Half-ton Studios provides professional recording, mixing and mastering services to bands, musicians and producers, in all musical genres. We also offer high-quality spoken-word recording for podcasts, voiceovers and dialogue replacement. Read more about recording at Half-ton and how we can help with your project.
Half-ton Studios provides professional recording, mixing and mastering services to bands, musicians and producers, in all musical genres. We also offer high-quality spoken-word recording for podcasts, voiceovers and dialogue replacement. Read more about recording at Half-ton and how we can help with your project.
At Half-ton you’ll find knowledgeable and creative engineers, great-sounding rooms, top-quality microphones and some of the best analogue outboard equipment available. We still proudly use a proper large-format Audient ASP 8024 recording console, combined with the latest digital audio workstation software including Pro Tools 12, Ableton Live, Logic and Studio One. Our clients get a high-quality recording experience, experienced guidance (if required!) and fantastic value for money.
As well as music recording, we regularly host voiceover sessions for English exams, media interviews, conferences, gaming and podcasts. Regular clients include Cambridge University Assessment and ARM Holdings. Our setup is extremely flexible, so if you need high-quality spoken-word recording, get in touch and we’ll explain how we can help.
The role of the producer is different from that of the engineer, and is often misunderstood. Our house engineers will give you all the help they can during your session, and if you want our opinions, of course we’ll be happy to offer knowledgeable advice on sounds, arrangement, vocal performances and more.
Music production is a different and more creative role, where we help to steer the direction of the project. This is usually a collaborative process, where one of our team works closely with the artist from the start to deliver the best possible results. If you’re interested in seeing what a producer can bring to your music, get in touch and ask for more details — or if you have a specific team member in mind, we can put you in touch!
Even musicians who record at home often choose to use Half-ton for the mixing stage, and it's important to understand just how important this part of the process can be. An experienced engineer, with the right equipment, can transform even modest recordings into something special. In the age of streaming, where listeners quickly audition new music, it's more important than ever that your music stands out from, and stands up against, whatever else is out there. Our engineers regularly write mixing technique features for Sound On Sound, the world’s leading music technology magazine, and our work can often be heard on BBC Radio 1 and 6Music.
Thanks to our engineers’ experience, our high-end ATC monitors and acoustically treated control room, we're increasingly being asked to help clients with the mastering stage of their projects. Mastering is the final stage of the process, where material that has been recorded and mixed is given the final polish and prepared for release. Mastering identifies any problems that may need addressing, ensures your music will sound as good as possible on all playback systems, and helps to bring together a disparate collection of recordings into a satisfying and coherent album or EP. It's only possible to do this successfully in a very high-quality, treated listening environment. We offer very competitive rates for our mastering, and we also have good relationships with exceptional mastering engineers around the world if you want to have projects mixed at Half-ton mastered elsewhere.
Half-ton Studios is purpose-built for music recording, and most of the action takes place in the control room and our great-sounding main live room. These two rooms are separated by a large, soundproofed viewing window which provides excellent lines of sight. A good studio should be a creative playground, and alongside the main recording setup, we have an ever-growing selection of guitars, classic keyboards, a Fender Rhodes, amps and a well maintained upright piano. We also have tons of FX pedals, tape echoes, spring reverbs and things to hit, shake and inspire you!
Very much at the heart of things, our acoustically treated control room looks through to our main live room via a large soundproofed window. The room has carefully been set-up to provide the most accurate monitoring possible and alongside the mixing desk and our precious analogue outboard units, we have an ever growing selection of guitars, FX pedals and other musical toys to experiment with during your session. There's also a comfy sofa for mid session lounging.
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Featuring a wooden floor, high ceilings and a live piano, our live room has been acoustically treated to provide a bright but controlled sound that is especially great for drums but will enhance any live instrument recordings. Big enough to accommodate larger live recording sessions, but with the capacity to become a smaller, drier, recording space if required, via movable acoustic panels.
