If you are recording a demo, an EP or an album it's always a good idea to meet in person before you book. That way you can have a look around and we can have a chat. Also, in person it's easier to get a feel as for whether or not we'll work well together. Discussing your project we can draw a general plan, and I can give you a good idea of different costing options.

If you are looking to buy a gift voucher, or if you are only looking to book a couple of hours (for instance to record some vocals), please let's have a chat on the phone instead.

For anything with a drum kit involved I would make sure your drummer comes around too, so that he can have a wee trial of the hybrid kit. Again, it will become clear pretty quick if that is something that will work well for you or not.

There are a number of great sounding instruments here for you to use. 7 acoustic guitars, 4 electric guitars, a US Fender Precision Bass, two keyboards, our hybrid drum kit (on which our recording protocol for bands is based), various percussion bits anf finally some amazing guitar amps and collection of modern/vintage guitar pedals.

Please see the equipment section for more details.

I don't keep a list of session players as such, but I know a lot of great musicians and I'll be very happy to put you in touch with someone. Just ask!

There are two main approaches to recording: live tracking and overdubbing.

With live tracking people play together, all at the same time. This is very good to capture the energy of playing live, allowing musicians to interact and respond to each other’s playing. At the same time, it may lead to poorer sound quality and it is less forgiving of mistakes.

When overdubbing, instruments are recorded separately, layered one by one. This produces the best sound quality. Because each instrument is recorded on its separate track, it allows people to have as many takes as required and when they make mistakes they can just re-record the bit they did wrong. Overdubbing offers more choices in post-production too. On the negative side, in some cases overdubbing can make things sound a bit disjointed.

Both have pros and cons. Some people work better with one rather than the other. Some music genres are generally more suited to one rather than the other. Usually bands records live, acoustic songwriters record things separately to then add more instruments to the mix. Of course the two approaches can be mixed, recording for instance 2-3 instruments at the same time (to preserve a live feel and its dynamics) and then overlay other things on top.

In the case of an acoustic singer/songwriter, I encourage recording guitar and vocals together. There is something special about the way people sing while playing guitar, something that should definitely be preserved in your recording. It is also the way people play most of the time, and that comes easier and most natural to them. Indeed, I excel in recording guitar and vocals at the same time and developed a number of techniques to do that to perfection.

I am very good at working with you to understand which approach suits your music and playing best. Indeed the success of your recording will largely depend on finding the approach that works best for you.

It really depends on a lot of different elements:

- how many songs
- the complexity of the songs
- your music style/genre
- your musical ability and how well you work under pressure
- how rehearsed you are
- how self-critical you are
- what results you are aiming for

A well rehearsed singer/songwriter/guitarist can track quite a few songs in a half-day, mix it on the same day and walk away with a good quality demo. For a simple four-piece band, 3-4 demo songs are achievable in a weekend.

If you want to record an album then you will want to work on sounds and arrangements, to what extents really depends on what you are looking for.

A well-rehearsed band can lay down most of the basic tracks for an album in 2 days. Overdubs can take 1-2 days depending on the complexity of the material and your level of pickiness. For mixing, you are looking at 2-3 hours per song.

Acoustic songwriters usually work much faster. In 2 or 3 half-day sessions we can find a good vocal/guitar sound and record all vocals and guitar parts. Then more instruments can be overdubbed as required.

I've made albums in one day and others in one month, it really all depends. Just don't try to make “The Dark Side of the Moon” in three days!

How many times did you see great gig, bought the album/EP, went home, put it on and… the excitement and magic you witnessed earlier wasn’t quite there? This is usually the result of two main things:

1) the use of click tracks, excessive overdubbing, pitch & time alignment has created something which is technically very good, yet completely lifeless.

2) drums were recorded in an unsuitable acoustic space. They say that "a band is only as good as its drummer". If the drummer can't play, this brings the whole band down. Very true, but it isn't only the playing. If the drums aren't recorded properly, they will lack the punch and deep bass that you need to support your mix. Bear also in mind that in the classic two guitars, bass and drums rock formation the drums are the only acoustic instrument. The whole sense of ambience, depth and dimension in the mix comes from the drums. If the drums are recorded in an unsuitable space they will imprint a flat, one-dimenstional quality to your music that no amount of post-processing can eliminate.

