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Capybara Sound

About Me

Photograph of Jamie Rhodes-Simpson – owner, music producer, and recording, mixing & mastering engineer at Capybara Sound.

Jamie Rhodes-Simpson

Take a visual journey through the work of Jamie Rhodes-Simpson, your recording engineer at Capybara Sound. From mixing live rock, pop and classical concerts to broadcast audio for the BBC, Sky TV and more, he brings decades of expertise to your studio production. Scroll down for a glimpse of his work beyond the studio.

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Live Sound Legacy

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UFO Orchestra concert at the Pitcher & Piano in Nottingham, for the Hockley Hustle, Festival. A large old church building with tall walls lit up in purples and reds and laser lights beaming out from the balcony. The orchestra are all around the balcony area (strings, percussion on the left, woodwinds across the bridge and brass on the right). A guest singer is in the spotlight, high up on a spiral staircase. A large crowd is in the main bar area on the ground floor.
UFO Orchestra concert at the Pitcher & Piano in Nottingham, for the Hockley Hustle, Festival. A large old church building with tall walls lit up in purples and reds and laser lights beaming out from the balcony. The orchestra are all around the balcony area (strings, percussion on the left - not in photo, woodwinds across the bridge and brass to the right). A large crowd is in the main bar area on the ground floor.
UFO Orchestra rehearsing at the Pitcher & Piano in Nottingham, for the Hockley Hustle, Festival. A large old church building saw the orchestra positioned around the balcony area. The photo shows the string section, with part of the woodwinds visible on the balcony bridge. Violins, violas and cellos, then drums and percussion in the background and furthest away, double bass players. Many microphones are set up, including spot mics on various instruments. The amplifier rack, radio mics and other audio I/O can be seen stacked in a tower in the distance.
UFO Orchestra concert at the Pitcher & Piano in Nottingham, for the Hockley Hustle, Festival. A large old church building with tall walls lit up in purples and reds and laser lights beaming out from the balcony. The orchestra are all around the balcony area (strings & percussion on the left - not visible in photo, woodwinds across the bridge and brass on the right). Photo taken during rehearsals, so the bar area is empty. A very large and colourful stained glass wind is seen to the rear of the building.
View from on stage at the Darley Park Classical Concert in Derby. Dusk is well advanced and thousands of mobile phone lights can be seen in the audience. On stage a presenter is talking and two double bass can be seen laid down in the foreground.
View from the monitor mix position of the full Sinfonia Viva orchestra performing at the Darley Park concert in Derby. Lights on each music stand, plus stage lighting and moving lights can be seen. The monitor sound engineer is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown in photo).
View from the audience of the Sinfonia Viva orchestra performing their annual Darley Park concert in Derby with fireworks going off over the stage, two large video screens (one on each side). The stage is lit up brightly and the full orchestra can be seen. On the far right hand side at the front of the stage, monitor mix engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson can just about be made out.
View from front of house mix position for a Candle Light Concert Ballet. An Avolites lighting control desk, Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixing console and a MacBook Pro computer are shown. Hundreds of candles can be seen on the choir steps up each side of the stage with a large pipe organ central. In front on the stage is a string quartet and a ballet couple dancing. Front of house sound by engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown).
Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating front of house sound for the Tramlines Festival Library stage (including BBC Introducing) in Sheffield. The mixing console is a Yamaha QL5. Large format NEXO line array PA system.
Liverpool band Red Rum Club playing on the Library Stage at Tramlines Festival, Sheffield.
A full house (over 2200 people) present for the New Year’s Eve Sinfonia Viva concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. BBC Young Musician of the Year Keyboard finalist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is playing on stage with the orchestra.
Photo taken from the stage when I (Jamie Rhodes-Simpson, sound engineer) arrived for the New Year’s Eve Sinfonia Viva concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. The auditorium empty, house lights are on and over 2000 red velvet seats are in view. On the stage an L-Acoustics arc sound system can be seen. The concert later that evening is the full Sinfonia Viva orchestra led by conductor Nicholas Kok. Joining the orchestra were RPS Awards 2018 winning guitarist Sean Shibe, BBC Young Musician of the Year Keyboard finalist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show star Andy Quinn, soprano Gabriella Cassidy and the Kristian Thomas Company performing choir duties in Freddie Mercury’s Barcelona and the finale, Auld Lang Syne.
Orchestra rehearsals ahead of the New Year’s Eve Sinfonia Viva concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. The orchestra are blurred in the distance of a shallow depth of field image with a DiGiCo SD9 mixing console in focus covering much of the photo area.
A full house (over 2200 people) present for the New Year’s Eve Sinfonia Viva concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. Photo taken from the front of house mixing position just before the show starts. The stage is subtly lit with moody blue lighting. The orchestra music stands can be seen on the stage, the audience are still coming in, though most seats are already taken by this point. In the foreground a DiGiCo SD9 mixing console screen can be seen.
