Rehearsal Studio San Diego

San Diego company simulates battle, bullets, blood

A Hollywood-style explosion rocks the center of a mock Afghan village on a San Diego studio lot, sending San Diego State University ROTC recruits scurrying for cover as street “gunfire” erupts. Deep booms and crackles punctuate the smoky, debris-filled air, and an Afghan amputee role player is left moaning in the gravel, spurting pretend blood.

Strategic Operations, located within Stu Segall Productions TV and movie studio lot on Ruffin Road, offers what it calls “hyper-realistic” training setups to the military and law enforcement with the idea that exposing individuals to realistic scenarios builds skills used in actual combat or drug busts.

“If we shoot at you, you’re not going to get hurt — but you’re going to feel like you’re going to die,” said Stu Segall, company president. “It’s the exact same physiological response. When you get to the real thing, you know how to react. We call it ‘stress inoculation.’ ”

Strategic Operations’ clients have included the U.S. Army, FBI, Chula Vista Police Department and San Diego Harbor Police. It’s helped train more than 450,000 military personnel.

The company doesn’t conduct the training; instead, it creates training environments based on needs as determined by unit commanders. Strategic Operations currently employs fewer than 100 full-time workers, but crews swell up to 650 people on location. Sort of a warfare Santa’s village, its 20-acre studio lot has 10 sound stages and multiple workshops where workers construct, manufacture and detail pretend weapons, West African huts, butcher-shop goat carcasses (smeared with honey to attract real flies) and mock shish kebabs.

Temporary construction units can be erected within 15 minutes; basic building shapes are adorned with domes, spires and minarets to depict Iraq, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia or other regions. Mud, bamboo, thatch and street graffiti make things gritty.

“It’s not like the movie business; it’s not like the military,” said Kit Lavell, Strategic owner and executive vice president. “It’s a blend of both.”

The private company, which does not disclose revenue, said it has successfully created a niche in the market against larger competitors. “We stress customer service in a way that has set us apart,” Lavell said.

Despite competition from the likes of San Diego-based Cubic Corp. and others, Strategic has had an average annual growth rate of more than 60 percent since it was founded in 2002, he said.

Ten Tips On Preparing for Studio Recording | Songwriters Marketplace

Can be a very intimidating and expensive place.  Unless you have some experience doing sessions, you’re probably in the studio every year or two, which just isn’t enough time to make it feel like another day at the office for most people.  The pressure of the ticking clock and hourly rate piling up can really have a negative effect on your project, so I want to help you be ready to tackle the challenges of recording so that you don’t need to think about the clock and you’ll be much more likely to have a smooth session.

Hey, are my articles sounding a little redundant?  Maybe I think rehearsal is important or something.  In fact, I think rehearsal is the most important.  Remember, we’re talking about real rehearsal now, learning songs, identifying and correcting mistakes and drilling the proper parts.

During these rehearsals you’ll need to work the song from the ground up.  Make sure you like the basic beat that the drummer is playing and make sure you like the fills they’ve chosen for the transitional points.  Does your drummers feel and plan for the song re-enforce the soundscape you’re trying to create?

You’ll also need to write parts for the other instruments.  Who plays the instrumental melody?  Do you have little call and response licks between the lyrics in the verses?  What do you want them to sound like and what instrument should play them?

It would be silly to record your alt country album in a studio that primarily does hip-hop.  At this point you’ll need some idea of your recording budget.  Find all of the local studios that fit your budget and visit each of them.  Take a listen to songs that have been recorded there, strike up a conversation with the engineer, you’re going to be working with him or her a ton over the next weeks, you had better make sure you get along.

Once you’ve visited the studios, found the one that’s the right price, the right sound and the right environment, make sure they have enough open time for your project and book the studio.  You’ll want to book the first two or three days in a row to take care of your drum tracks and make sure things don’t get changed around after you’ve dialed the drum sounds in.

Are they just placing mics and hitting record, are they helping produce?  Most times you’ll find that the engineer does have some production skills and can offer some helpful advice when asked.  If you picked the right person and the right studio, you’ll be able to use much of this advice, but make sure everyone knows their role before you get in to the studio.  There’s nothing worse than a band who knows exactly what they want having to pay an hourly rate to listen to ideas from the guy they’re hiring to press record, just as it’s tough for the engineer to be expected to come up with ideas on the spot.

SPIN

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