Music producer Tyler Larson strives to boost local music scene with recording studio

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was also published on hearnebraska.org. The reporter is working as both an intern for Hear Nebraska and a reporter for the Daily Nebraskan.

He could have said something. Here I am bumbling about on the piano, cobbling together a string of chords I'd learned earlier that day. And there he was, behind the production controls and, no doubt, thinking of a myriad of ways the piano part could be more sufficiently played.     

But Tyler Larson of Good Times Studio isn't that kind of guy. Sure, he'll pore over that recording, honing the mix no matter how many hours it takes. He'll invite you back in to listen to his work a week later and consider suggestions for changes. And still, the 16 years of classical training on piano will take a backseat to a certain respect for his clients.     

I first came to know Larson at the Bourbon Theatre's open mic, when he introduced himself and said I should be recorded, and oh, also, the first song is on the house. Over the next couple weeks, I would see ads for his 100 Singles of Summer, a ridiculously low-priced deal on four hours of studio time. It seemed like he wasn't in it for the money.     

"Establishing a recording studio, investing the time and the money into that, my hope is that by taking baby-steps, I can pull out the established singers and songwriters out of the woodwork of Lincoln, Neb., and transform Lincoln little-by-little into that music city," he said,    

Larson might be committing heresy by saying Lincoln isn't quite qualified as a music city yet, but maybe he's right. For the community of musicians, producers, journalists, photographers and fans, calling it a music city strengthens the bonds among us all. But it can also rest us upon some laurels of which we aren't exactly deserving. So it takes folks like Larson to keep driving at a new goal to get closer to that title.     

Larson started his foray into recording about five years ago, after he had begun studying at a Bible college.     

"When I was taking classes, I'd go to school during the day, but I'd stay up all night recording electric guitars and amplifiers with really shabby equipment, like a $10 Radio Shack mic," Larson said. "I told myself that over the next three years or so, if I could get solid guitar sounds out of this Radio Shack microphone, it might be time to start moving up and learning more intense software."     

Larson learned the tools of his trade by emulating production heroes such as Roy Thomas Baker. He would take elements of layering or reverb he'd read about and incorporate them into his own recordings.     

"I would have little projects that would focus on, say, ‘I'm gonna aim for the closest Queen harmony replica that I possibly can using the tools this guy has talked about,' and over time you get closer and closer."     

As he's gotten more proficient, he's also developed a work ethic with a pretty rigid schedule. To start off, he'll welcome a client at the front door and do his icebreaker. He said the most intimidating part of playing music for him are the one-on-one scenarios, so he's crafted his regimen and his studio to ease the tension.     

"Something I pride myself on is that we haven't knocked a hole in a wall and installed glass between me and the musician," Larson said. "There's definitely a place for that closed-off environment, but being a musician, that sounds like a whole lot of awkward to me."     

Larson's recording studio is in his house, adjoining the living room. He said he and his wife bought the house with the intention of using it in part for making music. So with that in mind, Larson said that by the fourth or fifth take, a musician is comfortable and practiced enough to deliver the one that counts.     

Once he has every track laid down in Logic Pro, Larson will let the music sit for a day or two then come back to it with fresh ears. He'll start with checking audio levels, then adding compressors to even out the volume between soft and loud signals. A little panning, a little reverb and delay are tossed in the mix like pinches of salt, and he'll lastly master the song to make sure the highs, mids and lows are shining through properly.     

Of the differences Larson cites between his studio and others in Lincoln, he said the final step is one that is rare in any recording situation: He parts with the recorded material by uploading not only a high-quality wav file and mp3, but also each individual master track in case the musician wants to remix the song.     

One of Larson's clients, Nick Jester, said, "Tyler was really cool about letting me use my ideas, and he'd add his own input. It was very relaxed and fun."

Another, Anna Christensen, said, "It was by chance that I heard about Tyler, but now that I've worked with him, I'd like to go back and record more."