Studio One - Margate

31/07/2023

WHAT IS SOUND ENGINEERING?

Ever wondered why people who record sound are called ‘engineers’?
In the earliest days of recording, the goal was to capture as perfectly as possible the sound of a musician or ensemble. This involved operating cutting-edge technical equipment within rigorous technical limits. The recording equipment was noisy, so the signal needed to be well above that ‘noise floor’ while not overloading and distorting the microphone pre-amplifiers. Highly temperamental equipment required constant monitoring and servicing.
So that really was a job for engineers rather than musicians. The mixer operator in a multi-microphone recording was called a ‘balance engineer’ because they were ‘simply’ balancing the signals to get as close to the live sound as possible.
And then came the Beatles.
Egged on by the Fab Four, young house engineers like Geoff Emerick started breaking all the ‘engineering’ rules: deliberately overloading preamps (Helter Skelter); sticking highly expensive Neumann microphones inside toms to get presence (Day in the Life); cutting up tape for creative effect…
Today we are still called engineers and we still have to be aware of the engineering basics. But thanks to the likes of the Beatles’ amazing production team - alongside other pioneering ‘engineers’ - creativity is now the name of the game.

24/07/2023

MEET JENNIFER DANIEL

Jen grew up in Cologne, Germany, but - loving to go on holidays and learning languages - knew from an early age that she wouldn't be able to stay in the same place for too long. She went to boarding school in the Lake District, did an undergrad degree in International Tourism Management in Cologne, worked and studied in Lanzarote as well as mainland Spain, did a postgraduate degree in Translation & Literature in Essex, and seems to have settled in Kent, although dreaming of moving to Canada at some point in the distant future. If you had told young Jenny, living in Germany wanting to become a mathematician when she grows up, that she would be living on a houseboat in England with her partner, daughter, two dogs and a cat, she wouldn't have believed you. To her friends she is known for loving food (eating it, cooking it, thinking about it) and words (languages, poetry, quizzes). Besides Studio One she and her partner run their businesses Hilltop Ceilidh Band, Powder Mill Productions and Powder Mill Bar. In her free time she dances with Loose Women and pesters her friends to play board games with her.

03/07/2023

LIVE VS STUDIO RECORDING – what’s the difference?

‘Live’ and ‘studio’ recording do not have to be different things.
Classical, jazz and folk will always be recorded ‘live’ at Studio One in our beautiful wood panelled space. We are recording the whole sound – the room plus all the instruments blending together.
But bands may also benefit from a ‘live’ recording in the studio. A well-rehearsed band will always perform better in the studio playing live - and we will capture a far better and more authentic performance.
Some engineers prefer not to deal with the ‘bleed’ that comes from instruments playing together in a live space, preferring to mix ‘clean’ signals from individual instruments.
But we can take a lot of the noise out of the live recording space. We can isolate the guitar and bass amps and feed those signals back to the musicians over headphones. The singer can be positioned in an isolation booth but will still be able to see and hear the rest of the band.
And because everything is recorded live through our classic Trident desk, you’ll be able to take away a finished performance at the end of the day rather than having to wait until individual instruments are mixed together.
So, live or studio recording? At Studio One you’ll get the best of both worlds.

08/06/2023

MEET ELI THOMPSON

Having spent all of his working life in the music business either performing, writing, producing or teaching music tech, Eli moved to Margate and has overcome a multitude of obstacles to create arguably the best known, independent live music venue in the area.

Eli has spent the last 18 years developing the music venue and business premises while supporting the development of young musicians through the provision of a live music performance space, developing young music enthusiasts into professional promoters through the creation of a promoter partnership. He established four music festivals from scratch which are now annual events in the area and grow exponentially year on year.

The festivals, which continue to boost the local economy through economic challenges have survived through the sheer determination of Eli and all were funded and underwritten by Olby’s Soul Café & Music Rooms until 2019. In 2019 the CIC secured funding from Arts Council England for Margate Street Festival – a trend which we hope to continue.

Eli is the director of the CIC and leads from the front. The Creative Hub was born out of his vision and determination. He will give direction and impart a clear vision to his immediate team and during the first year all decisions will be referred to him in order to keep the message and path both consistent and focussed.

29/05/2023

Having begun his musical journey at a young age, fuelled by a local legend, James Kerry quickly progressed and has since performed extensively playing melodeon at events and tours across the UK and Europe both solo and with groups including Foot Down, and the Hilltop Ceilidh Band, both of which he is a founding member of. James is also a strong composer, and has released a number of original pieces.

James is also an accomplished sound engineer, and co-founded live events company 'Powder Mill Productions' with fellow Studio One partner, Andy Thomas-Emans. Through this, and other freelance work, James has engineered both in the studio, and live at prestigious venues and events, a notable recent one being The National Gallery Theatre in London, for their Christmas production.

James' recent album - Source - was one of the first to be recorded in the brand new production suite at Studio One, and really proved the versatility of the space on offer. It incorporated James, along with three other top names on the UK folk scene (James Delarre, Tom Kitching and Danny Tonks) sitting in a circle, surrounded by 13 microphones in a truly live recording.

22/05/2023

Mastering is the least understood of the audio processes required to make your record radio ready.
Mastering was originally about maximizing the limited bandwidth of vinyl using heavy compression and EQ to make sure the needle didn’t jump out of the bass grooves or skid across the top end. And that’s still vital if you want your release to go to vinyl.
But today mastering is more about three things.
First, a final check that no audio problems have got past the mixing stage – no clicks, pops, distortion or stereo phase issues which rob the mix of power.
Second, making sure your mix will play back consistently no matter what the listening environment, from streaming services on cheap earbuds to smart speakers and TVs.
And third, ensuring your mixes will match competitive professionally mastered tracks on playlists, compilations and radio broadcasts.
At Studio One Margate we use top of the range ATC25a speakers to reveal all the sonic details of your mix so we can decide what, if any, processing needs to take place. Our high-end analog processors allow us to musically shape your mix with analog saturation, equalization, compression and limiting, matched with digital tools to surgically remove unwanted artifacts.

