Photo Caption: The core group that helped develop Blackbird Studio’s 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos mix/reference room was on hand for opening night, July 17. Front row, from left: John McBride (Blackbird Studio), Christine Thomas (Dolby), Bryan Pennington (Dolby). Back row, from left: Dave Mattingly (Sound Construction), Richard Ealey (Blackbird Studio), Paul Simmons (Blackbird Studio), Ceri Thomas (Dolby), David Seal (TransAudio Group), Aleks Bars (TransAudio Group), and Brad Lunde (TransAudio Group). Photo: Marian Mathis. Courtesy of Blackbird Studio.
Blackbird Studio, Nashville’s premier recording complex, opened Summer NAMM a night early with a gala event on Wednesday, July 17, to mark the official launch of the facility’s new Dolby Atmos® 9.1.6 reference room (Studio C). A who’s-who of the Nashville music community was on hand, as was the core team that made studio owner John McBride’s vision a reality, including personnel from Dolby, TransAudio Group (ATC speakers), Avid and Sound Construction, as well as Blackbird Chief Technical Engineer Richard Ealey and Blackbird Operations Manager Paul Simmons.
Attendees were treated to a listening session with a wide variety of tracks including Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Beck’s “Seventh Heaven,” and, for the first time ever, Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” newly mixed by multi-Grammy Award-winning engineer David Leonard, who was in the room to discuss this latest mix of the legendary track.
Blackbird’s 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos reference/mix room is outfitted with ATC SCM300ASL Pro speakers (L-C-R), ATC SCM100ASL Pro speakers (six top and three per side) and ATC SCM1-15ASL Sub (single-15s, with four front, two rear/side); AVID Pro Tools | MTRX audio interfaces (two); Antelope Audio 10MX rubidium atomic master clock; and AVID Pro Tools | SYNC HD.
