Studio Recording (at Split-Level Studios)
Live Gig Multi-track Recording
Mobile Studio Recording
Mastering
Live Sound
Remixes
Film & Theatre Soundtracks
I like listening to, and love to produce, all forms of good music. Despite all the genre distinctions we use to describe styles, fundamentally I reckon there’s only two types of music - good or pish.
All the forms of Rock, Indie, Punk, Funk, Ska, Reggae, Folk, Jazz, Hiphop, Classical, Electronica, Post-something or New-something else and anything else I may have missed out: if its good and played with passion I like to engineer and produce it.
I’ve had several of my productions broadcast by BBC Radio 1 ( Huw Stephens, Rob Da Bank, Best of Unsigned, Mary Ann Hobbes, Vic Galloway, One World )
I work with Neil McNaught at Split Level Studios (based next to Edinburgh airport, down a wee lane, surrounded by trees, quite peachy really). There we can offer people recording with loads of great outboard gear, delicious mics, a great sounding live room plus excellent vocal booth, swathes of powered plugins, a beasting computer at the heart of it all, and most importantly, a friendly and productive atmosphere, so you can feel free to do yourself justice on record.
For live gig recording I can offer 18 channel simultaneous multi-track recording with each individual channel piped into a laptop. This setup now features the addition of dedicated crowd mics on an extra 2 channels. Once the gig has been recorded, these component parts are (where required) dynamically treated, tarted and beefed up, and mixed down in the studio for a faithful and polished (or suitably dirty, depending on how you want it...) gig cd.
The live gig recording setup can also be used as a mobile studio in a place of your choice, to record either on an instrument-by-instrument basis, or in live takes as a band.
To further improve the overall sound of your music’s final mix, mastering is the final state of the production process. The careful application of eqs, compression and other dynamic treatment to the final mix can make all the difference to how your music is received. Mastering can add the final polish to a recording, lifting a veil from the mix to lend extra clarity, getting the mix finally ready for reproduction and consumer use. While all music recorded by Sound Sound is mastered as part of the service, mastering is also available for music that has been recorded elsewhere.
For live sound at various venues I can supply a portable full range of mics, outboard, dis, mic stands, monitors, and a 16 channel mixer. I enjoy working with bands (rather than against them, as some folk tend too!) in a live environment as well as in the studio. I believe getting the best sound possible is largely down to performers feeling right on stage; being able to hear and express themselves properly. The front of house sound of course falls into place more readily once that’s been taken care of.
I love doing remixes , giving a new slant to music either recorded by myself or someone else. I like to explore different ways of interpreting the track, whilst staying true to the spirit of the original. Tracks can be remixed to be more kiss ass and danceable, more dreamy and floaty, made more rowdy, more psychedelic, more raw and stripped down, more funky, more weird or more straightforward, brutal, sweet, or... well it depends doesn’t it!?
I make film and theatre soundtracks , creating tailored music and effects to serve the needs of the plot. Theatre soundtracks can either be performed on the night in a malleable, reactive and flexible way using my system, or put on a standard cd for another sound tech to operate.