SHH. We’re in the soundproof “dead room”.

Deep in the bowels of the GAK music shop in Brighton, we’re hunting for the holy grail in electronic sound.

But right now it’s so hushed we can barely hear a thing.

“You can’t really make out Ss,” mouths assistant Jack Arnold.

The words come out as a strange, warped whisper: “Muu man’t eally her mmmes.”

The room is hushed, but not quite an anechoic chamber – one that totally dampens the sound.

Jack, 24, said: “You wouldn’t even want that. Apparently if someone’s left in a 100 per cent soundproof room, they’ll go mad.”

He leans on the padded wall and it gives to his touch: its black tiles are springy, like tiny trampolines.

The room is decked out with bass traps, sound-dampening corner triangles, serrated foam plates, and a sealed door. It’s very intimate.

GAK is one of Brighton’s most celebrated music shops. It has stood in the heart of the North Laine for more than 25 years, and promises “something for every musician of every type”.

If anyone can help in my quest for the mother of all electronic sounds, it’s got to be GAK.

The shop specialises in electronic equipment – and staff in each of its tailor-made rooms have agreed to assist me. So, it’s out of the weird, womb-like comfort of the padded dead room – and into the drum studio.

Molly Rimmer, 26, is behind the kit in a room fitted with dozens of electronic drums. There are mesh tom toms, rubber cymbals and “brains” – black sound-modifying boxes attached to the drums.

Molly said: “Electronic kits are perfect for thin walls and angry neighbours.”

She speaks from experience – she has played for 20 years and helped hundreds of customers find the right kit.

“With a good electronic drumkit, people are generally looking for a sound as close to an acoustic kit as possible.

“But they’re valued in their own right, too. Producers now often go straight for electronic kits rather than sampling acoustic ones. You can’t get that precise sound anywhere else,” she said.

Downstairs there are aisles of electric guitars. Shop assistant George Miller, 28, explained what his customers come looking for.

“There are thousands of guitars but for each guitarist, only a handful would sound right. Some want the heavy, rocky sound you get from humbucker pickups. Others want snappy, funky tones. I’m looking for a warm sound – one that resonates in my ears.”

He approaches one guitar on the shelf with an almost religious reverence: “This is an original American flamed ash Stratocaster. It’s got a maple neck – which gives it a beautiful brightness of tone.”

Different electric guitars work better with specific effects pedals. George said: “If the guitar is your paintbrush, effects pedals are the colour palette. You can push down on a pedal and alter the sound in any way you like. But lot of it’s through your fingers: a novice would sound bad on any guitar.”

The guitar room has been more hands-on and tactile. Where the electronic drums worked by replaying pre-recorded samples, making music on an electric guitar feels – oddly – less digital.

The last room holds an instrument of mythic proportion. It is lke entering a shrine. Jack stands in awe in front of a monster synthesiser. Before us is the Moog One, a sublime wooden deck of dials and keys. “It’s the stuff of my dreams and nightmares,” said Jack. “It’s so beautiful, but so expensive. It’s the Ferrari of synthesisers.”

The instrument synthesises two ideas the musicians here have all been talking about. It marries the acoustic and electronic.

He said: “This is a synthesiser, an electronic machine, but it’s got the lovely, warm, tone you expect of an acoustic instrument.

He demonstrates a few, chords. The sound rolls in like a film score. “It’s not all about replicating the sound of an acoustic instrument,” he said. “The Moog has the perfect electronic sound all in its own right.”