Brookspeare Music Outfits its Multi-Faceted, Creative Studio with a Solid State Logic ORIGIN Analogue Console and UF8 Advanced DAW Controller

Warwickshire, U.K., March 25, 2026 — Sound designer and mixer Richard Brooker and his wife, Rachel Shakespeare, a cellist and musician contractor and Director of Leos Strings, have upgraded their Brookspeare Music studio with a Solid State Logic ORIGIN 32-channel analogue mixing console outfitted with a UF8 eight-channel advanced DAW controller integrated into the centre section. The couple specialise in remote string recording sessions for TV, film and games at the studio, which is in a building behind their home in a small village in England’s West Midlands.

Adopting an analogue console in today’s digital audio world is a homecoming of sorts for Brooker, a 35-plus -year veteran of the business who cut his teeth mixing on analogue desks in the theatre, on the road, for broadcast events, and in the recording studio. Brooker, who was previously using a DAW control surface at the studio, often having to dig into menus and sub-menus, comments, “I feel like everything is in front of me with the ORIGIN. It becomes an extension of you, what you're thinking and the way you have it set up. I can see everything that the console is doing just by looking from left to right. It works so well as a traditional analogue console, but it also fits perfectly into a modern DAW-controlled studio, especially with the UF8 controller.”

Recording strings and much more

The lion’s share of the work at Brookspeare Music involves recording string sections for film, TV and video game composers worldwide. Some listen in and view the sessions remotely from afar, Brooker says, while some simply send the score and a demo. Typically, in commercial recording, there is a three-hour minimum for a session. Uniquely, Brookespeare Music can also offer an alternative. “We book the musicians for a day and then we sell slots, so composers just pay for an hour of the studio and the musicians’ time. We get a full day of work, the musicians all get paid properly, and the composers don't have to shell out for time they don't need.”

Brooker has worked for decades across many different areas of the sound industry. His theatre credits include Dreamgirls, Funny Girl, The Bodyguard and Bend It Like Beckham. He has mixed various live music broadcast events, such as Glastonbury Festival and the Proms for the BBC. He also has a long list of live mixing credits working live with the likes of Bjork, Simon Le Bon and Petula Clark.

Brooker has recorded a diverse assortment of instruments and voices at Brookspeare Music. “We've done vocals and dialogue recordings. I've had a drum kit in there. I've had bands in there. We've had brass, woodwinds and a harp. So it's not only strings.”

Ultimate flexibility

But whatever Brooker is recording, he says, his sources go through the ORIGIN’s PureDrive™ mic preamps. “I can either have a transparent, beautiful, crystal-clear, uncoloured sound, or I can dial in some drive. Everything then goes directly out into Pro Tools through my converters. Then I have the option of either bringing it back into the console’s stereo groups, putting it through the bus compressor and printing it that way, or I can just lay the whole thing out as individual tracks, which is fantastic. So the flexibility is ludicrous.”

Further, he continues, “With the UF8 I have Pro Tools control and fader control within the console. There's nothing I'm left wanting for.” Well, there is one thing, Brooker says — he would like to have compressors on his input channels. And now, with the release of the ORIGIN EVO, he is considering swapping out some of his modules for the EVO version, which incorporates SSL’s legendary E Series dynamics section.

If he wants to go outside the console to add some colour, he adds, “I have an SSL Fusion that I use quite a lot. And I'm just about to invest in SSL’s THE BUS+ compressor, as well.”

An inspiring layout and unmatched circuitry

Top of Brooker’s wish list when he was considering upgrading to an analogue console from a DAW controller was summing. “Everything coming together is never going to sound the way it does through analogue, and particularly through an SSL. There's an SSL sound, and that is something that is worth every penny. So I wanted to have SSL circuitry, and I wanted to have a real SSL bus compressor.”

Another advantage to having a large-format console in the control room is the marketing boost, Brooker reports. “I think it has upped our game. People look at our website, see the ORIGIN and think, ‘That's a proper studio.’ When anyone walks into the studio, they stop, and there's a little bit of an intake of breath. I think people don't expect smaller studios to have a console of that size and quality anymore. The physical layout and size of the console is really something to sit behind; it's just beautiful. I feel inspired to work when I sit behind it. Plus, it goes without saying — but I am going to say it — there’s the sound. I love the way SSL consoles sound, and what they bring to a mix, especially the bus compressor.”

Currently, Brooker is FOH engineer for ‘80s stalwarts Haircut 100 and Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins, who all still tour, and also, this year, will work with Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He additionally mixes various arena shows and designs theatre shows including a musical on a cruise ship coming up. “We're also very busy in the studio,” he reports. “I'm mixing an album and I've been mixing some tracks for an artist that have just been released. And on top of all that, we’re recording strings for various clients. It's busy, but fun.”