Sear Sound’s New Studio D Is MOOG Heaven

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: Seems like new, small- to mid-sized rooms are blooming again in NYC. Just in time for spring, Sear Sound has opened up Studio D, an analog/digital hybrid room that adds a welcome new dimension to the city’s offerings.

A mix/edit/overdub suite, Studio D stands out for a few reasons. First off, it’s brought to us by Walter Sear, a pillar of strength in the global audio scene for decades. You might not meet another audio legend as comfortable in his own skin as Sear – and the place you’ll find his skin most comfortable in right now is Studio D.

Now CV this! Walter Sear on the Moog

Studio D is about to land smack in the middle of the electronic music map: It’s outfitted with a full-scale, original Moog Modular Synthesizer – one of the first ever produced and an instrument that Sear himself has been operating nonstop since the sixties. Sear’s decades of Moog programming experience are available, all the better to record into the room’s other main attraction: a custom 12-channel vacuum tube console, designed and built by Sear and Russ Hamm in 1970. Each channel is transformer coupled class A, with a switchable Pultec type 3-band equalizer.

“You know my attitude about digital and what it sounds like,” the straight-talking Sear said to SonicScoop. “Let’s try and make it as good as we can make it, by combining ancient technology with modern technology.

“Pro Tools HD and Logic Studio will be at the center of things, but everything analog should sound as good as possible. This is a beautiful console that I built in 1970, and it’s served me very well since. It makes a very musical sound. Our motto has always been that recorded sound sucks, and we’re trying to make it better.”

Sear and his partners in the room – Sear Sound’s Chief Engineer Chris Allen, Assistant Engineer David Schoenwetter, and Assistant Ted Tuthill – have curated a sharp complement of systems for Studio D. Also inside these walls are classic keyboards like a Fender Rhodes, and more eclectic instruments including two Moog Theremins. Mixing and tape transfers are facilitated by some things that are something else: dual vacuum tube Studer tape recorders, salvaged from the basement of Abbey Road Studios. Rebuilt as 15/30 IPS machines, these babies now run ½” tape. Gulp.

1970 Custom Analog Console

With D, Sear Sound adds on to a facility already famed worldwide for the Sear-Avalon custom console in spaciously sun-and-shade kissed Studio C, and Studio A with its classic Neve 8038 custom console. The irrepressible audio spirit of the studio’s founder and his team is even more effervescent than ever, now that Walter Sear is flying the Moog more often.

“I worked with Moog for 17 years, and sold most of their synthesizers during that time,” Sear says. “I still have my original sample, which is in perfect condition. The rest of the room is very straightforward. My crew and I built the room ourselves, because we’re supposed to be able to do that. But I didn’t have to wire the patch bay! I’ve wired enough in my life.” – David Weiss

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