Landen Park Studio is a recording studio specifically built for audiobook production, voiceover, vocal and instrumental overdubs and other single-artist work. Here’s a run-down of the facilities here at Landen Park Studio.
We are highly configured for audiobook production and recording, voiceover, podcasting and vocal/instrumental overdub work:
Control Room
Apple Mac Pro 6,1 12-core 64 GB RAM, 3 displays (2x 4K, 1x HD). Wireless Apple Extended keyboard with Pro Tools overlay. Choice of wireless Apple trackpad or Logitek Performance MX wireless mouse. Dynaudio BM6A (classic) stereo monitors. Tannoy 5.1 surround monitors; full 5.1 support in Pro Tools.
Avid C|24 control surface (24 motorised faders), with dedicated talkback and cue management. Talkback remote control by foot pedal or producer button. Cue or main routable to studio playback speakers.
Up to 8 independent stereo headphones, switchable between main mix and either cue feed or Waves NX (Abbey Road Studio 2 and Ocean Way)
Front End
Focusrite ISA 430 Producer Pack MkII, SPL Goldmike 9844 (valve), dbx 286A (blackface). Presonus Quantum 4848 32-channel balanced line Thunderbolt 2 audio interface. (The C|24 also has 16 mic/line preamps and a 16-channel utility line input.)
Outboard
Klark Teknik KT-76 compressor, 2x Klark Teknik EQP-KT valve equalisers, Behringer Ultramatch 2496 A/D/A sample rate converter. Sonifex Redbox RB-UL1 and RB-BL2 unbalanced-balanced converters, various dynamics processors, Kawai CN35 piano/controller, Yamaha DX7 (currently away for servicing)
Ingest
Direct ingest into active Pro Tools session from: computer (e.g. youtube etc.). Tascam CD-160 CD player, Panasonic SV-3800 DAT recorder, calibrated Denon DRM-800 cassette recorder
Video
We can record to picture (up to HD currently), with video showing simultaneously in the control room and in the studio. If we receive video with existing audio we can strip that out onto audio tracks and include that in the artist’s cue mix.
Remote
We have an industry-standard TBU – The Sonifex HY03 – integrated into Pro Tools for remote direction by telephone. We also have a Cleanfeed Pro subscription, hosted on second linked computer. This supports remote direction, remote read-in, remote recording (subject to facilities at the remote end), all integrated with main studio talkback/cue/recording system.
Power
All control room hardware and studio supply facilities at Landen Park Studio protected by double-conversion UPS and power conditioners. Double-conversion (aka true on-line) UPS topology supplies ‘fresh’ mains power direct from an inverter and so spikes, noise and brown-outs do not affect the connected equipment. The UPS has additional external battery packs and allows the studio to continue working for up to an hour in the event of a power cut, with instantaneous switch-over.
Software
Avid Pro Tools Ultimate (current version maintained), a huge number of plugins including everything from McDSP, Izotope RX10 Advanced and Ozone 10 Advanced suites. iZotope Dialogue Match. Synchro Arts Vocalign Ultra. HOFA CD/DDP suite. Melodyne. Virtual instruments include Ivory II (with German, American and Italian grands), Strike 2, East West Composer Cloud (basically everything from East West), and loads of electric pianos, organs and synths.
Studio
10 square metre isolated and treated space. Natural light. Silent forced air ventilation with pollen filters. Up to 2 stereo or 4 mono independent headphone cue feeds. A variety of microphones by AKG, Shure, Rode, Neumann and SE Electronics. Cloud Microphones CL-1, Triton Audio FetHead and FetHead Phantom. 27 inch video display linked to Pro Tools for recording to picture. Automated ‘recording’ light integrated with Pro Tools.
General
Filtered softened water on tap (both room-temperature and chilled), endless tea, fresh-ground coffee from our ludicrously over-specified DeLonghi machine, fresh fruit, biscuits, comfortable sitting area.