Home...
Information... Departments... School Life... Community... Contact Us...
  Information > Arts College Status > Recording Studio
Home
Management
Arts College Status
Description
Theatre
Recording Studio
About the School
Exam Results
News Desk
Vacancies
Virtual Tour
Ofsted Report



 The Studio

A fantastic 16-track recording facility is now open for public use at Sir Charles Lucas Arts College. Recent projects include a Metal Band, Local Primary School, Mod God Rock band, Jazz Trio and Advert Voiceovers for Sky TV.

 

The new demo suite is equipped with a digital hard disk recorder; the latest and most advanced recording technology. The Soundcraft mixing desk is controlled by computer and has built-in effects, gates and compressors.

 

The purpose built soundproof live room is large enough to accomodate a fully miked drumkit, small group of vocalists or guitar + bass amps.  Monitoring in the control room is taken care of by a Blue Sky 2.1 speaker system, giving crystal clear, high definition audio.

 

With the ability to master your recordings to CD, Minidisk, DAT or Cassette, you can take away a high quality digital blueprint of your work, ready for mass production, internet broadcast or just playing in the home.

 

With a Macintosh running Pro Tools LE and a PC running Cubasis and Cool Edit Pro, our system should be compatible with most other studios around the world. The Digi 002 combined with the Macintosh facilitates location recording, so if you sound at your best singing in the bathroom why not record there!




   

So, how much studio time will I need?

 

That depends entirely on your project.  If you can lay down each part in one or two takes, its possible to record a song in a day. It's a good idea to speak with the engineer before booking to explain what you want to do and get an estimate of the time involved.

 

What’s the procedure for recording a song?

 

The first step is to lay down a guide track, usually just guitar,vocal and a metronome. This gives the other band members something to play along with. The drums are then recorded before moving on to the bass, keyboards, guitar etc... Once the rhythm section is completed a rough mix is made. The vocal, backing vocals and any solo’s go on last, then the final mix is burnt onto CD, MD or DAT.

 

A 16-track demo suite WOW! How many tracks will I need?

 

A drum kit uses 8 tracks when recorded, this can however be ‘bounced down’ to 4 to make a bit more room. Rhythm guitar usually takes up 2 tracks, one left, the other right. So speak to the engineer and ensure that what you want to do is feasible. We don’t for example have room for the London Philharmonic!


 Pictures from the build

                                                    Equipment list                                       

Soundcraft 328XD 32 ch fully digital mixing desk

Blue Sky 2.1 System

Mackie SDR 24/96

 

Mastering

Sony MDS-E12 MD recorder

Tascam DA40 DAT recorder

Tascam 202 Mk3 Cassette recorder

HHB CDR830 CD recorder

 

Playback

Marantz CD5400 CD player

 

Computers

2.4Ghz PC w cubasis and Cool Edit

Focusrite twin track pro and edirol active monitors

 

1.25Ghz powerbook with protools 6 LE and 002 rack

(suitable for location work)

 

Microphones

AKG D112

4x AKG C418

2x AKG C1000S

Rhode NT1-A

2x SURE SM57

Audio Technica AT3035

 

Guitar Processors

Line 6 POD XT PRO

 

Headphones

4x Beyerdynamic DT100


  PRICING

Per hour                                                                  £18

 

3 day package

up to 4 songs to master CD, MD or DAT

ideal for recording that band demo!                        £282

 

All prices exclude VAT, prices include engineer

 

Master media is chargable

 

CD  80min                                £1.50

DAT 94min                               £3.00

Cassette                                  £1.00

MD                                           £3.00

 

 

Contact- Joe Taylor

Studio@sclucas.essex.sch.uk

 

  

Links

http://web.mac.com/joecraft/iweb/Studio/Home.html 

http://www.back2thebeat.co.uk/ A fantastic resource for drummers

http://www.jtproduction.co.uk/ recording + promotion

http://www.musesmuse.com/ resources for songwriters

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_index.html store for all things musical

http://www.recordproduction.com/ All things recording production-ish




 Click to Enlarge

Information > Arts College Status > Recording Studio website design by Them Apples Print this Document...
Back to top... Home...