Recording studio/audio school coming to Broad Ripple

The Round Table Recording Co., a recording studio and audio production school, is set to open next month at 6345 Carrollton Ave. in Broad Ripple.

Round Table includes three studios—a 1,600-square-foot space that can accommodate groups, as well as two smaller studios. It also has a piano room/writer’s lounge, classroom, conference room, kitchen/lounge and office space.

The studio and school are a few blocks north of Fresh Thyme Market and the Central Canal, in a building previously occupied by the film and video production company Scofield Digital Storytelling. Scofield moved to nearby 6555 Carrollton Ave. several months ago.

Financial partners in Round Table are Travis Moore, who will serve as the studio’s chief engineer and producer; and Tim Walker, who will serve as studio manager. The two declined to disclose how much they have invested in the project.

Moore has been working in the recording industry since 2004 when he graduated from Full Sail University in Florida with a degree in recording arts. He started his career at a recording studio in Detroit before moving to Indianapolis and working at The Lodge Recording Studios, and later Azmyth Recording Studios.

Moore also writes music for television—background music and theme music for reality shows, including The Voice, Pawn Stars, Big Brother and others. He’s also worked with national acts, such as Snoop Dogg and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

The studio’s chief engineer and producer is Corey Miller, who has more than 24 years of experience as an engineer and producer. Moore said Miller is considered a partner in the venture even though he has no ownership stake.

“I know this is a new studio, but we’re not new to the industry,” Moore told IBJ.

Moore and Miller also have teaching experience—Moore at Azmyth Recording Studios, and Miller at Azmyth and IUPUI.

Walker, whose background is in automotive operations as well as business services, met Moore and Miller when he took recording classes from them at Azmyth. The three decided to open a studio together and have been working toward that for the past three years.

The partners envision attracting a range of customers—from local musicians who want to cut an album; to regional and national acts that need to book a studio while they’re passing through town on tour; to podcasters or voice actors.

Moore and Walker also think they can attract local music producers who may have an in-home studio but need a professional studio for a larger project.

“There’s a lot of things that people can’t do in their home studio,” Walker said.

Rates vary, depending on the service. The booking fee for the large Studio A, for instance, is $75 an hour, which includes the services of an engineer. Music and song production start at $500 per song, and music mastering—preparing the music for digital, CD or vinyl formats—costs $35 per song.

In addition to its recording and production services, Round Table will offer instruction in audio mixing, mastering and recording. Tuition for the 20-week course is $7,500.

Moore said students who graduate from the course will learn the skills necessary for jobs in the recording industry: music mixing, mastering, recording, microphone techniques, music publishing and licensing, and other topics.

“We’re kind of the alternative rather than doing the four-year university stuff,” Moore said. “This is a nice, cost-effective alternative for kids that want to do this for a living.”

In other news this week:

— Orangetheory Fitness is opening a fitness studio at 5220 Southport Road just east of Emerson Road. This will be Orangetheory’s 10^th Indianapolis-area studio and its 18^th in Indiana.

The franchisee for the Southport location is Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based OT Growth Partners, which owns and operates 23 studios and sub-franchises 27 others in parts of Indiana, North Carolina and Iowa.

Shaun McDonald, who manages Orangetheory Fitness Indiana along with his wife Carolyn, said the Southport studio should be open by the end of the second quarter.

— Goldfish Swim School’s third Indianapolis-area location, at 1675 W. Smith Valley Road, Suite D1-3 in Greenwood, is having a grand opening on Friday. The school, which is just east of U.S. 135, began offering classes last week.

Goldfish Swim School offers swim lessons and water-safety instruction to infants and children age 4 month to 12 years. The Troy, Michigan-based chain has more than 92 schools, including sites in Carmel and Fishers. It has more than 100 locations now under development in the U.S. and Canada.