Grammy-winning LA-based engineer Austen Jux-Chandler has credits including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, A$AP Rocky and John Legend. But which side of the Atlantic will the British engineer put his fantasy Forever Studio? We talk Zoom recording sessions, mixing pianos and why he can live without the mixing console.
Chris Barker:
I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts, and this is the Music Tech My Forever Studio Podcast.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast we speak with producers, DJs, audio engineers and industry figureheads about their fantasy forever studio.
Will Betts:
The studio will have to be created within the confines of our occasionally flexible rules and importantly it's a studio our guests will have to live with forever.
Chris Barker:
But what are these rules? Well, our guest can select a computer, a DAW and an audio interface first, then they can only choose six other bits of studio kit, plus one luxury item.
Will Betts:
But Chris, what if they want a selection of plugins combined into a single package?
Chris Barker:
No bundles.
Speaker 4:
No bundles.
Chris Barker:
No bundles, that's right. Anyway, joining us today is Austen Jux-Chandler, an award winning British engineers who's worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, A$AP Rocky, Bonobo, John Legend and The Weekend. He's also worked with Adele and earned a Grammy for his work on her album 25.
Will Betts:
Starting his career at Dean St. Studios in London, a spot that used to be Tony Visconti's Good Earth Studios, Austen quickly rose the ranks to head engineer. Now he's based in LA working with the likes of Kali Uchis, specialising in vocal production.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Let's go. This is it, My Forever Studio with Austen Jux-Chandler.
Will Betts:
Welcome.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Hi. Thank you for having me onboard.
Chris Barker:
I think this is the most stretched out different timezones we've done for the podcast, so-
Will Betts:
It is. Yeah, it's extraordinary. I don't know how we're doing this frankly, it's a wonder of modern technology and thank you for staying up so late, Austen, to accommodate this.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No, it's great. It's a good marker of how the current world is operating, I think.
Will Betts:
Indeed, indeed. So to get us off the topic of the current world, let's go straight into fantasy studio land. Well, first of all, tell us where exactly you are and then maybe tell us where you would want to put your studio, if it's not where you are currently.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Right now I am in Los Angeles, I've been here for two years now, two and a half years, and it isn't the location of where my studio is. Actually my studio is harking back to where my musical career began, which is in Soho in Central London.
Chris Barker:
Oh, oh really? Going to the heart of London town. Yeah, wow.
Will Betts:
The belly of the beast.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. I know, I did debate whether I should put it on a beach in Barbados. That would've been very nice, but the way that I work is quite collaborative and Barbados is quite far away. It's quite a long way for people to get to, so it's nice, but I would be there. It would literally be a kind of island studio on my own, no one hanging around me and I would go stir crazy eventually.
Chris Barker:
You'd be on a lot of Zoom calls though, Austen.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, but Zoom and music don't go that well together as I've found out over the last couple of months. It's quite difficult, interesting.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Even though everybody has... Has everybody been contacting you trying to, "Oh, can we not just do this via Zoom? Can we not just make an album via Zoom?"
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. I mean I have just finished an album, just finished which was done using quite a lot of remote musicians sending out stems and stuff, and getting them to track, I don't know, brass. We had a brass player in London. We did some strings with a guy that was I think in San Francisco, I can't remember. But yeah, I just finished an album where we're doing lots of those sorts of processes where we're kind of sharing stuff and doing Zoom calls and all that sort of thing.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I've also just finished an EP with the artist that I... my main artist that I work with at the moment, and we've just been producing that, where I had to do kind of like... I had to kind of jump onto her computer remotely and operate Pro Tools from her side while she's tracking vocals, and then I would pick it up my end on Dropbox and do all the editing and processing, all that sort of stuff. So it's been a weird one for the last couple of months, to be honest. But we managed to make it work.
Will Betts:
Yeah. And it seems like everybody's in the same boat, aren't they? Everybody's kind of got all their different solutions for these kind of crazy times.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. It's a weird one, but it seems like there's a lot of music being created, so it's exciting. It's nice to be part of that community.
Will Betts:
So tell us why Soho then? Is it just because of the Dean St. connection? Or have you got a fondness for Soho generally?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. I mean I do have fondness for Soho in general, but yeah, it would be remiss to say that that isn't as a result of Dean St.. That's kind of where my musical heart and family resides still, and I think also spending so much time here alone without people around me, I think that's also why I'm like, "Just get me with people. Just get me amongst a lot of noise and things and stuff." But yeah, Soho to me is just like it's the central hub and everyone can just descend on that, and there's a lot of inspiration there as well.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Some of the history of Dean St., kind of a lot of people hark back to the fact that Bowie recorded there and talks about during sessions, he would need inspiration, he would just literally walk upstairs, kind of trundle along, sorry, Old Compton Street and kind of work out his lyrics while he walking around Soho. And then drop back into the studio and just nail it. So I think Central London or London in general is a really inspiring place, so that kind of is why I want to be in the middle of it.
Will Betts:
Because there's a stark difference from some of those sort of residential facilities. We did a piece just recently with Khruangbin and they went off to a rural barn in Texas, and that's their whole thing. They need to get away from everything to do their record, but it's the complete opposite vibe with Dean St..
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Complete opposite. No, I want everyone. I just want to be amongst it. I want dogs hanging around, I want family being part of it. For me as well, it's not even necessarily that it's like a recording studio setup. I kind of picture this sort of situation where I would be living there as well and it's like an open plan sort of deal, where there's like a kitchen off to the side and everyone's just hanging around. There's maybe a games console in the corner or whatever, but I just want it to be a collaborative space where everyone is just... everyone's involved with the process, even if they're not necessarily contributing to the music at least. They're still contributing to the atmosphere and the environment.
