NEW YORK — Sandblast Productions (www.sandblastproductions.com) has opened a new facility at 1650 Broadway in Manhattan where it is offering music, sound design, mixing and audio restoration services. Sandblast’s new facility includes two main mix studios with identical hardware and software, and a third room, designed to serve as a MIDI/composing suite that is fully equipped to handle post sessions. Client work has access to a wide variety of live and virtual instruments, enabling the addition of any sound or musical embellishment.
The facility includes a recording booth for voiceover and narration sessions that’s big enough to accommodate a string quartet or a room full of DVD commentators. Each studio is also equipped with video monitors.
“At Sandblast, our whole focus is that sound matters,” explains Ralph Kelsey, Sandblast founding member. “Our team is steeped in deep music tradition, so we understand how sounds and textures fit together to tell a story. We are very excited to be part of the musical history at 1650 Broadway, and to explore that creative energy with our clients.”
Senior mixer, Michael Ungar.
The Sandblast team consists of composers, producers, audio post engineers, sound designers, audio restorers and sonic specialists.
Ralph Kelsey is a percussionist and sound designer who has created sound design for ESPN’s graphic packages for the past 15 years, and mixed Saturday Night Live parody spots for 20 years. Loren Toolajian is a composer and producer who collaborated with playwrights Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, producer T Bone Burnett and others at Signature Theatre Company. Michael Ungar is a senior mixer who created sound for Sesame’s Emmy Award-winning Outreach series and created sonic baths for visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey, and cymatics guru Jeff Volk.
Other notable members of the Sandblast team include Grammy Award-winning audio restoration engineer Bill Lacey and musician, producer and engineer John Crenshaw, who played percussion, keyboards and vocals for his brother Marshall’s band before channeling his experiences in audio post.
The Sandblast team has worked on projects for CBS, NBC, Showtime, HBO, Sesame Street and ESPN. Recent projects include sound design, mixing and music for Showtime’s Masters of Sex and Penny Dreadful series, HBO's Vice series, and upfronts for CBS and ESPN. Film mixing and sound design projects include The Lifeguard, Night Has Settled, and Purpose Built, among others.