Lou's Studio - Construction Phase

What an incredible journey so far. Best of luck with the job. Darren Mullan

Thank you Darren - We've been open now for three years and one month! (Doing just fine!) Man - What I've learned..........................So much, in such a short 15 month period, and, I wouldn't change that for the world! I guess it's still called progress - thanks to ALL the 'minds' up here! Much respect, good luck, and, best wishes to you Sir! Regards, Lou. 8)

Lou I'd love to hear some recordings you have made. Do you use tape or digital? I have Tools and Logic (my fave) and have recorded and mixed many genres over the years. My email (for sending mixes) is [removed] Love to hear from you. D

Hey - Fellas! How you all doin? Very well I hope. :wink: It might seem like ages since I was around but, please believe me when I say that, I've kept an eye on this site regularly since my last post, and some great projects going on too! :) Well, to bring you up to speed, so to speak, July 2007 seems a lightyear away, and even since I opened in October 2008, the last four years have flown! The reason for the post is simple - I am in the finishing stages of the most ambitious project of my career. Basically - 30 year buddy says "can you manage a Big Band Project?" Me, being me, I say "what, and record it yeah?" He says - Yeah! I say - "Sure - No worries" :cop: (Shit!) :shock: Now, think about it good people, I let myself in to record, mix and produce an 18 piece Big Band!!!!!!!!! Mistake? No, of course not, it's done! I present to the forum the first track by the 'Ed Hailwood Big Band' - Engineered, Mixed and Produced by you know who. I could really do with a very simple favour, if you kind chaps don't mind. I'm just about to put it on Facebook as a taster for the original single which will follow, so, please, if any of you are on Facebook, feel free to put it on your 'walls' and invite your buddies to share. Also, if you haven't done so, by all means send me a friend request, and navigate to here and click the Studio's like button! https://www.facebook.com/Studio.4.Hampshire http://www.box.com/s/z2a0p9c39gbftpiphi8c Someone up here is bound to think - Hang on a minute, how'd you get 18 blokes in your place? I'll happily answer any questions that come forth! :shock: Best wishes people - Back soon, Enjoy! Lou. 8)

Yeah, well... you know the drill: PIX OR IT DID NOT HAPPEN! Hai Lou, nice to see you post here after such a long time. checked your link, added comment on ye Facebook page. cheers, Ro

Nice one Ro - Many thanks buddy! Lou. 8)

You know you're a 'nerd' when you've finished a mix and then get the client to re-do his lead vocal! Had to be done! The same track but now with a great 'one-take' vocal! Enjoy! Lou. 8) http://www.box.com/s/dx4ytrs0a2zjmrnm1lb3

+1 for 'nerdism'... great sound! Well done!

Nice work, Lou! Sounds great. Got a bit of "ol' blue eyes" sound in there! Nice. But OK, you got me: I just have to bite: How the hell DID you get 18 guys in your place???? :shock: :) Is this like one of those "how do you get 4 elephants in a Mini?" jokes? - Stuart -

Ah Stuart - Bless ya' buddy! Glad you like it! :D The truth is, I didn't, but, everything you've just heard was indeed engineered, recorded, mixed, and produced in here! 1st thing to point out is that the guys involved are truly 'world class players' and can sight-read fly shit! So - Piano Bass Drums went down on the Monday. Dave Olney in my voice over booth (with halogen heater for his beautiful double bass) Griff in my control room on my new Previa fully weighted Piano, and Andy in my live room banging shit out of my 9000 recording kit! Me controlling the session with wireless Mac mouse and keyboard. I only fed the click to Andy, but all three of them could see and hear each other perfectly, as if they were on a gig! It was 'routing hell' I can tell you! Now, to you, and anyone else, please remember that these guys had NO brass to play with at the time, so had to sight read all the stabs, pushes, endings, phrases etc as if the sections were present!!! Tuesday - Top and tail the rhythm section, clear out live room and re-jig ready for Trumpets! Wednesday - The Dudes show up and lay down all the Trumpet parts. Both chaps being Tpt 1 & 3 on first pass, and then Tpt 2 & 4 on second pass to give the four parts written! All the high note greatness was proviided because Tom was on it, and they were both having such a bloody laugh (exactly what I wanted!) And they did a 'stellar' job because, of course, they too, had nothing to listen to other than the mix of the rhythm section I fed them in their cans! Awesome! :D Thursday - Trombone gurus Nichol Thomson and Andy Wood turn up and do their thing in exactly the same way! 1 & 3 then 2 & 4, then Andy added the Bass Trombone part! At least they had the Trumpets to listen to as well! Friday - Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxophones show up to complete the painting! So, all of the brass was actually played by just six wonderful chaps! Now, this all happened the last week before Christmas, and we did four tracks in total! :shock: January - Lead vocal / Client pops over to lay down the vocal track! 10 hours (for all four!) Last four weeks on and off? I sit and cut, move, lengthen, push just about every note to 'create the illusion' that they were all here at the same time, but in a sensitive way that maintains both their outstanding musicianship, but also of course - the 'Live Feel' :wink: Or as I much prefer, have gone on my nerd thing to bring absolutely everthing 'into focus' 8) It was such a challenge, headache, nightmare - Whatever, but so much fun 'pulling it off' Bus assignment/panning, oh, and writing all the automation panes - Yeah that was fun! And NO COMPRESSION OR LIMITING ON ANYTHING! Just panning EQ, and impulse response reverb - That's it! The guys love it - Their collective CV's read like the Old & New Testament put together! I'm both proud, honoured and very lucky to have been asked to do this, but I just wish my Mum could have heard it - She adored this kind of stuff! That's it - Hope, as always, that explanation helps someone else later! All the best guys! Because none of any of this would have happened without the help and support I received here! :) Lou. 8) (The screen shot is just the brass btw - the other 19 tracks of rhythm section, drums and vocals are above!) Haha!

