Building A Studio For Immersive Mixing | Part Three

Need to Rewind?

If you missed the first parts of our blog series, Building A Studio For Immersive Mixing, be sure to revisit what inspired its owners to create a world-class immersive production facility, and how the Westlake Pro Design Services Group was the perfect partner to accomplish their goals.

Building a Dolby Atmos-certified mixing room is no easy feat. There are major obstacles to overcome, but this was unique. With a separate live room, keyboard room, and vocal booth, the goal was to make the switch between recording and monitoring in Atmos fast and intuitive, along with installing dedicated video feeds for communication between the engineers and artists. This was the task at hand for the Westlake Pro Design Services Group when they set out to build Immersive Mixing. The client wanted Dolby Atmos to be a part of the entire production process, from recording to mastering. 

Immersive Mixing in Tennesee

Staging In LA

Things started back in Los Angeles, where the team carefully integrated outboard gear, and built and disassembled an Avid S6 for shipping in preparation for installation. The Westlake team was on hand for all pre-planning in Los Angeles and then traveled to Tennessee to oversee the completion of the project. The Design Services Group programmed the entire studio to integrate seamlessly on-site, including a Crestron system so that the client could control every video element in the studio simply via an iPad. 

While the pieces were being put together in Los Angeles, the Design Services Group went to work in Tennessee with a simple goal. Build the quintessential Nashville recording studio that artists and engineers can feel at home in.  A warm and welcoming space where creativity can flourish. The “studio of the future,” with all the best parts of the past.  Some monumental technological tasks overshadowed this simple goal.

Immersive Mixing in Tennesee

No Simple Feat

Everything was on the table. Our Design Services Group teamed up with Dave Mattingly of Sound Construction Inc. Dave created custom acoustic solutions throughout the building to convert the Tennessee estate into a fine-tuned studio. The dining room was transformed into a 7.1.2-enabled keyboard recording room built to capture the studio’s exceptionally rare Yamaha C7 CFX and 1957 Hammond B3 and Leslie in all their glory. Additionally, Mattingly built an isolated vocal booth and amp cabinet from scratch to ensure every detail could be captured in a pristine space.

Integrating all the existing outboard gear the client had onto a patch bay was an absolute necessity, as well as installing a flexible DADMAN system so that the client can route signals easily and efficiently. In an effort to future-proof the studio, the client wanted to use the latest MacPro for their recording rig, which had yet to be approved for use with Pro Tools. This led to additional testing of the full Pro Tools rig to ensure there would be no hiccups while recording or mixing with the large plugin library. The Westlake Pro Design Services Group went above and beyond the client’s expectations to ensure whatever they could dream up, was a reality.

Immersive Mixing

Immersive Mixing in Tennesee

One Of A Kind

Now operating at full capacity, Immersive Mixing is the only studio in Tennessee where you can record and mix in Dolby Atmos in the same room. This opens a world of possibilities in the production process. Clients can simultaneously create and experience unparalleled depth and space in their recordings. You can add that extra guitar part you were thinking of and utilize the entire spectrum of Dolby Atmos in a way you can nowhere else. Being able to switch between your recording session and your Atmos mix at the press of a button is a luxury that is now within reach, thanks to the brilliant design and the technologically savvy engineering of the Westlake Pro Design Services Group.  Contact us today for help turning your studio dreams into a reality. 

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