Preserving That Signature Sound
Have you ever considered sound a character-defining feature? Musician and recent USC grad Kasey Viso Conley certainly has. She knows why Nat King Cole, Janis Joplin, Van Halen, and countless other recording artists insisted on using specific studios to get a certain sound. It’s the physical environment of the studio, from acoustic tiles to echo chambers. Yet the transformation of recording technology has studios closing left and right. Why save these places when you can simulate their sounds at home with a digital plugin? How do you preserve pegboard that’s no longer made? Hear how Kasey explored these issues and many more in her thesis, Acoustic Heritage of Recording Studios: Physical Characteristics and Signature Sound.
Van Halen in the Studio 2 control room at Sunset Sound (Image courtesy of Sunset Sound).
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Kasey Viso Conley is an architectural historian who graduated from USC’s Master of Heritage Conservation program in 2019. She grew up in New Jersey and lives in Los Angeles with her husband Steve, a songwriter, musician, and inspiration for her thesis topic. Kasey’s interests in preservation include adaptive reuse and rehabilitation for affordable housing. Currently, Kasey works for an environmental consulting firm in Pasadena, CA. |
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Our producer Willa Seidenberg interviewed Kasey earlier this year. Not only is she a long-time professor of radio journalism for the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, but she is also earning her Master’s degree in Heritage Conservation. |
Podcast Breakdown
- [03:07] Challenges of conserving musical heritage
- [10:35] Sunset Sound
- [12:59] EastWest Studios
- [15:52] Capitol Studios
- [29:44] Sun Studios
- [33:32] Eddie Van Halen tribute
Want to know more about some of the ideas and events mentioned in this episode? Check out:
Thesis: Acoustic heritage of recording studios: physical characteristics and signature sound by Kasey Viso Conley
National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress
How Has The Recording Studio Affected The Ways In Which Music Is Created?
Five Music History Sites in Transition
Recording Studios Are Not Dying
Music Row’s historic character is disappearing. Here’s what we can do.
How to restore the legendary acoustics of Notre Dame
Sound City documentary (free trailer)
USC Master of Heritage Conservation program
Episode Credits
We couldn’t do this without our amazing Save As Dream Team – Xiaoling Fang (visiting Urban Light at LACMA), Lindsay Mulcahy (she’s on the right with her classmates Stacy Williams and Rafael Fontes at the Paul R. Williams-designed Founder’s Church), and Julia Ressler (hard at work performing a materials assessment at Topanga Ranch Motel), who offer creative input, advice, perspective, reality checks, and hands-on help to make this episode possible.
The Save As logo was designed by the talented Fern Vargas – and we are grateful for the support of the Communications team at the USC School of Architecture!
Special thanks to Stephen Conley who wrote our Save As theme music – you can reach him at stephenconleymusic@gmail.com.
And thanks many times over to Tom Davies for his sound engineering and tech support.
