A Day in the Spheres

The Spheres is a recording studio and events space in Pescara-Montesilvano (Italy) on the Adriatic coast, offering state of the art audio and video equipment as well as an active concert calendar.

The studio was designed principally for acoustic music, but is versatile and welcomes all genres. The studio was founded by Odradek Records, a democratic cooperative record label based in the United States, active in classical, jazz and world. Aside from being the home for Odradek projects, The Spheres is available to all labels, engineers, projects, and artists.

The Spheres is a tracking studio offering also mixing and mastering services. Recording is digital in PCM; the control room is a stereo Tom Hidley-inspired ‘non-environment’ space, equipped with a Yamaha DM2000 console and choice of DAD and Lavry Blue converters. A large selection of world-class microphones is available (see below). The pianos are Steinway D (Fabbrini Concert Collection) and Shigeru Kawai EX concert grands. The studio runs on solar power, supplemented by a Tesla Powerwall 2. Lighting is 100% LED and flicker-free.

Studio Odradek’s main room measures 15 meters by 9 meters with an 8-meter ceiling and can easily accommodate a 60-piece orchestra yet is flexible enough to provide an intimate recording environment for a solo performer. Acoustics can be modified and isolation among musicians achieved with our Taytrix Gobo system and “Skywalker Sound” replica gobos. Two isolation booths, measuring 5 x 4 meters and 4 x 3 meters with 3-meter ceilings, are located at the end of the main room under the control room. All the rooms are extensively equipped with audio and video tie lines. Control Room size is 8 meters wide by 6 meters long. Premium Gotham, mic/line cables are also available running directly from the stage to the control room for use with outboard mic preamps.

Our recording department is headed by John Anderson, Classical Music Producer with Marcello Malatesta and Fabio Cardone, staff Recording Engineers. Experienced sound engineers are welcome to our partnership program.

Our Mic Locker
1x AEA R84
1x AEA R92
2x AKG C414 XLS (stereo set)
1x AKG D12
1x AKG D19
1x AKG CGN321 STS with 30 cm gooseneck
1 AT Pro44
2x Coles 4038 RIBBON MICS
1x Coles 4104 Commentary
4 x DPA 4006 (2 matched pairs)
2x DPA 4011 (matched pair)
1x Electrovoice RE320
2x Flea C12 (matched pair)
2x Flea M49 (matched pair)
1x Neumann U47 Fet
2x Neumann U67 (2018 Reissue)
3x Neumann U87
1x Neumann U87ai
1x Neumann KMS 85 I
2x Neumann M149 (matched pair)
1x Neumann TLM 49
1x Neumann Rsm 190i s
2x Royer R-121 (matched Pair)
1x Samar VL37 A
4x Schoeps V4 U USM Set B
6x Schoeps CMC 6 U
1x Schoeps CMIT 5U
2x Schoeps MK 2 Omni
2x Schoeps M221F (matched pair with M934 capsules)
2x Schoeps MK21
6x Schoeps MK4
1x Schoeps MSTC5
1x Schoeps MK41
1x Schoeps CCM 8 LG
1x Sennheiser MKH 800 TWIN
3x Sennheiser MHK 8020
6x Sennheiser MHK 8040
2x Sennheiser MHK 8090
2x Sennheiser MD-421 II-4
1x Sennheiser D1 BA 30
1x Sennheiser BA 20
1x Sennheiser e602-II
1x Sennheiser ew 500 G4 965 DW Band
3x Sennheiser ew 500 G4 MKE2 DW Band
2x Sennheiser AVX-ME2 Set
1x Sure Beta 52A
2x Sure SM57 LC
1x 1962 Vintage Sony Dynamic Pipe Microphone
2x Telefunken CU-29 Copperhead

Pres & A/D:
8x Forssell SMP-2
1x Earthworks 1024
D.W. Fearn VT2
AES TRP-2
DAD AX32 - A/D 32 channels mic/line, D/A 16 channels (Dante 64 channels, 8 AES3 I/O, 1 coax MADI I/O)
Lavry Blue (16AD / 16DA)
Metric Halo ULN-8 (Sonic Studio 305)

DAWs
Sequoia 16
Pro Tools 12
Ardis DDP8D4 (RAID 5 4x6TB + Raid5 4x1TB SSDs)

Monitors
Amphion Two18 (with DMSD 60 Pro)
Amphion Base25
2 x Amphion Amp500
Crane Song Avocet

Outboard & Misc
Maselec MLA-2 • Dangerous • Empirical Labs • Bricasti M7 • Tegeler Raumzeitmaschine • Manley Massive Passive • 9 x Taytrix Gobos • 5 Sony SRG300 IP cams • All Gotham cabling • Hidley inspired mixing room • 21 Triad-Orbit tripods (T1, T2, T3, Starbird) and all accessories • 44 x Bergerault B1014 Orchestra Chairs • 24 x K&M Orchestra Stands • 3 Steinway piano benches • Andexinger Piano Bench Lift-o-matic • Selection of pedals & amps • Gretsch 4160 Mid '60's Round Badge Snare • Gretsch '60's Round Badge 'Progressive Jazz' Outfit

Visit www.the-spheres.com for a complete list of services and equipment.