Blue Cloud
Productions Argyle House, 1103 Argyle Street, Glasgow, 0141 2043568, www.bluecloudproductions.co.uk,
info@bluecloudproductions.co.uk.
A relatively new professional studio hidden in the musical arcade of 1103
Argyle Street. The best deals are single and album packages, providing everything
you need from ProTools 24-track digital recording to design and duplication
of the finished CD. This starts at £500 for a single and £850 for an album,
both including loo copies of the finished article. No-frills recording and
mastering with ProTools costs £20/hour. Separate CD duplication is available
for larger runs. Sweaty drummers will appreciate the showers.
Blue Production
24 Gairbraid Avenue, Maryhill, Glasgow, 0141946 3366, www.blueproductions.com,
info@blueproductions.co.uk.
A well-kept secret, offering up to 128-track digital recording with Cubase
running on G3 and G4 Macs, and 16-track analogue to 2 inch tape. Theres
an impressive array of processors and effects including samplers, and also
a range of keyboards. If you re unsigned, recording and mastering cost
£18/hour, £175 for a full 10-hour day, or £150/day if you book for three days
or more. Theres also a single production package, which includes a consultation,
session musicians (if required) and mastering your song to DAT and CD, all
for £500. Rates for signed bands start from £25/hour for recording and mastering.
An impressive range of vintage instruments and equipment is available for
hire, starting from £10/day for effects pedals.
Carlton Studios
See Rehearsal rooms.
Cava Sound
Workshops 30 Bentinck Street, Glasgow, 0141334 5099, www.cavastudios.co.uk,
HClark4422@aol.com. Part of Glasgows
musical heritage, Cava has recorded bands for over 25 years to nationwide
acclaim. Space isnt a problem in this renovated church: studio one of
three can comfortably accommodate a 50-piece orchestra. Theres comprehensive
analogue and digital recording facilities, a full range of outboard gear and
amps, a Bosendorfer imperial grand piano, other keyboards, and ample lounges
with PlayStations and T Vs. Prices are usually worked out individually, but
special deals are available for unsigned bands. A mobile 48-track analogue/digital
studio can also be hired if you plan to get the TV rights to T in the Park
before the networks, and theres a CD duplication service offering small
runs.
Chem19
Unit 5a, Peacock Cross Trading Estate, 32 Burubank Rd, Hamilton, 01698286882,
www.chem19studios.co.uk, mail@chem19studios.co.uk.
The nineteenth release by Scotlands premier independent
label Chemikal Underground, in case the name stumped you. Youre likely
to see any of the labels signings in recording: starting at £20/hour
for 24-track analogue onto 2in tape and DAT mastering, or rehearsing, in one
of two rooms equipped with Carlsboro, Marshall and Peavey amps, Pearl kit
and PA, for £22/3 hours, down to £15 from noon to 6pm on weekdays.
Chow Productions
Unit 7, Clyde Business Centre, 31 Clyde Street, Clydebank,01419523111.
Operates on an individual basis with each client, and caters mostly for professionals;
consequently, no backline is provided. Theres enough floorspace for
40 musicians, meaning a lot of choirs and big bands are recorded here, alongside
voice-overs and adverts. Chow also offers graphic design, duplication and
shrink-wrapping. A new studio is being built.
Encore Music
45 Herbertshire Street, Denny, 01324881881. Based in two spacious rooms of
a detached house, Encore primarily records for songwriters who want to see
their work fleshed out with accompaniments and backing tracks. Recording is
done on a Mac running Cubase. A 10-hour day costs £200,8 hours costs £160
all-inclusive. Duplication runs of up to 400 copies, start from £1.10/CD with
a basic sleeve.
The Foundry
Unit 1b, Glasgow Media Park, 24 Craigmont Street, Glasgow, 0141403 1556. Features
ADAT digital tape recorders, Cubase VST hard disk recording, and a wide range
of outboard effects and processors. £15/hour for 24-track digital recording,
£20/hour for mastering. Shares all the amenities the Practice Pad has to offer,
see Rehearsal rooms.
