visual studio in Mumbai owned by playback singer Shreya Ghoshal. Located in the Santacruz West area, the facility fuses inspiration, innovation, and functionality with Genelec studio monitoring at its heart.
Named The Sanctuary to emphasize comfort and calm, the studio includes a precision-tuned control room, dedicated piano room, isolation booths, and a double-height live room. Ghoshal enlisted the help of her father Bishwajit, Kapil Thirwani from studio designers Munro Acoustics, and renowned engineer Chinmay Harshe to realize the environment.
When it came to monitoring, Genelec was the obvious choice. “Genelec monitors have been a part of my life from the beginning, with all the big studios in Mumbai using them,” Ghoshal says. “They have power, precision, and aren’t colored. Many monitors produce mixes that sound different when you take them elsewhere; but Genelec sounds true.”
Shiv Sood from local Genelec partner Sound Team provided a selection of monitors to audition. The team settled on the 1238DF midfield SAM models in conjunction with a 7370A SAM subwoofer, configured and calibrated using GLM loudspeaker manager software. For nearfield monitoring, The Sanctuary installed a pair of two-way 8030C models in the RAW aluminum finish, originally supplied by Sound Team for Ghoshal’s home studio during the pandemic.
Harshe is delighted with the results. “Even at low volumes, you hear the entire range clearly and can spot flaws easily,” he says. “It’s like a microscope, extremely clear. Phase issues are also easy to detect. When you collapse mixes into mono, the sweet spot doesn’t move much.”
The accuracy of the monitoring system owes much to GLM software, which integrates closely with the DSP hardware within Genelec SAM monitors and subwoofers. Prior to the development of SAM technology back in 2006, precise system tuning would have involved a lengthy manual calibration. “Now GLM handles it, and we know it’s calibrated for the room,” Harshe says.
Since opening, The Sanctuary has been consistently busy with Ghoshal’s own projects and has attracted testimonials from visiting clients such as composer M. Jayachandran, actress Ratna Pathak Shah, and playback singers Madhumanti Bagchi and Armaan Malik. The studio has plans to expand to 5.1, 7.1 and beyond.
“This studio gives solitude when needed and space to bounce ideas with others,” Ghoshal says. “It works for every artist who comes here, and thanks to the accuracy of Genelec monitoring, we always know what we’re doing.”
For more information, visit genelec.com.