Will Betts:
So it sounds like to me this might've been dreamt up so hard because of the global pandemic and you being on your own. Do you think if you were still at Dean St., you'd be answering this question going, "Yeah, let's get rid of all these people, they're so annoying I just want to be on my own"?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. "I just want to get the hell out. Where can I go? I know, LA." Even though there's even more people here. Yeah, it may be to do with that. I think I've always loved being in Central London though. I am a city person and I do thrive off of that sort of buzz and energy that cities give you. But yeah, it may well be pushed a bit harder because of COVID.
Will Betts:
Tell us about the décor and what it looks like inside then? Is it quite modern? Because there's a big palette of recording studio, what they look like.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. I wouldn't say it's going to be one of the shiny white, neon sort of deals. It's not that. I feel much more comfortable in studios that are a lot more homely and comfortable, so maybe not necessarily as vintagey and 70s vibe as some of the studios. But at least something that feels kind of like a lived in space, or a space that you can just be comfortable in. Like sit around in your pyjamas, have slippers on or whatever, drinking tea while you're making music. I want it to be a space that everybody would feel comfortable in.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's nothing too... Because that's the thing with those showy ones, it's very much like, "This is the studio. The spaceship." It's very like, "This is a technological space. You are not comfortable here unless you're a scientist."
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, and for me I always say that I'm a kind of a heretic as an engineer, but the pristine audio and stuff for me isn't necessarily the... it's not the main focal point of what I'm trying to do in a studio. It's more about capturing an energy and an atmosphere and, I don't know, I suppose an artistic direction. So yeah, it's more about the environment to me, rather than the tech. Although I do have a list here of techy things, as I'm sure you'll enjoy.
Chris Barker:
We will get to that in just a second, things and stuff. We're going to kick off then. We've got three items, the freebies, we have a computer, a DAW and an audio interface. So let's start with the computer, Austen. What are you going to have, Mac or PC?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
It's just going to have to be the ridiculous souped up Mac. Just whatever, if you just click every accessory on the Mac tower, just like, "Yes, yes, yes."
Chris Barker:
It's like £45,000.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, I mean we've all done it on the Apple Store, and just like, "Yeah, add that, yeah, yeah, yeah." It's going to be one of those, a big bad boy Mac tower. Yeah, it has to be an Apple thing I'm afraid.
Chris Barker:
So you're running a Mac currently then I assume?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I am. I'm running a Mac Mini.
Chris Barker:
Ooh.
Will Betts:
Ooh.
Chris Barker:
Underrated. Underrated.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
A little self upgraded Mac Mini, because the last computer that I bought was a laptop because I was moving around to lots of different places and doing kind of like quite a few in home sessions with people. I just needed a portable setup and then it started to be more that I was kind of in a singular space, so yeah, I economically decided that the Mac Mini was the best option for me and I upgraded the RAM on it, and it works perfectly.
Will Betts:
Very nice, very nice. And it's sort of sandwich sized as opposed to bin sized, which is even more portable than a Mac Pro?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And actually, yeah, I have done... I did a sessions sometime last year, I had to go and record a friend's piano in his house and it all fit in a bag really.
Will Betts:
Beautiful.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So it was nice.
Will Betts:
And your DAW of choice?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Pro Tools.
Will Betts:
And you're not going to try and sidestep the rule by bringing in another DAW later? You're not going to try and bring in Ableton later or like Logic or anything? You're just Pro Tools straight down the line.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No, no. I am a Pro Tools boy, through and through.
Will Betts:
That's the teacher, "Pro Tools boy."
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Pro Tools boy, yeah. I mean I've gone through all the others, started on Logic when I was a teenager, my university was a Steinberg Institution so they taught us Cubase and Nuendo. But then as soon as I got into Dean St. it was like, "This is the industry standard." And that's where I'm most comfortable and that's what I'm fastest on.
Chris Barker:
Why do you think it still is the industry standard? Because obviously there was a point where, yes, nothing touched it I guess, but it's so competitive now and it's quite close between all the different doors. Do you think it's just a always has, always will? Or do you think it still genuinely offers stuff that the other DAWs don't?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I think one of the reasons is that it kind of it sort of is a self fulfilling prophecy anyway, so it is the industry standard, so if I'm working in a studio in London and then I go to LA, I know that they're probably going to have Pro Tools. So there's that kind of thing, everyone's already on it so it most likely will stay like that.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Secondly, I think for what I do at least, like audio manipulation and recording and editing and mixing, and all that sort of stuff, it just beats everything hand down. There's always people that will say Cubase is just as good, and I'm sure for them it is, but the portability of going to different studios, all that sort of stuff ties into it. So yeah, I think for the audio manipulation it is the strongest in my book.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I have worked with plenty of producers that will only work on Logic or only work on Ableton because that works for their creative flow, and I've definitely watched them with a lot of envy, thinking, "I wish that I could do the things that they're doing that quickly on Pro Tools." So I know that Pro Tools doesn't have certain strengths, but for what I do predominantly it's perfect and I can't see myself changing.
Chris Barker:
Do you think that will ever be broken though? Not necessarily just for you, but for the industry? Because obviously that's the kind of... I'm sure that's the dream for every DAW, is to-
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And there's been a fair few attempts. I mean do you think-
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. And what was it? The Presonus thing, Studio One came out.
