Airshow Mastering New Studio Construction

[Airshow Mike]

Greetings fellow Gearslutz,
Airshow Mastering would like to announce that we are opening a new facility! Some of us are long time viewers of Gearslutz threads and thought that this would be a great place to chronicle the new studio construction.

Currently Airshow has two locations, one in Boulder CO. and one in Springfield VA. Our Virginia location has been in continual operation since 1990. However, in recent years it has become clear that we need more room to expand, so Springfield chief engineer Charlie Pilzer has decided to move from our current location and build a new facility in Takoma Park Maryland. The new facility is being designed by renowned acoustician Sam Berkow (www.siaacoustics.com) and will include two mastering rooms, a production room, and a recording studio. We hope to be in the new building by December, but there is much work to be done.

I will be posting photos and additional information as the project progresses. We are currently in the demolition stage as you will see in the attached photos.

-Mike

www.airshowmastering.com

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Attached are some more photos of where the mastering rooms will be. The building is designed to have the mastering and production rooms on one side, and the recording studio on the other. Right now we are busy cleaning the mess up. Once that is done, the contractors will be pulling down all the air handlers and pipes, essentially gutting the entire space. Then the real construction begins.

The challenge with this space is that we will have neighbors next to us and above us. Our acoustician Sam Berkow has his hands full, but if anyone can do it, Sam can.

I will try to post more specs on the studio soon (sq footage, dimensions, etc...) Once the mess is gone it will be easier to visualize.

I am happy to share information and answer questions. That is what Gearslutz is all about.

Enjoy!

-Mike

www.airshowmastering.com

[Jules]

Fantastic!

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Things have been busy here at the new facility. We are preparing to have all the junk removed in a few days, and we are working with Sam Berkow and the architect to come up with a finished set of drawings. We were fortunate to have Sam come and meet with the us and the contractors before any major work happens. Attached are some photos of his visit.

We are also happy to announce that Frank Marchand of Baltimore Maryland's Waterford Digital will be joining Airshow, and will occupy the new recording studio. Frank brings with him years of experience and a long track record of top notch work (not to mention some really great gear).


In the attached photos you will see:

Sam meeting with Charlie Pilzer (co-owner and chief engineer in Springfield VA) second from the left, and some of the contractors.

Sam looking over drawings with one of the contractors and our architect Rick (on the right).

And finally, Sam decided he wanted to get a head start on demolition. He is pictured with the hammer (an absolutely priceless photo).


-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Here are some more photos from Sam's Visit.

Pictured is Charlie Pilzer and the landlord.

Frank Marchand looking at the plans and trying to visualize the space without all the junk.

And finally, Charlie getting inspired by Sam and starting the demolition by putting his foot in the wall.

Enjoy.

Next week I will have photos of the space being cleaned out, and hopefully some masonry and plumbing work being done.

-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Hi Everyone,
Finally! All the junk has been removed!!

After much anticipation, the space in now cleaned out and the real construction is ready to begin.

Attached are some photos of the junk removal crew standing in what will be the mastering rooms and a few shots of what will be the tracking and control rooms.

It may still be hard to visualize, but the space Airshow will occupy is roughly 3,300sq feet.

We are very excited about the progress. The contractors are moving quickly and anticipate finishing the plumbing and masonry work within a short time.

As a side note, I encourage anyone with questions to please post them. I will gladly answer anything I can.

-Mike

Audio Mastering from AIRSHOW

[Darius van H]

Looking forward to seeing this develop!

Could you give us some more info about the mastering room design?.......maybe a peek at the plan?

[Airshow Mike]

Darius,
Thank you for your interest. I am actually going to give everyone a peek at the plans. I should receive a clean copy suitable for posting from Sam Berkow's office (SIA Acoustics) early next week.

What I can tell you though is this:

There will be two mastering rooms. Studio A which will be occupied by Charlie Pilzer and Studio B which will be occupied by me.

Studio A, the larger of the two rooms, is roughly 24x16 and will be designed to do stereo or surround Mastering. Charlie is thinking about using Dunlavy's for monitoring, but he has not made a final decision.


Studio B is about 16x13 and will be designed for stereo mastering and mixing. I plan to monitor on Dunlavy's as well.

Exact ceiling height for both rooms has yet to be determined, but should be in the 12ft-13ft neighborhood.

All floors will be isolated and floating


The tracking room will be about 400sqft and Sam is going to come up with way for us to vary the acoustics on demand. It will also contain a small iso booth.

The control room will be about 300sqft and packed with Frank Marchand's gear. Frank will occupy the recording studio most of the time, but Charlie and I plan on occasionally tracking some projects too.

I should also mention that we plan on having mic lines from the tracking room to each mastering room in case an artist needs to do a quick last minute overdub.


I will post more details and solid numbers as soon as I have them in front of me, and I think you will enjoy the drawings when I post them as well.

-Mike

Audio Mastering from AIRSHOW

[Rappy]

Mike, thanks for all the detailed pics! Please keep us updated on the progress. I'm in the area and would love to come check it out when you're open for business.

Best of luck,

Dan "Rappy" Rappaport

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
After a long time away, we are finally back on track. All of the permits have been granted and other technical construction issues have been worked out.

As you will see in the attached photos much work is being accomplished. Essentially, the shell of the space is complete and we are laying out the floors. Next, the inside walls will be constructed and the rooms will start to take shape.

Enjoy,

-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Hi Everyone,
Well, after much anticipation, the walls are finally going up. Things are now changing on a day to day basis, and the studios are taking shape. I will be posting updates more frequently from this point on, so please check back to see the progress.

