Show Off Your Studio: Victor Mihailescu’s musical wonderland

Here’s how this producer transformed a small office into a musical paradise.

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Victor Mihailescu

Victor Mihailescu

Studio owner Victor Mihailescu
Contact victor@underdog.live | infinitystudio.ro

Key kit

  • Ableton Live 10
  • Neumann KH 120 A
  • UAD Apollo Silver Quad
  • LG 34UC98-W monitor
  • Takamine G-Series acoustic

Tell us more about your studio…

My studio is inside an office building located at the centre of Bucharest, Romania. It’s just one room, but there’s enough space for me to work on sound design for games and animations, music production and voice recordings. Lately, I’ve been using the studio for some mentoring as well. This is my third year here and it’s very convenient as I live nearby. My clients can reach me easily, too.

What’s your favourite DAW to use?

I use Ableton Live 10 and have been doing so for the last decade. I keep an open mind and have tried – and learned almost all DAWs (including Pro Tools, Logic, Studio One, Fruity Loops and Reaper), but I kept coming back to Live. Its unparalleled ease of use allows me to finish projects very quickly and it doesn’t stand in the way of my creative process. However, I sometimes mix and work in Pro Tools if I receive projects from other studios.

Victor Mihailescu

What’s your favourite piece of gear that you own?

I absolutely love my Roland Juno-106, even if I haven’t used it that much in my projects lately. Last time I fired it up, I realised it lost a voice, so I’m pretty bummed about that. It’s been my dream synth and used in so many of my favourite songs! The pads are simply ethereal and hitting up the chorus makes it magical. My second favourite is my curvy ultra-wide monitor. Some people have big mixing consoles as the centrepieces, but I have this awesome monitor which actually turns heads more than anything else around here.

How often do you use your studio?

I keep a strict 10am to 7pm work schedule, rarely staying back after hours unless my clients require it. I used to not have this discipline and would work over the weekends and I couldn’t tell workday from leisure day apart. But now, weekend jobs are an exception.

So how do you use your studio?

My main work is doing sound design for games and animations. I’ve been gaming for much of my childhood, so this became an obvious extension of that. I produce, mix and master for other artists and for my own project as well.

Victor Mihailescu

What’s next on your gear shopping list?

Well, I’ve got quite an extensive list. Mainly, I want to get rid of the subwoofer in my monitor chain and replace the Neumann KH 120 with the bigger brother, the KH 310. The studio is well treated acoustically, so I hope the bass end will be enough. I also plan on getting the classic U 87 and a Neve preamp, so I can have more options while recording.

Is there anything about your studio you’d like to fix?

After sunset, the interior light is rather dim and tiring. There were some wiring issues which kept me from using bigger bulbs when I moved in and I haven’t had the chance to fix this yet.

Victor Mihailescu

What’s your dream piece of gear and why?

I wish to get a Moog Voyager one day. I’ve never had a Moog, and while I could easily get a Taurus or a Sub Phatty, I want the complete Moog experience so that I can get the most sounds out of it.

Can you share your best production tip?

There’s no magic ‘make great music’ button. Even if you have a musical background, you still have to sweat it out and put in a lot of work until you get a usable, consistently good product. That also means working on a lot of songs that won’t make the cut. But you have to fight your way through this and keep motivated!

What one piece of advice would you give to someone who’s starting up a studio?

Get the best speakers you can and the best acoustic treatment possible from the start. Anything else you can do in the box. I’ve seen countless examples of people improving their songs just by upgrading their monitoring medium.

Victor Mihailescu

What are the main components of your studio?

Custom Mac (4770k, 32GB RAM, 1.5TB SSD and 4TB HDD), Neumann KH 120 A, Adam Sub 7, Adam A7X, UAD Apollo Silver Quad, UAD-2 Satellite Duo, Pro Tools HD Omni, Juno-106, Yamaha DX7IID, Access Virus TI, Ableton Push, Ableton Live 10, Pro Tools 12.8.3, M-Audio Code 25, PreSonus FaderPort, Audio-Technica 4047/SV, Universal Audio LA-610 MkII, Samson S-patch plus, LG 34UC98-W monitor, Takamine G-Series acoustic guitar.

Do you use a studio that we all need to see? Send a photo or get in touch via the MusicTech Facebook page and your gear could be featured next.

For more studio posts, check out our Studio page.

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