I moved to Columbus five years ago, and if there is anything I regret, it was spending the first two years in an underage vacuum of local music awareness. It wasn’t until I received that coveted piece of plastic that declared I could legally experience local nightlife that I began to scratch the surface of the incredibly active and diverse music scene that has long been a cultural staple of the city.

The sheer amount of local talent warrants an equally passionate community of recording studios, sound mixers, and mastering engineers to immortalize this music in permanent form, and they work hard to keep up with Columbus’ growing soundscape. Central City Recording has made their mark on the city this past year, and Musicol’s reputation among local and regional bands is stellar – but several other studios around town are garnering a name for themselves and the C-bus scene.

The Up-and-Comer

Eric Cronstein lives where he works, a convenience he generously extends to all of the artists he records with.

“Anything that is here is usable by anyone who is here,” he says with a sweeping gesture from the studio to the domestic space. “When you are recording here, everything is available 24 hours a day. This is your home, there are no boundaries.”

Cronstein’s studio residence, the Tone Shoppe, is a humble monument to the artistic process. Nestled in the outskirts of the city, it serves as a retreat for artists who want to record in a professional but comfortable environment. “Most people say that when they’re here, they forget that they’re at a studio, because we’re really away from everything,” he said.

As a staff engineer in Cleveland, Cronstein began to feel disenchanted with the industry’s focus on finances and competition. “In Cleveland the studios would advertise ‘We are the premiere studio!’ or ‘We have the biggest console!’ but no one ever just said ‘We make really good recordings’ – which is what it is really about.” Interested in starting his own project, Cronstein decided to relocate to Columbus, an opportune area due to its thriving music scene. He and his business partner, George Chase, opened the studio in May 2010.

Since then, Cronstein and sound engineer Mark Parsons have recorded with local bands such as Tin Armor and Churches Burn, as well as out-of-town guests like The Sidekicks and Reverse the Curse. Cronstein says albums have taken anywhere from several days to several months to record. “We like to talk to people about their project before we do it, and we don’t like to work on an hourly basis. I feel like the focus on time stifles creativity,” he explained. “I know that musicians are not the wealthiest of folks, and I want to be able to give them something regardless of what they have.”

If anything, the Tone Shoppe team has a genuine respect for music, and a dedication to making the recording process a creative endeavor, rather than a business transaction. Whether clients want to come in for a few hours per day, or spend the summer playing baseball in the backyard, the satisfaction with their time spent and their final product is all that matters.

“Essentially, an artist is coming to a place to have somebody help them make their art, and they should have an environment that is conducive to that.”

www.thetoneshoppe.com

The Innovator

The owners of Electraplay Productions are nothing if not ambitious. In the eight years since its inception as founder Tony Stewart’s basement music recording group, the company has expanded into a multi-medium tour de force.

“Around the end of 2006, I was searching for some places to record some acoustic demos I had, and I found Tony on Craigslist,” recalled co-owner James Allison. “At the time, I was a sophomore at Ohio State studying marketing, but I had been playing music since I was six. I wanted to learn more about recording, and Tony agreed to teach me.”

Allison continued to work under Stewart when he and William Carroll moved the operation to a larger space – an old steel mill barn in Hilliard, which they renovated into what Allison describes as “a top notch acoustical mecca.” Allison took over as co-owner last year when Carroll left, and they quickly began pursuing new projects.

In addition to extensive work with local artists, Electraplay has also partnered with local music blog Donewaiting to produce videos of live sessions with touring and out-of-town bands.

“One thing I’ve always thought about Columbus is that it contains so many of its own great artists, but in order to keep and retain them it needs to become more of a destination than a point of departure,” Allison explained. “We’ve always been brainstorming on how to bring people into Columbus, and this seemed perfect. Unless touring bands were doing a CD101 Big Room or something, it seemed like they didn’t have much to do when they were here.” The first session with Phantogram premiered on Donewaiting.com last June, and the partnership has continued to grow with charitable endeavors, such as a Christmas compilation to benefit Columbus’ Gracehaven House, a non-profit that assists victims of sex trafficking in the U.S.

Recent visitors featured in the “Live at Electraplay” series have included Maps & Atlases, The Wildbirds, and Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s. New videos are posted about once a month on Donewaiting.com, with multiple songs and candid interviews from each artist.

www.electraplay.com

The Pro

A small piece of tape atop mastering engineer Brian Lucey’s workstation reads: “Each single important, each record a career.” It is this mantra of commitment to quality that has made him one of the top names in the entertainment industry. From mastering the Grammy-winning Brothers by The Black Keys, to working with international superstars like multi-platinum pop artist Sami Yusuf, Lucey has no shortage of success stories.

“Mastering is a mindset, just like mixing is a mindset, and being a musician is a mindset,” Lucey said. “Because of my experience as an artist, a mixer, a producer, and a music lover, I know where people are wanting to go.”

Previously working out of a studio in his Delaware home, Lucey moved his business, Magic Garden Mastering, to Grandview last year.

His experience and efficiency allow for an impressive turnover rate. Lucey works with an average of 20 to 30 clients a month, all of whom are referred by other clients.

“I never advertise, I rely on the clients being so happy that they tell their friends to give me a shot,” he explained. “That’s how I moved up the ladder to getting Grammy-winning artists. Word of mouth is the only thing that really ever matters in the music business.”

Although his business is funded primarily by his work with widely known artists, he is just as eager to bring in the locals. By foregoing hourly rates, which he sees as unfair to his clients, he is often able to lower prices to allow everyone a professional mastering experience.

“Anybody in the recording and engineering business who’s in it for the money is not going to last,” he said. “The people who last are the music lovers, and the people who are passionate about seeing music be born in a permanent way. This is a service job – everybody has something in mind, there’s always a creative vision that you’re trying to honor. Usually I know what that is without them telling me, but I often will ask, because I don’t want to waste my time making them unhappy.”

Lucey’s career is inspired by a lifetime of musical versatility. A Worthington native, he started slinging guitar at eleven, recording as a teenager, and even spent several years in New York as a professional cover artist before he returned to Ohio to dedicate himself to mastering, his true niche. “There are a hundred ways to do any single, there are a dozen ways to do any record, and for me, those are now easy, effortless, fun projects,” he said.

www.magicgardenmastering.com.