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.
Pieces of gear you 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.
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
Tell us about the space
We’re Gray Spark Audio a recording studio based in Pune (MH), and have an internal discussion with our engineers if it
really fits for the kind of work the studio brings in.
and we specialize in the Art of Sound. Gray Spark Audio is a
complete Music Production and Audio Post Production Facility
What’s your next buy for the studio?
based out of Pune; a couple of hours away from Mumbai. We are
Our next addition is most likely going to be the famed 500 series
housed in a 3500 sq.ft .facility with state of the art equipment
and an acclaimed team of audio engineers. Our space facilitates SSL G Buss compressor and a large diaphragm Telefunken
Microphone that we’ve been looking at for a while now.
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 film 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.
Take us through the process of setting it up:
The studio was first established in 2009, by Ronak
under the name of “Thoughtplate Records” which
eventually turned into Gray Spark Audio.
The design and building the acoustics of the space took
approximately 5 months of hard work to put together. The
Acoustics of the studio was entirely designed and executed
by Ronak. Studio A’s control Room took the longest time
to build, tweaking and setting up the best possible room
response with the Dynaudio M2’s. The equipment for both the
studios was built slowly over time and put together finally
in June of 2016. The other 3 studio spaces were built over
time as the studio and the client requirements expanded.
What are some of the studio essentials you 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.
42
The
Score Magazine
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