2012-06-28 11:03:20
The Shrubbery Recording Studio and Cafe, in Bury St Edmunds, is the brainchild of friends Richard Clark and James Buckingham, both former members of Suffolk-based band, The Vaults, and firm favourites of the late great John Peel.
In-house engineer/producer, Richard Clark told us why they decided to build a studio in this area, “James and I grew up in Bury St Edmunds and we wanted to open a studio that not only had high end equipment, but also offered a gathering place for local musicians and artists. The music scene here has always been pretty good for a small town, but we wanted to create an environment that simply wasn’t available to us when we were younger. Since we opened The Shrubbery in 2007, the studio has gained a reputation as one of the finest in East Anglia. People now travel from all over the country and even from France to record here and we’ve had a variety of projects through the door, from local rock bands to X-Factor winner Matt Cardle and several community music schemes. We’re also working closely with a number of local promoters and venues.”
The Shrubbery features a combination of state-of-the-art digital and classic analogue recording equipment, incorporated into an acoustically designed, fully air-conditioned control room with adjustable lighting, that all helps to create a fantastic working environment. At the heart of the studio is a “much loved” 24 channel Trident Dream Series analogue mixing console with SSL digital converters. Adam A7s and Yamaha NS10s provide a precise monitoring environment, and recording is to Pro Tools 9 on an Apple Mac Pro with a wide range of plug ins and Logic Studio 9 also available if required. Outboard and instruments include a Trident Sonicomp, Universal Audio LA 2A, Shure Level-Loc, Orban 111b Dual Spring Reverb, Watkins Copyicat Tape Echo and a Lexicon MX200 reverb. Full equipment list here.
Richard, who has fifteen years’ experience both as an engineer and a musician, went on to tell us about The Shrubbery’s large, purpose-built live room which can comfortably accommodate up to eight musicians. “The acoustics are great and really add to the feel of our recordings. We can adapt the room to provide either a spacious or a close and intimate ambience, depending on the project. We offer two separate isolation booths, both of which can be used for vocal or instrumental work. We also have a great selection of some of the best known microphones including a Neumann U87; Sennheiser MD 421s; AKG C414Bs; AKG D112; Electrovoice RE20 and a Lustraphone Ribbon mic.”
Previous clients at The Shrubbery include: Lewis Mokler recording his debut album ‘Fingertips’; Cambridge-based band Echo Trails; Matt Cardle; Mark Edwards; Pale Fires; Overspill; The Burning Books; Cure Caballo; Twisted Piglet; Catrin Madden; Martoc; Roy Hudd; Supa Puma; The Charlie Parkers; Ravens in Paris; Ellie Jameson; Villains; Cassetto; The Lucanz; Tunng (pre-production); Raized; Headfull; Bury St Edmunds Male Voice Choir and more.
The Shrubbery has excellent road and rail access to Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, Norwich and London. Studio clients are welcome to relax in the on-site cafe which serves fresh coffee and homemade food from 9.30am-3pm, Monday-Friday. For more information or to make a booking, please contact the The Shrubbery here.
