The Wellesley Sound Story

Wellesley Sound Studios is a cornerstone of the Canadian music industry. Musicians, bands, producers and record labels from all over Canada and even as far away as Jamaica have come to depend on its quality equipment, innovative engineers and reputation for excellence.

Wellesley Sound Studios was founded in 1976, at the very beginnings of the independent music scene in Toronto, by Jeff McCulloch and Roger Slemin.

Back then; the only people recording music were professional recording artists signed to major labels. Independent artists were few and far between as recording music was still a very expensive proposition.

Around that time Jeff was already recording his own bands music using semi professional tape recorders. In the early 70s Jeff became aware of a new tape machine on the market - the Teac A ½ inch 8track was capable of getting professional quality sound at a much lower price.

This allowed independent artists and bands to record and release their own records. Jeff and Roger took full advantage of this hardware and built one of the first ‘home studios’ in the city. Here they were capable of getting quality sound… in the basement of a rooming house on Wellesley St.

Here they began recording many of the independent artists of the day. In 1984 they built a fully professional studio at 106 Ontario St.  Wellesley Sound Studios has experienced continued growth for thirty years.

Wellesley Sound Studios has advanced Toronto’s independent music scene by enabling ‘up and coming’ artists to get their music recorded, many which have become some of Canada’s premier artists.

Bands like Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, Holly Cole, Colin Linden, Shania Twain, and the Bare Naked Ladies to name just a few.  Those deserving mention include many of today’s top studio musicians, sound track producers and film composers.

Jeff has recorded most of the top Canadian hip hop acts. Artists such as Dream Warriors, maestro Fresh Wes, and Michee Mee. Messenjah, Canada’s top reggae band is among the many Caribbean flavoured musical acts recorded there.

The number of recording studios exploded in the 1980s and 90s, but Wellesley continued to thrive by positioning themselves with superior technology.   From midi to hard disk recording, Jeff hasn’t turned his back on a large inventory of quality analogue gear.

Wellesley Sound Studios has always focussed on getting the best performances possible and capturing it on the best recording gear possible.

Having all this gear in one room means nothing without the skill and knowledge of how to operate the equipment.  Knowing what’s needed when to capture the right flavour and the appropriate sounds for any particular song or project comes after years of training.  Jeff’s is not afraid to push it to the limit and turn everything up to 11, or, he’ll keep as clean and pristine as you’ve ever seen.

At Wellesley we have a deep knowledge of music and completely understand the equipment we use. We work with top producers or artists and get what they have in their heads onto hard disk or tape.

We bring our own ideas to the table to help guide you in the right direction or give different perspectives but will never be pushy. A lot of these things are intuitive and will not require explanation but should flow like the tape in our sessions.

You can record anywhere in the Wellesley building, and that gives producers a huge variety of options – for example an ambient space for big drums. WSS records some of the best drum sounds in the city, just ask any of the top drummers.

The Jade SoundTracks console has all the functions of an SSL, including beautiful Eq and huge headroom.

Forty, two channel modules yield up to 80 channels with fader and mute automation, plus 40 channels of recallable comp/gates, 12 sends. Of course with the Neve console we can mix even larger projects. And we can mix directly in the computer too, using the Neve as a buss summing amplifier for the ultimate in computer mixing (or any combination of both).

Just like in Tracking, having all the gear in the world means nothing without the knowledge and talent to create great mixes – and we’ve been doing just that for 30 years!

Bring in your own Mix Engineers

Bring in your own mix engineers and we’ll support them.  Wellesley Sound Studios has its own in-house writers, producers and access to all the top studio players in Toronto.

With the advent of digital workstations, many musicians, producers and composers have now built their own home recording studios capable of making high quality recordings.

Wellesley Sound Studios remains relevant by integrating home recordings into professional mixes - their setup allows you to record at home, or in the studio, depending on your budget or project needs.

Read on about The Gear - The Signal Path, and why it is outstandingly great.