Acoustic Music Recording Studio in Upstate New York
A live room built for acoustic instruments — strings, voice, piano, brass, and woodwinds.
One Soul Studios is an acoustic music recording studio in Upstate New York, designed around the demands of acoustic instruments in a real room. The main tracking space measures 32 by 24 feet with a 22-foot vaulted ceiling — the volume and the acoustic treatment a soloist, a vocalist, or a chamber ensemble requires to develop their full sound.
The studio is located in New Baltimore, NY, on six acres of woods at the edge of the Hudson River. Two and a half hours from New York City and Boston, thirty minutes from Albany International Airport.
A Live Room for Acoustic Instruments
Acoustic instruments need air. They need volume, distance, and a controlled reverberant character to bloom the way they do in a concert hall — and then they need precise capture.
The live room is designed for that. The 22-foot ceiling gives strings, voice, and woodwinds the vertical space their overtones require. The acoustic treatment — Quadratic Residue Diffusers, Helmholtz absorbers, and polarization — distributes frequencies evenly without dead spots or harsh peaks. The decay sits at approximately 0.8 seconds.
A variable acoustic system allows the room to be adjusted live or damped depending on what the music asks for. Three large isolation booths connect to the main space, providing separation for vocal overdubs, brass isolation, or ensemble work where bleed between instruments needs to be controlled.
What the studio records: chamber ensembles (string quartets, piano trios, mixed groups), solo instrumental recordings, classical voice and vocal repertoire, choirs and small vocal ensembles, brass quintets, acoustic singer-songwriter projects, and period instrument ensembles.
Three Steinway Grand Pianos
The studio is built around three Steinway grand pianos, each with a distinct tonal character. The 2005 Hamburg Steinway D for power and projection. The 1904 New York Steinway B for warmth and intimacy. The 1883 Centennial Steinway D for the period tone suited to baroque and early keyboard repertoire.
All three instruments are maintained exclusively for recording in a climate-controlled environment. Bobby Avey is the studio’s dedicated piano technician — tuning, voicing, and regulation are handled for every session.
For chamber projects involving the piano alongside other instruments, the Steinway choice is part of the early conversation. An appointment to play all three can be arranged in advance of the session.
The Microphone Locker for Acoustic Recording
The microphone collection is built for the precise demands of acoustic music — capturing the source as it sounds in the room, without coloration or distortion.
The locker includes Brauner VMA Tube and Neumann M149 Tube microphones for solo voice and instrument work, Schoeps and DPA small-diaphragm matched pairs for stereo capture, Coles 4038 and Royer ribbon microphones for strings and brass, and a Neumann KU 100 binaural head for specialty work. A Schoeps Decca Tree set is available for ensemble recording in the room.
The signal chain runs through W. Fearn, John Hardy, Millennia, Neve, and Focusrite preamps into Merging Technologies converters and Samplitude Pro X8.
A Residential Facility for Multi-Day Projects
853 Route 144, New Baltimore NY 12124 USA
Three bedrooms, a full private kitchen, and walking access to the Hudson River and protected woodland. For a chamber ensemble working on a full project, the residential format means the group stays together, rehearses in the morning, tracks in the afternoon, and listens back in the evening.
- New York City — approximately 2.5 hours by car
- Boston — approximately 2.5 hours
- Albany International Airport (ALB) — 30 minutes
What Acoustic Musicians Say
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of acoustic ensembles can the studio accommodate?
String quartets, piano trios, brass quintets, small choirs, mixed chamber groups, and any acoustic configuration that fits the main room and isolation booths. Configurations are discussed in advance to ensure the room setup matches the ensemble.
Are stereo microphone pairs available for ensemble recording?
Yes. The locker includes Schoeps MK4 and MK21 matched pairs, DPA 2532-SP with 4041-sp matched pair, Coles 4038 matched pair, and Royer R-122V vacuum tube matched pair. A Schoeps Decca Tree set is also available.
Can the room be adjusted for different acoustic projects?
Yes. A variable acoustic system allows the room to be tuned live or damped on a session-by-session basis. The setting is adjusted to suit the ensemble, the repertoire, and the desired character of the recording.
Is onsite lodging available for chamber ensembles working multi-day?
Yes. Three bedrooms and a private kitchen are available. The residential setup accommodates a soloist, a duo, or a small ensemble staying together for the full session.
Can I bring my own engineer?
Yes. Guest engineers can set up independently with their own laptops and DAWs while using the studio’s acoustics, microphones, signal chain, and instruments.
