Big
Sky Audio scores with made-for-Broadway productions
by Andre Calilhanna
Last October marked Big
Sky Audio’s 15th anniversary, and finds owner Drew Raison enthusiastic
and surprised about what’s lined up for the future. Surprised
because prospective Broadway deals have begun to change the landscape
of the studio’s business model, something he wouldn’t
have anticipated when he opened his doors in 1991. Meanwhile, the
current spate of music projects keeps Raison proud of Big Sky’s
ability to remain a recording facility catering almost exclusively
to music production.
Raison has always maintained
a forward-thinking approach to keeping his business afloat, and it’s
ultimately the most risky venture Raison has embarked on that is making
the most significant impact on his studio’s future. Who would
have imagined that a studio tucked away in suburban Springfield, PA
would be involved in the creation, recording, and production of a
number of large-scale musicals?
It started in the mid-‘90s, when Raison partnered with composer/writer
Michael Rapp. The two began producing these massive projects in the
hope that they would eventually land something on Broadway. For Big
Sky, the risk involved sinking thousands of hours into the studio
production of these pieces, with no guarantee of a return. The risk
involved, in fact, was a contributing factor to the demise of Raison’s
partnership with Big Sky’s original co-owner.
Finally, Raison is seeing the payoff from these projects, and he’s
obviously excited by the prospects. Rasputin, the third of the projects
Raison has produced with Rapp, is in the negotiation stages to launch.
While he received payment for the 3,000 hours of studio time Rasputin
required, Raison has always had his eye on the bigger picture. It’s
in the production – sound design, front of house mixing, sound
installation – that the big payoff comes, and it’s what
Raison had perceived from the start.
At the same time, a musical
rendition of War Of The Roses is in production in the studio, and
they’ve just completed the soundtrack recording for the performance
art piece Luma, which has been on stage since 1997 and is beginning
to attract major attention. As with anything else, one success has
lead to another, and as Raison and Big Sky develop a reputation for
this sort of large-scale production work, they could potentially develop
a business model that caters exclusively to theatrical productions.
“It’s a cliché,
I know,” says Raison, “but to stay alive for this long
in this business you have to be able to think outside the box. We’ve
managed to consistently re-invent our business model, or at least
stay flexible enough to adapt to new trends and opportunities, and
it’s beginning to show returns in a big way. Of course, it involves
taking some risks along the way.
“I knew the risk I was taking on Quasimodo, Prince of Fools
(Rapp’s first collaboration with Raison) was not going to be
an immediate payoff. I knew it flat out. But I had an opportunity
to embrace a substantial education, and I did. I learned how to create
this stuff and from that I’ve been able to reach out to local
high schools and private theatrical organizations and theaters to
do their soundtrack work. So I might make a little doing a high school
soundtrack, or make quite a financial impact with these major musicals.
Doors continue to open because I took on that initial risk. It’s
a personally fulfilling payoff and a wonderful financial payoff as
well. And it was the smartest move I’ve made with regard to
the success of Big Sky.”
Like many other business success stories, Big Sky’s includes
a history of adapting to changing trends. In the recording industry,
the advent of new technologies in the late ‘90s meant Raison
had to find ways to stay relevant and offer services musicians needed
as other major and mid-range studios were folding.
“When I built and designed the studio,” Raison explains,
“this area was saturated with major studios with 2” machines
and million-dollar consoles, and there was a empty area in the mid-range
studio world. It was my intention to fill a gap in the middle. We
were able to use the new modular digital multi-tracks, the ADATs and
DA-88s, and we had great success. Then it all changed when music stores
stared selling fairly high-quality digital eight tracks and 16-track
recorders.
“Right now you can
spend $999 on a new Macintosh or PC and make a high quality recording.
That’s why many big and mid-range studios started to collapse.
It forced me to embrace the technology and embrace the people using
it. I don’t want to become a dinosaur and alienate myself from
the business, I want to stay alive as a recording studio as long as
possible. That’s why a studio like Big Sky can change every
five years technologically. The things we maintain are a beautiful
acoustic environment, top shelf gear, and a great staff. It’s
really our marketing and service offers that have changed.”
The change in offers Raison refers to largely relates to the partial
services presented to the ever-growing number of musicians who have
the capacity to record in their own facilities. A large part of Big
Sky’s business comes through these partial projects.
In the early days, a band would typically come in and record, mix,
and sometimes master every note in the studio. Now a band may come
in and cut their basic tracks – drums, guitar, bass, and a scratch
vocal – and then take those files home. In their home studio,
they may re-cut guitars and solos, track all the vocals, add percussion
and various other tracks, and return to Big Sky to mix the project.
Sometimes, Raison and company won’t see the band again until
it’s time for mastering.
“The important thing is we’re still involved with the
recording process with these bands,” says Raison. “We
offer individual services. We’ll also let out the studio space
for rehearsals. It’s pricier than going to a rehearsal studio
because you’re getting a beautiful P.A. system, and you get
to use the studio drums and vintage amplifiers. For a band trying
to work out new material, there’s no better space than a tweaked-out,
acoustically sound, gorgeous-feeling recording studio.”
Big Sky can boast a 90-plus per cent music clientele (they haven’t
had to resort to commercials or voice overs to stay in business),
but it is hardly exclusive to any one genre of music. Big Sky caters
to a wide cross-section of musical styles, including a very active
gospel and church choir clientele. Raison explains this wasn’t
just by happenstance.
“I’ve always been excited by gospel music. It’s
good music for a good reason. Everything about it is positive. The
words, the music, the vibe, the recordings, it’s all positive,
so how can you lose? I always kept developing my relationships with
gospel choirs and specific churches and I’ve turned that into
a substantial angle for the studio. Often, I’ll go out on location
and record a 60-voice choir with a six-piece combo, and we’ll
come back to the studio and add instruments, repair what needs to
be repaired – we might augment the choir or re-cut the solos
– and we mix the project.
“We’ve done a number of those projects with fantastic
success. You get a job done and you get a call for another one, and
another one, and another. My focus on customer service and technique
– on the console and interacting with the clients – has
been refined over the years and it’s just a joy to do that kind
of work. A studio like this is capable of handling 50 people in the
studio, but it doesn’t have to be done on a large scale. There
are so many 6-voice R&B gospel groups out there that are all looking
for production assistance.”
While Raison and company don’t have plans to stop working with
these various local and national music acts, the influx of money and
high-level production work is beginning to take some of the pressure
off the sales end of the studio business. “I’m curious
to see where this leads us in the next few years,” Raison admits.
“Who knows what’s around the next corner.”