Will Betts:
Yeah, Studio One is pretty strong. Yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
And I wanted to try that. I never got round to actually testing it out, but it seemed to be like this Holy Grail of it has the creative flow and you can also... I remember they were saying that you can bring in all your own shortcuts from Pro Tools so it feels just like Pro Tools or just like Cubase or whatever. So yeah, something like that may well come into play and take over, but again it's going to be hard to shift every recording studio in the world to change.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
To the same one as well, because if everyone moves to like a different one then what's the point?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. But I think it's one of those things that can shift though, isn't it? Like you look at TVs and Sony TVs were like the premium TV and Samsung used to make washing machines and fridges, and then suddenly it sort of felt like it switched overnight. And in the DJ booth as well you had Technics, Technics and Denon dominated the DJ booths and then Pioneer almost came out of nowhere, and now they're both fighting to get back in with various chasing the technologies.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. Well, to be fair when they changed to the HDX system, that seemed to me like it could've been a tipping point where everyone was like, "You know what? Nah. That's too much." Because it was a real big step and a big financial step for a lot of places as well. I remember Dean St., really we had to think very hard about whether we would take that leap. We decided to go with it and it worked perfectly, it was great, but it did feel like a moment in time where it could've shifted, where everybody was like, "You know what? We're not tied." Because they also lost the, or they opened up let's say, the third party accessibility to other interfaces, so they'd already done that and then they've also thrown this extra curve ball on everybody and asking everybody to invest their money again. After having all these people that have been legacy users, that've already invested all this money, and they're like, "Really? You're really going to make me give you all this money?" And we did, so it worked.
Will Betts:
Universal Audio are hot on their heels with all that kind of stuff. They're really trying, aren't they? With their recording systems and, yeah, their interfaces.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I really love UA, I think they're a great company, they're really exciting, they're really innovative, their products are great. I'm recording into an Apollo right now. I use their plugins every day.
Chris Barker:
That moves us swiftly on then to the next free item doesn't it, Will?
Will Betts:
Interface, audio interface.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Very good segue.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. So the interface, though I didn't really know which way to go with this, and I don't know if this counts really. I like the Crane Song Hedd unit, but I don't really know if that counts as an interface because it's more of a converter really. So I'm not really sure how that works.
Chris Barker:
I think we've had Crane Song before, right, Will?
Will Betts:
We have, yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But it's only two channels is the problem as well.
Will Betts:
Ah yeah, no bundles.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Which doesn't really work with my next item on the list as well, so I just thought, screw it, I'll just go with the RME. Just get one of the bad boy, what is it? Fireface, whatever it's called.
Will Betts:
The biggest.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I don't know.
Chris Barker:
So RME over Universal Audio, tell us about an over... Well, there's plenty of audio interface options, but-
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, I think what's led me to that path is probably from recording into Crane Songs, or not just Crane Songs, but like high spec AD converters and really kind of I can't necessarily quantify what it is that I hear, but there's something about a higher level of conversion that really does make the recording process just sound so much more pristine. I sound like such a Luddite explaining it in that manner, but I just highly value high quality AD conversion over channel counts. I would much rather have two channels of pristine, high end AD with like the Crane Song, for example, over, I don't even know, like a 24 input thing.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But saying that, you mentioned the UA and their conversions are competitive. So it's basically for me, as I was saying, tech-wise, how we convert what someone's saying into ones and zeros, to me isn't the breaking point of the studio. So let's just go with an RME.
Will Betts:
All righty.
Chris Barker:
Go for the RME.
Will Betts:
Fireface.
Chris Barker:
Why not?
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Okay. And a lot of people trust them.
Will Betts:
Yeah, they are kind of bulletproof actually. I've never heard of one going down.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, and they keep updating the drivers for forever as well. My friends have got them that are like 12 years old and they, when there's an OS update or whatever, there's new drivers for this 12 year old device straightaway, rock solid.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, they're solid, and the other reason not to go for a UAD is because I'm trying to adhere strictly to your no bundle plans, and if I can't-
Chris Barker:
No bundles.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
If I can't have no bundles, then what's the point in getting the UAD?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. UAD is a bundle nightmare.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, and I want it.
Will Betts:
Indeed, indeed.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I want all those bundles but you're not letting me have it, so I have to find other means of getting what I need.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
What's that we've got? We've got the super duper Mac, we've got the RME and we've got Pro Tools.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Indeed we have. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Your six choices, your studio items, what would you start with? You need to record something, you need to be able to record with something rather.
Chris Barker:
And hear something, you need to be able to hear something. You've no speakers.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
You know what? I started making my list and I almost maxed out, and I was like, "I haven't even got any speakers on it. What am I doing? I need some."
Chris Barker:
Yeah, schoolboy error.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, because I was just thinking, "That must be one of the free ones because it's a studio. You have to have monitors."
Will Betts:
That would be some Jedi stuff if you could just make the track and then just publish it, and just be like, "I'm sure it's fine."
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Bluetooth it straight into my brain. No, so the first on the list I suppose if we worked in a vocal chain or a signal chain path, would be a valve U47. That's my go to. That's my baby. That's always for me... it's just a safe pair of hands. I know it's always going to be great. There's alternates that could be better in a certain scenario, or...
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Well, you also mentioned that there's just like forever upkeep, like the tech of all this stuff is just pristine and perfect forever, so why not have a vintage U47?
