TWO THOUSAND AND SIX at COURTYARD RECORDING STUDIOS

Started off the new year with a soprano vocal recording for a GRANADA TV series followed by a selection of other sorts of singers for a few days and then 3 days with young indi-band EPHESUS... their third or fourth time at Courtyard and they keep progressing - shame that WARNER MUSIC aren't paying for it anymore.

From one generation to another - MARSHALL SMITH began pre-production (2 members of A WITNESS who did many JOHN PEEL SESSIONS in the 80s) and then there was a steady flow of rappers - it seems they're all tired of being cooped up in 'boxroom studios'.

A couple of kid's birthday parties to kept feet on'th ground whilst juggling some video editing for a martial (marshall?) arts instruction DVD and some sample recording for transfer to a STUDIO B project in Logic Audio.

8-PIECE FUNCTION BAND with 3-piece brass section, students from the ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC recorded 'live' with everyone in studio 1's main live room & then it seemed to be a steady stream of loads more singers in different guises (most of whom had vouchers, lots of Christmas presents being used).

Mastering had been relatively quiet - the usual dance stuff had filtered through (in more ways than one) but there'd been nothing substantial (lengthwise) until the RED 27 album. Recorded with Acid, using a very simple set-up, it sounded great. Just goes to show it's what you do and not what you do it with. A couple of hundred quid later it sounded even greater and jumped out of the speakers.

Voice-Overs seem to be like buses. None for ages then.... well only two actually but then a bit later there were another two or three or four - they all merge into one when it's the same 'in-house' voice doing them (with one notable exception). It's saving clients a fortune on agency fees - they've still got plenty of choice but they just keep saying 'you choose' so 'we do'. Anyway, it's nice having the new, dedicated 'Comfy Chair Room' space. Some interesting jobs, one in particularly was a documentary about two 70-odd year old guys' motorcycle journey in the Himalayas. Great blokes, interesting story. Thanks to FREEWHEELING FILMS for the chance to hear it.

JINGLES.

I love 'em.

Usually.

2 days on a VIMTO ad with 6 musicians, including banjo & stuff. It was fun and we did manage do some lunch which is always nice. "Dad's Pants" is on telly soon apparently. Don't be having baited breath though, you'll wonder why it took 2 days at Courtyard and then lots more time being mixed with Nuendo back at the Producers/Composers' studio. Give an Ad Man a budget and he'll spend it, which is great when talented musicians, who usually don't get well paid gigs, get some of it.

Often, there's a grey area around the concept of amateur/semi-pro/pro sessions - amateur could imply things it shouldn't, like 'not as good'. Some 'professionals' are very 'un-professional'. A lot of 'amateurs' may not have music as their main income but are much more 'professional' in their outlook and reliability. Luckily, at Courtyard, after more than a few years we have a huge roster of both types of musician. Always 'professional' just not always in the unimportant way.

MARSHALL SMITH came in to record their album. Very catchy powerpop songs (& some oddness) from experienced 3-piece.

Some internet instruction DVD stuff. Started to write the intro music at STUDIO B in LOGIC & finished it on the iBook in GARAGEBAND at 'Studio Pub' and 'Studio Curry' - - - - result! Emailed some parts of the voice-over back to STUDIO B to process in Logic with the 'outside' reverb which sounded nearly as good as when we record voices Outside at Studio A.

Couple of days with a power blues 4-piece. Slightly unusual - the rhythm section were slightly older and the 2 guitarists were a bit younger than the average age of the band (if that makes any sense). Very good results - they were over that moon thing.

Jazz session with SUE PARISH on vocals, Tim Franks on drums, Vinny Parker on piano and Pete Wilmott on double bass.

Voice overs and video - when you feel the need to look for a reason to be cheerful you can always find it. Professionals who just rattle it off whilst turning pages & pages of script without rattling the script! Beautiful. Many hours of speech, very few edits. The lack of editing did make the invoice a bit puny but didn't mind. Lovely.

A band from Wales. Except only one of them lives there now. Some more rap from a regular client. a DVD project from Australia. Studio 2 busy with people self-opping. Bless 'em. More tie lines are being installed to increase the flexibilty of all the rooms. There are still some people who think that usb2 is 'better' than firewire due to the specifications. Apart from this not being true in practise, try extending usb2 cables as far as you can do with firewire.

Some more 'karioke' clients. Some more vouchers. It's great when you sell 'em, not so great when the time gets used and it's already paid for. Always interesting though - most months it could rival the Xfactor final standard and variety. Amongst the many different singers recently was a young singer doing swing standards very convincingly. Nice.

Unusual mastering job - a Radio 2 producer's long term project of 'ambient noise' albums which first passed through these doors in the 90s...

Some more jazz - (they ate all the jelly babies) - Bass, Drums & Piano is the standard trio backing for a singer but every one this year has been very different (except that they all always finish off the sweets.... and biscuits..........and anything else that's lurking).

