AudioTechnology THE MAGAZINE FOR SOUND ENGINEERS & RECORDING MUSICIANS
Neil Young, Daniel Lanois & Mark Howard make some Le Noise
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A QUE AUDIO VIDEO RECORDING KIT!
DAVID BRIGGS
THE LONESOME LOSER GIGPIGLET ON TOUR Gareth Stuckey hits the road with Brooke Fraser STUDIO TOP 10 Bang For Buck studio gear your clients will love ISSUE 78 AU $6.95(inc gst) NZ $10.95 (inc gst)
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CONTENTS 78
34
26
42
FEATURES
REGULARS
26 LE NOISES
12 YOUR WORD
Neil Young, Daniel Lanois and Mark Howard come together to make some Le Noise. AT discovers the recording approach: turn it all up to 11!
34 GIGPIGLET’S TOUR DIARY
In what is likely to be a two-part story, we hitch a ride with Brooke Fraser during the East Coast USA leg of her world tour, and get the low-down from FOH engineer, Gareth ‘Gigpiglet’ Stuckey, about the venues they’ve encountered along the way.
Readers’ Letters.
16 NEWS
News and new product information. 60 HOME GROWN
Brad Watts heads over to Studios In The City to talk to Shihad’s drummer, Tom Larkin. 66 WHAT’S ON
Studio roundup featuring Coloursound Studio and Deviant Productions.
42 DAVID BRIGGS – THE LONESOME LOSER
70 PC & MAC AUDIO
David Briggs has turned his hand to more aspects of music production than just about any other Australian, from songwriting and live performance right through to mastering and acoustic design. AT catches up with the man himself in his Production Workshop.
Martin Walker tries to save his computer from a damn good throttling while Brad Watts sets up an interstate tracking room via iChat.
TUTORIALS 50 STAV’S WORD
Stav creates a force field of bass around our mixes to protect them against overcompression from radio limiters… besides, the mixes will sound better too.
52 ON THE BENCH
Rob Squire designs us a passive D.I.Y. monitor controller.
56 TOP 10 BANG-FOR-BUCK STUDIO PURCHASES
Chris Vallejo releases his Top 10 most frugal and effective purchases for the studio. We guarantee you’ll come out of this smelling like roses.
96 SOUND MEMORIES
Rick rewinds the clock, tunes into a Golden Oldies station and rediscovers some old classics... and the sounds that made them.
REVIEWS 74 REVIEWS IN BRIEF
M-Audio Axiom; NF Audio RA10; Original Audio Dance Drum Samples; Mixing, Recording & Producing Technicques for Pros; SM Pro Audio Jackaroo.
78 AUDIO-TECHNICA AE5400
Handheld Condenser
80 AVID HD I/O
Audio Converters
84 EIGENLABS EIGENHARP PICO
Midi Instrument
86 TASCAM DR-680
Portable Recorder
88 PHONIC SUMMIT
Digital Console
92 RME BABYFACE
Portable Interface
94 ROYER R-101
Ribbon Microphone
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ONE OF TWO QUE AUDIO VIDEO RECORDING KITS!
