Jacob “Biz” Morris is a multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning mixing engineer. For the last decade, Biz has represented independent Atlanta hip-hop label Reach Records, as a Vice President and Head of Studio. 

Morris has recently embarked on an exciting new chapter in his career by launching “GetMxd,” a cutting-edge company aimed at providing top-tier mixing and mastering services for independent artists at an affordable price. At the GRAMMY Awards 2024, two projects which used MXD’s mixing and mastering services took home awards; Lecrae’s album ‘Church Clothes 4’ and his collaboration with Tasha Cobbs Leonard’s,‘Your Power’. 

Based in the US, Biz set up Atlanta’s first Dolby Atmos-enabled studio with Reach and is currently building a new state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos production space for MXD. Biz set up MXD so that artists operating outside of the majors can access affordable spatial production. He and his team personally mix and master each track, having helped hundreds of artists realise their music’s potential.

How long have you been running and why was your space set up?

I’ve been head audio engineer at Reach Records for the last eleven years, primarily operating out of the four studios we built in 2016. I recently finished my home studio in January and have been mixing out of it a few days a week on days when I’m not at the Reach studios. 

Who helped you build, tune or upgrade your home space?

The studio was designed by Haverstick Design, and a local business in Atlanta built it. I have Focal monitors tuned with a new audio interface, Trinnov Nova.

What artists, presenters or other creators pass through your doors?

The studio at Reach Records is where artist visits are frequent – the space is available for our roster (e.g. Andy Mineo, Hulvey, Limoblaze and Lecrae) primarily, but have also had others including Tori Kelly and Kirk Franklin.

For my new space, I wanted a space that was at home where my kids could come in or be around while I was working. Some new songs I mixed in here include ‘Skin and Bones’ by David Kushner, ‘I Still Believe’ by Lecrae, and ‘UP!’ by Forrest Frank and Connor Price. 

What’s your USP as a studio based on feedback from artists and completed sessions? 

Because we are a “team”, or a larger entity, our USP is we have the unique capability to handle artists’ songs with a careful, personal touch, whilst executing it all in a streamlined and efficient manner. We deliver unbeatable attention to detail through an intuitive and responsive user interface – my new MXD platform, which connects grassroots artists with industry-leading mixing and mastering services at an affordable price.  

Who’s on the team?

I’m lucky to have a fantastic team with me at MXD. I’ve been working with Connor Back since he first joined Reach Records as an intern in 2018. He’s been with MXD through every step of the way, and is now one of our head mixing and mastering engineers. As our list of clients grew, we also brought in Zach Johnson, who plays a vital role in keeping our admin in check. He’s a really valuable member of the team – he’s now moving into mixing Dolby Atmos as his specialty.

How do you stay stay up to date in your home studio and Reach?

What I’ve had to do is figure out a way to stay current with sound/equipment, but also facilitate a streamline workflow that will allow for working on a lot of music and not spend a tonne of time troubleshooting. One example is working in my Atmos room at Reach Records, which uses Dante, the digital audio network.

How would you describe the overall vibe of your home studio? What’s the balance between creating a great sound vs a great vibe – can they exist hand in hand without compromise?

Vibe is super important in a studio. The environment informs how you feel, and how you feel informs your work, as well as the music it churns out. My home studio has a very open feeling. I wanted a lot of windows for natural light and Gavin from Haverstick Designs made this a reality. I chose all white stretch material from FabricWall, which makes the space feel open, light, and breezy. This is really important for me whilst working in an industry that can often feel busy and clustered.

How do you feel about remote collaboration in your studio with apps such as Audiomovers, do you embrace it or does it change the magic in the room?

I love remote collaboration, but some people feel differently, believing in-person collaboration is the way to get the best result. While I agree in-person is often fun and gets the job done, remote sessions can often allow for more flexibility with less pressure. Audio streaming allows us to execute an idea whilst in the spur of the moment. An artist can be anywhere and suddenly make changes to their mix, with their mixing engineer responding to it virtually in real time. In that sense, remote collaboration can be an incredibly powerful and efficient tool.

Can you share a list of the gear you have and the room types and dimensions?

In my room, I have an Apple Mac Studio with a Trinnov Nova and Focal monitors. I also have my studio at Reach Records with more gear if needed. For years, I used a lot of outboard gear, and still do sometimes, but I have really enjoyed the simple set up I use at home. I am currently working on a new mix bus chain and will be installing it in both rooms.

Talk us through your rooms and why they are designed in the way they are?

My home studio is very open and bright with natural light. The rooms at Reach all have different vibes. This allows our artists to gravitate to specific singular spaces, or even oscillate between rooms to keep the environment dynamic. We also created a few rooms that have multiple work spaces inside of them, which allows for hosting writing and production camps.

What’s your dream recording project or client?

This is a hard one. Last year was a big year for me as an audio engineer. I certainly wouldn’t pass on mixing John Mayer if given the chance! 

The post Studio Profile: Interview with Jacob “Biz” Morris appeared first on Audio Media International.

What’s your dream recording project or client?

I don’t think that we have a dream project or client, we love working with artists and producers of different styles and size to help make what they’re doing better in any way we can! There’s genuinely no greater feeling than seeing people come in to the studio, get comfortable, find their confidence and create awesome things. To be involved and facilitate that is what we love doing.

Gear list:

Microphones

Condensers
Schoeps CMC6 x 2
Neumann u47 FET
Neumann u87 x 3
Neumann KMS 105
Neumann TLM 103
Aston Spirit x 3
Aston Origin x 2
Shure BETA 98
Shure BETA 91A
Sennheiser e901

Valve Condensers
Flea Vintage 47
Telefunken ELA M260 x 2
Neumann u67

Ribbons
Coles 4038 x 2
Royer 121 x 2
AEA R88a
Dynamics
Shure BETA 52A
Shure SM57 x 3
Shure SM58 x 2
Shure BETA 58 x 1
Shure SM7B x 2
Sennheiser MD421 x 3
Sennheiser MD441 x 2
Sennheiser E904 x 2
Electrovoice RE20
AKG D90

Plus many more (enquire for further details).

