London, UK (July 9, 2021) — Eastcote Studios, in London’s Ladbroke Grove, has repurposed its mastering facility to handle Dolby Atmos music mixing.
Key to the move was the installation of PMC result6 speakers in an LCR formation, and PMC Wafer2 monitors for the height and surround zones. According to director and main engineer Dyre Gormsen, “I chose PMC monitors after visiting the company’s Dolby Atmos demo studio in London. I was looking into different monitoring solutions, but felt that PMC speakers were the best option for my room.”
Eastcote Studios, owned by producer and musician Martin Terefe, has been part of the UK recording studio map for more than 40 years. Originally founded in the 1970s by Chaz Jankel from Ian Dury & The Blockheads and engineer Philip Bagenal, the facility has hosted artists including Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons, Depeche Mode, Placebo, Electrica, Neneh Cherry, Tricky, Seal, Suede and Massive Attack.
Gormsen, who began his career as a freelance live sound engineer in Denmark in 1993 and moved to London in 2003, was involved in guiding the studio towards Dolby’s Atmos immersive audio mixing format. “When I first came across Dolby Atmos for music and realized the power of immersive sound on headphones, there was no way back for me,” he says. “This format is extremely attractive for the listener, both on headphones and speaker systems.”
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The mastering studio’s upgrade from a stereo setup to a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system took six months to complete, from initial planning to the final two weeks of building and installation. HHB supplied the system, which also includes Crown amplifiers, a Pro Tools/MTRX Studio audio interface and a Marantz Dolby Atmos receiver for reference.
“We decided to install the Atmos rig in the mastering room because it gives me the option to work both mix and mastering rig and the new Dolby rig together for perfect control. We worked closely with Dolby to ensure that the room fitted their Atmos specifications and it was a very exciting and eye-opening project,” Gormsen says.
“Embracing the Atmos Music Mixing format has been a pretty steep learning curve, but it is extremely exciting to enter this new world of sound,” he says. “I’m really enjoying mixing in Dolby Atmos and we have already undertaken a number of projects including Jack Savoretti’s new album Europiana, and tracks from new and emerging artists like Henjilla and Sitrekin, which are available on Apple Music.”
PMC • www.pmc-speakers.com
Eastcote Studios • https://www.eastcotestudios.com
