API TV: Young Guns invest in Focusrite for home studio

Five-piece rock band Young Guns are working on their third album, using a variety of Focusrite gear, at their home studio in Marlow, UK.

The recording/rehearsal facility, which the band constructed themselves, is where they do most of their writing and practicing. When work started on the new album recently, the group made the decision to take more creative control in terms of production, which prompted them to begin the search for a new audio interface solution.

“The idea was to allow us to put down solid demos in our own time,” guitarist John Taylor commented. “We wanted to be able to multi-track record live performances as a whole band as well as track great sounding drums, guitars, synths and vocals for demos.”

The band opted for Focusrite’s Firewire/Thunderbolt Saffire Pro 40, featuring eight Focusrite preamps, ten analogue outputs, ADAT I/O, S/PDIF connections, two DI channels, a dedicated stereo monitor mix output and two independent headphone buses. For added channel count expandability they also purchased Focusrite’s OctoPre MkII Dynamic, which can be connected via ADAT to provide eight more channels of Focusrite mic preamps, with a VCA-based compressor on each channel.

The musicians hook the Saffire Pro 40 up to a MacBook via a Firewire to Thunderbolt adaptor.

Taylor continued: “The mic preamps sound amazing…they are smooth and transparent, and unlike other audio interfaces we have used in the past we haven’t had any problems with noise or distortion.”

For drum recording, they are using the OctoPre MkII Dynamic’s on-board compressors, designed to add life and character to drum takes on the way in.

Vocalist Gustav Wood concluded: “Being able to record our demos at such a high standard is a real step up for us as a band… We feel more confident when coming into the studio with solid ideas…Having our own recording set-up allows us to workshop our songs to a whole new level.”

For more information on Young Guns’ home studio, and further details on the band’s choice of Focusrite equipment, check out the video below…

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