adminBruce Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
THE recording studio is a musician’s place of refuge from the world. It is the place where all the magic happens, the place where he lays bare his talent for the world to appreciate and admire.
Indeed many listeners would like to be the proverbial fly on the wall when their favourite artiste creates a masterpiece but few have enjoyed this luxury.
For many musicians, the recording studio is their shrine, the only place where they can pour out their soul and capture their trials and tribulations in melody.
To them, it is a place that deserves as much respect and reverence as a hospital’s operating theatre or chef’s kitchen.
While their craft might not deal with life or death like the former or the nourishment of the starved like the latter, a musician’s role in society can prove to be just as crucial.
However, not all artistes are blessed with the opportunity to spend a substantial amount of time at the studio. While studio sessions come at will for established artistes, it can prove to be a struggle for some up-and-coming artistes.
Successful artistes are usually backed by big name labels that are prepared to foot the bill for extensive sessions at the studio because of their proven record as hit-makers. The same cannot be said for music industry upstarts who have to put their money where their mouth is and pay for their own studio time. It is under these conditions that small makeshift studios, popularly known as “bedroom” studios have started to flourish in Bulawayo and other cities around the globe. Bedroom studios are small-time studios that are in most instances founded and driven by young musicians or producers. Fed up with the high amounts charged by big studios, they form these studios with, in most cases, the bare minimum required to get a studio up and running.
These studios make up for what they lack in equipment and professional expertise by raw talent and a burning hunger to get their music to the ears of the listening public.
The mushrooming of these small studios, largely fuelled by the advances made in technology which have made music easier to make and access, has given birth to a new breed of independent artistes who are able to seize the limelight of the strength of overnight hits. This is particularly the case in Zimbabwe where dancehall has taken the country by storm off the strength of “ridims” cooked up mainly in small studios of the country’s high density suburb of Mbare.
Inspired by the impoverished conditions around them, Mbare’s studios have unearthed gems, polished them and unleashed them on an unsuspecting public, creating anthems and stars overnight. While the hits keep feet shuffling and heads bopping, it is also important to credit the small, usually poorly equipped studios as the unlikely source of all the hits.
As the popularity of dancehall spreads, one cannot help but admire how these small studios, some of which do not make it beyond their infancy, have successfully managed to punch above their weight and produce music that has grabbed the public’s imagination.
Bulawayo artistes have not been left behind as they too have hitched a ride on the bedroom studio bandwagon.
Most young artistes in the city cannot afford the fees demanded by the established studios so they have opted for the do-it-yourself method.
The recording, mixing and editing of a single track ranges from $20 to $30 an hour depending on the studio, while the mastering of a single track and album cost about $50 and $150 respectively.
Rapper POY believes that although these studios might not possess recording equipment of the highest quality, they do not hinder them from producing the best music. He believes that, as shown by dancehall in Harare, a mechanic is not defined by his tools.
“I think these small studios are capable of producing great music because it’s not about the equipment. You can have great equipment and still produce poor music.
“In Bulawayo there are many factors working against people as musicians so the only way we can convince people of our abilities is to show and prove what we can do with the little that we have,” he said.
POY believes that with the help of the small studios, artistes in Bulawayo can fight their way to the top.
He said artistes in the city only had to follow the blueprint of other movements in the country and region who started from similarly humble beginnings.
“We can get our music to such worldwide platforms like iTunes with the stuff produced in our small studios. If you look at a stable like Kalawa Jazzmee in South Africa they also started from the bottom but have defied the odds,” he said.
Djembe Monks group member – Sir Black Cee believes that the city’s small studios have helped in bringing younger, talented artistes to the fore.
He says that although big studios are still respected, the smaller studios have taken the baton from them and are running away with it due to their flexibility.
“The bedroom studios are doing a great job in terms of exposing new talent. As long as the studios are producing quality I see them continuing to outshine studios with world class facilities. It would be great to see the corporate world support their efforts,” he said.
He added that he believed their group which was nominated for the Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zimas) could give listeners value for their money with the modest equipment they use to craft their music.
“We as Djembe Monks have proved that quality can be produced by even these bedroom studios. We just use a Midi keyboard, laptop, monitors and microphone, but we have still managed to produce music that is now contesting at the Zimas and is played in all radio stations,” he said.
With the explosion of Zim dancehall which is mainly recorded in bedroom studios, small studios have already proven their ability to cultivate a following that follows their music religiously.
As wallets tighten across the country and artistes struggle to come up with the money required for much needed studio time, it remains to be seen whether these cheap and modest studios will continue to produce stars.
Online Reporter