Outboard
Mic Pres / Channels
SSL Dual Mic Pre SuperAnalogue VHD x 24
RND Shelford Channels x 2
API 3124v x 3
Tree Audio The Branch
Retro Instruments Powerstrip
Manley SLAM! x 2
BAE 1073 x 3
AML 1081 x 2
AML ez1081-500 x 2
RND 511 x 2
AMS Neve 1073LB x 2
Millenia HV-3D x 8
Glensound MX6/2/148 BBC x 6
Midas XL4 x 8
Altec 1591a
Audient ASP800

Dynamics
SSL G Series Bus Comp
24 SSL Channel Comp 24 SSL Channel Expander/Gate 
RND Portico 2 Master Bus Processor 
Universal Audio 1176LN
Empirical Labs Distressor EL8X-S w/Brit Mod x2 
Thermionic Culture Phoenix SB 
Retro Instruments 176
Teletronix LA-2A
BAE 10DCF x 2
Avalon AD2044
Dbx 160A x 2
BSS DPR-402
Drawmer 1960

EQ
24 SSL E/G Series Channel EQ 
API 5500 
Chandler Curve Bender
The Swift
A Designs HM2
Manley EQP1A

Effects
Eventide H9000
Thermionic Culture Vulture Super15
WEM Copicat
Vast range of stomp boxes from Earthquaker Devices, Carlsbro, Line 6, Boss, Malekko plus many more.

Monitoring
ATC 110SCMA
ATC SCM25A
PMC 6-2
Yamaha NS-10 + Quad 405-2
Trinnov ST2 Pro 
Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro x6 
Behringer Powerplay P16 Foldback System

DAWs
Pro Tools Ultimate
Logic Pro X
Ableton Live 11
UA LUNA

Plugins
A comprehensive list of expected plug-ins including but not limited to; FabFilter, Universal Audio, Soundtoys, Waves, Output, Native Instruments, Valhalla, Eventide, Baby Audio, Spectrosonics, Arturia plus many more (enquire for full list).

Conversion – Apogee Symphony I/O MK2 32×32 x 2
Universal Audio Apollo X16

Computers
Mac Studio – Apple M1 Ultra with 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 128gb RAM
iMac Pro 27″ Retina xeon 3 Ghz, 32gb RAM

Instruments
Extensive list of drums, basses, guitars, keyboards, synthesisers and amps including Moog One, Sequential Prophet Rev-2, Leslie Cabinet, Marshall, Orange, Hammond.

The post Studio Profile: The Mill appeared first on Audio Media International.

As part of our Studio Profile series we spoke to Kostas Kalimeris, Black Rock Studios, Santorini

How long have you been running and why was your space set up?

We started running the studio in June of 2009. Black Rock Studios was my dream to put Greece on the map of international recording studios. Our space was setup to accommodate artists/bands who are keen to hideaway, and find inspiration in our studio environment and the landscape of Santorini.

Who helped you build, tune or upgrade your space?

The studio was designed by Roger D’Arcy of Recording architecture and built by Bogdan Valceanov.

Architects Voula Gogorosi and Alexandros Gavriilakis helped with the interior design and building renovation.

What artists, presenters or other creators pass through your doors?

Our client roster includes, One Republic, Justin Bieber, Joe Bonammassa, Skrillex, Bjork, Bring Me the Horizon, Youmeatsix, Rita Wilson, Sarah Connor, Sido, to name a few.

What’s your USP as a studio based on feedback from artists and completed sessions?

The studio offers a unique vibe and that is always part of the music that comes out of it. It’s a unique sounding place, and somewhere to come and record something special.

Who’s on the team (you can introduce everyone while the drum solo goes on)…

Besides me, the team running Black Rock Studios are the assistant sound engineer, the housekeeper and the pool guy.

Studios have experienced massive change in the last few years and there’s many different types – where do you fit in?

This is so true and I had to find a way to build a studio concept that can last. The domestic music market is small and labels are rarely keen to rent big studios for production. Also there is a huge increase of home studios owned by producers or artists, so professional sound people can only get mixing jobs.

My aim was to create a new recording destination for international clients, targeting big markets like the USA, UK and Germany. Somewhere for artists looking to be inspired and bands looking to spend a month together recording in a nice setup.

How would you describe the overall vibe of the studio and what’s the balance between creating a great sound vs a great vibe – can they exist hand in hand without compromise?

The recording studio is attached to a luxury villa with views of the Mediterranean sea and Santorini Volcano and offers a state of the art creative space. I think we achieved the perfect balance of vibe and great sound. We also spent a lot of time designing the right balance between a hi-tech setup and our traditional buildings.

Recreation areas like the large outdoor infinity pool provide relaxation time between recording sessions. The peaceful setting means you can even record outdoors with an amazing view.

How do you feel about remote collaboration in your studio with apps such as Audiomovers, do you embrace it or does it change the magic in the room?

A need for remote collaboration is rare, but I’m always excited to host remote sessions. Our sessions always include video which I think helps maintain the same vibe between the two studios.

Can you share a list of the gear you have and the room types and dimensions?

