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For Immediate Release

Dolby Atmos® Meets Blackbird

— Blackbird Studio launches immersive Dolby Atmos® music mixing room —

Nashville, TN, August 15, 2019 – Blackbird Studio, Nashville’s premier recording studio complex, held a gala event the evening before the start of Summer NAMM, Wednesday, July 17, 2019, to mark the official launch of the facility’s new Dolby Atmos® 9.1.6 reference room (Studio C). On hand were members of the team that made studio owner John McBride’s vision a reality, including personnel from Dolby, TransAudio Group (ATC speakers), AVID and Sound Construction, as well as Blackbird Chief Technical Engineer Richard Ealey and Blackbird Studio Operations Manager Paul Simmons. Attendees represented a who’s-who of the Nashville music community, including Chuck Ainlay, Ben Fowler, Steve Marcantonio, Julian Raymond, Bob Bullock, Michael Cronin and more. They were treated to a listening session with a wide variety of tracks in Dolby Atmos including Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Beck’s “Seventh Heaven,” and, for the first time ever, Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” newly mixed by multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer David Leonard, who was on hand to discuss this latest mix of the legendary track. Blackbird’s 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos reference room is a state-of-the-art facility with equipment that includes ATC SCM300ASL Pro speakers (L-C-R), ATC SCM100ASL Pro speakers (six top and six side) and ATC SCM1-15ASL Sub subs (four front, two rear/side); AVID Pro Tools | MTRX audio interfaces (two); Antelope Audio 10MX rubidium atomic master clock; and AVID Pro Tools | SYNC HD. When asked about his vision in the creation of the new Dolby Atmos Studio C, Blackbird founder John McBride stated, “Blackbird has always had an extremely high bar that doesn’t allow us to cut any corners in anything we do. So when it came time to create this unique mixing/listening space, we reached out to the companies I know and have worked with, whom I trust based on their knowledge, their products and their track record for getting the job done. The team that helped create this reference room represents the cream of the crop, and we could not have made this a reality without their unwavering support. “ Dolby Laboratories Christine Thomas, who was intimately involved in the project stated, “Dolby Atmos is redefining how music is heard,” said Christine Thomas, Senior Director of Music Partnerships, Dolby Laboratories. “Together with Blackbird, we are empowering artists to bring their music to life.” Brad Lunde, President, TransAmerica Audio Group Inc. (the exclusive U.S. distributor of ATC speakers), commented. "What a pleasure to be involved with John McBride again.  He changed the industry with Blackbird, and now he's done it again with the one and only all-ATC Dolby Atmos mix room in the country! ATC and TransAudio could not be more pleased to be part of this project. The excitement in experiencing Dolby Atmos through some of the best music tracks ever created was a moment everyone present at this premiere will never forget. I think with the addition of the Blackbird Studio C, music in Dolby Atmos is poised to impact the industry in a very big way."  The revolutionary Blackbird Studio C is among the finest Dolby Atmos mix and playback environments in the world. The open floor plan concept room for Studio C was originally designed by multiple GRAMMY and TEC Award-winner, producer, engineer and inventor George Massenburg and Dr. Peter D'Antonio, founder of RPG Diffusor Systems, Inc. The design of the room was created from a 10,000-page Excel spreadsheet and is based on acoustic diffusion algorithms. The algorithmic result? A perfect mix of art and function: 138,646 individual sticks of formaldehyde-free MDF wood in four-foot-by-eight-foot sheets, with no two being the same size or length. The room contains slightly more than 100,000 lbs. of wood on the walls.   “Very soon after I started to mix in 5.1 new challenges were quickly revealed,” stated George Massenburg. “Hearing” a complex multichannel mix required fresh skills; yes, localization is important, but maintaining the perception of the overall context and integrating sources also in the sound field was challenging — I felt a new kind of mix environment was (and still is) essential — I never stopped thinking about it. I was given the opportunity to build a massively diffuse, uniform-response room in the early 2000’s to address these issues, and Blackbird Studio C was born. More than just a multichannel mix room, it offered an ideal context and environment to record live acoustic ensembles, providing artists an unparalleled ability to hear each other really well. Recently outfitted with Dolby Atmos Music monitoring technology, Blackbird Studio C now provides mixers with the tools to inspire them to create extraordinary and breathtaking immersive music mixes.” John McBride talks about his desire to spend more time in Studio C: “I love what we created in Studio C with Dolby Atmos. Because of the design and acoustics of that room, and of course the Dolby Atmos system, I have a new energy about mixing and can’t wait to spend more and more time in ‘C.’ It was nice to hear from so many people who attended our event how great they thought the audio sounded – to get that kind of acknowledgement from leading industry pros means a lot. We have already had tremendous interest in booking the room, and I’m excited to hear what comes out of those sessions.” For more information, please visit www.blackbirdstudio.com.   Photo file 1: Blackbird_Atmos_Group.JPG Photo caption 1: The core group that helped develop Blackbird Studio's 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos® mix/reference room was on hand for opening night, July 17, 2019. Shown L-R Front Row: John McBride (Blackbird Studio), Christine Thomas (Dolby), Bryan Pennington (Dolby) Back Row L-R: Dave Mattingly (Sound Construction), Richard Ealey (Blackbird Studio), Paul Simmons (Blackbird Studio), Ceri Thomas (Dolby), David Seal (TransAudio Group), Aleks Bars (TransAudio Group), and Brad Lunde (TransAudio Group). (Photo courtesy of Blackbird Studio, Photo credit Marian Mathis) Photo file 2: Ainlay_McBride_Raymond.JPG Photo caption 2: Blackbird Studio held a gala event on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, to mark the official launch of the facility’s new Dolby Atmos 9.1.6 mix/reference room. Shown L-R: Chuck Ainlay (multi-GRAMMY®, Academy of Country Music Award and Country Music Association award-winning engineer/producer/mixer), John McBride (Blackbird founder/owner) and Julian Raymond (Senior Vice President of A&R and Staff Producer at Big Machine/John Varvatos Records). (Photo courtesy of Blackbird Studio, Photo credit Marian Mathis). Photo file 3: Blackbird_StudioC.JPG Photo caption 3: Blackbird Studio's 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos® mix/reference room, Studio C. Photo credit: CJ Hicks Photo. © 2019. About Blackbird Studio Founded by sound engineer John McBride and his wife, country artist Martina McBride, in 2002, Blackbird has become Nashville's preeminent sound studio. The Blackbird complex now includes nine studios and houses The Blackbird Academy, a post-secondary audio engineering school. About Dolby Atmos® Dolby Atmos® enables music to go beyond the restrictions of mono and stereo, allowing listeners to feel music in a whole new way. It does this by enabling artists the ability to place and move instruments and vocals anywhere in a room through immersive object-based audio, bringing life into songs with space, clarity and depth as never been heard before.

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