Chris Barker:
Okay. So you've heard the loophole.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Listen, guys. Long time listener, first time caller.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, okay. I mean do you own one of these microphones? Or is it just one of those things you make a point of when you're booking studios or you hire them in?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
We used to have one at Dean St.. We actually had one of the Wonder Audio ones. I did a session once where someone had a vintage U47 and we used the pair of them on drums and it sounded like a pair. It sounded great. So yeah, for me tracking vocals at least, going back to what I was doing when I was in Dean St., that always sort of outshone everything else.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I remember I did a session with Tony Visconti, in fact, and we hired in... I can't even remember exactly what models they were but they were two vintage Neumann valves, maybe like the M49 and maybe the M149 potentially. I can't really remember. But we lined all three of them up against this vocalist and the Wonder Audio beat them.
Will Betts:
Wow.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So who knows? Maybe even the 47 is a Wonder, I don't know. But basically the 47 capsule valve for me, it's the one.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Excellent.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
And for this I'm going for that because I've used it on a bunch of different things. I've used it on vocals, I love 47 on acoustic guitar. I know some engineers go for like a stereo setup or at least a pair for guitars, but I have always found that just the single 47 in front of the guitar is just beautiful. Paired with an LA2, but I don't have enough space on my list, so the LA2 doesn't quite fit the list, I'm afraid.
Will Betts:
Whereabouts do you put it in front of the guitar then, Austen? Where would you put that?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Generally depending on I suppose the resonance of the guitar, I'm maybe like a foot away from the sound hole, maybe between a foot and six inches from the sound hole. I suppose where the sound hole joins the neck of the guitar, generally facing the neck, facing the fret board. Yeah, and then if it's too resonant, if it's too boomy, then I'll just kind of inch it backwards, or if I want more of a resonance maybe I'll face it more down towards the body of the guitar, or if I want more of the twang I'll angle it up towards the neck. But generally that's my starting point.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I find that with a 47, I just know that it's kind of going to fit the bill. You can kind of just throw it up near enough in the right area and it's going to sound brilliant. I've done plenty of sessions where I just haphazardly placed the mic sort of where you think it sort of should be and then, I don't know, go and check it and they're like, "It sounds the best I've ever heard it." I'm like, "Yeah. Well, that's because I'm such a talented engineer, obviously. Nothing to do with the 20 grand of signal changer going through." But yeah.
Will Betts:
I mean I've seen other engineers do it, their equivalent of throwing it up, it is all that experience of you do generally throw it up in the right spot straight away.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, I guess once you've done it 1,000 times, you do kind of understand where you sort of need to be.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, you've probably seen a similar shaped guitar or that sound of guitar before and that type of player before, and it's all the kind of averaging of all of those elements isn't it, I guess?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, and the style of music that you're working on. Yeah, you kind of do all those calculations before you've even picked up the mic to be honest. You've already made your selection and worked out where in the room it's going to be and how they're going to be positioned and all that sort of stuff.
Will Betts:
And of the people you've worked with on... they're doing vocals, who's loved the 47, is it across the board? Or are there any particular standouts?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So as I said, Tony Visconti loved that 47. I did the Adele vocals on the 47. When I did the sessions with Ed Sheeran, that was 47 on his guitar. I think we might've used it as a room mic as well when we tracked drums for him. So the producer that was on that session, a guy called Charlie, who was... he's a very, very talented engineer and I really loved working with him on those sessions and a few other sessions as well. But yeah.
Will Betts:
Well, let's move on then to item number two. We've got the Neumann, what's number two in your list?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Well, I was going to select the Neve 1073. I guess if I've only got one mic, then I could as well just have that. But I also know that Neve have got like a nice little kind of small sized console called the, I looked it up, it's the BCM10, which has got a rack of 1073s in it. But also I do like the idea of having a tactile console as well, so I was trying to think of something that would allow me to still have a console as the centre point of my studio, but give me the pres that I know and love. So this gives me that.
Chris Barker:
But there's nothing to stop you having like a Neve Genesis or something, or a massive console if you want.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I don't really like massive consoles to be honest.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
In fact, I've been saying to many studio people, many different studio owners, like, "You don't need this desk." Like there's a studio in LA that I work in quite a lot and he's got this huge, like 50, 60 channel Amek desk, which actually has a Neve sticker on it, which is very funny. But most sessions you don't need that desk, and actually as I've found working through the years, if I'm working on multiple projects and also I'm jumping between songs on different days, then actually a desk becomes a bit of a hindrance. So I'd rather have something that's like a summing console for monitoring.
Chris Barker:
Do you think possibly it's, for a lot of studio owners, it's a visual aid for when the A&R guy comes in to book the studio, or managers, or artists, to make themselves feel like, "We're in the studio now"? It's kind of a visual cue to, "I don't understand all of these buttons so-"
Austen Jux-Chandler:
100%, as proved by the fact that he just put a Neve sticker on there and actually he bought a... I think he must've gone to Nam one year and he said that he just bought a Neve volume knob and he's just stuck that one there and it does the job. So why spend all that money? Just get a sticker.
Chris Barker:
Has he got one of those, he's got a Porsche 911 but it's actually like a VW Bug with a massive spoiler on the back?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, exactly. He's just got a cardboard shell around it. No, you know what? He's a really successful and talented engineer. He really knows his stuff. But he only put it on there for a laugh, but it is funny, the people that don't understand and so they see that sticker and they're like, "Ooh, wow. It's a Neve desk." I'm like, "No, it's not. If you just look next to it, it says Amek." But whatever.