Console

Solid State Logic 9080 J series with Ultimation and Total recall

Digital Recorders

Pro Tools HDX

Digidesign 192 I/0 X 4 (32 in – 64 out)

Apple Mac Pro  32 GB RAM

Monitoring

Main : Genelec 1035B

Near field : KRK VXT 6, Yamaha NS10, 6 x Genelec 8040, 6 x Genelec 8050

Furman HDS 16 Headphone Monitor System

Furman HRM 16 remote mixers (4)

Headphones

AKG K271 MkII

SONY MDR 7509

SONY MDR 7506

Audio Technica ATH-M50x

Pre Amps / EQs

Neve 1081 classic (4 modules) Mic pre/Eq

Neve 1073 (8 modules) upon request

Chandler TG2 –Abbey Road edition

GML 8200

Dynamics

Manley ELOP

ADL Stereo tube CL 1500

Chandler TG1 –Abbey Road edition

Focusrite Red 3

Distressor EL8X w/brit mode (2)

FX Processors

Lexicon 960L

Eventide Orville

Microphones

AKG C-12VR, AKG D112, Cascade Fathead II (2), DPA 4006 , Electro-Voice RE-20 (1), Microtech Geffel 711(2), Neumann U87(2) , Royer R-121(2), Sennheiser MD421(3), Shure SM57(4), Shure SM58 (3), Neumann KM 184(2), AKG C 451 (3) Shure SM7B

Our Control room is 40 square metres and the Live room is 30 square metres with a 5.5 metre high arch-shaped ceiling. Booth 1 is 15 square metres and Booth 2 is 10 square metres.

The studio is designed so that you can clearly see all of the separate areas through soundproof windows and glass doors.

Can artists stay at your studio and if so what’s the set up?

Black Rock is a 400 square metre 3-storey villa, built on a cliff area of 7.000 square metres with a 360º view of the ocean.

All five guest rooms have en-suite bathrooms. All bedrooms are bright, airy and have fantastic views. Outside areas include, dining areas, jacuzzi and a large infinity pool.

Talk us through your rooms and why they are designed in the way they are

The control room is designed to host as many people as you need for modern productions, with acoustic treatment able to host a big speaker system such as Genelec’s 1035B.

The live room offers a unique room sound for drum recording because of the high arch-shaped ceiling.

The first booth is mostly used for vocals so artists enjoy the pool and ocean view when cutting vocals, while the second booth is used as an amp or production room.

What’s your dream recording project or client?

If The Rolling Stones or Mick Jagger are going to record any new stuff then that would be my dream band to have at the studio!

The post Studio Profile: Black Rock Studios, Santorini appeared first on Audio Media International.

Set in stunning rural surroundings near the city of Bath in South West England, Real World Studios is a unique residential recording facility where artists, producers and engineers can escape their daily distractions and focus solely on making music. As part of our Studio Profile series, we spoke to Tim Oliver, Senior Consulting Engineer…

How long have you been running and why was your space set up?

Real World was opened in 1987 as the vision of Peter Gabriel’s perfect recording environment. Focused solely on making musicians feel as comfortable as possible for creative freedom, it flew in the face of conventional studio design at the time: Performers, producers and engineers all in the same room with plenty of natural daylight.

What artists, presenters or other creators pass through your doors?

Over the years our client list has included A-Ha, Amy Winehouse, Beyoncé, Happy Mondays, Manic Street Preachers, The Coral, Van Morrison and more. Harry Styles, Foals and The 1975 have recorded albums here in the last year.

What’s your USP as a studio based on feedback from artists and completed sessions?

The studio is in a very inspiring rural setting with green countryside, rivers, streams and wildlife on the doorstep. Being a residential studio the musicians are together 24 hours a day which brings the creative energies together. Everything is taken care of so the musicians can focus just on their playing.  

Who’s on the team?

Head Engineer: Katie May

House Engineers: Dom Shaw, Bob Mackenzie

Associate engineers: Oli Jacobs, Patrick Phillips

Tech manager: Bob Leadbeater

Studio Coordinator: Lisa Murton

Senior Consulting Engineer: Tim Oliver

Studios have experienced massive change in the last few years and there’s many different types – where do you fit in?

As one of the few remaining residential studios and with a global renown, we manage to keep our heads above the very choppy waters.

How would you describe the overall vibe of the studio and what’s the balance between creating a great sound vs a great vibe – can they exist hand in hand without compromise?

Real World is a very laid back and relaxed place because we believe that’s necessary for the creative process. You can’t make great music without a great vibe. Under the surface the legs are paddling hard to keep that going.

How do you feel about remote collaboration in your studio with apps such as Audiomovers, do you embrace it or does it change the magic in the room?

We use Audiomovers a lot but only as a last resort when musicians can’t be here in person. Two completely different beasts.

Can artists stay at your studio and if so what’s the set up?

Yes – the studio is fully residential and includes 8 rooms, many with en suite bathrooms. We’ve also got an in-house French chef and a wonderful housekeeper who makes everyone feel at home. Bath is a 15 minute drive away and Bristol, with its vibrant music scene, is 45 minutes away by car. The stunning countryside around Real World is criss-crossed by public footpaths linking local villages. Walk up the river path from the studio, and four hours later you’ll reach Castle Combe, a quintessential Cotswold village that’s been the filming location for countless period dramas.

Talk us through your rooms and why they are designed in the way they are:

Big Room: A vast space designed to house band, producer and engineers for ease of communication. Huge windows looking out onto the mill pond and gardens for inspiration.

Wood Room: Tied to the Big Room for a more conventional recording area, it also stands alone with its own recording rig. The triple height ceiling and uneven stone and wood surfaces creates a sublime rich acoustic.

Red Room: Atmos mixing room, also set up as a writing and production room

Dream recording project or client?

Most of my dreams have become reality here, those that didn’t won’t happen now: David Bowie, Prince, Sly Stone.

Photo credit: York Tillyer

Studio Profile: Grouse Lodge, County Westmeath, Ireland

The post Studio Profile: Real World Studios, Bath appeared first on Audio Media International.

