As someone who had spent dozens of hours both recording and mixing in Tucson's famed Wavelab Recording Studio, it was shocking news to hear that owner/engineer and producer Craig Schumacher had moved his entire operation from one downtown locale to another.
How could he possibly recreate the unique ambience musicians so enjoyed and that the studio was so well known for?
Wavelab, unlike so many other studios with their well manicured rooms and clearly defined spaces, was more akin to recording in a small, funky warehouse but with an intimacy and vibe that could not be denied. With all manner of guitars and stringed instruments hanging from the walls and about a dozen different keyboards lining the studio's outer perimeter, Wavelab was a room that screamed "This is a place for making music!"
"I was going to move out of that space anyway," says Schumacher, who shares the circumstances that dictated this happen sooner than later. "The only way the owner of the building (the Old Mountain West phone building on East Pennington Street) could survive was to up the income. So, he wanted to put bands (very loud bands) in the rooms over the studio."
This move would have forced Schumacher's operation onto the ground floor where he says there were already problems with the wiring, duct work and noise isolation.
"I saw this space (on South Sixth Avenue by the post office) with its warehousey feel and realized we could create the same footprint of the old studio." Indeed, once you are in the new studio, the look and feel of the place is undeniably Wavelab.
One thing quickly led to another and before anyone could say "let's try that vocal again," Schumacher and a small army of family and friends found themselves moving piles of equipment, instruments and about two tons (literally) of boxed up two inch recording tape. On August 3, the deed was done.
"The first thing we did was to build the control room. Once we did that I could get back to work."
Schumacher says it was only fitting that Stefan George, "one of my very first customers back in the early '90s," would be the one to bridge the gap between the old and the new. "Stefan's new project (Cloth) was the last thing we recorded on Pennington, and the first thing we worked on after moving in when we recorded his sessions with Crawdaddy-O."
While Schumacher has many fond recollections of his time on East Pennington, including several projects with Calexico and how "doing the Iron and Wine EP was a definite highlight," he is quick to acknowledge how pleased he is with the move.
"It's like a whole new world on the south side of Broadway. It's quieter here; no annoying leakage from the metal bands (renting rehearsal rooms) and I can go outside and have a great view of A Mountain."
Schumacher's first project in the new space is with the Los Angeles band, Wait, Think Fast. "The studio has an apartment in the back and so they came out and we were able to put them up for a week."
How's that for a full service studio?
Wavelab's online presence is located at www.MySpace.com/wavelabstudio
