Cynthia Daniels (left) with WSDG co-principal Beth Walters at MonkMusic Studios, East Hampton, NY
East Hampton, NY (March 1, 2012)—Creating MonkMusic, a 650-square-foot professional studio in an affluent residential area, was no simple feat for Walters-Storyk Design Group
Multi-Grammy winning engineer Cynthia Daniels added MonkMusic to her East Hampton home. “I was on a fast track to get up and running as quickly as possible,” Daniels says. “Our client base ranges from high-energy rock sessions where we spend hours in the high-volume stratosphere to jazz, orchestral, pop, ADR for film and TV, and of course, narration recording. “Because my home is set in a suburban/rural area, we needed to be sensitive to sound leakage both into and out of the studio. We needed sand-filled cinderblock wall construction, along with lots of soundproof windows and sliding glass doors for complete isolation and to take advantage of the East End’s beautiful natural light.”
MonkMusic is housed in a new, ground-up wing attached to Daniels’ home. Although hardly the norm in residential construction in the Hamptons, the addition was built with a decoupled concrete floor system, created for optimal isolation. The complex includes: live, isolation booth and mixing rooms; 5.1 Genelec DSP monitors; a hybrid AVID console; fully digital and analog signal processing; and a full complement of microphones, preamps, instruments, amplifiers and outboard gear. The facility also sports a combination of membrane absorbers used for low frequency room response, and specifically placed diffusers for high frequency reflection control.
Allowing the studio suite to relate to the home and to the beautiful Hamptons surroundings was very important to Daniels and to the final design. Daniels collaborated with WSDG associate Judy Elliot-Brown of Rocket Science and Mike Donahower on the wiring program and systems integration/installation. “I’ve known Judy for years, she is an absolute wizard at her job,” Daniels says. “Collaborating with her and Mike was one of the best parts of this project. WSDG was also highly recommended by Alan Silverman, my first-call mastering engineer, and former mentor from my A&R Recording days,” Daniels adds. “There was never a doubt about my decision.”
Since opening MonkMusic Studios, Daniels has worked with such artists as Barbara Cook, Randy Brecker, veteran rocker Joe Delia, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julie Andrews and Bob Balaban.
Walters-Storyk Design Group
www.wsdg.com
