Not everything we do is a Recording Studio!

Tags

cinema, education, home cinema, mixing, monitoring, music, music technology, proaudio, recording, schools, studio design, Studio furniture, studio technique, studio wiring

As the boundaries blur, we have increasingly been asked to work on multimedia projects, such as small cinemas, cinemas in super yachts and this – the hardest one so far:

A theatre. A cinema. A 7.1 mix room.  All at the same time.

Composer, film director and all round nice guy Tony Britten (best known to you perhaps for his UEFA Champions League Anthem) pitched me an interesting and complex challenge last year:  ‘ Can you take this little old barn, and convert it into a 50 seat private movie theatre and performance venue, that is also accurate for mixing 7.1 stems for movies?’

That’s not as simple as it sounds.

It has to have a ventilation system that can cope with the CO2 and heat of 50 people, yet quiet enough to mix a pin dropping.  And accurate.  And not to look like a Studio (Tony said!)

I hope you think we succeeded!  Design by yours truly.  Construction by the ever reliable master craftsman Jeff the Builder…

We enlisted the assistance of a brilliant a/c consultant and retained the ‘look’ of the barn (It had previously housed 2 old theatre organs and been lined in wood by the previous owner.)  Ventilation plenums were hidden behind said panelling as was bass trapping.

My first experience of the finished building (after testing) was the private premiere of Tony’s latest film ‘Chick Lit‘.  The pre – film piano concert sounded great and the 7.1 rendition as I had expected!  Also, no-one got too hot on a warm summer evening with every seat occupied.  That’s what we are there for!

The Author.

Howard Turner has over 30 years experience in the studio business, and for the last two decades his Studio Wizard Organisation has allowed him to stop shouting at musicians and going to sleep on the mixing desk all of the time, instead he gets to design studios and shout at builders for a change…

Further information:  +447803666789

web: www.studiowizard.com

and http://www.facebook.com/studiowizard

We’ve been busy at StudioWizard!

Tags

acoustics, education, mixing, monitoring, music, music technology, proaudio, recording, schools, studio design, Studio furniture, studio technique, studio wiring

Sorry for the lack of posts recently!  The first half of 2017 has sped by, and in the process I’ve had the chance to design and help build some great facilities that I’d like to share with you.

This first one is Orange Tree – built for a company called AmpFactory in East Anglia, UK.  Designed by yours truly and built by the ever impressive Jeff the Builder, who has been building studios with me since the early 90s.

Here’s some pictures:

That’s fully renovated 1989 Neve VR, a fully loaded Burl Mothership, and a properly ‘live’ live room!

First clients were JoanovArc to record their new single.

The owner’s comment after the first session:

“Normally it takes me a few hours to nail the drum sound.  In this room it took 20 minutes!”  Thanks Andy – great to be appreciated!

Andy blogged the build on Gearslutz – here’s the link… https://www.gearslutz.com/board/photo-diaries-recording-studio-construction-projects/1120553-orangetree-studios-build-uk.html

The Author

Howard Turner has over 30 years experience in the studio business, and for the last 2 decades, his Studio Wizard Organisation have been at the forefront of the development of effective & affordable designs and solutions for studios.

Further information:  +447803666789

web: www.studiowizard.com

and http://www.facebook.com/studiowizard