Bastian Musa Gerner – The Foley Teacher’s Dolby Atmos Recording Studio

The private recording studio of an internationally known rapper, sound engineer and foley artist.

He is not only a rapper but also a full-time sound mixer and foley artist. He works as a freelancer for Ubisoft, Europe’s largest video game company, among others, and also lives out this passion as “The Foley Teacher” on Instagram. For his private recording studio, we planned and built a room for him according to the Dolby Atmos standard. The real challenge was that the space available on the garden level is quite small in order to meet the diverse and sometimes conflicting requirements.

Because a mixing room for Dolby Atmos benefits from the largest and identical distances possible to all speakers, the listening position is usually approximately in the middle of the room. For modern music productions, however, a listening position in the middle of the room is usually avoided. This is where the natural modes have a particularly drastic effect and make it difficult to assess the bass component. For Foley Recordings, the first thing you need is as much free space as possible; ideally, a listening position somewhere on the edge would be ideal.

The vision for my studio was to be able to work in all my specialist areas in a limited area of ​​20m². I focus on social media content creation, online coaching and professional freelance work and wanted everything to be top notch. As a freelancer, I deal with Foley recording and editing and mixing in Dolby Atmos for both music and linear media and games. For me it is very important to be able to create content and coach people online in the same room.

Bastian Musa Gerner I The Foley Teacher

CAD longitudinal section I Bastian Musa Gerner Recording Studio

CAD top view I Bastian Musa Gerner Recording Studio

Design standards + compromises = acoustic use at a professional level

It was therefore necessary to find compromises during the design phase for “The Foley Teacher’s Dolby Atmos Recording Studio” that would enable all uses at a professional level. To do this, we first determined the own modes (spatial resonances) on site using modal analysis. Then, we used these to calibrate a BEM model. With the help of this acoustic room model based on the boundary element method, we were able to determine the optimal equipment with bass absorbers. As part of the acoustic planning, we determined how the room would be equipped with broadband absorbers and diffusers. Also, we determined the optimal listening geometry aka listening position and loudspeaker positions. The elements pre-produced in our workshop in Osnabrück were then delivered and assembled by us.

Bass control at the limit

I wanted the lows to be as controlled as possible. Since I knew that this would take up a lot of space, I was prepared to tackle the issue of room acoustics professionally. I also wanted everything to be modular so I could reuse the acoustic equipment later in another room. The TrapCore bass traps are really a good solution as they are inexpensive and easy to transport.

Bass control at the limit I Bastian Musa Gerner

A Senior Foley Artist at work I Bastian Musa Gerner

Working with mbakustik GmbH was an absolute pleasure as we met all deadlines and carried out thorough planning beforehand. When I looked at my studio, I was first guided through a 3D model and this was later brought to life by examining various fabrics. I was so happy when the modules finally arrived. The installation was also carried out very professionally and overall I am very happy with the end result.

A satisfied Bastian Musa Gerner I The Foley Teacher

The challenges of this project, particularly the design of an Atmos control room in such a small space, were particularly high. We are therefore all the more pleased that such a high-quality and flexible studio was created with our participation.

Markus Bertram I Owner and Managing Director mbakustik GmbH 

Bastian Musa Gerner I Recording Studio

I know mbakustik GmbH from working in various studios that were acoustically prepared by them. And these spaces always gave me confidence in my mixes. In addition, together with my colleagues and mbakustik, I planned a large audio studio for my last employer. It was an intense time in which we really got to know each other and met in person a few times. I was convinced that mbakustik did an excellent job in both planning and executing their business, and knowing the end result, I was convinced that I wanted to work with mbakustik on my personal studio.

Bastian Musa Gerner I The Foley Teacher