The studio

A studio for recording together

Benchmaven started from a simple idea: a lot of music is better when it is played together, in the same room, at the same time. So we built the studio around a live room large enough for a whole band, with a direct view of the control room and independent headphone mixes for every musician. The isolated vocal booth lets you add vocals or work on narration without disturbing the other rooms.

The studio is run by two sound engineers who handle every session themselves. There is no hidden subcontracting: the person who prepares your quote is the one who welcomes you, sets up the microphones and hands you the files. We work for independent artists, labels, agencies, audiobook publishers and podcast producers from the Strasbourg area and beyond.

The rooms

• 42 m²

  Live room

  3.4 m ceiling, floating wooden floor, absorbers and wooden diffusers. It takes a drum kit, two amps, a digital piano and up to six musicians, each with their own headphone mix.

• 9 m²

  Booth

  A room within a room, dry but not stuffy, for singing, rap, audiobook narration and voice-over. A window connects it to the control room.

• 24 m²

  Control room

  Symmetrical treatment, main monitors and small check speakers, a 16-channel analogue console and a workstation. This is where mixing and mastering decisions are made.

The gear

Microphones

Large-diaphragm condensers, dynamics for vocals and amps, a small-diaphragm pair for overheads and acoustic instruments, a ribbon microphone for brass.

Preamps and conversion

Sixteen analogue preamps, 24-bit conversion up to 96 kHz, dedicated clock.

Monitoring

Three-way main monitors, compact check speakers, closed and semi-open headphones for every musician.

Instruments

Acoustic drum kit, weighted digital piano, guitar and bass amps. You are welcome to bring your own gear.

We describe families of gear rather than brands: the choice of a microphone depends on your voice or instrument, and we discuss it with you during setup. The detailed list is available on request with your quote.

The team

• Mathilde KellerPresident, sound engineer — mixing and music for picture
• Yann SchaefferSound engineer — recording, mastering and audiobooks

Mathilde Keller mainly handles mixing and music for picture; Yann Schaeffer handles recording, mastering and audiobooks. On band days, both work together.

Getting here

22 Rue de Rathsamhausen, 67100 Strasbourg. Tram C to Landsberg, then a few minutes on foot; bus N2 to Neudorf Marché. Bike parking in front of the building. The studio is on the ground floor, step-free from the street; a 2 cm step separates the entrance from the live room. Let us know if you need help unloading equipment.

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