ABOUT NICK BURCHALL

Nick co owns and works at Audio Animals as the lead mastering engineer. With over 2 decades of experience under his belt mastering for some of the world biggest artists and films. Nick has established himself as one of the industries best engineers for all genres.

The pride of Nick’s mastering studio is his £150,000 mastering chain consisting of the legendary UnFairchild 670m mk2, Shadow Hills optograph compressor and Elysia Alpha compressor. Three of the industries most sought after compressors money can buy. Using such high quality equipment in Nick’s unique way achieves a sound unlike any other.

Hi, my name is Nick Burchall, I was born in London in 1986 and established Audio Animals in October 2012. Within this time I have had the pleasure of working on over twenty thousand different mastering orders, from a range of clients encompassing every genre of music you could think of – from major Hollywood films and platinum selling artists to first time producers releasing their very first song.

Cliché maybe, but music has always been a big part of my life. I started learning the violin at the age of 7 and once played it at the Royal Albert Hall; which was an amazing experience! At 12 I also took up the piano and at 16 started dabbling with the guitar too. My piano teachers were very dynamic and gave me the chance to learn everything from classical to contemporary; as well music theory, improvisation and playing from ear. This really gave me a solid footing from a musical perspective for my future career in music. My parents had a vast range of musical tastes, which I naturally inherited and I am forever thankful for being exposed to. I draw on this experience everyday with the vast variety of types of music I work with. This is one of the things I absolutely love about my job, no two days are the same and I get to enjoy a rich array of music from all corners of the globe.

During my teenage years, I also started producing songs as well as recording friends and mixing their music. This was when the sound engineering bug really hit. It didn’t take long to realise music was what I wanted to do with my life, so once I left school and during my time at college, I got experience working in studios and taking evening classes on various courses across London, so that I would be in a position to take a Sound Engineering course at University. In 2004, I started my Engineering degree in Audio Technology and Innovation at DeMontfort University in Leicester. I really enjoyed my time there, and really got to develop my skills. By my second year, the University had completed building their state of the art multiplex of studios, including my favourite – the main studio which featured a Solid State Logic AWS 900+ as the centrepiece. This was the start of me falling in love with the sound of SSL and the quality of high end outboard equipment.

Upon leaving University with a BSc, I also did a diploma at the Qantm College London, (part of the SAE) in web design and development, during which also I freelanced in various studios as a mixing and mastering engineer. I already had some limited coding experience, however, this took that to new levels, as I learnt many coding languages and programming techniques, as well as graphic design. I still utilise these skills in building and maintaining our website, as well as developing our own audio plugins and samplers.

In 2012, my cousin Paul and I decided to bring our personal studios together, which over the years with a lot of hard work and sacrifice, have grown exponentially to form the Audio Animals studios you see today. Paul often describes us as the ying to each other’s yang, which is a great way to put it. We grew up very closely, but outside of music, developed different skill sets that complement each other perfectly for running the business. I am always thankful for the drive and passion he shows in pushing the company forward.

Despite a strong background in mixing in my younger years, over the last decade or so I have now specialised, as they say, and work as the lead mastering engineer in Studio A here at Audio Animals, where I have my pride and joy showroom level mastering chain, where I have hand picked the very best mastering analogue mastering equipment money can buy. I am always excited to work with new clients and build a great, long standing working relationship. You can find all of the services I offer here.

MASTERING TESTIMONIAL

“Nick perfectly balanced my track and I could clearly hear each instrument against the vocals, but still preserving the song’s dynamics. Everything had space. It didn’t matter what device I played the final master through, a laptop or Hi Fi – everything still sounded great and clear. Something that we all want when people listen to our music.” – Sam Cole

STEM MASTERING TESTIMONIAL

“I have had many many tracks mastered by Audio Animals. I’ve always been absolutely happy with the results. Mastered my own mixes in the past and these days I prefer to send it out to Nick to get it done. Comes back exactly as I wanted it! The most consistent team that there is. You know your work is in safe hands. Very reliable.” – Harry Mindgame