Dynamic duo in the twin cities - Audio Today & Tomorrow

Post, June, 2003 by Matthew Armstrong

MINNEAPOLIS -- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." While this Dickens line is a bit extreme in referring to the timing of the launch of music/sound house Brahmstedt White Noise (www.bwnoise.com) last year; it reflects the opposite economic conditions surrounding the company's formation.

The state of the economy was reason enough to dissuade many in this industry from new ventures requiring significant capital, but founders Carl White and Ken Brahmstedt were then presented with an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

In past few years, sound designer/mixer White and composer Brahmstedt had both firmly established themselves in the Minneapolis market while at Crash & Sue's and Wow & Flutter, respectively. The two longtime friends had been discussing opening their own company but the capital costs in a down economy made them hesitant. That changed when post house Hi-Wire approached them to see if they wanted to head up their in-house sound department, which had recently been vacated. However; White and Brahmstedt wanted to operate as an independent sound house so they opened their own shop within Hi-Wire's space.

"Hi-Wire for us is essentially a bank and a place [from where we] run the business," says White. "They invested in our idea. If we had set out on our own we'd be in debt and probably more frantic about the bottom line. For Hi-Wire, they benefit because they were relatively late-corners to the scene in Minneapolis and needed relationship-builders."

The "partnership" has since proved advantageous for both companies, as the initial capital costs were eased and Hi-Wire has seen their investment pay off. An added benefit is when a client comes for one company but stays for the other. "We've made an effort not to give clients the hard sell on multiple services," notes Brahrnstedt. "We have personal relationships with our clients and that works better than trying to sell them. But it is nice when one feeds the other."

MINNEAPOLIS MUSE

Both White and Brahrnstedt have drawn inspiration from the vibrant music scene in Minneapolis; Brahrnstedt was lured to the city after college and White grew up there.

As an adolescent, White's musical interests pushed him to set up a home recording studio, which grew to serve the local "trustafarian" clients. "Trustafarians are rich kids with a lot of money that have nothing better to do than spend it on people like me," explains White, who laughs and adds, "they're really good people to know."

This "trustafarian" business, recording demo albums for local rap and dance bands, led to higher-level studio work After learning digital editing while working at a local radio station, White became the sound engineer at Echo Boys and then at Crash & Sue's.

"Minneapolis is a small community so I got to learn all the players," says White. "I was very visible at Crash & Sue's. Whatever audio went through there I dealt with, so I had a lot of contact with clients." Brahmstedt studied music in college where he began composing music for friends' student films, which were, Brahmstedt kindly describes, of "varying quality."

Drawn to the strong music scene in Minneapolis, he played in bands and worked at voiceover recording studio Voice Works for a couple years before joining music/sound house Wow & Flutter as a staff composer.

In addition to learning their craft and forging client relationships, they learned the ins and outs of the Minneapolis market "In a smaller market like Minneapolis, you have to wear many more hats. Diversification is even more important. You're forced to be flexible. You can do the music and the mix and that almost never happens in New York or LA."

SIGNATURE SOUNDS

Although seasoned vets, the two pride themselves on approaching their work in an experimental way, trying out different musicians and approaching freelance composers if they feel it's necessary. "Also," explains Brahmstedt, "the way sound is captured [is crucial]. If we need to get out of the studio and record a piece on location, we go. You have to live with all those nuances of the location but it can help the performance."

The studio has two live rooms, one 16-by-20-feet and an iso room, that are both centered around Digidesign Pro Tools/HD systems with 192kHz I/O interfaces. They also have Digidesign Control/24 Mix consoles but these days they do most all of their work within Pro Tools.

"I grew up mixing on analog consoles but the two are so different you really need to embrace one or the other," says White. "I like to have it all contained; all my processing happening within Pro Tools and its plug-ins. Bringing the sound in on the front end is different. We have a wide array of preamps and they all sound different. That is critical. Without those, everything just sounds small."

Brahmstedt adds, "Carl showed me the light with preamps. I was shocked when I heard the differences in all the preamps."

During Brahmstedt White Noise's first year in business, clients have come from Minneapolis and smaller markets throughout the country. As they enter their second year; with the help of producer Allison Swanson they will target clients in the larger markets.