Gravity Studios
54 Washington Street, Glasgow, 0141 2045394. Located in, but independent from
Berkeley 2 (see Rehearsal rooms), Gravity offers 24-track digital recording
mastered to any digital format for £240 plus VAT for a 10-hour day. Recent
clients include Mull Historical Society, AC Acoustics and Eugene Kelly.
Homegrown
Productions Todhill Farm, Larbert Nr Falkirk, www.homegrown-productions.co.uk,
info@homegrown-productions.co.uk.
Record your folk or rock in the alt.country in this converted farmhouse just
off the M876, 30min from Glasgow. Homegrown offers analogue or Protools digital
recording and provides a ful! backline with Ampeg and Marshal! amps and a
range of keyboards and effects. Theres CD duplication available for
smal! or large runs, mastering services, a cover design facility and a handy
basic website design service which can pnt your details and mp3 d songs
onto the net under your own domain name. If you like it country-style, the
studio can also arrange affordable local accommodation.
Lemon Groove
Records 10 Clydeholm Road, Whiteinch, Glasgow, 01415765]54. Dance specialists
Lemon Groove have taken over the former Celestial Sounds studio primarily
for their own interests, but they also hire it out when the rooms free.
24-track recording costs £20/hour al! inclusive and is blocked in eight hour
days.
Park Lane
Studio 974 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, 0141 636 1218, www.parklanestudio.com.
A well equipped professional studio, with 24-track analogue recording to 2in
tape. Most artists recording here are signed or will have management backing,
as a recent client list including Westlife, Sophie-Ellis Bextor and the Fugees
might suggest. Recording costs are calculated on an individual basis, but
the studio operates a daily rate to get the job done with minimum pressure.
Theres a lounge with Sky TV and PlayStation, a pool room, showers and
a kitchen.
Petersburn
Centre Vansdorf Way, Airdrie, 01236760315. Run as a commercial venture
by North Lanarkshire Council, whose subsidies mean that non-weekend rates
are very reasonable: £12.30/hour for 36-track hard disk recording with tons
of ontboard equipment including compressors and samplers. The live room -
featuring valve amps and a Gretsch kit - can be hired for rehearsals for £2.70/hour.
On Sat prices rise to £ 17 .20/hour for recording and £7.60/hour for rehearsals.
The centre also offers video editing and a full production service for backing
tracks, and its own voluntary Beatroot label is up and running with the aim
of putting local bands on stage, radio and TV.
Red Eye Studios
See Rehearsal rooms.
Ripe Productions 5 Muir Park Avenue, Renfrew, 0]4]561 7188, www.ripeproductions.co.uk,
john@ripeproductions.co.uk.
Ripe caters primarily for the professional pop and dance markets, and also
does a variety of remixing and film and TV work. Recording is mainly PC-based
with a range of samplers and keyboards for use, costing around £150/day al!
inclusive.
Riverside
Recording Studios Unit 7, Lowermil! Road, Lowermil! Estate, Clarkston,
Glasgow, 0141 644 5572, info@riv2.fsnet.co.uk.
Travis, Teenage Fanclub and Alex Chilton have chosen Riverside in the past,
yet its two studios remain distinctly affordable: studio one costs £150/day
al! inclusive for a 16-track recording to 2in tape, whereas studio two offers
24 or 48-track recording to CD or DAT for £300/day. Both have a full range
of outboard equipment with many vintage effects and processors. Two rehearsal
rooms with ful! backline including Fender, Marshall and Peavey amps and Premier
kit can be hired for £21/3 hours or £18 on weekdays.
Seven A
7a Clarkston Road, Glasgow, 0141 6375403, sevenahq@hotmail.com.
Formerly situated beneath Merchant City Music (see Music
shops), this professional recording studio has now moved southside. Owned
by Steven X of Bis, its mainly a facility for his own band, but can
be hired ont if youre serious about what you do, as Mogwai and Arab
Strap did at the old place. Seven A is geared towards Glasgows dance
community, with digital recording, a ton of outboard gear, and access to Bis
enormous stash of analogue and digital synths. Prices are arranged individual!y,
and clients are usually invited for a lookaround before work starts proper.
Small Town
Audio Unit 7, Cambuslea Road Industrial Estate, Ayr, 01292 619365, 07881740822.