Loads more mastering (t'internet is an amazing thing when it's not being annoying). Being at the end of the chain of creation always feels different than any other aspect but is equally satisfying when client gives the big Thumbs Up.

Young band in for a day who it turned out had all been in once, twice & three times before in different combos. Typically, they surprised themselves by going away with 3 songs (& if it wasn't for the complicated double bass pedal bit on the first song we'd probably have managed a proper lunch break).

Zip Dominion - this had been booked for a few months & turned out to be another slightly odd one; nice blues/reggae stuff with some brass & a guest backing singer who turned out to be Martin, former lead singer of AUDIOWEB. They were an indie rock band who had a bit of a hit with a Clash cover amongst other things & spent time at Courtyard 10+ years ago.... this time Martin was doing a pretty sweet Al Green kinda thang.

Studio 2 is still very busy - maybe some stairs would quieten it down a bit.

ALTRINCHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR BOYS SWING BAND. That should say it all really, but - - - - - - a 24 piece big band with the fairly typical 8 saxes, 5 trumpets & 4 trombones also had - the very untypical - 3 guitars and.......... 3 bass guitars. Well it worked for Phil Spector.

Another home studio guitar album mastering job got squeezed in between the dance stuff. They had a budget that probably should have been enough for 5 or 6 songs. They had 12 songs. Still, they went away very happy a few hours later so that turned out alright.

Zingwari Swing - a folky / bluesy trio (including 2 brothers) who've played together for 30 years & their experience really showed..... Yes, you guessed it - they bickered and bitched all day. They also had a lot of fun (which there's usually a surcharge for) and left me some Glastonbury water which seemed to have vegetation in it but apparently tastes great & is good for you. Well I'm never going to find that out but it's still here for anyone else who's curious. This particular recording was for 'Les Battersby' from Corrie to add his bits to; I think the last time there was someone here from The Street was 'Jack Duckworth' singing with STAGESOUND jazz big band more than 10 years ago.

Into May and we've made a start on a great new project (2 brothers again, twins this time) that's going to have fully monty strings on - very exciting having the string stacking day to work towards (with the usual team picked from the BBC Philharmonic) knowing that by then it's going to have world class session drums and vocals from Friends of Courtyard.

Loads of other varied stuff coming up in May, constantly juggling dates to fit in with tour schedules and pedicures or something or other. We Accommodate when it's Full Rate. Seriously, often it works out for everyone if times get moved about, especially when (like at the moment) people want to book in as soon as possible.

Unfortunately a session for a Diana Ross album had to bite the dust; half a day to record some classical guitar sounded interesting but then someone else rang who wanted to book the whole day. Tried to get The Project Coordinator For The Producer for Ms Ross to make her mind up but she seemed to find it impossible to Just Book The Session. Even though Abbey Road stepped in & gave us a call (presumably that's where other parts are being recorded....possibly strings - they could have done them here too) it was difficult for a deposit cheque from someone else not to take precedence over the concept of a picture of The Supremes next to the one of Mrs Merton. Or maybe it would have gone between Les Battersby and Jack Duckworth.

...and so, as we reach the middle of May and the nice weather, I find myself completing some post-production for a new Smiths movie, a documentary called "Inside the Smiths" which is soon to be previewed at the Cannes Film Festival. Produced by Steve Petricco & Mark Standley of Tib Street Movies it's reminded me of another twin brothers connection from some years ago. Steve recorded at Courtyard with his brother Paul before they got sidetracked by opening Fab Cafe in Manchester, the Satans Hollow nightclub & a second Fab in Leeds. Now their new venture TV21 CAFE BAR is about to open on Thomas Street in the Northern Quarter. Mark, by complete coincidence, spent quite a bit of time at Courtyard in the 90s as bass player for.... bugger, sorry can't remember the band's name. Dean on guitar, Gordon on keys, Wolfie on drums (hard to forget) errrrrrrrr............................................. anyway, the last time Mark was at Courtyard was prior to an audition for Hugh Cornwell's job with The Stranglers - we worked out the guitar solo to a song and then ended up in Fab Cafe (hence the connection).

In case you, as a casual visitor, haven't got the point from this meandering reference to a diary, this is supposed to be telling you that Courtyard Studios can Produce, Edit, Record, Mix, Master etc. etc. pretty much any kind of music/audio/video content anyone throws this way. We're not talking about file formats, width or girth. Just the important stuff........

so that you get something you're happy with instead of a bigger overdraft and /or a shiny coaster.

If you want to start & finish a project at Courtyard give us a call.

If you need to record drums or vocals or something else you can't do at home / in your own studio give us a call.

If you need to integrate something into a pro-tools hd project you could give us a call. Don't expect us to actually buy hd though - it is pretty sexy looking but not compared with some more guitars, vintage comfy sofas and the pending solar powered paddling pool. There are lots of ways of integrating things these days, not just with Logic (which we use) but also Nuendo (which we don't use).

Come to Courtyard to create and relax and take the micky a bit and enjoy doing something special.