Drawing from a unique mix of artistry and audio engineering, we / Fili work with creators and organizations to realize beautiful sound projects.
Both in-person and remotely, we can collaborate as an audio engineer or sound creator (or both) — accompanying any stage of the production process:
- Recordings and music production (singles, albums, EPs)
- Mixing and post-production
- Content creation
- Audio for video
- Composition and sound design
- Audio consultation or collaboration for special projects
Listen to past projects →
Full list of services
- Mobile recording — sound recording sessions and live performance captures; in studios, halls and venues, creation spaces, outdoors etc. We also offer multicam video captures.
- Audio production at any stage of the production cycle — recording, editing, mixing, post, restoration, and mastering.
- Sound libraries and archives — documentation, archiving, digital restoration, sampling, and field recordings.
- Creative production and sound design — artistic accompaniment, production planning and support, improvisation, scoring and arrangement, audio creation.
- Audio accompaniment and consulting — audio workspace optimization, recording and live-sound systems design, room and device measurement, performance arts support, multimedia installation.
Fili 周 Gibbons
(we / they) - Artist & sound engineer
Our background
- 20+ years as a musician (cellist, composer, electronic music).
- Masters in Sound Recording, McGill University.
- 6 years of professional production experience in sound (Studio Apothicaire).
- 100+ professional sound projects realized: recordings, music productions, sound design, composition, livestreams, podcasts etc.
- Recording and performance experience across genres — traditional, pop, rock, roots, beats, improv, classical, contemporary, electronic.
Our approach
- Our main focus is to offer a supportive space for collaborators. We usually start by exploring a personal definition of ‘sound quality’ with whoever we are working with, listening carefully to references and inspirations that align technique with creativity.
- Flexibility is a core value. Sometimes we work closely and with suggestions, other times we step back to let project unfolds in its own way. When asked, we can also make certain decisions ourselves, while offering an explanation of the steps involved.
- We draw from a mixture of intuition and craft — a deep understanding of technical and physical properties, and careful selection of audio processes. Through years of listening, we prioritize a gentle and transparent approach to sound processing, as well as skills to shape sound in complex and creative ways when needed. Our goal is to preserve sound it its subtlety — clear, alive, and resonating in the body.
Giving our best I can do in that moment
when we're here in this life, sound is such a mystery and to be able to spend some time with other people's sound and try to be genuine and help that genuine in our, in our way of working and also. Be there for other creators while they are doing that deep, mysterious work of music,
There is an aspect of craft to sound recording, a disciplined way of working with sound knowledges and machines and devices. there's a lot of richness and tchnical parameters to be aware of. There's methods of respecting the sound
So yeah, there's this question of like, what are the right practices? And and in some cases there are right practices, like there's practices that will give you a certain results. Very like specific and
wholesome, nutritious, rich enjoyable, clear, powerful experience. Those are the ones we try to prioritize.
When you have a sound that's in life that you're recording, the sound is always going to be more perfect than the tools you're using. As soon as you take a microphone is you take a human device and you try to say, okay, sound, you're going to go in here now into this box. Problem is our boxes. They don't really yeah, they can't, they can't possibly capture everything that's happening in, in that experience of the sound.
The sound is more complete. Embodied and mysterious and
then on another level, you're working with this illusion in a way, because what you've captured, isn't really the sound. It's a. It's a representation of that sound. It's like a encoded version of that sound that exists within its own world. That way it has all the properties and limitations of whatever is holding that sound and preserving it. So for example, you have. The space of the recording. Like the way it's reproduced, if you record into like two speakers, then it's going to be stuck between those two speakers. And there's nothing you can do about it, but you can learn to work with that world in a very effective way as well. Accept it and.
Work with it to try and see what, what can you do with that? And what can that give to someone who's listening later? So, yeah, that's an important aspect of the sound as well as to be able to. On one hand it's about that purity and preserving the natural powers of the sound. But on the other hand, you're working with this technical representation of it and that can get quite creative and quite irreverent to.
there's this whole network of properties that you try to be aware of and know how to navigate
I love recording. I love music and I've always loved that ever since I was a kid
the ability to be useful in someone else's life is the most magical. Aspects of sound recording for us.
You're not all that important.
You're really just someone there to do the job, do the job that needs doing listen to whatever's needed be disciplined, be show up to the work
We're really rigorous about technology and knowledge and trying to do some deep research. If
It's all interconnected. I'm Filli and an artist who can work with these tools.
our speciial traits. and our value:
we know how to break down complex concepts in a way that people can understand.
that can be really great for people. Just to feel that when they're working with us, they can kind of be a part of the process and see how we do it and challenge us and offer different ideas. it kind of invites other people into the process instead of being yeah, like keeping it all hidden and secret. And then at the end of the day, you're wondering what really happened when the song went somewhere and then came back and you're like, oh, I don't know. I don't know if it's better.
