Studio Interviews: Tanguy Laburthe

Our latest studio interview is with Tanguy Laburthe, whose studio resides on the picturesque French coast, and sports some beautiful wooden diffusers…

Interviewee: Tanguy Laburthe
Position at studio: Owner
Contact: tanguyl10@icloud.com

Tell us a little about the studio…

My studio is located in Naujac-sur-Mer, not too far away from Bordeaux in France. It’s a home made studio that I’ve been using for the past year, which uses a bespoke acoustic panel with rock wool and glass wool that I created myself along with wooden diffuser panels.

What kit are you using?

My kit list in the studio:

• Yamaha HS7 monitors
• DT-770 headphones by Beyer Dynamics
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interface
• Philips HIFI system (L,R and SUB)
• MacBook Pro
• Acoustic panels (absorbers and diffusers)
• Electric and acoustic guitar
• Pioneer turntable

Keyboards

• Yamaha PSR-E213
• Korg Taktile

Microphones

• Shure SM57
• Superlux ECM999

Which DAW do you use and why?

Logic Pro X. For me, it’s the better DAW for music production and mixing. I find that all the windows and the necessary tools for creation and mixing are within reach, which improves my workflow thanks to the easy and intuitive design. Also, I have to say, I do love the interface.

Favourite bit of gear?

My Yamaha HS7 speakers. The frequency response, the on-point spatialisation and just the quality-price ratio. Moreover, I find them rather neutral. You could say that I like their sound colour.

How often would you say do you spend in your studio per week?

It varies from week to week. This week I am in Bordeaux for my studies and then I’ll be back in my studio to produce and mix a project at the weekend. Once I’m there, I’ll spend all day in the studio.

How do you use your studio?

At the moment, I am just making music for fun as I haven’t a treated live room and the necessary recording equipment.

What’s next on your shopping list?

I would like to have a control surface to automate my tracks easily (time gains) and I like the feel of a physical fader under my fingers.

Anything annoy you about your set-up?

Yes, my sound card caused a small latency, which could be a real problem depending on which project I was working on.

Dream piece of gear?

To begin, I would like a Neve analog preamp or a Neumann condenser microphone like the TLM 49 or U-87 to use in post-production to record voice-overs, which I could also use in the future when recording bands.

What is your top piece of production advice?

I think that it’s really important to have an understanding of different chords on the piano because thanks to keyboard controllers we can play all the [virtual] musical spectrum. Case in point, orchestral composition in a DAW becomes so much easieer, as it means you could potentially play the bass, cello, alto, violin 1 and 2 at the same time.

What is the one piece of advice you would give someone starting out building a studio?

Acoustic treatment is the most important investment otherwise you spend all your time mixing your room and not your track. So, bass trap in the angle to attenuate the sub frequencies, rock wool absorber panels for the bass frequencies and glass wool absorber panels for the medium, high frequencies and to eliminate direct reflections at the sweet spot. Moreover, the diffusers allow a better quality of listening and the superior frequencies diffusion in the room.