Recording and production

The studio's core activity is recording. Since opening in 2016, Visconti Studio has built a growing catalogue of professional work spanning folk, rock, jazz, contemporary classical, experimental music, and film scoring, from solo artists and small ensembles to full orchestral sessions.

Many of these sessions have involved students as assistant engineers, giving them professional credits on released records and direct experience of working practices that cannot be taught in a classroom.

Teaching

Visconti Studio is embedded in the teaching of music at Kingston University. Students on the BA (Hons) Music Technology and the MA Music (specialising in Production) use the studio as part of their coursework, gaining experience with professional-grade equipment and workflows in a working facility. Studio-based taught modules give students supervised, hands-on experience of recording, mixing, and production in the space itself, including working with tape machines and analogue signal chains alongside digital production in Pro Tools.

Students can move from completing coursework into assisting on real sessions, sometimes within the same academic year, building toward the professional experience that our internship scheme formalises.

We also regularly offer short courses in recording, editing, and production, open to adult learners of all backgrounds. More courses are in development — check our News page for current availability.

Practice research

The studio is also a site for practice-led research - creative work that generates new knowledge through the process of making. Studio Director Dr Leah Kardos has produced two albums at the facility: Rococochet (2017) and Bird Rib (2020), both of which draw on the studio's tape machines and distinctive acoustics. Research conducted at and through the studio has examined topics including the role of analogue technology in contemporary production, distributed creativity in recording sessions, and the cultural heritage of British recording studios, resulting in publications, conference presentations, and funded projects.

Dr Oded Ben-Tal's work ranges from traditionally notated compositions to interactive pieces for performers with real-time electronics and multimedia. In recent years his focus has turned to applying machine learning and machine listening in music, supported by two AHRC grants and a collaboration with Dr Bob Sturm. At Visconti Studio, his research involves recording live instrumental improvisations in which human musicians perform in dialogue with, and without, AI-driven systems.

Practice researchers at Visconti Studio also associated with
The Centre for Practice Research in the Arts (CePRA) at Kingston School of Art

Residencies

The studio's Winterschool programme brought senior industry figures to Visconti Studio for intensive week-long residencies, working directly with students and researchers. Tony Visconti led the inaugural Winterschool in 2017, followed by Chris Kimsey (Rolling Stones, Marillion) in 2018 and Pete Walsh (Scott Walker) in 2019. These residencies created rare opportunities for direct knowledge transfer from practitioners whose expertise represents cultural heritage, while generating material that has informed ongoing research into studio practice and production history.

Collaborative projects

The studio is increasingly a site for cross-disciplinary work that extends beyond music production.

Circadia (2026) is a collaboration with the Health Sciences faculty at Kingston, and oral history organisation On the Record. The project uses the studio for an immersive installation exploring nursing heritage, combining sound design, healthcare research, and archival practice.

The King Æthelstan Project (2025) is a cross-faculty collaboration between music, engineering, and digital technology researchers, working with the Royal Borough of Kingston to deliver a public heritage engagement programme.

Harmonising Creativity (2024) brought producer Chris Kimsey back to the studio as a professional collaborator for a multi-method study of distributed creativity in recording, conducted in partnership with researchers from Computer Science.

These projects reflect the studio's evolving role as space where different kinds of expertise meet and where the university's resources are put to use in ways that extend the fields of music, sound and production studies.

Events and conferences

The studio regularly hosts public events that bring together professionals, researchers, and audiences around shared interests in music and recorded sound.

The "In Conversation" series has featured Tony Visconti, Woody Woodmansey, and other figures from the world of recorded music, offering audiences direct access to the people behind landmark records. In 2019, the studio hosted a symposium on the work and legacy of Scott Walker, featuring Walker's long-time producer Pete Walsh, music critic Pete Paphides, and a book launch in partnership with The Journal for Cultural Research.

In September 2026, Visconti Studio will host "Late Bowie: Legacy, Mortality, and the Archival Impulse," a two-day conference examining David Bowie's final creative period. More details about this can be found on the News page.

Industry partnerships

Audient's ongoing relationship with the studio has included international content production filmed on site. Eventide's support, brokered through Tony Visconti's introduction to the company, has provided software plugins and flagship hardware including the H9000 Harmonizer. Dubreq's partnership extends to product testing, consultancy, sponsorship, and the Stylophone Orchestra's performances and recordings.