SECRET DOOR STUDIO A CONTROL ROOM
SECRET
DOOR
RECORDING CO.
A New Niche Space
in Toronto’s Danforth
Neighbourhood
By Kevin Young
Photos by Heather Pollock
30 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
T
imothy Abraham didn’t have a burning desire
to leave his former digs at Soleil Sound – or to
build himself a new studio, for that matter – but
with the creation of Toronto’s Secret Door Recording
Co., he finds himself in a space that’s an ideal fit for
his workflow and business model.
“I’m very happy,” the JUNO Award-winning producer/mixer says of
his new home. Abraham had built Soleil Sound only two years ago,
but unfortunately, the owners of the building sold the property and
the buyer made it clear their plans didn’t include recording studios.
“So I feel extremely fortunate to have had a Martin Pilchner-designed
room on Danforth come available at just the right time,” he adds.
This is Abraham’s third studio build, and the first that’s entirely his
own. “I’m excited about that, and very optimistic,” he says, noting he
learned a lot building Soleil that he was able to put to use this time
around. Tearing out Soleil and updating the new space took roughly
two months, and Secret Door was up and running with its first cli-
ents, acclaimed art-rockers The Darcys, in December 2019.
The previous owners had built the space as an audio post room
roughly 25 years ago, and though it had exceptionally good bones,
it still required substantial work. “I redid every surface [with] new car-
pets and paint. I installed new light fixtures and fabric on the sound
treatments and rebuilt some of those treatments,” Abraham explains.
He also tuned up the room overall, adding a new diffuser and addi-
tional insulation. While the floors had previously been floating, the pucks
had been compressed to the point of being ineffective. “So we jacked
the entire thing up, put in new pucks, and improved isolation,” he adds.
Abraham also put the word out that he was looking for soffit-
mount loudspeakers, and ultimately acquired a set of five custom
ATC three-way mains (originally built for The Warehouse Studios in
Vancouver) for Secret Door’s 5.1 system. That said, given the room
won’t accommodate the ATC rear surrounds, Abraham was still on
the hunt for a solution as of his interview with Professional Sound in
mid-December 2019.