Studio tour at Synergy Audio Productions

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Studio tour: Synergy Audio Productions,Gurugram

The full video of the interview is below. But before that, a few paragraphs to set the context.

His 2023 album Stung Out To Dry was a beauty, getting a five-star rating in this blog. A former member of the Delhi rock band Cyanide, singer-songwriter Rohan Solomon is equally passionate about music recording and production. He thus started his state-of-the-art facility Synergy Audio Productions in Gurugram.

This blogger visited the place on a cold winter day, and was greeted by warmth everywhere - in the lounge room temperature, the Chinese lunch and the regular coffee, besides the reception by him and his team. With a pool table greeting you and smaller room specially made for leisure and gaming, it looked like a very informal set-up.

Yet, as one went on a quick tour to the main recording rooms, one gathered a lot of thought, dedication and hard work have gone into setting up and maintaining this space. Yet, like in his album, Rohan has used a recurring theme - that of Star Wars, with its Falcon and Phoenix rooms. "Yot it feels like a studio," Rohan laughs.

The musician-sound man decided to create such a studio after he studied audio engineering and music production a decade ago. His stint with New York's Engine Room Audio, where he worked with known acts like John Legend and Anderson.Paak, and then studied under Grammy-winning mixing engineer Michael Brauer, helped him get a direction. "We never had space like this growing up, and there was never any stress given to the flavour of audio. I wanted to create something for the next generation of musicians that are coming in," says Rohan.

Besides having the sheer vibe and a place that felt like home, he wanted to get the best equipment (see tech specs below) and also vary the process based on artiste and Genre. "We use a hybrid model. There are no analog is better than digital or digital is better than analog rules," he says.

Here is the full video recording of the interview with Rohan. The colour matching and similar jersey designs were not planned in advance, and we made sure there were no coffee mugs in sight while recording.

Tech specs: The recording equipment and software integrated into the Synergy Studio (sourced from the studio).

Technical software details and brand names: Synergy has Industry Standard Equipment and world-class preamps, EQs and compressors from companies Neve, API, SSL, Universal Audio, Chandler Limited, Maag, Black Lion Audio, Warm Audio, Audient, etc. They also have top-tier monitoring systems from Dangerous Audio, Genelec, and ATC. State-of-the-art Hearback systems from Allen & Heath which are powered by Ferrofish Dante Converters.

Types of microphones, preamps, audio interfaces, and studio monitors used:
Synergy has Grade A microphones from companies like Neumann, AKG, Shure, Manley, Royer, Universal Audio, Slate Digital, etc. with a good mix of condenser mics, dynamic mics, ribbon mics and Tube Condenser Mics. Their preamps offer a wide range of audio flavours which is certainly a USP of Synergy. The studio offers recording through Neve 1073, API 512 & 3124, Chandler TG2, Universal Audio 610, SSL VHD+, and Audient 8 Channel Preamps, plus studio is equipped with Universal Audio Apollo x16 as our main converters and Applo x8 & x8p interfaces, which offer them beautiful sounding clean and linear preamps using the patented “Unison” Technology. The studio monitors are Genelec (for stereo and Atmos) and ATC (for only stereo)

Details about recording equipment and software used: The studio has Industry Standard Equipment and world-class preamps, EQs and compressors from companies Neve, API, SSL, Universal Audio, Chandler Limited, Maag, Black Lion Audio, Warm Audio, Audient, etc. It also has top-tier monitoring systems from Dangerous Audio, Genelec, and ATC. State-of-the-art Hearback systems from Allen & Heath which are powered by Ferrofish Dante Converters.