About

Introduction

Delivering the best sound in the best facilities and environment

Sony Music Studios Tokyo is conveniently located near Nogizaka station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line, midway between Roppongi and Aoyama. The interior comprises five recording studios on the third underground floor, including two rooms where 30-40 person orchestras can be recorded, a 12-room suite of mastering studios on the second underground floor, and a suite of video editing and DVD/Blu-ray disc authoring studios on the first underground floor. This configuration enables integrated production of the total creative package, from music to video. The studio lobby is on the third underground floor, but is filled with natural light from the above-ground atrium, giving visitors a feeling of welcome. In fact, the underground location of Sony Music Studios Tokyo is due largely to its obsession with sound quality.
One of the main features of the studios is their strong sound and vibration damping properties, which are difficult to achieve in conventional studios. The construction of Sony Music Studios Tokyo required digging to a depth of 30 meters and pouring large amounts of concrete to construct a foundation that floats on rubber. The five studios that sit atop the foundation feature large custom monitors embedded directly inside the studio walls, which are themselves encased in 50 tons of concrete. With five studios, that makes a total of 250 tons of concrete just for the walls! The result reflects an obsession with sound that is unmatched by above-ground studios.

About

Introduction

A "natural" sound, neither "live" nor "dead"

The studios were designed by Los Angeles-based Peter Grueneisen. Pursuing a "natural" sound with properties in between a "live" and "dead" sound, Grueneisen brought all of the materials with him from the United States before construction began, including flooring and wall materials, concrete diffuser blocks, wooden diffuser boxes, air-conditioning ducts, and even wallpaper.
Each booth in the studio naturally features a glass window in front, but there are also red-bordered windows in the top portions of the walls that separate the booths so that the artists do not feel so "cooped up." The ceilings of the booths are 4 to 6 meters high. The booths are wide enough to accommodate a drum set, particularly the booths in Studios 1 and 2, where even a full-sized Steinway grand piano can be accommodated. Booth construction also reflects a no-compromise approach.
The power comes from clean power sources and runs through custom-built wiring that uses oxygen-free copper. Separate 117V and 230V power supply systems are provided for imported equipment. And the mixing consoles have been customized at every turn, for example by replacing standard contacts with gold contacts, to reflect the obsession with sound quality. With respect to equipment, the inventory of microphones alone features about 300 mics of about 80 different types. If you dream about a recording session that uses only vintage (vacuum) tube mics, it can happen here.

About

Introduction

Providing the world's highest level of service

From the opening of Sony Music Studios Tokyo in 2001 to the present, it has been used by countless artists from Japan and overseas.
Our facilities have earned high praise from engineers. The Studios’ clean sound recordings, as well as its repair and preservation work, have earned it a reputation among engineers, who can't believe how little noise they hear. New equipment tends to exhibit noise after three years due to poor contact and similar problems, but at Sony Music Studios Tokyo there is still almost no noise after more than a decade. To ensure this level of quality, each studio is checked out by maintenance staff every morning.
No matter how well equipped a studio may be, it can only demonstrate its full capabilities when it is well maintained. In both its facilities and the experience of using them, Sony Music Studios Tokyo provides full satisfaction through the world's highest level of service, while sparing no effort to make the process of creating music go more smoothly.