A Recording Studio in the Forest, Minutes from Victoria BC
Some records need a downtown room. Most need the opposite: a recording studio near Victoria, BC that’s quiet, unhurried, and where the pressure drops the second you park the car.
Sonic Forest Studios is a recording studio on five forested acres in Metchosin, about 30 minutes from downtown Victoria, BC. I’ve been recording here since 2005, and the whole property is wired for it. Seven recording-enabled rooms, all connected over a Dante audio network, which means we can put your drummer in the big room, your singer somewhere intimate, and your amp wherever it sounds best, all tracking to the same session at once.
Not many recording studios on Vancouver Island, or anywhere, work this way. And when tracking wraps, Dolby Atmos mixing and mastering happen in the same building.
A recording studio built into the forest near Victoria BC
This isn’t a converted garage. The house was renovated and refit specifically for audio, with tracking spaces, editing suites, and rehearsal rooms across two levels. Between takes you’re stepping outside into actual forest, not onto a sidewalk.
That environment shows up in performances. When Whitehorse producer Matthew Lien needed to record an eight-piece Baroque string ensemble and his church venue fell through, we did it here. Clean recording, happy ensemble, no truck noise in the quiet passages.
The signal chain
Your tracks run through gear chosen for one thing: getting the sound right at the source.
Neve preamps into a Focusrite Red 16Line and a full RedNet Dante system, captured in Pro Tools HDX. The Dante network means any microphone in any room reaches the control room with zero compromise, and remote headphone stations let players control their own mix from wherever they’re set up.
And because the mix room here is a Dolby Atmos certified 7.1.4 facility, you’re tracking in the same building where your record can be mixed for Apple Music spatial audio. Record it once, finish it anywhere from stereo to Atmos, no file handoffs between studios.
Who's recorded here
Over twenty years this room has hosted artists like Jesse Roper, Towers & Trees, elijah woods, Stacy Earle, Jay Semko of the Northern Pikes, and Shaun Verreault of Wide Mouth Mason. The work that’s come out of this studio has generated over 451 million streams.
Pricing
Get in touch with what you’re making, how many songs, and your timeline, and I’ll put together a quote that fits the project.
Frequently asked questions
Where exactly are you?
Metchosin, BC, about half an hour west of downtown Victoria. Full directions come with your booking confirmation. There’s plenty of free parking, and yes, it really is in the forest.
Can we track a full band live off the floor?
Yes. That’s what the multi-room Dante setup is built for. Everyone plays together with proper isolation between rooms, which gets you the live feel without the bleed problems.
Do you produce as well as engineer?
I can work either way. Some artists want an engineer who stays out of the creative lane, some want a second set of ears on arrangements and takes. Tell me which one you need before we start.
Can we record with you and mix somewhere else?
Of course. You’ll get organized, labeled sessions any mixer can open. But most people who hear the Atmos room end up finishing here.
How far in advance should we book?
For a single or a demo day, a couple of weeks usually works. Album projects need more runway, especially spring and fall.