We talk to Grouse Lodge Studios located near the picturesque village of Rosemount in County Westmeath, Ireland.

How long have you been running and why was your space set up?

Set on a 300-year-old farmstead in the middle of Ireland, Grouse Lodge Recording Studios opened in 2002. It was designed to fill the much needed requirement for a world-class residential recording studio, of which there were previously none in Ireland. Before Grouse Lodge opened its doors, there was no recording studio of its kind in Ireland.

Who helped you build, tune or upgrade your space?

Owner and co-founder Paddy Dunning sought the expertise of renowned acoustician Andy Munroe and his team to design the studio. They utilised some of the existing structures on the farm, while also extending it with purpose-built rooms. This has made for a blend of ancient stone walls along with surfaces made from modern materials – a blend of old and new.

What artists, presenters or other creators pass through your doors?

Many well-known artists and producers have crossed the threshold at Grouse Lodge and have recorded some fabulous and best-selling number 1 albums here. Some artists include: Snow Patrol, REM, Bonnie Rait, Will-i-am, Westlife, Little Simz, Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, and Oscar-winning artist Glen Hansard, to name but only a few!

More recent artists who have worked here include Dermot Kennedy, Paolo Nutini, Sinéad O’Connor, and Sam Fender, who recorded his critically-acclaimed album ‘Seventeen Going Under’ here.

Producers who have worked here include InFlo, William Orbit, Jacknife Lee, Ryan Hewitt, Ethan Johns, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Ken Nelson Mike Crossey, Rich Costey, and ten time Grammy winning producer Joe Chiccarelli.

We’ve had clients work on movie projects here, for films ranging from Spider Man, to Oscar-nominated Irish animation Wolfwakers. We have facilitated orchestras, classical ensembles and Irish traditional music recording sessions.

What’s your USP as a studio based on feedback from artists and completed sessions?

Grouse Lodge is in the middle of the Irish countryside, and is only just over 1 hour from Dublin airport. On top of the world-class recording studio, we have a spa, which includes a jacuzzi, sauna, and swimming pool. A gym is available for use on site. If clients are looking for activities, we offer horse riding, table tennis, nature walks, archery and more. We have a cinema room with a projector for watching TV and movies.

Last but not least we have an on-site bar with Guinness and Carlsberg taps. The Guinness has been confirmed as one of the best pints of Guinness in the world by members of the Guinness family who live nearby!

Claire, our chef, is passionate about making meals with locally sourced and organic ingredients. When she’s not in the kitchen, you can usually find her in her veggie garden, digging up potatoes, planting seedlings, and trussing tomato plants. Her “field to fork” ethos is seen on the dining room table – the salad greens are usually grown metres away from the table (along with the odd caterpillar!), and the eggs at breakfast are laid by the chickens who roam the yard. What can’t be grown on site, is usually organic and locally sourced.

We pride ourselves in the atmosphere and the vibe that we can cultivate here. It’s conducive to creativity, and helps artists to relax and perform at their best. Spiritual gurus have even confirmed that the recording studio is situated on several lay lines and positive energy lanes!

Who’s on the team?

Paddy and Claire Dunning who found the facility in 1999 and refurbished the 300 year old estate to high standards.

Paddy runs several other companies such as The National Wax Museum, The Button Factory music venue, Sun Studios in Dublin and is currently working on an amazing new project called The Giant which will be coming to 22 major cities around the world in the next year or so.

Alex Borwick is our head engineer. Originally from New Zealand, Alex is a producer and multi-instrumentalist. He has been a musician his entire life, playing in a variety of genres and touring the world in various bands, which lends a strong sense of musicality in his studio work. Alex fell in love with music production and engineering after relocating to Ireland, and hasn’t looked back since. He has worked with artists such as George Clinton (Parliament Funkadelic), Sam Fender, Ellie Goulding, Catfish & The Bottlemen, James Vincent McMorrow, and Martin Hayes. Alex produced and recorded the critically-acclaimed debut album ‘Hemet’ by artist Niamh Regan, which was nominated for ‘Best Album’ at the RTÉ Folk Awards and ‘Album Of The Year’ at the RTÉ Choice Music Prize.

Our other engineer is Thomas Donoghue, who has a blossoming career in live sound. Thomas is the front of house engineer for Villagers, and has worked with other Irish artists such as The Coronas, Gavin James, and The Academic.

Eavan Crowe is our studio manager who coordinates all the recording sessions. Having studied sound engineering and completed a music management and production degree she has been with us for the past 17 years or so and continues to love working in Grouse and the music industry!

Hospitality heads include AnneMarie who’s been with us a long time also, she runs a tight ship and enjoys the banter with the bands! We also have Maxine who maintains the high standards which Grouse Lodge has become known for. Their down to earth approach makes the bands feel at home and at ease from first arrival.

Bernard is our grounds manager which is a non stop job keeping up with the maintenance of the entire complex.

Studios have experienced massive change in the last few years and there’s many different types – where do you fit in?

We facilitate an environment for clients who want to escape modern life and immerse themselves in nature alongside modern music technology. As recording technology develops at breakneck speed, allowing people to do more with less, we have curated an environment to help artists “un-plug” and immerse themselves in inspirational surroundings, to help them focus on their creativity.

We provide an alternative to city-based recording studios, where people are often crammed into small spaces with limited daylight. The expansive grounds at Grouse Lodge means that people can go for a stroll when they’re not needed in the studio, or if they need time to focus on their art without the distractions usually found in large, cosmopolitan cities.

Due to the size of the grounds, we have several extra rooms that can be set up as writing/production spaces, which means that there can be multiple teams working uninterrupted simultaneously. We’ve had sessions where bands have been rotating between three different recording rigs daily! The size of the main live room also allows for tour rehearsals and pre-production for artists who are about to go on the road, with space for the whole crew.

