Recording Studio Sweet Spot: The Submarine – Bushwick, Brooklyn
He gets it. Is there a bigger compliment you can give to the person piloting the place where you’re making music?
That’s the irreplaceable characteristic of Dan Walker that keeps his clients coming back to The Submarine. We first found out about Walker and his workflow when we were covering NY Studio Factory a few weeks back – we set out to discover more, and found out there was a whole lot to know about this mighty mite of a facility.
Dan Walker’s vehicle for Brooklyn music production is the Submarine Studio.
A truly global citizen, Walker chose Brooklyn to make his musical home. He’s an Aussie who went from touring with a punk outfit and putting out club records, to settling down in the competitive confines of Bushwick. It turns out all that globe- and genre-hopping built him up quite a network, one that poised him perfectly to have a diverse clientele hiring him on a regular basis.
That’s probably because The Submarine is a studio where he and his colleagues never gets bored. They get to work on absolutely every aspect of production there, from composing to tracking vocals straight through to mastering for a client base that includes labels like Dim Mak, Rough Trade/XL, and DFA, as well as HBO, XBoX, Billabong and Redbull.
Along the way, he’s established a smart signal path, with different solutions for working ITB and OTB. What was his analog game changer? Hint: It’s a summing mixer that’s led the way to mixing that’s more efficient AND fun. Plus, he’s got his hands on recall app that will save you a ton of time. All this, and a Slate Raven in-house plus, a $50 “mystery unit” barnyard find that turned out to be killer — this is a mic pre you really may not find in any other studio in the world.
For strategic smarts right now, submerge yourself…
The bridge! In control.
Facility Name: The Submarine
Website: http://www.thesubmarinestudio.com
Date of Birth: May 2012
Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn
Neighborhood Advantages: Well, the initial appeal for me and the band I was playing with at the time to move out here was that it was a little more anonymous and much cheaper to live in comparison to, say, Williamsburg where I feel many artists were trying to move away due to it’s high rents.
In Bushwick it seemed you could still maintain as an artist in the abundance of reasonably priced warehouse and loft spaces that make up a large portion of this suburb’s industrial landscape. Though over the last eight years from when I first moved up here from Philly this neighborhood has seen such a dramatic change with a high influx of musicians, artists and just more people in general moving here both locally and from abroad.
I’ve watched this play out in both positive and negative ways as the community adjusts. But for a small boutique recording and production studio such as mine carving out a lane here it’s been beneficial in having a fairly steady stream of awesome new and already established artists and bands both local and international in the area that allow me to keep doing what I love doing.
For the clients it’s a great neighborhood in the sense that it’s become an attraction in and of itself with the high rotation of artwork in the streets which it’s now became known for. It’s fairly central transport-wise too with the M and L trains close by. And with all the new bars and restaurants around right now there’s no shortage of quality food and drink!
Facility Focus: After a good many years working in audio I’ve managed to effectively tailor this space to accommodate all aspects of the recording process.
The live space.
We have the studio set up and prepared to track live bands. I find I’m recording vocals regularly for indie singer/songwriters and rappers, although I find myself working primarily with artists on production, assistance in composition and then a large portion of my time is spent mixing and mastering. Between all of the above it’s a generally balanced affair from month to month, depending on who I’m working with.
Mission Statement: At The Submarine I’ve made it my mission to cater to both established and upcoming artists and bands in this city and abroad looking to work on either singles, EP’s or full lengths within a comfortable, sincere and properly equipped studio space.
With my past background before officially opening the studio as The Submarine I was touring regularly with art punk band The Death Set and in the downtime was also putting out club records among my other aliases as I was still very much active in the Breakbeat and Electro House scene both here and in the UK.
Having this network from touring and putting out records, meeting labels and artists consistently for 10+ years prior I feel has set up a trend for the clientele that make their way to this studio. We cater to the indie rock, garage, punk bands, hip hop, RnB, pop, singer/songwriter, electronica, techno, and everything else in between. The demographic across the board leans more toward the leftfield and I’ve found myself working with some amazing and unique artists both signed and unsigned over the years.
As mentioned earlier I’ve found that my experience in being an active musician in the scene also has had a great impact on the people I work with too, when it comes to assisting in writing and production. I get what people are trying to do in respect to their project and they feel that, so I’ve found there’s always a positive connection there to promote creativity and a good working relationship.
I work like a beast to help people achieve the best they can be in the studio, and as a producer I’m aware to never overtake a person’s project and to remain focused on only bringing out the best of the artist’s ideas and vision with my experience. Also people who have worked with me here know how I charge fairly for my time in comparison. This is something that I strive to offer all my clients to keep my services accessible to everyone, which is helpful for both the established and upcoming independent artist especially here in New York City.
Clients/Credits: I’ve had the fortunate pleasure of being able to work with a very wide and eclectic range of artists and producers. Here’s a handful of projects new and old.
