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FEATuRE 34 November 2012 | audiomedia.com Wisseloord Studios A Legend Resurrected By Frank Wells Two years ago at the 129th AES Convention in San Francisco, plans were announced for the resurrection of Wisseloord Studios, a much storied facility near to Amsterdam, steeped in the history of rock-n-roll and sadly in the depths of financial and physical disrepair. The partners in the plan brought their own legacies to the table: renowned engineer Ronald Prent, top-ten mastering engineer Darcy Proper and industry business strategist Paul Reynolds. The construction process ran some 14 months, having grown in complexity after hammer machine and accelerometer testing by German Acoustician new appoinTMenT aT wiSSeloord Wisseloord is pleased to announce that Crispin Murray has joined them in a role as consultant working from the UK. Murray has worked in the industry for more than thirty years working originally for the BBC, moving to Virgin’s Townhouse Mastering and The Manor Mobile and for the last twenty years being the Technical Lead for Metropolis Mastering; he is the winner this year, of The Unsung Hero Award from the Music Producers Guild in the UK. Wisseloord has recently reopened to critical acclaim following a two year, no expense spared, refit: the rebirth of a classic studio complex to give two Studios and two Mastering Rooms, complete with a Media team covering all aspects of the musical and visual creative arts, from microphone to release. Said Murray, “I have privileged to work only for top facilities where quality comes first, granting an ease of use that gives the client quickest route to surpass their dreams and concentrate on creating those moments of magic without effort: when I left Metropolis I didn’t expect to work for another facility that that inspiring approach. Wisseloord however is such a place, with a world class team to capture that magic for all to enjoy: I relish the opportunity to work with such talent in such an inspirational environment “ Jochen Veith (over what Reynolds called a “very expensive weekend” in regards to longterm costs). The original isolation scheme was revealed to have degraded over 35 years, and some aspects weren’t that well conceived to begin with. Keeping the vibe and acoustics of the two tracking spaces was a design goal, the larger room getting an iso booth shuffle (leaving a space large enough for orchestral recordings as well as video and television production) and the smaller (Studio 2) getting a major lift, literally. “The whole inner room – we lifted it,” said Veith. The old subflooring was cleaned out down to a sand layer, then new isolation and floor installed and the walls and ceiling lowered on to it. The control rooms were yet another story. “The old “The facility went from four recording studios to two, but added mastering and media, meaning that it can now cater to more client needs in-house, and do so efficiently that come through it.” had their day,” said Reynolds, as he laid out some of the design goals: to improve the quality of the rooms; to make the rooms 5.1 – and even 10.1 – capable (which would require more height); have floors at the same level as the rest of the facility; to facilitate the ability to work standing and still have vision to the studios; and finally, to have comfortable, inviting lounges for clients. The solution became to completely remove the old control rooms and start over. A new isolation approach allowed the floors to match the level of the studios and hallways; the windows into the studios were now at eye level when sitting or standing, and interior room height was gained by eliminating the raised floors. The acoustic goals for the control rooms were realised by turning the rooms 90 degrees, eliminating the problems inherent in having a hard glass window surface between the front monitors, resulting in a side view into the studio, mirrored somewhat acoustically by having the patchbays mounted in the opposing walls. Improved isolating structure between rooms and added machine rooms made the concept of adjacent lounges impossible, though the height gained by removing the old flooring made it unnecessary to raise the ceilings, so the lounges could move upstairs. Paul Reynolds, Yes, Mr Speaker Monitoring is identical in the two recording control rooms. PMC BB5-XBD-A speakers, the most powerful in PMC’s range, were chosen for the front monitors, with a pair of MB2S-XBDs ceiling hung as rear surrounds. “I have a good relationship with PMC; I can rely on them and they can rely on me,” said Veith, the rooms and monitors becoming an interdependent system. No EQ was required for the front monitors, which are soffit-mounted with wood surrounds in a wall incorporating limestone, concrete, and elastomeric isolation; there’s simply power balance between the loudspeaker components. Reynolds personally developed a dye and stencil method of putting a pattern on the acoustic fabric (paint would have unacceptably sealed the fabric’s pores) carrying Wisseloord’s Persian design theme into the control rooms. For the rear walls, Veith Industry Business developed custom mid- and high frequency diffusors from wood and vertical elements of an aluminum/plastic rooms were cool, but they’d Strategist sandwich material that would be lightweight and not ring. >