A string quartet plays by candlelight at Derby Cathedral. Wooden pews can be seen with candles at the end of each row. Hundreds of candles are also on tables in the performance area. The gold on the grand iron railings glowing in the candlelight. Behind the railings can be seen a stained glass window with blue and yellow panes of glass lit up with the last vestiges of daylight, and also pipes from one of the pipe organs. The front of house sound engineer is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not seen in photo).
Cher tribute band performing on the large stage at the Medina Theatre, Newport, Isle of Wight. Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson mixing front of house sound (and monitors) using an Allen & Heath SQ-7 digital console. Stage lights can been seen streaming from overhead, blue, purple, red and white colours. On stage are singers, guitarists, keyboards, drums and other musicians. A full audience can just be made out in the darkness between front of house and the stage.
Two Sennheiser hand held radio mics, an Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixing console and a MacBook Pro computer displaying Sennheiser WSM radio mic and IEM control software can be seen setup behind row after row of wooden pews in Derby Cathedral. In the distance a grand piano can be seen with the lid open. Candles have been placed around the building ahead of a Candlelight Concert later. The grand metal railings can be seen that separate the cathedral into two distinct areas. The front of house sound engineer is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not seen in photo).
A pianist plays by candlelight at Derby Cathedral. Rows of wooden pews can be seen with candles by their side. Hundreds of candles are also on tables in the performance area. The gold on the grand iron railings glowing elegantly in the candlelight. The front of house sound engineer is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not seen in photo).
Photograph taken from the stage at Kings Theatre in Portsmouth by sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson showing the empty theatre with row after row of red velvet seats in the stalls plus three balcony levels. The roof is domed and painted gold.
ELO Again performing on stage at The Lighthouse Theatre in Poole. ELO Again branded draps hang stage left and right. Electric violinist and cellist
The Little Mix Experience girl group singing live on stage at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole. Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown) operating an Allen & Heath Qu-32 mixing console for front of house and IEM sound. The console is high up behind the audience, the stage looking quite small in the distance.
Chineke Orchestra performing on stage at Chatsworth Arts Festival. View from behind a Yamaha QL1 digital mixing console operated by sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson.
New Purple Celebration - the music of Prince. Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown) behind an Allen & Heath SQ-7 digital mixing console mixing front of house sound. The audience is mostly in, only a few seats empty. Purple lights on the stage with the band name projected behind. Drums and keyboards can be seen. Anticipation before the start of the concert at The Pier Theatre in Cromer.
New Purple Celebration - the music of Prince perform at Hull City Hall. The view is from high up in the balcony. Blue moving lights look spectacular and can be seen streaming across the stage and over the very full audience.
Photo showing a close up of our Allen & Heath SQ-5 mixing console and the hands of sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson, fingers on faders, mixing the Sanctuary Seekers Choir, Stories of Sanctuary concert at Leicester Cathedral.
Wide angle photo taken from the balcony in Leicester Cathedral showing the Sanctuary Seekers Choir performing their Stories of Sanctuary concert at Leicester Cathedral. A grand piano, violinist, guitar player, drums, and various singers can be seen on stage in front of a gathered audience, with sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson mixing the show (and monitors) from behind the audience.
Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson working front of house sound, operating a Yamaha CL5 digital mixing console at Nottingham Riverside festival.
Arty photo shot at a steep angle, showing the Yamaha CL5 front of house digital mixing console at Nottingham Riverside festival.
Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating our Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital console at a charity event held at The Spanker Inn, Nether Heage, near Belper with Dave Kaye and the Dykons on stage (not shown in photo). Triangle flags on a string can be seen in the background along with green trees and bushes. It's a very bright and hot summers day.
Newark festival. Local band at night, lit by purple and red lighting. An Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixing console and Apple MacBook Pro laptop are shown in the foreground. The laptop showing controls for dbx VENU360 PA system processors. Moody but warm and inviting night time shot. Sound engineer (not shown) is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson on front of house mixing (monitors from FoH).
A very grainy photo of Sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating our Mackie 1640i analog mixing console at the Pit and Pendulum, Nottingham. To the right can be seen the rear of a rack of analog equipment (this included dbx compressors and Drawmer gates). Spooky apparatus like something out of Frankenstein can be seen lit up green high up behind Jamie.
View from side of stage monitor position (sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating - not shown). An Avid VENUE Profile mixing console can be seen with the control screen and an L-Acoustics monitor speaker to one side. The stage is lit up in blue from the moving lights and the band "Swimming Girls" can be seen performing at the Dot to Dot Festival in Nottingham. The venue is Nottingham Trent University Student Union. A crowd barrier just in front of the stage holds back an eager audience. More people can be seen on the balcony in the background.

