Black Mountain is a state of the art professional recording studio set high up in the Cooley Mountains boasting panoramic views over the Irish sea. Situated just off junction 18 on the M1 motorway, it is exactly half way between Dublin and Belfast. At the heart of the studio is a beautiful SSL 4032 G+ recording console. Both control room and live rooms have been designed by renowned acoustician Andy Munro, each room flooded with natural daylight from large windows overlooking the sea, and filled with a vast collection of new and vintage musical instruments. Black Mountain is one of the most unique musical spaces available anywhere in Ireland today. Filled with the highest spec analogue and digital recording equipment, and an unparalleled recording environment. It is the perfect place to escape, unwind and create. You are very welcome to Black Mountain Recording Studios.
"I came up with the idea for Black Mountain back in 2003. After recording in a lot of different studios and never feeling they captured the right vibe of a relaxed and comfortable, creative atmosphere to make music I decided to create my own. By 2012 the studio had expanded so much that it was time for an upgrade. So I picked out my favourite studios and went to get ideas. I headed to Memphis where I visited Fame, Muscle Shoals Sound, Staxx, Sun and Royal Studios (even recruiting one of the original swampers David Hood for a session back in Black Mountain.!) I enlisted Monroe Acoustics in the UK to acoustically treat the rooms to be as close to those classic rooms in Memphis. And that is what you see today in Black Mountain."
Digital
Pro Tools HDX Ultimate
Logic Pro X
Ableton Live 10
Mac Pro 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 24 GB RAM, with AVID HDX Card in Sonnet PCI thunderbolt chassis with option to run sessions from laptop.
Avid Converters
32 Input – 48 Output
Plugins from Native Instruments/Waves/Artura/Soundtoys/Slate/Avid Pro/Eventide.
IZ Radar V 24 Track Hard Disk Recorder
Analog
Otari MTR90 24 Track 2 Inch Tape Machine
Tascam 85-16B 16 Track 1 Inch Tape Machine (available at request)
1 x Metron 1961 Valve Comp
2 x Urei LA4
1 x Urei 1178
1 x Urei 1176 LN (Blackface )
1 x Universal Audio LA-610
3 x Universal Audio 1176 LN
2 x DBX 160
1 x Tube Tech LCA2B
2 x Empirical Labs Distressor
1 x Empirical Labs Fatso
1 x Aphex Expressor
1 x BBS 901-2 Multiband Compressor
1 x SPL Stereo Transient Designer
1 x Thermionic Culture Vulture Culture 11th Anniversary Edition Mastering Version
1 x Altec 1591A Mic/Line Pre Amp, Compressor
32 x SSL G Series
1 x Cartec EQP-1A
1 x Sherman Filterbank Mk 1
2 x Bricasti M7 with Remote
1 x AKG 4400 Stereo Vintage Spring Reverb
1 x Vermona VSR3 Vintage Spring Reverb
1 x Roland Space Echo RE 101 Vintage Tape Delay
1 x Watkins / WEM Copicat Vintage Tape Echo
1 x Eventide H3000 H/Dse
1 x Roland Dimension D
1 x Black Mountain – Stereo Plate Reverb
2 x SSL G Series
2 x John Hardy M2
1 x TL Audio Ivory Valve
1 x UA 610 Tube Pre amplifier
1 x Shure M67 Microphone Amp
Pearl Birch Masters Drum Kit – Early 80’s (22’/10’/12’/16′)
DW Maple Kit (22’/10’/12’/14)
Vintage Premier African Mahogany 1972
13 x 8/14 x 14/20 x 14
Vintage Premier African Mahogany 1976
13 x 6/14 x 6/16 x 16/22 x 14
Vintage Premier Birch 1959
14 x 6/16 3/8 x 14/20 x 14
Original hardware + 2 Vintage Premier snares
Ludwig Questlove Breakbeats (10’/13’/14’)
Selection of 15 Snares (Brady, Tama, Pearl, Premier , Q)
Large selection of various Cymbals.
Please enquire about any of the above for more details
Fender Telecaster x 2
Gibson SG
Charvel Surfcaster
Dan Electro Baritone
Burns Marquee
Yamaha Acoustic
Guitar Amps
Fender Deluxe
Fender Deluxe 90
Fender Twin Reverb
Fender Blues DeVille
Fender Acoustasonic
Orange Micro Terror + 20w cab
Large selection of various pedals and effects units.
1 x Neumann M149
1 x Neumann U87 Vintage
1 x Neumann U87
2 x Neumann TLM 103
2 x Neumann KMS 105
1 x Rca 77dx Vintage 1950s
1 x Royer 122
2 x Royer 121
2 x Royer 101
2 x Coles 4032 Vintage
1 x AKG D19 Vintage
3 x AKG 414
2 x AKG 451
1 x AKG D112
1 x AKG SE 3008
1 x Lauten Audio FC 387
1 x Blue Bluebird
2 x Oktava MK 012-01
1 x Rode NTK Tube
2 x Rode NTA1
1 x Sennheiser 421
2 x Shure SM58
6 x Shure SM57
3 x Shure Beta 52A
2 x Shure SM7B
2 x Shure 55s Vintage
1 x BeyerDynamic M88 N
1 x BeyerDynamic M201 N (C)
1 x Heil PR40
1 x Reslo Ribbon Vintage
1 x Black Mountain (Custom hand-made for the studio)
Many more other various Microphones
Fender Precision Bass
Rickenbacker Bass
Hohfner President Vintage Bass
Double Bass
Bass Amps
Ampeg SVT MK1 Reissue
Ampeg SV3T Pro
Ampeg 6 x 10 Amp Cab
Mesa Boogie 2 x 10 Cab
Kohler & Campbell Upright Piano
Hammond B3 Organ + Leslie 760 Solid State Cab
Fender Rhodes MK1 73 Key
Wurlitzer 200A
Harmonium
Hohner Pianet
Yamaha YC20 Draw Organ
Synths
Roland Juno 106
Moog Sub 37
MicroKorg XL
Korg MS200B
Yamaha DX21
Casio CZ5000
Other Instruments
Moog Theremin
Sitar
Percussion (Congas/Bongos/Shakers/Tambourines..ect..)
As a supporter of new music Black Mountain offers lower rates
to unsigned artists and independent labels worldwide.
INDEPENDENT LABEL & UNSIGNED ARTIST RATE
€350 per day (ex VAT)
MAJOR LABEL RATE
€550 per day (ex VAT)
This includes full use of all equipment and instruments,
but does not include an engineer.
We have a list of highly skilled and experienced engineers and producers to suit every project and budget and we are happy to discuss your session to recommend engineers/producers most suited to your needs.
Gavin James – Anne Marie – Kodaline – Celtic Woman – All Tvvins – Snow Patrol – James Vincent McMorrow – Hozier – The Divine Comedy – Fang Club – Gavin Friday – Johnny McEvoy – Bitch Falcon – Aine Cahill – Primordial – Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh – The Murder Capital – Loah – Seo Linn – Just Mustard – Elephant – Finnian – David Keenan – David Hood