Some of these high-profile installations include residential studios for hit country music group Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus (bass) and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar), as well as for Christian music producer/engineer Derek West.

DeMarcus, a big fan of Auralex products, already installed the company’s SpaceCouplers in his previous home studio, also designed by Carl Tatz Design. When DeMarcus purchased a new home, it was fitting that he would once again turn to Tatz who recommended Auralex acoustical treatments for his new studio space. Entitled The Grip Studios, DeMarcus’ home studio consists of a main control room, main tracking room with a vocal booth, and a separate studio/production room with an additional booth, amp closet and an equipment corridor.

Auralex’s SpaceCouplers were employed mainly in the tracking room with additional spot treatment in the control room along with the vocal booths. Featuring a nine-foot high ceiling, the team wanted to maximize on the size of the room with the selection of the acoustical treatments.

“The SpaceCouplers are proven products that allow me to attain what I want, and they’re also gorgeous,” says Carl Tatz, owner of Carl Tatz Design. “Rather than just placing them on the wall, I designed them into my original acoustical layout plan. They really are quite stellar, especially when implemented in the beginning of the project.”

DeMarcus’ fellow band-mate Don Rooney also turned to Carl Tatz Design for his home recording facility, and again Auralex’s SpaceCouplers where put to the task. Don Rooney’s home recording space, The Panic Room, consists of a control room, a tracking room and two vocal booths.

“The SpaceCouplers were used in conjunction with the rest of the design for Joe Don Rooney’s studio because of the apparent acoustical enlargement of the space,” continues Tatz. “Practically everything I do in houses is space constrained. Auralex SpaceCouplers allow the room to sound larger than it is; as it tricks the microphones.”

Both studios were used for Rascall Flats’ latest album, Unstoppable, which was released in April 2009. Both feature an AWS 900+ SSL console as well as Carl Tatz’s PhantomFocus System monitor tuning protocol and a full range of high-tech equipment (full equipment list for both available).

Derek West, a leading Christian producer/mastering engineer, joins the other Nashville stars by also turning his home into a recording/mastering space. In order to accomplish this, he transformed part of his garage into a tracking room. His space includes an adjacent control room and a few vocal booths, located just inside his house. Auralex’s SonoSuede was employed in both the control and tracking rooms.

“I put the SonoSuede panels on the wall, and it looks like a much more expensive control room than it really is,” continues Tatz. “Everyone comments on how much they like the suede-looking fabric.”