Barely a year after opening, Skillman Music studios has racked up an impressive client list, including celebrated concert pianist, Lang Lang, as well as various members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. A small format ASP4816 analogue mixing console was the perfect fit for this urban, high-end professional studio space, located just a stone’s throw from New York City’s Union Square.
“I’ve never heard a console this quiet – it’s so transparent!”
“It suited my budget and the review was great,” explains Wei Wang, Skillman Music studio owner, very pleased with his choice. “I’ve never heard a console this quiet – it’s so transparent!” He continues, “For me, it’s all about transparency. We use a lots of omni-directional small condenser microphones, lots of ribbons too. The Audient console on-board preamps are also very good, we use them a lot on strings. We just love to capture the real sound. It’s very important in classical music recording.”
A large number of Skillman Music’s clients are classical musicians, and according to Wei, they and their respective engineers/producers have given very positive feedback about the desk, too. “The sound is super clear. The routing is insanely great – we can route anyway we want and use outboard gear very easily,” he says. “For example, we normally patch our reverb, stereo compressor into different aux sends and returns, so we don’t even need to patch sometimes for some classical sessions. Time is money and we have to act fast.”
“We just love to capture the real sound.It’s very important in classical music recording.”
Even after finding suitable premises in one of the most densely populated cities in the US, making Skillman Music a reality wasn’t all plain sailing, by any means. “We didn’t want to be the next studio to get kicked out by its landlord, so we purchased the whole building and built the studio from the ground up.” Wei was also looking for flexibility, preferring not to have a permanent dry room. “The entire studio is made from portable panels so we can adjust it acoustically. Everything is measured and frequency is controlled as needed.”
He has great ambitions for the recording studio, which continues to evolve as the client list grows. “We are building a vocal/drum booth. We are getting more and more jazz and pop gigs, therefore we need a booth. We are also wood panelling the entire studio for acoustic reasons.” Right now, Wei is working on “pretty big” violin and viola records, which are due out in a few months.
“The Audient console on-board preamps are also very good, we use them a lot on strings.”
He’s clearly loving what he does. “I get to enjoy music performed by world-class musicians,” he says, adding “I’m proud to own a sick studio in NYC and I look forward to constantly upgrading and making more records!” Well, yes absolutely.
