Game Audio Network Guild

"Nashville? The Grand Ol' Opry? Toby Keith...Billy Ray Cyrus?"

YES, the very same.

The west coast certainly has its general notions of Nashville planted in a country-music, HeeHaw stereotype, but for those who haven't visited Nashville, it's a "music city" in the most professional sense of that phrase. As Nashville studio owner/producer/engineer/composer (and GANG 2011 Distinguished Service Award winner) Dan Rudin likes to say "In Nashville, the guy who mows your lawn is a better guitar player than you will EVER be."

And this would include orchestral music in addition to salsa, swing, dixieland, bluegrass and of course, rock. The quality of musicians is exceptional, as Sony's Senior Music Manager, Clint Bajakian says "When we learned of Nashville our initial assessment of the musicianship there was very positive. The musicians play formidably and conduct themselves with the full professionalism we've come to expect in all our scoring venues. They work very fast, nailing even difficult material musically and efficiently."

Alan Umstead, of Nashville Music Scoring, is hired as a contractor and musician to work on several types of projects from Film scores to Game scores to records and jingles, and tries to explain to his clients the importance of looking at the TOTAL cost of recording PER MINUTE, rather than the musician's 'per hour' rate. "Many people think that they can save a lot of money by bringing their projects to Eastern Europe but many times they don’t realize that the total cost of recording overseas often is actually more expensive than recording in Nashville when you consider all of your costs. Simply add up all your costs when recording overseas and divide by the number of minutes recorded and you will see that we are often less expensive than European alternatives." Umstead cites the the plummeting dollar to euro ratio, the high quality of Nashville recording engineers, and the fact that the high caliber musicianship results in more music coverage per hour as compelling reasons to consider for your audio budget.

Regarding Sony's recent Nashville projects, Bajakian says, "We've very much enjoyed working at Nashville and the performances and recordings have been excellent. We've worked on a few different projects there, always at Ocean Way Nashville, a converted church that has a clean, well mannered reverb and an experienced, personable staff. They also put forward a positive attitude and clearly share with us the goal of having a great time as part of the work."

Speaking of the positive attitude, Rudin adds "One comment that is constant from all of my out of town clients (and they're all from out of town) is what incredibly great attitudes the Nashville musicians have. They not only show up on time and play great, but are always helpful and looking for ways they can make things better."

For more info on recording in Nashville please visit Alan Umstead's scoring services site, NashvilleMusicScoring.com or Dan Rudin's site

1 Comments

Alan Umstead June 11, 2012 Votes: +0

Thanks so much for the article about game scoring in Nashville. It is great to see that the word is finally getting out that Nashville is more than just a bunch of “pickers and singers”. Those that record here know that we have a large number of world class session musicians recording in just about every style of music there is. Of course we have great country and Christian musicians, but we also have great Jazz, Rock, Latin and Orchestral Musicians. The Nashville Symphony is fast becoming one of the leading classical ensembles in the country having won the best Classical Music album 2 out of the last 3 years! Not mentioned in the article is why we are a great choice to record video game scores. Unlike a lot of cities, this is our full time job, recording in the studios. When you record in Nashville, you record with a group of highly trained and experienced musicians who play together practically every day and have done so for many years. We take this work seriously and are doing this kind of work because we enjoy it and are good at it. This gives us sense of style and sound that you will just not get with a pickup group of musicians. You will find us to be fast, energetic, attentive, accurate and professional. Also, there are NO BACKEND payments on any projects. ALL work is BUYOUT. What you pay up front is all you will ever pay. If you, or anyone you know, is looking for a great alternative to score your next project, please visit our website at www.NashvilleMusicScroing.com or call Alan at 615-400-3365. Thanks, report abuse Vote Down Vote Up