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Recording Studio Scene - TV Tropes

  • ️Sun Feb 02 2025

Recording Studio Scene (trope)

The Recording Studio Scene is a scene or extended sequence in a work that features one or more musicians in a recording studio, either established or in a home setup, performing a song as it's to be recorded for a piece of media. These scenes give the audience an idea of what the actual process of recording music is like, showing things like microphones with pop filters and boom stands, lyric sheets and sheet music on or near instruments, the musicians wearing huge earphones and concentrating on their singing and/or playing, and the goings-on in the control room. As well, they can demonstrate how recording music can be a time-consuming, sometimes laborious project.

Music Videos are where this style particularly shows up, as many artists have done videos depicting themselves recording a song for an album. These can feature live recordings, but usually the studio-recorded track is played, even if the video shows the performance that was used to make that track. Usually the video features the version of the song that appears on the album, but sometimes an entirely new version of the song is performed. Along with the performance, these videos may show Studio Chatter, and other scenes may also be interspersed that go along with the theme of the song or add flavor to the video.

In dramatic works, this can overlap with in-universe Hostility on the Set, as the studio setting provides an enclosed space for the musicians, producers, technicians, etc. to get worked up over creative differences or other interpersonal issues.

Examples:

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Music Videos

Alternative Rock 

Country Music 

  • The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: The version of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" that appears on Will the Circle Be Unbroken vol. 2 shows all the singers recording the song in the studio, both individually and in the points where everyone is singing together, as well as the many different instrumental parts being played and some of the warm-ups being done.

Pop 

R & B 

  • Mariah Carey: "One Sweet Day", her collab with Boyz II Men, features them meeting up with Carey and recording the vocals, along with Carey at the mixer by herself and with others, and scenes of them hanging out in the studio, including interacting with Carey's dog, including Shawn shooing it away while on a couch trying to nap.

Rock & Metal 

  • The Beatles: Subverted by the video for "Lady Madonna". While the original plan was to film the band miming the song within Abbey Road Studios, the band decided to use the time allotted to record the song "Hey Bulldog" instead. Became double subverted, however, when the footage was then reused in 1999 to create a music video for "Hey Bulldog" itself.
  • The Black Keys: "Gold On the Ceiling" is pretty much evenly divided between scenes of the band recording the song in a studio and performing it at concerts, including the El Camino album release show in the Bowery, New York. It also shows people lining up for the Bowery concert and scenes of Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney having photos taken and traveling in between shows.
  • Bryan Adams: "Please Forgive Me", in addition to showing Adams and the studio band performing the song for the album track, focuses on a dog that belonged to the owner of the studio. The video starts with the dog walking off the sidewalk into the studio, and it gets attention from Adams while he's singing and spends time both in the recording area and in the control room.
  • Arctic Monkeys: "Teddy Picker" starts with the band unloading instruments from a van, setting up and tuning their instruments, then launching into the studio recording and playing through the song. Along with this, there's scenes of them in the control room listening to the recording and lounging in a pub.
  • Eagles: "I Can't Tell You Why" starts with techs setting up Don Henley's drums and talking with him, Tim Schmidt setting up his bass and having a bit of fun with bumping into his microphone, and Joe Walsh warming up with a guitar before the band launches into recording the song.
  • Ghost: In the Animated Music Video for "The Future Is a Foreign Land", after Papa Nihil wakes up and finds that Sister Imperator has abandoned him, he's driven to a beach house where he meets up with the Nameless Ghouls and records the song with them as a "maybe we can get back together someday" sentiment. The final shot is him stopping the recording and putting the reel in the mail to Sister.
  • Guns N' Roses: "Patience" mainly focuses on the band in a studio recording the song, but also features several scenes in a hotel showing the band members, such as Slash playing with a snake in bed while a succession of women get into bed with him, Duff taking a tray from room service down to the front desk, and Axl stomping a phone and then watching the video for "Welcome to the Jungle" in his room.
  • Metallica: "Nothing Else Matters" is basically the start-to-finish of recording the song, showing scenes of the studio and instruments being set up, James Hetfield doing multiple takes on the vocals and playing multiple guitar tracks, and the band horsing around in their down time, mugging for the camera while in the studio, and putting together promotional materials for Metallica. There's also a blurred out pin-up poster on one of Lars' cymbal stands.
  • Paramore: "Hate to See Your Heart Break", a duet with Joy Williams, is largely scenes of Haley and Joy in the studio singing either by themselves or with each other, with a few scenes of Joy in the control room and Haley and Joy talking and having some laughs in their down time.
  • Queen:
    • The video for the extended version of "One Vision" revolves around multiple takes of the band recording the song, interspersed with the famous "four heads" shot from "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the band recreating it as they looked when the video was made.
    • The video for "Headlong" is a mix of the band performing the song in a warehouse-like space and in a studio, showing them recording vocals together and messing around in the control room.
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Suck My Kiss" shows the band recording the song in what looks like an empty office building that they've set their equipment up in, with Anthony Kiedis singing by himself in one room and the rest of the band in a separate room playing. Interspersed are scenes of the band chatting, laying down alternate takes, and having photos taken, along with unrelated outside shots such as the Hollywood sign, people on the street, and a parade.
  • Rush: Moving Pictures was recorded at LeStudio in Quebec, and the videos for "Limelight" and "Tom Sawyer" were both filmed there as well. Both are heavily based on showing the band recording the drums, bass, and guitar, and Geddy Lee recording the vocal and keyboard parts by himself. "Tom Sawyer" also includes some picture-in-picture moments to showcase parts where Geddy is playing the keyboard and bass at the same time and Alex Lifeson is playing layered guitar tracks, and "Limelight" includes a handful of scenes of the band performing the song in a concert-like setting.
  • U2: "The Saints Are Coming", their collab with Green Day, combines scenes of the bands recording the song in the studio and playing it live, along with Alternate History scenes of US military planes and helicopters, having been redeployed from Iraq, providing humanitarian aid in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Other 