The depth of the cavities varies and holes are drilled in the backing wood to let the panels breath, cleverly making the diffusors also serve as a tuned Hemholtz resonator for low frequency absorption. The console fronts were also treated to eliminate vibration and acoustic reflections. As with Veith and PMC, numerous aspects of the facility reflect the cooperation of manufacturers between each other and with Wisseloord. Studio 1 was fitted with an Avid/Euphonix System 5 digital desk, while Studio 2 is home to an API Vision analogue console. At Prent’s request, Prism Sound and Avid worked together to marry Prism converters to the System 5, resulting in one of the largest Prism Sound installations in the world. API, in turn, developed a custom version of the Vision for Prent, who was instrumental in the original specification of the first API Vision built for his former room at Galaxy Studios in Belgium. Prent wished for a larger desk than the room could accommodate, and API accommodated his needs by adding to the 48 main channels an additional bank of API 200 frame modules for stereo and surround returns. Even the wiring is custom, Prent working with Grimm Audio on the development of a studio version of its audiophile cable, that Prent says delivers within 5 percent of the performance of Grimm’s high-end cable in a bundled multi-core format which “makes a huge difference – you don’t see it but you hear it.” Clocking from Antelope Audio is employed at Wisseloord. Master Of One It was “harder to get here than we’d hoped, not so much harder than we’d expected,” said Proper of the Wisseloord makeover. For her part, Proper had the luxury of developing a space that was her own. “Having so many choices was difficult at times,” she said, as she challenged her comfortable choices, and considered trying new tools and approaches. Her mastering suite, and an adjacent room similarly treated to house vinyl cutting and additional mastering (and archiving), were originally another recording space and control room. The spacious suite has acoustic elements, broken up at points to reveal a stone-look plaster surface on the structural concrete walls. The result is a space that sounds natural to occupy while still being appropriately controlled for monitoring. “We were able to make it into something that feels good as well as sounds good,” said Proper, adding that the sonic balance holds up as you move around the room. Mastering rooms can have a laboratory or dentist office feel, but client comfort is important to Proper. “It is easier for me to work with people when they are feeling comfortable,” she explained. Proper’s surround monitoring system is built on Eggleston Works monitors, with Krell amps, “a special combination.” The centrepiece of her mastering gear is an SPL high voltage rail analogue controller, surrounded by gear from Weiss, Neve, Millennia, Dangerous Music, and Maselec, with Avid Pro Tools and Merging Technology Pyramix DAWs. She adds Lavry, DCS, and Merging’s Horus converters to her Prism compliment. Studio In Use Staffer Rob Sannen, Operations Manager, first worked with Prent as an assistant engineer well before Wisseloord was conceived. He and staff assistant engineers Lukas Morawski and Erik Van Der Horst were essential to the reconstruction process. Wisseloord’s media department, whose offerings include DVD and BluRay authoring, is overseen by Wouter Strobbe. “Working at the new Wisseloord Studios was an absolute pleasure,” said Los Angeles and Nashvilleanchored producer/engineer Csaba Petocz who recently returned from Wisseloord where he recorded and mixed Studio 2’s first full album project with Dutch artist Ilse Delange (who had done all her previous projects in Nashville). “The console in studio 2, where I spent three months, sounds fantastic... The staff were wonderful.” “harder to get here than we’d hoped, not so much harder than we’d expected.” Darcy Proper, Mastering Engineer “Our model is pretty simple,” Reynolds states. The facility went from four recording studios to two, but added mastering and media, meaning that it can now cater to more client needs in-house, and do so efficiently, supporting today’s multiple product streams. “All these rooms are the best we can do,” he said, with no budget room and no compromise. Even though Wisseloord is a premium-priced facility, Reynolds explained that economy through efficiency means “our value for money is extremely high.” The Euphonix room can accommodate day and night sessions, and the mastering and media suites will see additional traffic around the clock as demand grows. If You Build It... The Wisseloord team firmly believes that there is a market for what the facility has to offer. “We believe there’s enough people who will still look for a studio like this, explained Reynolds. “There’s also a whole other generation who have never had access to a studio of a particular [high-end level] and they’re coming through the door now,” experiencing hardware (from well-equipped racks) that matches what those clients had only known as plug-ins previously. Wisseloord is elegant through simplicity. “The vibe in here comes from the people that come through it,” said Reynolds. Prent says the partners “had high expectations” for Wisseloord, and the result of a lot of hard work is everything they hoped it would be “and much more.” ∫ Wisseloord Studios W wisseloord.nl audiomedia.com | November 2012 35
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