Session musicians
A large network of session musicians across South Africa and abroad — whatever the part, we can find someone to play on it.
01The founder
Built by a bass player.
One Big Room Studios is the brainchild of bass player, producer and sound engineer Ludwig Bouwer, who has run it since it opened in 2001.
He designed it to feel more like a cosy, hi-tech band-room than a commercial studio: North-African decor and wood, with aluminium and glass. It’s still where he sits down with every client to work out the budget and the plan before a single fader moves.
Ludwig Bouwer Owner · producer · engineer
02Philosophy
The room comes first.
A civilization is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists.
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01
Vibe first
The environment and the vibe in the room matter more than any single piece of gear. An uneasy artist won’t make their best work, no matter how the room measures on paper.
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02
Room over software
Most of the original budget went into room acoustics, not outboard. Software can shape a sound — it can’t rescue one that was tracked in a bad room.
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03
Independent artists first
Affordable, broadcast-quality recording gives independent artists a real shot at a career — signed or not.
03History
Two decades, one room at a time.
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2001
One Big Room opens on a hill in Silverton Ridge, Pretoria. Independent from day one.
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2003
A busy year in post: the 13-part Ekonet series for KykNet, 52 minutes of score for Tears of the Gods, and a presentation for Oprah Winfrey.
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2009–11
On the road: every Rockspaaider concert for M-Net and KykNet, 32 tracks at a time, and the Unplugged Joy of Jazz series on a Hillbrow rooftop.
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2018
One Big Room Vintage opens less than a kilometre away, in partnership with Cesar Sound.
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2023
Fire Beast by Vox Chamber Choir and Franco Prinsloo, recorded, mixed and mastered here, wins Best Classical/Instrumental Album at the 29th SAMAs.
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2024
Multi-camera podcast production joins the lineup, and the Ndlovu Youth Choir’s band records drums, percussion, bass and guitar here.
04The place
Built on a hill.
35 min5 min
- Built on a hill in Silverton Ridge, a quiet residential suburb: central, but away from the buzz of the city.
- Both live rooms face a garden through double-glazed windows that open when strict isolation isn’t needed. Daylight and fresh air, on purpose.
- Air-conditioning keeps the African weather under control.
05Partners
Who we bring in.
Beat makers
A pool of beat makers for hip hop, R&B and other urban styles, ready to build a track from the ground up.
In-studio video
Videographers who capture the process and the performance, with packages to suit the budget.