• Bristol's Vocal Recording Specialists

Free House Studios

Free House Studios - Recording Studio Bristol

Recording and Mix Studio based in Bristol, UK

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Recording

Free House Studios is a state of the art, boutique recording studio in Bristol City Centre, run by me – engineer/producer Sam Dyson, offering the highest quality analogue and digital recording.

The live room is the perfect space for recording drum kits, guitar and bass amps and vocals as well as horn and string sections and less traditional, acoustic instruments.

The vocal booth is an acoustically ‘dead’ space and suits rap vocals, sound design and voiceover recordings.

My selection of industry standard microphones, DI boxes, preamps and converters ensure flawlessly transparent recordings.

Come and make your music in a relaxed, professional environment designed to draw the creativity out of a performer for the best possible recording.

Control Room

Centred around a Slate Raven MTi2 and an iMac, running Pro Tools 11 and Logic Pro X, the control room offers the flexibility that modern recording demands and digital recording systems offer.

Gear

Find a full list of studio equipment here.

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Examples

Check out these tracks recorded at the Free House:

For more examples, sorted by genre, click here.

Mixing

Whether you’ve recorded your music in the Free House, in another studio or at home, the job is only half done. Using the skills I have developed over the past 10 years of working with bands, singer-songwriters and rappers and the latest tools, I can mix your songs and have them larger than life, ready for release.

If you have recorded elsewhere and require my mixing service then get in touch with full details of your project.

You will need to supply your songs either in a Pro Tools or Logic Pro session (with all associated audio files and software instruments) or as individual WAV files which all start at the same point (your lead vocals may not come in for 30 seconds, but this multitrack should have 30 seconds of silence at the start).

Mixing Rates:

£75per song

1-10 Multitracks

£150per song

11-50 multitracks

£200per song

50+ multitracks

My mixes have been featured on various radio stations and Spotify playlists including:

  • radiox
  • 1x
  • KerrangRadio2048
  • bbcintro
  • ujima

Mastering

Mastering is the final stage in the production process. Its responsible for ensuring that your project sounds cohesive from start to finish even when each track may have been mixed by a different engineer. A vinyl release has a different set of requirements from a CD or digital release, your mastering engineer will make sure your final files are suitable for your release format(s). Finally, the mastering process if a final check. A mastering engineer will offer fresh perspective after the mix is finished and iron out any kinks resulting from weak links in the mixing process. As such a song should be mastered by a different engineer, in a different room on different speakers from the mix.

If you have had your song mixed at another studio or mixed it yourself then I can master it.

Any song mixed by me can be mastered by my go-to mastering engineer, Simon Kitts by request. Alternatively your mix can be provided ready for mastering by your chosen engineer.

Mastering is charged at £30 per song

Examples

Hi play, then toggle before/after to hear the difference a master makes to your final mix. I recommend listening on studio monitors or headphones for the best possible experience.

Imprints

Get Me Out Of Here

Mixed by me. Mastered by Simon Kitts.

Play

Live and Location Recording

Not all projects are suited to studio recording and with the size of the live room at Free House you may decide that you want to record in a different space but have me engineer your session. I am available to record your gig or special live session. Get in touch for a quote specific to your requirements.

For filmed sessions I work with Lacuna Productions to create beautiful visuals backed up by detailed, rich audio.

Gear

Recording/Monitoring
  • Slate Raven MTi2 Controller

  • Audient ID44 Preamp

  • Audient ASP800 Preamp

  • Focal Shape Twin Monitors

  • Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Microphone Preamps

  • Focusrite OctoPre Microphone Preamps

  • Avalon U5 DI

  • Akai 4000DS Tape Machine

  • Samson S Patch Patchbay

  • Behringer PowerPlay Pro-8 HA800

  • BeyerDynamic DT100 Headphones
    • Microphones
  • Neumann TLM 103

  • Slate ML-1

  • Coles 4038 (2)

  • AKG C414 XLS (2)

  • AKG D12E

  • ElectroVoice Re20 (2)

  • t.Bone RB500 (2)

  • Senneiser MD421 mkII (3)

  • Slate ML-2

  • Shure SM57 (2)

  • UHER M534 (2)

  • Shure SM58
    • Instruments/Amps
  • Ludwig Breakbeats Drum Kit by ?uestlove

  • M-Audio Hammer-88 Keyboard

  • Lindo 931C Mahogany Acoustic Guitar

  • Aria STB Bass

  • Line6 DT25 Combo Guitar Amp

  • TC Electronic BG250 Bass Amp

    • Examples

    Browse music recorded, mixed and mastered at Free House Studios by genre below.

