Who?
Big Bad Wolf is owned and run by Mike Holloway. Mike has been playing and recording for over 20 years so has a good understanding of what musicians want from a studio. Primarily a guitarist, Mike has played in many bands over the years and specialises in recording rock & alternative styles. Disillusioned with the approach some bigger studios have, Mike is determined to give a personal and genuinely interested approach to recording your sound. At the end of the day, great music can only be made if everyone invloved in it's creation actually cares about it.
Why call it Big Bad Wolf?
BBW is housed in a purpose built, straw bale building (so there's the three little pigs link) and we have our own Big Bad Wolf in residence, the one and only Fern. Fern is actually not bad or, in fact, a wolf but she does have a larger than life character and her own Myspace page! So, with Fern as official studio mascot & the straw, Big Bad Wolf seemed appropriate.
Why straw bales?
The idea of using straw bales was hit upon during a chance conversation with a friend and, as a building material for a new studio, it seemed ideal. Straw bales are eco-friendly for starters but in addition they also have excellent insulation and acoustic qualities. The exterior of the studio is coated in lime render to give a hard, weather proof finish but the inside walls are simply covered with hessian to allow the natural straw to absorb sound energy. The result of this is to give a minumum of unwanted reflected sound within the recording area. Now, a completely 'dead' room would be unpleasant to work in as our ears are not used to a complete lack of reflected sound so the control room and part of the ceiling hae been constructed from plasterboard to give some reflective surfaces.
Why record with BBW?
Originally built for personal use only, BBW has since been used by several artists to record demos &fun tracks, remastering and the recording, mixing & mastering of full, commercial CD releases.
The philosophy in simple: we care about what you want to acheive! If you spend any time browsing forums on recording techniques you'll see endless questions along the lines of "what's the best microphone to.......?" or "What compressor settings should I use to........" and, frequently, the answers aren't much better! Music=Art and art is about doing whatever works to realise the ideas that are in your head. Of course, there are basic principals that are a good starting point; experience and technical knowledge are essential to get good results but so are "good ears", "feel" and an understanding of what the end result should sound like.
Our aim is to work with you to ensure that the CD you walk away with is one you'll be happy with and proud of.
Please check our Services page to see what we can offer you but don't be afraid to email or call to find out more.