Capel Sound Studios
Located in Capel Sound on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Capel Sound Studios is a professional team of experienced sound engineers.
Our engineers have years of recording time under their belts, producing artists from all over Australia and overseas. They are also musicians that understand the process of creating only quality results, which is a core value of the business.
Bringing the highest professionalism to business projects they draw on a wealth of knowledge working as key directors in creating quality results without blowing out the budget.
Dave Walker
Studio Manager & Engineer
Dave lives on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, about an hour out of Melbourne.
His main instrument is the guitar; he can sing and can play a bunch of other stringed instruments with varying degrees of proficiency. He has played in a heap of bands across different genres since first moving to Melbourne in 1996.
Since 2008 he has recorded and produced albums across a wide range of genres from First Nations Artists, South American Punk, Celtic Harp and most stops in between.
He is the studio manager at Capel Sound Studios, working with a range of artists and a great crew of creatives.
He was sound technition on the 2018 and 2019 Bush Bands Business weeks for Music NT, and WA Arts Sand Tracks Tour tech to remote communities in the same years.
Working with First Nations bands is a passion; recording and producing Black Rock Band's second album as well as remote recording in Gunbalanya have been highlights. Tour managing and working closely with Black Rock Band on the road and studio has taken him to some incredible places; the Guts Tour of the top end with Bad//Dreems in 2022 being a good example.
Over the years he has also taught guitar and undertaken mentoring with young bands, including working as the guitar tutor at the annual Mornington Community Primary Schools Music Camp.
Dan Swan
Studio Owner & Engineer
Dan Swan is a multi-talented musician, songwriter, and audio engineer, and the driving force behind Capel Sound Studios on the Mornington Peninsula. With over two decades of experience in recording, production, and performance, Dan has built a reputation for bringing artistry and precision to every project he works on.
As a vocalist, guitarist, and drummer, Dan has performed across genres ranging from country to progressive heavy rock with bands such as Low Rent and Vitruvian Man. His versatility as a musician is matched by his expertise behind the desk, where he has spent more than 20 years engineering and producing music across a wide spectrum of styles and scales.
Dan’s professional portfolio includes collaborations with the Mushroom Group, where he contributed to post-production and live projects for some of Australia’s most acclaimed artists. His deep understanding of songcraft, spanning lyric writing, chord progressions, and groove development has made him both a sought-after songwriter and a trusted mentor to emerging talent.
At Capel Sound Studios, Dan combines technical skill with creative vision. Whether guiding young artists through their first recordings or producing seasoned performers, he brings out the best in every project, ensuring the music not only sounds world-class but also stays true to the artist’s voice.
Thomas Marshall Gregory
Producer & Engineer
Tom is a lifelong musician with over 20 years of playing, born and raised on the Mornington Peninsula he’s been exposed to many talented performers from the area. Tom has been a performing artist for nearly 15 years playing venues all around Melbourne and Australia with hardcore and metal bands including Along Shorelines and Scourge.
Being in bands when he a teen led him quickly to the studio as a recording artist, where he fell in love with the process of bringing a song to life. Tom has recently completed a Bachelors Degree in Music Production at Collarts, where he sharpened his technical skills including becoming ProTools Certified and racking up over 10,000 hours in Ableton Live. In learning Ableton, Tom discovered a passion for working on a wide variety of electronic music becoming an expert a Sampling, Synthesis and Midi programming.
Tom is a lover of all music having worked on Country, Rap, Pop, Metal, EDM everything in between and takes great joy in creating with others and on his own. Tom is a multi-instrumentalist; however he specialises in vocal production and beat-making. While Tom is versed in many styles and genres, his favourite kinds of music to work with are Metal, Hip-hop and anything experimental.
Capel Sound Studios is a purpose-built recording facility designed to remove friction from the creative process and deliver consistently high-end results.
The studio now operates on a fully redesigned signal flow and monitoring architecture, meaning faster session setup, lower tracking latency, and greater flexibility when capturing performances. For artists, that translates to better feel, better focus, and better takes.
The studio comprises three dedicated spaces:
The Control Room
The control room has been professionally treated and calibrated for accurate monitoring and decision-making. With upgraded routing, monitoring control, and room correction, what you hear is reliable and translatable. The space is comfortable and functional, with tea and coffee facilities, running water, and a relaxed environment suitable for long recording, mixing, and mastering sessions.
The Dead Room
The dead room is intentionally free from problematic reflections, making it ideal for vocals, voiceover, acoustic instruments, and isolation duties. This space is critical for clean, professional recordings and allows complete separation when required, such as isolating bass cabinets or tight vocal takes during full band sessions.
The Live Room
The live room is acoustically treated to capture natural, musical room tone while maintaining control. It is designed for full band recording, including drums, and supports a wide range of recording styles, from tight modern productions to more open, organic performances.
Together, these spaces allow for full band tracking with isolation, hybrid recording workflows, and seamless movement between creative stages.
Recent upgrades mean sessions run more smoothly, downtime is reduced, and the focus stays where it should be: on the performance.
Studio Layout
Gear List
Monitoring
Yamaha NS-10M
Dynaudio MKII
ADAM Audio A7X
Interfaces and Conversion
Universal Audio Apollo 8
Focusrite OctoPre
Focusrite Scarlett 18i
DAW and System
Apple Mac Studio (2022)
Avid Pro Tools
Apple Logic Pro
Ableton Live
A comprehensive professional plugin suite
Outboard and Preamps
Universal Audio 6176 Preamp and Compressor
Warm Audio WA73-EQ (Neve-style channel strip)
JLM Audio TMP-8 Preamps
JoeMeek TwinQ Preamp and Compressor
Microphones
Microtech Gefell UM70 (pair)
RCA BK-5B Ribbon (pair)
Warm Audio WA-47 (U47-style)
AKG C214
AKG C1000 (pair)
Shure Beta 52A
Shure SM57 (x5)
Shure SM58 (pair)
Calrec CB20C (pair)
Plus additional specialty microphones
Guitar Amps and Modelling
Fender DeVille
Fender Deluxe
Fender Tweed
Kemper Profiler
Guitars
Maton Acoustic
Martin Acoustic
Fender USA Telecaster
Cole Clark Mistress
Plus a rotating selection of additional instruments
Drums
Gretsch Catalina Birch 6-piece
Bright, punchy, and versatileLudwig Keystone Oak/Maple 4-piece
Deep, dark, powerful tone
Snare Collection
Gretsch 14x5 Birch
Ludwig Blackrolite 14x5 Aluminium
Cast Bronze 14x6.5
Pearl Masters 14x6.5 Maple
Ludwig Black Magic 14x5 Brass
Sonor Artist 14x5 Steel
Pedals
A wide selection available to suit session needs
