Front-facing view of the 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos studio, showing the main Neumann monitoring position, acoustic treatment, ceiling cloud, production desk and hybrid mixing setup.

Side view of the 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos studio, showing the main production desk, Neumann monitoring system, ceiling cloud and acoustic treatment. The freestanding GIK panel can be repositioned, allowing the shutters to open for natural light and countryside views when the room is not in critical listening mode.

Custom-made by Addictive Sound, this honeycomb-style acoustic treatment combines deep low-frequency absorption with scatter plates, helping control bass build-up while retaining a lively, balanced character in the room.

The studio’s central hardware rack, featuring Merging Technologies Hapi MkII and Universal Audio Apollo conversion alongside SSL Fusion and analogue dynamics processing. This setup supports flexible routing, immersive monitoring, recording, and a hybrid mixing workflow that combines digital precision with analogue character.

A wonderfully characterful 1990s workstation synthesiser. The Korg 01/WFD is surprisingly deep, but also easy to explore when searching for inspiration, making it great for spontaneous performances, unusual textures and happy accidents.

The Alesis SamplePad Pro is used surprisingly often for performing drum and percussion parts. Playing the rhythms by hand introduces natural timing and velocity variation, giving parts a more human feel than MIDI programming alone.

Merging Technologies Anubis is configured as the studio’s central monitor controller for the 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system, providing precise level control, speaker routing and cue management. Alongside it, a MIDI fader controller offers hands-on control of virtual instrument dynamics, expression and vibrato during composition and orchestral mock-up production.

A signed Jasnah display from Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, picked up at Waterstones in Leeds. She makes excellent studio company, although she can still give you a fright when you forget she is standing there.

The Slate Digital VSX headphones have become my go-to reference pair. They provide highly detailed monitoring, particularly for checking low-end balance, and the companion software makes it easy to test how a mix translates across different rooms, speakers and playback systems. An absolute lifesaver during mixing and final quality control.

A practical corner of the studio with guitars and basses ready for recording, a VR headset for testing audio directly in immersive game environments, and a Shure SM7B used for both voice and foley work. Its focused pickup helps reject unwanted room sound, while its naturally weighty response can add surprising depth to smaller sources, giving me plenty to shape later in post-production.

A small collection of scores, books and unusual instruments kept close at hand for inspiration. From orchestral notation to hand percussion and kalimba, you never quite know which sound will spark the next musical idea.