Hello all people, hope you’re doing marvellously effectively.
I’m fairly enthusiastic about this one.
We’re at Trinity Buoy Wharf in East London and sitting in entrance of one thing fairly extraordinary, an actual lightship known as Lighthouse 95. Now, fast clarification, for my American buddies, that’s buoy as in one thing floating within the water, not a “boy” wandering round!
This ship was in-built 1939 and initially towed out to sea to behave as a floating lighthouse. That alone is superb. Nevertheless what’s much more unbelievable is what it has change into right now, a completely functioning recording studio.
So naturally, I needed to go and test it out.
Stepping aboard one thing particular
From the second I stepped onto the ship, there was already a way that this was going to be totally different.
Giles, who runs the studio, welcomed me aboard and instantly you are feeling it, that refined shift. You’re not strolling right into a constructing, you’re boarding one thing with historical past, one thing that has lived a totally totally different life earlier than music ever entered the image.
And then you definately stroll into Studio One…
A correct studio, in each sense
The very first thing that hit me was the ambiance.
And I don’t imply “good vibe” within the informal sense. I imply that very actual, virtually bodily feeling you get if you stroll into a correct studio area.
We discuss this so much, most studios right now are constructed into workplace blocks, warehouses, shared areas. That’s simply the fact. Nevertheless, the magic of the traditional studios was at all times that sense of entering into one other world. A spot the place every part exterior merely disappears.
Lighthouse 95 has that.
You stroll in and immediately suppose, oh yeah… this can be a studio.
Not a room in a constructing. Not a transformed workplace. A vacation spot.
After which Giles casually mentions:
At low tide, the ship is sitting on the riverbed. When the tide is available in, it floats.
So sure… you may be recording a drummer, and the entire room may gently transfer beneath you.
That’s not one thing you get in your common business facility.
A stay room with character and functionality
The stay room itself is extremely versatile.
They’ve had as much as a 15-piece band in there, which is tight, nevertheless completely doable. Extra realistically, 4 to 9 musicians match very comfortably, making it ideally suited for stay band monitoring.
What actually stood out was the isolation.
Giles talked about a latest jazz session the place ribbon mics have been positioned close to the piano, drums within the room, and there was barely any bleed. That’s severely spectacular, particularly in an area with curved metal partitions.
And people curves are a part of the magic.
You possibly can actually see the hull of the ship built-in into the construction. Add to that correct bass trapping and considerate acoustic therapy, and also you’ve bought an area that sounds managed, nevertheless nonetheless alive.
There’s additionally a small sales space, excellent for vocals or isolation when wanted, and even a intelligent reverb chamber constructed into what was once a cabinet. Depart the door barely open, place a speaker and a pair of small diaphragm condensers, and abruptly you’ve bought a pure, musical atmosphere.
Easy concepts, executed superbly.
Character gear all over the place you look
This place is filled with character.
From Peavey bass amps from the golden period, to Fender Twins, a JC120, boutique builds just like the Kraken, and a Hammond with a Leslie that comes with one of many extra uncommon backstories you’ll ever hear involving a repairman and a police go to throughout a homicide inquiry…
Sure, that really occurred.
There are devices all over the place, a Broadwood upright piano with a punchy midrange that sits superbly in a mixture, Rhodes and Wurlitzer electrical pianos, classic guitars, and loads of distinctive items with actual historical past behind them.
It feels curated fairly than collected. Every part has a purpose to be there.
A severely spectacular mic locker
The microphone assortment is the place issues get much more fascinating.
You’ve bought classics and fashionable items sitting facet by facet:
- Classic U87 from 1967
- RCA ribbon from 1943
- Coles 4038s and Beyer M160s
- STC ribbon with unbelievable rejection
- United Studio Applied sciences FET 47-style mics
- Shure KSM sequence, together with the underrated KSM8
- Earthworks omnis
- Josephsons
- AKG D19s
- Experimental and prototype mics from newer firms
There’s additionally an interesting ambisonic-style microphone system with 4 capsules that permits for various spatial views and immersive recording potentialities.
It’s the type of locker that invitations experimentation.
The management room, versatile and highly effective
On the coronary heart of the management room is a 48-channel Cadac S2 console, initially from a broadcast truck.
It’s a severe desk with:
- Absolutely sweepable EQ
- Switchable Q
- Constructed-in compressors
- Intensive routing
- 64 inputs into Professional Instruments
The setup is intelligent, utilizing one facet for inputs and the opposite for outputs, giving plenty of flexibility for monitoring and mixing.
Outboard consists of:
- API pres
- Neve modules from an Australian broadcast desk
- Focusrite items
- Customized-built Echodec gear from New Zealand
- A number of Distressors
- Tape delays together with Roland House Echos
- Analogue reverbs and oddities
And sure… they’ve a Studer MTR90 working, permitting you to trace to tape and go straight into Professional Instruments.
The most effective of each worlds.
Monitoring and workflow
Monitoring is dealt with by ATCs, beginning with SCM25s and now upgraded to SCM45s, giving a wider candy spot and improved low-end translation.
There’s additionally a wholesome assortment of synths, pedals, and outboard toys, together with every part from Eventide H90s to classic Russian Large Muffs that when offered for $20 and now really feel like holy relics.
The historical past beneath your ft
What makes this place much more particular is what it was once.
The management room? That was the diesel tank.
The stay room? As soon as housed the equipment that powered the sunshine.
This ship was a part of a community guiding vessels away from harmful sandbanks just like the Goodwin Sands. It was crewed by eight individuals till the Eighties, then automated and finally decommissioned in 2003.
Producer Ben Phillips spent years changing it right into a studio, stripping out insulation foam, sourcing authentic fittings, and rebuilding the area with unbelievable consideration to element.
Even including a two-storey residing area on prime, craned completely into place.
It’s an astonishing transformation.
A house for stay music
One of many issues Giles spoke about that actually resonated with me is his love of recording stay bands.
And this place is constructed for it.
They’ve labored with an enormous variety of artists from London’s fashionable jazz scene, together with gamers related to organisations like Tomorrow’s Warriors, a significant power in nurturing younger expertise within the UK.
Artists like Moses Boyd, Ezra Collective, Alfa Mist and plenty of others have come by related circles.
The philosophy is straightforward and highly effective:
Get the sound correct.
Make everybody comfy.
Then let the musicians play.
Each take turns into a second.
Location, isolation, and inspiration
Regardless of feeling utterly faraway from the world, Lighthouse 95 is extremely effectively related.
It’s proper close to Canary Wharf, near Greenwich, simply accessible by tube, and for those who’re feeling adventurous, you may even take a ship throughout the river.
Nevertheless if you’re inside, none of that issues.
It appears like a inventive retreat. A spot the place you may totally focus.
And that, particularly in London, is uncommon.
Closing ideas
Lighthouse 95 is not only a novelty.
It’s not simply “a studio on a ship.”
It’s a completely realised, skilled recording atmosphere with a novel historical past, considerate design, and a transparent inventive identification.
Extra importantly, it captures one thing that many studios have misplaced:
That feeling of entering into an area the place music is the one factor that issues.
And truthfully, that’s what makes nice information.
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing.
