Music Students Visit Blueprint Studios

Music Technology AS students had the opportunity to visit Manchester’s Blueprint studios earlier this term. The internationally-renowned professional recording studio is famously home to the band Elbow, who happened to be in that day, working on their yet-untitled forthcoming album (the follow up to “Let’s Build a Rocket Boys”).

The visit was led by the studio’s very own engineer and producer, Tim Thomas, one of the co-founders of the studio. Among the things covered were experimental microphone techniques, acoustic treatment, room ambience and the importance of pre-production.

Following a tour of the studios and a talk in one of the live rooms, students had a chance to work on the studio’s much-revered Neve mixing desk – a big selling point for their studios. Also, students got to record drum kit tracks and mixed them in the main studio.

The Q+A session at the end was the most interesting, where students got to ask about Tim’s stories of recording the likes of Justin Timberlake and Rhianna.

“It was an incredible experience and a privilege to be in a studio where the likes of Snoop Dog and Damon Albarn have worked in – such a source of inspiration!”

- Adam Alam - AS Music Technology

“It was interesting to hear advice from someone with such a wealth of music industry experience.”

- Jake Muga - AS Music Technology