Many voice overs have home studios as do many musicians. The voice over version can be quite simple with just some kind of booth, a mic and mic stand, somewhere to put the script and a laptop for recording. In the world of music a home studio can be rather more complex as I discovered watching a video of a visit to the “home studio” of song writer and record producer Butch Walker.  He has worked as producer and song writer with artists like Pink, Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift. That kind of professional success means that  “home studio” as a term does not really explain Butch’s set up.

I was quite interested in the converted stable building that houses the studio but I didn’t really pay close attention until Butch started talking about microphones (its about 15 mins in). The first he mentions in the video is a Chandler Redd 47. It looked interesting so I Googled it to discover that it’s a vintage design based on Beatles era EMI mics at Abbey Road – and a new one will cost about £6000.

As the tour unfolds Butch reveals mic after mic including hand made Russian Soyuz 013 mics that cost over £1300 and he has 4. He also has a couple of Soyuz 017s on drums and another for guitars and vocals.

The mics and all the other gear and many instruments in the studio are all high end capped off with a £10,000 pair of studio monitors and an analogue mixing console which is an API 2448 – it seems they retail for £103,000!

It’s a truly lovely looking studio and a fascinating video – Butch is an affable and informative host – you can read my fuller reaction to Butch Walker’s “Home Studio” on my studio blog page – or watch the video yourself on YouTube.

Chris Radley – Voice Over