After 26 years in service, Wisconsin’s most renowned recording studio will soon close. The studio’s most notable projects included demo sessions for Nirvana’s Nevermind, mixing for Death Cab for Cutie’s Plans, and recordings for Smashing Pumpkins and Fall Out Boy. Smart was arguably the region’s finest recording space.

“It’s really one of the most comfortable and well-equipped studios I’ve had the pleasure of working at,” said Justin Perkins, a frequent recording engineer and producer at Smart Studios. “You could walk in empty-handed and have a plethora of great tools to work with, from an engineering standpoint, and as a musician,” he added.

Smart Studio engineers recently confirmed that the close is due to financial reasons, and it comes as no surprise. Perkins believes that the financial problems facing studios like Smart are due to the way recording practices have shifted towards do-it-yourself methods. With inexpensive recording software readily available to eager musicians, many bands have decided to take on projects in their own homes.

Software like Avid Technology Inc.’s Protools can now function like an old studio console, and it’s quite feasible for artists to set up a functioning studio in their basement. Because the raw, low-fi qualities of these recordings have certain appeal and place, professional studios like Smart that offer high-fidelity recordings are in less demand.

“There was a time when bands would go into the studio to just demo songs, not even intending to release them. In most cases you had to, in order to get a listenable recording,” Perkins stated. It’s not just the studios that are being impacted financially, though.

“Bands’ budgets are shrinking,” says Perkins. “I’m doing a project right now for a very large indie label and the budget is about one-third, maybe even less, than what it probably would have been 10 years ago.” For popular music to function within an industry, there must be a place for bands to record outside their homes. Producers and audiophiles alike contend that professional studios offer the best apt environment to sculpt a musical recording.

Despite Perkins’ concerns about the future of studios, he recently opened a studio of his own in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee. While his new studio has some nice pieces of gear to help make for a great sounding record, he was keen on noting that “good songs come first, of course.” Also, he’s made a point to keep overhead low in an effort to keep studio rates as low as possible for bands, thus attaining a steadier stream of business.

Smart’s close marks another distressing occurrence for the local music industry, but as the saying goes, where one door is shut, another is opened. While the future remains uncertain for many of the mid-level studios around the Midwest, it’s certainly bleak when Smart, a studio with such a legacy, had to forsake its tenure.