Driftwood Audio

14/04/2023

Day... I can't remember...

We have started naming the various waste recepticles in our home.

Any guesses as to what the toilet is called?

06/04/2023

Concrete pad for the new gym went down today, but more importantly, we managed to finally find a room tall enough for Tim to stand up in!

Sure, it's missing the roof - but that's okay, right?

03/04/2023

Spot the sound engineer...

When your partner needs a book you buried in storage during your move, you may have to swim through your belongings to find it.

Thankfully, after trawling through a number of identical boxes, the book was found!

Despite the difficulties presented by this new house day to day, it's great to have a good laugh about the little things.

29/03/2023

It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

(It's actually half past 8). Having a better week and we're looking forward to finally having our new internet installed tomorrow!

More demolition to do during the day, but we're getting there.

27/03/2023

Current setup at the new house...

We haven't managed to accomplish everything we wanted to before moving in and we're currently living out of damp rooms with the essentials - and dehumidifiers.

Motivation is definitely lacking and our mental health has taken a toll, but we know we'll get there.

20/03/2023

Been neglecting the planning and journaling over the last couple of weeks whilst working on the new house.

So, after some more packing and preparation for our move, I decided that a beer and some journaling would help me wind down.

Bedtimes have become later and later, everything aches and we're going to be living in a building site for a bit, but we have it better than many do. We don't want to take that for granted.

What do you have that you're grateful for?

16/03/2023

Really going all-in on the accuracy with this new house...

06/03/2023

Currently working on our new house and it's been quite an experience!

Before and after tearing down a ceiling with a quarter ton of water in a tank above it - and a beautiful picture of the getup required for such activities.

I suppose our mix tip this week is that it you don't wear the appropriate PPE, you won't have any lungs to breathe with whilst mixing!

03/03/2023

Rocking the cathedral!

Had an awesome time sharing the stage with my bandmates tonight - great to be back after some time away from gigging!

Back to working on the new house tomorrow!

01/03/2023

We bought a house!

Got our keys today and work starts on our first home tomorrow! Lots of exciting stuff on the horizon, including a new studio!

Watch this space!

22/02/2023

Take a break...

When things aren't going the way you want them to, you can save a whole lot of time and effort by taking a break.

Trying to make progress by banging your head against a wall probably isn't going to yeild any results and you'll feel better with a few minutes away from the problem with a nice cup of tea!

When you're in a session with artists, this may not always be possible - but you can try focusing on a different part of the project instead.

We're partial to group meal times and hot beverage breaks away from the recording process, but some artists will insist on not stopping. We can't tell you any foolproof ways of convincing them otherwise, but if you're the producer and you have their best interests in mind, the results should speak for themselves.

17/02/2023

Good evening!

It's been a crazy end to the week, so have a picture of a sandwich I ate recently!

I can tell you now, this sandwich sounded awesome, so it's studio relevant.

We're in the midst of planning our new space (and other exciting things). We should have some updates for you all very soon!

Have a great weekend everybody!

15/02/2023

Health and happiness in the studio - comfort and ergonomics!

When you sit in front of a set of speakers, toiling away on the perfect kick drum for hours and hours, it can be very easy to suddenly find yourself with physical niggles and tweaks that pull you out of your creative flow in an instant.

These physical ailments can be a direct result of not paying attention to your own health while at work. We wouldn't expect a builder to move heavy objects without safety equipment, so why should you expect yourself to operate without the relevant safety measures?

This may sound ridiculous, but applying some thought to this can make massive improvements to your work and your happiness while working.

Here I have an ergonomic mouse - my most used tool for navigating a recording or mix session - and using this instead of a trackpad has been a game changer for me. Sure, I lost some of the multi touch gestures, but learning a few keyboard shortcuts made up for that.

I also use comfortable headphones for referencing mix translation that sit over my ears, not in them.

Finally, I use a chair that supports my back in the correct way and take regular breaks to get up and walk around.

Try applying some thought to your comfort and I guarantee you'll hear the results in your work!

10/02/2023

New studio design!

We have some exciting news - we're going to be building a new studio!

We're still in the planning and design stages, but we'll be engineering the studio so we can facilitate band and album projects any time of day.

Let us know what you'd like to see from our new space!

08/02/2023

We're taking a day for our little one's birthday today, so we've left the studio in the care of our new assistant!

She's very sweet and is more than happy to answer any of your queries. Normal service will be resumed in a couple of days - have a great week everyone!

03/02/2023

Context!

Like a lot of sound engineers, I have often been guilty of soloing any given instrument and working on it for hours until it sounds "right."

Over time, I've gradually started appreciating the magic of context and how a given sound can blossom when paired with another - so why would you only analyse something on its own?

Here we have an example of some strings we have arranged for a production we have made for educational purposes. Without the rest of the production, the string glissando at the end sounds very out of place - but this isn't the case with the rest of the band playing.

So, quickly checking the production as a whole saved me hours of finicky arranging work that ultimately could sound worse than the vibe we have here!

Try mixing a little more in context and enjoy the complex and meaningful relationships between your sounds.

30/01/2023

Guitar recording!

Here we have an example of one of the techniques we use for micing a guitar cabinet and some of the results in context.

All of the guitar sounds are exactly what the mic picked up - there is no processing on any of the guitar tracks!

Let us know what you think!

20/01/2023

It's Friiiiday!

Spending our afternoon planning the next week and leaning from on . It's always interesting to see how other engineers operate and the philosophies they regard as important to recording.

