A Look Under the Hood at
HAPY HIPI STUDIOS
By Andrew King
The
shared moniker
of “gearhead” isn’t
the only thing
that audio and
automotive aficionados have in common.
There’s the obsession with makes, models,
and years; a knack for mods and hot-
rodding but a love of an all-original classic;
an appreciation for a sleek, smooth chassis
that always takes a back seat to what’s un-
der the hood.
Hapy Hipi Studios in King City, ON,
would thrill a gearhead of either ilk. Situ-
ated inside an expansive garage housing
pieces from owner Tim Schmidt, aka The
Hapy Hipi’s unparalleled exotic car collec-
tion, the studio was conceived and con-
structed sparing little expense to join the
upper echelon of recording facilities in the
country.
The studio proper comprises a float-
ing 300-sq.-ft. controlled reflection geom-
etry control room adjacent to a 350-sq.-ft.
live room and flanked by a 40-sq.-ft. iso
booth. Plus, the massive main garage is
outfitted with a comprehensive audio and
30 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
video tie-line system to enable tracking
virtually anywhere within the space.
What’s more, the control room is
anchored by a fully-restored SSL 4056 G+
console augmented with Tangerine Ultima-
tion and boasts an enviable complement
of sought-after microphones, outboard
pieces, and instruments curated with the
same care as the cars that surround it.
“Tim is what you’d call a car lover,” begins
Martin Pilchner of Toronto-based studio
design firm Pilchner Schoustal International
Inc. “His collection is one of his main pas-
sions, but he also has a real appreciation
for music.”
Pilchner, who headed up the de-
sign for Hapy Hipi Studios, gives a quick
overview of Schmidt’s property, lovingly
dubbed “Horsepower Haven” – a 200-acre
private residence and ranch with several
outbuildings to store and service the vehi-
cles. The largest of those, which showcases
the majority of Schmidt’s Ontario-based
collection, also contains the studio.
The initial plans were rather modest
– at least in comparison with what the fa-
cility ultimately became. Schmidt wanted a
comfortable, well-equipped workspace that
might beckon some family, friends, and like-
minded creative types to the ranch; howev-
er, during the design phase, the ideas kept
coming. “Eventually, we got to talking about
a big console and some of the higher-end
components that might get some major
artists out here,” Pilchner recalls.
He notes that even though the garage
is quite large, the area allocated for the
studio was relatively humble, and its ceiling
height was limited by a mezzanine-level
apartment directly above it. “With the tight
ceiling heights and a somewhat complicat-
ed structure, we still had to get in a bunch
of sound isolation for the control room,”
Pilchner explains of his first major hurdle.
That involved disconnecting the
studio ceiling from the mezzanine floor
for maximum vibration isolation and
modifying some of the structural beams in
that corner of the building. Compounding
those challenges was the fact that the
building uses hydronic heating, which