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Pictured: L-R: Studio designer Carl Tatz and studio owner Jay DeMarcus in The Wine Cellar production room at The Grip II – Nashville, TN

The Grip II Studio A PhantomFocus MixRoom™

The Grip II Studio A tracking room

Jay DeMarcus’ personal Hall Of Fame

The Wine Cellar production room at The Grip II

Elevator to residence with lightbox photo of Rascal Flatts on stage in the shaft

The Grip II Screening Room Lounge - 2

Grip Door

PhantomFocus™
System
Brochure



 



PRESS RELEASE

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Tel: (615) 662-1616
Fax: (615) 662-1636

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Carl Tatz Design® Revisits The Grip II Studio on Rascal Flatts’ 20th Anniversary


- Jay DeMarcus, co-founder and bass player of mega-star country group Rascal Flatts, reflects on his famous Nashville studio and its 12-year hit-making history -


Nashville, TN, July 2, 2020: “When I contacted Carl Tatz over a decade ago to help me design and build a second studio for me, little did I know what a remarkable, creative space it would turn out to be,” remembers Jay DeMarcus, co-founder of Rascal Flatts, one the most influential and successful country groups in history, now celebrating its 20th anniversary. DeMarcus’ trajectory has expanded his talent exponentially into a myriad of avenues including producer, songwriter, author, actor and most recently Owner/CEO of Red Street Records, an exciting new contemporary Christian label based in Nashville.

Designed and built in 2008 by TEC Award-Winning studio designer and monitoring expert Carl Tatz, Jay DeMarcus' The Grip II studio in Nashville, TN, has been the home of multi-platinum-selling records, countless number-one hits, and ACM-, CMA-, Dove-, and GRAMMY® award-winning records. (Ed. note: The Grip II succeeds the original Grip studio built in 2006).

Widely perceived as the crown jewel of Nashville personal recording studios, The Grip II is a sprawling studio complex featuring two PhantomFocus MixRooms - one in Studio A, and another in The Wine Cellar production room. Highlights of the studio also include a custom floating plenum amp closet, a state-of-the-art screening room lounge with an eleven-foot-wide retractable acoustically transparent projection screen with a JBL Synthesis immersive sound system, and a three-story elevator to the artist’s residence.

“What started out as just a place for me to work on my own projects turned into a world-class recording facility that producers, engineers and players from all over the world enjoy working in,” states DeMarcus. “It provides an experience that you can’t get anywhere else: it’s comfortable and laid back, while also being a state-of-the-art studio. The control room in the A room is exceptional with its use of space, and the drum room sounds massive in spite of its dimensions. One of Carl’s many talents is his ability to make the most of the space he has to work with; every single inch counts and is used to its maximum potential. And last but not least, the PhantomFocus™ System is unequaled when it comes to clarity, tightness on the bottom end, and connectivity across the entire sonic spectrum. There are simply no ‘holes’ in the listening experience.”

DeMarcus reflects on the sonic excellence of The Grip II: “I have worked in the finest recording studios all over the world, and I’m not just saying this because it’s mine, but there are very few places I would ever prefer over The Grip. No matter what genre of music I’m working in, no matter what ‘sound’ I’m looking for from a sonic perspective, it never fails to deliver.”

“Over the years we’ve been able to keep The Grip II up-to-date with the latest PhantomFocus™ technology as our techniques and protocols evolve,” comments Carl Tatz. “I would have to say that The Grip II is one of our singular proudest achievements, and I don’t think any other project has ever had the extreme attention to detail that this amazing studio displays, and that is mainly because of Jay’s passion to go the extra mile. This is very evident in every facet of the design and build, right down to the Vox Wah-Wah pedal door pushes, Fender Jazz Bass door pulls, and elevator shaft lightbox photo of Rascal Flatts on stage and Jay playing Bass at Abbey Road. Congratulations to Rascal Flatts on their extraordinary 20-year anniversary!”

