Sound Resources off Lee Highway has been quietly stacking its client list since it opened in 1994 to include young starlets, solo albums for hard rockers, CBL jingles and MTV post-production projects.
This week, the studio is taping local voice-overs for the MTV television series "Teen Mom," a spin off of the hit "16 and Pregnant."
"There's no sign, there's no nothing, and we've been doing this for 15 years," said owner Steve Babb, who runs the studio out of his home. "If you can't do everything, you can't survive."
Steve Babb, right, and Fred Schendel work with experienced and fledgling musicians to develop songs and albums in their studio, Sound Resources.Babb said he and Fred Schendel founded the studio to record songs for their band Glass Hammer, a progressive rock band formed in the 1990s.
"It was mainly a place to record our own albums," Babb said, "but people kept coming."
The studio now gives established musicians the tools to create an album while giving young songwriters a place to develop and fill out their songs, whether pop, country or techno. They've worked on solo albums with Chris McDaniel of Confederate Railroad and Jon Anderson of Yes.
"I think that's where we've succeeded where maybe others have failed," Babb said. "We're not one-trick ponies."
The men cater to solo acts and they said their job is especially fun when it's challenging, which usually means exploring a new production style for a new genre.
"My guilty pleasure is teen pop," Babb said. "It's the complete opposite extreme, from the very complicated to the very simple."
Both Babb and Schendel are classically trained and have spent decades in cover bands and in Glass Hammer.
"Steve keeps the place booked, which is a really, really good thing," Schendel said.
He said Babb also keeps up with music trends to help compose hip loops for beginner clients. Babb will tap his reserve of professional musicians to play on tracks or he and Schendel will play themselves.
"They can have their own sound," Babb said of clients. "It's totally pro, and it happens right here at home."
Schendel acts as chief engineer, getting into the nuts and bolts of actually laying out basic arrangements and building the song, layer by layer.
A process that until relatively recently cost $100 or $200 an hour with "iffy" results is now a fast, inexpensive and low-pressure process, Schendel said.
The pair has also been known to give managerial advice "on the house," helping newcomers navigate a sometimes difficult industry.
"We've helped a few people dodge a few bullets," Babb said.
Babb said the Chattanooga music culture is mostly free of riffraff.
"There's no glitz in Chattanooga," he said. "It's like working with family, not stars. But we've done a little of both."
Keeping their studio diversified, plus making periodic festival appearances with Glass Hammer, has kept the men doing what they love.
"We're doing music all day long, and for two musicians, I don't think we could ask for better," Babb said.
For more information about Sound Resources call 499-8561, e-mail audio111@aol.com or visit www.soundresources.net.