HQ Recording

City-centre recording studio founded by Yasin El Ashrafi BEM, who began by offering free studio time and mentoring to unemployed young people in deprived Leicester communities from around 2009-2010, before launching the commercial studio side in 2011 to make the operation self-sustaining; he's since been named in the Sunday Times Alternative Rich List (2018) and runs the HQ Familia record label and HQ CAN Community Interest Company alongside the studio.

Offers one-to-one production, mixing and mastering sessions on Logic Pro across two studio rooms, plus an Artist Development package. The cheapest priced-in service is one-off mastering at £25/track; 1-2-1 production lessons and DJ lessons are each £30/hour; studio room hire runs £30/hour (Studio B) to £35/hour (Studio A).

Studio A is built around a Slate Raven Core Duo workstation with Adam Audio A5X and Dynaudio LYD48 monitoring; Studio B is a smaller iMac/UAD Apollo Twin setup with KRK Rokit 8 monitors.

Music productionSound engineering1-to-1

At a glance

Price: From £25
Location: 38 Charles Street, Leicester LE1 1FB
Subjects: Music production, Sound engineering
Formats: 1-to-1
Established: 2011
Accreditation: None published

Worth knowing

A 2023 feature (Cool As Leicester) lists clients including Jafro x Maniscooler x Lowpass Luke (a track with roughly 1 million streams), Maniscooler, Harri Georgio, Phidizz, Alice Kübe and JB Schofield; it also name-checks Mahalia and Easy Life's 2019 breakthroughs in the same piece, but doesn't state outright that either recorded at HQ specifically, so treat that particular connection as suggestive rather than confirmed.
Runs a downstairs multimedia centre alongside the two audio studios, offering photoshoots, music videos and album artwork as add-on services.

Notable teaching staff

Yasin El Ashrafi

Founder

Holds the British Empire Medal; named in the Sunday Times Alternative Rich List 2018. Also runs HQ Familia record label and founded HQ CAN, a Community Interest Company mentoring unemployed and disadvantaged young people through music.

Frequently asked

What does HQ Recording cost?

HQ Recording's prices start from £25, correct as of our last check.

Where is HQ Recording based?

HQ Recording is based at 38 Charles Street, Leicester LE1 1FB.

What does HQ Recording teach?

HQ Recording teaches Music production, Sound engineering, in these formats: 1-to-1.

Is HQ Recording accredited?

HQ Recording does not publish any formal accreditation or certification claims.

When was HQ Recording founded?

HQ Recording was established in 2011.

Sources

Every detail on this page is re-sourced from the school's own site, not copied from a register or aggregator. See the methodology for how that works.