Photo file 1: Photo1_Carl_Jay.jpg
Photo caption 1: Pictured: L-R: Studio designer Carl Tatz and studio owner Jay DeMarcus in The Wine Cellar production room at The Grip II – Nashville, TN

Photo file 2: Photo2_Grip2main.jpg
Photo caption 2: The Grip II Studio A PhantomFocus MixRoom™

Photo file 3: Photo3_Griptracking.jpg
Photo caption 3: The Grip II Studio A tracking room

Photo file 4: Photo4_HALL_Of_FAME.jpg
Photo caption 4: Jay DeMarcus’ personal Hall Of Fame

Photo file 5: Photo5_WineCellar.jpg
Photo caption 5: The Wine Cellar production room at The Grip II

Photo file 6: Photo6_ELEVATOR.jpg
Photo caption 6: Elevator to residence with lightbox photo of Rascal Flatts on stage in the shaft

Photo file 7: Photo7_ScreeningLounge2.jpg
Photo caption7: The Grip II Screening Room Lounge - 2

Photo file 8: Photo8_GRIPDOOR.jpg
Photo caption 8: Grip Door

Photo file 9: PhantomFocus_Brochure.PDF

About Carl Tatz Design
Carl Tatz Design (CTD) is an award winning studio design firm offering design and consulting services to homeowners and entertainment industry professionals in areas of: Recording Studios, Monitor Systems, Home Screening Rooms, Dedicated Listening Rooms, Acoustic Analysis, Tuning, and Sound Isolation. Carl Tatz is also the inventor of the industry acclaimed proprietary PhantomFocus™ System (PFS™) monitor tuning protocol. CTD’s many resources combine knowledge, experience and expertise in sound, picture and design to serve its clients worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.carltatzdesign.com.

About the PhantomFocus™ System
Carl Tatz Design’s proprietary PhantomFocus™ System monitor tuning protocol offers clients a unique opportunity to have a truly world-class monitoring experience in their room, no matter how modest. All speakers interact with the room they’re in, and the PhantomFocus System allows any monitors to perform at maximum accuracy - in any room - with a full 20Hz-to-20KHz frequency response and pinpoint imaging in what some owners have described as a “holographic sweet spot.” It is a new level of sonic accuracy that engenders easier, better and faster mixing that translates well in any environment.

There are approximately fifty steps in the proprietary PhantomFocus System implementation protocol, including phase alignment, system damping, speaker decoupling and isolation mounting, careful assessment of engineer/speaker placement relative to primary axial room modes, proprietary laser-calibrated speaker distancing and angle alignments, digitally-controlled crossover points and slopes for pass filtering, and, proprietary, multiband parametric equalization.

Hardware solutions can include monitor stands, concrete, Sorbothane™ and other isolation and damping materials, custom floating plenum mounts, subwoofer systems and custom digital processors. The PhantomFocus System evaluation and implementation is a full two-day process and can be applied to near-fields, mid-fields, and large soffit mounted monitors, regardless of manufacturer.

Carl Tatz Design installs the PhantomFocus System in existing control rooms and in all studios that are designed and built from the ground up by CTD. The result is like the aural equivalent of HD TV. Once you experience a PhantomFocus System, you can’t go back.

About the Carl Tatz Signature Series™ by Auralex®
The Carl Tatz Signature Series™ by Auralex® family of control room acoustic modules (now featured in a dedicated section on the Auralex website), emulates the look and acoustics of Carl Tatz's custom designs at a fraction of the cost.

When paired with the acclaimed PhantomFocus System, it becomes the CTD MixRoom™, the sonic performance of which is unrivaled anywhere, defining a new standard for the audio professional. The MixRoom can quickly and affordably transform a simple rectangular room into a world-class mixing environment without peer.  

"We're honored to work with Carl Tatz, one of the top studio designers in the industry, on this exciting new Auralex offering. This new series makes Carl's signature style easy and affordable enough for any serious studio owner. Now virtually any room can benefit from the same aesthetic and sound control enjoyed by top hitmakers like Rascal Flatts and others," says Eric Smith, founder and president of Auralex Acoustics.

For more information about Carl Tatz Design LLC and the PhantomFocus™ System, please contact Carl Tatz Design, 6666 Brookmont Terrace, Suite #1109, Nashville, TN 37205 Office: 615.354.6242, Direct: 615.400.5479 

Email: carl@carltatzdesign.com
Web: www.carltatzdesign.com
Store: www.phantomfocus.com

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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