It is also home to award winning sound engineer and producer Carlos Fuchs.  Fuchs, who was born in Rio de Janiero and is a brilliant pianist, relocated to Porto in 2018 to join the Arda Recorders team and recently won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album.

The space

1. Studio A features a vintage Neve 8068 console and a Fazioli F278 grand piano.  It has a 100 sq. meter live room, three iso booths and an echo chamber with variable ceiling.  This studio offers great lines of sight so it’s perfect for tracking all kinds of music.

2. Studio B is suited for most modern productions, with a versatile 20m2 live room and a sound lock that doubles as an amp booth.  Its control room is centred around a 32 channel Rupert Neve 5088, complemented with a great array of outboard gear.

3. Studio C consists of a small live room and a control room for voice-over and overdubs sessions.

4. The Mixing Room is centred around 32 channels of Avid Artist Mix faders and more than 100 channels of vintage and modern hardware.

5. The Mastering Studio was designed with great acoustics in mind and has ATC main speakers and Burl conversion.

Van Damme runs through the veins

Van Damme Blue was specified throughout the build.  The project used 20 x 8 Way D-Sub to XLR cables leads which were made up on a very tight schedule, using both 8 pair multicore Blue Series and 8 pair multicore Green Series cable.  500m of 16 pair Blue Series, 200m of 12 pair Blue Series and 500m of Quad Microphone cable was also supplied to ensure maximum quality of sound. 

Miguel Pinheiro Marques, Arda Suppliers, commented: "We’re very proud of Carlos for winning the Best Latin Pop Album Grammy.  He has been part of Arda Recorders from the beginning and is an amazingly talented producer and engineer.  Our studio facilities were built with record-making in mind – and for musicians just like him.  It’s a beautiful space for producers and engineers alike. 

“We even have the city’s public vinyl library - with a collection of more than 35.000 records – here, so no one can avoid being creative when they walk in!  Every room in the building, including the cafeteria, offices, and production rooms, is wired for audio and video, thanks to Van Damme cabling.  We look forward to many more collaborations – both musical and technical - in the future.”

Herpreet Kaur Singh, commercial director at VDC Trading, commented: "A massive congratulations goes to Carlos - it's a pleasure working with such talented individuals!"