    ROCK/INDIE/PUNK

    FUNK/SOUL

    REGGAE

    ACOUSTIC

    RAP/HIP HOP

    Clients

    Free House has recorded a wide range of musicians, bands and artists including:

    Adam Wakeman (Ozzy Osbourne)

    Laurence Cottle (Black Sabbath)

    Duncan James (Blue)

    Little People

    Yola Carter

    Laurent John (Dr Meaker)

    China Bowls

    Troy Ellis

    Mangoseed

    Hotsteppas

    Imprints

    Dead at 27

    Bear Pak

    Brotherman

    Toadstool

    The Marginal

    Salute The Sun

    Open Day

    Laguna Park

    Little Moon

    Blue City

    In The Goodship

    Seb Hawley Band

    Ryan McMurtry

    Sophii Negus

    RXC

    Tony D

    Dots

    Dre Pound

    Spar

    Jibsta

    Ellis

    Mills

    Roseberg

    Stone Agent

    FAQs

    Q. How long is a day in the studio?

    A. A standard day in the studio starts atA�10am and runs until 8pm.

    We are flexible so please get in touchA�with your requirements .

    Q. When we book a whole day, do we have to stop as soon as our 10 hours are up?

    A. Not necessarily, but wea��ve yet to meet a band who can produce anything worthwhile after 10 hoursa�� solid work.

    We have been known to record for 14-15 hours but whether or not we carry on will be at the recording engineersa�� discretion.

    Q. How much studio time do I need?

    A. Every artist and session is different and so there are no hard and fast rules. It will depend on the size of the band, the length and complexity of the songs, how well rehearsed you are etc. Feel free to get in touchA�to discuss your project in more detail.

    AA�well rehearsed band can track and mix a demo in between 6 hours and a day (A?100-A?150).

    Q. What is mixing and mastering?

    A. Once your tracks are recorded they will need to be mixed and mastered before they can be released.

    MixingA�is taking the various elements of a song and using EQ, compression and other effects to create a song greater than the sum of its parts.

    MasteringA�isA�taking the mixed stereo track making it appropriate for radio play and for its release – subtle differences will need to be made for tracks released online, on CD, on vinyl etc. It is also important to create cohesion between individual songs on a single project, you don’t want different volumes on various tracks on the same album.

    Q. Is mixing and mastering included?

    A. Mixing and mastering are not included but can be completed during your session if you book enough time. Otherwise, mixing is charged at A?150 per track.

    Q. Can I take my tracks elsewhere to be mixed?

    A. Of course! You will need to bring a Mac-formatted hard drive with lots of free space so we can transfer your multitracks over (allow for at least 5 GB per recording day). USB sticks will work, but they take MUCH longer to back up.

    Q. Can I come and look around the studio?

    A. Absolutely, just get in touchA�to arrange a viewing.

    Q. How long do you keep the session files?

    A. Everything we record gets backed up to multiple hard drives and our cloud severs and is kept for a minimum of 3 months.

    Q. What do we need to bring to the studio?

    A. We have a great selection of gearA�here at the studio, including a drum kit and guitar/bass amps which can be used free of charge but we recommend you bring your own kit that you are comfortable with.

    Bear in mind the importance of new and tuned strings and drumheads. Making sure your gear is in excellent condition can really help speed up the recording process.

    If you are bringing backing tracks to record, quality is everything. If you start with an mp3 backing track your final track will never sound as good as it can. Best practice is to bring stems of the backing track in WAV, or at least a WAV stereo bounce.

    If you would like to retain your multitracks from the session then please bring a Mac-formatted with plenty of free space.

    Q. Can you provide session musicians?

    A. Yep. Having worked with a number of musicians around the city and the country we can get session players for your project, pleaseA�get in touchA�to arrange this.

    Q. Do you offer work experience placements?

    A.A�Please send CVs to [email protected]A�and if any placements come up we may be in touch.

    Get in touch

    0117 9555 236

    The Old Malthouse, Little Ann Street, Bristol, BS2 9EB

    [email protected]