During the past four years, Big3 Studios (St. Petersburg, Fla., www.big3entertainment.com) has hosted some heavy-hitting hip hop, pop and rock superstars, including Mario Winans, Destiny’s Child, Cheap Trick, Usher and Hilary Duff. With growing demand for more outside clients, the 7,000-square-foot facility has added three studios and two mini-suites.
“Bill Edwards, who started Big3 Records, was tired of traveling two hours away to a recording studio, so he decided to go against everyone’s advice and built a studio here,” says Jim “Pinky” Beeman, VP and chief engineer at Big3. “As the record label grew, we expanded on the studio, working with PAD [Professional Audio Design] every step of the way.”
PAD furnished the facility with Pro Tools; Manley, Tube-Tech and Thermionic Culture outboard gear; and Neve and an SSL 4080 G+ and 9080J-72 consoles, just to name a few.
PAD is also currently assisting Big3 in the creation of a small studio to be used by the Boys and Girls Club. “I think this is a great thing, being able to bring this experience to kids who don’t have access or are underprivileged,” said Dave Malekpour, president of PAD. “We try to help out whichever way we can and are excited Big3 asked us to be involved. The reality is, there might be a hidden artist in there and something like this could change a lot of kids’ lives.”
