Destination Studio Sweet Spot: Sono Luminus Studios – Boyce, VA
Looking for a fresh benchmark in the studio sector? The pros at Sono Luminus Studios will show you how much you must raise your game.
Working out of their bucolic Boyce, VA, destination studio in you’ll find a squad of audio experts that are working smarter AND harder. Working out of an early 1900’s Episcopal Church in the fertile Shenandoah Valley, they leverage a big live room to achieve their minimalist recording aims — all the way to 9.1.
But there’s a lot more going on at Sono Luminus, including an in-house GRAMMY-winning record label dedicated to high fidelity and “less is more.” They’ve built a big reputation among the audiophile set for their acoustic, classical, and early music releases, with traditional and acoustic jazz on the way.
Artists who seek Sono Luminus Studios out can record here in seclusion, and stay just a stone’s throw away in the college town of Winchester. What sounds are going on out there in the countryside? Read on for an earful.
Make a joyful noise — the Sono Luminus live room is borne of a church circa-1916.
Facility Name: Sono Luminus Studios
Website: http://www.Sonoluminusstudios.com
Location: Boyce, VA 22602
Neighborhood Advantages: The studio is located in a small town in the Shenandoah Valley. How small you ask? We only have 1 flashing traffic light!
Date of Birth: The company was founded in 1996. This location was opened in October 2010, and our first recording took place that December.
The studio was off to a good start with this historic structure.
Origins: The building is a former Episcopal church that was constructed in 1916. With our focus being acoustic and classical music the acoustics of the room proved to be ideal, providing a lush warm sound, with a nice tail, but not so large that it lost definition.
As to the why…There is something especially nice about saving and resurrecting beautiful older spaces. There is a heart and vibe that is just not there in new construction. Using an old space, especially a historic space, has its challenges though as well including replacing all of the wiring, insulation, and noise bleed that has to be taken into account.
Upkeep can also have its challenges. All of that said, it is a space that we love and feel produces a spectacular result in the recorded sound.
Facility Focus: Seriously YES for tracking, mixing, audio post, composition, and mastering. Plus, creating an amazing and peaceful environment in which to achieve it all!
Mission Statement: Sono Luminus is an ultra-high fidelity record label and recording studio focusing on stereo and surround recording. We feature an eclectic mix of classical music ranging across centuries from early music to the contemporary avant-garde.
Allowing for natural ambient acoustics to determine optimal microphone placement with minimal processing, Sono Luminus has become a first choice for a variety of dynamic musicians, both established and emerging. Sono Luminus boasts over 100 titles and owns the Dorian label archive.
Sono Luminus and its artists have been nominated for 17 GRAMMYs, with two wins, and its studio clients include Steinway & Sons, Hännsler, Bridge, and Naxos. More info at sonoluminus.com and sonoluminusstudios.com. Contact CEO Collin J. Rae at crae@sonoluminus.com, dshores@sonoluminus.com or Caleb Nei at media@sonoluminus.com.
Record/Label: Our focus is on GREAT music with AWESOME artists, it is that simple really. We’re open to taking on anything if the elements are “right” in our minds.
The studio is still an underutilized asset outside of the label, we have/have had clients like Steinway and Sons, Henssler Classics, a number of indie classical artists and the list is growing and growing.
This is a real area of concentration for us going forward: I foresee a time where we are recording and releasing 6 – 8 Sono Luminus albums per year and the rest is devoted to client based studio business. The day-to-day challenges are album sales and building a list of clients for the present and future. I have no doubt that we will get to where we want to be very soon!
Clients/Credits: There are a lot – here is a list: http://sonoluminusstudios.com/clients/
Key Personnel:
Daniel Shores – Head Engineer
Dan Merceruio – Producer
Collin Rae – CEO
Caleb Nei – Graphics and Media
Strider Jordan – Photography and Video
System Highlights: We record to Pyramix using the Merging Technologies HORUS converter and Monitor, and mix and master using their HAPI converter. Our mixing and mastering suite features Legacy Audio Speakers, my computer (built by PC Audio labs), my desk and a small couch. Like with everything, our approach is very minimal.
For microphones my primary tools are the DPA 4006s, AEA A840s, and an assortment of Schoeps. We also have a number of other goodies lying around.
Everything you need to mix in 9.1 — and nothing more.
No Console: It has been so long, that sometimes I ask myself this question…but here’s the reason why: Our approach has always been to have the cleanest, simplest signal path possible – microphone, preamp, converter, DAW. While there are a number of amazing sounding desks out there, it is just not the path that we felt worked for us.
