Recording
We offer an ideal, relaxed environment with an air conditioned control room filled with natural light, a fully sound proofed booth and spacious live room for bands, artists and groups looking to record their next demo, mixtape, single or a full album project. Whether you prefer pristine digital conversion (Lynx Aurora, Apollo x16) or you crave the feel of our TLA 32 channel all valve console, at Old Street Studios we have you covered.
In addition to our upwards of 48 input channels via our selection of Neve, DAV, Millenia and Midas preamps, we offer 32 channels of analogue summing through our hybrid SSL Matrix2 mixing console. We stock a wide range of dynamic, condenser and ribbon microphones, including our special request vintage and sought-after selections such as our Neumann U47, U67 and vintage U87.
Our extensive outboard gear collection includes the UREI 1176, Tube-Tech CL1B, Acme Opticom, API 2500 and more.
We utilise plugins from Soundtoys, Fabfilter, Steven Slate, Goodhertz, Celemony, Izotope and more.
Click here for a full list of our equipment.
Rates
// £60 per hour
// £420 per day (8 hours)
No hidden fees, no additional export costs. Includes engineer.
FAQs:
Voice to Backing / Solo Vocal Tracking
When a singer or artist wishes to sing over an instrumental or backing track, usually we request for them to provide their own instrumental or backing track for us to set up on our system. This can be emailed to us prior to the session or supplied via a USB thumb drive at the beginning of the session.
We usually begin by requesting that the singer or artist perform the song through from beginning to end for a chance to warm up and for us to dial in the correct settings. Once the singer or artist and the engineer is ready, we will begin recording takes.
We typically aim to record four to five takes of the song all the way through, or we can record sections individually. After this is done, we can listen through to the takes and assemble a ‘comp’ by taking the best parts of each take. We can also perform transparent tuning correction via Melodyne.
The singer or artist can also request vocal effects to be added to the vocal recording. In addition to EQing and compressing to have the vocal sit cleanly against the backing, we can also experiment with reverb, echo, etc. These settings can be adjusted to be section specific
Finally, the song is mixed and mastered and exported in a wav or mp3 format and sent via WeTransfer or USB thumb drive.
Groups & Bands
When a group or band wishes to record a track or album with us, we handle each project on a case by case basis and discuss the goals and intentions with the aim of always reaching a final product that sounds professional and is ready for the mixing stage. Whether that be with us, or with external mixing engineer.
We will usually spend the most amount of time on the drums as this can make or break the mix. Working closely to ensure everyone is happy with takes, comps and the rough balance of the drums. We can accept DI’d instrument line level feeds or we can mic up guitar cabs. Depending on if we are recording everything in isolation or as full band takes, we will isolate amp cabs in different treated rooms across the building to remove the possibility of bleed between channels. We check that there are no edit-point problems and, if there are any, we carefully correct them. Effects such as EQ, compression, and others where appropriate to the feel of the song can also be added. Once we have the instrumental basis of the track down, we usually then track the vocals in our fully soundproofed vocal booth.
Once all channels are ready and prepped for mixing, we can export all individual channels wet and dry or we can move right onto the mixing process in-house dependent on what has been discussed prior.