CARAZ
one – musicians, composers,
sound designers, mixers – is
coming together in an envi-
ronment of collaboration.”
The low turnover and
employee dedication have
been critical in maintaining
continuity from one era to
another, offers Mathieu Morin,
the studio’s chief mixer. He’s
STUDIO C CONTROL ROOM
been with Lamajeure for 20
years and can draw from his
Nowadays, both
experience with vastly differ-
Boivin and Lefebvre ent technologies and workflows over that
“We’ve developed
say Lamajeure is
time to ensure the quality of what he and his
an expertise, but
more focused on its team are outputting either meets or exceeds
talent and internal
more than that,
their longstanding standards.
systems
than
the
Mixer Jacob Gauthier Robitaille, who has
we’ve developed
gear they’re using;
been at the studio for seven years, says the
a team with a
as such, they’re
staff recognizes how critical the ongoing in-
system, and it’s
currently expand-
vestment in the facility and its infrastructure
ing
their
music
has been to their success. “Our equipment
hard to compete
department.
selection and the design of the space just
with us with that
The week that
elevates the quality of everything we do,”
system.”
the two spoke with
he says, “and that’s something we can’t lose
Professional Sound
sight of.”
-Etienne Boivin
was the same week
Mixer and music producer P.O. Rioux, the
they welcomed
newest addition to the team, came to Lam-
another mix en-
ajeure from another local studio, and adds
gineer and music
to Gauthier Robitaille’s point. “This studio
producer, and they're now recruiting more
was built properly over 30 years ago, which
full-time c omposers.
means that even new studios with all the top
“We’re creating an ecosystem where
new gear won’t have this infrastructure. It
people will have fun and be inspired working
wouldn’t be realistic to build a studio [of this
together under our roof, each with their own
calibre] today.”
individual spaces but having access to our
He also relishes in the opportunity to
live room for tracking or any other resources
work on full-size consoles and sought-after
they might need,” says Navert, the 34-year-old music recording gear instead of everything
composer and music department head who’s being in-the-box, which is far more typical of
now been with the studio for over a decade.
studios specializing in advertising and corpo-
Moving forward, as the business con-
rate projects in the current landscape.
tinues to expand and Lefebvre gets closer
But like his new colleagues, he realizes
to retirement, it’ll be Lamajeure’s younger
it’s about a lot more than just the facility
staffers that will be charged with maintaining
and the tools occupying it. “There’s plenty of
and enhancing that ecosystem. Fortunately,
knowledge here and I feel really lucky to have
nobody seems phased by this inevitability; in
joined the team.”
fact, they all seem to welcome it.
Ultimately, it seems Lefebvre’s ethos
“We have plenty of depth here,” says
of maintaining the best possible facilities to
Navert, and that depth will be invaluable as
produce the best possible product – with
Lamajeure maintains and develops its opera-
no shortcuts – has been instilled in the next
tions beyond ad-based projects.
generation.
“The majority of the business is adver-
“The people are tight, the walls are tight,
tising, but we still get to make albums and
the machines are tight, and so the product is
record scores, and we want to keep all of that
going to be tight,” says Morin. “I know every-
alive,” he says, noting that experience and
thing that’s been done in this studio has been
expertise in one segment of their operations
done properly, no matter how expensive.
almost always come in handy in another.
[Sylvain] is constantly reinvesting in the busi-
“It keeps us very flexible and responsive,” he
ness, and that’s been a major advantage to
adds. “We want to create a place where every- us. Nothing is ever left at ‘good enough.’ That’s
not how we approach the facility and that’s
not how we work. Agencies are happy to
pay for this kind of service when they know
it’s going to be of the expected quality ev-
ery time.”
Studios of all kinds are continually being
pressed from both ends by smaller budgets
and tighter timelines, and while Morin says
Lamajeure has not been totally immune to
those trends, the corporate and advertising
sectors haven’t been hit as hard as others.
Subsequently, the studio has been able to
not just adapt thanks to its well-established
and continually refined internal systems;
they’ve actually continued to grow, now
boasting five full recording studios on top of
multiple editing and scoring suites.
“Yes, budgets are shrinking, but the
number of clips and spots being produced is
increasing,” explains Navert, pointing to the
digital domain as a big driver of that. “So ad-
vertisers are doing more spots in a year and
have to produce more content.”
That’s led them into new media like
the aforementioned immersive experiences
and augmented and digital reality. “We love
those kinds of projects,” Navert enthuses. “It’s
a whole new playground for us, because it’s
really changed the way you’re mixing and
some of the technology you’re using.”
Morin adds that as Montreal’s reputa-
tion as a creative and cultural hub continues
to spread around the globe, Lamajeure is
anticipating more international projects and
collaborations in the near future. “We have
more and more customers in the States and
around the world – Dubai, Hong Kong, Sin-
gapore – and it’s really interesting because
we find ourselves working more with other
companies here in Montreal on these major
international projects.”
It’s been quite the adventure for Lefeb-
vre and his team thus far, building Lamajeure
into one of the most reputable recording
and production facilities in Montreal, then
the country. Now, they’re maintaining that
legacy with a new generation of engineers
and composers while pushing into new mar-
kets around the world, making it anyone’s
guess what the next few decades might
have in store.
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of
Professional Sound.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND • 29