Chris Barker:
But I guess I think it is important that people feel like they're in a serious situation and I mean I always remember that documentary. Is it Louis Theroux when he's going to find Michael Jackson, and he goes to Michael Jackson's dad, and obviously it's the era of small cameras and Michael Jackson's dad wouldn't do an interview with him because he didn't believe he was a real journalist because his camera was too small? And it's that kind of thing, it's like, "You're not real. This isn't for the BBC. Where's your big cameras?" Because everybody wants like massive, shoulder mounted, looking like you're on TV kind of thing.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I definitely get that. Yeah. I do think that people see that and then think, "Now we're in a pro studio." As opposed to just seeing like an Apollo rack, but realistically, there's so many sessions I've done where you're using a huge desk and you're just monitoring out two faders. Or there's sessions where I'm engineering vocals and the producer just wants to plug his laptop into an aux. All this stuff becomes kind of just a big, dusty table, and an awkward one at that because you can't rest a cup of tea on it.
Chris Barker:
Not comfortably?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, not comfortably, not without being very worried for the whole session.
Chris Barker:
So what's that? Item number three?
Will Betts:
That's two down. Yeah, number three now.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. Shall we say shall we move away from the techy stuff and go more instrumental? I was going to choose a Bechstein grand piano.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Tell us why the Bechstein.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Again, sound like a broken record, but it's something that we had at Dean St., but we did have sessions where people brought Yamahas down which was a horrible ordeal, watching these piano movers lift like a seven foot piano down the stairwell at Dean St.. It's a basement studio in the centre of Soho and there's a very tight, winding stairwell to get down, which is bad enough when you're an assistant and you have to carry guitar amps and all that sort of stuff up and down the stairs for bands. But to have them bring in a huge piano, to go and just sit next to our piano. Yeah, I was glad not to be doing the moving on that day.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But the reason why a Bechstein and not necessarily like a Steinway or a Yamaha is because for the work that I do, pianos usually become part of the texture. Even if it is the lead instrument, it's usually accompanied by other textures, and I find that the Bechstein, at least the one in Dean St. and a few others that I've played as well, kind of have a bit more of like a character that allows them to be heard in a mix. They've got kind of a brightness and I suppose a bit more of an attack, so they kind of sit in a mix amongst other ingredients a bit better. Whereas I find that if it was a Yamaha or a Steinway or any of the classic, clean, beautiful, lush pianos, they're kind of beautiful on their own of course and maybe just them and an accompanying vocal, of course it's going to sound incredible.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But once you start layering stuff in there, it's just such a big unit to try and balance because you can't really scoop too much out because then it sounds unnatural, and you can't make it too loud because then it dominates everything because it's so big. But if you have it too quiet, then it hasn't got the same attack. Whereas I've always found that with Bechsteins, whether it's been an upright or a grand, they have the ability to be able to be made to sound lush.
Chris Barker:
And where are you putting your one mic on this piano?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
That's a good point. I would say most likely quite central to the strings, above it, maybe facing down towards the hammers, facing down towards the player. So you get a little bit of the body and you get a bit of the attack from the hammers and the brightness, and depending on what size it is, you'd position it so that you either hear more of the low strings or high strings or whatever. You'd kind of manoeuvre it a little bit.
Chris Barker:
Depending on the piece, I guess, as well?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
For our listeners, Austen went into his mind palace when he was thinking about it. He closed his eyes and he visualised the whole thing. It was incredible.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Sorry. Did I mention as well that this is a penthouse recording studio?
Will Betts:
No.
Chris Barker:
You did not. You overlooked that critical... I was under the road in Soho visualising in my mind [crosstalk 00:29:59]
Will Betts:
Yeah. Had a second story in mind.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, I was in a basement.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No, no. We've got a beautiful vista across all of London.
Chris Barker:
Soho in the sky.
Will Betts:
Panoramic views?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
So maybe that Centre Point Tower.
Will Betts:
[crosstalk 00:30:12]Centre Point Tower. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
At the top of there.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, maybe. Doesn't Centre Point rotate as well? Maybe I can have the studio just rotating, looking around.
Chris Barker:
I don't think it rotates.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No?
Chris Barker:
But you could rotate it in the Forever Studio.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah? We'll get some industrial engineers in there, we'll make it happen. We've got the budget, it's-
Chris Barker:
Rotate it, guys.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Just make it happen, guys. Don't give me excuses.
Chris Barker:
So what are we on now? What are we on? We've got the big, big grand piano. What's that? That's item four, right?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
That's item four.
Chris Barker:
So we're closing in now.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. So I need to be able to hear this piano through the 1073 and the mic, so I was going to go for the ATCs.
Chris Barker:
Which ones?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Maybe not the big, big boys. Maybe not the huge 100s. Maybe-
Chris Barker:
We can't upsell?
Speaker 4:
Upsell your dream.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No. I mean for me, I don't really monitor that loud. I mean I do like a bit of vibe every now and again, I do like to pump it. But to be honest, ATCs don't really have that sort of weight behind them. They're a bit more clinical. Also bearing in mind, within your strict, strict rules-
Will Betts:
Strict-ish rules, yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
... ish, I was going to jump over to the Barefoots because they've got the little-
Chris Barker:
How very LA.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Exactly. I'm selling out my British heritage for some newfangled American technology. Just because they've got a bit more weight and they also have that, I'm not going to try and pronounce the thing, but they have the little slider, the little nob. MEME?
