An Audient ASP8024-HE mixing console is at the heart of the action at the new Mid South Audio, a 3,500-square-foot recording facility in Milton, DE that opened in September 2020 to great fanfare, that’s owned by Kevin Short and designed from the ground up by Gavin Haverstick of Haverstick Designs.
The complex comprises a spacious live room for large ensembles, three separate ISO rooms, two control rooms and a smaller studio for voiceovers and additional mixing. Studio manager and chief engineer Frank Marchand says, “Since our opening, we have run full-on Nashville-style tracking sessions with as many as nine musicians playing at once, as well as streaming live concerts online.
“The studio’s acoustics are such that we excel at quiet, acoustic-based music all the way to full band situations with loud amps and anything in between,” he continues, pointing out the 20-foot ceilings in the main tracking room as a particular highlight. “In-house items also include a 9-foot Baldwin concert grand piano, loads of microphones and amps and a 16 channel headphone mixing system. Also installed is a two-video system for both streaming and communications between different parts of the facility and all of the recording spaces.”
Studio owner Short chose the DLC (Dual Layer Control) option for his Audient desk, which is designed to integrate with DAW. “With our ASP8024-HE we can both run complete analog sessions or complete Pro Tools sessions with just a few switches on the desk. This was very important to us from the start,” he explains. “The desk hit our price point as well. This is not an expensive mouse that will go out of date in a few years.”
The studio is part of a larger retail and showroom space comprising 20,000 square feet, and this is where Short runs his event production and audio-video-lighting integration company.
