Central Sound Studio : Newspaper Article (1981)

 The Little Sentinal (Orlando) - September 6, 1981

Amigo Walls adjusts the control board, above, while his brother, Len, owner of the Central Sound Recording Studio, Gets the tape machine geared to the right song. Photos by: Richard Shepherd

Recording studio makes tracks for the big time

By FRANK CARROLL
the little sentinel

AUBURNDALE - With the flick of a switch and the turn of a dial, Len Walls brings Nashville to Central Florida. There's no mistaking the syrupy country music - a trademark of the Grand Ole Opry - as it spews from speakers hidden in the ceiling and walls.

Another flip of the wrist sends a Motor City disco beat bouncing through the acoustically perfect chamber into thick functional burlap wall coverings. It could just as easily have been gospel music. Or rock 'n' roll. Or background theme music for a commercial.

"Music's just part of what we do," said Walls, 38, a former Winter Garden disc jockey who joined business partner Leo Gillman of Plant City almost a dozen years ago to form the Central Sound Recording Studio on U.S. Highway 92 near downtown Auburndale,

"Records, tapes, radio and television commercials; you name it, if it has to do with the electronic media, we're into it," he said.

"Our equipment's the same thing they use in Nashville. The same thing you'll find the Bee Gees or Osmonds using."

Last year, as part of a film for Cypress Gardens, the studio won the "Golden Eagle Award" from the Council on International Non-Theatrical Entertainment for its 17-minute film on water skiing entitled "In Search of Glass."

Located in a red brick and white block building near downtown, the studio is almost hidden in the heart of Central Florida, where citrus and cattle industries are king.

The communication center is doing well in a time where high interest rates and tight money are creating economic problems for others in the business.

"I'm a little surprised, but we're doing okay, keeping our heads above water financially," said Walls, smiling.

Plopping into a chair, Walls quickly transformed the expensive-looking master console panel - part of the company's $120,000 worth of equipment - into an impromptu dining room table, gobbling a late lunch while waiting for an even later client.

The all-electronic panel (reminiscent of the control center at NASA's Mission Control) quickly lighted up as Walls' 29-year-old brother, Amigo, the studio's associate engineer , punched button after button and flicked countless switches with practiced expertise.

"We're getting ready for another recording session. The Trinity Baptist Church choir of Apopka is coming in to cut another album."

Rate card costs begin at "about $85 per hour and the usual session lasts three hours," Walls said. "Some groups take up to a month or more to record an album."

"The sky's the limit when it comes to commercials. We've produced 30-second commercials for as low as $600 or as high as $4,500. It depends on what you want in them."

In the studio's plush waiting room, countless issues of the industry's bible - Billboard magazine - clutter end tables.

In 1981, artists recording out of Polk County's only recording studio have "charted" five times. Walls smiled when he recited those numbers. "And we might have some more coming."

Auburndale's Carl Chambers is one of the firm's finest artists. Others have included Jim Stafford, Ricky Skaggs, Judy Bailey, James Marvel and Herb McCullough. Down the road, the studio plans to work with Sweden's Shelley Van Rooy, formerly of Citizens Band, on a nationwide country and western promotion campaign. Van Rooy's sister is a country singer on "The Lawrence Welk Show."

"Carl used to record for the Bellamy Brothers when they had many of their hits. He's still writing, but instead of trying to record it under his name, he's letting other groups record them," Walls said.

"Alabama's coming out with one of Carl's songs in November called 'Close Enough to Perfect.' He's got another one the Krofft puppets are going to do this season on 'The Barbara Mandrell Show' called 'Take Me Home with You."'

"I couldn't carry a tune in a 5-gallon bucket, but Carl sings as well as anyone in the business," said Amigo while he wound the master demo tape onto a spool for a musical preview.

The tone and quality of the Chambers' demo, like the lyrics and music of both songs, is excellent.

Then why is Chambers letting Alabama record it?

Walls explained Alabama is a better known group and, this way, Chambers will get mechanical royalties from sales and airings of the records.

Padded walls and carpeting on the floors make the sound studio an award winner as Walls can proudly prove.