Saltmine Studio Oasis Flyer
This Saturday CRAS AES ventured out to check out the biggest recording facility in all of Arizona, the Saltmine Studio Oasis. Located in the heart of downtown Mesa, the Saltmine is a 25,000sq ft compound that houses 4 state of the art recording/mixing studios, a bungalow for artists to stay, as well as an outdoor performance venue.
With owner Don Salter as our host we started out in Studio A which is the facilities main tracking room. The control room boasts a custom vintage Neve console deigned and built in the 70's. Studio A's live room includes state of the art sound design (some of the silent AC air routing systems designed by Don himself) with an impressive stockpile of gear including a Yamaha C7 Studio Grand Piano, Fender Rhodes, and a DW 6 piece drum kit, as well tons of amps and an A-List Mic locker. Don told us that he started buying the gear years ago being that there weren't professional quality rental facilities in AZ, with the intent of renting the equipment to clients to cover the costs.
Next we headed into Studio B: The Mixing Room which houses a fully restored SSL 6064 E G+ TR formerly owned by mixer Ben Grosse and a pair of Westlake monitors with dual 18" subs. Senior engineer John Gray played us a couple tunes at my request on those speakers and almost literally blew our hair back!!!
Studio C is a smaller production room and is where interns are given the opportunity to improve their chops and work on smaller projects, but is by no means a anything but fully professional.
Studio D is located in the Bungalow and is kind of the studio away from the studio. With a bedroom, a billiards room/kitchen, control room, and a small live room, it is the ideal spot for an artist to relax and be enveloped by the creative process. It has an SSL 4056 G G+ TR console formerly owned and signed by producer David Foster.
Overall the tour was quite impressive and its no wonder they have the client roster and reputation that they do. Big thanks to Don, who was welcoming and truly sees their relationship with CRAS as a valuable one for both them and the students.
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