We also use very little EQ and have no compressors or other outboard gear, so we never really felt the need for that kind of environment. I do enjoy mixing with faders, and use a Euphonix controller with my Pyramix system.
Distinguishing Characteristics: I think that one of the things that sets us apart is that we have a large, beautiful sounding room in the country. This allows people to go on a “recording retreat” to make a record. It is a historic building and it definitely carries that vibe, while at the same time being warm and inviting.
There is nothing fancy about the space. The room has changed very little from the time that it was originally a church. We pulled the pews out, pulled up the carpet that ran down the center aisle, and went to work. I have since built and installed some rounded diffusers to break up the long 40+ foot walls on the main floor level (the room has a full measurement of 65 feet when you add the former altar area), and I have constructed some large 4’ x 8’ rolling panels that have absorption on one side and diffusion on the other to focus in the room when needed, but that is about it. It’s kind of a magical place.
We also have a two-lane bowling alley that was installed in the 20’s…but that’s another thing altogether!
9.1: Just as we do with 5.1 and 7.1, we aim to keep as much of the recording as true and natural as possible, and we do so by having one microphone per channel. We even use a separate microphone for the LFE channel.
While we do occasionally incorporate spot microphones, these are generally for a little additional texture, and not used as the main sound in the recording. We have a central microphone array in front of or in the middle of the group depending on if we are doing immersive surround or ambient — a choice that is made based on the music — and then we position the players around the microphones.
We “mix in the room” by moving players forward or backward, side–to-side, and vertically with the use of risers to capture the best possible blend of the players. This can take some time, and sometimes causes the players to scratch their heads a bit, as you are asking them to sit somewhere different than they normally sit, but after they hear what’s happening sonically in the room, they tend to greatly enjoy it.
We work on placement and setups for the recording well in advance of the sessions to give the musicians time to practice in these configurations, and to work with our producer to refine the positioning, again, all in service of the music.
(l-r) Sono Luminus’ Producer Dan Merceruio and Head Engineer Daniel Shores on duty..
The building is on fire, you only have time to grab ONE thing to save, what is it? I guess it would be cheating to say one of our two Steinway Model D’s…if I had time to get that out, I could probably rescue a lot of other stuff.
Rave Reviews: Musicians tend to feel that the room is a place where they can truly make music. It’s not dry, but also not too wet, so they feel the music expand and come back to them.
Most Memorable Session Ever: After over 150 records, it’s hard to choose one, but one of the most recent was with the new record from Peter Gregson, Touch. We worked with Peter from the inception of the album to create a beautiful experience and for it to be a 9.1 release. While we employed all of our normal techniques, this record presented new challenges that made me truly think out of our box. Peter’s record employs several analog synthesizers, he plays cello and piano, and we had a day of string overdubs.
Rather than just micing things, and stacking them as a standard overdubbed session, I wanted to try to do something different. We started by recording and mixing the synthesizers in surround in my mix room. We then set up a quad playback system in the live room around our 9.1 array and positioned Peter in front of the center channel. The result is that when you are listening to the record, you are hearing the recording of Peter playing with the synths as a performance, and not to the synths merely fed through headphones and mixed on the back end.
In fact, the fourth track on the album has Peter playing five cello parts. For this we employed the same technique described above where we recorded the first four parts, edited them, and then positioned the speakers in the room at the same height and angle as Peter’s cello and the recording you hear in Peter performing with himself recorded in the microphones.
Session You’d Like to Forget: While there are some that have been hard or difficult, I never want to forget any of them. Whether it is learning a new technique, or how to navigate the interactions with a strong-willed artist, they are all valuable learning experiences and I would never trade away any of them — though I probably felt differently at the time.
Dream Session: For me that is a part answer –
Part 1 – It sounds cheesy, but every day I get to do this it is the dream session. There are so many engineers out there, and so many that are extremely talented that don’t have the constant workflow that we do. We are truly lucky!
Part 2 – As an engineer, that is truly my passion and where I live to be, so rather than being concerned about the musicians, I’d love to have the opportunity to work with some of the great engineers that have made and crafted the music we all love.
Daniel Shores – Head Engineer, Sono Luminus Studios
Serenity and sonics await in the surrounding Shenandoah Valley.
Another perspective on the main live room.
Recording the Ying Quartet in the flagship Studio A.
Another setup: the Del Sol String Quartet.
You can always go down…to the nearby college town of Winchester, VA.
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