Other media

Anime & Manga 

  • Carole & Tuesday: As it is a music-themed series, several characters such as the two main protagonists, Angela and other contestants are depicted recording music in a studio.

Films — Live-Action 

  • 24-Hour Party People:
    • Joy Division recording "Control" with Martin Hannett shows off his Bunny-Ears Lawyer tendencies, as he's charging £50 an hour and suddenly stops and demands the drum kit be disassembled and rebuilt on the roof.
    • Happy Mondays are a bunch of rowdy lads when we meet them in studio, and when the audio engineer notices a guitar out of tune, he asks if they can "give us an E", the band laugh and say "yeah Bez will sort you out", and the ever eager band mascot starts fishing out pills from his fanny pack.
  • Boogie Nights: After Dirk gets fired from Horner's porn production for his performance issues, he and Reed decide to embark on a music career. We then see the pair in a studio, recording pitchy vocals and snorting endless lines of cocaine as the bemused studio engineer looks on.
  • Help!: One scene has The Beatles recording "You're Going To Lose That Girl" when the Eastern cult tries to kidnap Ringo by sawing under his drum kit.
  • Hop: While tagging along with Fred O'Hare as he applies for a job at a software firm, E.B. ambles into a recording studio where some musicians await the signal to begin recording music tracks for video games. Surprisingly, all these musicians are sightless, so nobody notices that E.B. is a talking rabbit. E.B. offers to man the drum set, and lays down some awesome beats that inspire the others to join in for an impromptu jam session. Wisely, E.B. decides not to stick around, since the sound mixers are sure to notice a talking rabbit in their midst.
  • King Ralph: The film ends with Ralph (played by John Goodman, who is also an extremely talented singer) recording a version of "Duke of Earl" in one of the rooms of his royal mansion. He's converted the room to a fully-equipped recording studio complete with instruments, equipment, technicians, musicians, and backup singers.
  • La Bamba: One sequence revolves around Ritchie Valens' first recording session, showing him having to do multiple takes to get "Come On, Let's Go" just right. When Valens complains about this, the producer says it's so that they can be edited together to make the final album version. By the time it's over, Valens has had to sing it 60 times, and his half-brother Bob complains that he couldn't tell a difference in any of them.
  • Nashville has an opening segment that bounces between two recording sessions apparently happening at the same complex—country star Haven Hamilton having trouble completing a take of his corny Bicentennial ballad "200 Years", and a gospel choir featuring Linnea Reese letting loose on an uptempo song called "Yes I Do".
  • O Brother, Where Art Thou?: The movie features two versions of the Soggy Bottom Boys singing "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", with the first being them recording the song in a studio at the WEZY radio station, along with the song being recorded to a vinyl album. Once they're done, they con the blind producer into paying them for nonexistent band members.
  • Once: The ragtag band is finally able to secure time in a recording studio to record their album, leading to an extended sequence set to "When Your Mind's Made Up".
  • Pod People: One of the plotlines includes a sequence (memorably parodied on MST3K) where a rock band records a badly-garbled version of "Burning Rubber Tires" in a studio.
  • Rags: Charlie, the new janitor at Majesty Records, is cleaning up in the recording studio and can't resist the urge to mess around, thinking he's alone. He gets into the booth and starts to sing one of his songs, pretending he's recording a real record. Shawn, who got Charlie the job in the first place, was napping there and is woken up by Charlie's singing; he reveals himself, catching Charlie off guard, and offers him the chance to really record his music. The two end up producing an entire secret CD together.
  • Rocketman (2019): There are two scenes that focus on Elton being in the recording booth, though each moment gets derailed by something.
