Music Recording & Production at SHStudios

  Here at The Coolest Recording Studio in London Town - we got an amp & speaker addiction! - We like 'em BIG - we like 'em small - it's all about tone, the size of the sound, & the spread of the soundstage - whether you're after a perfectly placed guitar in the mix (listen to early Van Halen ) or a wall of sound ( Black Sabbath ) - this is the quickest & easiest way to track that something special. Also a great way to get that huge bass sound you always wanted - here's how: First :  - you're gonna need either a splitter pedal - or a Boss tuner (they have two outputs) guitar tuner splitter pedal  - one output goes to your regular amp - like this one: recording bass amplifier amp This will give you the meat of your tone - so for instance - if you were a jazz guitarist & liked a lot of clean heavy bottom in your guitar sound - you may well use a bass rig as your first amp - and a smaller guitar amp with a 10 or 8 inch sp...

Here at the Coolest Recording Studio in London Town - we do like a big fat bootifull low end - as much as we like melodic mids & tingling highs - & while there are a gazillion mixing / production tricks to make the bass sit nice, pop out or groove summore - you always gotta start out with the basics - & get the badass tracked. First thing's first - get your bass player settled - doesn't matter if they're sitting or standing - they're gonna want to see the drummer - or at least the control room. Plug the bass into a DI ( Direct Injection ) box before any pedals or fx units they may be using - you want a good clean signal going to your recorder - you can use this as is to mix in with the mic'd up amp - you may want to process it with effects or software amp emulations - or indeed you may want to run it into a different amplifier and re record a different tone later down the line. Here's a pretty good quality di: You just plug into t...

Here at The Coolest Recording Studio in London Town - we get all kindsa musicians rolling through the door to conceptualise & make real their dreams & visions.  Here's how we deal with your live singer guitarist - your performance artiste - they may not have great recording technique - but they sure can turn the fire on - & that's what we got to capture. Generally sonorous, storytelling types like Joan Baez / Woody Guthrie   \ Leadbelly et al - these folks need to be in the zone - there's generally no overdubs or performances stitched together - they want it done live - they want it done proper! So - this time with Mr Ben Holland - we set up a dedicated vocal mic set approx 18 inches away from his mouth. Then we set up two identical ribbon microphones - one facing the head, & one facing the guitar body. Angled like this the top one should reject guitar noise, & the bottom one should reject vocal noise - done right it works beautifully. We ...

Modding Microphones for that Extra Shazzle!  Here at The Coolest Recording Studio In London Town - we like to tweak - until things are just that little bit extra - & that little bit better. Modifying microphones - why woudja? Well - ribbon microphones all have that lovely natural openness about them - but! They also all suffer (to greater or lesser degrees) from shell resonance - frequencies generated by the protective casing built around the ribbon. This is a ribbon mic we had built & modified by xaudia a few years back - it is made from a modern ribbon, a vintage reslo transformer, a piece of meccano & part of a light fitting - looks a little nuts - but sounds heavenly - & because it has no casing - there's zero shell resonance - so it gives a very pure image of what its' recording. Here's a better view of the transformer :     This is a dynamic mic made by Peavey - of all people - it's the one ...

Gettin' Heavy With Guitars - amp & mic setups 2    Here at The Coolest Recording Studio in London Town - we like microphones - they are somewhat of a passion of ours - why we have so many & so many different types .  But - you don't need a whole gamut - nay plethora ! - to make things sound big, bad & beautiful - with just two of the same mic (like the sm57 as used here) you can achieve a vast array of differing spaces & tones. This particular setup is pretty superb at adding well a defined bottom end to whatever you use it on - in this instance it's a guitar cab - but you can use it on vocals / drums / bass / horns etc. Take two identical mics - & tape or cable tie them together so that one of the capsules is one capsule depth in front of the other: The one closest to the sound being recorded will be the main mic if using them in mono - you fade in the second mic to add body & tone - this second mic will be out of phase with the ...

Gettin' Heavy With Guitars - amp & mic setups 1    Here at The Coolest Recording Studio In London Town - we do a Lot of guitar tracking - funk, jazz, soul, reggae, metal - you name it - we record & produce it. Today we're recording an alt metal band who utilise a mix of Meshuggah like heaviness with clean jazz / psyche tinged chordal flows - so we need plenty of options at mixdown. First thing you do - turn the gain down on your pedals or amp - we're going to layer the takes which will compound the overdriven tone - plus we'll be adding distortion at the mix stage - so Turn Down the gain ! - you want to hear some clarity. Always put three mics on the cab - One should be a dynamic like a Sennheiser 421 - the next should be a ribbon mic - & the third can be another dynamic or a condenser mic. The 421 will give you bottom end, a slight mid scoop & a warm top end, the ribbon will give you a clear image with a soft top end - plus since they are ...

Recording Drums, Percussion - & Dealing with People Who Like to Hit Things 10 .  Here at The Coolest Recording Studio in London Town we got a lot of faith in abstract thought . So ...... there are general ways of doing things - & there are less common practices , which some folks might be a tad nervous about trying - for WHY???? Aint audio capture in a music studio supposed to be part of the creative process? Here - we have a few methods of capturing drums developed a ways back in some Nashville studios.  Both are only concerned with ambient miking techniques using only 3 microphones .  The first has two microphones (no.s 2 & 3 - preferably ribbons) placed behind & to the side of the drummers shoulders - facing slightly down (experiment with your angles - deeper angle = more kick drum) & towards the third microphone (no. 1) which is placed approx 6 -8 feet in front of the kick drum. So your stereo field is generated by the two reverse mic...