With a brand new studio to outfit, the number of desks to choose from can be overwhelming. Plymouth-based sound engineer, teacher and now studio owner, Stu Welsh found this out while researching gear for his latest project, Beliefspace Studio.
The launch of the Audient ASP4816 analog console came just at the right time for him; the moment he tried the desk at a workshop at local dBs Music recording school, he knew he’d found the center-piece for his studio.
“I knew Audient from their excellent reputation and the ASP4816 fitted my needs exactly,” says Welsh, Audio & Music Production course leader at dBs Music. “My aim from the outset was to build a digital studio with an analog heart. If I were to design a console, this is exactly how I would do it.”
Welsh linked the ASP4816 to a patchbay, where everything in his studio is routed first to give maximum flexibility.
“The routing is absolutely key for me,” he explains. “The console needed to be able to handle both a DAW signal path and a purely analogue signal path, which it does with ease. The I/O on the ASP4816 is phenomenal, especially for a console in this price bracket and, if the routing hadn’t swayed me, the fold back and monitoring sections would have.”
Loaded with the key features of a large format recording console, the compact, cost-effective ASP4816 features Audient’s intuitive design and legendary analogue circuitry.
“I prefer to work on the board, out of the computer,” Welsh continues. “Personally, I feel that the tactile nature of mixing on a console, using your ears more than your eyes (something that I am guilty of when mixing on computer) puts you more ‘in touch’ with the music.”
With Beliefspace Studio up and running later this month, Welsh is grateful to colleagues Ray Hendriksen and Leo Brown from dBs Music for encouragement, support and the generous donation of recording gear.
“We now have one the best microphone collections in the South West boasting over 40 microphones, new and vintage. We also have Ampex MM1200 24 track 2” machine,” he beams, clearly a man who loves his craft. “Every mix is a performance, it’s great to get the artist/s involved in muting channels, panning and pushing up faders on a mix down because they feel much more involved in the mixing process.
With the first session in scheduled for the end of the month, and Hendriksen (who has worked with Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, Mick Ronson, John Entwistle and Greg Lake) joining Welsh on the project, the stakes are high. So who will be the first artist to record at Beliefspace Studio? “It’s my wife’s group, The Lena Smith band,” Welsh replies. “No pressure then!”
