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January 2008 Colchester Battle Of The Bands Winners The Legion Of
Legomen came in to record their latest 2 track EP. We also had a bunch
of Paul Hardcastle's friends in to record a revised version of Paul's 80's
hit "19" for his birthday present!
We welcomed Norwich-based 4 piece Lost In
Translation to record their first album of 11 original songs and newly
formed 50's and 60's covers band The Tornadoes came in to record their 4
track demo EP.
Daniela Brooker came back to us to record her new 3 song demo and Mike
O'Leary returned to put the finishing touches to his album.
We did some interesting voicework for Happy
Talk Productions and some on-location recording of pro piano player Phillip
Ellewell in St Boltophs Church in Colchester.
Some great vocalists have been in, to name but a few:
Saggar Maulde, Jamie Caulston, Lee Sansom, Colin Price, Nancy Maguire, Terry
Duffy, Michelle James and Matt Stancombe.
Regulars Relay have been back to start pre-production for their next
project. |
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October 2007 The Outlaw Eagles, an Eagles tribute band came in to
record their 4 song EP, the excellent "Humdingers", a rockabilly outfit from
Suffolk came in to record their latest album and we welcomed acclaimed
hypnotherapist Julia Vazey to record extracts from her hypnotherapy
workshop.
Pro entertainer Diane Moore came in to record
some tracks from her show and Mike O'Leary came back to continue work his
new album.
Burnt Rose came in to record their 4 song EP.
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March 2007 We welcomed pro clarinet player Pete Martin and
pro performer from the US Doug Brown to work on their latest albums.
We also started a new project with Mike O'Leary,
after the success of his last CD.
Sootable For Vegetarians came in to record their 4 song
EP.
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December 2006 Relay's latest CD "Circuit Breaker" is back from
high-end mastering and duplication at Sound Recording Technology and sounds superb! Check out the sample in the Demo
area. We welcomed the excellent Trash Monroe to the
studio in December to record a brand new 7 track EP with new guitarist Brad Hurr.
Check out the website
or
myspace.
and "Idoll" in the Demo Area.
Angela Parker, an up and coming singer/guitarist
also came in to record her newest EP.
It's been great to work with Petrified By
Silence again on their continuing project in the last quarter and The Racket, a
4-piece from Enfield, have also been back to us to record their latest EP. Adele Wilding
came back to record a new 2 track EP.
Fresh Claim, a Christian
blues/rock/funk band came in to record their latest CD. Simon Law is
the band's guitarist and vocalist with Steve Gale on bass and Matt Wallace
on drums. For more info check them out on
Plankton Records.
IWe also welcomed back Mark Thompson of MJTV,
commissioned by
Big Finish productions, to direct a brand new series of audio storybooks
called "The Companion Chronicles", featuring new adventures for Doctor Who
as told by their companions. We recorded all of the character voices
played by Marcia Ashdown (as Karna), Lalla Ward (as Romana), Carrie John (as
Liz), Wendy Padbury (as Zoe), Maureen O'Brien (as Vicki), Keith Drinkel (as
The Cinder) and Nick Briggs complete with ring modulator as the voice of the
Daleks and the Cybermen! Completed
installation of full climate control system in the Blue Live room.
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September 2006 The third quarter of 2006 saw the completion of
Relay's latest album "circuit breaker", the follow-up to the
highly-acclaimed "Switch" CD we recorded back in 2003. The band are
hoping to launch before the end of the year.
Shifting Sands (featuring Debbie Winter on
vocals and Jo Lander on piano) have been back to us to record their new
album "Velvet Mantle" which consists of 7 all-new original songs.
London-based 4 piece Tea Monkey have been back to continue work on their new
album as have Petrified By Silence. Mike Craig has also been back to
record another 3-song EP.
New band Exit Music from Colchester came in
to record their new 5 track EP and it was great to work with Rick and Lou
again, otherwise known as 3000 Mile Kiss, a tremendous acoustic duo from
Colchester.
It's been great to work with songwriters to
help them with their musical ideas and produce songs from rough chord and
lyrics arrangements. We were able to help Daniela Brooker and Abbi
Saunders in this way. In the case of Daniela, she wanted to sing
something original so we worked with Adele Wilding, who is one of many
prolific songwriters/composers who can write for other people (so a
match made in heaven!) to produce a song "Fatal Attraction" which Daniela is
hoping to promote herself as a vocalist.
Abbi had a basic song structure for "Why Not"
which she had recorded with us as a demo. We were so impressed with
the tune (Abbi was just 14!) that we offered to work on it and shape it into
a more commercial, Avril Lavigne-type song. See the Pop and Rock Demo
page for "before" and "after" samples. |
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May 2006 Our best quarter results ever! We completed the
latest Curly Circus CD which is now on sale. We also continued working
on the long-term project by Petrified By Silence. Black Ash have been
back to us for their next EP with their new singer Tommy, Lisa Hart,
keyboard player with Black Ash, has also been in to record a new solo 4
track EP. Southend band Disarmed were in to record their debut EP.