In the attached photos you will see:

A worker bolting a metal stud to the floor

Isolated metal studs installed in the tracking room

A close up of a stud isolated via a sway brace

Another close up of a sway brace

A worker installing a ceiling stud that is isolated with Kinetics brand Wallmat

A close up of Wallmat attached to a stud

The bolt used in the Wallmat installation

The bolt inserted in a stud

And finally, the stud bolted in place


-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Here are some more photos of the progress.

In the attached pictures you can see:

Charlie in the soon to be Studio A

Me in the soon to be Studio B

Studio A's walls being framed

The front frame of studio A

The rear frame of studio A

The hall between studios A and B

And Finally the drywall starting to go up in studio A


-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Hi Everyone,
Here are some shots of our current progress. The first layer of drywall is pretty much completed in every room. The construction team is now going to install the acoustic flooring, once the base concrete been leveled with self leveling cement. Then more drywall goes up, and then, even more. (It's very important to have stiff walls!)

Here are some photos of the control room and tracking room

The inside front walls of Studio A (with plenty of room for Charlie's new Duntech Sovereigns)

And finally the hallway between studios A and B

Sam Berkow should be coming for a visit, so I will have photos of that soon.

-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Work has picked up at the new facility and things are progressing nicely.

The construction team worked on leveling the floor in the control room and tracking room. You can see them hard at work in the attached photos.

-Mike

[C Heat]

Cool name.

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Now that the slab in the Control room and tracking room is level, the construction team has begun the build up of the floating floors.

As you can see in the attached photos, we begin with Kinetics brand Roll- Out isolation material, or RIM as they call it. The square green things you see are called KIPs. They are an inorganic fiberglass material, covered in a flexible elastomeric coating.

On top of this goes a layer of 3/4" plywood. Then comes a layer of Kinetics brand SR board, which is a 5/8" (16 mm) thick composite of high density molded fiberglass separated by a rigid honeycomb core.

SR board is amazingly light weight, and can support 1,000 psf.

I have attached a side view photo of a whole bunch of SR board so you can get a better look at it.

On top of the SR board goes another layer of 3/4" plywood, a layer of Cement board, and then another Layer of 3/4" plywood. All of these layers help add rigidity to the floor.

Finally, we will add Bamboo finished flooring on top.

The floating floors in the the two mastering rooms will be constructed a little differently. I will chronicle that in my next post.

I hope everyone finds this interesting.

Enjoy!

-Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
As promised, here are some photos of mastering room A's floating floors being installed.

You will notice that the mastering room floors are designed a little differently than the tracking and control room floors.

First, we started by laying SR board directly on the cement slab. Then, 2x4's were cut into appropriate length strips and spaced across the SR board. A layer of 3/4" was then installed on top of the 2x4's. A Layer of cement board was then put on top of the plywood. Lastly, another layer of 3/4" plywood was installed. Eventually, finished bamboo will top off the floor.

These floors feel very sturdy!

I tried to include as much detail as I could in these photos.

-Mike

[xitfactory]

Hey looks nice! Love your floor!

[MotifStudios]

this is awesome. when will there be some more updates?

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
I thought I would post some simple drawings today. I think they will give you a better idea of how we are utilizing the space and the basic form of each room.

And thank you MotifStudios, xitfactory and C Heat for the compliments.

Enjoy,

-Mike

[Trev@Circle]

Looking good. Cant wait to see more.

[claend]

Awesome thanks for sharing.

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Today I wanted to give you an update on the Tracking Room.

Since all of the floating floors are installed, the construction team is hard at work finishing the framing of the Tracking Room and Control Room. Next, they will be framing the windows in the front of the Control Room and running electrical cable, then installing the HVAC ducts.

-Mike

[mikahanau]

Don`t you be afraid about re emitting problems with your floorconstruction?
I had alot of problems with this kind of floating floors.
In my build i had to get out this type of floating floor, and will now go with thick concrete over sylomer.

Who makes the disign for this floor?


cheers
Mika

[Airshow Mike]

Originally Posted by mikahanau

Don`t you be afraid about re emitting problems with your floorconstruction?
I had alot of problems with this kind of floating floors.
In my build i had to get out this type of floating floor, and will now go with thick concrete over sylomer.

Who makes the disign for this floor?
cheers
Mika

Mika,
Thank you for your question. We do not anticipate any problems with our floating floors. Sam Berkow, our acoustician, effectively used this design in previous studio construction projects.

The isolating materials are made by Kinetics, a company that specializes in noise control products.

Regards,

Mike

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Here is an update on the tracking and control room.

As you can see, we have framed the iso booth, and the control room windows are being framed out as well.

I am including some wider shots of the tracking room to give you a better idea of the size.

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Today I thought I would give you a look at some of the spaces outside of our main rooms.

Not only is the construction team hard at work in the Mastering and Recording spaces, they are also working to complete the common areas of the facility.

Pictured below you will see the office, lobby, and hallways in their current state.

In the next post, I will give everyone a look at the machine room and the cable troughs running to each room. In fact, in some of the hallway photos, you can see our new computer racks built into the wall. They will house all of the computers and other noise making devices.

-Mike

[JIRI PASKA]

Any news ?

Really interested in this mastering facility

[Airshow Mike]

Hi everyone,
Things are still moving along at the studio. As promised, here is a look at the cable troughs and the Machine room.

-Mike

[maikol]

Hello Mike,

Just a question:

I see that you plan to use Dunlavy's for your new rooms.
IIRC, the company doesn't exist anymore?

Is it easy to maintain those beauties (finding parts and so on)?

I know those are still some of the best speakers in the world, and they can be found pretty cheap second hand, so i'm just wondering...

BTW i'm in Europe so it might be harder here to find parts and qualified techs for them...

Thanks and all the best for those new rooms!

Michael