CHG Recording Studio in Mexico relies on Genelec to promote a new era in Mariachi, integrating a unique studio in Latin America.
Genelec
In the town of Bellavista, located in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, is located the largest studio in all of Latin America equipped with Genelec SAM monitors. Its dimensions and the business vision that accompany it are from another era. It has the only pair of 1235s installed in Latin America and an Atmos 7.1.4 system from The Ones series of the highest performance. This is his story.
The town of Bellavista, with just 8,000 inhabitants in its population, belongs to the municipality of Acatlán de Juárez. It is located about 40 kilometers from Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco, the traditional epicenter of Mariachi, possibly the regional Mexican music par excellence.
In this context, one of its distinguished inhabitants, Gamaliel Contreras Huerta, has a vision of patronage to revive this wonderful genre within the current Mexican music scene. As an entrepreneur committed to his people, Contreras has been seeking for years to highlight the town where he was born, the affection and love he feels for his region, he makes it clear again with the construction now of a third-level hospital, which is so needed in that area of the state.
Supporting Mariachi through music and vision
Returning to music, his vision, to equip himself with all the necessary means to support regional Mexican music in general and Mariachi in particular, creating his own recording studio, music production company and record label (CHG Music Group), founded in 2019 and maintaining his own Mariachi formation, Mariachi Internacional CHG, the Jewel of Mexico.
To develop his vision, Gamaliel Contreras relies as chief engineer of the studio on the multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy winner, Alex Ramirez, who worked for years with the immortal singer, Don Vicente Fernandez. From the mariachi of the latter, one of its violinists joins the technical team of the studio, Guillermo Rojas. Together they keep this flagship studio of the American music industry working non-stop since 2022, when they opened their doors.
Gamaliel Contreras wanted to promote regional artists such as the singer Bryan Sandoval, whom he sponsors, and create his own mariachi, the Mariachi Internacional CHG, which currently tours internationally performing orchestral ensembles such as the Roma Symphony Orchestra, the Córdoba Symphony Orchestra, the Bogotá Symphony Orchestra and not to mention what he himself calls the best in the world: the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mariachi Internacional CHG has collaborated in majestic concerts with artists such as Cristian Nodal and Banda MS, with whom they have been touring for 3 years. Although their vision is that the Mariachi is the artist, they have made accompaniments with great musicians such as Natalia Jiménez, Carolina Ross, Eliseo Robles, Edén Muñoz, Raúl Hernández Jr, maintaining constant work and permanent musical creation to reach an audience that comes to their concerts, convinced of the product and the musical experience they represent.
State-of-the-art facilities
The data of the installations are spectacular in themselves. With a total built area of 510 square meters, it is not only a traditional recording studio, but also has facilities for the enjoyment and relaxation of the artists, including a squash court (90 m2), a fitness area (25 m2), cardio area (71 m2), dressing rooms and steam room (40 m2) and other general areas that include a meeting room, rest area, storage for equipment and other areas that complete a total of 164 m2. In addition, outside, you can also enjoy a swimming pool, a basketball court and across the street, a large area with a kiosk where you can perform from an outdoor concert to a large barbecue for all kinds of celebrations.
The complex also has 5 triple suites and a master suite that can accommodate up to 17 people, where artists, producers and engineers can disconnect from their daily lives and focus solely on the creation of their musical project, in an environment ready to turn the creative process into a unique experience.
The studio itself encompasses a 50-square-meter control room and a 70-square-meter recording room, which can accommodate a large entire mariachi lineup. A milestone in the current trend of designing new music production studios, where the recording of large orchestras is increasingly unusual.
Unparalleled audio technology
The equipment of the studio is spectacular. The control room has two listening positions, one of them in front of the nerve center of the studio, a 32-channel SSL Origin console, which works with a system of 8361A monitors that are part of the Atmos system with which the room is equipped, which consists in total of 3 monitors from The Ones series for the fronts and 8 monitors 8351B for the surrounds. supported by two SAM 7380 subwoofers, being one of Genelec's largest Atmos systems installed in Latin America.
On a higher listening position, designed so that the studio's clients sit and listen to the work done, a pair of 1235 monitors are oriented, which constitute the main monitoring system of the studio. This pair is one of the first shipped globally to a customer by Genelec and the only one in Latin America to date. In total, the room has fifteen Genelec monitors and subwoofers, making it the largest installation of SAM monitors in all of Latin America.
To undertake the integration and conditioning of this impressive temple of professional audio, the services of the Mexican integrator 3BH and the direct advice of Dolby were involved, who made it possible to execute the project with the highest quality standards, creating for the occasion an installation of true international reference.
Alex Ramírez, who has accumulated 9 Grammy Awards with his work with Don Vicente Fernández and Christian Nodal, tells us which artists have recorded in the studio: Christian Nodal, Alfredo Olivas, El Fantasma, Alex Fernández, Filippa Giordano, Josie Cuen, Luis R. Conriquez, Eliseo Roble, Natanael Cano, Gabito Ballesteros, to name a few.
"It is the largest Genelec SAM monitoring system installed in Latin America, there are only a couple of systems that approximate what CHG has, in the entire region; but the most impressive thing is the vision that leads an entrepreneur and patron like Gamaliel Contreras to invest his resources in a project that will help promote a musical genre as wonderful as Mariachi," explains the head of Latin America at Genelec, Miguel Domínguez; "The music that comes out of those monitors is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."
