Beginnings

Dark Tower is the culmination of more than several project studios - all conceived and built by the studio's founder and owner, Michael Dawson. Michael's early ambitions in film scoring led him to develop his interests in audio recording, Sound Design and Sound Editing. In the mid-1980s he spent an equitable amount of time interning himself at various local 16 and 24-track studios, absorbing whatever he could about the art of recording and the science of sound.

In 1987, Michael began his long-running musical collaboration with his childhood friend Sean Mulligan. Already the best of friends, their musical relationship would eventually peak in the 1996 formation of Plutonian Shore - just several months after the birth of Dark Tower.

The Birth Of The Tower

1996 marked the official inception of Dark Tower. This fully-digital revision of Michael's studio was named after the Milton-Bradley fantasy board-game of the same name. Sophisticated for its time, this game was among the early "interactive" electronic games, enjoying a cult popularity status in the early 1980s.

In 1997, Michael and Plutonian Shore partner Sean Mulligan founded their Music Production and Publishing label, Echelon Entertainment. Unofficially considered to be Dark Tower's "cousin-company", Dark Tower is the exclusive "home" for Echelon Entertainment's creative projects.

In 1998, Plutonian Shore's feature-length album Arcana was produced at Dark Tower, and subsequently released in June of that same year. Arcana was specially selected to be featured in the Roland VS Users Music Showcase, a unique joint Internet promotion launched by Roland Corporation U.S. and Liquid Audio.

In early 1999, Arcana was followed up by a string of Limited Series Promos and Special Edition Promos - all of which were fully produced and mastered at Dark Tower. Later that year, Plutonian Shore completed work on the music score to the feature film Scarecrow's Dream, an independently-produced thriller starring John Bourgeois, Ho Chow, Al Leong and Victoria Snow. The entire score was recorded, mixed, and produced at Dark Tower. A Limited Series Promo album of the film's original score was also produced and is available free upon request (see Limited Series Promos).

The Tower Expands

The latter part of 1999 yielded an expansion of the facilities. Dark Tower was now able to accommodate larger recording projects, including light Audio Post-Production. This new expansion included the addition of more equipment and the construction of
a second studio (Studio A).

Dark Tower: Year 2000

The beginning of the year 2000 marked yet another expansion for the facility, with Dark Tower becoming a multi-faceted center for complete Audio Post-Production, Sound Design, Sound Editing, Film Scoring, Music Production, and Digital Pre-Mastering/ Mastering/Re-Mastering. This latest and greatest 24-bit digital incarnation included the addition of more sophisticated equipment, keeping the facility on the cutting edge of the audio engineering industry.

After nearly two decades "in the making", Dark Tower was made ready to provide sound solutions and results for virtually any audio-related project - while ensuring production costs remain favorably low. At last, professional Audio Post-Production and Music Production can be attained at truly affordable rates.

For information about how you can obtain a free copy of Plutonian Shore's Arcana, and The Dream Gallery, a Dark Tower Special Edition Promo featuring the music of Plutonian Shore, see our Special Edition Promos section.

Current Ventures

In May of 2000, Plutonian Shore were once again called upon by Roland Corporation to appear in The EM Guide To The Roland VS-880 - Tools For New Times. Michael used the acclaimed Roland VS-880 Studio Workstation extensively during the production of Arcana. Published by EM Books (the makers of Electronic Musician and Mix magazine) and distributed by the Hal Leonard Corporation, The EM Guide To The Roland VS-880 features Plutonian Shore sharing some recording experiences and tips about Roland's popular VS-series of Digital Studio Workstations.

Recently, Michael was involved with America On The Road, a nationally-syndicated radio series that is heard weekly on over 300 radio stations across the country, via Westwood One/CBS Radio Networks. Hosted by Mike Anson and Jack Nerad, the show is in its 11th year, maintaining an estimated audience reach of 3,000,000+ listeners per week. Michael served as the show's Chief Engineer, working alongside the show's producer, Grammy® and CLIO award-winning Ed Yelin. Additionally, Michael is currently working on Plutonian Shore's next album release. The album, entitled Portents, is being exclusively produced at Dark Tower and
mastering is scheduled to be completed at the end of  2001.
The release date has been indefinitely postponed pending
arrangement of wider distribution.