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ABOUT VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK

Welcome to VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK!

Our over 20,000 square foot facility is equipped with multiple recording studios and adjacent offices and the latest technology for your needs. Our award-winning engineers offer their skills and expertise in the field of recording, mixing, mastering.

Our flagship studio is Studio 1, a 2,500 square foot recording studio with outstanding acoustics and the latest, state-of-the-art equipment including the world’s first Immersive Audio console by FIX AUDIO DESIGNS, Paul Wolff, and PMC’s standout QB1 monitors.

Located directly in the center of in Upstate New York, between Syracuse and Niagara Falls, known as the Finger Lakes region, VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK combines the best of both worlds: Undisturbed serenity in a beautiful landscape that allows creativity to flow and the convenience of easy access from national and international destinations.

Previously exclusively utilized by multi-million record selling rock/metal legends MANOWAR and their label mates on MAGIC CIRCLE ENTERTAINMENT, VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK is now offering its wide array of services to the public.

MANOWAR, one of the most successful and influential bands in their genre have always been on the forefront of technology with a track record of over 20 million records sold and numerous platinum, gold and silver certifications.

In 1999, the studios were established as a natural extension of MANOWAR’s growing business areas.

Since 1982 all MANOWAR records have been produced by the band’s bassist, composer, producer and entrepreneur Joey DeMaio; since 1999 either in whole or in part in VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK.

With a team of experienced professionals from all over the world MAGIC CIRCLE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP provides a wide range of additional services in the entertainment industry such as recorded music production, touring, merchandise development and distribution, publishing and more. For inquiries about these additional services contact [email protected]

Whether professional recording artist, up-and-coming talent, movie or games productions – VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK offers solutions for projects of all sizes and budgets.

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STUDIOS

Whether professional recording artist, up-and-coming talent, movie or games productions – VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK offers solutions for projects of all sizes and budgets.

Whether you are an up-and-coming talent, established veteran in the recording music business, movie or games producer or hobby musician – VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK offer the resources and services you need to bring your project from inception to completion.

VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK provides you access to our wide range of state-of-the-art equipment, the latest plugins and, of course, our world-class engineers.

STUDIO 1 aka “The Church” is the crown jewel among our studios. A former church-turned-studio this 2,500 square foot studio stands out with remarkable acoustics and latest technology, including but not limited to PMC’s standout QB1 monitors and a unique 64 channel Immersive Audio ready console with the ability to seamlessly pan from bottom to top – the first of its kind in the world, specially designed for and co-developed by VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK’s engineers.

Whether you have your music mixed here in stereo, surround or immersive (we are certified for SONY 360 Reality Audio, DOLBY ATMOS® and AURO-3D®), mastered or choose to record in this outstanding structure – the results will excel with a unique sound.

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RONALD PRENT

Audio Engineer / Recording / Sound Mixing

Over the past 40 years, Ronald has established himself as one of the most accomplished and innovative mixing engineers in the world, specializing in surround sound and immersive audio, not only pioneering in the field of mixing but also playing a key role in the conceptualization and development of new technology needed to meet the demands of working in these progressive high-resolution multi-channel formats.

Among many other accomplishments, Ronald became a “test pilot” for DSD/SACD when the format was in development with many of his still considered benchmark examples of creative, cutting edge surround mixing – e.g. Herbert Grönemeyer – “Mensch”, and Kane – “So Glad You Made It” which earned him a Horizon Surround Music Award in 2003.

Ronald is one of the first audio engineers in the world to mix pop/rock releases in the AURO-3D, the Immersive Sound format invented by Wilfried van Baelen at Galaxy Studios (Belgium), where Ronald was a resident engineer for over 15 years and collaborated in the development of this groundbreaking new format. Ronald’s first mixing projects in AURO-3D included albums for Mando Diao, German rock legend Peter Maffay and U.S. heavy metal band MANOWAR. In 2018 Ronald received a GRAMMY®  nomination in the category “Best Immersive Audio Album” as producer and mix engineer for “Symbol”, his collaboration with Prash Mistry’s Engine-Earz Experiment. VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK’s Head Mastering Engineer and four-time GRAMMY® award winner Darcy Proper was also nominated for this album, making this her 11th nomination.