I try to be respectful and allow space, allow space for being a lot of space for accepting
a lot of dedication to the work I do. If you work with me, you're gonna feel that I'm there for you.
this work isn't about being perfect either. It's about being able to accept that you're making mistakes.
So our approach is it's about listening. It's about grounding and trying to really see what's needed in the work that we're doing. What is the creation demands? What do the artists need?
What does the sound need? And, and then it's about working with this network of experiences with sound and technology, understanding how different things are connected and. How to keep that sound vibrant when you're
it's about trying to get a very
moving experienced the past, through the. A channel of sound recording and using a whole bunch of knowledge, a whole bunch of experience and listening experiments.
there's a craft knowledge to it, but it keeps growing and it's never still. It's never final and completely never sure of itself. Somehow you have to keep going.
. I learn how to do the work as well in terms of being, being in connection with other beings, humans, which is very intricate and subtle and delicate.
I'm also an artist I'm a music lover, so many styles expressions, and this always been. The way we are. And so we had allows us to, I think, move pretty fluidly between different expressions, different worlds is how. Finding the unifying qualities within each one that can support the work that needs to be done.
And for one style of music that can mean a certain, a certain set of skills, a certain set of workflow and mentality, and for another. It means a whole different thing. And as a plural being, maybe that's something I seem to be able to do. So navigate pretty decently,
So I think what it means though, is that I'm able to, I don't work on the level of. What kind of music are you playing or how good is that music or like whose definition of good. And I don't work on the level of trying to yeah. Like really be
always in the same vibration, the same. Worlds
I think I really need diversity. I need to feel interconnection between different sounds, different feelings, different peoples. And that brings me wellbeing and flexibility in my life. Fluidity.
And I think that can bring a certain fluidity and expansiveness to the work that we do with others. I hope I like to believe that it brings some and brings expensive city and hope and sorry again.
Broadness to the way that music can be received in the microphones.
I'm very dedicated. It's like, I, I work really hard at the work. I always try to focus on how do I How do I support that? And how do I bring my best self into that work? I
I worked to be on your side. Like I really worked be by your side and accomany with humanity, warmth and openness.
Specifications
Technical Capabilities - Audio
Microphones*:
2x Schoeps CMC6 + MK41 capsules
1x AKG C414 XLS
1x Audio-Technica AT4040
2x Neumann KMS 105
1x DPA d:vote 4099
1x Shure SM57
* Specialized microphones can be rented on request.
Interfaces*:
RME Babyface Pro
Sound Devices Mix Pre 6
Arturia Audiofuse 8 Pre
* Higher channel interfaces / pre-amps rented on request.
Playback:
2 x Equator D5 Monitor speaker
Sennheiser HD600 headphones
Yamaha HPH-MT8 Headphones
Accessories:
3 x Microphone boom stands
1 x Miniature stand with boom
2 x Manfrotto MS0490A Nanopole stand/boom
1 x 13’ Tall stand
2 x 11’ Tall stands
1 x 10” stereo bar
2 x Rode Wireless pro Transmitter + 1 x Receiver
2 x Rode SM4-R mounts
2 x Rycote BBG windjammer + fur
3 x Power extension cables
...many XLR, 1/4-inch, and specialty cables
DAWs:
Protools (version 2020.9.1)
Ableton Live Suite (version 11.1.1) + Push 2
Logic Pro X (version 10.5.0)
Reaper
Plugins:
Massenburg Design Works: EQ6, DRC2
Wholegrain: DynPEQ Bundle
Harman / Lexicon: PCM Native Reverb bundle
Valhalla: Vintage Verb, Room, Supermassive
IRCAM: Pure Compressor V3
TC Electronic: Limiter Brickwall HD
Izotope: Insight and RX 10
Eventide: Blackhole, SP2016, Omnipressor, Spring
Arturia: FX Bundle
Utility software:
Melondyne Editor 4
HOFA DDP creator
Fuzzmeasure - Room and device measurement software
“je vous recommande amplement notre ami Fili JG . […] vous trouverez non seulement ses habilités techniques, mais aussi et surtout, son approche, son ouverture, sa gentillesse, sa qualité d' écoute et son empathie. Nous avons travaillé ensemble sur plusieurs projets d' enregistrements et disques, et au fil du temps, il ne fait qu' approfondir et élargir sa palette. “ -Géraldine Eguiluz, Montreal / Mexico City
Tell us about a project
We’re currently receiving new sound projects on an ongoing basis. If you’re curious or interested in working together, we invite you to write us by email, or use the contact form below.
Glad to chat about an audio project you are working on, and discuss possibilities for collaboration.
studio.apothicaire@gmail.com
✏️ Contact form
You can also reach us on social media, though our response time may be slightly slower: