We met up with ex-SARM Studios engineer Edd Hartwell at George Shilling’s studio to chat about his recording methods and we were keen to find out how serving an apprenticeship under such legends as Trevor Horn and Steve Lipson has shaped his career so far.

Edd started his musical career playing guitar and saxophone in bands until a love of recording studios and sound engineering was discovered. Edd has worked with the likes of Tony Visconti, Guy Massey, Stephen Lipson, Jim Abbiss and Trevor Horn on a regular basis, racking up UK number 1 albums and a Grammy nomination for best engineered album. Credits include The Noisettes, Ed Sheeran, Jeff Beck, The Kooks, The Prodigy, Kt Tunstall and Yes, amongst others.

Click here to watch the video 

Photographs of Edd Hartwell are in this picture gallery

Tom Rowland of the Chemical Brothers

Rock and metal music producer Simon Efemey at the Chapel Studios

Music Producer Danton Supple photographed in Alan Moulder’s Studio

Record producer Stuart Bruce

Browse our huge photo galleries here if you would like to see more!

Part Two of our exclusive video interview with legendary recording engineer and producer Ken Scott shot at Abbey Road Studios with Russell Cottier asking the questions.

In this second part we asked Ken about his microphone choices and placement when recording drums and came back to making decisions as you go along when recording and how important good monitoring is.

Come back just before Christmas for the third part of our interview!

WATCH PART TWO OF THE INTERVIEW
RECORDED AT ABBEY ROAD

Last Week’s Part One is here 

Ken Scott’s video guide of how to record and mix drums for students and engineers is a superb DVD pack. Find out more about the EDU version by clicking here!  Its videos cover everything from basic mic techniques to mixing and everything in between. Ken walks you through the recording process and on the second disk you get to play with the drum tracks that he recorded so that you can understand how he does things.

Special thanks to Ken for giving up so much time and to everyone at Abbey Road but we’d like to mention Mirek Styles, Colette Barber and Simon Campbell for their help in making this possible! We would also like to give special thanks to Russell Cottier  for coming all the way from Liverpool to record the interview!

Come back just before Christmas for Part Three!

OTHER EXCLUSIVE KEN SCOTT VIDEO FEATURES

- Watch Ken recording the Epik Drums Samples (5 Videos)

- Watch Ken talking in an interview with Nijel Jopson at Abbey Road

Ken Scott is a legendary British recording engineer and producer who recorded The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Duran Duran, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Devo, Lou Reed, America, George Harrison and many other iconic artists in music history. He had his start in the 60’s working as a Tape Operator at Abbey Road Studios and from there went on to engineer and produce some of the most acclaimed albums of the 20th Century. Ken has recorded timeless songs such as “I Am The Walrus”, “Rocket Man”, “Ziggy Stardust”, “Dreamer”, “Walk On The Wild Side” and many others. One of the unique aspects of Ken’s career in music is the diversity of iconic styles he has been a part of from the 60’s to today.

“EpiK DrumS – A Ken Scott Collection” is a Sonic Reality virtual instrument/plug-in for drum kits and grooves with the authentic sound and feel of timeless classic albums. Expanding the Drum Masters series with high resolution vintage drum sounds, EpiK DrumS features drum kits and grooves of 5 of the world’s best drummers all recorded and mixed by legendary producer/engineer Ken Scott.

In this first massive volume from the Ken Scott Collection, Ken has recreated the drum sounds in the style of multi-track studio sessions he recorded with David Bowie, Supertramp, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs, Missing Persons, Elton John and The Beatles. These authentic classic sounds were achieved by using the same rare recording equipment, drum kits, percussion and expert technical assistance from Ross Garfield “The Drum Doctor”, advanced programming by Sonic Reality and collaboration with the original legendary drummers Bill Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Woody Woodmansey, Bob Siebenberg and Rod Morgenstein. All together it is one the most EPIK productions ever done for a software drum and groove instrument.

Russell Cottier has edited this excellent footage shot by Tomás de Camino Beck at his studio in Costa Rica.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO 

Tomás de Camino Beck a.k.a “Automata” works as an engineer and record producer in Costa Rica. He has worked with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan bands since 2009 and quickly became an emblematic figure in the emerging Costa Rica music scene.

In 2011 Tomás founded Automata Records (automatarecords.com), a record label that distributes bands produced, and recorded by Automata only, and that uses an alternative music business model of low cost fair share distribution.

Automata has recorded Costa Rican bands like Las Robertas, 424, Florian Droids, Colornoise, Parque en el Espacio, Niño Koi, Monte, Tercer Mono, Cocofunka, Los Espejos, Mr Gone and the Invisibles, to name a few.

Special thanks to Tomás for helping make this video possible and to Russell Cottier for editing!

We are delighted to feature Black Rock Studios. It’s been talked about in conversations in many of our producer interviews so when owner Kostas Kalimeris got in contact to say that he was filming a video feature we were very excited!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO TOUR AROUND BLACK ROCK STUDIOS

This video was shot by the Black Rock team and as you’ll see, it’s set in an idylic location and offers pretty much anything that you’d need to make a great record. Complete with SSL 80 channel J Series Console and as much outboard as we’ve seen anywhere it’s got all you need and we gather that the accommodation is superb too!

