When Allusion Studios (Tucson, Ariz.) head engineer Jim Pavett made the call to overhaul the space—including the control room, live/drum room, vocal booth, iso spaces and lounge—he logged onto Auralex’s site to fill out the Room Analysis Plus service. This program allowed him to download an audio file with a swept sine signal from 20 to 20k Hz. Pavett then recorded the sweep with an omnidirectional measurement mic and forwarded it, with the Personalized Room Analysis Form, direct to Auralex for examination.
With results in hand, Pavett brought in a slew of Auralex products. For the 20×20-foot console-less control room (tube pre’s, comps and mic pre’s directed through Lynx converters and Nuendo), Pavett installed ELiTE PRoPanels placed at the front of the mix position and on both of the side walls. ELiTE CT45 bass traps were put in the corners, while SonoFiber was installed on the ceiling above the mix position. On the back wall is Auralex WavePrism.
Inside the 22×18-foot live/drum room, a range of ELiTE ProPanels were placed throughout all four drywall’ed walls and ceiling; bamboo KeyPacs were fastened on top of several of the panels to tune the absorption treatment to be more effective in the low and midrange while not killing off the higher frequencies. Bamboo QuadraTecs are also dispersed throughout the space. Under the drum kit is HoverDeck, the results of which Pavett says, “We notice a lot more ‘punchiness’ on the drums; just a little bit more controlled and to the point.”
Throughout the 9×7-foot vocal booth are 4-inch Studiofoam Wedges, Cornerfill Cubes and LENRD bass traps.
The entire studio renovation was filmed for a two-part educational DVD called The Studio Edge: Pro Audio Recording Series. The first DVD delves into the physics of sound and overall studio concepts, and the second DVD was focused on building a studio and acoustics, which involved all the renovations made at the studio. The DVD is expected to be released later this year.