Chris Barker:
MEME, MEME technology. M-E-M-E.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Well, yeah, there you go. I didn't want to pronounce it weird and then get lambasted.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Wait, these speakers come with their own meme? That's very LA as well, isn't it? It's like meme friendly speakers.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
It's the Gen Z of monitors.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Explain what it is then, Austen.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Because I can only have one set of monitors, this allows me to switch between different... I suppose they're presets or profiles. So I can go from like an NS10 sound up to like a hi fi boosted sound, or just the monitors as they are. So that kind of give me a little bit of a different listening experience, depending on-
Chris Barker:
So these are Gen Z speakers, that come with memes and Instagram filters built in basically?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, basically. All about the presets, all about the presets.
Chris Barker:
Just scrolling through different filters for your mix.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, just which one do I want today? Maybe I just want a little lo fi filter.
Chris Barker:
Exactly. We're so old none of us could think of any current filters, could we?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No.
Chris Barker:
That's cool.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Couldn't think of what the names are. So yeah, that's what I was going to go for monitors.
Chris Barker:
Are they three way as well, those big Barefoots are they?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yes.
Will Betts:
Which ones are you going for? Because there are a bunch.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I know, there's just too many. Can I just say the best ones and then-
Will Betts:
Micromain 45.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Those are the ones I meant.
Will Betts:
Yeah, sure.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Sure they are. No, they are, they are. They probably are. That was on the tip of my tongue, tip of my tongue. For those I probably would get the big boys, whichever, whatever the big towers are for those. Because obviously I own the whole building so I don't have to worry about my neighbours.
Will Betts:
That's true.
Chris Barker:
Of course.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
And I'm rotating anyway, so I can kind of just... I'll only be upsetting one set of residents at a time.
Chris Barker:
Every five minutes, yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. As it just passes by, "Oh, there goes Austen again."
Will Betts:
So it's actually the big, big one, that's got like three portions to it where the top is a five way-
Chris Barker:
That sounds like a bundle.
Will Betts:
... and then wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Chris Barker:
Is it a bundle though?
Will Betts:
MasterStack 12, is that the one you mean, or?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But you can buy them as a set piece though surely.
Will Betts:
You can. You can buy them as a set piece, but then you can buy bundles as set pieces.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But I suppose that's what a bundle is, isn't it?
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. A bundle is a [crosstalk 00:33:40]
Will Betts:
You've just defined bundles.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But are they sold individually, the separate components for that? Are they sold individually? I guess one is a sub and one is-
Will Betts:
I think we will allow a sub.
Chris Barker:
I think we've had it before with the key audios anyway, at Strongroom. I think they're kind of the same, aren't they? Where there's kind of a top and a bottom to the speaker for the major ones.
Will Betts:
We'll let you have this one, the MasterStack 12.
Chris Barker:
Well, hey, I'll let it slide. I'll let it slide through.
Will Betts:
Technically.
Chris Barker:
Let it go.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Not happy about it, but fine.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yes.
Will Betts:
Item number five.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So item number five is more of an effects unit. I was going to go for the RE-201 Space Echo.
Will Betts:
Interesting.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Because I'm a huge dub fan, I would love to go and visit Black Ark and go and see all the like Lee Scratch Perry stuff and, yeah, when I was in university I was in a reggae band. I was sort of obsessed with dub. Got an A, got a mark A on my lecture that I gave where I basically said that dub is the root of all music, essentially. I had a huge, huge spider diagram where I linked everything, including rap and country, I can't remember how I made these links. Some of them were pretty strenuous, but essentially I was saying that dub is the root of everything, everything gets back to dub.
Chris Barker:
Wow.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So that's why I'd go for the Space Echo.
Will Betts:
Awesome.
Chris Barker:
And the 201, the classic, not... because there's what? There's 301s and there's, well, there's a lot of different tape echos in fact, isn't there?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, and there's-
Will Betts:
I love Space Echos, yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I'd be staying true to the Lee Scratch Perry kind of thing. It was either that or I'd really like a spring reverb. So I had to look it up and he had a Grampian Spring Reverb, because I can never find... There's so many great digital emulations of reverbs, and obviously there's a tonne of different hardware plates and things and halls and rooms and all that sort of stuff, impulse responses and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I still have not yet found a really great spring that just sounds perfect. I just haven't found it yet and I don't know where to find it. If you want to point me in the direction, I'm all ears.
Will Betts:
Perfect spring reverb, hardware or software? Has to be real.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Probably software realistically, for what I'm doing. But I would love a hardware version.
Chris Barker:
I mean do you use the UA or the Roland cloud Space Echos? Have you tried those as well?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, I do use the UA one and it is very good for the 201, and what else? I use a lot of Soundtoys plugins. I use Soundtoys on pretty much everything, so my go to on that is to go to the Space Echo thing and-
Will Betts:
What, EchoBoy?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
On EchoBoy, yeah, but within EchoBoy. I mean there's the Space Echo profile.
Will Betts:
So you've never owned a hardware one, so this forever studio is a real dream one, right?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Never owned one. I've used plenty of them, yeah. I've done sessions where people have brought them in and had a great time spinning out snares and all this sort of stuff, and dubbing stuff. It's been great.
Chris Barker:
They can add a lot of vibe even when they're sort of almost bypassed as well, like you just go through them with very little touch.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. It's just a beautiful, magical, and it's just so simple as well. You don't have to think too much and the fact that it doesn't have the same sync that a software version has means that you're never quite going to be exactly in beat, which I think makes it better because then it kind of gives a bit more of the sway and groove and all that sort of stuff to the music.
