Common Questions when looking for a Studio or engineer

• I've never been in a studio before, What should I expect?

   Thats OK, we all remember our first time in a studio and we can relate to how you are feeling. We'd like to think that by the time you walk through the doors here, we will have talked enough about your expectations, you will have checked out our socials, we'll know what your project entails and we will have made you feel comfortable and excited to be here. As for the studio, it is far from the stereotyped image of a dark dingy studio. One wall is glass looking out at our garden, its bright and homely. You'll like it.

• What services do I need? 

    We encourage everyone who gets in touch to give us as much information as possible, we'll even invite you over for a cup of tea, or to jump on a Zoom call, so we can ask you the questions you might not know you need to ask. That way we can figure out the scope of your project, from mastering one track, to full production on an album. We can then advise on what we'll need to do, what you'll need to do, when we will do it, deadlines and costs involved. We will always endeavour to use jargon free language, to explain our processes and why we are doing things a certain way.

    Good question. We have this debate every year or so! We don't advertise our rates for a couple of reasons, the first and most important is that, for your project, you need to find the right producer, engineer or studio for what it is you are trying to acheive. We can't stress that enough. Even in the local Brighton area, there is a myriad of recording studios, music producers and engineers, not all of which will suit what your needs.

Whilst we appreciate that budget is very important, (we all live with them, believe me!) ideally, you will choose a place based on the conversations you have, the feel of the place, the musical sensabilities of the people at the studio and whether or not they understand what you want to acheive.

Secondly, it is important for the heatlh of the industry, the mental health of the people working in the industry and ultimately you, the artist, that if we advertise flat rates (and some places do) we are entering a race to the bottom against our friends in the local and wider audio industry. It doesn't suit this industry. Studios cost a fortune to set up, to maintain, just in equipment, let alone years and years of learning and keeping up to date with technology and trends. If we race to the cheapest price, we simply won't be able to stay open and offer the standard of service we like to give. The end result is studios without the knowledge, experience or gear that are necessary in making your art stand up against everyone elses.

But, that isn't to say we are ridiculously expensive, we know our position in the market, our skills and what we can deliver, and adjust our rates accordingly. So, you may as well get in touch to have that conversation about what you need, you may find it isn't as expensive as you may think.

• What will I need to bring?

That depends greatly on what your project involves. However, prior to your visit we will have already discussed your project at length, we will have discussed what we will need, what you will provide, what you can do to prepare, anything we need to cater for your needs in terms of accessability, allergies etc (we like to provide tea and biscuits and sometimes lunch or pizza!) If you are sending stems to be mixed, we will talk you through the process of exporting them from your computer and where to send them. Similarly for mastering as it is a similar process except we would need more info on the release details. If we are producing, we will go through the project, what you might provide in terms of music, whether you need to be at certain sessions etc... basically, we have it covered by the processes we have designed over the years, to make sure it is as thorough and easy to understand as possible, and if we can't make it easy and understandable, then we'll do it for you!

• Where are you?

We are based in Hove, in our own professional recording studio. Near Hove Park, a short walk from Hove train station, which in turn is a short 4 minute journey from Brighton train station, so super easy to get to, but tucked away so we are nice and private. The studio is in the garden of our Chief Engineer and producer Chris, who also used to run chalets for snowboarders in the Alps, so he knows how to provide for peoples needs. The other advantage of being away from the centre of Brighton, as well as space and quiet, is the idea that you go somewhere to get the work done, not to hang around, playing computer games, pool or whatever. Not having those distractions around means you stay in your creative zone for longer, creating better work.

• What is mixing and mastering?
Mixing is when you take the raw audio of your recordings and shape them together into a cohesive sound. More simply put, it is about balancing each element of your track together to create one file as the basis of your song.

Mastering is the process of making your song sound consistent across different playback systems. If you are putting out an EP or Album, you would master all of the tracks together to produce a consistent sound.

• Why should I get my tracks professionally mixed or mastered?

It can be hard to quantify the investment of getting your tracks professionally mixed or mastered (or both) and you can get acceptable results 'doing it yourself'. There are solid reasons why entrusting your work to a mix engineer, and the process that goes with it, is a crucial part of making music and releasing it:

A good mixing and mastering engineer will take the time to talk to you about your work, to find out what sound you are trying to acheive and talk you through what they will do to acheive that. They should come with an array of reference tracks, ideas and will give you an idea of how long it will take.

A professional mix and mastering engineer will be using super high end equipment, in treated rooms, so they will be analysing your music at the highest standard, down to the deepest details. Even hearing frequencies and details you haven't heard, but will radically alter how it sounds across various speaker systems.

Having an experienced mix and mastering engineer listen to your tracks, can give another objective opinion on what you have made, sounds that aren't working, elements that work really well, how well it will translate to other mediums etc... With more and more artists are making music on their own, it can be vital to get your tracks out of your own sphere and hear them somewhere else and get valued opinions.

A brilliant mix engineer will be able to analyse your reference tracks and apply them to your own music, helping you find the sound you are looking for. They will know the tricks and processes your music will need, to sound like the music you love, ready for release. A brilliant engineer will also be able to bring techniques to the table, to add the depth, clarity and excitment to your music you maybe didn't know it could have!