Mixing / Production

Can an Englishman's home be both his castle and his studio — or is it better to keep business and pleasure apart? Jay Kay of Jamiroquai clearly feels that building his own facility has paid off. Sue Sillitoe heads for his Chillington studio in Buckinghamshire to find out more...

The studio business has seen huge changes in the last 10 years, and the equipment, techniques and fashions that were cutting-edge in the early '90s are often redundant now. Mike Senior meets a producer and engineer who, having made it to the top then decided to take a five-year break and is now back with a vengeance.

David Gray's album White Ladder has become one of the most successful UK chart albums of 2000, a breakthrough spearheaded by top five chart single 'Babylon'. Engineer/programmer and co-producer Lestyn Polson tells Tom Flint the story behind the song.

Newcastle-based engineer Dave Maughan, like many SOS readers, runs a small commercial studio based in his own house — where he recorded one of the year's most acclaimed albums. Sam Inglis hears his story.

Since UK garage emerged from the underground last year, record companies have been scrambling to sign up the stars of the latest Big Thing. Foremost among these is Mark Hill, who, as well as being one half of Artful Dodger, has also produced Craig David's hit single and debut album Born To Do It.

Morcheeba's last album Big Calm was a commercial and artistic breakthrough, and expectations were running high for their new album, Fragments Of Freedom. The first single from the album, 'Rome Wasn't Built In A Day', was an intriguing taster. Producer Pete Norris told Tom Flint how it was written and recorded.

After poor sales of an album that dealt with death, Mr E and his Eels returned with a beautiful-sounding, poignant, and often funny record about life, recorded mainly in the basement of E's house. Matt Bell talks to E and his collaborators about how the album was made.

Most record producers would greet the discovery that their work has been bootlegged with dismay. For German dance producer Ramon Zenker, however, it proved to be the key to a smash hit. Sam Inglis finds out more...

Martin Newcomb opened his vast collection of rare electronic instruments to the public, but the public stayed at home. Now, therefore, he's changed his plans and built a studio — but some amazing vintage synths still feature prominently. Gordon Reid finds out more from Martin and studio designer Kevin Van Green.

Mousse T's radio remix of the song 'Sex Bomb' has sold a million copies across Europe and has once again revived sales of Tom Jones' Reload. Mike Senior talks mixing and remixing with the influential German producer.

Vintage producer/engineer Nigel Bates was one of the original devotees of the PPG Wave digital synthesizer, an instrument that is still a mainstay of his music. These days, he's also enthsiastic in his use of the latest software-based mixing tools. Paul Wiffen finds out more about his fusion of the classic and the cutting-edge. Extra material by Sam Inglis and Matt Bell.

In 1924 George Antheil wrote a piece of music which required 16 synchronised player pianos playing four different parts, along with a bizarre human ensemble. But it took 75 years before Antheil's dream of a gigantic machine-controlled performance was fully realised, using MIDI, by US-based musician and SOS contributor Paul D. Lehrman. In this two-part feature, he explains how this two-year project reached fruition.

As Chief Sound Designer for Roland and founder of Specrasonics, Eric Persing has created some of the most widely used sounds in modern electronic music. He tells Kevin McDaniels how he turned sample CDs into big business, and reveals how some of the exotic sounds on his Spectrasonics discs were created.

British soulstress Gabrielle returned to the limelight earlier this year with a number one single based around a distinctive sample from Bob Dylan's 'Knocking On Heaven's Door'. Mike Senior meeds producers Johnny Dollar and Simon Palmskin to find out how the hit was constructed.

Best known as the producer of some of the most important punk albums of the '70s and biggest dance hits of the '80s, Mike Thorne now runs his own label, multimedia company and studio in New York. Tom Flint talked to Mike about technology, his studio and the future...

There aren't many bands who produce their best work over 20 years into their career, but XTC's 1999 album Apple Venus Vol. 1 has been widely acknowledged as a masterpiece, and their latest, Wasp Star, is a joyous collection of noisy, catchy pop songs. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding recorded it in their own Idea Studio, where they talked to Sam Inglis.

Whether your bag is pop, jazz, or classical music, or even if you just watch TV occasionally, you've almost certainly heard Richard Niles's work. Mike Senior talks to one of the most versatile men in modern music.

Fifteen years ago, the idea that writing music for computer games could put you in the freame for a major Hollywood film-scoring job would have seemed laughable. But it's exactly what has happened to Nathan McCree and Matt Kemp. Paul White travelled to their Oxfordshire studio to unearth more...

Matt Bell talks to the man behind Chicane, and unravels the story of a Bryan Adams vocal mangled into anonymity by an unreliable vocoder, and a number one hit produced in a home studio without so much as a patchbay to its name.

From his early days as a pioneer of British synth-pop, Martyn Ware has forged a career on the cutting edge of electronic music. And he is still innovating today — in 3D.

Two successful new producers from New Zealand have used a unique blend of old and new technology to create two hit albums for the Stereophonics. Mike Senior talks to Bird & Bush about their role in a British rock & roll success story.