The Tippet Rise Art Center is a working ranch and arts haven founded by Peter and Cathy Halstead in the foothills of Montana for ‘unifying and exploring the connections between nature, art and music’. The venue has several studio/performance environments, large-scale art sculptures scattered around one of the most amazing landscapes ever seen. Genelec monitors anchor all three studios, including a newly built mastering suite equipped with 8381A Active Monitors in a 7.1.4 configuration.
‘Tippet Rise is about exploring the connections between art, nature and music,’ says audio engineer, video and technical systems manager Monte Nickles, who oversees the facility’s recording, postproduction and concert archiving operations. ‘We host chamber concerts, residencies and recording sessions in a space designed for intimacy and reflection.’
At the heart of the campus is the 140-seat Olivier Music Barn concert hall with an Avid S6 console and 7.1.4 Genelec system featuring seven 8351B Smart Active Monitors for LCR, side and rear surrounds, four 8240A height channels and a 7270A subwoofer to handle both live concert recording and postproduction. Audio is captured simultaneously in DXD 384kHz via Merging Technologies Pyramix (and Pro Tools 96kHz for backup).
Nickles’ relationship with Genelec dates back to his earliest audio education, first encountering 8030s as a student at Northwest College and later honing his skills on 1032s at Webster University. ‘I’ve been mixing on Genelecs my entire career,’ he says. ‘They’ve never let me down. They’re familiar and trustworthy, and every decision I make on them translates perfectly.’
That reliability was a key factor in selecting Genelec for Tippet Rise’s system upgrades. ‘When we were building the new mastering suite, we looked at several options,’ says Nickles. ‘But Genelec’s customer support, track record, consistency from model to model and the performance of the new 8381As made it an easy call.
‘The barn gives a truly personal listening experience, as the audience is on the same level and space as the performers,’ Nickles continues. ‘That intimacy makes for beautiful concerts, but also means every chair creak and cough gets recorded. We do a lot of detailed de-noising, but even after cleanup, the Genelecs reveal every nuance without ever feeling clinical.’
Tippet Rise’s newest facility, the Cirrus Building, marks a major expansion of the centre’s technical capabilities. Here, Nickles has designed two new audio suites connected via fiber to the main hall, with audio routed over Ravenna and Dante networks for collaboration across the campus.
‘The buildings are pretty far apart but, because of the fibre and Dante network, I can be in a completely different studio and access our data server, located in the basement of the barn, which is how I get all the material I am working on.’
During postproduction, Nickles recreates the natural ambience of the Olivier Music Barn by placing a pair of Genelec 1238s in the empty hall, where live audiences of 100 to 140 people had previously been for the recording, and absorbing much of the room’s natural resonance. He then positions eight or more microphones throughout the space, plays back the recording, and captures the hall’s reverb and reflection characteristics, restoring the sense of depth and dimension that define Tippet Rise. ‘Capturing the authentic reverb and reflections characteristic of that room is something I learned at an AES show from immersive audio experts/engineers Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz. I think I started doing that method of capturing the room in 2022, and I have never looked back.’
The crown jewel is the Mastering Suite, anchored by seven Genelec 8381A main monitors for LCR, sides and rear surrounds, four 8341A overheads and a 7380A subwoofer, forming an immersive 7.1.4 environment. ‘When we installed the 8381As and finally dialled everything in, I hit play on a piano recording and it was like the instrument was right in front of me,’ Nickles recalls. ‘It was one of those moments you don’t forget. The realism was jaw-dropping.’
This new room serves as the mixing and mastering hub for all of Tippet Rise’s projects, including recent albums by Brandon Patrick George and Bryan Wagorn (a flute album), and Nickles is about to start working on recordings from the 2025 concert series. ‘The space is increasingly being used to host listening sessions for visiting artists and students. We can fit about a dozen people comfortably inside the sphere,’ Nickles says. ‘Sharing that kind of immersive experience with others, that’s what it’s all about.’
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