felt was necessary for him to succeed as an artist . The self-taught musician and producer started out committed to a DIY process and maintains that mindset today ; he ’ s worked that way more or less since recording his debut album , 2005 ’ s Insecurity , which led to a deal with indie label Audiogram , and four subsequent records , including 2016 ’ s Superfolk .
He ’ s always had a recording space of some variety . “ I just thought that if you want to be a singer / songwriter , this is what you have to do ; you have to have a few mics and be able to play a bunch of different instruments and produce records for yourself . I just thought everybody did it that way .”
Kelly ’ s choice of gear also reflects his process and the needs of the dual-purpose space . “ I ’ ve got some pretty sweet pieces of hardware and a nice mic collection , and I ’ ve got 32 inputs , which is quite a lot for a ‘ producer ’ s studio ,’” he says .
As he began producing other artists , working more in film and television , and generally just collaborating more frequently , he realized he needed a proper studio . Sunset Hill is the only space of his own that ’ s been truly permanent – not a temporary rig in his basement or bedroom . “ Everywhere else I set up my gear , every time I would pull the mic away from the source a bit , it would sound like shit . That was the thing I was missing . You can have great microphones and mic pres and amazing monitors , but you ’ re not really hearing your monitors until you have a decent room to put them in . This was really the next step for me – a good-sounding space that ’ s enjoyable to work in , and that was more important for me than getting a Neve console .”
For recording , Kelly uses an Apple Mac Pro 6-core running Logic X and a pair of Universal Audio Apollo interfaces . Rather than a physical console , he opted for a Slate Media Technology Raven MTi multi-touch console , which provides all the functionality of a hardware desk in a touch screen format . While Kelly admits it ’ s not the same as moving physical faders , it does recreate the same workflow with a slew of additional features and conveniences .
The Raven answers some concerns not only in terms of the physical infrastructure required for a normal console , but of making recording more about music than technology . “ I come from a live sound background and used to work at the Spectrum and Metropolis , so I used to work with big ass analog consoles and we were always fixing them . Always . I wanted a space I can make music in and not always be working on maintenance and stuff . That ’ s the main thing for me .”
The Raven is placed on his main work surface below an additional display , but when mixing in 5.1 , he moves the upper display to the side and puts his centre speaker in its place .
Kelly ’ s system also includes a Dangerous Music D-Box monitor controller for input source monitoring , switching , and a variety of other tasks , and a pair of Dorrough 40A2 analog loudness meters . “ I didn ’ t really need something else to look at , but when I ’ m mixing film , I do use those a lot .”
He also has a variety of outboard gear . Among his latest purchases are a Gyraf Audio Gyratec X compressor and a Manley Labs Massive Passive stereo EQ . “ Tube stuff ,” he says , “ because my latest album , Superfolk , I mastered myself . The more I work on albums , the more I kind of master as I go . I don ’ t think it ’ s a bad idea to send it to someone else and get a fresh perspective , but I also track with the mastering-grade gear because it ’ s a mean chain for whatever you put through it .”
For monitoring , he has a number of loudspeakers , but typically defaults to his mains : Klein & Hummel O300s and an o800 sub , or Yamaha HS5s . “ I ’ ve got five of the K & Hs and the sub , so when I ’ m not using the surround system , I use one pair in the smaller booth for when I use that as a control room .”
Previously , Kelly recorded in Cubase , but eventually switched over to Logic . Beyond being inexpensive and providing him with the tools he needed , typically , he found , many studios tended to use either Logic or Pro Tools . “ I thought it would be more convenient to learn Logic so I could open my sessions at more studios in Montreal ,” he shares . Unsurprisingly , as someone with the “ illness ,” he ’ s packed a fair amount of MI gear into the space : a Fender Reverb and Marshall head and stack , as well as multiple guitars including an Epiphone Sheraton , Gibson ES-335 , Godin Montreal Premiere , Taylor acoustics , and even a Gold Tone Banjitar .
For hardware keyboards , again , there ’ s a variety . “ I do use a lot of software synths ,” he says , particularly from Native Instruments and those provided with Logic . Consequently , he ’ s wiped the memory of his Nord Piano 2
Muscles
Apple Mac Pro 6-Core Logic X Universal Audio Apollo Audio Interfaces ( x2 ) Slate Raven MTi Multi-Touch Touchscreen Controller
Outboard
Aphex 107 BSS DPR-404 Bricasti Design M7 Buzz Audio ARC-1.1 DBX 560 Empirical Labs Distressors ( x2 ) Empirical Labs De-esser ( x1 ) Focusrite ISA 428 Grace Design m101 Grace Design m103 ( x2 ) Gyraf Audio Gyratec X Manley Labs Massive Passive Stereo Tube EQ Neve 1073 LB ( x2 ) Pendulum OCL-500 Phoenix Audio DRS-8 mk2 Radial Gold Digger 4-Channel Mic Selector SSL 611 TC Electronic M-One XL Vintech Audio 473 Warm Audio WA76
Monitoring
Behringer Behritone C5As Dangerous Music D-Box Dorrough 40A2 ( x2 )
Klein & Hummel O300 ( x5 ) Klein & Hummel o800 Sub Klein & Hummel O110 ( x2 ) Yamaha HS5 ( x2 )
Headphones
ART HeadAMP 6 Beyerdynamic DT 880 Cambridge Audio DacMagic Converter Sennheiser HD 25 Sennheiser HD600 Sennheiser HD 280 pro ( x10 ) Sennheiser EW 300 G3 ( x5 )
40 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND