Motherships and Satellites (and Probes) part 2
If you haven’t read it yet, check out part 1 of this series! At a minimum, read how I’ve chosen to define “Motherships, Satellites, and Probes” as I won’t be repeating it here.
Given our definition of Motherships, Satellites, and Probes, let’s start to break down when to use each. When a project is split properly, you’ll end up with higher quality at a lower cost. But if split improperly, you may burn cash that could have been spent better elsewhere or you may create a final product that falls short of your expectations.
Probes
Writing and Pre-production
All three phases of production (pre-production, production, post-production) can be performed in all three types of recording studios but there are a few situations where one shines over another. Probes are the perfect place to perform writing and pre-production. They’re the least expensive space to use (especially if you have converted your spare bedroom, garage, or a corner of your living room into a studio space). If you are an instrumentalist, you likely have all of the instruments that you play present and arranged the way you like them. You're also likely working in a familiar, comfortable environment with easy access to all of your favorite snacks. Very few people have the budget to spend $1000 per day on a mothership while writing a song (if you do, call me!).
Production
These days, quite a bit of material can be recorded at an acceptably high quality level at home. However, some instruments are far easier to record at home than others.
Easy to record:
Electric guitars using amp and cabinet modeling rather than microphones
Electric guitars using an amplifier and microphone (if you have a space where you can be sufficiently loud)
Keyboards (or any instrument which is designed to be plugged directly into an amplifier or PA system)
Vocals (with a little bit of sound treatment or creativity)
Sequenced and sampled tracks
Electronic drum kit
Difficult to record:
Acoustic guitar, especially quiet fingerstyle passages
Acoustic Drum Kit (primarily due to the volume levels involved but the number of available input channels and microphones will also be a factor for some people)
Acoustic stringed instruments (violin, double bass, sitar, banjo, etc.). The quieter the stringed instrument, the more difficult to record at home
Any instruments that are extremely quiet (I once recorded Tibetan singing bowls for somebody after their failed attempts to record them at home).
Post-Production
Most post-production tasks can be performed adequately in a probe if proper investments are made in acoustic treatment and monitoring equipment.. Editing is the easiest post-production task to perform in a home environment because it requires no sound treatment. I’ve edited recordings (timing and pitch correction, arrangement, etc.) using headphones on an airplane many times without difficulty.
Mixing requires a bit more investment to do properly in a home environment. In my experience, unless the owner is a professional engineer or serious about becoming one, the investment is usually not made. At a minimum, the room needs to be treated to reduce the impact of room modes and bring reverberation down to an acceptable level. Quality studio monitors will also need to be purchased and placed appropriately, likely on stands in order to avoid console bounce and crosstalk. It is doable if the investment is made.
Mastering has all of the same caveats of mixing but most mastering engineers invest in even more expensive monitoring chains and treatment because the changes that they are making are often subtle and they need to be able to hear every tiny nuance. Isolation also starts to become more important to support the critical listening requirements. Most adequate mastering rooms, by definition, cross into satellite territory.
Satellites
Writing and Pre-production
Electric platypus falls under my definition of a Satellite. Because I own it and can use it for free, I often use it as a writing space. However, I personally would not pay for a writing space unless it was for a co-write and none of the participants had an adequate space for us to work out of (and we agreed to split the cost). If you have the means to book a studio for writing, it is great to have studio tools at your disposal, of course.
Satellites make excellent pre-production spaces when working with a producer. Other than perhaps a coffee meeting at the beginning of a project to discuss goals, influences, scope, etc., all of my pre-production occurs at Electric Platypus.
Production
Because we’ve moved up the food chain to a space with proper isolation (sound proofing) and treatment, there is no single instrument which cannot be recorded at a professional level within the space. The limitations start to be more about the availability of gear and the number of people who can perform simultaneously. For example, as much as I would love to have a grand piano and 24-track tape machine available to performers who come to record at Electric Platypus, there simply isn’t space and there never will be.
The sweet spot for a Satellite studio, in terms of production, is songs that are built track-by-track through overdubs. Don’t get me wrong, tracking full bands playing simultaneously is certainly possible - especially if you’re willing to accept a bit of bleed between microphones. I’ve tracked an 8 piece band with myself, a videographer, and the bands manager in the room at Electric Platypus. It’s absolutely 100% doable but it’s not ideal.
Post-Production
This is another sweet spot for the Satellite studio. In the probe studio, isolation is a concern and usually people don’t invest enough in treatment and monitoring to easily mix or master a recording. In a mothership, you may have a great mixing room but you’re paying for a huge facility just to use the control room, so you’re spending money on resources that you aren’t even using.
Motherships
Writing and Pre-Production
As I mentioned before, if you can spend $1000 per day on a studio while writing your songs, call me! I want to be friends! Similarly, pre-production doesn’t really make sense in a mothership unless perhaps you have a multi-day lockout and you’re performing pre-production for songs you haven’t started yet while taking a break from recording.
Production
This is where the mothership shines and where you’re going to see some return on your investment. Not only can you record any instrument in the space, you likely have one or more isolated rooms with glass windows where players can see each other but the sound of their instruments won’t bleed together. These studios also usually have a wide array of instruments and amplifiers available. This is my favorite type of space for tracking a full band.
Post-Production
The control room of a mothership may provide a superior mixing environment to the typical satellite. They often have at least one set of large monitors (mains) in addition to smaller near field monitors. The outboard gear that was used for tracking is now available to be used for mixing. However, you’ll be paying a premium for the facility. Given that most top-tier mixers do most of their mixing "in the box" these days (meaning they use very little outboard gear, if any, and primarily mix using software plugins), one should ask why they're paying that premium.
If you’ve found this article interesting and know of somebody else who may want to read it, forward it along! Also, if you are reading this and haven’t yet signed up to receive this newsletter by e-mail, there’s a signup form at the bottom of every page on our website. Sign up and part 3 will be delivered to your inbox as soon as it is published.
