THE COLOSSEUM HAILS FIRST MAJOR PROJECT

CTS Studios, part of the Lansdowne group of companies, have opened their new orchestral recording and film scoring facility at The Colosseum in Watford, with composer Alan Silvestri's score for the Universal picture ‘The Mummy Returns’ as their first major project.
CTS at The Colosseum combines the acoustics of the venue's renowned symphonic hall, with a purpose-built world-class control room installation that is equipped for 5.1/7.1 surround recording, mixing and monitoring.
Acoustic design for the control room was undertaken by Recording Architecture, and the room features an AMS Neve Capricorn digital console with 192 signal paths and newly-modified surround sound panel, plus an ATC SCM150 loudspeaker monitoring system, as well as a full range of analogue and digital recording formats.
CTS Studios' new venture offers a massive recording capacity, with space for a 130-piece orchestra, in addition to the stage and gallery areas that provide further room for a 150-voice choir. As an integral part of the facilities, CTS has installed a high-resolution digital video projector in the hall, producing a large image (25ft x 14ft) for scoring to picture. The full complement of CTS and Lansdowne studios' extensive microphone collection is available, and includes many valve models. All input and output racks are linked via MADI to the console's processor racks, located in a machine room adjacent to the control room. Analogue tie lines connect the control room to below-stage equipment cages, which also house the Capricorn's microphone and line input racks. These are positioned close to the studio floor to keep microphone cable runs as short as possible, with Canare oxygen-free star-quad cabling being employed. CTS' lengthy equipment list for the new venue also includes both Fazioli and Yamaha grand pianos, while extensive communication facilities have been integrated into a specially-modified talkback system.
Installation company Harline were responsible for all on-site wiring, as well as off-site preparation of jackfields, multicores and stage boxes. Acoustic design was by Recording Architecture's Roger D'Arcy, and the planning process for CTS at The Colosseum began in late 2000, following the closure of CTS Studios' Wembley site, with the four-month installation work being completed by March 2001.
The new CTS facility at The Colosseum is one of the largest orchestral recording and film scoring facilities in Europe - in terms of physical capacity, acoustics, and technical capabilities. (CD)