General Info

UTICA, NY -- J.A. Castle, a new recording studio just completed by The Walters-Storyk Design Group has opened in NY's scenic Mohawk Valley. Originally built as a church in 1926, the building was bought by musician/composer Jeffrey Avalier in 1999, and completely restored over the past 2 1/2 years. By introducing state-of-the-art acoustic and technical improvements while maintaining its historical integrity Avalier and architect John Storyk have created an exceptional recording atmosphere. "The spacious 1600 sq. ft. live room is crowned by the original 35' high wooden ceiling and flying buttresses which graced the former church. This provides excellent low frequency absorption for so large a space, " Storyk points out. "The room's natural acoustic qualities, including an evenly distributed reverb time of approximately 1.8 seconds, establishes a wonderful live environment for a wide range of recording styles. This studio can accommodate anything from an orchestra or choir to an intimate acoustic session, " he adds. The control room features a Yamaha DM-2000 console, a Genelec 5.1 surround speaker system, and an eclectic mix of analog and digital gear. Storyk's attention to practical as well as acoustic issues produced a perfectly tuned space that is both comfortable and versatile. Each of the two spacious isolation rooms positioned at either side of the control room is capable of accommodating a grand piano or full drum kit. To encourage creative band interaction, a direct line of sight was created between the control and iso rooms. The facility has been wired entirely in Mogami to insure the cleanest possible sound and pristine inter-connectivity. Castle Recording provides an extensive collection of vintage tube and condenser microphones, outboard gear and musical instruments. The studio also offers 24-track 2" tape and 1/2" mastering, a film/video editing suite, CD, DVD, ADAT, DAT and 2" tape duplication and a high-end graphics workstation. "We designed Castle Recording as a highly professional studio environment to meet the technical requirements of the most demanding artist, " said Jeffrey Avalier, who has played with many major groups. "We built the studio in the heart of one of America's most beautiful rural communities to help inspire them to realize their creative goals. We hope to build a following from among the region's deep musical pool, and also appeal to performers from around the country and internationally. There's a vibe in these woods that is extremely conducive to creativity." The Castle Recording team includes: Grammy Award-nominated engineer/producer Vincent Sanchez. An engineer at major studios around the world, Sanchez has toured with such top acts as Billy Preston and Earth Wind & Fire. Studio Manager Pamela Jardieu is a classically-trained fine artist with graphic design credits which range from national corporate identity packages to CDs and t-shirts. Castle is located at 2317 Genesee Street, NY 13501 Uticaph: 315.733.9910 www.castlerecordingstudio.com. The Walters-Storyk Design Group (www.wsdg.com) has designed over 1400 media production facilities in the U.S., Europe, the Far East and South America. Their credits range from the original Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studios (New York) to Synchrosound in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Argentina's Circo Beat Studios. Recent projects include: film composer Carter Burwell's Tribeca NY studio, a facility for recording artist Paul Winter, the cutting-edge InterlochenMI, Public Radio complex, Thirteen/WNET NY's new 5.1 audio suite, Allaire Studios in Woodstock, NYand Tim Mosley's new Timbaland Studios. John Storyk is course director of studio design and acoustics for The Ex'pression Center For New Media (SF). He and WSDG principals Sam Berkow and Dirk Noy lecture frequently at universities and industry events, and contribute regularly to industry publications. WSDG is a five-time winner of the prestigious TEC Award for outstanding achievement in Acoustics/Facility