Other returnees to us are Jules Turner, who has
been back to the studio with his new project "Diplomacy", Shifting Sands
(featuring Debbie Winter on vocals and Jo Lander on piano) have been in to
record their new CD "Ocean Sound" and London-based 4 piece Tea Monkey have
been back to record another EP.
Relay have also been back to continue work on
their forthcoming CD. |
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December 2005 A busy 4th quarter saw the return of Adele Wilding
to record a new jazz EP, The Vestry from Colchester to record another demo
EP and production company
MJTV
to record another in the acclaimed series "The Actor Speaks" with Louise
Jameson of Dr Who and Tenko fame (amongst others!). Also in the studio
have been Dave Brooker, a local pianist to record his history of jazz piano
(part 1) and Mike O'Leary who gathered a talented team of local musicians
(including the rhythm section from Barefoot Revelation) to record a
collection of original blues/rock tunes.
We also started work on the new CD by hot
local band Curly Circus, due for release in the New Year. |
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August 2005 The Racket from London, Art Gecko, a jazz outfit, both
came in to record their EP's. Also saw the welcome return of Amber and
Richard Wash to record their albums. Among the vocalists who have been in the
studio were Sarah Ball, Natalie Paris, Sarah Mundon, |
| July 2005
Hot Rod Deluxe, a rockabilly band from Chelmsford and Last Years Resolution
came into record their EP's.
We also supplied the voice-recordings for the
Pain Relief Unit at Colchester General Hospital.
Among the vocalists who have been in the
studio were Andi French, Stefan Kapota, Stephanie Gardener, Daniela Brooker
and Lynette Pitman. |
| June 2005
We had the pleasure of helping The Runes, We B 40 and Tea Monkey to produce
their EP's.
We were also delighted to have won the contracts to
supply hypnotherapy voice-recordings for Ade Hanlon and also all the dialog
recordings for the English language textbook,
Practical
Everyday English published by Monserrat Publishing.
Among the vocalists who have been in the
studio were Kirsty Finn and Liz Pearson, |
| May 2005 Returning to us for another EP was
The Chorus, an
excellent band from Chelmsford and Charlie Harsant, a vocalist from
Tollesbury.
The Late
Shift Band, one of the top covers band in Essex, recorded their EP with
us over a couple of days. We also recorded a demo for the Colchester
acoustic duo One Thousand Mile Smile.
We commenced work on The Runes new EP and
also the new album by
PetrifiedBySilence (Phillipe and Juliet Bazior) .
We were delighted to have won the contract to
supply the voice-recordings for a new promotional DVD for The Maldon Crystal
Salt Company through
Stephen Upson Creative Developments . Alix Hart from BBC Radio
Suffolk provided the voice!
Among the vocalists who have been in the
studio were Joe Mann, Debbie Place, Caroline Heywood, Lorraine Deering and
Jo Permaul. |
| February 2005 A true test of our capability is the number of
bands and artists who return to us time and again to record their latest
projects. February saw the return of top classic rock outfit
Black Ash to record
their new EP and multi-talented singer/songwriter
Mike Craig to
start work on his new album.
We also worked on demos with Sea of Souls and
The Vestry, both finalists at the Colchester Battle Of The Bands competition
on March 12th. Like last year, Soundmagic Studios also donated the top
prize of one day of studio time to the winner.
We were delighted to win the contract to work
with Philip and Juliet Bazior on their major album project. They were
impressed by the natural acoustic guitar sounds we can achieve and with the
overall working environment which is relaxed but professional and
results-oriented.
Among the vocalists who have been in the
studio in February are Stephanie Holt from Manchester, Ellis Delahunty from
Kent, Alex Berriman from Tiptree and Snehal Mohda from London. |
| January 2005 Top rock outfit Relay have been back to the studio
to start preproduction on the band's new album due out in July 2005.
The as-yet untitled CD will feature 9-10 brand new songs.
The intriguingly named Cactus Massacre Band came
in to record a 3 track EP (check out the Demo Area) and we started work with
Illusion, another Colchester-based band on their first ever 4 song EP.
Among the vocalists who have been in the
studio are Chris Hauver, Jasmine Tribe, Stuart Shepherd, Charlie Harsant and
Mark Jones. |
| December 2004 In the studio in the past month we have
completed work on Dilute To Taste's 5 song EP, recorded vocalists Bel Ryan,
Rob Brown, Chris Groves and Clive Frusher and saw the return to the studio
by Wyn Morgan. We also recorded Heads Together, a 6-piece jazz outfit
from South East London (check out the Jazz Demo Area). |
| November 2004 Since the last update, we have welcomed back
Helen Radice, the classical harpist, Pat Morrell, Gillian Robertson, The Swell, a local 3-piece band,
The Story, a 4-piece from Southend and
started working a project with funk/rock outfit Dilute To Taste. For
heavy rock fans, we also completed work a 3-song EP with Rob Mepham,
keyboarder with Relay. We have
completed a long-term project with Robin Childs, a singer-songwriter from
Mersea, calling on several talented session musicians to help out namely
Paul Docherty on drums, Jono Potts on violin and Pete Banks on keyboards.
