Allegro

Big Space

As more and more films come to NYC to record, producers need larger spaces. A new recording service at the DiMenna Center is helping to fill the gap.

Volume 116, No. 2February, 2016

Local 802 musicians record the score to the Coen brothers’ movie "Hail, Caesar!" with Audiosmith Digital Solutions at the DiMenna Center, done under a union contract. Photo by Walter Karling.

Local 802 musicians record the score to the Coen brothers’ movie “Hail, Caesar!” with Audiosmith Digital Solutions at the DiMenna Center, done under a union contract. Photo by Walter Karling.

More productions are taking advantage of the tax breaks offered in New York to record here, which is great news for our musicians. But until recently, New York City has had only two large recording studios: Manhattan Center and Avatar. Now, with the launch of Audiosmith Digital Solutions at the DiMenna Center, New York City has a new premier venue for large-scale orchestral recordings. Audiosmith has installed a state-of-the art control room at DiMenna, and over 100 musicians can be recorded at once in DiMenna’s largest room, Cary Hall. This offers the ability to host full orchestras, choirs, Broadway shows, chamber groups, jazz and acoustic ensembles and more. Any type of project can be recorded, including films, advertising, social media, theatre works and TV productions.

“We are thrilled to have Audiosmith Digital Solutions as a recording partner,” said John Glover, director of the DiMenna Center. “Audiosmith’s expertise is invaluable in making it possible to produce the highest-quality large-scale recordings in our spaces. Already, their projects with us have been hugely successful and brought work to dozens of New York City’s freelance musicians.”

The DiMenna Center’s showcase room, Mary Flagler Cary Hall, offers 3,400 square feet and a Steinway D 9-foot piano, a retractable film screen, 5.1 surround sound, skylight windows and high ceilings. It easily holds over 100 musicians.

Audiosmith Digital Solutions’ initial recordings include the original Carter Burwell score to the upcoming Joel and Ethan Coen film “Hail, Caesar!” and the Grammy-nominated cast recording for “The King and I.”

Four recording industry veterans are the partners behind Audiosmith Digital Solutions. Lawrence Manchester is a Grammy Award-winning music producer/engineer/mixer; Isaiah Abolin is a recording and mixing engineer; Jim Flynn is the founder and CEO of Jim Flynn Rentals; and Joe D’Ambrosio manages many top producers, mixers, engineers, arrangers and musicians.

“A symphony orchestra can have over 80 musicians; a Broadway musical can have more than 40 musicians and vocalists,” said D’Ambrosio. “The recording and mixing expertise, technology, and project management services of the Audiosmith Digital Solutions team, combined with the ideal acoustics of the DiMenna Center’s space, help make New York the center for large-scale recording.”

In addition to on-site recordings at the DiMenna Center, Audiosmith Digital Solutions will also provide location recording services for concerts and media events locally, domestically and internationally.