Once I walked into Puzzle Manufacturing facility Sound Studios for the primary time I knew instantly this wasn’t simply one other recording house. It felt like stepping contained in the mind of an inventor — equal elements engineer, artist and craftsman. In every single place I seemed there have been particulars that spoke of care and precision: hand-welded fixtures, artwork deco styling, fantastically handled rooms and kit racks constructed with an obsessive degree of thought.
On the centre of all of it stood Dax Liniere — producer, mixer, mastering engineer, builder and in some ways a artistic scientist. This studio which he actually constructed along with his personal palms displays every part about who he’s.
A Life in a Transport Container
Dax’s journey to Puzzle Manufacturing facility completely sums up his dedication. In 2016 after a profitable profession in Australia he packed his total life right into a transport container and despatched it midway internationally to London to construct a brand new world-class recording advanced from scratch. It took him round a 12 months and a half of six and seven-day weeks to finish. Each wall, cable and panel was deliberate, designed and fitted by him.
He defined to me that he wished “pure mild in each room” and a artistic house that felt alive not one other darkish windowless field pretending to have vibe. The result’s beautiful. Each room has character, heat and an unmistakable sense of objective.
The acoustic design by Jeff Hedback is executed with the identical precision. Floating flooring, deeply handled ceilings, reversible gobos that swap from absorption to diffusion and velvet drapes to regulate decay. It’s a kind of areas the place you’ll be able to inform each acoustic determination has been measured, listened to and lived with.
The Management Room: A BBC Coronary heart with Fashionable Muscle
The very first thing that catches your eye in Management Room 2 is a custom-built BBC console refurbished by its unique designer Graham Blyth. It’s a bit of British engineering historical past that Dax has paired with a formidable choice of boutique preamps Chandler TG2 Abbey Highway Version, Atlas Juggernaut Twin, Pendulum Audio MDP-1, Nice River MP-2NV and Daking Mic-Pre IV.
He doesn’t use outboard compression or EQ on the way in which by which shocked me at first. However as Dax defined
“My ethos is to seize every part as cleanly as attainable. The sound is within the instrument, the mic alternative, the location and the participant.”
And it’s true. Each sign path on this studio is immaculate. He captures readability after which shapes emotion later.
Lockdown Tasks Turned Studio Fixtures
When most of us have been studying to bake sourdough throughout lockdown Dax was engineering total programs. He constructed a battery-powered pedal energy provide to eradicate hum, a sequential energy switcher to soundly convey up his racks within the appropriate order and a retro fridge mic locker to retailer microphones vertically (supreme for ribbons). Inside are gems from Audio-Technica, DPA, AKG and some quirky classic items like a Movie Industries M8 that actually arrived packed in straw.
It’s all so very “Dax” — creative, elegant and barely mad in the absolute best manner.
The RoboMic and The Auditioner
One of many standout innovations within the studio is the RoboMic. Dax designed and constructed it from scratch — a robotic microphone mover with joystick management from the desk. In case you’ve ever walked backwards and forwards between a guitar cupboard and management room looking for the candy spot you’ll instantly perceive how good that is.
Then there’s The Auditioner, a {custom} switching system that routes one guitar to as much as 5 amplifiers and two cupboards with a “random” blind-test mode that removes model bias. As Dax put it “Generally the Fender wins. Generally it doesn’t. However this fashion you actually pay attention.”
Recording Philosophy: The Human Component
Dax approaches recording with a refreshing lack of dogma.
“Recording ought to by no means be about one inflexible manner of doing issues,” he informed me. “Each venture has its personal calls for and motives. There’s just one rule — it has to sound nice.”
However as he identified “good sound is simply a part of the image.” At Puzzle Manufacturing facility the atmosphere itself is a part of the artistic course of. It’s snug, inspiring and quietly environment friendly. Whether or not you’re a seasoned session participant or monitoring your very first single Dax has a manner of creating the session circulate. He listens rigorously, makes considerate recommendations and ensures that the power of the music all the time comes first.
Watching him work jogged my memory of the most effective producers I’ve met — individuals who mix musicality, empathy and a meticulous ear for element.
The Reside Rooms: Area Meets Creativeness
Reside Room A is a factor of magnificence — spacious, versatile and filled with character. The partitions are lined with reversible acoustic panels and hidden PZM microphones seize the pure atmosphere of the house. A uncommon Brady fibreglass package sits proudly within the centre alongside rows of modified amps and intelligent two-by-twelve cupboards loaded with combined speaker varieties.
He even demonstrated how he can dangle a pair of PZMs from the ceiling to seize large cinematic drum room sounds whereas conserving the ground clear for musicians. Each inch of this place has been thought by means of.
Reside Room B and Management Room 1 are equally spectacular. Management Room 1 Dax’s essential mixing and mastering suite is constructed round a pair of Duntech Princess screens powered by Hypex Class-D monoblocks. When he performed again a combination the readability and imaging have been jaw-dropping. The room itself designed once more by Hedback is tuned to inside millimetres and handled with hand-painted crimson quadratic diffusers. It’s exact however welcoming, the mark of a room constructed by somebody who really makes data not simply measures them.
The Man Behind the Machines
It’s simple to get caught up within the gear and Dax definitely has world-class gear however what actually makes him stand out is his background and outlook.
His work throughout numerous genres and his capability to ship at a world-class degree earned him a Winston Churchill Memorial Belief Fellowship in 2012. A 12 months later he was named Producer of the 12 months in two totally different Australian awards. Then in 2016 he took the leap to London and constructed the studio we’re standing in in the present day.
Dax’s profession has been marked by each achievement and curiosity. He’s written for AudioTechnology Journal and studied below heavyweights like Alan Moulder, Michael Brauer, Joe Chiccarelli and Flood. Over time he’s additionally contributed to the event of numerous plugins from corporations together with FabFilter, Eventide, SoundToys, Celemony, Sonnox, u-he and Tokyo Daybreak Labs.
That blend of creativity and technical fluency explains why he’s so snug transferring between producing, mixing and mastering or designing a robotic to maneuver a microphone.
“Nothing makes me happier than an excellent sounding document,” he informed me. “I’ll all the time match the fervour an artist brings to their music.”
And that zeal is clear in each a part of this place.
The Spirit of Puzzle Manufacturing facility
What struck me most about Puzzle Manufacturing facility is that it doesn’t simply look like knowledgeable studio it feels like a artistic house. Dax’s strategy is deeply human. He understands that an ideal recording isn’t about perfection it’s about emotion, honesty and connection.
He informed me one thing that basically resonated.
“I’d slightly hear an excellent efficiency recorded imperfectly than an ideal recording of a nasty efficiency.”
That sums up every part in regards to the Puzzle Manufacturing facility ethos — music first, all the time.
Why Artists Maintain Coming Again
- A studio designed by a producer who solves issues on the supply so classes run easily and creatively
- Two adaptable reside rooms that morph to go well with the sound and temper of the music
- A mixture and mastering chain that interprets in every single place
- A producer with confirmed awards, fellowship recognition and a long time of hands-on expertise
Whether or not you might be recording your debut single, monitoring a full band or ending a combination Dax Liniere will convey the identical precision, creativity and enthusiasm to your venture as he brings to his personal.
If you wish to expertise a studio constructed with coronary heart, mind and each palms I can say from expertise Puzzle Manufacturing facility Sound Studios is among the most inspiring locations you’ll ever document in.