The Death Set – King Babies EP (co-writer/producer/mix engineer) [Dim Mak]
The Prettiots – Fun’s Cool LP (mastering engineer) [Rough Trade/XL]
Guerilla Toss – Erazer Stargazer LP (mix engineer) [DFA]
Wax Witches – Center Of Your Universe (mastering engineer) [Burger Records]
Tiger Tooth – Tiger Tooth LP (mix/mastering engineer) [Baby Tooth Productions]
SKUX – The Two Sides Of She EP (co-writer/producer/mix and mastering engineer) [DIY Release]
Guerilla Toss – Flood Dosed EP (tracking/mix engineer) [DFA]
Bleach Girls – Hi! EP (mastering engineer) [DIY Release]
Kevin Hussein – Cybersex LP (vocal tracking, mix/mastering engineer) [DIY Release]
Boulevards – Boulevards EP (mix/mastering engineer on 2 songs) [Don’t Funk With Me Records]
Rena – Rude Chick EP (producer/mix and mastering engineer) [DIY Release]
Also worked on music and syncs for Magnolia, HBO, XBoX, Billabong and Redbull
Recorded Here:
Guerilla Toss – Polly’s Crystal (Tracked, Mixed)
SKUX – On Her Way (Co-write, Tracked, Produced, Mixed, Mastered)
Sunshine Gun Club – So Alien (Written, Tracked, Produced, Mixed, Mastered)
The Death Set – They Come To Get Us, (Co-Write/Produced, Mixed)
Les Enfant Teribble – “Carry On” (Mixed)
Tiger Tooth – Tiger Tiger Tooth Tooth (Mixed, Mastered)
Key Personnel:
Dan Walker – Owner, Studio Manager, Producer, Engineer
Dorian Wolfe – Co-Owner, Engineer, Tech
Josh Andreas – Producer, Engineer, Education
System Highlights: We have a strong, diverse selection of both software and hardware.
A Rupert Neve Designs 5059 was a “game changer” for the Submarine.
Pro Tools, Logic and Ableton are the main DAWS used in connection with an RME UFX and an Apogee Rosetta 800 setup with outboard as a hybrid mixing environment. ITB I’m primarily using Logic myself with a UAD Satellite running plugs such as Ampex, Neve, UA, Manley, Pultec and Vertigo. I’ll use the stock EQ and linear phase from Logic for problem work and then use the UAD plugs to liven things up.
Also I have everything routed/patched out to a Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Summing Mixer. This box really changed the game over here, and with it’s insert points on every channel has allowed for far easier integration of our available outboard. Manley, Avalon, Distressors, Fatso, Modded Orban 622B, API 2500 and one of Geoff Tanner’s Aurora GT4-2 EQs. All of this stuff is such great fun to insert on the summing pairs and I’ve found I mix much more efficiently as a result. Recall can get intense but I found this great recall app by a company called TeaBoy and that’s been a total time saver.
I also run the Slate Raven MTi2 as a mixer. I was drawn to touchscreen technology a while ago when I noticed in some sessions I would instinctively reach for the screen to turn knobs or push faders so I figured I would give the Raven a go to see if it made sense. To be honest, installation was a nightmare but support at Slate is pretty solid. Finally the program stabilized but it’s still not without a couple of annoying glitchy quirks which will hopefully get addressed in the next couple of updates. Beyond that, as an actual control surface, I use it primarily for mixing it’s pretty awesome: very responsive and has filled the gap in my workflow where I was constantly reaching for the screen to move things. It’s also fully customizable and you can set up batch commands for your most common day-to-day functions within the DAW which is pretty cool and saves time.
Rockin’ the RAVEN.
For tracking I originally had the Toft ATB 16. It did the job and was a sturdy little workhorse but in the end I sold it and patched up my own selection of handpicked mic pres. It’s 15 channels total at the moment which includes a Retro Powerstrip, Chandler TG2 dual channel, and eight Seventh Circle N72 Neve clones.
Then there’s this incredibly unique box I found in a warehouse junk sale for $50. It was a mysterious unit in the sense that there was little-to-absolutely-no information available on it after digging around the net. But after some deeper research we discovered it was assembled by a company called Bruel and Kjaer (B&K Instruments) originally here in the US circa 1970’s for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft as a custom box where it was used possibly in application for sound power determination, or as a set of channels for communication aboard military aircraft and/or flight towers. It’s a lunchbox style unit housing six modules that sit a little deeper then the modern day 500 Series gear. On the back it had inputs on huge seven-pin screw in connectors for powering tube mics and it’s outputs were on BNC.
It still remains somewhat of a mystery and has been dubbed the “Secret Weapon” after our tech Dorian managed to mod the inputs and outputs to XLR and get it operating as a set of functioning mic pres for the studio (four working modules, one cool glitchy distortion and one dead). It’s a very focused, slightly aggressive mid range like tone. But on the right source and with some tube EQ sounds super tight. One of a kind!
The secret weapon B&K mic pre is truly military spec.
Monitoring Environment: I was using Genelecs for a long time with a Yamaha sub which was a great combination that served me well. But after working on a full length with Barefoot MM27s a few years ago I knew I had to venture down that route at some point.
So finally I managed to locate a pair and it’s no looking back. For the first week after I got them I was just listening to music through them non stop. It was enlightening. Super detailed, super focused, and finally in mixing I was able to get a grip on what was actually happening in the bottom end and having it translate effectively. The room itself I work out of was moderately treated when I first moved in but not without it’s problems. Though after strategically adding some panels, bass traps and a couple of large diffusers we’ve managed to create a decent space that allow the Barefoots to shine. We also have the Yamaha NS10 option here too for A/Bing.
An additional angle on the control room.
Rave Reviews: What do people tell you they like/love about your studio?
People seem to love this studio as it’s a super relaxed and chill environment. It’s warm and inviting, and I watch newcomers tensions and apprehensions about working in a new room dissipate very quickly. People feel at home, and they feel inspired to create which is exactly the kind of space I’m going for.
Most Memorable Session Ever: They’ve all kind of blurred into one big session over the years. Every session has always been fun and inspiring!
Dream Session: Give me the original Dead Kennedys lineup.
— Dan Walker, Submarine Studio
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