Studio Recommendations anywhere from Milton Keynes to West Midlands...

[Westie9]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a recording studio situated anywhere from Milton Keynes upto the West Midlands? Yes, there are plenty touting their skills on the web but I'd rather hear of any recommendations from here if possible.

We are a five piece wedding / function band (female vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, backing vocals) looking to record 2-3 tracks (covers) for marketing purposes.

We did the same last year and went to a studio blind. Never again!

Has to be friendly and relaxed with an engineer who knows his stuff!

We are not on a budget as such, well yes we are, but we are after a quality recording and understand you get what you pay for.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.....

[LiamPodmore]

Circle Studios in (i believe) Birmingham, where BC's own Rimskidog resides should be worth a look.

Liam

[Roger2611]

Far Heath in Guilsborough Northants, Angus runs it, Bauhaus recoded some stuff there years back, we recorded our first album there, it is set in the countryside overlooking a reservoir (hopefully not actually in it at the moment!) really relaxed environment and nice results.

The other one would be the Lodge Studio in Abington Square, Northampton, I think it is still owned by Robert John Godfrey (The Enid) it has really high quality vintage gear (Cadac desk and Studer recorder (at least it did last time I was there)) it is excellent for getting a really good vocal performance especially if Robert gets involved! We recorded some of our second album there with as good results as the rest of the album recorded at Whitfield Street (Sony's old studio) in London

[Oopsdabassist]

http://www.kmdstudio.co.uk/

KMD in Chesham, dunno if that's too far south for ya. Gary is a top bloke and has his fingers in many pies, runs 3 different jam sessions a week, plus rehearsal rooms too.

[andyonbass]

You could try [url="http://rockhopper-studios.co.uk"]Rockhopper[/url] based in MK......

[cheddatom]

I'm just north of Stoke-on-Trent, www.rifffactoryrecordings.com

A member here called Bassfunk came to record with his jazz band and seemed pretty impressed

[BigRedX]

Looking at all the links, it seems rather strange how few of the studios show decent photos of the live room.

Surely in this age of excellent and reasonably priced home recording set ups having a decent live room that can accommodate a full band playing together should be the main selling point of any commercial studio?

Edited February 13, 2014 by BigRedX

[EBS_freak]

In addition -

Priory in Canwell, Birmingham - Greg is a superb engineer and has experience mixing from acoustic, function bands, indie, to metal... and Jane McDonald.

Old Smithy, Worcester - Wood is amongst the best engineers I have ever worked with. Lightning fast - which is important when you are paying for time - and a fantastic ear.

Old Smithy probably edges it for me out of those too.

Also consider Summerfield Studios, Birmingham - a newish studio with a lovely live room and vocal booth.

Always remember, the studio is more about the guy behind the desk than the studio itself.

Edited February 23, 2014 by EBS_freak

[cheddatom]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1392305041' post='2367046']
Looking at all the links, it seems rather strange how few of the studios show decent photos of the live room.

Surely in this age of excellent and reasonably priced home recording set ups having a decent live room that can accommodate a full band playing together should be the main selling point of any commercial studio?
[/quote]

Good tip, I'll get more photos done, the best thing about my studio is the nice big live room

[Westie9]

Thanks for all your recommendations so far. As always the case I'm waiting on one band member to get back to about available dates.

[King Tut]

Fit Dog Studios in Gayton between MK and Northampton

[Westie9]

Thanks for all your recommendations. We've booked our slot and I'll post more once done and dusted.