SEE PAGE 87
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GIGPIGLET’S TOUR DIARY
PART ONE – EAST COAST USA We hitch a ride with Brooke Fraser during her tour of the US, and get the low-down from FOH engineer, Gareth ‘Gigpiglet’ Stuckey, about the venues they’ve encountered along the way. Text: Gareth Stuckey Photography: Scott Ligertwood
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The last week or two have been pretty intense. It’s been nearly three years since Brooke Fraser toured, and she has a new band (again). Some of the job is just as I remember it (having mixed Brooke since she was 19, some eight years ago) and some of it’s all new. The upcoming shows are a mixture of big NZ theatre gigs (she’s 13-times platinum in NZ) and a US tour that ranges from 200-capacity club shows, to 1200-seat theatres. A couple of Australian and UK promos (leading up to next year’s tours) have been thrown in for good measure too, as well as rehearsals and an album launch show in LA. Hey Hey it’s Saturday was interesting before we left. (I don’t even want to talk about my program getting lost in the Digico SD7 one ad break before going live-to-air). Then it was back over the ditch for a quick theatre tour of NZ, back again to Australia for the ARIAs, then straight onto a flight to Houston, Texas. To be honest I needed the sleep on the plane… it also gave me time to do some accounts [how rock ’n’ roll! – Ed.]. Part of me is terrified of the coming five weeks – I haven’t done a club run like this in a long time – while the other part of me is looking forward to the experience. To guard myself against what are going to be many and varied production values, I’m touring a rack of gear for Brooke’s vocal channels (she has two positions on stage – a centre position when she plays guitar, and a keys position). Brooke is probably the quietest singer I have ever mixed so the rack has two purposes: it ensures I have quality gear to get a great vocal sound, and secondly it means I know I’m covered to troubleshoot bad-sounding rooms and systems, and get a vocal out there no matter what. To this end I have (everything in stereo to cover both positions) a Midas XL42 preamp/EQ, followed by a BSS402 comp/limiter (not used) and de-esser (used drastically!) and finally a Klark Teknik DN3030 (the one before the 360… with photo resistors, but to all intents and purposes the same thing). People always ask about the graphic and think I’m joking when I answer them. What the graphic lets me do is tune a vocal very specifically, and notch out feedback issues to get gain from a quiet singer – without hacking up the house graphics (and hence ruining your great mix of the band). HOUSE OF BLUES – HOUSTON, TEXAS Tuesday 9th November: The tour starts here. And hopefully it’s a sign of things to come. After an evening off to help us acclimatise to the new time zone (ie: stay out late drinking) we pull into the House of Blues in Houston, Texas. House of Blues is a very established touring venue – you can do a tour of the US playing only House of Blues venues, and you’d still have a good time. Some of them are ‘well famous’ (like the LA House Of Blues on Sunset Boulevard) while others, like Houston, are new (purpose-built) venues that extend the chain.
For our 2pm load-in, even though my freight (backline from LA and flying gear from the NZ tour) is late, we arrive to eight loaders. Eight! And let’s not get the wrong impression here; I didn’t book these guys. They are House Staff who are there to help get the gear in! After we’re loaded in they become bus boys or glassies, but for now they’re our loaders. The venue is immaculate – with full in-house backline, Soundcraft Vi6 consoles at FOH and Monitors, a Soundbridge Acoustic Labs Xyon Line Array (built by a local Texas company) that doesn’t exactly look the part, but as soon as I plug in, it sure sounds it! The house crew here couldn’t be more helpful: FOH, Monitors, patch guy and lighting all look after us exceptionally well. It’s no problem to patch in my rack of gear (even though they have a digital core, they put my vocal channels through the returns loom so that I can have them analogue to my preamps).
We were booked to play in the small room here, but as it sold out we moved up to the big one and as such it’s not totally full, but it’s a healthy crowd, who absolutely love it. The Soundcraft Vi6 is an unbelievably cool console. I haven’t actually taken one on a proper tour yet – I’ve only used it at one-offs – but I’ve updated my rider to request it as my first choice digital console from now on. The fact that I’ve walked into it (at Festivals etc) and still loved it speaks volumes about its useability. The first time I saw one was in NZ last year on another tour, when, due to some weird Claire Brothers header patching, the touring console couldn’t be used at Vector Arena, so they brought in a Vi6 from a local hire company. I got to soundcheck on it, and then do a gig for 20,000 people. For its useability alone, everything is directly in front of you on the touchscreens (yes ‘screens’ plural: one per bank of faders – I love that), but the control knobs are actually built into the screen, so the parameter you’re controlling is changing wherever you’re changing it (just like analogue), rather than turning a knob somewhere while looking somewhere else. And that’s without even talking about how damn good the thing sounds. THE PARISH – AUSTIN, TEXAS Wednesday 10th November: That was Houston. This is Austin. The Parish is a cool club upstairs on the main strip (‘Dirty 6th’ they call it). I commented to someone that it reminded me of the Mercury Lounge where I played last time I was in Austin. Well, turns out it was the Mercury Lounge… it had had a very nice renovation done to it, and a new PA. Well, when I say ‘new’ I mean EAW 650s – that had seen better days. Certainly not my favourite. There’s a Midas Verona at FOH, but curiously they’ve built the mix position up on a little platform where it’s very boomy and resonant, which isn’t indicative of the room sound at all. It’s a small stage (think: the Annandale in Sydney), but there’s still a monitor console – an A&H GL2200. The house crew are great: the FOH guy invites us back to his studio and says we can stay anytime. The lighting girl does a smoking hot show (maybe cause she’s smoking hot?) and there are crew to help us get the gear up and down the stairs… what more can you ask for at a 400-capacity show? HOUSE OF BLUES – DALLAS, TEXAS Friday 12th November: We were in the small room tonight – Josh Radin was in the big one. This show used powered EV boxes that sounded like vomit. There was a Yamaha M7CL at FOH… I really love the M7 (I like to think of it as the best car in its class. Sure it’s not a Mercedes, but it’s not meant to be). I started using M7CLs a few Brooke tours ago – maybe five years back – because we didn’t travel production at that time, and it was one of the few consoles I could get everywhere (and move without loaders). Once I settled into what I could do with them, I started using one with Thirsty Merc, and I still use one for Tim Finn. Every function I need is here on this board, and its all one button press away. In fact, you don’t even have to press a button: you can just push on the knob (ie. the EQ knob you’re about to turn) or touch the screen. I think I fell into loving these consoles because of how much I like my old Tascam D8000 studio board – similar layout. The trick here is the Channel view: once you select a channel, you have control over all its functions. There’s a knob for every auxiliary, a full EQ section and so on. The other huge benefit is that there are two banks of faders (upper and lower) so all the channels are laid out in front of you. There are no layers to page through (just like the D8000 – nostalgia! Maybe I will buy it back) and as I tend to be a very busy mixer, these two points make the console very useable for me – I can be everywhere all at once.