How would you describe the overall vibe of the studio and what’s the balance between creating a great sound vs a great vibe – can they exist hand in hand without compromise?

Yes, they can absolutely exist hand in hand. Bands are always surprised by the amount of work they get done here, while being able to relax and enjoy the surroundings. They’re usually ahead of schedule before they leave! Bands leave rejuvenated.

Andy Munro’s acoustic treatment has allowed us to keep the rooms large and open, while still controllable as a recording environment. A day’s work at Grouse Lodge never feels difficult or tedious!

The natural daylight throughout the studio offers an environment conducive to productivity. The studio is full of good quality lighting, Moroccan rugs and comfortable seating, which all contributes to the ambience. Musicians can be watching cows and sheep walk by the window while they’re recording! The other animals on the grounds such as chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats add to the vibe.

How do you feel about remote collaboration in your studio with apps such as Audiomovers, do you embrace it or does it change the magic in the room?

We fully embrace it – it’s opened up the doors for international collaboration! For example, it allows us to have a team in recording a movie soundtrack, while the director sitting in LA listens to a high-quality uncompressed audio stream, and the composer could be listening in from Paris. We’ve had writing camps here where teams can be working on a song together, with input from writers and top-liners in other parts of the world.

The recording industry was already embracing and utilising remote collaboration, however the Covid-19 pandemic has fast-tracked this way of working even more, to the point where it’s become commonplace to run a session with contributors sitting anywhere in the world. When artists are at Grouse Lodge they can be collaborating with members of the team who are currently in other parts of the world.

Having said all this, it can take a bit more work to get a vibe going when people are trying to be creative remotely. Nothing beats being in the same room!

Can you share a list of the gear you have and the room types and dimensions?

 The main studio is purpose built integrating the existing 275 year old stone structure and features a huge control room (900sq.ft) with lots of natural daylight and two large live rooms with superb acoustics. The extensive use of local cut stone gives the space a unique feel and sound. Studio One features a giant Neve VR60 mixing console with flying faders, and its large live room, booths and control room has been host to A-list of international and Irish acts over the years.

• Live room 35ft x 32ft
• Stone room 25.5ft x 13.5ft
• Control room 28ft x 28ft

Full Equipment List:

Can artists stay at your studio and if so what’s the set up?

Grouse Lodge is famous for its Irish welcome, and our staff aim to give artists the best experience, and to make them feel completely at home.

It’s practically a requirement that artists stay with us! We have an array of 9 bedrooms plus extra beds, spread out over the farm, so that artists can live and breathe their project while they’re here recording with us. You can have a dip in the pool first thing in the morning, before taking a shower and then having a cooked breakfast from Claire in the dining room. Claire puts food on the table three times a day while you’re here, so no one ever goes hungry, and no one ever has to think about running down to the shop to get sandwiches for lunch. Besides, you’d have a hard time getting Deliveroo to deliver out this far!

Talk us through your rooms and why they are designed in the way they are.

The bedrooms are all individually designed. Our hospitality manager Anne Marie is very attentive to cleanliness and our beds have top quality 5 star linen to ensure that artists get a deep sleep when they’re here. There’s no traffic nearby so people wake up naturally to the sound of silence in the Irish countryside.

The control room alone is larger than most small recording studios. This gives artists a room to spread out and make the studio their own while they’re working here. The sheer amount of windows are designed to let in as much light as possible, so you always know what time of day it is and what the weather’s doing, even while doing the most tedious drum editing!

The main live room is the size of a small church, and drums sound incredible in it. It’s large enough to fit a medium sized orchestra. We have a vocal booth attached to this, as well as a second live room, called the stone room. The stone room is one of the original barns on the farm, and as you’ve guessed the walls are made of stone! This means that it has a very different acoustic to the main live room, giving an option for different sounds.

Muse even used the pool to get a good sounds and made the poor drummer play in the pool

What’s your dream recording project or client?

For us, Grouse Lodge comes into its element when hosting multi-faceted projects. We love when the facilities are being utilised to their full extent, with teams working on different elements of the project simultaneously, spread over the complex. We’re also looking forward to hosting more writing and music camps.

Paddy says: “I once had a dream to record Johnny Cash and a month later his daughter Roseanne Cash arrived at the studio”.

The post Studio Profile: Grouse Lodge, County Westmeath, Ireland appeared first on Audio Media International.

The Outlier Inn is not your average recording studio.

Set over 12-acres and located in the Southern Catskill Mountains 90 miles outside of New York, the Outlier Inn property doubles up as a wellness retreat, with a farm, lake and various types of accommodation.

The studio was founded and is run by Josh Druckman, whose background is in computer music, having studied algorithmic synthesis at Columbia University in New York City.

He moved out to the Catskills after running his own studio in New York.

“I operated the studio for a little over a year before I closed it because the costs of operating it were just so high,” he says.

“It forced me to just say yes to everybody that walked in the door and after a year of recording music that I was not into, I moved out of the city and up to the country, which is where my family was originally from, but I had never lived up here. I was 26 at the time. I kind of impulsively bought a little house and a property not knowing anyone and I set up a little electronic music studio in my house. And then over the years that little studio kind of grew into what it is today.”

The facility now features two studios, A, with its large, wood-panelled live room and Studio B, which offers a control room and isolation booth, having attracted a wide range of clients, from the likes of Parquet Courts to The War On Drugs and Delicate Steve to Solange Knowles.

At the heart of Studio A is a 72 channel Neve VR with flying faders. Monitoring comes in the form of ATC SCM110ASLs, Yamaha NS10Ms and an eight-channel Hear Back system.

