What is in the room
The live room has a full drum kit that stays set up and miked, hand percussion and a steel pan, and a wall of electric and acoustic guitars, basses and a mandolin, with amps and a growing collection of pedals. There are a trumpet, saxophones, a clarinet, violins and other strings, and stage keys and synths.
The microphones include vintage ribbons and modern recreations of classic 47, 67 and C12 style microphones, plus a locker of dynamics and condensers for every source. Choosing microphones is the engineer’s job, so there is nothing for you to prepare there.
- You can bring your own instrument. It knows how you play, and it can be recorded alongside what is in the room.
- You do not have to bring everything. If a part wants a different guitar, a horn or some percussion, it is probably already in the room.
- The in-house players can add drums, sax or keys in the room, live with you or as overdubs, and session musicians come in for strings or a horn line when a track calls for them.
The 1904 Steinway is not ready yet
The live room has a 1904 Steinway & Sons upright, but it is not ready to record yet and there is no date for when it will be. Please do not plan a song around it. We will update this guide when that changes.
Be ready to play together
We track as much as we can live in the room, together. That works best when the arrangement is settled beforehand: the structure, the key and tempo, and who plays what. The songwriting day guide covers that work.
Practise the songs the way you will record them: all the way through, with the band if there is one. Playing a song well in the bedroom, one part at a time, is not the same as playing it with other people. If keeping steady time is the weak spot, the Time Trainer guide has drills for it.
Instruments in good order
Tune everything before you play, and again as the day goes on. New strings need time to settle, so change them a day or two ahead, not on the morning. Check that drum heads, pedals and leads are working. A crackly lead or a slipping tuning peg wastes more time than any microphone choice. The tuning guide explains why a tuner can read differently on a fresh string, and how to get a stable result.
Cameras are part of the day
There are cameras in both rooms, filming in multi-cam while you play, in 4K and synced to the studio audio. That footage is cut into a performance film and into clips for your releases. Nothing is published until you approve it in your artist portal.
It helps to know about the cameras before you arrive. Wear what you would be happy to be seen in, and treat the first take as a rehearsal for the camera as well as the song. After a take or two most people stop noticing them.
Takes, overdubs and listening back
You do not have to get everything in one pass. After tracking, we go back to the control room to listen, choose the takes and plan any overdubs: a different guitar, a horn line, a harmony. If you are thinking about an Atmos release, also read the Dolby Atmos preparation guide, because it affects how parts are recorded.