Tribarac

Beautiful Noise

In pop or rock you can make a fast song or a slow one but in disco there is really just the one rhythm.

Giorgio Moroder, New Musical Express, 1978/12/09

Star!

A young woman sings into a microphone in the studio vocal booth as she listens to a backing track on headphones

Sing your heart out and let us do the rest. Photograph by Rana Mullan

We all of us have a song in our heart, so why not let rip with your favourite number and spend a day recording it with us? Or maybe you are a local act and the time is right to make a demo showing what you can do?

The first step

We offer a special one–day Star! package for individuals and groups who want to experience a day in a recording studio and get a feeling for how the process works. We will certainly do our best to make you feel like a star.

The package is especially suited to non–professionals with little or no experience of the recording process. It would also make an original treat for a musically–gifted musician friend or family member.

And talking of which, we welcome friends and family to accompany the artist, either for moral support or, perhaps, to add a few backing vocals making the session a real group effort. For a day producing memories that will last a lifetime.

The aim is to get your performance recorded, mixed and mastered to a variety of formats for both CD and Streaming Services in a single eight–hour session (excluding breaks). Hopefully this will be your first step into a rewarding new world of lasting musical creativity.

Why not make a video of your performance for YouTube?

The studio tour

The day begins when you arrive! We will listen to your ideas of what you would like to do, show you around the studio and explain how things generally work.

You might like to read up on our equipment and facilities if you think that will help to familiarise yourself with our set–up in advance.

You should also contact us with prior notice of particular backing tracks you might require on the day.

A young woman listens to a playback of her singing performance on headphones in the studio vocal booth

Hear yourself sound like the star you know you are. Photograph by Rana Mullan

Recording

Once you are ready, we will lay down your performance on a sequence of tracks. Depending upon the complexity and length of the recording this may take some time.

You may want to do a few songs or just concentrate on a single piece for a start — the choice is yours — but it is advisable that you are thoroughly familiar with the material in order to get the basic recordings down as efficiently as possible.

Lunch may be a little late, depending on how the recording session goes, so it’s advisable to have a hearty breakfast before you leave home.

Mixing

After lunch, we will spend time mixing, editing and over–dubbing the recording — with additional voices and instrumentation for example — if you feel that’s necessary.

The mixing stage will probably be the first time you will hear your music played back through professional equipment. Once you get over the initial surprise you are sure to have a lot of fun here — not to mention learn a lot.

You will also have the opportunity to change or re–record anything you really don’t like before we go to the final mix.

A young woman discusses the final mix of her vocal performance with a sound engineer at the studio mixing desk.

Work with us to get your final mix sounding just the way you want it.
Photograph by Rana Mullan

Mastering

When you are satisfied with a final mix, we will master your recording to sound files in any format or formats of your choice and write them to a CD or USB flash drive to take with you when you leave.

Afterwards

Your further plans for the finished recordings will be up to you, of course, since the music files will be entirely yours. However, we sincerely hope that you will be happy enough with the result to come back and work with us again.

And finally,

Are you a Singer, but don't have a band or play an instrument yourself? We have the solution to finding perfect support for your projects. Depending on your budget, and in order of expense, we can offer;

1. Hired musicians from our pool of experienced and talented players.
2. Production of a tailor made backing track for you. Here, an experienced producer will guide you and implement any of your ideas in whichever style you're working in.
3. Pre-recorded backing tracks as required.

Elected!

Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden released a cover version of Alice Cooper’s Elected in 1992 — complete with a video featuring comedian Rowan Atkinson under the pseudonym Mr Bean and the Smear Campaign — in aid of Comic Relief in the UK.