Recording Studios – Birmingham

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New Gear & GREAT Music


Wanna hear some amazing new music?

In a previous blog post we spoke about the “Military Wife” single from Bovine. In case you’ve forgotten or can’t access our earlier posts, here’s a tiny bit of what we sad:

Bovine are a Birmingham band that champion big drums, low SGs and fiery riffs. They describe their sound as a “chop suey of time signatures, with a stabbing backpain of ambient fuckery” and this, we reckon, is pretty accurate. They spent an amazing 7 days with us recording, mixing and mastering their debut album “The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire” which is due for release in April on the excellent FDA Rekotz.”

Of course, now that it’s April we’re happy to say that the album has been released and is garnering real acclaim. You can listen to the album in it’s entirety right now on Bandcamp (bovine.bandcamp.com). Focusing on the production work, here are some nice things that reviewers have said about the album:

Bovine

“All of this crushing and space-progging wouldn’t happen without the solid production. Bovine sounds f*****g massive, being driven by what sounds like Odin’s own war drums underneath the rest of the bottom-end heavy mix. Everything is audible and clear too, which is key for any sort of sludgy music. No muddiness here. Bovine deals out a six foot thick wall of sound that can beat your ass harder than Macho Man Randy Savage”

“…Bovine’s production is really commendable, everything is audible and clear too, which is key for any sort of sludgy music. No muddiness here…

Obviously, we’re extremely proud to be a part of this album and really enjoyed the work. Do go and check it out and you’ll find some quality local music.

In other news, for all the gear-heads out there, we’ve had a nice addition to the studio. As you know, we’re always trying to improve the studio and it’s equipment. We’re really happy to have a new compressor to add to the list.

TubeTech

The Tube-Tech CL-2A Dual Opto Compressor from Lydkraft is a great piece that givs us another flavour of compression that we felt we were lacking previously. The CL-2A is a very allround piece. If offers that smooth and musical compression that TUBE-TECH is famous for. You may have seen the plugin version from Softube, but we now boast the real thing and after a few sessions with it, we absolutely love it!

On vocals, it’s got a really smooth warmth that pair exceptionally well with out Pearlman Tm-1. It’s been kind to every voice we’ve put into it. Just knocking off 1 or 2 db from the Overheads while recording is smooth and musical. It managed to control the louder snare hits while not squashing the cymbals. There seems to be a use for the CL-2A on almost every part of a production.

Book some time with us and hear for yourself just how great this new piece of gear sounds. Paired with our vast array of vintage outboard and top-line mics, you really can’t go wrong. The sound in your head CAN be the sound you hear coming out of the speakers.

 

Stay tuned for loads more news and peeks into the studio!

Cheers,

 

 

Great Studio Improvements!


We’ve been very busy!

So, as well as being really busy with loads of great bands coming through (we had the wonderful “Adore” in today) , we’ve also been hard at work improving the studio. We’re so pleased with the changes, we thought we’d share them with you in a quick blog post.

If you are a liker of our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/univibeaudio1) you may well have seen some small previews of the additions and improvements, and if you don’t frequent the page, you should!

Firstly we spent some time on tweaking the Live Room. It sounded great anyway, and we’ve always been proud of the great drum sounds we achieve. Things changed a little after gained some space from removing the little used vocal booth. This changed the room quite substantially so took the opportunity to really test the acoustics and improve them wherever we could. After measuring the room’s reverb time and other characteristics, the treatment was designed and built and, in our opinion, was a complete success.

We pride ourselves on not only sounding amazing, but creating a vibe and being a great environment in which to be creative. The new live room is an absolutely great tracking space and we’re sure that you’re going to love the huge sound. We’re keen to always make sure that our customers are getting the best bang for their buck, so we’re proud to show off these amazing improvements.

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Another thing we wanted to make better was the headphone monitoring situation. We really like to give the band/artist the power to control their own headphone mix. This makes for the most comfortable experience and better performances. We had a good setup, with cables going to 4 separate mixers in the room, but this was limited in some ways.

