Dave Crawford on SoundBetter

Award-winning producer and engineer Dave Crawford brings 30+ years’ experience to recording, production, mixing and mastering. With credits across BBC, Universal, Polydor, Warp, Sky Sports and more, he helps artists turn their ideas into professional, release-ready music.

Dave Crawford at Plastic Tree Studios provides professional production, recording, mixing and mastering for artists who want their music to sound distinctive, polished and ready for release. Based in Northampton, the studio works with artists across the UK and worldwide.

Led by award-winning producer and engineer Dave Crawford, every project receives a collaborative, artist-focused approach shaped by more than 30 years in music. Dave works closely with each client to understand their vision, strengthen the production and deliver a finished track that translates across streaming, radio and physical formats.

A two-time Northamptonshire Producer of the Year, Dave has also worked with acclaimed producer and mix engineers, Vance Powell and Michael Brauer along with projects connected to Universal, Polydor, Sony, Warp, Bleep, Radikal Records and Colorama Records. Music produced, mixed or mastered at Plastic Tree Studios has received support from BBC Radio 1, 1xtra, Radio 2, 5 Live, 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Sky Sports and talkSPORT, including multiple BBC Introducing Track of the Week selections.

Whether you need full production, detailed mixing, professional mastering or an experienced pair of ears to help finish a track, you’ll receive honest creative input, clear communication and a final result that serves the music.

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

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Interview with Dave Crawford

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I am extremely passionate about getting the most out of every piece of music I work on and will put my heart and soul into it. Every piece of music is different so it is not enough to just use a preset and say "that's it".
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Take the time to find audio professionals who actually get it when it comes to music and working with people.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Air conditioning, laptop, JBL M2 speakers, Apogee Symphony, Trinnov Nova
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I have been working with and in music and playing music since a very young age, using guitars, keyboards, drums, midi sequencers, tape machines and onto DAWs and more. In 2022, I finally opened my own studio in Northampton going full time in the process and have not looked back since!
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Be obsessive about audio and music.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Most genres - it is all sound and vibe!
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Big inspirations include Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood for their innovative and forward thinking approaches to music, Nigel Godrich who is a great producer, DJ Shadow for the Entroducing album, Flying Lotus, J Dilla, Can, The Cure and a lot more that cannot be listed due to space!
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I recently mastered an album by Billy Lockett called Things Are Looking Up which hit the UK charts and was number 1 in the album breaker chart. It was fantastic to be involved in this project and see success for the artist.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I am constantly working on projects and recent stuff can be found on the spotify playlist or head to my website - www.plastictreestudios.com
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. My studio combines the character and hands-on approach of analogue recording, mixing and mastering with the flexibility and precision of modern digital production. Digital tools also allow for detailed vocal tuning, timing adjustments and editing that would not be possible in a purely analogue workflow.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: An ongoing wish to continually improve.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Attention to detail. When it comes to a song standing out, it is all the little parts and little production and mix moves that add up to make an amazing end product. Lots of automation to bring parts out is also a big one when it comes to mixing. For mastering, I have a developed ear over many years of listening to a lot of music and for me, it is all about working with the vibe of the track and making sure the emotion comes over correctly as well as getting the technical aspects right such as sample rates and formats such as CD and Vinyl.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: The studio is contained in one room and includes many instruments from a Kawai upright piano to the Moog Little Phatty and Sequential Prophet 6. The monitoring includes top of the range JBL M2's with Crown amp and Dynaudio LYD48's alongside a mono Avantone mix cube to check translation onto smaller devices and I have some special software that streams directly to my iPhone as well. Conversion is by the excellent Apogee Symphony mk2 and for mixes and masters, a Dangerous Music 2bus plus is used to add analog vibe, width and depth to audio along with the IGS RB500 EQ, Audioscape Buss Compressor, API 5500 Anniversary Mastering EQ and Thermionic Culture Phoenix Mastering Plus valve compressor.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: The most common work I do is split between mixing, mastering and recording work for clients. The studio has a very good acoustic environment and can get excellent professional sounding recordings along with the upright piano and other instruments. The addition of the Trinnov Nova for acoustic correction has really given my work a massive boost as well in terms of quality.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I really enjoy working with clients on different projects and genres and bringing my knowledge and skillset to each production to get the best outcome.

Mastering EngineerAverage price - $70 per song
Mixing EngineerAverage price - $200 per song
ProducerAverage price - $700 per song
Recording StudioAverage price - $300 per day
Full instrumental productionContact for pricing
Ghost ProducerContact for pricing
Game AudioContact for pricing

Revisions are free for mixes and masters.
A three day turnaround is the aim for mixes and one day for a single track master.
Recording is charged per hour at a minimum two hours.