Redruth Wesley Studio
If we go back 10 years, when speaking with Manny Hernandez about his plans to repurpose the Redruth Wesley Chapel as a creative performance space, with a recording studio and a radio station, I thought it was a bit ‘pie in the sky’, but still behind the idea none the less. It was some 8 years later, when I was looking around for somewhere to house my increasing volume of recording bands, where I thought…’Manny?’, perhaps his plans have moved on? It was in fact, very well timed, as the keys were collected from the Methodists and the CIC Manny and others had established, was starting to run. The venue and my project slotted in right there and then! I knew I had found the right place, as Deb, Claire and the other directors of the CIC were very welcoming and it felt the perfect fit.
Happy with this, I set about the infrastructure of the space, calling in favours from a few friends, including Chris Dennis, who subsequently was the first paying musician in my home studio many years ago, to build the wooden framework around which the sound treatment was placed. A week during my busiest time of the year, whilst popping my head into the studio whenever I could, that part of the build was swiftly completed and Chris then headed back to London. The following month or so, out of their own charity and confusion at my plans, both Manny & Martin Carpenter set to work fitting the rockwool, hessian and very accurately cut strips of wood to complete the treated space. The studio’s acoustically treated control room was made.
Meanwhile, when I had fragments of time, I was putting together the studio’s sound rig. Designing and purchasing all the bits of gear that laced together to make the brains of the studio. With a little good advice from friends and fellow engineers like Ross Rothero-Bourge and Josh Clark, the rather high end studio came together. The system in the studio is based very much ‘in the box’, where the computer plus the extra DSP in the Apollo units do the processing. Using the Universal Audio integrated ‘Unison’ technology and emulated software versions of all the big classic studio equipment, I can record quality processed tracks with next to no latency. Also with purchasing these classic plug-ins, I can use multiple occasions of them with just the one purchased unit. The unison technology allows me to record my input pre amps impedance matched, meaning that they interact exactly as the analogue devices do, ‘sweet spots’ included. In theory, my input and output stages of the virtual mixing console can sound as close to any high end console I could choose to use. Beyond that, there is massive scope to mix and master with top studio equipment whilst remaining completely inside the computer.
The gear went into the Redruth Wesley, tested and trialled and with great accuracy, the system was solid and has remained so ever since. Excitedly, I requested the help of a friend Neil McMahon and his fiddle to do tests on each acoustic space, the results were rather ear-opening! Firstly, we had Neil play one foot away from the mic in the control room and as expected the sound in the treated room was dry, good for adding reverb to during post production. Then we put Neil one foot away from the mic in the ‘live room’, I wasn’t ready to hear what was presented! If I didn’t know, I’d have easily thought that he was in the chapel room. The sound was like a bright plate reverb, rather lively but over the last year I’ve used that space to record drums, much to my satisfaction as it added the very special ingredient which I’d often add to drums with post production FX, a big wow! We then got Neil to play in the ‘Chapel Room’, again just one foot away from the mic and…hey? It sounded dry. I figure the reflections from a quieter instrument had diffused into the pew seating and into the nooks of the space. It wasn’t until we moved the mic some 20 feet away when we started hearing that lovely warm, rich reverb associated with the Chapel. For fun, we went back into the live room and closely miked the fiddle from one end of the room, then added another mic all the way across the other end, balanced the volume and hard panned the sounds for quite an amazing effect. From that day onwards, I knew we had something special in the acoustics of this space.
Knowing that the studio was blessed with such beautiful acoustics, leaning towards recording acts like choirs, brass bands and orchestras, I did the most responsible and respectful thing by buying the most expensive mic I have ever bought, the Royer Labs SF-24. Although expensive, this mic has brought my recordings to a new level, giving recordings great warmth, depth and accuracy. The mic has very little internal noise and when used to record, makes the listener feel like they’re right in the acoustic space where it was recorded. A good handful of choirs have recorded here since then, with fantastic results!
Not only has the studio leant itself to choirs and acoustic acts, a good proportion of this year’s recordings have been louder, more rock influenced artists. We’ve put out somewhere near an album a month from the studio, with genres like heavy rock, punk, reggae, rock and roll, folk, classical piano, with a number of podcasts and voice recordings. The different spaces have given a wide and flexible range of recording options and we’re still having fun experimenting! Not only have bands recorded, but a handful of them have played in the space for concerts, with some recording the live sets and mixing in post production for future release. Video recording is also becoming popular with optional packages to include audio and video.
Our studio doors have been opened now for just over a year, with lots of happy customers, bands and audiences. Our work has been getting great reviews and many bands have committed to coming back to record again, with our word of mouth market getting bigger and better. As a celebration, four separate short videos have been produced and are now circling the social media platforms to give audiences a glimpse of what we’ve been doing over this last year, encouraging people to consider recording with us at the Redruth Wesley.
Beyond the studio and with the events at the Redruth Wesley there is also a buzz of excitement for the venue going round. Artists like the Celtic Male Ensemble, Holman’s Climax and Four Lanes Male Voice Choir, plus sold out shows with Wynne Evans (Go Compare). Cool artists like the Future Pianist, Nighthawks, The Treylva Collective, Kernow King and more have played just in the last year. Amazingly there is a fully working pipe organ, the second largest in Cornwall and a grand piano, plus acoustics that beautifully carry the voice around the room. Cornwall Centre for Culture and the Arts CIC are promoting events frequently at the venue. The passion and spirit of the volunteers and crew to bring culture to the local community is remarkable and stands as a marker to how keen the community and CIC are to bringing this venue into community ownership.
If you’re keen to see the venue in action, or to check out if the space will work for you for recording, please feel free to contact us. I’m always happy to show people around or to discuss how a recording session may work with you. We’re a friendly bunch who are sitting on this fantastic asset to music and culture in Cornwall. Come and celebrate with us! It’ll be good to see your faces and make great things happen!
Oll an gwella!
Brendan McGreal
Cornish Underground (at the Redruth Wesley)