Now, we’re supremely proud to say we’ve upgraded our setup to the Hearback Headphone Monitoring system! You can read all about this on their Website, but we can tell you that we now boast the highest quality headphone monitoring! We can now offer up to 4 separate mixes (up to 8 monitor points for players) in pristine stereo quality. The system is run digitally, so latency is less than 2ms and there is absolutely no loss of quality, no matter how long the cable run.

We strive to offer the best recording experience we can, and this system will allow unrivalled comfort and ease during the tracking stage of your recording.

Don’t forget to head over to the Facebook page and hit like to keep updated with the studio. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram!

Cheers.

Bovine – Military Wife


Here’s an amazing track from a great band.

Bovine are a Birmingham band that champion “big drums, low SGs and fiery riffs”.  They describe their sound as a “chop suey of time signatures, with a stabbing backpain of ambient fuckery” and this, we reckon, is pretty accurate. They spent an amazing 7 days with us recording, mixing and mastering their debut album “The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire” which is due for release in april on the excellent FDA Rekotz.

The first single off said album is the excellent “Military Wife” and they’ve made it available to stream right here:
http://bovine.bandcamp.com/

Make sure you search the band on Facebook and give them a like. You’re going to be hearing a lot about them and we’re really proud to have had them in. With plenty of airplay already from Kerrang! Radio, we know this will be big.

While you’re at it, check out the video too:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3rhxmCHGeU

 

Spring Cleaning In Autumn


There’s been a lot going on around Univibe since our last update.

Firstly, we’ve had a bit of a make over. The studio has had a fresh lick of purple paint on all the walls creating a relaxing atmosphere – perfect for our artists when they are recording with us.

The cupboard in reception has been taken away to make the most of the space. It has been replaced with a desk, meaning there is always a friendly face to welcome you into our facilities.

This also makes booking your sessions in easier. There is always someone by the phone to take your call and arrange the best times to suit you, as well as answer any questions you may have about our facilities, staff, equipment etc.

There has been a lot of recording going on too. Some of our previous clients have come back to use our studios again as well as some new faces. All of them are extremely talented and are giving our engineers a lot of good work to get involved in.

One of the local colleges are also currently using our facilities. They are enjoying making the most of learning in a professional environment with our excellent engineers guiding them throughout the process.

All in all a very busy month for all of us here at Univibe – just how we like it!

- Amy

 

Reception

 

The Studio

CD Duplication


We are delighted to announce that we are now offering in-house professional CD and DVD duplication and printing.

We now have the machinery to produce professionally finished CDs and DVDs in runs of all sizes from 50 – 5000, or even more.

This news is hot off the press and our website has not been updated yet, but f you have any CD/DVD requirements just drop us a line. We are sure you’ll find our prices very low and the quality is superb.

As soon as the new page is online we’ll be spreading the word properly!

What have we been up to?


Well, its been a while since our last blog post. The studio has been overflowing with bands, musicians, video shoots and singers.

We have had some amazing clients through the doors over the past few months, with some very promising futures ahead of a lot of them.

We’ve been working with some super tight rock from MudBall, Pop/Punk from We are Saviours, Indie/ Alternative from Last Masquerade. Kaid has recorded his awesome “Walk Away”, super smooth classic soul/r n b.

Raven Vandelle have been back in with Nick Mailing creating some massive rock tunes to name but a few.

Oh, and Joel got married!!! a busy few weeks indeed!!!

An overview of online mastering:


It was once the case that professional mastering was a costly yet important exercise at the end of the audio production process. It remains true that it is a wise procedure to adopt. However, these days you can still afford a high caliber of mastering by opting for online mastering which tends to get you a very experienced engineer with truly professional equipment at a much more budget friendly rate. With the online mastering model you can remain in complete control by receiving mastering preview files for each of your music tracks. This allows you to assess the mastering before committing to the final masters. It is suggested that you research your online mastering studio with some care, looking at factors such as engineer experience, monitoring arrangements (i.e. presence of reference quality professional loudspeakers), acoustic treatments and of course compare audio samples.

