A former Masonic lodge east of downtown Indianapolis is home to a world-class production suite and recording arts school. The Lodge Recording Studios, run by chief engineer Michael Graham and co-owner Jack Poley, is a major-label mixing, mastering, and post-production facility. In the space above the studio, instructor Dan Giffin’s Ableton Live Academy is giving students an accelerated education in today’s hottest software skills and production and performance techniques. We sat down with Michael, Jack, and Dan to learn more.
The Studios
What is The Lodge?
Michael: We’re a full-service recording studio in Indianapolis. We offer recording, Foley, and SFX services, and most recently, our Ableton Live Academy. We accommodate all needs and budgets. Our Studio A, designed by George Augspurger, attracts orchestras from all over the world. Our Studio C is priced for vocalists and solo artists who may not have a major-label budget.
What draws artists to your studios?
Michael: A key to our success has been that we’re centrally located. So if a label — Sony, Interscope, Warner Bros. — needs work done and their artist is on tour, they don’t have to fly them out to the coast to track a vocal. We’re also known for Studio A’s live room, our vintage mic collection, and our F Series Yamaha grand piano, which has an incredible low end that players really enjoy.
Who have you worked with?
Michael: Weezer, Goo Goo Dolls, The Ataris, Eminem, Pink, Ben Folds, John Legend, and Jack Johnson, to name a few. We have about 30 publishing clients.
What are your favorite pieces of gear there at The Lodge?
Dan: Mine are our MIDI controllers in the Academy classroom and a variety of vintage microphones from the mic closet — particularly our original Neumann U87. It’s super versatile.
Michael: Our API console. As someone who has spent the last 20 years mixing long hours here at The Lodge, that board is irreplaceable to me. There’s something in those old transformers that colors the sound in a way that works for the way I mix.
Ableton Live Academy
What motivated you to start the Ableton Live Academy?
Dan: I became an Ableton Certified Music Producer through Dubspot in New York City, and eventually became the Ableton User Group Organizer for Indianapolis. I realized there was no modern training program in this area. I spent years developing the curriculum for the Academy and shopping it around to local universities and studios. The Lodge ended up being the best option for our students.
Michael: We converted our third floor to a classroom so students could have a quiet learning environment and still access our gear and studio spaces.
Why Ableton?
Dan: Ableton Live is one of the fastest growing DAWs on the market. For many artists, it’s really the best of all worlds: a powerful production suite, an intuitive composition tool, and a quick, capable live instrument. I’ve been performing and producing with it for seven years.
What distinguishes your Ableton Live Academy from other Ableton programs?
Dan: I like to tell my students, if they want to learn Ableton, go to YouTube. All the information is out there. But if they want to produce music on a professional level, they need a broader education with the right tools. And that’s really what sets us apart. To my knowledge, we’re the only US program teaching Ableton Live using analog gear, MIDI controllers, and third-party software for production and live performance in an active recording studio. We also give students the option to perform their music live at local venues when they graduate.
What do your courses cover?
Dan: The first month is all about learning the Ableton software — really breaking down the Session and Arrangement Views in detail. The second month covers mixing and production techniques. I’m a big believer in the PERCS approach to sound design: Panning, EQ, Reverb, Compression, and Saturation. We show students how to shape their audio using hardware effects and plug-ins from Soundtoys, iZotope, and Universal Audio. Of course, since this assumes a basic understanding of recording theory, we start from the ground up teaching signal flow, mic techniques, and mixing methods. The third month is when students learn Ableton as a live instrument. We invite them to perform their music at a local venue as a fun final performance project. Once they learn how to use Ableton for live, it really changes the way they produce in the studio. It also gives them experience onstage and helps get their music noticed.
Who are your students?
Dan: The Academy is open to all music producers 16 and older: the home recordist who wants to get their hands on pro studio gear; the Ableton user who needs a refresher course; the DJ who wants to become more comfortable with producing, recording, or using live performance tools. We meet two nights a week for three months, so it’s not a full-time commitment.
What about students who can’t commit to the 3-month course?
Michael: We also offer private lessons for just about any topic covered in the Academy: Ableton software, mixing, songwriting, mic techniques, etc.
How can students get involved?
Michael: Students can enroll online at thelodgestudios.com/sign-up or by calling us at (317) 568-0000. We start a new session every four months, so there are several opportunities to get involved each year.
The Sweetwater Connection
The Lodge and Sweetwater share another connection: its co-founder, Jack Poley, and Sweetwater’s Founder and CEO, Chuck Surack, met in the 1980s as fellow music lovers and early MIDI adopters.
How did you and Chuck meet?
Jack: Chuck and I met by chance, fascinated by all the new electronic gear that was being offered in the early ’80s. As both a guitarist and piano/organ player, MIDI gave me the capacity to construct more complex solo albums. I became the first E-mu dealer in Indiana by acquiring an Emulator, and Chuck became the first Kurzweil dealer, acquiring a Kurzweil 250. I had the privilege of playing a 250 at its inaugural showing in Raymond Kurzweil’s suite at the NAMM show in Anaheim. I ordered one from Chuck upon returning to Indiana. I’ve been a Sweetwater customer ever since.
Why have you remained a Sweetwater customer?
Jack: For years, I continued to call Chuck to place my orders because I liked talking to him and catching up on whatever. But over time, as Sweetwater continued its meteoric rise, I decided not to pester Chuck for gear any longer. [Sales Engineer] Forrest Powell has been the only person I’ve worked with for the last decade or so. From the get-go, he was personable and knowledgeable — two requirements I have for doing business over the phone — and driven to provide Sweetwater-standard service during and after the sale. One of my purchases this year was an 88-key Yamaha Montage. It arrived damaged — the first time something like that has happened. A replacement was shipped before I’d even returned the item. I’m quite sure I’m not the only customer who’s received that kind of consideration, and it reminded me of why Sweetwater has been so successful: customer focus.
Big thanks to Michael, Jack, and Dan for making time to tell us about their studio and the Academy. For more information, contact Sweetwater Sales Engineer Brian VanDeKeere at (800) 222-4700 x2290 or head over to thelodgestudios.com.