Ronald’s long list of clients includes Celine Dion, Simple Minds, Freddie Mercury, Dire Straits, The Police, Simple Minds, David Knopfler, Rammstein, The Scorpions, Mink DeVille, Elton John, Cliff Richard, Tina Turner, Queensryche, Def Leppard, Udo Lindenberg, Herbert Grönemeyer, Peter Maffay and Manowar.

Ronald Prent has given guest-lectures and give master classes on recording and mixing for universities around the world, including New York University, Middle Tennessee State University, Banff Centre for the Arts, and The Abbey Road Institute, London.  He has participated in and hosted workshops and panel discussions at AES (Audio Engineering Society) conventions in the U.S. and Europe and has served as a judge for the AES Student Recording Competition for many years.

In 2011, Ronald was honored with the Audio Engineering Society’s esteemed Fellowship Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of artistry in surround sound mixing and auditory design and, in 2015, was awarded the “Interface – Mixer of the Year” award at the Pro Sound Audio Summit in the Netherlands.

Ronald has worked with the inventors of 3D sound as a pioneer in the field from its very beginning. He is currently finalizing the setup of VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK’s first Dolby Atmos® certified studio.
His work has shaped the way modern music is recorded and mixed and as a leading expert in Immersive Audio, he is changing the future of the music industry.

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DARCY PROPER

Mastering Engineer

Darcy Proper’s track record speaks of itself: Winner of 4 GRAMMY® awards and with a total of 11 GRAMMY® nominations under her belt, Darcy is a superstar in her trade. With only around 10% of positions in the broad field of audio-related jobs filled by women the status, Darcy holds in her industry and with her peers is even more remarkable. In this male-dominated field, Darcy became the first female engineer to win the GRAMMY® for the Best Surround Sound Album category in 2008. Numerous awards, including the 2018 GRAMMY® nomination (her 11th!) in the category “Best Immersive Audio Album” for “Symbol” by Prash Mistry’s Engine-Earz Experiment shine a bright light on this exceptional talent.

The first encounter with a 12-channel mixing desk at age 14 left her intrigued and soon enough she realized that she wanted to pursue audio engineering. Just 17 years old, Darcy moved to New York City and scored one of only 150 seats in NYU’s Music Business & Technology program, while taking on a part-time job as assistant to a live sound engineer, working gigs at NYU and in venues across New York City and New Jersey.

After finishing the NYU program she joined Sony Music as a studio maintenance technician and then worked as a QC (Quality Control) Engineer at Sony Classical.

From an initial focus on the classical genre, Darcy decided to join the mastering team at Sony, spreading her wings outside the classical field.

Soon she expanded her workflow to include high-resolution surround mastering. Many of her projects have involved mastering with height channels in various immersive audio formats.

Darcy’s long list of mastering credits includes historical reissue projects for prestigious artists like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Johnny Cash. She has also worked on stereo, 5.1, and Auro-3D 9.1 front-line releases for many accomplished artists including Steely Dan, The Eagles, and many more.

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TEAM

JOEY DEMAIO

Studio Owner

Joey DeMaio is the owner of VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK and the MAGIC CIRCLE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP.

He is also the founding member, bass guitarist, composer, lyricist, engineer, and producer for the world-renowned Rock/Heavy Metal band MANOWAR.

DeMaio founded MANOWAR in 1980 and has since gone on to produce nineteen MANOWAR albums, nine DVD packages, and various EPs and singles, selling in excess of 25 million units worldwide.   MANOWAR have earned numerous gold and platinum awards and completed more than 35 world tours headlining venues that average between 10,000 and 50,000 sold-out seats.

Joey holds a Ph.D. in Musical Arts and, prior to his rise to fame with MANOWAR, he earned his accolades as the musical director and bass guitarist for national touring productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Godspell, and others.

As an accomplished recording engineer, the movie connoisseur has produced recordings with world-renowned actors such as Hollywood legend Orson Welles, Sir Christopher Lee, Brian Blessed, and Susannah York. He has produced and recorded full orchestras and pipe organ recordings and appeared as special guest conductor with the Cologne Youth Symphony Orchestra in Germany. With a deep love of classical music, he cites Richard Wagner as his musical hero along with modern film composers such as Miklós Rózsa. He has composed for feature films as well as video games. He has also recorded original compositions in over 15 languages and composed for other artists like Sarah Brightman and numerous others.