As the sole mastering engineer for SafeandSound Mastering Barry’s take on mastering as a process is that the most important goal is good musical translation across the largest number of reproduction systems possible. In essence the music should sound as good as it can given the mix down on small and large scale sound systems. An essential mastering tool for identifying how music will sound on a big system is large and accurate monitors. Such reference speakers allow the mastering engineer to get a sense of scale. Another important factor is the element of taste input from the client. A good master has an aperture for taste and this is important for any mastering engineer to take into account. The mastering engineer should be in possession of the best possible tools both analog and digital and have the knowledge when to apply each as is appropriate. Commonly these tools will be equalization (tone), compression, (dynamic control), limiting and stereo field adjustment tools. Increasing the perceived level of music is another common goal in mastering though as a mastering engineer he suggests considering the merits and trade offs that occur with extreme level increases. “It has a tendency to reduce punch, detail and depth in a recording, not usually desirable affects. I seek to minimize these effects whatever the desired perceived levels, however I recommend a balanced approach with moderate level increases which retains the vast majority of the clarity, detail, punch and quality of a great mix”. Historical evidence suggests people remember quality, not perceived level.

Finally quality control is also very important, often recording and mix sessions are time pressured and even the best mix engineer or musician can miss a stray click, vocal pop or bad edit when under pressure. Mastering identifies these little mistakes and makes sure they never get heard by the listening public. The very last stage of mastering is ensuring that the music is committed to a final medium such as CD-R pre master, DDP (disk description protocol) or encoded digital audio files. Some of these formats can have important sub code data inserted by the mastering engineer, such as ISRC code (unique track identifiers for radio play royalty collection), UPC/EAN barcodes and CD-Text for artist and track names.

Barry Gardner is the sole mastering engineer at SafeandSound mastering and the website address to visit is : SafeandSound online mastering

Mastering, what is it?


here is a great piece from Paul Wright from Cosmic Mastering:-

I was recently asked by Joel from Univibe Audio to write a piece about audio mastering and why its so important in todays competitive music industry.

Ive been the Mastering Engineer at Cosmic Online Mastering for several years having mastered thousands of independent releases and recordings from independent record labels and artists alike. Ive also had the honour to master a few major single and album releases for well known producers and labels. Although being the last link in the chain and entrusted to master someones creation is always an honour whoever its for.

Even though Ive had over 15 years experience in the music production/mastering industry Ill never stop learning. And my advice to any budding engineer or producer is to utilise the best tool that youll ever find and thats simply  your ears! Dont get too bogged down in the technology. 

Ill attempt to give you a general overview of professional mastering and why its so important for todays music in a cut throat music industry. 

If youve ever done any recording youll probably have wondered at sometime how do I get my mixes to sound like commercial records? 
I would also imagine that some of you dont realise that mastering without doubt plays a vital role in achieving a commercially acceptable sound.

Back in the day when studios recorded to tape it was possible to end up with a fat and fairly loud sounding mix mostly due to tape saturation. I used to saturate the tape when I worked freelance for an analogue studio and although mastering was still a pre-requisite it was probably a little less important than it is today. 

There are many advantages that digital recordings have over analogue and one of them is an increased level of detail in general. However digital recordings sometimes lack warmth and fatness given from analogue. This is where mastering plays a massive part in achieving a warm and fat but detailed sounding master. 

Of course any premastered mix needs to be as vibrant, dynamic and as alive as possible as this is the starting point for a good master. The better the mix  the better the master! 
However with professional mastering theres a vast improvement in the finished product with virtually any mix.   

Modern commercial records are generally pretty LOUD. The idea is that the record companies release stands out from all the other songs on the jukebox/radio. 

Whilst there has been much debate regarding the loudness wars, and its something I generally dont condone, its something that like it or not, is here to stay for the foreseeable future. 
There are bad sounding major releases out there nowadays which are in my opinion generally down to poor mastering. 

