{"id":2280,"date":"2025-11-17T20:03:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pdbmusic.com\/?p=2280"},"modified":"2025-11-17T20:03:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:03:30","slug":"modular-synth-expert-chris-meyer-builds-all-focal-atmos-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pdbmusic.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/modular-synth-expert-chris-meyer-builds-all-focal-atmos-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"Modular Synth Expert Chris Meyer Builds All-Focal Atmos Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atmos composing & mix room with vast synth collection features Focal Solo6 LCR, Alpha 65 Evo surround and height, and Sub6 subwoofer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Composer, synthesizer expert, and modular synthesis educator Chris Meyer has completed his purpose-built 7.1.4 all-Focal Dolby\u00ae Atmos\u2122 studio. The studio has two distinct sections, one for composing and one for mixing. The 7.1.4 Atmos mixing area features Focal Solo6 for LCR, Alpha 65 Evo for the surrounds and height speakers, and a Focal Sub6 subwoofer. The rehearsal and tracking area utilizes a \u2018quadraphonic\u2019 arrangement of Alpha 80 Evo monitors, which mirrors the artist\u2019s preferred live performance setup. The new personal studio space is built on top of the garage footprint in his Pueblo-style home in New Mexico and was specifically designed for Atmos. The new 670 square foot room with expansive windows and storage took over a year to plan and build.<\/p>\n

When his mastering engineer, who was using Focal Solo6, suggested Meyer try them out, he did and realized, \u201cI was hearing details I had never heard in my music before. I was instantly sold that there is indeed a difference when you go upscale in speakers. What I love about the Focal monitors is that they’re neutral,\u201d adds Meyer. \u201cThey don\u2019t have any falsely hyped bass. They don’t have any harsh highs in the name of being bright. They\u2019re just a neutral, truthful monitor that I can trust. I hear details in the Solo6s I\u2019ve never heard from other speakers. And that really helps me when I\u2019m programming new sounds from scratch on synthesizers to make sure that I\u2019m getting the blend of harmonic content that I really want.\u201d<\/p>\n

The studio \u201ctook a bit of an arranging of where it was going to be on the property to fit inside the building regulations for our neighborhood,\u201d he reveals. \u201cThe height of the room basically determined where all of the speakers were going to be. I have what\u2019s called an equidistant layout where all the speakers are the same distance from my listening position. I\u2019ve gone to extremes to cut down early reflections, not to destroy the spatial field. Even the way that I had the speakers mounted is to cut down reflections,\u201d says Meyer. The immersive monitor systems are controlled with an Audient ORIA that allows Meyer\u2019s Sonarworks SoundID studio calibration software\u00a0tables to be downloaded directly into the controller unit.<\/p>\n

Meyer grew up wanting to play music but instead became an engineer and entered the music industry helping design and build iconic synthesizers at Sequential Circuits, where Meyer took over from the company\u2019s founder Dave Smith in developing the MIDI specification, plus invented Vector Synthesis. Meyer\u2019s first commercial synthesizer was a used Electrocomp EML 101 from Electronic Music Labs, an early American synthesizer that was semi-modular like an ARP 2600, with four oscillators. \u201cPeople who were doing noise-based music like Pere Ubu were using Electrocomp synths back in the early 1970s and 80s,\u201d notes Meyer.<\/p>\n

Today he records and performs original synth music as \u2018Chris Meyer\u2019s Alias Zone\u2019 and has released three albums and is now working on an Atmos immersive release in his new studio. His latest album \u201cFinite Space\u201d follows the \u201cWater Stories\u201d and \u201cWe Only Came to Dream\u201d releases.<\/p>\n

As a modular synthesis expert, Meyer also has an educational angle to his work in the music industry, his \u201cLearning Modular\u201d website and synthesis courses. \u201cI remember what it was like to be a new synth user myself when I was a teenager and just realized you had to go to ground zero and just start from the very basics and learn from the ground up. And that\u2019s where my online courses, glossary, and other information on my website, Learning Modular, came from. I take people by the hand and teach them how to use these modular synth instruments because that education is not readily available today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immersive music is the future Meyer feels, especially for synthesizers, \u201cI\u2019m definitely thinking about the spatial mix when I\u2019m working on music, partially because I found that working in spatial audio adds a lot of clarity to the mix. You don\u2019t need to cram all these sounds down two speakers. Separating the sound out among multiple speakers – or multiple points in space – just helps add a clarity to multi-layered music that you can\u2019t get out of stereo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic has become my encore career in life,\u201d states Meyer, \u201cafter being an engineer and an educator and a computer graphics artist. I\u2019m finally back doing what I wanted to do when I was a kid, create music.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atmos composing & mix room with vast synth collection features Focal Solo6 LCR, Alpha 65 Evo surround and height, and…
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