A-w-e-s-o-m-e ...

Ah cheers Edo, much appreciated! Glad you like it. :D Lou. 8)

Lou, I just couldn't find the [like] button :-) Let me add one more thing. I was specifically thrilled by the atmosphere of the mix. I have had numerous discussions with engineers and mastering people about what defined the vocal structure within that 'bigband crooner sound' that guys like Sinatra made famous. Apart from their devine sense of "non-timing" (they hardly ever follow the exact bars and tempo's) it's the sole fact that the orchestra almost always comes in at 5-8 dB below the lead vocal especially in the mono era. Drums seem extremely loud in regular pop music, but in a horn environment it seems to play a less important role. Horn sections really are very loud in real life. And in the early days they had to rely on the concert hall acoustics and careful placement of instruments, to get that tighter than tight unity sound. This is where your magic worked. And that of the skilled players you worked with. The mixing, however complicated, remains "the easy part" so they told me. The true sparkle happens when you're trying to achieve the 'openness' where trumpets, clarinets and slide trombones are no longer in the way of the vocals. EQ'ing the heck out of the horns is sometimes vital to provide enough clarity and space to sit the vocals on top of the mix. And I don't know whether this has been a factor for you in mixdown, but the sound is really impressive. Some aspects of the vocals have the same tonality as the presence part of horns has. You kept it well separated, hence my previous comment. "Well done" is quite an understatement, especially if this has been your first go at building big band sound from scratch. It is really VERY VERY GOOD. I could think of no reason whatsoever why this track should not be released right away... Compliments where compliments are due. Great studio, great approach, great sound. I think you can be extremely proud.

No point in you kind chaps having to read the same reply from me twice! Don't know how that happened! Lou. 8)

Blimey Edo! Thank you so much! :oops: Not sure where to start, but the 'like' button is just to the right of the Control Room picture on the Studio's page, and above the five thumbnails that appear below it! As for the recording / Mix / Mastering process? Well, my goal was to achieve a live sound, and to avoid (at all costs) everything sounding in the middle! I used Gordon Goodwin's Phat Band as a reference point! :D From there, I simply had the idea of a 'ridiculous kiss-ass, tighter than tight' band playing Simon's wonderful arrangement, with Eddie floating around all over the top! Now, they're all great players, he's a great singer, and my rooms are designed to give me what I wanted in the first place - Just the natural sound of whatever is being recorded! Hence double bass was done in the iso booth and drums and brass in the live room!. So, I have to say that there is absolutely NO eq on anything in the brass, nothing on double bass, nothing on drums, a little on the piano, and again a little on the lead vocal! Because I also 'read', and had Simon's score in front of me, I was able to follow every phrase! Bass Trombone and Baritone Sax were regularly in unison, so getting the Saxes and Trombones to 'sit' together, yet still be able to hear both instruments was indeed a challenge and, yes, whilst I've recorded 'pop brass' several times, this is indeed the first Big Band project in here! Now, another thing that is important to say is that on my Dad's side (he's up here btw - much earlier post) I was brought up with the likes of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton et al! So, I kinda knew where I was aiming - But - For me, I've never viewed the stereo image as one dimensional i.e., Left to Right, but instead as two dimensional to include (of course) front to back! I've lost count over the years of the number of times clients have asked for more reverb because they think it will make them come 'forward in the mix'! You, clearly understand, that exactly the opposite is true, and it's real nice not to feel lonely on this point! Haha! :D As for

"...the mix is the easy part"

Ha! Funny as hell, and you know that's not the case! My 'arrid' sense of humour loved that one buddy! :yahoo: Those guys are mates, 'top drawer' players, and have lovely 'tones' when playing. Therefore NO compression, NO limiting, and definitely NO gating! If you want to get rid of foot taps, chit-chat, fidgeting with instruments between phrases - you gotta get your ass on the chair and go through and cut all the crap you don't need mannually! You've seen the screenshot. :shock: It's arduous, time consuming, but L'Oreal! (If you get my point) :wink: You take care buddy, and if you 'like' the Studio page, it would mean so much if you were able to maybe edit, copy and paste your very kind comments above! Plus, since you're on Facebook, feel free to send me a friend request - I'm the only Lou Stonehill up here! :lol: Best wishes to you and yours dude! Lou. 8)

The like button in this here GREAT forum I meant... but I'll make sure to hit the appropriate one on your studio page soon. ;-) Again, great job!

Hi chaps - Hope this finds you and your loved ones well, and that you've had a good Easter! Here's the next track from the E.P. Please feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter Soundcloud, whatever! Enjoy! Lou. 8) http://www.box.com/s/42fe763b3292eb6c7b89

Hello everyone! Nice one mate. Good work.

I know that this is a super old thread now bit just to say that I found this by way of the rabbit hole (started looking for an answer in another thread and ended up here) and became glued to my seat for the day as I read about your journey Lou. Absolutely amazing! I'm so impressed with the entire thing; the finished studio, the audio samples (your drums sound is sick - and the way it should be - totally natural), the aesthetics, but most importantly your attitude and kindness as a human being. The journey can be grueling, but it means nothing if we archive our goals at the expense of those around us, and you my friend appear to know just the right balance (something all mixing and mastering engineers should be naturally skilled at :) Anyways just wanted to say hi as a fellow Brit who went through a similar journey a few years prior to yours, and is about to undertake another studio build project this year, and say thanks on behalf of all those who will learn so much from what you shared here; in such incredible and picture-laden detail. Wishing you and the family an amazing 2014 and beyond. Best Wishes, Andy.