by Christopher Walsh.
New York, NY (November 10, 2008)--Veteran engineer Scott Hull has acquired the assets of mastering studio Masterdisk Inc. Rights to the name Masterdisk is included in the acquisition, as are the five studios and equipment located at 545 West 45th Street in Manhattan.
Hull began as an intern at Masterdisk in 1983; he was hired in 1984 and was the assistant to Bob Ludwig, now of Gateway Mastering in Portland, ME. Hull later became Masterdisk's chief engineer and remained there through 1999, when he founded Scott Hull Mastering. The latter facility, at 321 West 44th Street, will remain in operation as part of Masterdisk. It includes Hull's mastering studio, a writing/production suite and a recording/mix studio.
"My business, Scott Hull Mastering, was doing pretty well and attracting some new engineers," Hull says. "I was starting to talk to other engineers but realized I didn't have any other place to put anybody. Somewhat simultaneously, I was hearing about the sort of negative direction Masterdisk had been going--downsizing, a few people had left, they were shorter of staff than they had been before. That led to discussions with the owner about taking it over. I knew a lot about the place and a lot about the people, and figured with a little bit of time, they'd trust me to take the company in a positive direction."
Most of Masterdisk's rooms have been renovated, says Hull, and new engineers brought on staff. "At this point, I'm still building the team with the right people," he explains. "What was really good and successful about Scott Hull Mastering was that we didn't have a lot of people, but everyone was pulling in the same direction. I was supportive of the younger engineers getting their work in and getting time in the studios, and they were very supportive in putting in extra hours and getting important projects done. It felt like it's supposed to be; it felt good."