24-track digital recording is available here for £16/hour, and a ful!y equipped
rehearsal room can be yours for £24/3 hours. Theres a CD duplication
service, free tea and coffee, and an extensive range of PA systems for hire:
a 20k PA system costs £1500/day, and smal!er vocal rigs for pub-style gigs
are available for £200/day. Open seven days, noon-midnight.
Southwest
Arts & Music Project See Rehearsal rooms.
Storm Studio Crossbow House, Stoneymeadow Road, Blantyre, Glasgow, 01698710630,
www.stormstudio.co.uk, reception@stormstudio.co.uk.
Storm offers 32-track digital recording with outboard equipment, PC programmes,
and two live rooms with amps and a kit. DJing facilities are also available.
An introduction the day before recording is the norm; prices are calculated
individual!y, but a rough indication is abont £250/day all inclusive, with
the option of fully-packaged CD duplication. Theres also a £250 digital
four-track demo deal, which include ten hours of studio time with an engineer
and five copies of a fully packaged CD. Storm has moved into video production,
and can record promotional clips using either a multiple-point shoot or digital
still motion. This is transferred onto CD as an MPEG, and can be converted
to DVD; basic packages weigh in between £500 and £750.
Edinburgh
The Beat
Factory 01324610 741, scott@beatfactory.co.uk,
www.beatfactory.co.uk. No-nonsense
studio and mobile recording based in Falkirk. Geared towards recording bands
on a smaller budget, theres a 16-track digital recording set-up and
mastering facilities No hourly rate as such, but a typical charge might be
around £100 for a three-track demo.
Big Byte
Sound Solutions 51 Circus Lane, Edinburgh, 0131 226 3180, info@bigbytesound.co.uk,
www.bigbytesound.co.uk. A professional
and pretty swanky looking bespoke built, 72-track, digital studio facility
with a lot of dance-tiiendly software and hardware. Its team of freelance
engineers and programmers is headed by ex-Cava Studios man Dugald Brough,
who has worked with the likes of Idlewild. Rates for bands and dance projects
are around £25/hour including VAT.
Castlesound
Studios The Old School, Pencaitland, East Lothian, 0131 6661024, info@castlesound.co.uk.
Analogue and digital recording tacility with a 72-channel Neve mixing desk
and full ProToois system. If its space and daylight youre after,
this is the place, with large and windowed recording areas and control room.
Sound editing, mastering and location recording services also available.
Chamber Recording
Studios 120A West Granton Road, Edinburgh, 0131551 6632, mail@chamberstudio.co.uk, www.chamberstudio.co.uk. Home
to quality independent label Human Condition Records, this 24-track analogue
and digital set-up caters for bands of many flavours. The large live room
is excellent for full band recording, while a wide collection of gear (including
some great guitars and amps) is available to use tor free. The rate is £22/hour,
and the list of previous clients is a Whos Who of Scottish indie, including
Mogwai, Snow Patrol and Annie Christian.
Conrad Productions
56 Comiston Road, Edinburgh, 08707424226, info@conradproductions.co.uk,www.conradproductions.co.uk.
A general music production facility that offers everything from artist management
to song arrangement, audio restoration, composition and, of course, recording.
Thirty-two tracks of digital studio are on offer, as well as the usual mastering
service. Clients come from all sorts of backgrounds, from folk to rock to
jazz.
Finiflex
1 Queen Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, 01315536717, info@finiflex.com,
www.finiflex.com Established in 1989
for the creation of electronic music, Finiflex is a forward thinking studio
with a dizzying array of hardware and software for all your dance music needs.
Digital recording, top quality sequencing, sampling and effects are all available,
as well as expert help from folk who really know their stuff.
Golden Acrid
Unit 1 Albion Business Centre, 78 Albion Road, Edinburgh, 01316596673. In
the shadow of Hibs Easter Road stadium, this 64-track ProTooIs studio
has played host to Helicopter Girl, the Nectarine No 9 and the Bathers. A
collection of vintage gear includes Hammond and Rhodes keyboards, while recording
software tutoring is also available. Recording costs from £25/hour plus VAT,
while there are also three well-equipped rehearsal rooms, which cost £8-£10/hour.
IPL 16a
York Place, Edinburgh, 0131 5568619, gavin@iplproductions.com.