Tonight, though, there’s no monitors console so I’m sharing the board with Nolan… good times. Surprisingly, we don’t get in each other’s way too much. We double-input Brooke’s vocal channels so I don’t mess with his ears, and the ease of access AT 5
already mentioned means that he can get to most of what he needs to do, while I fader mix to my heart’s content (and never have to ‘take the layer away from him’).
in there sometimes and this is the easiest way to integrate it without messing up the patching. I dare not ask, for fear of a long story from Davey about why it’s so.
The EV system is underpowered. The show is heavily sold out, and I struggle a bit. No fun.
THE BELLCOURT THEATRE – NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Sunday 14th November: We arrive on time, as advised, but there’s still a show on in the cinema. And of course the PA hasn’t been loaded in yet. Ouch! Today will be fun.
WORKPLAY THEATRE – BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA Saturday 13th November: Well, I’ve never been to Birmingham… and I may well never come back. This is real America here.
The house guy, Davey, was a true old rocker who had toured with everyone – well, at least he said he had. Who knows how many of the stories were true. He remembered the Coogee Bay Hotel though! The Workplay Theatre looked like the Thunderstruck film clip – all levels and wire railings. Davey’s system was EV “all time aligned” and spread all over the shop: centre fill, outfill, balcony delays, under-balcony delays. He’d bought a fancy new dbx Driverack, you see, and I think he just wanted to use all the ins and outs on it. The FOH console was a Soundcraft Series II, which was fine. I know they’re old now but they sound great. They’re simple and just get the job done. Soundcraft pioneered the ‘8 & 8’ style console – and it’s stuck around. Must be good for something… There’s an M7CL at monitors – but the mixes came back into my console to be sent down the core to the amps… via my auxes. As in, Aux 1 is getting sent out of the M7CL, up to me on the core, into a channel input, and then sent via Aux 1 on my console, down the core to the amps. “What?!” Yeah, I don’t know either. Maybe they only have the monitor console
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Once we finally get underway, Nolan and I try and make things happen quickly with the local guys. We’ve got a Digidesign Venue SC48 at FOH, which will be controlling monitors as well, and proprietary Nashville three-way boxes – which sound pretty damn good: I think they’re pretty much an EV Mongoose with a different badge. As there’s no time to soundcheck properly, due to the mess up with the promoter and times, and with Nolan and I sharing a console, I let him go for it. I figure if he runs soundcheck, and gets the band happy, all the gains will be set (which I can’t change anyway or I mess monitors up) then, when the show starts, I will just fly by the seat of my pants and make it work. Hey, at least I can hear what I’m mixing – unlike Nolan. I think the theory worked okay tonight… at least we started on time. First song was rough as guts, but once I got it under control it wasn’t too bad. Campbell Smith (Brooke’s manager) and Marshall Altman (who produced Brooke’s first record) were both here for this show, and both gave me a good review, so it can’t have been too bad. Because the band were happy with their monitors they played a great show – and that’s the first hurdle. Doesn’t matter how good it sounds if the band plays badly.