Chris Barker:
And there's sort of modern recreations, aren't there? I'm just looking it up now. The Echo Fix, is it the Echo Fix? Echo Fix EF-X2.
Will Betts:
There's a blue one.
Chris Barker:
Which is an actual real tape echo. It's kind of like the modern Space Echo.
Will Betts:
Yeah, this was the one.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. So for the Space Echos, there's plenty of those and actually on like the used market as well, they're not out of... they're not a crazy amount of money really. But it's the spring reverb that I'm struggling with, but I have been using the UAD, what is it? BX250 I think is-
Will Betts:
Oh yeah, that spring thing they've got. Yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
And it sounds nice and lush, but it isn't really very variable and I couldn't get like that quick kind of surf spring. You know that sort of twang?
Will Betts:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I think for springs it's the kind of thing where you need to get somebody that builds them and you can just get somebody to build it to your specification, because a lot of those ones that are really unique were kind of just made in a garage or made, you know what I mean? They were made for a certain engineer or a certain album.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Especially with somebody like King Tubby who was an engineer anyway, building sound systems and stuff, and whatever he was doing. So he may well have built his own, but yeah.
Chris Barker:
But then if you get one, build one to your taste or get somebody to help build one with you, then that can be your thing as well, which is kind of cool. Like you say, like the Tubby thing where it's like, "Yeah, nobody else can recreate it because I've got the only one of these because I built it."
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
So we're going for the Space Echo?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So we've got some kind of... I'm trying to think and trying to picture the music here, we've got kind of a grand piano, a Space Echo.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, it's a bit all over the shop, isn't it?
Chris Barker:
A love of dub.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
It's a bit all over the shop, but generally I work across a tonne of different styles and genres with a load of different artists, and these are the types of tools that I seem to always go back to. Even if I'm starting a song with someone just on the piano, then we transfer it to a different instrument, it's still nice to just have that there to just, I don't know, get to the root of the song at least.
Chris Barker:
So when is the Adele dub album coming? Because I'm looking forward to it.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
That's strictly on a need to know basis. I really like collaborating with people and creating in a space with people, so that's why I was saying that I think this studio should be an open plan kind of living space where it's like a... I don't want to say commune, because that sounds weird, but-
Chris Barker:
Are you starting a cult?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I might be. I might just be starting the cult of Austen.
Chris Barker:
Am I starting a cult?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But for example, one of my favourite albums is The Rolling Stones Exile On Main St., where they literally just rented a house in the south of France for however long it took them to do, and they just... It was an open doors policy, the studio is always running, it's 4:00 AM, "Let's just get in there and do some saxophone." And then wives, kids, dogs, everyone's hanging around. I just really like that energy.
Chris Barker:
Conversation took such a much more positive turn than I was... When you were talking communes and-
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I think I meant more of a-
Chris Barker:
"Have you ever heard Charles Manson's albums?" [crosstalk 00:40:24]
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I think I probably meant more of a community as opposed to a commune.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yes, a community, there you go. A community.
Chris Barker:
That's much better. [crosstalk 00:40:31]
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Very slight but very important difference.
Will Betts:
We're onto our last pick then, Austen. It's number six of your studio items. What's it going to be?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So this is the only software item that I have, and I'm going for the FabFilter Pro-Q3.
Will Betts:
Oh, equaliser. Why?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But not just an equaliser, Will. A dynamic equaliser.
Will Betts:
We should be playing Albatross by Fleetwood Mac as you say that.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But yeah, I mean I can't have a bundle and I can't think of any channel strip plugins that are really doing it for me, so this sort of ties in the idea of an EQ that I can use creatively as well as forensically. I can also control dynamics with it. I was potentially going to say the Soothe Plugin, because I use that a lot.
Chris Barker:
We've had that before. Popular choice.
Will Betts:
Exactly.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
It's incredibly powerful, but I think I can sort of get a semblance of that with Pro-Q3 where there's a bit more time.
Chris Barker:
Maybe for people that don't know, maybe explain Soothe and explain what you would do with the dynamic EQ to-
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I'm not sure how to describe Soothe exactly, because it isn't really an EQ and it isn't a compressor. It sort of blends between the two, I suppose. So for me I have found the most success when there's some sort of resonance that I'm trying to remove. Usually it's going to be maybe the body of a vocal. If somebody hasn't got quite so much kind of proximity control, their voice can get quite boomy, so I'll use it to control that low, those sort of low mids and low frequency for that.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
However, I will also use it for the higher frequencies. Let's say you've got an acoustic guitar and it's just way too jangly or way too attacky on the sound of you strumming the strings, then you can select a region of the frequency and tell it to take out very specific frequencies. And it's constantly moving as well, so it's reacting to the audio that it's being fed, so it's not just picking one frequency and just working like a multiband compressor. It's 100 different frequencies all bouncing around together.
Chris Barker:
So it's like a dynamically moving DS sort of experience kind of?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Kind of, yeah.
Will Betts:
They call it a Dynamic Resonance Suppressor.
Chris Barker:
There we go.
Will Betts:
That's their language. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Dynamic Resonance Suppressor.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
There you go.
Chris Barker:
But we're talking now about your final item, the Pro-Q3.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
The Pro-Q3.
Chris Barker:
So when did you first get this? Obviously you don't have the bundle here, no bundles.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No bundles.
