Beatstreet Productions is proud to announce the launch of its new state-of-the-art surround mix suite. Complimenting the two that have been used for award winning productions since 1995, Beatstreet’s new suite was designed by popular NYC designer/constructor, Chris Bowman. Bowman states “I’ve known Joe (Franco, the Beat of Beatstreet) for many years. He contacted me when a space opened up directly below his current space. Joe’s mandate was that the control room had to center around an Icon console. He also wanted to be sure that we built adequate spaces for an isolation booth, client lounge, kitchen, machine room, and additional record/edit suite.
“We wanted the new control room to be as spacious as the one that exists on the floor above. The main difference is that the older room has a large glass window that looks into Joe’s Industrial Acoustics drum room. The new room features 5.1 monitoring and a huge LCD screen, which we centered directly in front of the console. We also needed to tie together Joe’s three suites. This was accomplished by core drilling between floors to connect phones, ethernet and fibre storage.”
The guts of the new suite boast 100 Amps of Equi-Tech balanced power. Franco states “Equi-tech is the choice of many hi-end mastering facilities and this system provides us with a stable, clean foundation for our gear. Most buildings in New York City are subject to spikes in power from air conditioning, elevators and other factors that are outside of our control. With balanced power, we’re not subject to any of the building’s quirks and our gear simply sounds better.” Joe also marvels at the results of the custom sound treatments, where any position in the large control room sounds like the “sweet spot.” The room also features two sets of surround monitors, which can be quickly switched between the engineer and client’s perspective. “Sometimes mix sessions are attended by both creatives and executives. It’s important for us to be able to accommodate them all comfortably and for everyone to hear and see what’s going on.”
At the heart of the new control room sits a Digidesign D Control ICON console. “There were many quality options to consider,” says Franco, “but the combination of the Icon and our Pro Tools Accel System gives us power and flexibility. Our clients often operate under time pressures, and need to know that the work flow at Beatstreet will help them get the job done as efficiently as possible.”
A 65″ LCD Video Monitor makes screening comfortable from any position in the control room. The client section features an 11-foot desk that flows into raised theater seating. “Intelligent video monitoring for all areas was a key element of our design,” says Franco. “Sending quality video to the iso booth is often overlooked, but we decided to install a wide screen LCD monitor in ours. Our philosophy is that we should provide anything that will help talent deliver the best possible performance.” All video monitors are wired for HD.
Continuous back up for Beatstreet’s six Pro Tools rigs is handled with an SNS A/V SAN Pro fibre storage system. Rounding out the new suite is an additional record/edit room and a client lounge, which offers television, DVD, Blue Ray and Playstation 3. The lounge also offers the ability to switch over and watch and listen to the mix in progress next door in 5.1.
Beatstreet is currently working on two new exciting children’s series, “Word World” (PBS), and “Ni Hao Kai-lan” (Nick Jr.). Beatstreet mixes and creates sound design for “Word World” (which is also mixed in 5.1 for DVD release), and handles music underscoring for “Ni Hao Kai-lan”. The facility is also responsible for music and audio post on the upcoming PBS series “Lomax, the Hound of Music” and Sesame Workshop’s new clay-mation series, “The Adventures of Bert & Ernie“. In addition, Beatstreet has started recording voiceovers for the upcoming Noggin series “Team Umizoomis“. Besides their steady flow of work in children’s television, Beatstreet recently handled ADR chores for an episode of “30 Rock,” and mixed several DVDs for A&E’s “Paranormal State.”
“Our goal was to create a state-of-the-art facility for today while keeping an eye out for the future,” says Franco, “and our new mix suite has surpassed my expectations in every way. Our clients love it and our engineers fight for it, so mission accomplished!”
Beatstreet can be reached at 212.777.8440, ask for Camille Degrocco, Studio Manager.
Please visit the website at: http://www.beatstreetnyc.com
