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Can we have a studio tour and/or meet to discuss recording and producing a record?
Certainly! Contact us to get in touch. Sometimes we can schedule that day, sometimes it may be a week or two away. It depends on the projects we are working on. The only thing we ask is that you are serious about recording. How soon should I contact you if I’m planning a new project? As soon as possible. We love hearing what people are working on and enjoy being a part of the pre-production planning stages when you need us. We tend to book tracking and mixing projects 1-3 months out. If you want to get started sooner, contact us anyway as we sometimes have gaps in the schedule, but some flexibility may be needed from you in order to get your sessions in our diary. Weekends always book up first. Mastering projects can usually be turned around much more quickly and do not require as much advance notice. Are you open on the weekends? Are you open at night? Yes, sessions can be booked day and night, weekdays and weekends. Given noise restriction laws, we tend not to do loud tracking after 10pm, but that’s the only restriction. If you can only record on weekends, we recommend planning a little further in advance. Do you accept walk-ins? Unfortunately no. The studio is reserved for sessions, so if someone’s here, then a client has already booked that time. Please contact us in advance to book your session and to make sure the studio is available. We are kept busy so whilst we sometimes can slot in a session due to a cancellation, it’s a good idea to contact us 1 week ahead to book your project so that we can offer you a choice of dates that work for your schedule. How do I book a project at Noisy Gates Studios? Contact us to discuss your expectations and goals. We love what we do and want to work with you to find a way to make your scope, budget and timeline work. We’ll chat about what your project entails, such as creative goals, instrumentation, roles, number of songs and distribution plans. We’ll also discuss scheduling and pricing. After we’ve talked and you’re ready to move forward, we’ll plan tentative session dates and send you an invoice. Sessions dates are considered confirmed once we’ve received your deposit. If we haven’t received a deposit, then your session dates are not guaranteed. We’ll typically plan a pre-production chat in the week or two before your session starts to revisit production plans, roles and goals. How long is a session? Most session blocks are scheduled for six to eight hours and we have a one-hour minimum. Each session starts at a time pre-determined by you and the producer / engineer and includes any load-in/out, set-up time, break-down time, breaks, time spent on mixing and delays. While a session may be scheduled for eight hours, the producer / engineer may use their discretion to go over the allotted time if you’re in a productive groove and the schedule allows for it, or alternatively, may suggest ending the session earlier and rescheduling for another day, if they believe it would be a better use of your allocated time. Do you require a deposit and when do we pay? Once we’ve planned tentative dates for your sessions, we’ll send you an invoice for the deposit. We’ll hold your dates for two weeks. A 50% deposit is required to confirm your session dates and make them yours. If we do not receive the deposit by two weeks from the invoice date, we’ll release the dates for others to book and we can find new dates that work for you. After your deposit is paid, the remainder of your balance is due 30 days before your first session. We will send you a reminder / invoice before this. If we do not receive the balance at that time, unfortunately the session will not take place. The exception to the all of the above is when a last minute session is booked due to an unexpected slot at the studio becoming available. In these circumstances a 100% deposit is required to confirm your session dates and make them yours. For all projects, all balances must be paid in full before roughs, mixes, stems, masters or other files will be released. What forms of payment do you accept? We accept cheques, bank transfers, cash and on-line payment via PayPal, Paytm, Google Pay. What if I need to reschedule or cancel a session? If you don’t notify us that you cannot make your booked session, and do not turn up on the allocated day, you will loose your deposit. We are understanding people, and will go out of our way to accommodate you, but not turning up on the day results in a day wasted for us. If you encounter an unexpected conflict, we will work with you to reschedule sessions as soon as possible, but please understand that the production schedule stays pretty full so flexibility may be necessary. Immediate rescheduling may not be possible. Deposits are refundable if you cancel within 7 days of the invoice date and at least 7 days before the date of your session. If you cancel more than 7 days after the invoice date, the deposit is non-refundable. If you cancel less than 7 days before your first session date, the deposit is non-refundable. If you cancel after you have started your project, your remaining session hours are also non-refundable. Your payment covers not just the time of the engineer / producer working on your session, but it supports everything and everyone that is needed to run a studio. Keeping your commitment to the studio is important. If you have trouble understanding why this is our policy, we have an inexhaustible supply of analogies to explain why this is so. I recorded an album at another studio or at home, can you mix or master it? Certainly! As long as your recordings are up to a professional level, we’d be only too happy to mix or master your project for you. Contact us and we can talk about your timeline and budget. Do you track bands live or multi-track? Whilst we could record a live band performance, the spill from each instrument (particularly the drums) would be too great to use as a final recording. We prefer to record a scratch track with everyone playing and then replace the parts one by one. I am a singer/songwriter looking to produce a record with multi-instrumentalists, can you help? Certainly! We work with singer/songwriters often and assist with adding the right instrumentalists to bring their songs/records to where they yearn to be. We have a roster of fine musicians who are veterans in the studio who can add drums, bass, guitar, strings, horns, synth, piano etc. We also have many exceptionally good sample libraries which can emulate many instruments such as horns & string sections etc., for those with tighter budgets. I am a spoken word artist, can you help? Yes! We record poets, narrators, and other artists not working with accompanying music. Please note that we do have a one-hour minimum for sessions. Do you do voice-overs, jingles, music for film or radio spots? Yes, we produce voice-overs, jingles, radio spots and music for film. Check our Portfolio and Contact Us regarding your requirements. How do I know which vocal mic is best suited to my voice? Do you have a selection? We can usually tell quite quickly after recording a few bars, if a particular mic is not suitable for your voice. And yes, we have quite a selection of vocal mics providing many different colors, which have been carefully chosen to flatter most voice timbres. Do you have a piano? Given the exceptional quality of piano sample libraries nowadays, we don’t feel the need to have a real piano in the studio. We use a fully weighted 61 key midi controller keyboard and a 32 keys midi keyboard. We have quite a few excellent upright and grand piano sample libraries to choose from. Best of all, they never go out of tune! Do you have X, Y or Z at the studio? Check out our equipment list in the 'Studios' section of the website. Can I bring my own equipment into the studio? Of course you can – with some provisos. Setting up a 4×12” stack would be inappropriate in a studio environment. A small combo which can be overdriven at much lower volumes is a wiser option. Microphones work much better at lower volumes too. For drummers: Setting up your complete kit can be accommodated but is not the preferred option. Most drummers are using their kits for live performance. Squeaks and rattles which may not be apparent in a live context may be very noticeable in a studio recording. Tuning can also be an issue causing problem resonances, again not noticeable in a live context. A better option is to bring along your own snare, cymbals and drum sticks or brushes if you deem it preferable. Positioning of the house kit can be adjusted to your preference. Please remember, that the house kit has been recorded many times before, We know that it sounds good, as any issues have been resolved long ago. We are very familiar with the balance of the kit and the mics and positioning that works best. This will save a lot of set-up time, which at the end of the day, you are paying for. Do you produce music videos or edit video? We do! For location work we have a close relationship with a few very creative videographers who we can get involved in your project at your request. |
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