Mac-based 32-track digital system with full automation and ProTooIs caters
mainly for singers, with plans to expand to full band recording thls year.
Prices start at £20/hour, with mastering facilities as well as an in-house
writing and production team.
Kakjam
3 Baillie Fyfes Close, 107 High Street, Edinburgh, 01315569599, keith@kakjam.com,
www.kakjam.com. Run by Keith Mitchell
who has worked with Deacon Blue and the Cocteau Twins during twenty years
as an engineer and producer. A mobile 32-track digital recording system is
on offer, as well as a full mixing and mastering suite. Rates are negotiable,
but typically around £10-£20/hour, and all flavours of musicians and songwriters
are encouraged to get in touch.
Liberty
Hill Studios 18d Liberton Brae, Edinburgh, 01316217066. 32-track, fully
automated digital recording and editing with a ProTools option. Rehearsal
rooms are also available, and you should phone for current prices. Off Beat
Scotland 107 High Street, Edinburgh, 0131 5564882, info@oftbeat.co.uk,
www.oftbeat.co.uk. Run by experienced
producer and musician lain McKinna,
Off Beat
offers a wide range of services including composition, session musicians and
arrangement for solo artists as well as production and mastering. Artists
tend to be more folky and world music based. It runs its own label, Off Beat
Records. Prices vary with recording project.
Pier House
Studios la Granton Square, Edinburgh, 0131 5523549. Established twenty
years ago, Pier House houses a 48-track digital recording setup with a lot
of software products to provide archive recording restoration and mastering
work as well as the usual recording services. Recording costs £25/hour plus
VAT, and the studio deals with acoustic folk to heavy metal.
Q-Ten Studios
Q10 Queensway Industrial Estate, Flemington Road, Glenrothes, 01592 611327.
24-track digital recording facilities on offer, as well as decent sized rehearsal
rooms which come well equipped with a backline of amps and drumkits. Prices
vary.
Redeye Studio
16 Nelson Street, Edinburgh, 07956881827. Facilities include a Neve mixing
desk, 24-bit digital recording and gear such as a baby grand piano and a Fender
Rhodes keyboard. Rates depend on the project, and it caters for solo singer
songwriters as well as bands.
The Sound Cafe
3 Walstone Steading, near Penicuik, 01968674913, soundcafe@btinternet.com
This favourite among jazz artists is situated at the base of the Pentland
hills. Good live room with plenty of space contains a healthy amount of useable
gear, including a baby grand piano and plenty of guitars and amps. The studio
can offer 40-track digital recording, as well as outside recording facilities.
Split Level
3 East Mains, 1ngliston, Edinburgh, 0131 3335024. Primarily provides a demoing
service for guitarbased bands. Digital and analogue recording both on offer,
at the knock down price of £ J 5/hour. Rehearsal facilities are also on offer,
one room (with a further room planned) with a full back line costing £8/hour.
Theres also a pop and dance production suite next door.
Sub Station
Studio 252 High Street, Cowdenbeath, 01383515716, substation@madasafish.com,
www.substation.net High quality 32-track
sound recording costs around £20/hour here, while there are also a multitude
of production facilities and rehearsal rooms for hire at £6/hour. The Sub
Station is a favourite indie haunt in Fife. the Zephyrs, Laeto and I Am Scientist
have all recorded here. It also serves as an agent for Vitaminic and as such
can offer the opportunity to distribute your music on the internet.
Aberdeen
Captain Tom
Music 11-15 Ann Street, Aberdeen, 01224647500, captaintommusic@aol.com.
Established in recent years to provide rehearsal and recording facilities
for the large number of bands and artists in the Aberdeen area, Captain Toms
offer 24-track digital recording at their studio in the heart of the granite
city. Tom s also boasts four rehearsal rooms with prices at £12/hour
to rehearse and £ 17 /hour to record.
Dundee
Riptide Music
40 Blinshall Street, Dundee, Angus, 01382220234. Riptide Music is concerned
with both recording and rehearsal in Dundee. It offers 64-track digital recording
and incorporate a booking agency onto its operation, which is entirely comprised
of bands producing their own material. Recording is £25/hour and rehearsal
is £8.50/hour.