    • About halfway in, he and Kiki Dee are recording "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", with Ray recording the track and also dancing along... until John suddenly walks in. Elton, fully distracted by the return of the man he loves, forces the recording to stop. An amused Kiki is sent out of the booth so that he may talk to John in private, while a confused and annoyed Ray is told to "go for a pint" just before he follows John into a closet to make out.
    • Later, he's moody and annoyed while listening to music in the studio, even to the point of refusing to listen to the song again because he hates it that much. Renate is there and notices his anger, offering to get him tea and complimenting the music. He switches his attention to her and they begin to sing "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" together... before cutting to the two of them getting married, presumably because she was sweet and he was desperate for affection, given that they were doomed to fail.
  • Spectacular!: The final scene shows Nico and Courtney, with Spectacular!, Flux, and Mr, Romano as backup singers, in the recording studio performing the ending song "Everything Can Change".
  • Straight Outta Compton:
  • Yesterday (2019):
    • After Jack realizes he's woken up in an alternate timeline where the Beatles never existed, he books studio time at a Dingy Trainside Studio to record his versions of the songs, and we see a montage of him working with his childhood best friend Ellie and the studio owner Gavin, every so often interrupted by the noise of a passing train. Gavin is so impressed by the song Jack "wrote" he doesn't take any payment for the session.
    • Later, Jack is recording songs for his debut album with Ed Sheeran producing. Ed meddles with the recording of "Hey Jude", insisting they should change the name of the song to be more generally approachable, and the song ends up being released under the title "Hey Dude"

Live-Action TV 

  • Aquarius portrays pretty realistically the attempts at trying to have Charles Manson record his music, where he wouldn't sing directly into the microphone and insisted that "his girls" be in the room with him regardless of how it complicates the process.
  • The Brady Bunch :
    • In "Getting Davy Jones", Marcia (the president of singer Davy Jones’ fan club) tries a bunch of things to get him as the singer at prom. She ultimately finds out he's recording a song and goes to the studio to try and talk to him. His crew tries to send her away while he's doing the song but he overhears and agrees to do it.
    • In "Dough Re Mi", the kids rent a studio to make a song to try and make Greg’s song a hit. They manage to get an advance on their allowances to rent it but Peter's voice is changing. In the end we see them recording a different song to accommodate Pete's squeaking.
  • Doctor Who: "The Devil's Chord" sees the Doctor and his companion travel to 1960s Abbey Road in order to watch the Beatles in one of their first recording studios. However, they hear the band playing a hollow, soulless version of their music due to an Eldritch Abomination that's been sucking the musical energy from the world since the 1920s, prompting the main plot of the Doctor facing down the Villain of the Week.
  • Leverage: The aptly titled "The Studio Job" has Eliot posing as an up-and-coming country music star (using an actual song by Christian Kane, who plays Eliot). This is done in order to draw in their mark, a corrupt producer who previously murdered another star and stole his song for himself, and attempted to do the same thing to Eliot by sending a henchman to kill him while he was in the soundproof studio. It provides a Funny Background Event as Hardison and Parker are filling in Nate on the murder of the previous star while Eliot is fighting the mook in the soundproof booth behind them.
  • Parenthood: Crosby Braverman works at a recording studio, and a few scenes show him at work. He then quits his job to create a new recording studio with his brother Adam, making these scenes more common.
  • Saturday Night Live:
    • The concept is parodied in the "More Cowbell" skit, which revolves around Blue Öyster Cult trying to record "Don't Fear the Reaper" only for the producer to keep interrupting them to ask for more cowbell.
    • The first "Candy Slice" skit was a recording session in which the title character (a parody of Patti Smith) shows up late and drunk to the recording studio and begins making various demands before she can begin singing.