We have two other rooms we use for recording sessions: Our second live room, whilst being slightly smaller than our main room works great for acoustic guitars or for isolating amps during live sessions. Our smaller room 3 used to be our control room in another life and, as such, is an extremely well balanced room to record in and great for dry, tight drum sounds. All the rooms are fully connected via our main patchbay so microphones can be placed pretty much anywhere in the building.
Half-ton Studios was started in 2007 by engineer and producer Neil ‘Bugs' Rogers. The challenge was to build and develop a high-quality recording space while keeping prices low, so that artists could afford to spend sufficient time crafting their recordings. Over the years, the studio has doubled in size, and we’ve invested in high-end gear so that our equipment list now rivals studios costing many times more. All of this has been made possible by ploughing back every available penny we've made from recording sessions into the studio. Many of our long-standing clients say that it feels like they're investing in the studio when they pay for a project, and this is more true than most of them realise!
Crucial to the success of any recording is the quality of the engineers. At Half-ton you can be sure that you're in very safe hands. We're very much a musician's studio at heart, and whether you want to track an entire band live or build up a production layer by layer, our team will help you plan the sessions to make the most of your time in the studio. As well as being technically capable and able to work quickly, a good engineer knows when to give an opinion and when to stay out of the way. No two recording sessions are the same, and the real craft is knowing how to get the most out an artist, or band, and how to run a productive and successful session.
Neil Rogers, or 'Bugs' to many, has over 20 years' experience performing and engineering in recording studios and understands the process from both sides of the mixing desk. He has recently produced recordings for Captain, Steven James Adams, The Travis Waltons, Freeze the Atlantic (ex Reuben and Hundred Reasons), The Broken Family Band and The British Public, to name but a few.
A creative engineer at heart, who's not afraid to experiment to get the right sound, Bugs manages the day to day running of half-ton and combines his relaxed but firm production style with excellent technical knowledge. He is also a regular contributor to Sound on Sound magazine, providing features on mixing, recording and product reviews.
Matty has over 10 years experience working as an Engineer in both live and studio environments. As an accomplished guitarist, his years recording and touring with his own bands provided the platform for him to hone his Engineering skills. Perhaps best known for his work developing Lonely the Brave's early sound and recordings, Matty has also worked with the likes of B-Sydes and Daniel O'Dell and record labels: Columbia, This is Fake DIY & Lockjaw. He became one the in house Engineers at half-ton in 2008 and his unassuming production style hides a striking ability to bring clarity and direction to projects under his watch.
Yes, but these are now run from here: www.resonantrehearsals.com
Prices start at £240 for an 8 hour day but get in touch and we'll put together a quote for you. The minimum booking is half a day (4 hours). If you're a young band/artist (with no funds) it's always worth a quick email to see if we have any downtime deals available.
Full use of the studio, a skilled engineer, all equipment and instruments in the building, tea, coffee and mixes to take away.
Replacement guitar strings and drum heads, sticks and other breakables. You might want to consider getting the piano tuned if you’re planning on using it and the tuner is available. This costs about £60-£70.
Yes, we have a few dedicated parking spots, but if you need to bring large vehicles or lots of cars it’s best to let us know in advance.
We can book and confirm your session via email or over the phone. For first-time clients, we usually ask for a 25% deposit. This is only non-refundable if you cancel your session outright; we’ll do our best to accommodate you if you need to move dates around
Ultimately, your data is your responsibility. We do, however, have a house policy of keeping sessions backed up on multiple hard drives for at least 1 year ,with one copy off-site. After this time there's a good chance we'll still have them, but make no guarantees. It's always a good idea to take away an archived version of your session and most projects can easily be fitted on a small flash drive these days. We might ask for a small fee for this service for larger projects to cover our time.
Yes, no problem. We may, however, ask for a small fee to cover our time preparing them for larger sessions. This would be charged at an hourly rate.
It's unlikely we'll be able to find a role for work experience students, but do get in touch if you want some advice or ideas. We’re a pretty friendly bunch.
The studios are located just outside the centre of Cambridge. As you enter the village of Milton from the A14, you can find us down the bottom of the 2nd industrial estate on your right.
TEL: 07973414317
EMAIL: info@halftonstudios.co.uk