Grand Chapel Studios, a recording facility with an unusual aesthetic and backstory that’s located in a small village in the Bedfordshire, UK countryside, is equipped with an ASP4816 small-format analog recording console from Audient.
As the name notes, the studio is housed in what was a Methodist chapel that was deconsecrated in 1990 and had been occupied by a double glazing firm in the interim. “I bought the building as an empty shell back in 2011,” explain Anneliese Shaw, owner and co-sounder who had outgrown her tiny bedroom project studio and was ready to create her dream studio together with co-writer Michael Pearce, who also serves as chief engineer.
“It was in a sorry state and had been structurally neglected in its latter year,” Shaw continines. “Built in 1842, there were many original features that retain their beauty today; the gorgeous organ and pulpit are part of its Grade ll listed status. A large, expansive main room (22-foot ceilings) with a fantastic reverb hooked us in straight away. The chapel was obviously built with acoustics in mind, and boy is it beautiful. We are incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon it.”
The pair have worked hard over the past eight years, steadily reinvesting all their earnings back into the studio with the aim to “create an environment that wasn’t like other studios.” The live room comprises an upper gallery, two iso-booths and numerous gobos and acoustic room dividers built around the old organ and pulpit, which help maintain an ecclesiastical feel.
It’s also packed with an array of instruments, including two uprights and a grand piano, various drum kits, tubular bells, a Dulcitone and “all sorts of antique and music shop finds that we use to achieve sounds that can’t be found elsewhere” to add to the ambience,” Shaw notes.
There’s also no shortage of higher-end kit in the mix and control room, which is soundproofed, purpose built and integrated. The system is centred around the Audient desk.
“The lovely ASP4816 was our last big purchase and just slots right in,” Shaw says. “From the superb preamps, the switchable inline architecture, those gorgeous splittable EQs — thank you so much for the switchable Hi/Low shelves, 18kHz is just a joy — and the routing abilities of this desk, it simply lets us work how we want to. Obviously a lot of work is done in the box, but getting it there in fantastic condition is just a breeze and routing it all back out to the desk when needed is also a simple process.
“It’s really become the centre point of our studio; there is so much control just sitting at your fingertips whether you’re recording, mixing or mastering,: she addss. “It’s so nice to be in front of a tactile surface and not be grabbing the mouse all of the time to access common functions — they’re just there within arm’s reach.”
Grand Chapel Studios attracts a diverse client base ranging from signed musicians to voiceover work for the computer gaming industry. They also offer the studio for no charge with a “One Day A Month” program.