To record drums well you need a large room, with the right proportions and acoustic treatment. Very few studios in Edinburgh offer that facility, for the simple fact most cannot afford to operate in that kind of premises. And if they do, they must charge accordingly.

To avoid all that, I have developed a special "protocol" to record bands, based around a custom built hybrid drum kit and a strong emphasis on playing live. More info, pictures and sound samples here.

Working hours are flexible and I am happy to discuss with you any times that may suit you. Usually weekends are fine and so are evenings - though I don't work after 10pm. The earlier you book, the easier it will be to accommodate your needs.

Ticketed parking is available just outside the studio, at the cost of £ 2.70 per hour. This is free on a weekend or after 17.30 on weekdays. Usually availability is pretty good.

If you cannot get street parking, there is an NCP Car Park three minutes walk from the studio as well, though it's more costly. It's open 24 hours a day and prices are:

less than 1 hour: £3.50
1 to 2 hours: £ 8
2 to 3 hours: £ 12
3 to 4 hours: £15
4 to 24 hours: £20

*prices updated on 11th November 2019

For short bookings, you can pay in cash at the end of your session.

Payment with credit and debit cards is fine but it attracts a 3.5% surcharge (sorry, that is what they charge me!)

For longer recording sessions (more than 3 hours), voice-over work, gift vouchers, mixing and mastering you can pay via bank transfer.

No problem. Simply call me as soon possible to let me know, so that I don't end up sitting around waiting for you.

If I must cancel your session (which is very unlikely) I will do the same and notify you as soon as I possibly can, so that we can arrange another time for you to come in.

PS: for corporate and business bookings (like advertising and voice over work) cancellations must be made at least 48 hours in advance, or you will be charged for the first two hours of your booking (for a week-day session) or 50% of the total amount of your booking (if it was for a weekend session).

Whatever instrument you are going to be playing - try to bring anything you may need - just in case. Spare drum sticks, strings, picks, batteries, capos etc.

Vocalists: consider bringing lyric sheets, they can always be handy.

Drummers: please bring you own stool and kick pedal (we have them here too, but you may like yours better).

Bass, mandolin, ukulele, fiddle and banjo players: please make sure you have some spare strings.

Guitar players: although I do have spare guitar strings, I still encourage you to bring your own. In order to get the best sound out of your guitar, please change the strings 1-2 days before your recording session and make sure the guitar has been played a minimum of 30 minutes but no more than 4 hours since it has been restrung.

Clothing: wear something comfortable. Also consider that microphones are extremely sensitive and pick everything up. A tracksuit and a top with no zip/buttons is always best, as this prevents your instrument rubbing against them and making noises that you probably don't want in your recording!

The tracking room is small, so please take it easy with perfumes and aftershaves as they can make things a bit overwhelming for others :-)

After all the instruments and vocals are recorded, they are mixed.

Think of mixing as putting the puzzle together, assembling the parts you have recorded so that each one sits in its own space and can be clearly heard, but at the same time they form a whole together. Mixing involves adjusting volumes of individual tracks, adjusting the stereo image, creating a sense of space and depth, equalizing, compressing, adding effects and final touches.

You will be involved in the process so that the final product matches your particular musical taste.

You may have read contrasting opinions about this subject. Let me be blunt: a good sound engineer will be able to mix and master your album using software (or "plug-ins") alone, and get good results. Anyone telling you otherwise has formed that opinion exclusively because of their lack of skills in using plugins.

So why do people like me still use analogue gear for mixing? Let me reply with a question: would you settle for a good mix when you can get a great one?

Really, that's all it comes down to. Software developers do a fantastic good job in emulating analogue outboard. But at the end of the day plugins are emulations, and analogue effects are the real thing (i.e. what sofware is trying to emulate). A famous mixing engineer put it really well: "software is like looking at a stunning, beautifully printed picture of the grand canyon taken by a world class photographer. Analogue gear is actually being there, looking at the grand canyon standing beside the photographer".