The studio also boasts floating FX such as EMT 140 Plate Stereo Tube, Lexicon 480L, Roland Space Echo 501, Fulltone Tube Tape Echo and a Morley Electrostatic Delay.

Who designed and built Studio A?

It was designed by Wesley Lachot. His firm, Wes Lachot Design Group, is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I had worked in a studio that he designed. As I walked into the control room and heard the sound coming out of the speakers, I knew that that was what I wanted.

So it took me a couple of years to save up and get all my ducks in a row, but there was really no doubt who I was going to hire when it came to designing the studio. Then the building was done partially by local contractors who have helped me build all of the things here over the last 15 years on the property and then the acoustic finish work was done by a firm that works pretty much exclusively for Wes. They’re called Brett Acoustics and they’re based in Durham, North Carolina, so I’m really happy that I decided [to go with them].

You can just hire Wes and kind of do everything yourself or you can hire him and his team. I’m really happy that I not only hired his acoustic contractors, but I also hired his wiring guy, Thom Canova. Canova Audio is also based in North Carolina and so I hired kind of the whole team.

The process is so meticulous and every little detail, every quarter of an inch is critical and you’re only as good as the weakest link. That really proved to be true and so having multiple layers of redundancy to kind of double check and triple check the whole build process along the way was really, really helpful.

And so yeah, I hired Wes, he came up and I told him what I wanted. Obviously it wasn’t a new structure. It was an existing structure, so we were limited by the dimensions that we had, but fortunately, I had the dimensions that afforded me the ability to get everything that I wanted.

So I was able to not only get the control room, I was able to get two more ISO booths which made four ISO booths in total and a nice-size machine room, which was able to accommodate all of the power and guts of the studio. And then I was able to get a really nice utility room and a locker.

So I was very confident because I had experienced Wes’ room at Strange Weather. I was very confident that, acoustically, I was going to get the results that I desired. My main concern was that, aesthetically and vibe-wise, the room was going to seamlessly integrate with everything else that I already had going on here because studios can be very clinical or Star Trek-like, or kind of like a dentist office.

That was not the vibe that I was looking for and I talked to Wes about this before he came up and he said, “Well, you know, my main concern is acoustics first and foremost and I will try to give you the vibe that you want. But you know, it’s got to sound right”. I had never met him in person and he was a little stern about it.

He came up here and he’s kind of a rock star in his own right and he deserves to be, because he’s a badass studio designer. I showed him around the property and he was kind of stone-faced and I was talking about the vibe and everything and then I showed him the live room which is all barn wood and rustic and he looked around and I’ve got a black sepia tone photograph of The Band on the wall and as soon as he saw the photo he took his glasses off and his face lit up and said, “Okay, I get it now”.

“They’re my favorite band. I almost recorded a record of theirs in 1982, but then Richard Manuel killed himself and the project fell through.”

He said, “Okay, I know what you want. Instead of using of one type of acoustic fabric for your studio, we’re going to go with an open weave kind of burlap look and we’re going to use rough cut barn wood on the acoustic treatments and that’s going to get you the vibe that you want.

I expressed the desire to have as much natural light as possible in the studio so that when you’re sitting at the console, you’ve got light streaming in from both sides and also from the back. You can sit at the console and you’ve got light coming through to the ISO boost on the side and then you look straight through the live room and you’ve got big windows at the back and you can see the animals grazing, so we also went with like sepia tones in the control room.

So the whole studio and the control room has like a ’70s, warm, naturally-lit vibe. Of course it’s going to be like a spaceship because of the gear, but it’s like a spaceship from the 1970s.

Could you tell us about the console you chose for the studio?

To get a console or not to get a console, that was the question. There’s plenty of reasons not to get a console or plenty of reasons why having a console these days is not necessary, but being a child of the ‘70s and having grown up using consoles, I knew that I wanted one just as a workflow choice.

When it came to which console to get I set my budget for what I could afford and I thought that the world was going to be my oyster because I had budgeted about $60,000 for a console installed. Having come from more of a DIY recording background, I really thought that I was going to have a lot of options in that price range. It turned out that the options were actually very few. And for that money, I was looking either at some kind of hybrid workstation like an SSL Matrix, or a 16 channel API or a smaller boutique kind of desk.

I was like, OK, I can get a 72-channel, fully-automated Neve console. Which for running a commercial studio, it’s kind of the only name that people know that are not studio heads. I didn’t understand how it could be so cheap.

I really didn’t understand why this desk, which was half a million dollars when it was new was all of a sudden $25,000. I now understand why these desks are on the cheaper side. The maintenance on these consoles is very intense. What happens with them is that they were not vented properly from the factory. There was a design flaw where the engineers thought that the heat would just kind of dissipate through the top through the console but there’s so much heat generated that it’s not able to escape from the modules.

So whereas electronics components like to operate at like 70 to 74 degrees Fahrenheit, this console runs at about a 118 or a 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

So the modules just cook and the capacitors leak and the plastic components for the switches and the rotary pots all just basically get fried. So people that own these consoles are faced with having to recap these consoles every five to seven to 10 years at the most and a full recap of one of these consoles costs about $20,000. So you’re faced with a tremendous amount of downtime and stress as the hours tick away. So really the heat is the issue with these consoles. And so before I bought the console I discovered that there’s one guy in LA who created a cooling modification for this console, where you have a dedicated exhaust system, which sucks the heat out of the console. You go in and you physically cut the ends of the modules to allow the cool air to be drawn in from the front and the hot air to be sucked out the back.

So once I discovered that I decided to go for the VR and I incorporated that modification into my studio. So now, instead of running at a 118 degrees, my modules are running at 80 degrees. And of course I had to do a full recap of the console. I got the console a year before I installed it and that year was filled with technicians coming from LA, from Nashville and from New York City to work on this console.

