Attic Attack is a professional recording service owned and run by Pete Rowley. It is one of the longest established facilities in the Bristol area, running since 1987, I was in central Bristol from 1998-2018 and will be moving to Kingswood in October 2018. I offer a wide range of services including studio recording, location recording, mixing, mastering, editing and CD duplication. I cater for all styles of music as well as voice overs, sound design, jingles etc.
Welcome to Attic Attack Recording
Starting life in my loft, Attic Attack then spent 18 happy and fruitful years in studio premises in Portland Square (the former home of Galaxy Radio and, before that, the legendary FTP Radio).
I then moved to a base in the Old Market/Lawrence Hill area, working with various recording studios in the Bristol area to provide a bespoke recording service.
In October 2018 I moved to a new studio space in Kingswood, Bristol, with a good sized live room and comfortable control room.
I also undertake location recording and can travel to record you at a concert or a place you feel comfortable working in. Perhaps you would like to use your favourite piano or record a larger ensemble in a room with suitable acoustics.
Pete Rowley
Owner of Attic Attack, Pete Rowley has been working in studios since 1986. Starting at Academy (later Track Record) Studios in Yate, I set up Attic Attack from my loft in 1987 before moving to Portland Square in 1998. I now have over 30 years of experience as an engineer and producer for an incredibly varied selection of music, as well as voice overs and sound design.
I also have experience of song arranging and programming. I am a keen amateur musician and have played in bands over the years. As a writer have had songs published as part of the Bristol based production team Silk Machine.
I am available through Attic Attack or on a freelance basis for:
Studio and location recording
Producing
Engineering
Programming
Mixing
Mastering
Editing
Sound design
Teaching and consultation
Song arrangements
Partner Studios
As well as working from the studio in Kingswood, I work in partnership with different studios in the Bristol area, depending on your project. This gives a choice of recording spaces.
For bands and larger projects:
13 Sound Studios, Kewstoke
They have a large live room with natural light. There is a Midas desk and I take my own Logic Pro X system, Genelec monitors and all necessary microphones.
Factory Studios, Barton Hill
Good sized live and control rooms. DDA DMR12 analog desk, Logic Pro X, Focal monitors, a selection of Warm Audio outboard, and microphones from Aston, Warm Audio, AKG and Shure.
For voice overs:
Happy Hour Productions, Park Row
Dedicated voice over facility using Pro Tools. They have an in-house engineer and I can act as a producer on the session. Editing and post production is done at Attic Attack.
Please contact me for deals on extended bookings.
Prices are the same for all work - recording, mixing, mastering, editing, song arrangements, post production etc.
Recording at 13 Sound Studios £220 per day (10am - 6pm)
Recording at Factory Studios £300 per day (9.30am - 5.30pm)
Recording at Happy Hour £65 per hour
Location recording £25 per hour plus expenses
Small run CD and DVD duplication - please contact me with your requirements for a quote.
All prices include engineer and VAT.
SPECIAL STUDENT OFFER*
If you are a student or at school, we can offer you a 15% discount on all bookings (not including materials).
BRISTOL MUSIC INDUSTRY NETWORK OFFER*
15% discount for Bmin members
(* Offers cannot be used in conjunction, only one discount or offer can be used.)
£25 per hour
£90
£160
All work at Attic Attack
Half day (4 hours)
Full day (8 hours)
Rates
The in-house kit
Attic Attack uses Logic Pro X running on a Mac Pro 12 core. I also have a Mackie 24 track hard disc recorder for location work.
Mixing is ‘in the box’ or through a Yamaha O2R mixer
Genelec monitors
A selection of microphones from Neumann, Beyer, AKG, Sontronics, Shure, SE etc
Korg Trinity V3 Pro X 88 note weighted keyboard
East West orchestral, choir, percussion and world music sample libraries
IK Multimedia SampleTank 3 and Miroslav Philharmonik
Toontrack EZ Drummer
Celemony Melodyne and Antares Autotune
Izotope RX6 audio restoration
Over 200 plug-ins including Waves, PSP, IK Multimedia, Native Instruments
All plus equipment available at our partner studios.
Clients
Here are just some of the varied projects that have passed through Attic Attack Studio
Phil Thornalley (writer/producer who has worked with the Cure, Bryan Adams, Johnny Hates Jazz and many others, he wrote Torn, the big hit for Natalie Imbruglia and the Number 1 for Pixie Lott, Mama Do). Phil was working on recordings of the musical Dreamboats and Petticoats, with singers Scott Bruton and Daisy Wood-Davis.
Newton Faulkner came in to record some guitar parts just a couple of weeks before his album Hand Built By Robots went to Number 1.
Bristol artist Luke Jerram was recorded talking about his Play Me I’m Yours public piano project for an episode of The Essay on BBC Radio 3.
