SPRINGFIELD, VA, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 — For 25 years, Airshow Mastering has operated successful mastering, editing, restoration, and mixing facilities in Virginia, from its founding in the Washington, D.C., suburbs to its current Springfield, Virginia, studio, which opened in 1989 and was updated in 2006.
The company also operates a studio in Boulder, Colorado.
In 2008, Airshow began construction of an ambitious new multi-room, multi-purpose facility in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The new studio is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2009 and will be headed up by Charlie Pilzer, Airshow co-owner and chief engineer of the Springfield studio. The staff also includes Frank Marchand, an established rock producer and engineer in the Baltimore-Washington area who has worked with many national acts, and assistant engineer Mike Monseur, who provides audio-restoration expertise.
Designed by Sam Berkow of SIA Acoustics, who also designed the Boulder studio, Airshow’s 3,300-square-foot Takoma Park studio features Pilzer’s full-range surround mastering room, which is based on Dunlavy V monitor speakers, Maselec MTC-2 mastering console, and a SonicStudio SoundBlade workstation.
“When I mastered and mixed surround recordings in [Airshow co-owner] David Glasser’s Boulder room, I came to appreciate Sam Berkow’s expertise in surround-room design,” enthuses Pilzer. “I’m fortunate to be able to replicate that environment here in the D.C. area.” The new facility also includes a second mastering room with Dunlavy monitors, a SonicStudio SoundBlade workstation with NoNoise and Renovator, a Crookwood mastering console, and outboard gear from Sontec, Manley and Weiss engineering. The primary audio interface for SoundBlade and Nuendo will be an MIO from Metric Halo including DSP processing, A/D and D/A conversion and the Metric Halo v5 software.
The Takoma Park operation also boasts a tracking and mixing suite that was custom-designed for Marchand, who will be bringing his Digidesign Pro Tools|HD system with Control|24. Marchand has an extensive collection of outboard preamps from Chandler, API, Great River, vintage outboard gear including reverbs, EQs, compressor/limiters, and a microphone locker containing Neumann, AKG, Shure and others. The studio has a collection of backline gear including a selection of snare drums, vintage amplifiers and keyboards. Pilzer and Marchand are actively looking for a grand piano that will work well within the tracking room.
“Frank’s work will keep the production suite hopping,” explains Pilzer, “and we expect to host a lot of guest engineers and producers. There is good recording work being done all around the mid-Atlantic area, and a few larger tracking rooms. We’ve heard from our classical, jazz and acoustic music clients that a well-tuned room with a well-tuned piano is a welcome addition to the mix in the area.”
To accommodate all of this action, the new facility will include an additional multi-purpose production room for editing and pre-mixing with Meyer HD-1 Nearfield monitors. All rooms will include DigiDesign ProTools LE or HD hardware and software.
Airshow is conveniently located, just a short walk from the Takoma Metro rail station. Visitors will enjoy Takoma Park, a Victorian-era suburb that boasts an eclectic commercial mix of restaurants, coffee houses, antique/vintage shops and gift boutiques. The city is also the home of a number of notable arts organizations, including the Washington National Opera, The House of Musical Traditions and Azalea City Recordings, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and the dance exchange.
For more information about Airshow Mastering, visit air show mastering or contact studio@airshowmastering.com; tel. (703) 642-9035.