Puppet Shows 

  • The Muppet Show: In the episode guest starring Helen Reddy, her first number is framed as an informal session at the Muppets' recording studio, where she and a band of Muppet musicians perform a cover of "Blue", only for it to get ruined at the very last second by Animal going off the rails.
  • The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: In "Horton Has a Hit", Yertle decides to turn "You're My Baby", Horton's lullaby to Morton, into a hit rock song. One scene in the episode shows Horton singing at the recording studio of Yertle's record company, Turtletone Records. Horton's singing is cut short when Morton comes to visit him. Yertle thinks that Morton is a distraction that Horton doesn't need and plots to keep the two apart so that he can keep Horton's success going.

Theatre 

  • Cambodian Rock Band: The titular band is in the recording studio on the eve of the Khmer Rouge's takeover of Phnom Penh. It's ultimately revealed that the only reason the they were able to book the studio is that most musicians have already fled Phnom Penh, and their banter becomes a tense discussion of what everyone will do if the city falls to the Khmer Rouge.
  • Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: The play takes place entirely within a recording studio (the film adds a few scenes that take place elsewhere). Both versions focus on a blues group waiting on their lead singer, Ma Rainey, with tensions flaring between the musicians who want to stay loyal to Ma and the one who wants to strike out on his own.
  • Stereophonic follows a band through two different recording studios as they record an album, a process that takes over a year due to the clashing personalities of the band members.

Video Games 

  • Grand Theft Auto Online "Contract" DLC adds the Record A studios owned by Dr Dre (who had first appeared as a cameo in an earlier DLC), which is subject to an armed takeover attempt by Dre's old rival. After the player has finished the missions, they can enter the studio at any time, and Dre, as well as Anderson Paak, appear at the studio at various times and can be observed working on a song. There is also a line of missions starring returning Grand Theft Auto V protagonist Franklin and his friend Lamar, where in the introduction cutscene to the first mission, Lamar raps to a beat from (another real person cameo) DJ Pooh before he, Franklin, and two players go to a side room to smoke some of Lamar's super-strong weed that causes the layer characters to pass out and switch to playing as Franklin and Lamar.
  • Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Extend: The opening movie features a skit showing Miku, Len, and Rin learning the opening song, which includes a brief scene of Miku and Ren recording vocals in a studio while Len monitors them on a laptop nearby.
  • Hitman (2016):

Western Animation 

  • American Dad!: In the conclusion of the subplot of "The Full Cognitive Redaction of Avery Bullock by the Coward Stan Smith", Stelio Kontos and Luis observe the recording of a revised version of Stelio's theme song to include Luis for when they beat up Steve. Of course Roger is the one that organized the whole studio session.

    Steve: You know as soon as they're done recording this they're gonna put it in a boombox and beat the crap out of me, right?
    Roger: Hey, I offered to take care of your bully problem myself, but you said not to. You said "Find someone real." Well, look around you. This is what happens when you do "real" things, Steve. [Roger goes back to listening to the singers]

  • Josie and the Pussycats: In "Spy School Spoof", the band is in the studio recording tracks for an album. While there, they receive more music sheets and lyrics from a courier...except they got technical plans to a scientific device by mistake. This is how they cross paths with a villain called The Laser.
  • The Simpsons: In "Colonel Homer", the Simpsons visit a recording studio to see Lurleen Lumpkin record her newest single, "Bagged Me a Homer". The session comes to a halt when a jealous Marge's teeth-gnashing gets loud enough to be heard on the track.