My decision to get a console was proven correct on the very first session that I had up here because when you don’t have a console and when you’ve got a workstation with a computer and you’ve got the engineer, there’s only one person that can run it, so you’ve got the engineer working the mouse and then the band on the couch with their cell phones, reading books, reading magazines and are basically half checked out of the process. The first session that I did here with the console, the entire band was up at the console for the whole session playing around with faders and playing around with mixes.

There’s plenty of room for the band and it really engages the bands so much more in the process. So rather than just being checked out on the couch, they’re all up at the console, playing around with the faders. So the first session I was like, OK, I made the right decision to get a console.

Studio Profile: Grouse Lodge, County Westmeath, Ireland

Studio Profile: Black Rock Studios, Santorini

Rockfield Studios: Studio Profile

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It’s one of the most legendary studios in the history of rock, and is still going strong today. But the genesis of Rockfield Studios was born out of a homespun base for its founder to try and become the next Elvis…

If you travel along the M4, away from London you eventually cross the Severn bridge and enter the Wye valley and the Forest of Dean. It’s an area of astounding natural beauty and the Welsh/English border is worth a visit regardless of why you’re there. But tucked away in this part of the world, just outside the small town of Monmouth, up a small side road, on the site of an old farm is an iconic piece of recording history – Rockfield Studios; the legendary farmhouse studio that has welcomed artists as diverse as Rush, Oasis, Coldplay, Black Sabbath and, most notably, Queen – who laid down the towering Bohemian Rhapsody here. 

Rockfield Studios started out as a kind of accident.  Kingsley Ward and his brother Charles wanted to play in a rock and roll band. It was the late 1950s, Elvis was king – and two young welsh farmers decided that they wanted to be singers and songwriters so bought themselves a guitar for five pounds and wrote a couple of songs.

Living in rural Monmouthshire, recording studios were few-and-far between (read: non-existent), but the Ward brothers realised they needed to record their songs if they were to make any progress in the music business. Fortunately, a local man had a tape recorder and was prepared to let the brothers borrow it to record their songs. So, Kingsley borrowed the tape machine and operated the controls while Charles strummed their songs.

Widening the Field

With their songs recorded the boys realised that they needed to go to London to get any further and play their songs to a record company. In the days before the Internet, it was pretty difficult to pinpoint addresses, so the lads worked out where they needed to go by looking at the only resource they had: the centre label on one of their records: EMI, Haynes, Middlesex

However, once they arrived, and the security guard had greeted them with, presumably some confusion, and pointed out that they had arrived at the pressing plant, and not the offices or studios. He told the Wards they needed to go to EMI House in Central London, they might have more luck getting their tapes heard there!

Once they finally arrived at EMI House, they were greeted by a receptionist who, admiring their pluck, told them that they needed to see a producer. Kingsley remembers seeing the names of all the producers up on the wall including some names that they recognised including Norrie Paramore, the producer of Cliff Richard & The Shadows, and George Martin; soon to be the producer of a small band from Liverpool.

The receptionist booked them an appointment with Mr Martin for the following Tuesday. So Kingsley and Charles had to drive all the way back to Monmouth, and then all the way back to London again a few days later.

When the lads finally found themselves in a fancy record company executive office, they were greeted by the affable George Martin with their small two-track tape machine on their lap, and EMI’s shiny tape machine and impressive equipment all around. Martin asked the lads to play them their songs but, not being very technical yet, they didn’t know how to get the tape off the machine.

Despite what must have been quite an embarrassing scene as they fumbled with their contraption, George Martin liked what he heard and told the Ward brothers to go away, work on their craft and come back in six months. But the boys never went back…

Kingsley and Charles did, however, end up working with another famed producer – Joe Meek. The Ward brothers released a few records with the innovative Joe, but what they really got from him was a knowledge of recording and producing. Because Meek had a self-built studio and the brothers were recording in it, they could see what Joe was doing, and they stored that knowledge for future use.

At this time, studios outside of major cities were few-and-far between, and completely non-existent in rural Wales. But rock and roll was popular everywhere, so Kingsley and Charles decided to setup their own recording facility at the farm where they grew up. They acquired a simple tape machine and set it up in the attic of their parents’ house. This was the beginning of what would eventually become Rockfield Studios.

Future Proof

Initially, the boys decided to call their fledgling studio Future Sounds Limited. They only had a basic setup, but they offered a service to local bands to record their songs onto acetate for £5. Even though the equipment was limited, it was easier for many local artists to access than getting to London. From starting out as wannabe rock stars, the Ward brothers had accidentally opened up the first commercial studio, though they didn’t really know it at the time.

The quality of their recordings got better-and-better, and they began to acquire some higher quality equipment. An engineer in Swansea, Neil Ross of Rosser Electronics, built them a console and they invested in a Ferrograph tape machine on which to record.

By the mid-60s, Future Sounds were making some exceptional recordings so headed back to EMI in London to present the major label with the last five years worth of recordings. The brothers met with Roy Pip, an A&R representative, who was very impressed with what Kingsley and Charles had achieved. He offered them a contract on the spot to find, develop and record artists around the country for EMI to release. Suddenly the brothers went from a small-time commercial recording facility to being affiliated with one of the biggest record companies in the country and working with major artists.

One of the first major artists to come to Future Sounds was Dave Edmunds who suggested that Kingsley and Charles name the studios after the small village down the road – serendipitously called ‘Rockfield’. Rockfield Studios has kept the name ever since.

Rockfield Residential

Around 1965 a band from New York, Elephant’s Memory, arrived at Rockfield Studios to do some recording. Elephant’s Memory would go on to become the backing band for John Lennon and Yoko Ono – but in 1965 they were just starting out. The problem was, the band had nowhere to stay and, in 1965, Monmouth had no hotels, so the band had to stay with Kingsley and Charles’s parents. By accident Rockfield had also become the first residential studio where artists all stayed and recorded on site.

