Monnow Valley Studio is one of the oldest residential studios in the world. It has been in operation for over 35 years and it’s easy to understand why.
Set amongst 400 acres of stunning countryside in an area of outstanding natural beauty, Monnow Valley provides an amazing, exclusive, rural retreat just an hour and a half outside London. You won’t find any laminate flooring or uPVC here. The main body of the live room is lined with oak panels and grain sacks dating from the days when it was a working mill, whilst the conservatory features hand-carved pillars and floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides producing a beautiful bright sound as well as letting natural daylight stream in.
The enormous trademark cartwheel doors (15ft hight and 17ft wide) can be closed to partition off the 1,200sq ft live area, thus enabling variable acoustics between areas. Jo Hunt, Studio Manager at Monnow Valley told us, ‘Many of our clients agree that Monnow Valley boasts the best drum room in the world! The control room has seen a few mixing desks over the years but is now home to an SSL 4064G Series. A Pro Tools HD3 rig sits alongside two analogue 2″ tape machines and the room itself has been acoustically treated to provide the perfect environment for recording and mixing whilst retaining the charm of wooden-beamed ceiling and walls. The studio also has a large variety of both vintage and modern outboard, microphones and instruments.
‘At Monnow Valley we can accommodate the largest of bands on the tightest of budgets. The 16th Century house has seven bedrooms, food is home cooked on site using the finest local (and often award-winning) ingredients. Clients can enjoy the homely atmosphere of our lounge, games room, fitness equipment and the mile of private trout and salmon fishing at the bottom of the garden. We think going residential offers excellent value for money; our rate includes 24/7 lockout, catering, an engineer and full use of all our studio equipment as standard, often for the same price as just 8 hours in a city centre studio.’
Recent clients at Monnow Valley include Bullet For My Valentine, Feeder, The Smoke Fairies, Detroit Social Club, The Last Republic and Funeral For A Friend.
For more information please visit the studio website or contact Jo Hunt on 01600 712761, enquiries@monnowvalleystudio.com. (June 2010)
