Customer Showcase: Chad Smith
A world-class drummer deserves a world-class acoustic solution.
LEFT: Chad Smith's Audimute studio. RIGHT: Chad Smith, his son Beckett, and Audimute founder Mitch Zlotnik
Chad Smith
is one of the most iconic drummers in music today. A six-time Grammy Award winner and 2012 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer has brought his unique fusion of rock, funk, jazz, and heavy metal to such hit songs as "Under the Bridge," "Give It Away," "By the Way," and "Dani California" while also collaborating with legends like Ozzy Osbourne, Johnny Cash, The Chicks, Eddie Vedder, and Dick Van Dyke (really!).
He's a rockstar offstage, too, advocating for music education and donating his energies to anti-bullying campaigns and cancer research charities.
He's a rockstar offstage, too, advocating for music education and donating his energies to anti-bullying campaigns and cancer research charities.
Unhappy with the sound in his drum studio at his home in New York, Chad and his wife, architect/designer Nancy Mack, were referred to Audimute by our mutual friend Chris Chaney after seeing the acoustic treatment we built for Chris's home studio. Over the course of several phone calls and an exchange of floorplans and photographs, we identified where the acoustics could be improved and set out on a course of action.
Over the course of three weeks, we collaborated with Nancy on the look and feel of the studio. At her request, we custom-wrapped our acoustic panels with beautiful material from Lady Ann Fabrics. The panels were placed on the side walls and also placed on the outside of cabinet doors to add extra coverage using available space.
Given the natural beauty of the hardwood ceilings within the space, Audimute opted to avoid adding any acoustic panels or direct mount tiles to the ceiling, instead focusing our efforts on the walls. We custom-cut our AcoustiColor® acoustic panels to fit around and alongside the fireplace, the windows, and the angles of the roof.
Thanks to extensive preparation by the Audimute team in Ohio, the installation at Chad's New York home took only two days. An additional Audimute installation was also done for Chad's studio in Los Angeles around this same time. Onsite in New York, Chad, Nancy, and the couple's son, Beckett – an exceptional drummer in his own right – got to see the results first-hand. The next day, Chad was off to England to drum in the farewell concert for the late, great Ozzy Osbourne.
Audimute thanks Nancy and Chad for trusting us with their acoustic solution and for being so generous along the way with their time, their talents, and their creative spirit.