Allaire Studios in Shokan, N.Y., has acquired the world-renowned Neve ‘Air Montserrat’ console, one of only three ever made and the only one available in the United States. The 58-input console, which has been used to record artists such as The Police, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton, is now situated in Allaire’s Great Hall control room and available for use.

It includes a collection of unique drums sampled in two of the most noted New York studios ever: the Allaire Studios and The Hit Factory. These two landmark facilities have hosted the who’s who of popular music for decades – anything from David Bowie to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones and Paul Simon. The New York Studio Legacy Series Vol.2 SDX Expansion Pack contains unique sample recordings from two legendary New York Studios - Hit Factory NY and Allaire Studios. Allaire Studios. 1,749 likes 13 talking about this 108 were here. Created in 1998 by NYC photographer/musician Randall Wallace, Allaire Studios was named one of ten most.

PLAYING ROLAND TRACK DEMO FROM TDW-20, USING TOONTRACK´S SOUNDS AND SDX LIBRARIES. ALLAIRE STUDIOS. NEW YORK STUDIOS VOL.2 SDX. The Allaire Studios and The Hit Factory. These two landmark facilities have hosted the who’s who of popular music for decades – anything from David Bowie to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones and Paul Simon.

Designed by Rupert Neve, the desk was created with input from famed Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick and producer Sir George Martin. It is one of only three desks specified by Martin for Air Studios, each of which have the distinction of being the last to be created by Neve for the Neve Company. The other two consoles in existence currently reside at The Warehouse in Vancouver, British Columbia, and at Air Lyndhurst in London, England.

Though similar in appearance to Neve’s classic 8078 console, the Air Montserrat desk is a departure from earlier designs in that it incorporates remote-controlled microphone preamps and toroidal transformers, coupled with integrated circuits that allow frequency response to almost 100 kHz before significant roll-off.

While at Air Montserrat Studios in the Caribbean, the desk was used to record classic albums such as The Police’s Synchronicity and Ghost In the Machine (in the video for “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” Andy Summers is seen dancing on the console), and Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits.

The console was subsequently acquired by A Records in 1987 for use in its Los Angeles recording complex by artists such as U2, Don Henley, Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones and Patti Smith. The console was later stored in a warehouse for several years before being restored and beginning its third tour of duty at Allaire Studios.

“It is a great privilege for us to usher this console into a new era in the Great Hall,” says Allaire studio manager Mark McKenna, who also manned the console for Don Henley’s classic The End of the Innocence. “In an era where digital workstations are an integral part of every music recording scenario, the magic still happens in an inspiring room with classic analog equipment. This desk has a signature sound, like a Telefunken tube mic or a 1958 Les Paul might have; it is the cornerstone of our control room.”

Since arriving in October 2007, the Air Montserrat console has been painstakingly restored by Ken McKim, Allaire Studios’ veteran chief technical engineer.

For more information, contact Mark McKenna at 845/657-6553, mmckenna@allairestudios.com or www.allairestudios.com.

By Christopher Walsh
Shokan, NY (March 21, 2008)–Allaire Studios, a two-room “destination” facility situated in a 1920s-era mansion in New York’s rural Catskill Mountains region, has dismissed the staff and ceased music production projects.

Studio manager Mark McKenna, chief technical engineer Ken McKim, assistant engineer Stephanie DuFresne, office manager Susan Perrin and a part-time assistant engineer have all left the studio, according to McKenna. Presently, property manager Colby Reynolds is Allaire Studios’ sole remaining staffer.

Allaire Studios Woodstock New York

In the fall of 2007, Allaire installed the famed Neve Air Montserrat console, one of only three produced and the only one in the U.S., to replace the SSL 9000 originally housed in the studio’s Great Hall. That console and Allaire’s additional equipment, which includes a Neve 8068 in the second studio, remains onsite.

“The backbone of the studio, which is myself, Ken McKim, the two assistant engineers and the office manager, were let go,” McKenna tells Pro Sound News.

“We had a bad winter,” McKenna explains. “We didn’t have a productive winter, and Randall [Wallace, owner] basically just didn’t want to fund the studio any further, to see us through to where the bookings picked up again. Basically, we ran out of time and money. We did have bookings on the calendar for spring–big projects–which had to be let go.

Presently, Allaire is booked for a number of upcoming photo shoots, according to a person who answered a call to the studio. Wallace, who was not available at press time, is a professional photographer.

Allaire Studios Photos

Although budgets have fallen sharply as the music industry consolidates amid a long and steep decline in sales, McKenna feels another evolution in the industry is more to blame for Allaire’s slow winter. “That doesn’t help,” he allows, but “I think it’s less attributable to the budgets than to [Allaire’s] remoteness. It’s really hard to get producers, in this day and age, to leave their homes, and increasingly, their home studios. So many producers are based out of either Los Angeles, Nashville, New York or London, [and] to get them to commit to going to a remote location for two weeks, or more, is difficult. I think that might have had more to do with our problems that with the actual budgets. We were very reasonably priced–I don’t think our pricing was a problem.

Allaire Studios Shokan Ny

In its short history–the studio opened in 2001–Allaire attracted a large number of high-profile artists and projects. David Bowie, Tim McGraw, Norah Jones, Rob Thomas, Joan Baez, Ryan Adams, Roseanne Cash, Gipsy Kings, Guster and Cassandra Wilson are among the artists who have recorded at Allaire, along with producers including Tony Visconti, John Leventhal, Craig Street, David Kahne, Matt Serletic, Steve Lillywhite and the late Arif Mardin. Last summer, the Black Crowes recorded their first new studio album in seven years, Warpaint, at Allaire with producer Paul Stacey.

Allaire Studios
www.allairestudios.com

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