Briarsford Estate
Perry Road
Witham
Essex
CM8 3UY

Office :  01376-501313

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NEWS

 
April 2009  We have finally got around to updating the website!

We were fortunate enough to work with songwriter Stephen Castelle on a song he wrote on acoustic guitar he needed to record to a good level  with drums, bass and electric guitar, for presentation to a well-known local performer.  We used Paul Docherty (from Relay) on drums and Angie Walker (from The Late Shift) on vocals.  George Baker, a singer/songwriter from Suffolk, came in to record vocals for an album of his own material.

Mike O'Leary came back to us to record a tribute song to a friend who passed away suddenly.

Alex Hedges and his band came in to record a very tidy collection of covers for promotional purposes.  Ray Drizen cane in to record 4 songs in simple a acoustic guitar plus vocal style for his girlfriend.  Young musician Tom Brown (age 12) came in to record 12 piano pieces.  Gill Perkins and her band came in to record a 4 song EP.  The Bare Bones Boogie Band (formerly 3am) have been back to record a 2 track EP for promotional use and hope to come back to add more songs to compile a full album.  We have been working with local singer Caroline Wilcock who is signed to a production/distribution company in Brighton who produce the music.  We layer the melody, harmony and ad lib vocals for inclusion in the track.

We have been expanding our spoken word recording and worked with Felicia Clark on her hypnotherapy CD's and Michael Fletcher on a spoken diary for his young grandson.

More singers in the "Hall Of Fame" include:  Carl Gladman, Jo Permaul, Jackie Judd, Pandora Lewis, Rob Caulfield, Andrea Stanley, Kerry Burrows, Cath MacDonald, Paul Marsh, Katie Hibbins, Stefan Kapota, Emily Horner (all the way from Cornwall!), Sarah May, Carly Augustus, Funke Baffour, Richard Mills, Sharon Croxon, Nasreen El Guindi, Becki Stirling, Nina Kelly, Jake Cottrell, Wendy Fee, Marian Luketa, Mary Lysiak, Vikki Roberts, Hannah Brown, Justin Liptrot, Ray Nash, Sasha Chalk, Danielle King, Rob Looker, Ellie Smit, Ian Duggan, Sandie Crawley, Gina Hilton, Lucy Ritchie, Kathyrn Kemp, Mel Potter, Tony Sinclair, Lauren Chapelhowe, Cornelia Brown, Steve Ball, Scott Donnelly, Jackie Pittman and Angelise Packham.

 
September 2008  Top rockabilly band from Suffolk, The Humdingers came back to us to record their second album to be released by Pinknblack Records.  Another client to return to us was pro solo guitarist Mike Chapman to record his second CD of acoustic guitar instrumentals.

Abbie Saunders, who we recorded last year, came back to record another CD of 10 vocal/acoustic guitar songs.  We also recorded comedy sketch shows written by James Turner et al for submission to radio production companies.

Entertainer Steven Ritchie from Colchester came in to record a demo CD for promotional purposes and singer/songwriter Paul Gronland came in for several sessions to work on his own material.

More singers in the "Hall Of Fame" include:  Jade Goldsmith, Louise Wiggins, Francesca Simons, Hannah Smith, Jordana and Elise Golbourne, Chris Arnold, Matthew Horgan, Dev Aziz, Jessica Ryan, Paul Whitney, Hannah Vooght, Natasha Herbert, Lauren Whitnell, John Gammon, Maria Morris, Sophie Cunningham, Debbie Hayward, David Sims, Abbie Martin, Dan Looney, Camilla Lawes, Georgina Mills, Mark Bowen, Eleanor Kibblewhite, Harry Sims and Simran Bhullar.

 
June 2008  Hardcore metal band "Before Silence Falls" with Ando (vocals), Ben (guitar), George (drums), Kit (guitar) and Zach (bass) came in to record their 5 track demo CD.

Robin Childs returned to record a new demo CD as did regular client Adele Wilding.  Following the success of their demo we recorded back in January, 50's and 60's covers band The Tornadoes returned to record their 14 track debut album.

More singers in the "Hall Of Fame" include:  Laura Hodgkins, Lucy Cracknell, Remy Imich, Natalie Wignall, Jane Earnshaw, Kerry Dietsch, David Connelly, Nicole Ester (winner of the Notley Factor which we sponsored), Gary Wilson (all the way from Aryshire in Scotland!), Lois Hirrell, Andrew Thwaites, Katie Newton, Charlotte Stemp, Isabel Grint, Eleanor Perkins, Nigel Sheldrake, Amy Hutchison, Megan Grant, Melissa Denyer, Elisha Redfern, Angela Lewis, Megan Juniper, Mat Barden, Darren Moakes, Michael Fitzgerald

 
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.

More singers in the "Hall Of Fame" include:  Jack Shine, Tursha Park, Charlotte Hilditch, Emily Parlour, Olivia Marriot, Catherine Potter (also played piano on one of her own compositions, Christine Welham, Bethany Rosser, Sarah Loxton, Marge Hall, Milli Finch, Tania Khotina, Katie Hall, Holly Saunders and Sophie Williamson (with dad actor Shaun Williamson).

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

 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.

 

 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.

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.

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  Last updated on June 6th,  2009

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