Are you a musician? Want to spend a weekend learning to record music in a state-of-the-art studio complex, studying up close with a famous rock band, hip-hop producer, or Grammy-winning recording engineer?

Of course you know about Sweetwater Sound, but not everybody knows Sweetwater began in 1979 as a recording studio run by its founder, Chuck Surack.

Today, Sweetwater Studios, in the heart of Sweetwater’s campus, is not only three studios and a performance theater where bands and artists record and mix albums. It’s also a showcase for the latest equipment and technology. Not surprisingly, some big acts and famous producers and engineers go there to work. 

Lot to learn

For more than a decade, Sweetwater Studios has offered workshops and masterclasses to the public. About 12 recording workshops are offered each year. They are one or two days long and accommodate 16 students each. Announced about three months in advance, each sells out quickly. Currently, they range from around $495 for a one-day workshop to as much as $1,195 for a two-day event.

Over the last five years, Sweetwater’s recording workshops have been taught and managed by staff engineer and producer Shawn Dealey. 

“The premise of the workshops is effectively recording a song from start to finish,” he said. 

And those that sign up for the class stretch far beyond northeast Indiana.

“We draw as far as Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine,” Dealey said. “We get all skill levels. For the most part it’s musicians with home studios. Sometimes we have (professional, commercial) studio owners that’ll come and want to learn more about the process.”

Dealey stresses that Sweetwater is providing a rare opportunity. There used to be professional studios all over, but with the advent of affordable home recording equipment around 30 years ago, many big studios have closed. 

‘Guitar heroes’

So, what kind of stars you can find in a Sweetwater workshop?

“Folks like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Andy Timmons, Greg Koch, a lot of guitar heroes,” Dealey said. “I’ve been mixing in Dolby Atmos surround sound with Animals as Leaders, and working with Richie Faulkner’s new band Elegant Weapons. But it can be anything from a voiceover artist to a full band to singer-songwriters.”

The artist most associated with Sweetwater’s workshops is guitarist Paul Gilbert. 

“Paul is an amazing musician,” Dealey said. “It’s an amazing thing to be able to capture what he plays every time. It’s always really exciting to see what he is working on.”

Gilbert is an international star. Aside from being one of the first to be called a “shredder” known for “terrifying guitar,” he has been a teacher since the beginning of his more than 35-year career. You can sign up for his online guitar lessons at artistworks.com.

As for the Sweetwater recording workshops with Dealey at the digital audio workstation, Gilbert enjoys not only revealing his techniques for multi-tracking and building musical compositions, but finding ways to get students involved, even if it’s as simple as having them record claps to accompany drums. 

“People can cross that barrier,” Gilbert said. “They’re not only the audience. They’re actually performing on the track.”

Shopping for drummer

In the early ’90s, Gilbert sold millions of records with Mr. Big, featuring bass player Billy Sheehan, singer Eric Martin, and the late Pat Torpey on drums. 

On the eve of the band’s reunion for a farewell world tour, Mr. Big will be the house band for a recording workshop July 7-8. 

Another mainstay of the workshops is Sweetwater’s full-time content creator Nick D’Virgilio, a drummer and singer who has worked with a host of great rock acts in the U.S. and Europe. 

“I’ve known Paul for a really long time,” D’Virgilio said. “I met him first in probably the early 2000s. Then, as he started coming here and in the last couple of years, he asked me to play drums in his workshops. 

“And then out of the blue last summer, he sent me an email asking me if I’d be interested in doing this (Mr. Big) tour.”

Gilbert sent some demo recordings, asking D’Virgilio to film videos of himself playing drums and singing Torpey’s vocal parts. 

“And Nick just hit it out of the park,” Gilbert said. “He did it so well. I sent it to Billy and Eric. They’re like, ‘Yes, that’s the guy!’ 

“Besides having to fill the drum shoes, it was really important to have a strong vocal. Nick is the magic combination. Plus, he’s an impossibly cool person.”

Southeast Asia saves the day

Mr. Big was a high-velocity American metal band that found success in Japan then broke out worldwide in 1991 with their second album Lean Into It, which featured, surprisingly, pop ballads with three-part harmony vocals. 

Then it all came crashing down in the mass-extinction event that music industry veterans remember well. Grunge rock from Seattle took over the airwaves, and record labels canceled the contracts of hundreds of bands because they didn’t sound like Nirvana. Seemingly overnight, Mr. Big lost their audience in the U.S.

“Japan saved us,” Gilbert said. “It gave us a life raft to survive on. We were playing the arenas over there and having a wonderful time. Our single ‘To Be With You’ was No. 1. That opened up Southeast Asia to us.”

Now it’s 32 years later, “So that’s where we’re going to start the tour.”

From July 16-Aug. 14, Mr. Big will headline arenas and festivals in China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Although nothing has been announced, they anticipate tours of the U.S., Europe, and South America in 2024.

D’Virgilio will be spending even more time away from Sweetwater as he tours the world with progressive rock supergroup Big Big Train, which features members from England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, and Italy. He is having himself a big, big, big year.

If you are serious about developing the craft of recording music, a weekend trip to Sweetwater Studios to study with world-class mentors in their cutting-edge facilities could be the inspiration you need. 

Go to sweetwaterstudios.com, check out their offerings,  sign up for their email list, and find a workshop that’s right for you.