the Soul Shop

the Soul Shop was built in 2007 in a 160-year-old barn, formerly a piano restoration shop. our goal was to provide the Boston area with an affordably-priced, classic analog recording environment, where the attention is devoted to capturing great sounds in a great room, rather than accommodating for an unremarkable acoustic space, or conceding to the limitations of recent engineering trends.

our main room is a 30' × 30' acoustically isolated space of our own design, with 9' ceilings, decoupled walls, and a custom electrical system. the room’s natural decay puts digital reverbs to shame, and rivals the best in plate and true chamber ambience. the control room is an 18' × 10' treated space that is surprisingly non-fatiguing during long mixing sessions, and is acoustically trustworthy for live-to-2-track recording (one of our specialties). though most of our business is in rock n' roll, we are especially interested and experienced in small-group jazz, solo instrument or voice, and chamber group recording. we can comfortably accommodate over a dozen musicians in the room at once.

our console is a 20-channel Neotek Series II from the early days of that line, featuring Neotek’s world-class preamps and unmatched EQ. we offer three different cost-effective analog recording formats, as well as a hard disk recorder for CD-R reference. we maintain a minimal microphone locker, with a special consideration to the use of ambient and distant micing to achieve a natural, open sound. our live room features an in-house PA with four separate monitor mixes (via headphones and wedges), and we are adept at utilizing both to achieve simultaneous tracking of vocals and instruments, live, even in the loudest rock n’ roll contexts. we have an extensive vintage amplifier collection and a house drumset that our clients are highly encouraged to use, as well as an excellent Wurlitzer upright piano and a variety of organs, stompboxes, percussion instruments, and noisemakers.

• Elio DeLuca, engineer
• Patrick Grenham, owner