Classical Concert Highlights

Short video clip showing a String Quartet Candlelight Concert performance at Derby Cathedral taken from my front of house mix position
Short video clip taken from my monitor mix position showing the full Sinfonia Viva orchestra performing at the Darley Park concert in Derby in front of a 12,000 strong crowd

Television Outside Broadcast

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TRNSMT Festival Glasgow. Sound area of Cloudbass CBOB5 scanner (television outside broadcast vehicle) showing large format Calrec Omega sound desk, vision monitors, comms equipment and large patch panel. TV OB Sound Guarantee for King Tuts stage: Jamie Rhodes-Simpson
Jimmy Eat World performing on the King Tuts stage at Glasgow TRNSMT Festival to a large audience with some people sitting on other's shoulders to get a better view.
Video monitors above the TV sound console showing Jimmy Eat World performing on the King Tuts stage at Glasgow TRNSMT Festival.
View of TV outside broadcast truck gallery showing Donald MacInnes Directing and Vision Mixing TRNSMT Festival, King Tuts Stage, Glasgow. Lots of monitors cover an entire wall showing different camera angles. A large vision mixer board plus various comms panels are also seen through a window from the sound area of the truck.
Video monitors above the Calrec sound console in the TV outside broadcast truck for King Tuts stage at Glasgow TRNSMT Festival. One monitor is showing a large crowd waiting in front of the King Tuts stage amd another is showing various camera angles and Nile Rodgers & Chic performing on the main stage.

More

Recording, Drumming, Steadicam and Video Production

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Saxophonist Mark Witty standing and playing tenor sax, overdubbing an earlier recording in his dining room at home. In the foreground on the table, our Allen & Heath SQ-5 mixing console, DX168 stage box and a MacBook Pro laptop running Logic. Mark is wearing beyerdynamic DT770-Pro headphones for monitoring purposes and to hear the playback. Recording engineer is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not seen in the photo).
New Purple Celebration - the music of Prince perform at Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Viewed from side of stage at the monitor mixing position. A Sennheiser wireless antenna next to an Allen & Heath SQ-7 can be seen with an Apple MacBook Pro alongside recording the full multitrack output from the mixing console. Recording engineer is Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown). Monitor mix engineer is Percy Young (also not seen in image). The band are on stage performing with cyan coloured moving lights (with gobos projecting onto the floor) streaming across the stage. The audience can be clearly seen with the amount of light coming off the stage and it's a very full house.
Close up image of a pair of large diaphragm condenser microphones on a stereo pair stand for recording a choir in a church hall.
Image of four small diaphragm pencil condenser microphones on a bar high up in a church configured with two cardiods and two omni outriggers for recording a choir. The church stone walls and high up windows can be seen in the background lit from below.
Drummer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson wearing IEMs behind his Premier drum kit with Paiste cymbals performing on stage with Detroit Live Motown Tribute Band at the Old Courts in Wigan. On the left stage lights colour a stand green, whilst the right hand side of the image purple, which is also highlighting the black drum shells.
Detroit Live Motown Tribute Band performing on the sizeable stage in the Red Brick Auditorium theatre at Square Chapel Arts in Halifax UK. From left to right, Mark Witty (sax), Wayne Mitchell (keyboards), Clare Campbell (vocals), Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (drums), Hayley Arnold )(vocals), Graham Alexander (bass), Anna Shotter (vocals), Chuck Annan (guitar). Glamorous gold full length dresses for the three female singers and the band all dressed in black shirts and trousers. A few rows of audience can just be seen at the bottom of the picture.
Drummer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson behind his Premier drum kit with Paiste cymbals performing on stage with Detroit Live Motown Tribute Band at Harrogate Blues Bar. Singer Anna Shotter can be seen on the left of the image, and bassist Graham Alexander on the right. The stage is lit up in blue light. Two small diaphragm condensor mics in a Glyn Johns style set up can be seen overhead and behind the drums.
Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating his Steadicam rig configured with a Sony FS700 camera.
Video producer and sound engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown) filming Karen Heyhoe for an Aradia promo video. The photo shows Karen in the centre, lit by a studio light just visible on a stand in the foreground. The the left is a Sony FS700 camera wired to a shotgun condensor mic on a stand above Karen's head. On the back wall is a bookcase with a large spider plant to the left, and a display of Aradia products (fine wines, olive oil and honey) on the right.
Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not shown) filming a promo video for UK Eagles tribute band Motel California, who are out of focus in the photo (shallow depth of field) performing on a set in the background. In the foreground a Sony FS700 camera has an Odyssey 7Q+ recorder mounted above it with the band clearly visible on the screen.
Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating his Steadicam rig in low mode (upside down) configured with a Sony FS700 camera filming a promo video for UK Eagles tribute band Motel California, who are performing a song sat down in the background of the photo. Stage lighting can be seen high up on the left and a stage in the background.
Jamie Rhodes-Simpson operating a Steadicam with a full sized Sony television camera mounted. There is a silver van in the background parked next to a beige brick building.
Behind the scenes photo from a video shoot with singer Hannah-Rei. A Dedo soft light can be seen to the left with Hannah lit in the centre wearing a glamourous dress sat behind a piano. To the right the video camera is partially in shot. The photo has a nice warm feel to it with a golden glow to the lighting. Filmed and lit by Jamie Rhodes-Simpson (not seen in photo).

