The heydays saw many state-of-the-art studios with sophisticated studio gear and acoustics springing up across the country. Some great work has come out of studios like Empire Studios, Yash Raj Studios and T Series’ Golden Chariot in Mumbai and Media Artists and Panchathan Record Inn & AM Studios in Chennai.
The names of these iconic studios have become iconic because of the artistes, musicians, music producers and sound engineers who have created masterpieces at these facilities. Late H Shridhar at Media Artist, Daman Sood at Western Outdoors and Satish Gupta at Golden Chariot have churned out timeless melo¬dies from these venues.
Since 2006, the Indian Recording Arts Academy awards has taken cognizance of not only the talent but also the studios. Identifying and rewarding new studios with latest technology has always been a focus at IRAA. As a natural extension to the number of categories introduced in the last couple of years, this year the esteemed IRAA Jury has segregated the studio categories into Studio of the Year – Music and Studio of the Year – Post Production.
The four new studios being considered for this Jury award this year include – Island City Studios, Mumbai; Studio Fifty-Three, Gujarat; Knack Studios, Chennai and Jaimini Studios, Mumbai.
This feature showcases these four studios for the benefit of our readers.
Winners will be announced at the IRAA 2019 award ceremony on 1st June, 2019, HALL 4 - BEC, Mumbai.
Island City Studios, Khar, Mumbai
Island City Studios is a complete Audio & Music Production and Post Facility recently built in Khar, Mumbai. The facility includes two control rooms, two record¬ing spaces, vocal booth and a separate rehearsal room which enables this facility to create a sense of community and encourage collaborations between different artists and composers.
With state of the art equipment and hi-quality acoustics, the facility is designed along international standards while judiciously using the available space that was structurally avail¬able to further build in.
The Facility has two stu¬dios namely The Press & The Bay and a separate rehearsal space called Madfingers.
The Press
With Quested 212 Far Field Monitor System (Dual Sub) and API 1608 Analogue Recording Console coupled with reference room acoustics designed by Didier Weiss (Head Acoustics), Studio-A boasts of high precision and world class quality. Adjacent is a 550 sqft Live Room that houses a separate Isolation/ Vocal Booth. A wide panoramic city view along front facade of the building, ample natural light and an amalgamation of industrial theme with exposed services in ceiling and classy wooden features, makes this room the perfect space for live sessions and shooting. The Live room simulates a pretty vibrant acoustical quality using diffuser wooden feature walls and staggered glazing.
Inventory
- API 1608 Analogue Recording Console (16 chan¬nels 8 busses)
- Universal Audio 4-710d
- Focusrite ISA 428 MKII
- Audient ASP 880
- API 550A Eq (12nos)
- API 560C Eq (4nos)
- API 527 Compressor
- Elysia Xpressor 500
- Empirical Labs Distressor (Stereo Pair)
- 1176 FET Compressor
- Quested 212 Far Field Monitor System (Dual Sub)
- Focal Twin Be (LCR) for Near Field 5.1
- Focal 6 Be (Surround) for Near Field 5.1
- Behringer Powerplay Personal Head¬phone Monitoring System
- Orion 32 HD Converters
- iMac Pro
- Avid Protools HDX
- Apple Logic Pro X
The Bay
Studio B is the cozy dubbing room perfect for voice-overs, overdubs, vocals or to record that tight hip hop drum sound. Compact yet well thought out Rack of outboard pre-amps and processing. Dubbing room can fit a mid size drum kit and can also be used as an ISO booth for Studio A.
Inventory
- API 3124V Preamp
- Drawmer 1969 Vaccum Tube Preamp & Compressor
- Avalon 737
- Universal Audio Apollo 8 (Quad)
- Genelec 8260A Mid Field Monitors
- Dynaudio LYD 7 Near Field
- Mackie Big Knob
- Orion 32
- Avid Protools Native
- Apple Logic Pro X
Madfingers
The Rehearsal Room can accommodate ensembles of 8-10 people. 2-Track or Multitrack Rehearsal Record¬ings are available. With good natural light and a subtle colour scheme a vibrant ambience has been achieved coupled with broadband absorption overall rendering the space pleasant and not so tiring for rehearsals.
Inventory
- Mapex Armory Shell Pack Drum kit with 2 nos boom cymbals stands
- Assortment of Cymbals
- TC Electronics Bass Amp
- Vox AC 15 Guitar Amp
- Laney VC 30 Guitar Amp
- Presonus AR series 16channel mixer
- Mackie Thump PA Speakers
- Laney CX-100 monitor
- Laney AH-200 Keyboard Amp
Studio Fifty-Three, Surat, Gujarat
Studio Fifty-Three is centrally situated in Surat, Gujarat and operational since March 2018. The studio comprises all the facilities to cater all kinds of requisite for any segment in sound designing & production. It is a state of art recording studio with revolutionary interiors, acoustics, ambience, technology and professional working attitude to deliver excellence in all services & products incorporating with sound.
