Singing Sessions at Born in a Barn Studio

Since lockdown there’s been a slow trickle of singers enjoying their sessions on the mic at BB Studio.
Sometimes singers book in to make a perfect recording for a particular purpose and sometimes it’s for just the experience. Whatever reason we always try to use all the skills and tools we have to get the best sounding recording, but also for the singing artist to have fun and enjoy the process.

Recently the Barnes family brought their daughter Sophie to the Barn - a perfect match! - and also her vocal coach Olivia Mason from Atherstone who was a great help to Sophie. You can check her business out here:
Olivia Mason Music

Sophie had quite a long time in the live room singing her version of WH’s ‘I Have Nothing’ making a great recording as a birthday present which Im sure will be repeat played for a long time. At only 11 it was ambitious to tackle a Whitney track but Sophie is a great singer - and clearly the coaching works. Well done both.

To book a singing session for someone you know, please call me direct on 07956 624376 or ring the studio landline and leave a message, or message me through the studio Contact Page form. I do vouchers if you are after that sort of present or you can just book a session after we discuss the date.

Let's Rap

BB Studio is open.

But what am I open for?

Soloists and Duo’s are really no problem & band rehearsals for up to 3 members are fine so far.

I have had the pleasure of working with an old time favourite rapper Tunisian Karim recently (aka the K2nsi) working on a couple of new songs plus we got out into Birmingham to shoot tons of footage for his new video release. So the video will keep me out of trouble for a couple of days next week.
Also through the doors I had Ramils who is originally from Latvia but has lived in Blighty for the last 14 years. I’m getting very used to working with rappers using foreign languages and thinking about it I have worked generally with lots of languages over the years - even Swedish meditation once.
Joe, a young rapper from Coventry who simply loves gold stuff has been in to record his first song and get the music composed with me too - Joe is mildly autistic with dyspraxia & dyslexia but whilst in the studio was great. I’ve worked with plenty of people with these things and fully believe music helps a lot. Brad O’Neill is a brilliant example of this who started his career at BB Studio but and flying these days regularly putting out singles.

So the whole singing/rapping/using a microphone for vocal recordings generally, is all working out nicely and proving easy enough to clean the mic, wash the pop shield & sanitise the headphones afterwards.
There isn’t too much general activity in the farmyard either as everyone is either busy inside their unit or not there, meaning that social distancing isn’t a worry whilst at the farm.

Larger bands/groups and parties are still a bit of a grey area for now, but hopefully not for long and with any luck details for my new Post Pandemic Experience Pop Star Party (PPE Parties!) will be published soon too.

So please, if you’re reading this and know any singers or rappers, let them know where to find BB Studio:
BB Studio - Coventry

Pandemic Update for BB Studio's Progress

Gosh! What a rubbish couple of months it’s been for everyone - like, literally everyone in the world - crazy!!

A terrible time for most, people furloughed, businesses closing, everybody isolated and/or social distancing and a whole set of new rules seemingly every week, making it tricky to know what we all can do.

The studio has been effectively closed now for nearly 3 months but fortunately some things can be achieved online and thankfully since taking the computers and hard-drives home Ive been able to help quite a few clients with requests for certain tracks and do odd editing and mixing jobs for people which has been nice.

On top of this since I am self-employed and have premises I have been able to visit the premises for refurbishments and repairs and have focussed mainly on the outside decking area and the entrance area.

I decided I needed a nice big project that would take a bit of time to achieve and have had the idea of going a bit glam with the very old piano at the entrance room to the studio for a long time now, but also I wanted to make the artwork of instruments all tie in a lot better - so that’s what I’ve done - the piano has been stripped and painted, then I got creative with a jigsaw and some gels from old spotlights and added some mood lights. The general layout has been thinned down of clutter and now its looking really fresh and inviting - well I think. So in about another Millennium when things are open again, I will be ready to welcome new clients!

BB Studio has always been a place of creative energy, fun and most of all it aims to be different. Its not all music and video - I love creating art pieces from different materials and always listen to the suggestions I get, putting them into action if I can - heres the new entrance and outside decking areas.

Album Launch for Danny Ansell & Co.

‘As It Goes’ - the definitive album from Danny Ansell & Co. is now available.

It’s been exactly a year since the band formed and decided to push hard with Danny’s songs.

This album is the foundation of something truly great, which we hope will continue after the global pandemic outbreak we are all experiencing right now. We hoped to have a big launch party for the album and were talking to a couple of venues about this, but everything changed when this little virus popped into the world and upset the applecart for literally everyone - it’s showed no remorse for royalty, status, age, race, or anything but so far Im very happy to say no band member is affected physically.

So - after a big final push of effort 2 weeks ago at the studio, we all agreed the final order to the songs, prepared the artwork and printed some exclusive test prints and CDs. Over the weekend we launched the album via the arbitrator and it is now available on all major streaming platforms and hopefully on iTunes by the end of today - wake up America!!!

We were very lucky to be able to get a photoshoot in also, with Jasmina Jones of Obscura Chromatic, who had previously taken pics of us at plenty of local gigs and was all up for helping out at the farm. So all pic credits on the album go to her - thanks Jas.

Paddy put together a great little promo video for the album over the weekend and Danny did a little acoustic video of himself playing one of the album songs to promote the album from his garage also. We got these online everywhere including Paul Sanders #Covidgig page on Facebook - it’s amazing what everyone can do when things turn strange. Hats off to everyone in the local musical communities that are streaming live videos of themselves too - really cool to see.

So - since we can’t at this moment get a physical copy to anyone, here is the artwork and links to the album on Amazon.

Danny Ansell & Co. are on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook
Born in a Barn Studio

The Week the World Went Weird

“Biff, boom, crack, party’s still going 6 in the morning” I have absolutely no idea why this line, from an old fave rock group I can’t even remember the name of, popped into my head, but ….

No it’s not!!

Nobody is partying this week, last week or for the foreseeable future.

So - Born in a Barn Studio locked the doors last Wednesday, on a last ditch run to the studio to collect a few essentials like printer, CD presser, a few random instruments & drums, but the thing that really made me realise this was real was turning the fridge off and unplugging it. I honestly don’t think I can remember a time when the fridge has been turned off - ever - like since December 1995 when I first connected it so we could have fresh milk in our tea as we began laying the foundations to build the studio! That fridge has done some time!! (OK - I might have upgraded it at some point - can’t remember!!)

So - that’s it for a while - no more studio sessions.

No more parties/filming/rehearsals/editing/mixing/mastering/sleeping or just cleaning - nothing!

Coronavirus has stopped many businesses in their tracks, but something tells me BB Studio will bounce back. It’s in my blood to make it happen - things can go on in the background and I won’t give up hope that at the end of this peculiar pandemic there will be one hell of a party at BB - anyone who has been there, knows me or is just looking for somewhere new, will be welcome.

For now tho’ - PLEASE follow government advice & stay at home - don’t push the limits - don’t be a hero.
Stay safe to protect the NHS and keep your hands clean!!
Musicians - do some practice.
Singers - do some practice.
Drummers - hell yeah do some practice!!

Practice 2m/6ft self-distancing too & give the elderly a fair shot at getting their necessities before you.

Oh - here’s a tip - if you have a bidet, now’s a real good time to start using it!!
Ciao4now!