Shaken Oak Studios

Professional, affordable, passionate about music and creativity - Shaken Oak is a residential project studio aimed primarily at hosting freelance producers

Senior Producer / Director: Arthur MacGregor Young
Freelance Producers: Jamie McKivitt, Jake Murray, Michael Fletcher

A project studio with a warm creative vibe, and a retreat. This private recording space tucked away in the Oxfordshire countryside can be both of these things and more.

Recording sessions at the farm studio arranged by special request for exceptional artists, with residential options. High quality live and location recording rigs form the backbone of the operation, catering for every conceivable genre and ensemble - in Oxfordshire, London or much further afield!

Professional, affordable and passionate about music and creativity.

Equipment list:

Our studio equipment list is very dynamic and modular, and tailored to the demands of the project at hand. Permanent equipment comprises of:

- Solid State Logic Nucleus 16-fader DAW control surface

- Thermionic Culture Fat Bustard valve summing mixer (14 channels)

- Antelope Audio Orion 32 AD /DA converters and RME MADI FX card (up to 64 channels)

- Fink Analog Audio CS2-FA dual channel strip. 2 channels of valve preamps, Pultec EQ and 1176 compressors in one unit. Indispensable tool for tracking and mixdown, designed by Dennis Fink (formerly of UREI and Universal Audio)

- Universal Audio LA 610 mkII channel strip. Valve preamp, two-band EQ and LA4 compressor (based on the legendary Teletronix LA2A valve compressor)

- 2x Aurora Audio GTQ2 solid state preamp and 3-band EQ. 2 channel unit designed by Geoff Tanner, formerly of Neve - fat and punchy transistor unit, great for drums and guitars, with that distinctive Neve transformer "sound".

- Universal Audio 4-710d 4 channel variable valve and solid state preamps, with 1176-derived compressors.

- Gem Audio Preceptor compressor / limiter. Awesome "high-end" unit, super versatile for tracking, mixing and mastering.

- Drawmer 1968 compressor, excellent on the drum and mix buss

- 8 additional channels of Focusrite preamps, all with hardware compressors

- Kush Clariphonic parallel EQ (500 series) x2

- Aphex Aural Exciter Type C2 (w / Big Bottom)

- 500 series lunchbox with additional slots for visiting modules

- Radial 500 series EXTC guitar pedal interface (for using guitar pedals for mixing / post-production)

- Comprehensive professional TT bantam patchbay to connect all the outboard for any tracking and mixing scenario.

- 8 in /out XLR "Guest" bay, for visiting freelancers to quickly and efficiently interface their own outboard into the existing system.

- Apple Mac Pro Digital Audio Workstation (12 Core 3. 06GHz, 24GB RAM) running Logic 9, Logic X, ProTools 11, Reaper, Harrison Mixbus 32 and others

- Apple iPad (dedicated for studio use), with V-control app for DAW control

- Plugins from Universal Audio UAD-2 (Quad-core PCie with emulations from Ampex, Shadow Hills, Fairchild, Pultec, UREI etc), Lexicon (PCM Native Reverbs), Waves, iZotope (RX6 Audio suite) Slate Digital (Everything bundle), PSP Audioware. and many, many others

- ADAM A77X three-way nearfield monitors

- Monitor control and talkback ably handled by Crane Song Ltd. Avocet controller

- Artist monitoring from trusty Beyerdynamic DT100 headphones

- Microphones from Telefunken, Neumann, Coles, Sontronics, AKG, Oktava, Shure, Beyerdynamic, AEA. Additional mics available for sessions - please enquire if there is a particular mic you want and we'll do our best to source it!

Similarly more esoteric, exotic and vintage equipment is available to use for a reasonable surcharge - Neve, API, Shadow Hills, SSL and many more. . . please enquire in advance!
Some testimonials:

"Beautiful, just beautiful. The only word I can use to describe our stay and time working with Arthur Young at Shaken Oak Studio's in the blissful countryside of sunny Oxford shire. We had an absolutely amazing time working someone so like-minded! The acoustics were beautiful, the equipment was to die for, the microphones used were angelic and the building and land it's self has a certain something that you simply can't help but fall in love with. Arthur is a very talented man with exceptional attention to detail and a mind like a tap of ideas to work with in the recording and production process. We definitely wish to work with him again, and I'm sure we will.

A definite must for any band looking for a creative and interesting sound, the man really is a visionary.

We recommend him to anyone looking for a producer to work with, no matter what the genre! " - RicoDimitri (July 2012)

"I first came to Shaken Oak in its early days, when it was really just getting started as a studio. Even at that stage I was impressed with the professionalism and unique surroundings. The silence around the place allows you to focus. The remote setting only adds to the experience. Arthur is a calm, patient but efficient influence. Negotiating the old, bumpy track leading to the farm serves as a good motto for the place. . . . . . take it easy! ! " - Ags Connolly (March 2014)

"Love this mix Arthur, you are a legend. " - Craig Reynolds (Synchromystic Acoustics) (May 2011)

"The most comfortable studio in the world! " - 1000 Mile Highway (October 2010)