If you do visit, please send us a postcard!

Watch the Foel Studios Video Tour here

Watch house engineer Chris Fielding talking about the studios here.

Foel Studio is a residential recording studio set in the idyllic Welsh countryside, about 15 miles from the Mid-Wales Border town of Welshpool. They are situated on the side of a beautiful secluded valley and comprise of the studio itself and two cottages.

Established in 1974, it has progressed from humble 8-track beginnings to the current combination of classic analogue equipment and a state of the art digital ProTools HD3 Accel system. Foel also offers an additional 48 digital tracks of RADAR 24 and CD mastering facilities.

Foel’s well proportioned control room provides beautiful scenic views across the valley and a birds eye view of the studio floor. Designed around their vintage Trident Series 80B console and ProTools HD3 Accel system, a selection of the best of vintage and modern outboard plus masses of software plug-ins gives the producer and artist complete control over their sound.  Monitoring is provided by a Genelec 5.1 surround sound system as well as Yamaha NS10. The acoustic treatment ensures a true sound enabling the client to feel completely confident in the final sound of their mixes.

The main studio recording area offers two adjacent isolated recording environments, large enough to record a full band completely live if required whilst giving acoustic separation. The studio floor measures 22′ by 30′ with the live area measuring 22′ by 15′, perfect for that “Bonham” drum sound!

Good visual communication between both live and dead areas of the studio and the control room is a feature of Foel’s construction, enabling musicians and producer to remain in visual eye contact. Additional instrument and speaker tie-lines from the control room allow the other ancillary rooms of the building to be used as recording spaces providing extra versatility.

Artist accommodation is in the recently refurbished 17th century cottage adjacent to the studio. The large property sleeps 7 people with full self catering facilities including a large kitchen, bathroom and living area. The usual relaxation and entertainment is provided by satellite TV, large plasma screen television, DVD, hi-fi and a slate bed pool table. WiFi is also available.

For those that are more adventurous and enjoy the open air there are countless walks, places of interest and activities immediately available in the local area.

Watch the Foel Studios Video Tour here

Watch house engineer Chris Fielding talking about the studios here.

Watch the short Video Tour around Opec Studios

Opened late in 2010, Op:eC Studios have converted an old pub just off the beautiful South Wales coast, which now houses a fully equipped professional music recording studio together with purpose built accommodation for up to 7 people. We visited with the cameras to take a quick look at the studios and recorded a short Video Tour.

Since opening Op:eC, the recording facilities have been used by a diverse range of performers including voice overs for commercials, training web sites, acoustic musicians, heavy rock bands and a 50 piece choir.

Op:eC offers a unique and homely atmosphere, artists can relax in their own kitchenette/lounge with a PS3, DVD player into a 42 inch TV whilst taking time off from recording. The studio is just outside Porthcawl and only 2 minutes off the M4 between Swansea and Cardiff.  The building is over 200 years old and served the local community as a pub until the end of 2008.

The pub was brought by Operation:Eclectic in October 2009 when they began looking for a premises and found the location and size of the building was perfect for what they wanted. “The surroundings are tranquil yet we are still close enough to the M4 to be easily accessible and only one junction away from the McArthur Glen Retail outlet” say’s Jon. “We also have the added bonus of having a drive through Indian Restaurant around the corner(Le Raj, we love them). Porthcawl Waterfront is only a couple of minutes away by car and houses a selection of some great bars and restaurants, as well as Rest Bay for surfing and playing in the sand”.

The conversion process began in October 2009 and ran through until September 2010 with the building undergoing a facelift with new rendering, additional sound-proofing installed to the live room and control room and a lot of the old internal layout being removed. “The studio has turned out better than any of us could have imagined and all the feedback we’ve had from musicians and clients has really mirrored what we feel about the place, it is somewhere you can get away and just focus on the task” Jon enthuses.

Parlour Sound Studios have sent us their updated video tour of the studio  The Video is Here.  But, if you’d rather have a heavy metal tour, take Russ Russell’s video tour around the studios here!

Also, watch Neil, the owner of Parlour Studios talking on camera about building the studio in our video shot at the start of this year here.  We have four video features shot at Parlour so far, it’s a great small studio and has a great atmosphere.

If you’d like to send us your video tour we will add you too!

Welcome to Russell Cottier’s Video Blog Number Two:  In The Studio With ‘The Issues Raised’.

We are delighted to have Russ record his follow up video blog for the site and this month he looks at drum micing techniques and takes us through a session to explain his methods.

Many thanks to Russ for recording and editing this video blog!  Watch out for the next video from Russ coming in a few days time.

For further videos featuring Russ click here

Phil English runs Alexander Sound Studios in Milton Keynes, just 35 minutes by train from the centre of London.

Phil came up with a brainwave, that RecordProduction.com needed more equipment reviews and his insight as a busy producer and studio owner.  We were very happy to take Phil up on his idea and the ‘Full English’ was born.

The Podcast is aimed to be monthly to start and we are now up to Podcast number two.

Click here to follow the iTunes link to listen or download.  Please add your reviews and let your friends know.

Oh, if you would like to be part of the Podcast, Phil is looking for people all over the World who would like to Skype in and be part of the show.  Phil’s contact info is included in the Podcast.

Podcast Number One is HERE