Narada Studio

Sun Powered Music
Fabio Pianigiani

Across the globe, the environmental condition of the planet has become a hot topic. With temperatures rising and the polar caps melting, many people are looking to reduce their dependence on non-renewable energy sources, and are moving toward using “green energy” such as solar power.
One of the most obvious reasons to build an eco-friendly recording studio is the protection of the environment. It is becoming a necessity for all industries to take measures to reduce their fossil energy consumption and the pollution they create. The reduction of fossil energy usage is needed for different reasons. First because it is one of the major causes of pollution, and that reducing the former will automatically reduce the latter. Second, the fossil energy supply is decreasing particularly rapidly. Our society has used most of the resources available in the last few hundred years when those resources have been created during several millions of years. It is therefore highly unlikely that we will find any more fossil energy once the sources we have discovered are depleted. And they will not be replenished before thousands of years.
It is therefore important to help reduce the consumption of non renewable energy, as well as to help familiarize people with the efficiency and reliability of renewable energy installations. A recording studio powered only by renewable energy guarantees the least possible use of non-renewable energy. It also shows the industry that renewable energy can be used in studios, and can be efficient and reliable for a studio to work whenever needed. The media industry is in a phase of change, particularly for the music production, as it is becoming easier to create albums of an acceptable sound quality with low cost equipments. Because of this, less and less people want to pay high prices to be able to record their album in big recording studios. This change in the industry made a lot of famous professional recording studios close due to bankruptcy.
As the industry changes, creating an old fashioned recording studio, having expensive rates and needing many clients to stay open is not always the best idea. New solutions need to be considered. One of them can be to create a green recording studio, keeping the idea of high end equipment but lowering the need of energy bought by producing it in order to keep the lowest operation costs possible.
As the quantity of fossil energy available is decreasing constantly, its price will constantly increase, making the operating cost of studios increase as well. Therefore, studios such as The NaradaStudio would see their operating cost increase, so they have aimed their energy production to lower their energy bill to zero.

The Project

NaradaStudio: Sun Powered Music
As its name suggests, a recording studio situated in the heart of the most beautiful countryside in Italy, powered entirely by the sun. This facility combines leading edge city quality, with Tuscan country lifestyle and ambience.
A quick look at the inverter which displays data, such as the number of watts the solar panels have produced, shows promising figures:
a few days after the solar panels were installed, they had generated energy that displaced over several pounds of CO2, the “greenhouse gas” that many scientists blame for global warming.

Naradastudio’s mission is to inform society on the importance of sustainable living and the impact of conscious consumerism through the power of music.

Studio location

The studio is inside of a beautifully  remodeled  tuscan farmhouse surrounded by a secluded garden, just a ten minutes drive from the stunning medieval town of Siena (only 50 min.from Florence).

Studio Projects
Demos, post-production, editing, or full album projects.

NaradaStudio runs entirely on solar power. This is generated by a 5.0 kWatt system. The solar inverter, which converts the sunlight into usable electricity for the studio, was sized to accommodate 22 solar panels.
Looking inside the studio one would never guess this state-of-the-art facility could be powered by solar energy: A Pro Tools HDX system records music, a TC24 mixing board takes center stage in the control room, Quested speakers  and outboard gear fills two gear racks. The facility also has an independent well water supply:

  • Employs construction methods and techniques to reduce the use of electricity and natural gas.
  • Recycles paper, plastic, metals, and cardboard.
  • Offers organic vegetarian meals if reserved