Studio
Why Master Sound?
Contemporary musicians often undertake recording projects at home—a production process made attractive by today’s affordable digital technology. But great recordings require exceptional rooms, especially when acoustic instruments, vocals, and ensembles are involved, and Master Sound offers some of the best-sounding, most flexible acoustic spaces in the region.
Professional tracking and mixing also presume experienced ears and a creative team practiced in the aesthetic demands of diverse genres—production elements not routinely available in artists’ bedrooms.
While it’s true that we have all the buttons, knobs, sliders, and blinking lights that you’d expect to find in a world-class recording facility, our comfortable atmosphere, purpose-built rooms, and passionate, knowledgeable team are what truly make us exceptional.
Our two primary tracking rooms offer complete isolation and a balanced ambience suitable to a range of applications. The rooms’ irregular shapes, high ceilings, and various acoustic panels and diffusers ensure a lack of standing waves and flutter echo, exuding a warm, natural tonality.
A dedicated vocal booth and myriad sound-locks throughout the studio allow us to sequester critical sources and amplifiers, and the studio’s considerable square footage allows for effective recording of sizeable combos—from brass bands and rock groups to chamber ensembles and jazz quintets.
Our control room is large enough to accommodate multi-person production teams and the tracking of electric and electronic instruments. The monitoring environment is fully tuned, and the speaker systems are thoroughly calibrated. Above all, it’s a comfortable space that encourages creativity and collaboration.
Our array of equipment offers a state-of-the-art mix of analog and digital technologies. The workflow centers around our Solid State Logic AWS 924 console—one of the very few SSLs in the area—which is fully integrated with our Avid ProTools HDX rig and Aviom cue system.
Our outboard gear includes the usual suspects: Mic pres from API, Avalon, Buzz Audio, Chandler Limited, Great River, Millennia, Martech, Neve, Vintech, and SSL; dynamics processing and EQ from API, Avalon, Neve, Pendulum, Retro Instruments, SPL, SSL, and Tube-Tech. Our microphone locker features pieces by Neumann, Bock, Sennheiser, AKG, Beyer-Dynamic, Mojave, Electro-Voice, Peluso, Shure, Rode, Royer, Octava, and others. The control room is equipped with Adam and Focal monitors—alongside a pair of venerable Yamaha NS10s.
We’ve an ever-evolving cache of instruments, amplifiers, effects pedals, and other noise-making devices at the studio. Our selection of plug-ins and virtual instruments is extensive and updated frequently.
Master Sound is located in Hampton Roads, VA, a vibrant, multi-city, commercial and financial center—and a popular resort community. While we are not a residential facility, we can recommend a variety of accomodations and excursions for clients seeking extended lockouts.
Among our various house intruments are our pristine Yamaha C7 grand, revered by classical pianists, jazz pros, and session players from across the region, and our immaculate, vintage Hammond B3 organ and accompanying Leslie cabinet.
A wide variety of drums, cymbals, and sundry percussion (including our custom Yamaha kit and extensive snare collection) are also always available.
Looking for a competitive product but can’t visit us in person? We offer remote mixing and mastering services via internet file exchange. With our precision, full-range monitoring environment and dedicated gear—like our hardware multi-band compressors and limiters—we are uniquely positioned to provide peerless service in these areas. Give us a call for more information.
Master Sound Studios
Rob Ulsh
rob@mastersoundva.com
757-373-1180
David Stillman
dsstillman@mac.com
860-712-2946
© 2017 Master Sound Studios