Boulder, CO (September 19, 2013)—Airshow is celebrating 30 years in the pro audio business with a series of events during September.
Launched by David Glasser in 1983, Airshow began as a remote recording and broadcast operation (Airshow’s name alludes to shows on the air), growing to two multi-room complexes with seven engineers. Says Glasser, a two-time Grammy winner, “Our client base has always been independent artists and boutique record labels, and that has prepared us very well for the current recording business.”
Adds co-owner, Grammy-winning engineer Charlie Pilzer, “Digital disruption of our industry brought challenges—and opportunities. We attracted talented mixers with new studio suites in Boulder. Fast-forward another 10 years, and I was able to bring a new, large recording studio to the mid-Atlantic area, where small project studios had proliferated. We’re back to being a diversified audio company again.”
Airshow senior engineers include Dominick Maita, who joined the Boulder team after a stint at Sterling Sound, and Randy LeRoy in Takoma Park, who moved from Final Stage Mastering in Nashville. Mixers Jon Gold and James Tuttle in Boulder are fixtures on the mountain west music scene.
Co-founder Ann Blonston commented on a change that worked in Airshow’s favor: “Decentralization of the music industry means great work is being done everywhere. Being outside the music centers of New York, L.A. and Nashville was considered a disadvantage when we opened in Boulder 16 years ago. Now, we’re all as close as a high-speed connection.” As an example, Dominick Maita in Boulder masters all music releases for the hit TV show Glee, which are recorded in L.A., mixed in Sweden and released from New York.
Reflecting on Airshow’s longevity, Glasser says, “Over the years, we’ve embraced new technologies that interested us. We were an early user of Sonic Solutions’ NoNoise; we embraced HDCD converters, still among the best available; Airshow was on the forefront of SACD and DSD, which led us into surround mastering; and recently, we’ve installed Plangent Processes analog transfer technology.”
Airshow
www.airshowmastering.com
