Joined in 2023 
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Even if you have a top-quality microphone and headphones, good gear can only take you so far when recording your voice on the road without proper insulation surrounding you. That’s where a portable recording booth, also called a vocal isolation booth, can make or break your vocal takes.
The rooms feel comfortable to work in, and sound great. We’ve taken a lot of care with the decor and lighting, and the space is really conducive to working creatively and efficiently. What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced in recent years? I’ve worked with UAD for a long time too, I love how they operate and think they sound fantastic. I’m a big fan of all the Kush Audio plugins, plus I love the BX Townhouse bus compressor. My mix bus will often feature a Novatron, and Townhouse. Running a studio involves a lot more than just the recording. There’s maintenance, upgrades, and general upkeep to consider too. Snap was never intended to be a money making venture at all, but money always has to be considered, of course. Needless to say, the outbreak of Coronavirus has had a devastating effect across the industry, and the creative sector has arguably been one of the hardest hit; the ramifications of which have forced artists to perform from home, driven engineers to adapt to remote solutions and, for those businesses less fortunate - forced them to cease operating altogether. Whilst this is an undoubtedly unnerving time, one of the saving graces for many of us is the accessibility to professional recording equipment in the home environment. We sat down with Marco to discuss how he manages to translate his workload between the Pro recording environment at Snap Studios and his carefully designed home rig. Can you explain a little about how you go about juggling studio projects between your home setup and Snap Studios? What’s considered when preparing/translating mixes for home use? We have used the Prism ADA-8XRs at the studio and they sound superb. Still one of the best after 20+ years, but my Orpheus was just getting a little long in the tooth for my setup and I was recommended the new Lynx Aurora by an engineer friend.
Join us for a LIVE Q&A with Marco on Friday, where we'll be taking a closer look at engineering from home, essential gear and more. Got a question? Let us know on Facebook. In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes. An LED light is included inside, and operated by a single switch. This also includes a mount for your tablet or phone, along with a duffel bag for easy transport.
providing third parties with statistical information about our users (but those third parties will not be able to identify any individual user from that information); We use ATC SCM25 monitors, alongside NS10’s and Eastlake JM3T’s which are all fed by a Grace Designs monitor controller, which is incredibly transparent and also has excellent headphone amps. I’ve been using them on my mix rig at home for about 5 years or so now. I absolutely love them. I wanted a small pair of speakers which I could use as a main near-field pair, and I demo'd a few sets of monitors within my budget but the Neumann’s were clear winners for me. I’d already heard them in Snap when a few producers had brought them in for referencing so I knew what to expect, but when I put them in my room they just sounded right. I love the mid-range on them. It’s really forward and the low mids sound full and rounded. I always think the mids are like a posh NS10, but with extra smoothness. They’re an exciting speaker to listen to, even at lower volumes. They work great for most types of music, and I would say I probably spend 80% of my time working on them. Do you find they each offer something the other doesn't? I think plugins have got so ridiculously good these days and there are some fantastic ones out there. I always used to say that my favourite plugin was Pro Tools 7 band EQ, but that’s now been replaced by the FabFilter Pro-Q3. I think it’s probably my most used plugin. It’s just incredible what you can do with it. I find it so musical and dynamic - it’s essential for me these days.Another benefit we’ve experienced with these is keeping your roommates, family and neighbors from being disturbed by noise. Sometimes you need to get loud for the right feeling to come through on the final mix, and with some of the more encapsulating vocal isolation booths, you’ll be able to sing and scream at top volume, while the people next door will barely be bothered. This goes both ways as well, since the inner layer helps to dampen any sounds coming from other parts of the house, like if someone’s watching TV, running air conditioners or just from the natural hum happening in any room. The studio is centred around an ultra rare vintage Neve 5316 analogue console from the early 70s, which we modified to have moving fader automation. Yeah, the Aurora (n). I love it! I had been using a Prism Orpheus for about 8 years, but upgrading my Mac meant that I needed to upgrade my converters too because the Firewire conversion was too buggy.
In an increasingly corporate, money-driven music business, Snap certainly proves that a small, independent venture can succeed by virtue of the skills of those involved and their belief and passion rather than money and marketing muscle, and that’s something we’re really proud of. What about the industry climate? Has this affected you and if so how?
Do you have any tips for managing (and maintaining) the balance between the creative 'vibe' and the more analytical process of mixing/engineering?
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