Experimenting with these techniques and ideas can be great for adding new tools to your arsenal or wondering how on earth they manage to make some of their more insane ideas work.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

18/01/2023

Happy Hump Day!

We've been working on some really cool music this week and thought it'd be a great opportunity to talk about the psychological effects of musical references.

As with most engineers and mixers, I use references when working and they can be a double edged sword.

They're amazing for giving you an idea of how the work you're doing stands up against the work you love. For me, Eric Valentine () sits as one of my most referenced engineers, especially given the wide ranges of genres he's worked on. His mixes help to inform the depth and balances within a mix so my starting point is less like a stab in the dark.

These references can also provide you with some doubts as to whether you will ever achieve what you want from a mix - unfairly weighing your starting point with someone else's finished product.

It's important to use a wide range of musical references, including your own work, to balance the gulf between where you are and where you want to be. Give yourself some slack and don't expect everything to fall into place without effort.

Keep at it and the results will come - practice makes better!

TLDR; don't psych yourself into thinking you shouldn't try by worshipping your references above all else.

16/01/2023

Monday Mix Tip!

Save your work!

Get real familiar with CMD+S if you work in audio (other operating systems may have different key commands, so mileage may vary).

I can't tell you the number of times habitually saving after every move I make in a project has saved my ass! Computers crash and software can do weird things when you are asking so much of it, so try and take some control back by saving as often as you can.

Don't rely on autosave! It doesn't always work and you're much better off being the one to instantiate a new save.

See also, making versions of projects after every major stage. Done recording? Save a copy of the project, begin working on the new save and leave the old project as is in case you need it later.

This can help you to avoid pressing CMD+Z (undo) a million times, or creating some funky editing to undo mistakes that could have been circumvented.

Let us know if there's anything specific you want tips for!

Have a great week!

13/01/2023

It's the end of the week!

We've had a great week in the studio and it's been an awesome start to the new year.

There's been plenty of planning, a little bit of preparation and a load of mixing!

To celebrate the new year, we'd like to offer 15% off our new "Single Session" bookings - two days in the studio and all relevant post production for a single fee!

More information can be found on our website and we're always happy to answer any questions.

See you guys next week!

03/11/2022

Ever wondered how to power your house (on Mars)? Or how to tell if you're a nineties kid?

What about how to make an emergency landing?!

Continuing the theme of relaxation from our previous post, we've been reading this gem after our sessions to help clear our minds and reset after recording/mixing/mastering.

We've been massive fans of for years and his books are constantly hilarious, childish and brilliant!

28/10/2022

Had the pleasure of working on this new tune from Harry!

My World's On Fire.

Available on all streaming platforms from 11/11/22.

Pre-save now - https://linktr.ee/harrydrakemusic

Art by Cameron Clayburn

Mixed/mastered by Driftwood Audio

27/10/2022

It's been a super busy week at the studio, but not all of it has been music work.

We've had meetings, created and sent invoices, written contracts, planned upcoming projects and more besides - and this can feel like it's hampering creativity and detracting from the work you're emotionally invested in.

Which for me, is mixing.

None of these other jobs are any less important to us - and we count ourselves lucky to be involved with any and all of our clients - but it can be hard to concentrate when all you can think about is how the kick isn't sounding right!

Recently, we've been trying to compartmentalise and focus on what we can control in any given moment to steer the studio towards its goals. This week has been a mixed bag, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying.

So anyway - here's a picture of a den we found in the woods.

10/10/2022

We've had a busy week in the studio, so here's a picture of our nice relaxing walk on the beach!

New gear was delivered to the studio today and we're looking forward to putting it to use on a session this weekend.

Have a great week everyone!

03/10/2022

Sneak peek!

Here's a snippet from a new arrangment we've been working on - can you guess what song this is?

Drums and percussion have become a staple part of this arrangement, with a number of orchestral elements in the rhythm tracks.

This, combined with a few synths and some other samples, helps to blur the lines between the warmer and more natural sounding acoustic instruments and the hard hitting synth bass!

Vocals up next - then we'll finish the arrangment and mix!

01/10/2022

Brand new music coming out tonight from Harry!

You don't want to miss this!

Tonight on BBC Radio Cornwall, BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Somerset between 8-10pm on the Introducing show, you can hear my BRAND NEW SONG “My World’s on Fire”.

Here is the link to listen live or afterwards on BBC sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d01y22

Thanks to Daniel Pascoe & Holly Turner for picking my track, I’m really proud of this one👏❤️

Recorded at and mixed and mastered by Driftwood Audio

29/09/2022

Woo! Super excited for everyone to hear this!

*Exciting news!*

This Saturday (October 1st) my brand ew track My World's on Fire is going to be played on BBC Radio Cornwall BBC Radio Devon & BBC Radio Somerset / BBC Sounds between 8pm-10pm on the BBC Music Introducing show.

Thanks to Daniel Pascoe & Holly Turner for picking my track!

Recorded, mixed & mastered by Driftwood Audio.

Here's the link to listen live or listen back after the show:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d01y22

28/09/2022

A few more shots of from our recent session!

It's always a pleasure working with Harry and we can't wait to see him again in October!

The last photo is our mood this morning listening to Harry's awesome new tune!

28/08/2022

Introducing the latest members of the studio crew!

Larry the Lemur on shaker and Fred the Red Panda on bird whistle!

Who knew you'd find so many new hires at ? Both of our new hires are available for sessions now!