By this point the studio in the attic of the house was becoming a little outdated and definitely too small, so Rockfield built the next generation of its studio in the stable block next to the house. This became the Coach House Studio, and this is where it remains to this day. Rockfield also invested in an advanced 8-track tape machine which, in 1967, put them on a par with the biggest studios in London. Within eight years Rockfield had gone from a homespun DIY project to competing with the most famous recording studios in the country. Kingsley was determined to be ahead of the game with technology and ensured that anything the likes of Abbey Road had, Rockfield would have.

Putting the Rock in Rockfield

Staying ahead of the curve meant that bigger and bigger artists started to use Rockfield Studios. Black Sabbath with a young Ozzy Osbourne booked the studios with Kingsley recording an early demo version of Paranoid but it was in 1970 that Rockfield had its first really big hit. Dave Edmunds (he of the name change) recorded I Hear You Knocking at Rockfield which was a UK number one single for six weeks – and became that year’s Christmas number one. The song did very well elsewhere and was top-ten in several other countries including no. 4 on the US Billboard chart and it went on to eventually sell over three million copies. Suddenly everyone wanted to record out at Rockfield Studios.

In 1972 Rockfield added another studio in the main farm courtyard. This allowed two completely separate artists to record and stay at Rockfield simultaneously. Artists who made use of this included Hawkwind, Iggy Pop and, of course, Queen.

Queen had recorded their 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack at Rockfield and returned the following year to work on A Night at The Opera. Kingsley recalls hearing Freddie Mercury working on an early version of what would be their magnum opus, Bohemian Rhapsody, on a little piano in the room that is now the studios administration office. The 2018 Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, tells some of this story, and has become part of the folklore of the Rockfield site. It’s now a permanent part of the history of Queen and the story of creation of that magnificent song.

The 1980s at Rockfield Studios

The 1980s saw Rockfield continue to grow with the acquisition of an additional rehearsal and accommodation premises down the road (now Monnow Valley Studios) and an endless parade of A-list musicians coming to record at the site including Adam & the Ants, Iggy Pop, Robert Plant and The Stone Roses.

But by the end of the 80s the company had grown so big Charles and Kingsley decided to split the business. Charles took over running what became Monnow Valley and fitted it out as a high-end studio in its own right, and Kingsley stayed at Rockfield. There was no spectacular falling out – just two brothers wanting to head in their own directions.

Around this time Rockfield was refitted with Neve VR consoles. The Neve VR featured flying faders, a powerful routing matrix and a lot of other advanced functionality.

The Past Is The Future

Around the year 2000 Rockfield was re-fitted again. At this point Kingsley made the bold move to use entirely vintage equipment. The Quadrangle studios were fitted out with an MCI console that originally came from CBS’s Studio in London in 1976 and the Coach House Studios were fitted out with a Neve 8128 console.

To move back to an all-analogue signal path in 2000 was a pretty daring move. Everything else in music production was switching to digital with Pro Tools becoming more widespread, and audio interfaces becoming significantly more affordable for most home musicians. To decide to do exactly the opposite of this might have been bold – but it was one that has paid off. The entirely vintage approach enticed artists that wanted ‘that’ classic sound, and to try to capture some of the ‘warmth’ that, at the time, only vintage gear could give you.

Rockfield Studios in 2021

Rockfield Studios, as it is now, still retains all the charm, character and history that it has built up over 60+ years of recording. When you arrive, it looks, to all intents and purposes, still quite a lot like a farm. The drive is only partly made, and you pass what appear to be barns and stables.

As you approach the site, the first building you see on the right is the Coach House studio. This is still based round its Neve 8128 console but features a wide array of outboard from API, Neve and Rosser Electronics. The live rooms feature several spaces, each with their own individual acoustic for different levels of ‘liveness’ and several isolation booths for amps, vocals or a less lively acoustic. The live room contains a beautiful Yamaha grand piano, a Hammond organ and an array of vintage electric pianos. The Coach House can record either to Pro Tools or to the 24-track Studer tape machine for a completely analogue capture.

If you turn left from the drive, you reach the main courtyard, or Quadrangle, which is where the Quadrangle studio is based, along with its accommodation block and the admin building for the site.

The Quadrangle studio is still based around the same MCI console fed into either Pro Tools or another Studer 24-track machine. The live spaces for the Quadrangle are either side of the control room and, again, have a variety of acoustics for different levels of ambience during capture. The Quadrangle comes equipped with a Bösendorfer grand piano and another Hammond Organ.

One of the most unique features of Rockfield Studios is its purpose-built echo chambers. There are three chambers built into sections of the Quadrangle for different reverb times, which, alongside the 4 EMT plate reverbs provide a wide range of reverb sounds. These are patchable from either studio, and add more analogue charm to the recordings captured in Rockfield’s two studios.

The Future of Rockfield Studios

Rockfield remains one of the most exciting and in-demand studio complexes in the UK. Its unique charm, coupled with exceptionally high-quality specification means it remains hugely popular with a large number of artists.

As with a lot of businesses they have broadened their appeal and, under the management of Lisa Ward (Kingsley’s daughter), Rockfield has moved into offering masterclasses for students in the studios with professional engineers. This year it is hosting the 2021 songwriting sessions as part of the Pro7ect Songwriting Retreat.

With the Bohemian Rhapsody film in 2018 and a documentary about the 25th anniversary of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory by Oasis featuring Rockfield heavily and, of course, a documentary about Rockfield Studios itself; Interest has been renewed in the studios. Here’s hoping they are still recording amazing music across the next six decades.

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