Studio Stories

Liam Watson went against the grain to build a studio with the retro sound he loved. And now that sound is back in fashion, he's had a number one album with the White Stripes.

This month the intrepid SOS team travel to Wigan to address Allan Murrell's recording, monitoring and mixing problems.

The SOS team battles through snowdrifts to help Nick Redman and Mike Sinnott with two different vocal sounds.

The SOS team visit reader Dave Stevens' home studio to sort out a chesty vocal sound, investigate a mystery digital buzz, and hand out some mastering tips.

Dave Wraight had been having trouble with his mixes, despite twice upgrading his speaker system, so the SOS team set about diagnosing and treating his monitoring problems.

Recording in a converted attic, Tom Fox was having serious problems with his acoustics while recording drums, so the SOS team drove over to Yorkshire to sort things out.

Although we don't usually cover commercial studios in Readerzone, Andy Cross's small Zoo Audio studio has found its way here because it is one of the few studios in the country to contain an Esmono recording booth.

Like many other musicians, the impact of modern computer-recording technology brought a huge step forward in the quality Ron could achieve with his home studio setup...

Hums, buzzes and noise were stopping Noor Ali recording his guitar parts, so SOS headed over to Worcestershire to set things straight.

A special holiday edition of our hands-on troubleshooting column comes direct from sunny Turkey, where Paul White forsakes the beach to help Murat Yucel refine his band's recording setup.

The SOS team rushes to the rescue of a reader in Somerset suffering from boxy vocals, a weedy mix, and a dodgy tweeter.

Another reader's studio gets the benefit of expert SOS staff attention. This month, it's the turn of Tim Way, whose mixes sound fine in his own studio, but don't travel well.

Another 'through the keyhole' glimpse into a reader's studio reveals how it's possible to turn your hobby into a job, with a TV commission to help you on your way.

We go through the keyhole of another SOS reader, and ask 'who inhabits a studio like this?'

We visit another SOS reader's studio set-up. This month, it's located in a Portakabin in Bedford, UK.

After a house move, SOS reader Russ Sowdon discovered a secret passage under his ground floor, and it led to a hidden barrel-vault cellar which he soon made into his musical den!

Another 'through the keyhole' glimpse into one more SOS reader's studio.

Adie Flute

Marco Mastrocola.

Bob Prance and Pete Phillips & A Story At Bedtime Productions

Jez Wilkinson - Aerosolik Records