Genesys Black is First Choice for Rock Hard Studios
A Genesys Black G48 console has been selected as the heart of Rock Hard Studios. The studios, situated in the famous Lancashire beach resort of Blackpool, comprises four spacious rehearsal suites, a glorious 500 square feet Live Room and the Control Room which houses their new Neve console.
Twelve years in the making, the impressive facility is the brainchild of Dan Atkinson and business partner Andrew Cox.
“While both playing in bands ourselves, we had very little access to good quality rehearsal spaces in Blackpool and the surrounding areas,” explains Dan. “We decided the best way to rehearse and record in a decent space was to open our own, thus Rock Hard Studios was born.”
The pair found their premises and opened the doors in February 2007 and the studios have grown ever since, playing host to a vast number of musicians from all over the world with clients such as the New York Dolls, Rixton, David Hasselhoff, Moose Thomas, Colin Richardson and many more.
It was back in University that Dan was first introduced to the Neve 1073 and recalls tracking drums through a pair of vintage units that his tutor had acquired.
“When we first fired them up, one on kick and one on snare, the sound from the [1073s] was incredible, leaps and bounds above anything else I had used previously. I didn’t get a chance to use any Neve gear again until around 2015 when I engineered on a project for Producer Danny Wilkin (Rixton) who requested 12 channels of 1073. I visited the AMS Neve factory down the road from us in Burnley, and that’s when I discovered Genesys Black.”
When the time came to upgrade the studio, the choice of the console was an easy one for Dan, whose priorities were efficiency and flexibility.
“The incredible power behind the Genesys Black is insane. The instant recall-ability of the analogue EQ and Dynamics, all of the mix summing and even the cue and monitor mixes is unbelievable. The console has that unmistakable Neve sound with the bonus of the analogue signal path through the processing too, add to that the ease of swapping from mix to mix in a couple of quick presses of a button, it was a no-brainer. It’s a dream to work on!”
A Genesys Black G48 console has been selected as the heart of Rock Hard Studios. The studios, situated in the famous Lancashire beach resort of Blackpool, comprises four spacious rehearsal suites, a glorious 500 square feet Live Room and the Control Room which houses their new Neve console. Twelve years in the making, the impressive facility is the brainchild of Dan Atkinson and business partner Andrew Cox. “While both playing in bands ourselves, we had very little access to good quality rehearsal spaces in Blackpool and the surrounding areas,” explains Dan. “We decided the best way to rehearse and record in a decent space was to open our own, thus Rock Hard Studios was born.” The pair found their premises and opened the doors in February 2007 and the studios have grown ever since, playing host to a vast number of musicians from all over the world with clients such as the New York Dolls, Rixton, David Hasselhoff, Moose Thomas, Colin Richardson and many more. It was back in University that Dan was first introduced to the Neve 1073 and recalls tracking drums through a pair of vintage units that his tutor had acquired.
“When we first fired them up, one on kick and one on snare, the sound from the [1073s] was incredible, leaps and bounds above anything else I had used previously. I didn’t get a chance to use any Neve gear again until around 2015 when I engineered on a project for Producer Danny Wilkin (Rixton) who requested 12 channels of 1073. I visited the AMS Neve factory down the road from us in Burnley, and that’s when I discovered Genesys Black.” When the time came to upgrade the studio, the choice of the console was an easy one for Dan, whose priorities were efficiency and flexibility. “The incredible power behind the Genesys Black is insane.” “The instant recall-ability of the analogue EQ and Dynamics, all of the mix summing and even the cue and monitor mixes is unbelievable”.