Interview

Interview with Capybara Sound Owner, Music Producer, and Audio Engineer Jamie Rhodes-Simpson for SoundBetter

Analog or digital and why?

I started with analog, so I know its flaws, but also just how amazing it can be. I also went through early digital, so I know the flaws that existed there too.

In more recent times though, most digital is so good you can’t go wrong. So if I have to pick one or the other, it would be digital at this point.

Also, in terms of music production, instant full recall of sessions, huge dynamic range and lossless duplication are massive benefits of digital.

What’s your ‘promise’ to your clients?

I always go above and beyond. I’m not working to a clock, I want this to be a success as much as you do and I want you to be delighted with the results. I genuinely care that you’re happy with the process and the final product.

What do you like most about your job?

I love the fact that what I do (recorded or live sound) can transform into life long memories for the listener (and the artist/producer for that matter). Music is a very fundamental part of most people’s lives and is so important to our recollections of specific times in our past and present. It can really transport you to a long lost feeling and/or moment in time in an instant. I love that about music. I also love music in general, so what’s not to like!

What’s the biggest misconception about what you do?

When I’m doing live sound, more than once people trying to understand what I do have come back with; “So, you’re like, the DJ?”

If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

Solar powered fridge, pan, spark lighter, sleeping bag, tent – if stranded there! 😀

What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

I’ve been recording one way or another since childhood. Started with a portable mono tape recorder trying to record Top of the Pops off the TV speaker, then added a cheap mic which improved the situation a little.

I’ve been in bands since my late teens and recording multitrack starting with just 4 tracks, then 8, then 16 and now… Used tape and analogue equipment for years, first recording multitrack digitally in 2001 with Cool Edit Pro (now Adobe Audition) as the DAW (pretty traumatic with the computing power of the time).

I’ve also done sound professionally for video, television, presentations and spoken word, and I’ve been mixing live sound for bands since 1988, culminating in much larger shows (theatres, festivals, etc) from 2018.

The first big concert I did was orchestral to a capacity audience at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. The biggest live concert I’ve worked on had me mixing monitors from stage with a full orchestra directly in front of over 12,000 people.

So all in all, I’ve been doing this one way or another for over 35 years at the point of writing.

Can you share one music production tip?

Less is more. I do the least amount of processing possible to get the sound I’m after. Preferably fix it at source, not in post-production. Well recorded material should sound superb after just finding a static balance.

What type of music do you usually work on?

I typically work on a broad mix of classical, rock/pop and singer/songwriter type music with real instruments played by musicians.

What’s your strongest skill?

A good ear for balance and finding an appropriate place in the mix for each instrument.

What’s your typical work process?

For mixing I typically spend quality time balancing levels and getting a decent mix before starting with any plugins or processing. From there I’ll figure out what needs to be high-passed and perhaps some initial basic EQ. Check levels again, then start going after the details, automation and compression as needed.

Tell us about your studio setup.

Fully in the box these days. Digital done right can sound amazing, and having full and pretty much instant recall of sessions is obviously very beneficial.

What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

I’m a drummer, so Jeff Porcaro, Terry Bozzio, Steve Gadd and there are loads of others. Also anyone who is a master musician of any instrument – I love watching great players do their thing.

On the producer side; George Martin, Nile Rodgers, Steve Albini, Neil Dorfsman, Hugh Padgham, Glyn Johns, Warren Huart, Chris Lord-Alge to name but a few. Special mention to Daft Punk for Random Access Memories – that’s such a superbly recorded album.

Also ABBA, well ahead of their time. I had to look this up the name of this producer, but Paul Samwell-Smith for the Cat Steven’s LP Tea for the Tillerman – one of the best sounding records of all time (in original form on vinyl at any rate).

Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

It varies depending on the moment. Other than mixing recordings, I’ve also done a fair bit of live sound and live television outside broadcast work, so audiences vary from a few hundred, to thousands and sometimes millions.

Jamie Rhodes-Simpson
11 January 2024

Recording, mixing, mastering and live sound

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