Sample coming soon. We were also commissioned to design the artwork. |
| September 2004 We are now fully operational in the new studio
and in the relatively short time we have been here, we have recorded some
great acts, namely Lander and Winter (jazz duo from Colchester back to
record their 4th EP with us), Amber, Shaded, URE, 3am and The Chorus
(returning to us to record their second EP).
We have also recorded some terrific vocalists
like Debbie Spice, Bev Beer and Mick Goodwin.
Announced our Open Day for Sunday September
19th 10am-6pm. |
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July 2004 After many months of planning and after a lot of hard work by
many people, we have re-located to our brand new facility
in Witham. We now have 2 recording suites and a large
reception/chill-out room. The live performance areas also double as
practise rooms. June 2004 The new
album "Emeralds (& Other Little Gems)" by jazz/crossover outfit Wilding & Co
was completed and released, the culmination of 14 months work (see Jazz Demos).
Another major project was also completed and released in this
period; the debut album by Gerry Luby, a singer/songwriter from Harlow (see
Acoustic Demos). Other bands and artists we have worked
with in the period are: The Chorus (see Rock Demos), The White Knights, Amanda
Town, Ruth Johnson and Sarah Bonnett.
May 2004 We have just completed Songs From The
Blue House Too, the second major album project we have worked on with James Partridge and Shane Kirk (plus a cast of thousands!). The album will be released shortly. We
undertook our first computer game project with Codemasters who are renowned
in the field of PC and Playstation games for, amongst others, their Colin
McRae racing games. Titled "Soldiers: Heroes Of World War
II" it is a real-time strategy game and is due for PC release in June
2004. We provided all spoken-word recording support with eight
different voice actors over the space of 4 days. Countrywide
Residential Lettings sourced us to provide music-on-hold with voice-over
for their national network of phone lines. Other
bands and artists who have been in the studio in the past few months are :
Black Ash, a 7-piece rock band from South Woodham, The Zodiacs, a 4-piece
60's covers band from Brentwood who came back to record their 3rd CD with
us, Christina Cuttell has been back again to make her second CD, Avis, a
3-piece grunge band from Chelmsford, Find A Cure, Colne and the White
Knights.
February 2004 It's been a long time coming but we have
finally got around to updating our site. Too many artists to mention
individually who have recorded with us since the last update but some
notable ones who have been added to the demo area are: Punjabi X, a
bangra band from Ilford who recorded their debut album with us, Wilding
& Co, a jazz band from Enfield who also recorded their debut album,
and MJTV, a production company responsible for Soldiers Of Love, an audio
storybook available on CD. Slam, a
Tiptree-based pop/punk band have been back to record another 5 track EP.
Back to Top
W E B S I T E N E W S
March 8, 2007 Added Web Jingles
product group and own web jingle to index page.
January 4, 2007 Minor changes to
Equipment List and Session Walkthrough. Added Relay sample to Demo Area.
September 20, 2006 Added new samples
by Shifting Sands, 300 Mile Kiss and Abbi Saunders.
May 5, 2006 Added new samples
Curly Circus, Diplomacy, Shifting Sands, Disarmed, Black Ash and Lisa Hart.
Guitar Academy page removed.
Jan 27, 2006 Revised Location
page and added Robin Child's weblink.
Dec 14, 2005 Added SftBH,
Amber samples.
May 1, 2005 Added The
Guitar Academy page.
February 9, 2005 More samples added; Lander and Winter
(Jazz), Danielle Bottomley (Vocalist) Jacqueline Pearce (Spoken Word), Pat
Morrell (Spoken Word) and Gerry Luby (Pop/Rock)
January 28, 2005
Added Ricochets, Robin Childs and Cactus Massacre Band samples.
December 1, 2004
Added Heads Together, Dilute To Taste and Stephen Cherry samples.
November 5, 2004
Minor refresh, Rob Mepham and The Story samples added.
September 16, 2004 Added Gallery and Guestbook
tabs.
September 7th, 2004 Added Artists page to Links
and 3am sample to Pop and Rock Demo Area. .
August 2004 Added Black
Ash, The Chorus and Shaded samples to Rock/Pop Demo Area.
July 2004 Major site refresh to coincide with new
facility.
May 5, 2004 Added Avis sample to Rock/Pop Demo
Area.
March 24, 2004 Added Recording Party sample to Karaoke Demo
Area.
February 24, 2004 Added MJTV, Wilding & Co and Punjabi X samples.
February 4, 2004 Added more samples.
Back to Top
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March
2008 Anomaly Point, a
Psychedelic / Funk / Blues outfit,
featuring Buster Nolan on vocals and
didgeridoo, Dale Hubbard (bass), Si Todd (drums)and
Adam Hunwicks (guitars)came into the
studio to record their 14 track album with us. Acoustic duo "Fused"
from South London with Phil MIddleton (guitar) and James Allen (vocals)
recorded their 6 track EP and Will Coleridge (distant relation to Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, author of The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner) recorded his
album of 10 original piano/vocal songs.