Josh MiddletonAchieving the Best Guitar and Studio Sounds with S2V Monitors

Guitarist, recording engineer and producer Josh Middleton is among “the world’s most impressive technically precise players,” to quote his endorsee ESP Guitars.

Known from metal bands such as Architects and Sylosis, Josh Middleton is part of a growing generation of guitarists whose interests have widened from their instrument to include recording, production, mixing and even mastering. Josh records all guitar, bass and vocal tracks for Sylosis at his own studio, built into his home in Reading, UK. Named Shrine Studio, it is the focus for Josh’s creative work both as an instrumentalist and producer. Josh is very much the hands-on builder of both tones and tools, always hunting for new guitar sounds; he also hand-made the sound treatment for his own studio space. Yet he is also a keen user of digital technology, mixing his projects in-the-box and using software to further enhance the characteristics of his mixing room.

The scope of Josh’s creative work with sound is reflected in the multiple channels he uses to showcase not only his guitar playing but also his other activities. Josh’s YouTube channel offers insights into his playing and approach to guitar playing and tone while offering advice to budding guitarists keen to hone their technique. Meanwhile, he also sells a range of profile packs for the Kemper Profiler Modeling amp on his website. These tone profiles show an attention to detail that reflects Josh’s self-professed obsession for attaining outstanding guitar sounds.

Josh’s search for a near-perfect environment to capture his meticulously crafted guitar tones seems over for the time being. “The main issue I’ve always had was getting the low end and low midrange right. In heavy music, everything is competing for loudness and also for weight,” he told us in a recent interview with ADAM Audio. “Finding that balance takes a long time to get right. I’m obsessed with big guitar tones. The body and fulness of the low midrange can either sound huge or just be problematic and sound muddy, so I really need to hear exactly what is going on there.”

“The S2V are very articulate […]. With the right speaker and room treatment it means you can just worry about the song and getting to where the mix needs to be much faster.”

After upgrading to a monitoring solution built around ADAM Audio’s S2V monitor, he noticed “a huge improvement” in his mixes. “The S2V are very articulate but also there is a great depth there, so they’re really pleasing to listen to, which is a great combination. With the right speaker and room treatment it means you can just worry about the song and getting to where the mix needs to be much faster”, Josh concludes.