help pay its share of the cost of the building and
the taxes that's all that matters. He considers it part of the
service to be offered to local musicians. He set out when he went
into business. he says. to be the kind of service centre for
musicians that they just hadn't been able to get outside going to
one of the cities. Today the store is a stopping point for
musicians from a wide area. Ernie feels his selection of sheet
music is the largest in the area outside of stores in
Kitchener -Waterloo. About 20-30 teachers regularly visit the
MUSIC CENTRE
IS NOW LOCATED ON
JOSEPHINE ST.
ACROSS FROM MAC'S MILK,
WINGHAM
ALL ALONG WE HAVE BEEN SELLING
RECORDS, SHEET MUSIC,
STRING INSTRUMENTS.
NOW WE HAVE OUR OWN
SEMI -PRO EIGHT -TRACK
RECORDING STUDIO
...AT OUR NEW STORE.
COME AND SEE US!
K•
6ki-tees.•/e" _
MUSIC CENTRE
Wingham, Ont.
Tel. 357-2811
December 1978, Village Squire 9