Sound Quality issues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californication_%28album%29

With every mastering project I undertake my aim is to bring out the best in every song, taking into account the style of the song whilst being as LOUD as possible. 
It is perfectly possible for a good professional mastering engineer to make songs LOUD but also open up the space within the song and improving impact. 
Most clients are amazed at how fat, open, LOUD and punchy their mixes are after mastering. 

This is what tends to sort out a good mastering engineer from a mediocre one. Its easy to make something LOUD but its challenging to make it LOUD, punchy, open and dynamic all at the same time!

If you want your music to sound as good as possible you should always use a good professional mastering engineer. All major labels have their studio mixes mastered by professional mastering engineers and theyre not wrong to do so. As well as the advantage of having a third party listen to your mixes with fresh ears they have a plethora of tools to bring out the best in every mix. Not to mention the fully acoustically designed and treated mastering studio and high resolution monitors/speakers. 

I hope that gives you a useful overview of mastering. If you have any questions or comments or if you’re interested in any of the services Cosmic Online Mastering offer please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Paul Wright
Cosmic Online Mastering
www.cosmiconlinemastering.co.uk
paul@cosmiconlinemastering.co.uk

 

How much to record in a day?


Probably the most common question we are asked here is, how many songs should we record in a day.

There are no hard and fast rules that dictate how many songs you can or should record in any session, but generally recording 1 song per day is a great way to ensure that the songs, arrangement, performances and recording is up to a standard that will really do you justice as a band.

It is tempting to squeeze as much material into 1 studio session, but 1 song performed, recorded and mixed really well is much more valuable than 3 songs that have performance or arrangement issues, these problems with a recording make the whole studio session a waste of time and a false economy.

So, when thinking about what to do in the studio next time, try to bear in mind giving the material it deserves, allow each band member enough time to really get into a track, to express their ideas, thoughts and tastes. Allow the band to gel and create great music in a great studio and leave the studio with a track that you are 100% proud of.

If you are proud of your work it is SO much easier to promote it, sell it, play it and share it with everybody out there in the big wide world, the smallest error or fault in any recording will constantly annoy and irritate you, and will eventaully stop you from promoting your music or playing it to anybody.

Now, as I said at the start of this post, there are no rules and some material needs a much longer studio session than other material, so just try to be realistic and allow enough time for your material.

Remember, we are always here to help you plan and prepare for a recording session. If you know what you want to achieve in the studio we will give you honest and frank advice on how much studio time you should be spending on it, our advice is not based on getting the studio booked as much as possible it is solely based upon making sure your music says what it needs to say, so if you would like to go over any details regarding your next recording session, just drop us a line!

Thanks for reading!

Univibe Audio, Recording Studio Birmingham

 

The new BPI and MU agreement


We have received a new info pack from the BPI (British Parlophonic Industry) and the Musicians Union today regarding the new agreement between these two parties relating to the standard fees and charged for session musicians and performers.

Until now the UK record industry has legal arrangements in place, governed by three separate documents governing how session musicians are commissioned.

These documents have now been reviewed, updated to suit the digital age and consolidated into one document.

The document is quite extensive but here are the highlights:

Audio Visual or Audio Session Fees

Standard Length Session (up to 3 hours session length/20 minutes track(s) duration) – £120

Long Session (up to 4 hours session length/30 minutes track(s) duration) – £180

Short Length Session (up to 2 hours session length/10 minutes track(s) duration) – £90

Live recording session fees

Where a commissioning record label engages a musician for a live audio/audiovisual recording session the label shall pay the musician a recording session fee of £45

Doubling and Trebling

If a musician is requested to play two or three instruments in connection with a single section the fees shall be adjusted as follows:

(a) 25% of the otherwise applicable session fee for one additional instrument and;

(b) 40% of the otherwise applicable session fee for two additional instrument

There are clauses to this element, so please check the full agreement for clarification

these are the main points to the extensive new agreement, so please check out www.bpi.co.uk for full details

Thank for reading!