Shawn Dealey Under The Spotlight
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
After opening his first recording studio in Winnipeg, Canada, at the age of 20, Shawn Dealey has built a successful career as a producer, mixer, engineer and front of house mixer. Among the many artists he has worked with are Counting Crows, Animals As Leaders, The Weakerthans, Bootsy Collins, Jared James Nichols, Jim Bryson and Julie Doiron (of Eric’s Trip). These days Shawn can be found at Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he is chief engineer across the company’s three-room studio complex, including its flagship PMC-equipped Atmos music mixing suite. He also handles business development and marketing for the studios.
In the first of an occasional series that shines a spotlight on some of the very talented people PMC works with, we focus on Shawn to highlight his role at Sweetwater and his thoughts on current industry hot topics:
So, Shawn, tell us what your job entails on a normal day?
Thankfully we don’t have a normal day here at Sweetwater Studios. My day can be anything from a calendar full of meetings to a locked out 12-hour session. Our client base varies from international level touring artists to local songwriters and bands, to corporate clients and record labels. I’m very grateful to be in the position I am in and feel extremely lucky to work with all the great clients and partners Sweetwater Studios has.
Why did Sweetwater build Sweetwater Studios?
Sweetwater Sound was founded as a mobile recording studio back in 1979 by Chuck Surack. The current day studio facility serves as the foundation of the company, and over the years has allowed us to be subject matter experts on many things that most companies just sell. We train all our Sales Engineers on the equipment we use in the studio. They can get hands on, or in the case of PMC, sit in a properly treated studio and hear the speakers we have installed.
Does it run as a stand-alone business or is it simply a demo facility for Sweetwater?
Sweetwater is under Sweetwater’s corporate umbrella but operates as an independent business. We are a for hire studio that can be booked by anyone - our rate card in on our website and we can accommodate about any kind of session. The studio also has a hand in our marketing and sales training for Sweetwater proper and we host and create content in the studios along with being able to host internal sales training and certifications for our Sales Engineers
How many studios does Sweetwater have?
Sweetwater has three studios. Our Studio A is a large tracking space, based around a Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console, with a live room with two large isolation booths and a massive compliment of instruments and microphones. Studio B and C are our two smaller mix/overdub suites that have small isolation booths attached to their respective control rooms. The iso’s are next to each other and have sliding window coverings to allow sight lines between the spaces. Both B and C are set up for stereo and Dolby Atmos mixing and have a curated selection of outboard gear.
Why did you choose PMC monitors for your Atmos studio?
When we decided to upgrade Studio B to Atmos in the fall of 2021, we agreed early on that PMC would be the best partner for that. They were integral in the roll out of Dolby Atmos for Music and the expertise within the company was second to none. We have been extremely happy with our choice, as the room sounds spectacular, and mixes are translating across the Dolby Atmos platform.
What PMC products did you use, and in what configuration?
Studio B’s PMC Dolby Atmos compliment is a 9.1.4 configuration, with 8-2 XBD’s as left/right, 8-2 as centre, and Ci65’s as surrounds (powered by LEA Professional Connect 704 700W 4-channel Power Amplifiers). LFE is handled with four twotwo Sub2’s. All our processing is done via DADMAN on our Avid MTRX, and our D to A is through an iZ RADAR Converter with the UltraNyquist 192 Cards.
You obviously see a strong future for Atmos music mixing – how are you supporting your customers who want to give it a try?
As a studio we have fully embraced the technology. We believe it to be the future of music as it allows listeners to be more connected to the music. We are constantly giving Atmos demos to our customers and touring artists that stop by to visit, and we are also holding regular Atmos seminars to spread awareness and teach new techniques for this emerging format. Quite often a demo at Sweetwater is the first-place audio professionals have heard Atmos in its full glory, on an amazing sounding PMC 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos system.
Have you noticed an increase in demand from customers wanting to set up Atmos rooms?
We do a lot of customer demos and yes, the demand is up! We have seen things calm down a bit, as the market settles in for what will continue to be an integration of Dolby Atmos into the modern production workflow.
What two top tips would you give to someone who is about to undertake their first Dolby Atmos mix?
Be creative and forget everything you know!
What are the two most common mistakes people make with this format – and how would you avoid them?
One of the downfalls of underwhelming Dolby Atmos releases is that they have not used the space effectively. I hear a lot of front-loaded mixes where the stereo mix is effectively intact in the L/R, with some effects sprinkled around the space. My favourite mixes and the work I am the most proud of, really put you inside the mix and allow the music to happen around the listener and not just in front of them.
What Atmos mixes have you heard lately that you feel really take advantage of the format and exploit its capabilities?
Mac Miller – Swimming ( I specifically love the track What’s the Use?)
Boys Like Girls – Language (Single)
Gorillaz – New Gold
Animals As Leaders – Parrhesia (especially Red Miso)
Helios – Espera
Do you have any current Atmos projects of your own you’d like to promote or talk about?
I have been working closely with a label called Ghostly International that has allowed me to work on some great records by amazing artists like Aja Monet, Helios, Lusine, Crushed, Gareth Donkin. I am also in the middle of working on a few records in the heavier realm, as I hope to get some more reach into the metal category and have some good showing for Atmos in guitar-based music. Follow my Instagram (@shawndealey) and the studios (@sweetwaterstudios) to keep tabs on my releases!
Are there any future plans to further expand Sweetwater Studios?
We are in a state of continual improvement, no plans for physical growth, but from a technical and artist enjoyment standpoint we are always looking to improve how we can serve the customer or the project in the best possible way.
What do you think the next important technical innovation will be for the music and/or pro audio industry?
Easier entry into the world of Atmos mixing for the masses. It’s already there but dispelling some of the mystery and negativity around it would really help the adoption of the format.
Finally, if I bought you fancy ice cream, what flavour would you choose?
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough...