Diabolus in Musica Recording Studio

Don't expect 132 tracks. My studio is small and simple, but effective. I aim to produce accurate, clear, natural-sounding recordings of acoustic music, from soloists to small choirs and chamber ensembles. I concentrate on wide dynamic range, flat frequency response, close to zero distortion, and very low noise levels.

I'm an acoustic musician, and I'm used to talking to acoustic musicians. Most of us aren't at home in a recording studio, or anywhere near a microphone for that matter. I know that mikes are intrusive and panic-inducing. My job as engineer is to deal with the demands of the technology, keep it out of your way as much as possible, and let you get on with producing music. And brew lots of tea and coffee.

Most of my equipment is portable, so if you prefer to record on location, that's fine.

Once we have a clean set of takes, they are transferred to the computer, where a host of electronic goodies can be thrown at them :

Cutting and pasting down to a thousandth of a second. I can usually chop out the first chord from Take 1 and replace it with the good version from Take 3, blending them so you can't hear the join.

Totally believable reverb. I can make it sound as if it was recorded in the Albert Hall, if that's what you want.

Precise equalisation. If it's too bright, I can damp it down. If it's too dull, I can perk it up. Prominent sibilants can be removed from vocal and spoken tracks.

Digital restoration. If you want to use an existing recording, I do a pretty good job of removing noise, clicks and scratches.

Effects - compression, chorus, flanging, phasing, auto-panning, gated reverb. Pick your poison. I'd never use any of these on classical music, but if it's your thing, it's available.

When it's all done, I produce a master CD, or DAT if you prefer. You can then contact a repro house, or for small quantities (up to about 300), I can often produce them faster, possibly even cheaper. I can design and produce inlays too.