Service · Berlin-Pankow
Balkan brass, gypsy jazz, flamenco, Latin American, klezmer, Arabic and Turkish ensembles — recorded live in Berlin-Pankow across four connected rooms, with the focus on musical interplay rather than digital perfection.
What it is
So much of our traditional and folkloric-based repertoire requires real humans playing together to get the right feel or that special swing or micro-timing happening. The feel sits between the players — the way a Balkan brass section leans on the beat, the way a cajón and a double-bass feel time — so we record the ensemble together, in the same moment, across up to four rooms with ears open and eye contact.
Instruments arrive that very few studios likely own: ouds, bouzoukis, charangos, tapan drums, accordions, cajóns, hand percussion of every size. We have our share of special percussion instruments from around the world, but we love it when something new is brought to a session. We experiment and choose the best mics for each instrument, and we always try to get a musical balance going into the recorder instead of resigning to "fix-it-in-the-mix". If you are looking for more about our jazz sessions, visit the page dedicated to all things jazzy: jazz recording.
Who it's for
Berlin is full of ensembles with music from somewhere else. So much of this music was conceived for a room full of people playing together, not MIDI instruments — and that is exactly what this studio is set up to record.
Sessions in motion
Two recent projects show the range: the Wuahache Collective's Latin American EP with Antonio Restucci, and Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocărlia's The Devil Rides Again — a Balkan brass record mixed and mastered here that won a Quarterly Critics' Choice from the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
Yes. Three tracking rooms plus the control room let us separate drums, percussion and voice while everyone keeps eye contact. Bleed between mics is planned for, not fought.
Regularly — charango, requinto, oud, bouzouki, tapan, accordion, cajón and hand percussion have all been tracked here. We choose mics per instrument, and there is time in the session to try two options.
Yes — Andean, Chilean, Cuban and Brazilian groups have all worked here. Charango, cuatro, cajón, congas and berimbaus get mics chosen for their own voice, and rhythm sections stay together in one room so the groove never gets glued on afterwards.
Regularly. Gypsy swing lives or dies on the push-and-pull between rhythm guitars and soloist, so we track everyone in one room with real eye contact — manouche rhythm, violin and clarinet kept in the same acoustic moment, not stitched to a grid later.
Quietly and carefully. Instruments like oud, qanun, ney, darbuka and clarinet each need their own mic choice and their own space in the room — so we separate what needs separating while keeping the ensemble close enough to breathe together. Ornamentation and micro-timing survive because we record them live, not as overdubs.
Let's plan a session together.
Tell us about the music, the players and the sound you'd like to hear back. We'll come back with a plan.
Book a SessionContinue exploring
Jazz recording
Trios, quartets and larger jazz groups tracked live.
Live band recording
The live-tracking approach behind every ensemble session.
World music projects
Case studies from international ensembles recorded here.
Plan a session
Tell us about the ensemble — we'll come back with a plan.
Inside the studio
The four connected rooms, acoustics and instruments behind every session.
