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John Johnston is owner and engineer at Melody Recording Studios.Northwest Arkansas Business Times / William A. CookseyNew Business■anTimes Stall WriterA “world-class recording studio is how John Johnston, owner and engineer at Melody Recording Studio, describes his facility.Located Just off U.S. 71B at 2737 N. Drake St., Melody Recording Studio opened its doors early in 1993 to offer the area recording equipment and technology not generally found in an area as small as Northwest Arkansas,“This is the finest Arkansas has, Johnston said. “There are some pretty good studios in the state — in Fort Smith or Little Rock — but this is different. This is the nicest design, the best equipped, the latest technology.The best single feature about the studio is the building it is housed in. Johnston had the facility designed by one of the country's best recording studio designers. “Everything from the foundation to the walls is designed to make great recordings, he said.The equipment used in the studio is of the same quality found in Nashville or anywhere else. This isn't a hobby studio, he said. You can take the material we do here and bring it to any professional-level studio in the world and it will fit in their machine.Melody Recording Studio does everything from radio commercials to jingles for businesses. It does albums and demo tapes for area groups, ranging from gospel to country to rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll. We're veiy diversified, he said, noting that about 40 to 50 percent of his business is with businessesand groups in Northwest Arkansas.The rest comes from outside the area. “With our proximity to Branson, we get folks who come down and record.One project in the initial stages at Melody is a recording project by the Cate Brothers,Johnston said.Some of the requests Melody's gets are a bit unusual. We get detective agencies and lawyers who want surveillance tapes cleaned up,” he said.“Sometimes people come in and interview someone for something but they don't want their voice to be recognized.While Melody Recording Studio offers quality recordingequipment, it is still affordable, Johnston said. What we really sell is time, he said. The client can spend as much or as little time as they want in here. A local group can come in here and get a very nice demo done for a couple hundred dollars.Johnston and his wife. Rose-Marie, moved to this area late in 1991 and set wheels in motion for construction of their new recording studio. They had previously owned and operated a recording studio inthe Virgin Islands for 12 years. They discovered Fayetteville while looking at recording studios that were for sale in Springfield and Branson, Mo.We like the area so much — the people, environment and quality of life here — we figured we would take a chance. We felt this area was growing.Johnston said.Johnston's background includes playing as a musician in the San Francisco music scene in the 1960s and 70s. He eventually migrated toward doing work as a studio musician, then evolved into an audio engineer.It is a field that has paid off for him, and one that seems promising for the future. “As time goes by and our reputation grows, our clientele is getting bigger, he said.
Newspaper Details
Fayetteville Northwest Arkansas Times
Fayetteville, Arkansas, US
Mon, Jan 31, 1994
Page 29
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
AR, USA 20 Aug 2019
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