21/04/2023

When you come to record, mix or film at Studio One, you will find yourself at the heart of Margate Old Town, a fantastic place to browse boutique shops, to discover independent bars and cafes and take in the magnificent sandy beach and seafront.
Margate is a timeless English seaside holiday town on the Kent coast combining old world charm with 21st Century culture including the Turner Contemporary and Dreamland.
Just step outside the studio and you’re on King Street at the heart of the old town. From here you can explore a range of independent pubs, vintage clothing shops, ice cream shops, and, of course, Olby’s own award-winning Soul Café!
Visit and celebrate age-old resort-town traditions – sandy beaches, fish n’ chips, seafood stalls and shore-side rides. Or capture a famous Turner sunset while settled on the seafront steps or a seafront bar, café or restaurant.
Tour Turner Contemporary – an acclaimed international art gallery where collections range from the edgy and challenging to accessible and fun. Rejuvenated Margate is home to Dreamland, an iconic amusement park delivering vintage rides, including the UK's oldest wooden roller coaster, plus all the fun of the festival with popup entertainment, live music, bars and restaurants.
Why not plan to stay locally during your Studio One session? Margate offers seafront hotels with stunning views, boutique B&Bs and guest houses to quaint seaside self-catering properties.

17/04/2023

Our Studio One, Studio Two and live recording spaces allow today’s artists to produce compelling and immersive audio-visual productions. That’s anything from an album to a music video, a soundtrack to a movie or video game, to a podcast or audio book. Everything can be delivered in a range of formats from stereo through to Dolby Atmos, giving listeners on headphones or movie theatres a fully immersive sound experience.
Studio One offers a flexible recording, mixing and mastering space using our Trident recording desk and racks of classic outboard gear, along with a 24-track 2in tape machine and cutting-edge software including Pro Tools and Logic Pro.
We encourage artists to set up and play live using our superb sounding live space, which is particularly well suited to acoustic instruments and drums.
Our Studio Two video production and editing facility is where our in-house video team shoots and edits a wide range of productions from bands playing on Olby’s famous live stage to corporate videos and movies, with the ability add fully immersive soundtracks using Studio One’s facilities and industry-standard BlackMagic Design software
Podcasts and audio books can be recorded in our dedicated vocal booth, also with immersive sound if requested.

10/04/2023

10/04/2023

The name Powder Mill originated from the location of our first storage warehouse and temporary studio located on the Powder Mill estate in Leigh, near Tonbridge. The estate was previously the location of a mill for making cosmetics powders – and earlier than that gunpowder. The mill itself and references to the powders can be seen in the Powder Mill logo designed by the amazing John Simms.

Powder Mill Productions ran Cherry Tone Studios in Folkestone along with our partner Andrew McGuiness, using Andrew’s Drum n Basement rehearsal room as our live room. The recording equipment was located upstairs next to Andrew’s drum workshop. Andrew is a top session drummer who has worked alongside some of the big names in Acid Jazz and classic soul. Some of our best sessions there included Gloria Scott, who had worked with Barry White in the 1970s, and the fantastic US-based rock act Kim Logan and the Silhouettes.

We were forced to close Cherry Tone during Covid. We had in the meantime been recording acts at Olby’s with our second console and Pro Tools rig, and Eli offered us the chance to move the recording equipment down to Margate as he was building a new studio room in what used to be the downstairs Dugout bar.

Today Studio One at Olby’s is run as a partnership between Olbys and Powder Mill Productions.

05/04/2023

When you run a vocal or guitar through our Trident 68 desk, that is the sound you get. 70s punchy classic British Rock

While it's what is on the inside that counts, it sure is nice to have this decorating the space outside Trident Studios.

31/03/2023

James Kerry’s album ‘SOURCE’ is fully released tomorrow! 360° of the album-making process took place in Studio One: tracking, mixing, mastering, and of course the immersive 360° sensation of Dolby Atmos!

is playing together with James Delarre and Tom Kitching on fiddle and Danny Tonks on guitar.

We had specially set up the live room for him and the other three musicians to sit in a square facing each other with 14 microphones between them.
We recorded the 10 tracks in 3 davs and after some time to clear our heads again we have now started the mixing process.
🪗 🎻 🎸
Are you interested in finding out more about the individual mics? READ ON!

So, what were the 14 microphones we used for recording
SOURCE and why?
3 mics for the melodeon - Blue
Woodpecker microphone for the bass end, Antelope Audio Edge Duo condenser modelling microphone for the treble, Extinct Audio BMx 2
"Valkvr" stereo ribbon microphone in the middle capturing the instrument's sound on an XY axis.

2 mics for the viola / fiddle 1 - Neumann KM184 pencil condenser to pick up high end clarity, AKG C414 for the full body sound.
2 mics for fiddle 2 - Neumann KM184 pencil condenser to pick up high end clarity, Neumann U87 for the full body sound.

2 mics for the guitar - AKG C414 for the full body sound and hard strumming, Neumann KM184 to pick up high end clarity, finger work, threat board and details, positioned to point at the 10th thread.
1 mic for the mandolin - Neumann
KM184 to pick up high end clarity, no second mic needed as mandolins don’t go as low.

2 room mics - Shure MX392C cardioid boundary microphone ×2 at opposite sides of the room for ambient noise.
1 central mic - Rode NT-SF1 ambisonics soundfield microphone to create an immersive sound for the Atmos mix.
🎙️ 🎙️ 🎙️