History

The following gives an account of our history and how we have grown.

No longer the ugliest?

Things have certainly changed since our inception. We moved to a new location at 3255 West 7675 South in West Jordan. That's a short distance east of 7800 South and the Bangerter Highway. And it didn't even change our zip code. What could be better than that?

When we moved in, we began preparing the design and construction of our new studio. It would be located in the 30 x 32 foot building at the end of our driveway. However, with a depressed real estate market and our adult kids living in the old place, we promptly ran out of money. Our vision of the studio had to change.

Instead of building a whole studio, we started with building a vocal room. The focus was on building a comfortable room for recording vocals and instruments. Many additional instruments could be added with the many samples available in our collection. With those tracks, a great mix could be created that completes the whole song. And, in fact, many studios operate that way without requiring large rooms.

Moving did leave us with something of an identity crises. We feel like we left the ugliest studio in Utah behind. That raw, unfinished look is gone. On the other hand, it's hard to say that our new place is really beautiful. Functional maybe, but not beautiful. So we decided to stick with that name, the Ugliest Studio in Utah. It's a sacrifice we are willing to make.

Our beginnings

We started as the ugliest studio in Utah for a reason. We began recording in a garage. It was much cheaper than building a facility. Of course, garages leak sound like an open door. That had to be fixed.

The first step was to seal the garage door. In front of it, a double-stud wall was constructed with two layers of wallboard on each side and stuffed with insulation. At some point, we expected to move to bigger facilities so it was important to keep the garage door in place. It still worked but when lifted, it revealed the stud wall which keeps the sound in or out depending on which side of the wall you are standing.

The garage was filled with "stuff" before the wall was added and the "stuff" was still there. We became the only recording studio with a radial arm saw, compound miter saw, table saw, router table, and enough portable tools to build a house or rebuild a car. And then there were the storage boxes. Shelves of them.

We really wanted to clean everything out. But there is no place to put it. And the room sounded great. "Stuff" apparently is an excellent sound diffusor. If the room were emptied, we feared it would sound like a giant, empty box.

So that was our "Catch 22." All the "stuff" maded the room look really ugly. But without the "stuff," it wouldn't be a great sounding room. And in recording, it's the sound that's important.

We decided we would just have to live with it. We could provide sunglasses if the "stuff" hurt your eyes. Or better yet, just close your eyes and listen. We believed you'd be pleased with the sound.