Digital mixing is quicker and all the settings are instantly recalled, making changes/revisions very easy indeed. This saves time and money. But if your concern is to get the best sound quality, plug-ins will never get you the same depth, clarity, warmth and phase coherence analogue brings. And the difference isn't subtle... remember the grand canyon!

The choice is yours and I can accommodate both options. Though it doesn't need to be one against the other. There's a number of things that can't be done in the analogue world at all, and others that digital can do better than analogue. So why not use both digital and analogue? That is exactly what I recommned: an hybrid mix where you take advantage of both.

Mastering is the process of optimizing your songs, making the overall loudness, dynamics and frequency levels (bass, treble and mid range) match the volume and frequency levels of other professional recordings of similar style/arrangement and, more importantly, match each other.

Mastering will not simply make your songs better. It isn’t a magic pill making home recordings and demos sounding on par with major label releases. If you are not happy with your mix, then the best course of action isn’t to send it for mastering, but to go back to your mix and fix it. Once you are happy with your mix, if you have the budget for mastering it will make a difference and it is an investment I recommend.

Please note that mastering is much more important for albums that include a drum kit, electric bass, double bass and deep sounding percussion instruments like djembes. If your album consists of acoustic guitar, vocals, fiddle and light percussion, then mastering is much less critical.

Mastering demands experience, skills and very expensive, dedicated equipment. It requires a room set up and treated in a very different way than your typical mixing environment, often custom built. A good mastering engineer will assess the mixes as a whole, making sure the songs are clear, punchy, translatable onto many systems and that are sounding good together, as a unified album.

You may wondering whether I do mastering, costs etc. Please read on.

That depends on what you mean by “mastering”. If you haven’t already, please read the section called “what is mastering” first. According to that definition, I am not a mastering engineer by any stretch of imagination, and I should not be used as a substitute for one...

... unless... you have no budget to pay for a proper mastering engineer at all, and it is either me or nothing. In that case, I can finalise the mix for you, making it ready for replication and adding tasteful mastering compression. I own a few analogue compressors that are extremely popular in good mastering studios (Manley Vari MU, Pendulum Compressor, SSL G Compressor and API 2500). Therefore I can finish your mix using great quality analogue outboard, rather than putting everything we recorded through a software plug-in that will simply flatten your music out introducing harshness and killing all its dynamics for the sake of gaining a few extras DBs of volume, like many other places do.

I can also work on making each song as consistent as possible with each other. This is the "mastering" that I provide included with my recording packages.

IT DOESN'T, HOWEVER, MAKE ME A SUBSTITUTE FOR A PROPER, EXPERIENCED MASTERING ENGINEER. Unfortunately within my colleagues there is no shortage of people who really should be telling you exactly the same thing, except they won't. Nowadays it sometimes feel as if everyone with a PC, an audio card and a pair of monitors has become a mastering engineer... a pretty ridiculous state of affairs.

Finding a proper mastering engineer isn’t easy because far too many people improvise themselves as one, and often do more harm than good to your recording. However I can help you find someone suitable if you have the budget for it (as a guideline, prices start from £ 40 per song).

You certainly can. Everything belongs to you, including the master files.

You can get Cubase project files, or we can bounce down each single track for you, so that can be imported and used with any software you like.

You may need to bring an external hard drive or a large capacity USB stick for that, as full project files are usually rather large.

I am afraid we don't. However we'll be able to recommend a number of companies that can do that for you. We will also help you with sending the files in the correct format to the replication company of your choice, so that you don't have to worry about that.

Absolutely not. Everything we record remains your intellectual property and we have no claims to anything.

Absolutely not. All we record for you is safe and will never be shared. We sometimes ask people if we can post a sample of their music to our "sound bites" page, so that other people can get an idea of the quality they can expect. But that is totally at your discretion and we would seek your authorization first.