Sheffield’s Foundry Studio is the home of the first and only 72-channel Audient ASP8024 mixing console to be built – effectively the largest Audient desk in the world.
The official relaunch of The Foundry Studio makes its1,000-sq-ft live room one of the largest outside of London. ‘With the new console, we can facilitate larger ensembles such as brass bands, choirs and full orchestras, all of which require a significant number of channels,’ explains songwriter and producer Sam Craggs, who is one of the facility’s co-owners.
‘It’s also helpful having that many channels for the band/artist orientated work we do. Anyone familiar with analogue consoles will know that the recall (or lack thereof) can make revisiting sessions time consuming and frustrating, but with 72 channels, we can actually split a few projects that are all in progress at the same time across the desk and leave settings in place – very useful.’
After a series of teasers posted on The Foundry Studio’s social media hinting at the arrival of the giant Audient, the rebooted studio is keen to re-establish its brand, identity and reputation: ‘We’re aiming to create a space where musicians and artists can find a really great performance in themselves that can be captured in the highest quality,’ says Chris Palmer, co-owner producer and engineer. ‘We’ve noticed certain artists and musicians seem to have really upped their performances during sessions, because they know every single detail will be exposed. This effect has led to some fantastic productions so far.
‘The first time we ran a full mix through the console we were amazed by the depth of sound compared with what we were used to with our old control surface and in-the-box solution. It feels as though mixes become three dimensional when fed through it.’
The first band to record live through the console was Bang Bang Romeo, who according to Craggs, ‘…are sure to be the next big thing to come out of the Sheffield, and despite still being unsigned have secured themselves a slot on the Big Top Stage at this weekend’s Isle Of Wight Festival’.
The Foundry Studio itself has had some legends through the door over the years, including Lulu and Donny Osmond. Now the care of Palmer and Craggs – who themselves have experience with artists including Florence and the Machine, Tinie Tempah and Sir Paul McCartney – the studio is anticipating a bright future.
‘In the long run, we’d like to be working on larger scale productions in all forms of media,’ Craggs says. ‘We’ve got the space and facilities to work on projects such as film or game scores where a larger ensemble needs recording, and being far more affordable than other similar studios, we are able to cater to a wide variety of budgets.
‘We’d seen nothing but great reviews about Audient’s design, engineering, build quality and, most importantly, preamps and now we’ve experienced all that first hand – plus their amazing customer service – we are incredibly happy with our choice.’
