Film composer A.R. Rahman

One of India’s foremost film composers and musical film directors, A. R. Rahman, recently opened a new 3,000 square-foot recording studio in Chennai, India renamed A.M. Studios. The facility, formerly known as Panchathan Record Inn, took nearly three years to complete.

Acoustic design and architectural plans for the studios were conceived by Studio 440 Architecture & Acoustics in Hollywood, Calif. Sound Wizard Audio Design and Consultancy of Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India, provided project management and acoustical consulting. Equipment for the studios was specified and supplied by Daxco Digital of Singapore. A local architectural and construction firm in Chennai did the construction work.

A.M. Studios’ two main spaces are a 380-square-foot control room and the 1,300-square-foot recording studio/mixing stage. The recording studio offers flexibility for music recording and film mixing, thanks to variable acoustics. The control room features a large bay window offering full view of the big screen in the mix stage. The recording area, which doubles as a mix stage, can accommodate up to 30 musicians for large recordings. There are also two additional isolation booths with large glass sliding doors.

Currently, Rahman, along with the Finnish folk music band Värttinä, is composing the score for the $27 million musical adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s acclaimed trilogy, Lord of the Rings, scheduled to make its world premiere in Toronto in early 2007.

- Courtesy Mix Magazine -