| London Studio Recommendations [message #231373] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 11:01  |
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Can anyone recommend some studios in London?
I'm looking to book 2 days tracking time for a band I'm working with. They're a 3 piece, acoustic and electric guitars and bass. The plan is to go into a studio for 2 days tracking in July, then do additional overdubs and mixing in my home studio, working in either Cubase or Reaper. I expect tracking will be done in Pro Tools or RADAR (whatever the studio has), but as long as I can export the .wav files so they line up easily, I'll be happy.
The budget is for £250-£300 a day, although this is slightly flexible for the right studio. They're looking for a relaxed vibe, and I'd like decent mics, a good sounding room, and a good signal path to tape (preferably through a console, but I can work with external pres). As I don't know anyone in London (yet), I'd expect to hire a house engineer to serve as a tape op.
Musical equipment (guitars, amps, organs, pianos), would be a plus, but is not a requirement.
Thanks!
-Brendan
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231394 is a reply to message #231373 ] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 11:50  |
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You have a lot of choices there.
Try Abbey Road, of course, just for the vibe.
Mayfair is always nice and homey.
But many, many good places.
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231410 is a reply to message #231373 ] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 12:42 |
 Peter Beckmann
Messages: 163
Registered: November 2005
Location: London UK |
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Hmm, sadly so many studios here have closed over the last couple of years, and the ones that went were so often the mid level ones that didn't cost the earth to hire, with a nice room, nice mics and nice instruments.
Obviously if you have the budget there is Air, Abbey Road etc as Terry and WW suggest, but I don't think from your post you have that sort of budget in mind.
Are you tracking drums? are you looking for iso rooms? £300 is pretty low for what you seem to be asking for in your post.
Give us some more detail and maybe we can help a little more. Or max out the credit cards and go to Abbey Road, you'll get a thrill every time you tell someone you recorded there!
PB
Peter Beckmann
Technologyworks
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231421 is a reply to message #231373 ] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 13:40 |
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I've called AIR and Abbey Road, and they're definitely over the band's budget. I'm looking for a mid-level studio, definitely. Something similar to what Oak Grove, New Alliance, or Mad Oak provide in Boston, in the USA (where I used to live). We won't be tracking drums at all, but the 3 members would like to play basics live as much as possible. The instrumentation of most of the songs is 1 acoustic guitar, 1 electric guitar (probably mostly using my Vibro-Champ), and 1 bass. I'd like to get enough isolation that they can punch or replace mistakes, but I should be able to achieve that with baffles and such like. An iso booth for the bass amp would be nice, but not essential.
Sorry if I was unclear in my previous post. I'm not in this band, I'll just be doing the recording. I've got a few good mics of my own that I can bring to supplement the studio's mic closet. The studio doesn't need to have U47s or anything exotic, but a handful of decent dynamics and condensers would be nice.
-Brendan
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231424 is a reply to message #231373 ] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 14:09 |
Iain Graham
Messages: 361
Registered: April 2004
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Active Member |
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Does it have to be London?
Not even Glasgow, but Manchester, Liverpool, etc might have something more in your budget.
Iain Graham
www . iain - graham . com
http://www.myspace.com/iain_graham
www . soundart . com
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231432 is a reply to message #231427 ] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 15:01 |
RMoore
Messages: 3095
Registered: May 2004
Location: Netherlands (ex-Vancouver... |
Platinum Member |
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| Barkley McKay wrote on Wed, 21 March 2007 20:24 |
The Premises Studios in Hackney are pretty good. I recorded there a couple of years ago and it turned out pretty good. They have refitted since then.
http://www.premisesstudios.com/studio-A.html
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Thats neat their studio runs on solar power..
On the subject of nice London midrange $ studios now RIP:
I really liked Eccentric Directions Studio up in Woodgreen that had a Neve console, ELAM251,etc etc - became producer Adrian Sherwood's semi-private studio for a spell....is now an office for some sort of software developers (?)..
http://www.twilightcircus.com
http://www.myspace.com/twilightcircus
By the end of today, another day is gone forever. You will never get it back.
We must never let up for a second. Work harder at every single thing - Terry Manning
'Hard drive / fan noise is the new tape hiss' - R.Settee
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231447 is a reply to message #231442 ] |
Wed, 21 March 2007 16:11 |
Peter Beckmann
Messages: 163
Registered: November 2005
Location: London UK |
Active Member |
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The Dairy could work, iso booth at the back for amp [not very big tho]. I've had good results there, but last time I was there the main monitors souinded off to me.
Intimate http://www.intimatestudios.com/
has the big old Neve desk from Sony Whitfield, very reasonable price and Paul the owner is very nice to work with. Not a huge selection of mikes, but I tracked some drums ans bass there just at the end of last year that sounded nice. Not a very scenic location..
Livingston http://www.livingstonstudios.co.uk/index.htm
if you are in North London is nice, but maybe a bit more than your budget [call tho, if they may cut a deal]
Eastcote Studios is in your price range. http://www.eastcotestudios.co.uk/index.htm
Nice old MCI desk [and 2" 16 track] Used to be Chaz Jankels studio [Ian Dury and the blockheads]
Are you engineering, or producing? If you are producing try to make sure you get Phillip [the owner] to engineer for you.
Good luck!
PB
Peter Beckmann
Technologyworks
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #231584 is a reply to message #231373 ] |
Thu, 22 March 2007 07:10 |
RMoore
Messages: 3095
Registered: May 2004
Location: Netherlands (ex-Vancouver... |
Platinum Member |
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Great thread BTW - both mid-range $ London studios I used to hire are RIP (Eccentric Directions & Junior Delgado's Incredible Music) and I have some recording plans looming this Spring
I like the look of the Dairy...
What of these studios have the best 'vibe' to keep vocalists relaxed?
The pre production rooms at Mayfair seem interesting:
http://www.mayfair-studios.co.uk/
I might do the the project laptop / BYO mic style & this may be less 'heavy' for the vocal talents...
http://www.twilightcircus.com
http://www.myspace.com/twilightcircus
By the end of today, another day is gone forever. You will never get it back.
We must never let up for a second. Work harder at every single thing - Terry Manning
'Hard drive / fan noise is the new tape hiss' - R.Settee
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| Re: London Studio Recommendations [message #232782 is a reply to message #231373 ] |
Tue, 27 March 2007 11:21 |
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Thanks everyone for the recommendations.
-Brendan
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