Local jazz musicians recorded some old standards for an episode of the BBCs Torchwood, set partly in the 1940s.
Somerset clarinet legend Mr Acker Bilk performed as a guest musician on the Jive Aces album Recipe for Rhythm.
Among the voice-over work, I have recorded audio books read by Anthony Head (famous for Little Britain, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Merlin), Sir Ranulph Fiennes (‘the world’s greatest living adventurer’, reading his autobiography), Stephanie Cole (famous for Waiting for God, reading Call The Midwife) and the audio book version of Tweet Of The Day.
The Oldest Swinger In Town, Fred Wedlock was a regular visitor, and I recorded his last album, Festive Fred.
Corporate voice over work is many and varied and includes projects for BBC, Google, Virgin Mobile, Yell, Canon, Comet, Hewlett Packard, Harper Collins, Honda, The National Trust and The World Wildlife Fund.
HoLEY vOid, “The inimitable audio sitcom with a twist of variety performance”. This is a sci-fi audio sitcom in six, one hour ‘episOides’ and features guest appearances from Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, Toyah Wilcox, Ruth Madoc and Pee Wee Ellis.
Former bass player with The Shadows, Jet Harris added his sound to tracks by the Bristol Shadows tribute band Tangent.
I have also worked with The Mission (demos for the Children album), Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts (live) and Sir William Golding (recording his trilogy To the Ends of the Earth).
Clients from the Bristol and South West area include:
Hard Gigging Blues Band The Worried Men
The cool West Coast sound of Moody Will & The Roll
Mixing First World War concept album The Imperial Plan from The Fable
Great Ska from The Great Eskape
Electro Pioneers Mesh
Dark Romantic Goths Cauda Pavonis
Reggae bands Dappa Don & The Playaz and Ansum And De Vibes
Acoustic Folk/Jazz from De La Nada
Indie Rock of The Lasting Days
Rockers Left Side Brain, Area 51 and King Marapaka
The Funky Funkinsteins
The genre defying songs of Suzanna van Moyland
Top Local Singer-Songwriters Maddie Southorn and Gavin Ball
Folk/Blues Singer Keith Christmas
Hip-Hop from OT and Bad Breed
Many Language Courses for Lingua UK
A Live Recording of Red Notes Choir
We have recorded Jazz from the Andy Hague Quintet, the Dave Buxton Trio, John Donegan and the Blue Notes Jazz Band
Classical Music from Geoff Nichols and the Lorien Ensemble
Reviews
What a some of our customers have said about Attic Attack....
I recorded my first album at Attic Attack when I was relatively new to the recording process. Pete Rowley was really helpful and a great engineer. He listened to what I wanted, offered constructive feedback when I asked for it (and didn't try to take over as so many engineers do!) and even put me in touch with other musicians to help me complete the project. I ended up with the album I wanted and you can't say better than that as an artist. The studio is well equipped and very reasonably priced. I've recorded there many times since and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone else.
Maddie S
Local Bristol Reggae Artist, Riddimical Prophet has just finished recording his debut album at Attic Attack studios. Pete does a fantastic job, he lends advice when you seek it but otherwise doesn't interfere with the artists preferences. He is welcoming, easy to talk to and gets straight to the job at hand each time. He has mixed instrumentals, recorded vocals and mastered the album in full and it sounds excellent. Very happy to have found this studio and would highly recommend anyone to go there. Thanks again Pete. Look forward to the next album.
Riddimical Prophet
Our quintet put down nearly 20 minutes of highly complex music in one night at Attic Attack, with a great acoustic sound. Engineer Pete Rowley is a pleasure to work with - friendly, professional, unflappable, sensitive to the needs of the music, and apparently tireless. The studio rate is also good value. Pete also records on-site, if your outfit is too large for the studio or you want a specific acoustic.
Keith H-B
Pete is great to work with. He sets a really nice relaxing atmosphere to play in and has a very high level of skill when it comes to putting it all together. I would recommend anyone to Attic Attack. I used the studio to put down a couple of song ideas, and in 2 hours Pete had weaved his magic for me. Really pleased.
Richard N
In the can - We've used Pete Rowley's recording service for almost 20 years. He's kept us technically up to speed as media formats have evolved and over the years has recorded and edited hundreds of hours of French dialogues, English short plays, Spanish lexica and even Latin texts. We hope to continue using Attick Attack for the years to come and benefit from the excellent support and quality of service.
Lingua UK
Brilliant studio, Pete knows his job and makes recording simple for those who are playing or singing.
Michaela C
Attic Attack is one of the best recording studio I have ever been. I have recorded 16 songs in one CD and no problem occurred. So I recommend it to all who needed to record their song or songs, 'cause I know you will love it. When I booked my day of recording everything was set when I arrive so all the procedures are straightforward.
Madilyn N