The studio encompasses one 300 sq. feet Control Room, one approx.160 sq. feet Dubbing Room & a centrally located lobby area with pantry.
Control Room Inventory
- Genelec 7.1 Surround System
- 1238a 3-Way SAM Monitors(x3)
- 8350a 2-Way SAM Monitors(x4)
- 7271a SA Subwoofer
- ATC SCM 20a Pro (Near Field Monitors)
- RME Octamic II Preamp (8-Mic Pre)
- Antelope Orion 32+
- Shadow Hills Mastering Com¬pressor
- Manley VOXBOX reference chan¬nel strip (1-Mic Pre)
- Manley FORCE Four Channel Preamp (4-Mic Pre)
- Manley Stereo Variable Mu Lim¬iter Compressor
- SSL E-Series EQ (500 Series x2)
- Crane Song Insignia EQ (500 Series x2)
- SPL Transient Designer (500 Series x2)
- Bricasti M7 Reverb
- Avid S3 Control Surface
- Radial Wr8 8Slot Power Rack
- SPL transient designer 500 series
- Crane Song Insigna EQ 500 Series
Dubbing room Inventory
- Neumann U87 Matched Pair Micro¬phone (x2)
- Neumann M149Tube_Z Micro¬phone for Vocals and Acoustic Guitars (x1)
- Behringer HA8000 Headphone amp
- Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones
- Royer SF-2 Ribbon Microphone (x1)
- AKG C414 xls Micro¬phone (x1)
Knack Studios, Mylapore, Chennai
Knack Studio, Chennai is a world-class post-production complex powered by equipment and technologies in the fields of visual effects and sound design that are available for the first time to filmmakers in South India. Knack Studios represents an ambitious investment by the founders of NAC Jewelers in order to expand and diversify, company management recognized a growing need for top-flight post-production services.
The facility of this totally renovated 4600m2 multifaceted three-story complex includes Music Room, Dolby Atmos Mix Room, ADR Rooms and Music Room.
Pre-Mix Room Inventory
- 2 x ProTools HDX 3 systems for mix and stem recording.
- Avid S3
- QSC Amps, QSC Speakers
- Viewsonic Projector
- Galalite Screen
- Central SAN storage
- Dolby Atmos processor
Dolby Atmos Mix Room Inventory
- 3 x ProTools HDX 3 systems for mix and stem recording.
- Avid S6 fully blown.
- QSC Amps, QSC Speakers
- Barco Projector
- Galalite Screen
- Central SAN storage
- Dolby Atmos processor
- RME AD / DA
Music Room Inventory
- 2 x HDX3 AVID Protools
- Neve Genesys Fully blown
- Merging Horus and Hapi interface / micpre / convertors
- Trinnov room correction DSP
- Dynaudio M3A
- 5x Eve-Adudio 407 with dual 12" sub woofers
ADR Rooms Inventory
- 5 x Eve-Audio 305 with Sub
- Neumann Microphone
- Protools HD Native with Omni
- SPL Monitor controller
- Avid Dock
Jaimini Studios, Andheri, Mumbai
Jaimini Studios Private Limited is situated in Shah Industrial Estate in Andheri and operational since 2018. The studio comprises all the facilities to cater all kinds of requirements for any segment in sound mixing and is personally designed by Alok De, Owner Jaimini Studios Pvt. Ltd. and Anirban Ghose Managing Director, Pulz Electronics Ltd. This 1000 Sq. Feet sound mixing studio is a state of art mixing studio with innovative interiors, acoustics, ambiance, technology, and professional work¬ing attitude to deliver excellence.
Inventory
- Apple Mac Pro (Late 2013), Intel Xeon E5, 64GB DDR3 1866 MHz RAM, AMD FirePro D700 6GB Graph¬ics, 256GB SSD
- Apple Mac Pro (Late 2013), Intel Xeon E5, 32GB DDR3 1866 MHz RAM, AMD FirePro D700 6GB Graph¬ics, 256GB SSD
- 4x 21.5” IPS Monitors
- 2x Apple Magic Keyboard Mouse Set
- Wireless Keyboard With Trackpad
- LED Laser Projector
- Matte Fixed Frame Screen
- Online UPS 7.5 KVA + Sealed Mainte¬nance Free Batteries + Battery Rack
- 2x Thunderbolt Hard Drive Chassis With 12TB Capacity (RAID Storage)
- External Hard Drive (For Time Ma¬chine Backup)
- 2x Thunderbolt Chassis For AVID PCIe Cards
- AVID ProTools 2018 Ultimate
- AVID S6 Custom Configuartion
- AVID HD MADI - 1, 2 & 3
- AVID Sync HD - A & B
- AVID IO HD
- Word Clock Generator
- Dolby Rendering & Mastering Unit
- Dolby CP750
- Vantage Box
- RME + Supporting Accessories
- Audio Processor
- Pulz Amplifiers
- Pulz Screen Speakers (Front)
- Pulz Subwoffer
- Pulz Surround Speakers (Side & Top)
- Cables, Connectors
- Equipment Rack + Chassis Cooling