- Culture
- 20 Mar 01
Ireland s recording studios are busy creating the masterpieces that will dominate the charts over the coming year but there are still good deals on offer from some of our most respected establishments. colm o hare reports.
When it comes to studios and recording facilities there can be absolutely no doubt that Irish bands and musicians have never had it so good. The studio infrastructure which was almost non-existent here two decades ago has now developed to a point where it is comparable with the best available anywhere in the world. This is borne out by the increasing number of artists, both indigenous and international, who choose to record here.
Whether it s one of our own big names like U2, The Cranberries and Clannad or someone like Billy Bragg, who recorded much of his acclaimed Mermaid Avenue collaboration with Wilco in Dublin last year, Irish studios, engineers, producers and musicians are in constant demand.
But it s not just at the top end of the recording business that things are booming. Whether your requirements are for a basic demo set-up or a hi-spec facility capable of turning out a fully-fledged album project, you can find a studio to suit you. A quick perusal of the Hot Press Yearbook will reveal a myriad of choices to suit every budget. In the meantime, here s some hot tips on what s currently happening and what s currently available on the recording front.
Sun Studios has rightly earned its reputation as one of the best and busiest studios in the country. Part of the Temple Bar Music Centre family, it has seen virtually every Irish act of note passing through its doors over the years. A House, Aslan, Something Happens, Blink, The Cranberries, Therapy?, Boyzone, Junkster, Kerbdog, Andy White, Rollerskate Skinny and The Frames have all done the business here and got the results.
The installation of a new control desk (an AMEK Einstein Super E with Supertrue Automation) earlier this year has made it an even more desirable location. Recent clients include The Great Western Squares, Chicks and Paddy Casey, who recorded his acclaimed debut Amen, So Be It, at the studio a measure of just how far Sun has come over the years.
Nearby, the Temple Bar Music Centre has recently undergone a massive investment programme, with most of the equipment in the four studios within the complex being updated and modernised. The main studio, Audio One, now offers a Soundcraft 3200 Console, Tascam DA-88 24 track digital recording with a large selection of microphones, effects and outboard gear.
DG8, an 8-track digital studio mainly for DJs, has over #100,000 worth of sequencers, samplers, keyboards and drum machines all available for around #10 per hour. We ve got some great value summer deals on offer, so we re inviting all musicians and bands basically anyone who s looking to record to come down and take a look at what we ve got here, says the Music Centre s Paddy Dunning.
According to Ingmar Kiang, an experienced musician and engineer who is now Studio Manager at the Music Centre, one of the advantages of recording there is the link with the live venue within the complex an arrangement which facilitates cost-efficient live recording of gigs. We ve had a lot of bands recording, including major names like Gomez, Gene, Divine Comedy and Frank & Walters, he says.
As well as offering top-class recording facilities, the Music Centre also provides important ancillary services such as CD duplication and more importantly full back-up support for bands.
We always try to promote any of the bands or artists who record here, says Dunning. We act as an A&R link for a host of labels by keeping tabs on people coming through.
Across the river from Temple Bar in the burgeoning North Lotts area, onto which the rear of the Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame and Jam Restaurant opens, is Loop Studios. Up and running since early this year, Loop is an all-in facility which includes rehearsal rooms and a high-spec recording studio.
Equipment at Loop, which is currently nearing completion, will include an Allen & Heath 32-channel desk, 24-track digital/analogue recording with a wide range of mics, including Neumann U87, AT4050, AKG D12 and Sennhesier MD421. Outboard gear includes, Lexicon, Drawmer, TL Audio equipment, Focusrite, full midi-workstation Apple Mac-running logic software, with keyboards including Korg and Roland.
Located in the Space 28 complex, which also includes video production and animation facilities, Loop has been a roaring success to date. The rehearsal element in the studio is fully operational and it s going really well, says Loop s Enda Gogarty. Any of the bands that have been through have seen the progress we ve made and there s been a very positive reaction.
There are currently three rehearsal rooms in Loop, with plans for a fourth, a 16-track ADAT facility (soon to be 24 track) with plans to go analogue. To date Loop has catered for artists as diverse as The Frames, Paddy Casey, Mark Dignam, Adrian Crowley and Subtonic. In other words there s no musical limitations to what Loop can offer just solid back-up, enthusiasm and commitment.
Over the years, Sonic Studios built up an enviable reputation for producing successful recordings, particularly in the guitar-oriented indie and rock field. The Subterraneans, Engine Alley, Pet Lamb, Blink and Mexican Pets are just some of the studio s past clients.
Last year, however, they moved to a new purpose-built premises at Capel Street, Dublin and now offer 24-track analogue recording with the facility to provide digital within a separate mastering suite.
Sonic is located just two doors up from the legendary Slattery s of Capel Street and has forged strong links with the venue. The collaboration with Slattery s has worked out really well for us, says Sonic s Albert Cowan. We ve even run a multi-core cable from the stage at Slattery s direct to our control room, which is great for doing live albums.
We ve got four live albums to our credit from the Slattery s link, he adds. We ve just finished doing an album with a band called Blues Up Front, which features former Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey. We ve done a session with the Tom Waits tribute band Carnival Saloon they do Tom Waits better then he does!
According to Cowan, Sonic is flying at the moment. We ve had King Sativa in recently, we re doing an album by Pat Clafferty of Mexican Pets. About 50% of what we do is demos for young bands but we treat every session with the same care and attention to detail. We would approach recording a demo with the same expertise as we would recording an album the quality is one and the same as far as we re concerned. n