Harbor House Studios

Nowhere is the increasing importance of music, media and production to houses of worship more evident than at Harbor House Studios. Situated just north of Dallas/Fort Worth in Keller, TX, the RBDG-designed facility is the recording arm of adjacent Anchor Church. One of the first on-site facilities to incorporate higher quality production components into church ministries, Harbor House Studios has full-fledged audio recording and video production capabilities. Its primary mission is to support the church’s ministry, develop artists and support Christian music video production, but the facility also is busy with commercial secular projects as a for-hire studio.

Built from the ground up, the 3,100 sq. ft. recording facility includes a control room, tracking studio and two isolation booths (all of which are built on isolated concrete slabs); a video editing suite; central machine room; office; lounge; kitchen and associated support areas.

According to general manager Hyman Stansky, one of the facility’s most significant features is its access to an acoustically tuned NC-15 auditorium that seats 500. “The availability of this type of room makes a world-class ‘live concert sound’ available to any band, orchestra, or choir that wants the acoustic ‘feel’ of a large hall but doesn’t want to deal with the budget or scheduling issues that are connected with large-scale venues,” he notes.

The control room, studio and isolation booths all feature maple hardwood floors. The studio’s 17-foot ceilings provide a large acoustical volume, while clerestory windows (part of a system of low-frequency wall diffusion) let in natural light.

The church and studio share a common backstage area, allowing equipment to be moved easily between the two, and ensuring that performance and recording sessions can be quickly set-up or struck.  Harbor House Studios was featured in Mix Magzines’ “Mix Class of”.