HOBIN STUDIOS
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In 1988 I had already been in the music business for over a quarter of a century. Most of my time was spent on the road or in studios far away from home. When I wasn’t doing music I was doing the music business, and most of that was in NYC. With four children rapidly diving into their teen years, it became clear to me that it was time to settle down.
Building a world-class studio in one’s own backyard seemed like an impossible task. Fortunately, I had a wonderful and dedicated crew and the brilliant mind of Doug Moncrief in my corner. We did the research. We visited many of our favorite studios, read books, articles, and asked countless questions of our friends in the business. Working from Doug’s CAD diagrams we broke ground. You’ll have to remember that computers were in their infancy. Recording tape was king, and digital recording was more like a dream than a reality.
I had an old barn on the property. It had to go. That hurt. It was literally over 100 years old. But, a floating foundation was necessary to maintain our vision of perfection. Every aspect of the build from the grade and grounding, to special insulation, right down to the angle of the walls was innovative. One day I will share the whole story. It is amazing.
The studio building still stands. Many upgrades over the years have kept it state-of-the-art. It changed all of our lives. Doug went on to become the legendary Designer Engineer at Audio Video Corp as well as being my life-long partner in crime. We probably played over 3,000 shows together and completed thousands of recordings in that building. My son Corey, became his protege and then inherited his position at Audio Video Corp. All of our kids grew up in that studio. Brett is now the boss.
And me.? I am slowly being put out to pasture. I still love working in the studio. I’ve been in this business for sixty years and I never grow tired of being in this environment. Fortunately, Brett keeps me busy. And I have LOTS of wonderful projects in the works.
I know how lucky I am.