The studio amassed an awesome credit list: David Bowie, Norah Jones, Tim McGraw, Joan Baez, the Gipsy Kings, Tim and Neil Finn, Cassandra Wilson, Sir James Galway, Guster and Natalie Merchant, to name a few.

The place is the epitome of the residential studio, in that it offers the best of all worlds technologically and acoustically: a huge Neve tracking/mixing room (the Neve Room) and an even bigger SSL studio (the Great Hall). It's hard to imagine a recording environment more physically beautiful and more conducive to meditation and creativity than Allaire. Mix New York Editor David Weiss profiled Allaire in the “Coast to Coast: New York Metro” section in the March 2008 issue to read that story, click here.Home> impulse responses> music rooms>studioĮngineers: Arjen van der Schoot, Eric Schnorr.Īllaire Studios caters to some of the industry's top talent and offers an alternative to urban facilities.

But the problem is that the business is not what it used to be, and there are not that many candidates for that type of business.”

Artists like the Black Crowes, Rush, My Morning Jacket and even David Bowie would attest to that. “When it was firing on all cylinders, Allaire was a joyous situation and the best of all worlds: You have a superior facility, a superior support staff and an unparalleled environment. “Maybe somewhat less-arbitrary ownership would have given the new console more time to establish itself,” McKenna said, “but that’s not the modus operandi of the ownership of the studio. The timing is particularly puzzling given that Allaire only recently invested considerable time and expense into installing one of the most famous consoles in the world, the “AIR Montserrat” desk designed with input from Beatles producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick. Those things combined to seal the studio’s fate.” The long-term problem is that Allaire is very specifically targeted to the music business, and increasingly the way albums are being made we kind of ran into the perfect storm of producer-and-artist home studios and failing retail. Mark McKenna, former studio manager of Allaire, commented on the abrupt end for the facility, which opened in 2001: “We had a slow winter, and we came up a little bit short of our busy season, although I cancelled a tremendous amount of work the week that I left. In March, all staffers were relieved of their positions and all remaining scheduled sessions were cancelled. destination studio that was the home of two Neve-based rooms, appears to be closing. Former Allaire Studios manager Mark McKenna (seated) and chief technical engineer Ken McKim.Īllaire Studios, the Shokan, N.Y.

Allaire studios