Studio sound production, recording, mixing and mastering

I’m pleased to have been involved with Peter Combe‘s new CD “Planet Earth Third From The Sun“.

It’s chock full of his characteristically quirky ear worms and should be a hit with a whole new generation of fans.

When I told our boys about the recording sessions one of them said: “Peter Combe? We used to listen to his CDs all the time when we were little. Wash your face with orange juice? Mend the fence with sticky tape? I can still remember all the songs. Did you tell him we listened to his songs when we were little?” No small impression left on people who are now young adults and number in the millions.

For me it was the completion of a decades long circle working with Peter again. We first met in the 90s at the ABC in Collinswood, South Australia. I was an ABC Radio sound engineer recording dramas, music and doing live broadcasts. He was the central character in a children’s weekly radio drama called “Ticklepot” whose premise was that Peter Combe lived in a world where he was surrounded by a menagerie of animal friends played by massively talented actors like Henry Salter, Ted Hodgeman and Heather Steen – who was the drama’s equally talented writer/producer.

Every episode was a gem of a scenario that sparked the imagination, had comedy, drama and of course Peter’s music. The other main character was Monkey – a cheeky chap with a unique manner of speaking and apparently a fondness for subtle hints or double entendres that suggested there might be something more to the relationship between man and monkey than met the ear – to adults at least – to children it was completely innocent.

Back then I was always delighted that Peter’s music was so beautifully recorded and mixed. It sonically sparkled. The music was interesting and intelligent. The song ideas were funny, catchy and eminently re-listenable – a major plus given the thrashing that young children love to give their musical favourites.

Fast forward to today and it’s a joy to have recorded and mixed Peter’s latest offering. As catchy as ever, as well played – thanks to Peter, Stuart Day, Steve Todd, Sam Leske and Phil Cuneen. The recording clarity is as good as ever thanks to the Brett Sody‘s knowledge and experience and his Sodypop Studio workflow of great mics, clean DIs, modern valve mic pre amps, vintage analogue compressors and mixing desk, and ProTools HD recording at 88.2 kHz 24 bit.

When we listened back to the masters from the renowned Turtlerock Mastering’s Rick O’Neil, he had balanced the album beautifully, barely tweaking our mixes – if at all.

Now the album is at the pressing plant and is on the music streaming platforms – Apple Music here – and Spotify here. To quote Molly Meldrum “Do yourself a favour!” play it to your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews.

My personal favourites are “Little Willy Wagtail”, “Some People Do Walk”, “The Force Of Gravity”, “Planet Earth”, and “Such a Beautiful Morning”. You can blame me if they get stuck in your head.

It’s a privilege to be able to work with musicians – there are so many talented and beautiful people among them and it makes the whole process so enjoyable.

I can’t wait to get into the studio and see what tonight brings.

If you are interested in finding out more about recording please contact me using the contact form on my website or through FaceBook.