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Arthur Enjoying His Conglomerate Status
NEW YORK -"Sure there's plenty of room for an independent operation," said Brooks Arthur, "but being part of a conglomerate gives you the feeling of being independent along with money to think like a major. In these days of the 'track race', money to expand is even more important than ever."
In recent months, Arthur has seen both sides of the coin. His 14 month old indie studio, Century Sound, was recently bought by Commonwealth United and is now part of that firm's leisure time activities which also include Koppelman-Rubin and TM Music.
"We did very well as an indie, cutting hit disks with Neil Diamond, the Cowsills, Janis Ian, not to mention the Kasenetz-Katz bubble -gum product like "Chewy Chewy" and "Quick Joey Small," said Arthur, "but now, with CU's resources behind us, we're able to expand fast enough to keep ahead of the business."
Although Arthur really believes that there is a practical limit to the number of tracks required to produce good product, he is currently building a 16 track studio at his present 52nd st. location. "The industry is just becoming aware of the true potential of the recording studio as a creative center, and I want to be sure that we always have more than enough equipment available."
Experimentation
Current plans for Century Sound call for the opening of a West Coast studio that will double as an electronic workshop, where groups and engineers can create new sounds.
One of the groups currently recording with Arthur is Ars Nove (recently signed to Atlantic) . Although they plan to stay in a commercial bag, they are writing arrangements which take the audio console into consideration.
Arthur feels that the electronics manufacturers, who for years only created innovations under pressure from engineers, are now coming to the forefront in developing equipment on their own. "Producers used to come in and say, 'I want this effect,' and we'd have to figure out a way to give it to them. Now we can say to the producer 'we've got some new sounds for you to try out." One recent innovation was a filter to produce distorted "old time sounds" that have been popping up on several progressive albums.
Double Duty
With the exception of the producer who likes to fiddle his own dials, Arthur feels that the engineer has become an integral part of the part of the production team. Arthur himself has produced several sessions completely, and is frequently called upon for assistance at the others. "Most studios are completely equipped electronically, but it's the 'personal feel' that an engineer brings into a session that makes certain studios highly successful."
Arthur has been in the business for five years, and before starting his own operation garnered two Grammy nominations in the course of working on such hits as "Locomotion," "My Boyfriend's Back," "Our Day Will Come," "If I Were A Caprenter," "Leader Of The Pack," "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" and the entire score for the movies "You're A Big Boy Now," and has cut such artists as Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Pet Clark; Peter, Paul and Mary; Miriam Makeba and Sarah Vaugnn.
His latest project outside of the studio is serving as recording advisor, and possibly producer, for Joe Namath, New York Jets all-star quarterback, who recently announced his entry into the entertainment field.
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