In 1999 the successful entrepreneur founded his own record label, Magic Circle Music, which soon expanded into MAGIC CIRCLE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, a group of companies covering the various facets of the entertainment business, including but not limited to touring, merchandising, publishing, distribution, music business consulting, management and of course music production, recording, mixing and mastering.

DIRK KLOIBER

Audio Engineer

Dirk Kloiber has lent his talents to Magic Circle Entertainment and its roster of bands since 2004, both in the studio and during extensive live touring.  He has in-depth experience in live and studio recording, mixing of music and speech and in mastering and has been instrumental in setting up multiple recording and mixing studios, including those at VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK.

Dirk studied Music Production & Engineering at Berklee College Of Music in Boston, MA before becoming a staff engineer at a renowned Germany recording studio, recording, mixing and mastering projects of all musical styles including pop, rock, classical, jazz, and working on projects for major German artists and producers and national and international record labels and TV stations.

He has taught at the technical college in Ulm, Germany and is a member of VDT (German Association of Tonmeister) since 2003.

Dirk’s has engineered numerous studio, live and DVD productions for MANOWAR including gold certified releases like the DVD “MANOWAR – The Day The Earth Shook”, as well as Rhapsody Of Fire, Feinstein, Jack Starr’s Burning Starr.

MANOEL ARRUDA

Business Affairs / Bookings

Manoel Arruda manages the business affairs of Magic Circle Entertainment’s entities, including licensing, booking, contract negotiation, touring and new business ventures.

Before joining Magic Circle Entertainment in 2002, the native Brazilian was a Head Developer in the IT industry in his home country. At only 18 years of age, he developed an internet system that integrated Ford Motor Company’s financial services arm and their vehicle manufacturing plant in São Paulo, Brazil. He was one of the first 3 developers in Brazil selected to create business applications and solutions for Ericsson’s Mobitex Network. He has the expertise of over 13 years in management of all computer-based technologies in offices and studios.

Manoel has studied Computer Science at Universidade Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil and Telecommunications, Audio-Radio and Music Production at SUNY Cayuga College, NY, USA.

SUSANNE WAGNER

Operations / Creative Services

Susanne Wagner is Magic Circle Entertainment’s Operations Manager, overseeing all the interactions of Magic Circle Entertainments group of companies.

As Creative Director, she works with in-house and third-party graphic designers, video editors, photographers, artists, and contractors on the development of graphic designs, printed and video material, and merchandise.

With 20+ years of experience in leading positions of international industry majors like Universal Pictures Germany, home entertainment division of Universal Studios, Hollywood, and cosmetics powerhouse Coty/Lancaster, Susanne has an extensive background in marketing, promotion, sales, legal, and in financial planning.

Jeff Lafler

Technical Services

Jeff Lafler is a veteran in the music business. With an extensive background in live music and touring, Jeff was born into a construction family.
At an early age he began building PA systems and speaker cabinets while honing his musical skills.

Using a combination of his musical and construction talents Jeff oversees all service areas related to Valhalla Studios New York maintenance and is prepared to meet creative and technical needs and all the challenges musicians face in the studio. With over 20 years of Stage and Studio experience with MANOWAR Jeff knows how to make things happen and how to keep them happening.

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SERVICES

Whether professional recording artist, up-and-coming talent, movie or games productions – VALHALLA STUDIOS NEW YORK offers solutions for projects of all sizes and budgets.

MIXING

Our award-winning Mixing Engineers can mix your project in stereo,  surround sound and immersive (we are certified for SONY 360 Reality Audio, DOLBY ATMOS® and AURO-3D®). It does not matter where you are in the world – we also offer remote mixing services.

MUSIC RECORDING

With gold and platinum record productions under their belt, our award-winning Recording Engineers can record music of all genres and budgets.

MASTERING

Our award-winning Mastering Engineers can master your project in stereo and surround sound.

COMPOSITION

Need help with your songwriting? Looking for an impactful movie or game soundtrack? Jingles? Our team can help you in your songwriting and composition process as well as compose custom content  for your production.
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