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Fran Ashcroft:  Paint It Black

I have my first session in a brand new studio next week. The live room is beautifully proportioned, with a musical, pleasant sonic. A very comfortable space for musicians to work in. No problem there. And although the control room is similarly well appointed, and the gear is fine, I have one reservation. They’ve painted it black. All black.

Whilst this might be deemed to add atmosphere by some, I don’t find the prospect of spending eight hours a day in a black room terribly enticing, but I can manage. What I do have misgivings about is the practicality of it, when the console and majority of the rack gear and even the computer keyboard also happen to be black. No matter how many little spotlights are shining down on the desk, visibility is not what it ought to be. It is of course quite important to be able to read the gradations on the faders and knobs easily and accurately, and in a darkened room it’s inevitably more fiddly and time consuming if you need to plug anything in, clean tape heads, or write something down – all of which we have occasion to do now and then in recording studios.

However, I am a pro and have done my time in the Gulag so that is not a deal breaker and I am sure it will not drive me out of what is left of my mind.

Prince Charles: “What a frightful old moaner, rattling on about the consequences of inappropriate decor! You’d think he was one those cobwebbed old boffins that write about the insides of transistor radios for Studio Sound”

Dulux Dog: “I know, let’s get a few cans of multicoloured emulsion and splash paint the lot!”

John Mills: “Sorry old chap, I’m afraid that won’t work. We’ll just have to tunnel our way out!”

Fran Ashcroft’s website