Nashville, TN (July 22, 2022)—Starstruck Entertainment recently completed a new Dolby Atmos for Music mix room featuring a Solid State Logic System T S500 32-channel digital audio mixing console.
Starstruck Entertainment, founded in 1988 and owned and operated by Narvel Blackstock, develops and manages artists including Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Maggie Rose, Emily Ann Roberts, as well as a roster of producers and recording engineers. Starstruck Studios was launched with two music recording studios, each housing a 72-input SL9000J analogue mixing console.
“Narvel said it would be nice to keep it all SSL in-house,” Starstruck’s studio manager, Torey Harding said. “Plus, Shawn Daugherty, Starstruck’s technical engineer, knew what that System T was capable of and realized its potential.”
The first client to work in the new mix room when it was opened in April was Derek Bason, who is mixing tracks from Carrie Underwood’s catalog into Dolby Atmos for release to the immersive audio streaming platforms. Bason is the longtime recording engineer and mixer for producer and songwriter Mark Bright, who produced Underwood’s first five albums at Starstruck Studios, beginning soon after she was crowned the American Idol 2005 winner. Underwood’s first full-length release, Some Hearts, won three Grammy Awards and went on to become the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history.
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Noted Nashville-based acoustician Michael Cronin of Michael Cronin Acoustic Construction designed and built Starstruck’s new Dolby Atmos mix room, which was previously a lounge and listening room. Daugherty oversaw the technical installation and integration in the new immersive mix room, which also features a 7.1.4 loudspeaker system from ATC.
“The System T is Dante-based, and we’re using SSL’s conversion, which is also Dante. We also have an Avid MTRX to handle Pro Tools, so everything is Dante,” says Daugherty.
He was also key in the decision-making process, along with Starstruck’s chief engineer, Todd Tidwell. Daugherty and Tidwell visited SSL retail partner Westlake Pro Nashville for a demonstration of the System T console and consulted with Mills Logan, a locally based mixer with experience working in Dolby Atmos at his own facility and around town.
Tidwell comments, “System T is my first foray into a digital console, but the SSL conversion emulates the SuperAnalogue sound from the J series. I think it sounds really good.”