Chris Barker:
But did you get like the FabFilter bundle and discover it? Or how did you come across it originally?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Actually I think it was from a producer visiting us at Dean St. that had licences for it and needed to download it for his session. So yeah, downloaded it on our system and then I was just blown away, because at that point it wasn't the Pro-Q3, it was Pro-Q2 I think, and it was like the L1 Limiter. And I hadn't every really got on that well with the Waves limiting bundles. What was my go to? I think my go to used to be the Massey L2007 for limiting.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
So yeah, when he installed the FabFilter bundle, and he came back quite often so I got quite a good chance to test all these things out, I just thought that Pro L from FabFilter, I thought was really good. And the DS-er as well was the best DS-er that I'd used up until that point, and still is.
Chris Barker:
It's a shame you can't have it.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I know. Don't need it. Got the Pro-Q3 now. So stuff ya, stuff ya bundles.
Chris Barker:
So Will, give us a little rundown of what we've got so far before we get onto the luxury item.
Will Betts:
All right. Picture the scene, we're in Soho, London. Swinging Soho, in a penthouse apartment, open plan with a Mac Pro, the biggest one, the most specced out one, the cheese grater with Pro Tools installed. Next to it, an RME Fireface UCX and standing up in the live space we have, near the kettle presumably, the Neumann valve U47, a Neve BCM10 miniature. It's a miniature desk, right?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Then you also have the Bechstein grand sitting in there, this is a sizeable penthouse. Barefoot MasterStack 12s, very sizeable penthouse. A Roland RE-201 Space Echo, and you also have installed on your big, old Mac Pro, FabFilter Pro-Q3 for all equalising needs. How does that sound?
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Sounds great. Can't wait to start sessions.
Will Betts:
Well, we have one more item, your luxury item. Tell us your luxury item that you've chosen, non studio gear related, but something that you'd love in this penthouse.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
This I'm not really sure works for a London penthouse, realistically this is much better for an LA penthouse. But I'm going to go with it all the same, and that is a rooftop pool.
Chris Barker:
Yes, yes.
Will Betts:
Ooh, like Soho House? They've got one.
Chris Barker:
Shoreditch House Style.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
I guess so, but I mean it's freezing cold.
Chris Barker:
It's a heated pool.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Sure, it's heated.
Chris Barker:
Perfect.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
It's a heated pool. But you just can't get out because it's too cold. So yeah, it's full of people because nobody's ever got out.
Chris Barker:
That does sound a bit culty again, just so you know.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, once you're in you never get out. So yeah, I think a rooftop pool. I like swimming for fitness and I think it's a cool hangout. I've probably got a PA system out there as well, blasting in tunes from the studio.
Chris Barker:
Well, you don't. But yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Well, I've got the Barefoots, they're loud enough. Maybe it's looking out, maybe it's looking out onto the terrace. Maybe that's where it is.
Chris Barker:
Like real world style with the lake, but it's actually your pool. I see.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
But it's a pool, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Nice. It feels like this is sort of a semi sort of architecture podcast as well, I'm like, or real estate, I'm like, "I just want to visit the place, it sounds dope."
Austen Jux-Chandler:
It's going to be great.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. It sounds like you just plonked like a Hollywood Hills kind of pad on top of a Soho roof. It's perfect.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah. Well, yeah, ironically last week I was in the Hollywood Hills in a rented Airbnb kind of writing session, and we spent a week looking out across LA and the mountains and all that sort of stuff, and we turned the lounge into the studio space. So we did have kitchen right behind us, so it was sort of a mini version of what I wanted.
Chris Barker:
Nice.
Will Betts:
So it is a poolside penthouse studio, with panoramic views of London, fully residential, enough space for everybody and all their loved ones, running Pro Tools on a big Mac with FabFilter Pro-Q3 audio going into an RME Fireface UCX, recording with a Neumann valve U46, a Neve BCM10, a Bechstein grand, Barefoot MasterStack 12s and a Roland RE-20... RE-201 sorry.
Chris Barker:
You nearly ended up with the pedal version there, which would've been a disappointment.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
No. No.
Will Betts:
It's just you've got the digital emulation guitar pedal version, but-
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yes. No, thank you. I'd like the full version. I will just add to that, this is only residential for me by the way. Everyone's welcome to come, hang out during the day. But then everyone needs to go home and I need to go get some sleep.
Chris Barker:
It's good that you've finished with that, because that does underline that this is definitely not a cult.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
This is definitely, definitely not a cult and I will protect that in a court of law.
Chris Barker:
That's the title of the podcast, "Austen Jux-Chandler's Definitely Not A Cult Studio."
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yes.
Chris Barker:
Perfect. Well, all that's left to do-
Will Betts:
Thanks so much, Austen.
Chris Barker:
... is to say thank you so much for joining us on the podcast all the way from LA, late at night, and making this happen via remote means. So thank you so much.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Thank you for having me.
Chris Barker:
I hope you've enjoyed yourself.
Austen Jux-Chandler:
Yeah, it's been a pleasure talking to you and living out my dreams.
Will Betts:
Thank you so much.
Chris Barker:
If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure to subscribe using your favourite podcasting app and rate us five stars too.
Will Betts:
We'll be back next Tuesday and we'll be joined by gear obsessed, electronic music pioneer BT.
Chris Barker:
Yes, it's going to be interesting to see if somebody with so much amazing studio kit can build their Forever Studio with just six items.
Will Betts:
And whether he can avoid having any bundles, Chris.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
No bundles.
Chris Barker:
No bundles.
Will Betts:
Thanks very much. Catch you next time.