In-demand studio and touring drummer Jeff Friedl is co-founder of LA-based rock band The Beta Machine, and has recorded, performed and toured with artists such as A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, Devo and Filter. When he put together his own recording studio, Secret Hand Studios in 2009, he wanted it to be as varied as his own career and flexible enough to accommodate anything.

Recently, the studio completed a small but significant update when Friedl invested in an selection of Focusrite devices. Now, its classic API 1608 console shares space with a Red 8Pre audio interface; RedNet A16R MkII 16-channel analogue I/O interface; ISA 828 MkIIeight-channel mic preamp; a RedNet R1 Desktop Remote Monitor Controller and a Clarett+ OctoPre interface.

Since its founding, Secret Hand Studios has attracted clients as diverse as music recording projects for artists including Devo, Poppy, Powerman 5000 and Narrowhead, as well as for commercials and television programmes like the new 2023 Netflix hit That 90s Show (on which Friedl also played drums).

‘What we were learning over time is that a diverse range of clients wanted flexibility in terms of how they worked,’ he says.

‘Often they wanted to set up stations around the studio so they could move quickly between instruments and working configurations to keep the creativity flowing and not worry about having to connect everything every time.’

The greatest advantage the Focusrite gear brought to Secret Hand Studios, however, is the wide array and number of microphone preamps that offer a range of tonality to match the needs of the studio’s diverse clientele.

‘The API 1608 has great preamps but there are just 16 of them, and that’s not enough for a complex project where the client wants to move around a lot without having to constantly repatch,’ Friedl explains. ‘That’s what got me started on looking at Focusrite in the first place.

‘The ISA 828 MkII, with its ISA ADN8 card, and the Clarett+OctoPre gave us eight more each. And without additional hardware or a lot of extra cabling. All those different preamps give us so many tonal colour options and the ability to mix and match sounds, and the R1 controller makes managing it all easier, letting us toggle between preamps and between monitors remotely, and build custom cue mixes. The Focusrite gear is among the best investments I’ve made.’

More: www.focusrite.com