Prime Diffuser

Since our academy is primarily a recording studio, this blog will take you guys around our studio and show you a typical day at the studio. Welcome to our Studio Tour!

Having such a varied roster of musicians walk through our doors, we find ourselves, more often than not, having two studios simultaneously occupied with very contrasting music being recorded.

No. 1

About the space:

We’re Gray Spark Audio a recording studio based in Pune (MH), and we specialize in the Art of Sound. Gray Spark Audio is a complete Music Production and Audio Post Production Facility based out of Pune; a couple of hours away from Mumbai.
We are housed in a 3500 sq.ft .facility with state of the art equipment and an acclaimed team of audio engineers. Our space facilitates 4 studios, Studio A with a 700 sq.ft. live room capable of recording up to 25 musicians. houses some of the best in class microphones and preamps with and AVID HD I/O and outboard gear like the classic 1176 and Manley Vari-Mu.
This facility is used mostly for live recording and mix sessions.
Studio B which is our smaller facility usually handles vocal dub, ADR, Foley, and small scale productions.
Studio C is an artist/programming room designed keeping the needs of producers and programmers in mind.
Studio D our latest addition is a space designed for the students of our Audio Academy where they get trained in our facility in the art of producing a record.
No. 2

What are some of the studio essentials we would recommend?

The foundation of a good studio is great engineers that have an environment that is creative and conducive to trying out new things. We believe that it is the people who work in the studio that add the most value to the work that we do.
Apart from people, it is also important to have a well-built, flat response monitoring environment with good AD/DA and preamps.
No. 3

What equipment do you use?

Monitoring Section: Dynaudio M2’s; Neumann KH120; Yamaha HS5s
Preamps: Neve 511, UAD 4710d; SSL SiX; Apollo 8p
Compressors: Manley Vari-MU; WA76; SSL Six
EQ: Wes Audio Hyperion
Microphones: A whole bunch of 28 odd microphones ranging from C414, KM184 to U87 and GAP R1 Active.
No. 4

Pieces of gear we cannot live without

Our most recent acquisition the WES Audio Hyperion has easily become my favorite piece of gear. The blend of this Analog and Digital technology is the future of Audio Gear. I also cannot live without the Manley VARI-MU, my all-time favorite buss compressor. Most importantly, my coffee machine.
No. 5

If we had to describe our workday

Us being a studio, you can only imagine that one day is never like another. Having such a varied roster of musicians walk through our doors, we find ourselves, more often than not, having two studios simultaneously occupied with very contrasting music being recorded. One day we could be recording a Reggae band live in Studio A while having a classical vocalist recording in Studio B. Another might find us in the middle of, say, an 8 piece Dhol ensemble in A while a mixing a Blues track in B.
No. 6

Philosophy or reasoning behind gear choices

Since our studio works with varied engineers and producers it does get quite hard to find the gear that appeals to everyone. We have a very simple process for bringing in new gear into the studio, we test it meticulously in recording scenarios and have an internal discussion with our engineers if it really adds value and fits for the kind of work the studio brings in.

No. 7

What’s our next buy for the studio?

Our next addition is most likely going to be the famed 500 series SSL G Buss compressor and a large diaphragm Telefunken Microphone that we’ve been looking at for a while now.
No. 8

Tips to aspiring owners of studios

Building and setting up a studio is not an easy affair, to say the least, but it can be very rewarding and satisfying. My most important tip to aspiring studio owners would be to stay true to their clientele and never compromise on the quality of your services.

Get in touch!

If you guys have another other questions you would like to shoot at me, just shoot me a mail at ronak@gray-spark.com.
Exclusive

Share this post