I remember Bruce Johnston (Oasis FOH engineer and former owner of Johnston Audio) speaking to me at the console probably 10 years ago – I think it was during a Machine Gun Fellatio gig at the Forum, or it may have been a Big Day Out somewhere. Anyway, Bruce said: “This isn’t mixing, this is damage control!” Now I don’t think he necessarily meant it the way I’ve since taken it on board, but if you ask me, mixing live sound is damage control! Sometimes there’s just a bit of cleaning up to do; at other times it’s a full-on state of emergency! The guys that are good are the ones that can act fast, and solve problems (ie. make bad things sound good) on-the-fly. You don’t get the option to run it again, so you’d better have it sounding pretty damn good by the end of the first song! VARIETY PLAYHOUSE – ATLANTA, GEORGIA Monday 15th November: The same Texas line array as Houston. These really are good sounding boxes. Best night so far for me: an M7CL at FOH with insert cards and a bunch of dbx160s as inserts. Exactly how I love to run them. The console was run off an Apogee Big Ben master clock. Everyone says this makes them sound better – I don’t know about that. I’d have to A/B test it. It certainly wasn’t night and day: it still sounded like an M7 to me! What I did notice, however, is that the gain pots didn’t click when you turn them (I know it’s quiet but that’s always bugged me). So you can use a Yamaha M7CL for a live recording/broadcast after all, provided you clock it with something... nice. JAMIN’ JAVA – VIENNA, DC Wednesday 17th November: Yep. Back to reality. Tonight there’s JBL Venue series cabinets hung on their side… please people, don’t do this! It’s just a
disaster – the horns go everywhere they shouldn’t. There’s a Yamaha LS9 at FOH, which has a computer hook up, so I share the board with monitors: me on the surface, and Nolan on the computer. Having said that, it’s only a 200cap venue. At least the PA has been maintained, and there’s a house crew to help out, making it a great night. Everyone is lovely; I have the best lunch and dinner all on the house (of course) and beers afterward until we have to leave. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CLUB – WASHINGTON, DC Thursday 18th November: Tonight the FOH rig consisted of four of the wedges hung across the front of the stage. There are six sends of monitors – so that means there was more monitor power than FOH. And it showed.
We had a Digidesign SC48 at FOH though… ’cause that’s ‘cool’, right? Doesn’t matter how shit your stage and speakers are; if you have a ‘state-of-the-art’ console it’s all cool, right? If I’d been in charge of the budget, I would have bought an LS9/32 instead, or even better, a secondhand Soundcraft K2 or something, and spent the rest on some decent boxes. This setup was like having a studio with ProTools HD but the only monitors available is your iPod dock. What’s the point? HIGHLINE BALLROOM – NEW YORK, NY Friday 19th November: 450-cap venue. JBL Vertec rig (the old ones) with delays for the balcony, extra subs on an aux, a Yamaha PM5D at FOH and an M7CL at monitors. Three house crew, plus two loaders. That’s right folks, five guys (well actually three guys and two girls), two risers (so we get to put the keyboard setup up as it should be) and a full moving lights package.
We reverse-parallel parked our bus out the front on 16th Street. That was a sight to behold (and yes, a couple of New Yorkers got angry about being held up.) There is a hospitality waitress. That’s right, a waitress that comes upstairs to the (comfortable, with nice lounges and free internet... like there is everywhere) dressing room to take our orders for dinner (which is on the house) and make sure we’re all right for a drink. This is a 450-capacity venue people – this is the size of the Annandale Hotel. Compare specs. Something is out of whack in Australia for sure. No wonder we perceive American crew as angry. They probably are! They come all the way to Australia with their band and get what? Zip!
“
Because the band were happy with their monitors they played a great show – and that’s the first hurdle. Doesn’t matter how good it sounds if the band plays badly
”
Ron Fair Chairman, Geffen Records
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“
mixing live sound is damage control! Sometimes there’s just a bit of cleaning up to do; at other times it’s a full-on state of emergency!
”
CAFÉ 939 – BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Saturday 20th November: Tonight it’s another 32-channel M7CL with monitors delivered from FOH and a grumpy house guy who turned up late and then didn’t want me to load my program because “all his settings would be lost”. After a good 10-minute chat about how he could save his settings (to one of the many blank snapshots available) and recall them after I was gone, we got underway.
This was a great case of: “there’s no point putting in a digital console unless there is someone there who knows how to use it.” Even though this is the smallest show on the tour (200-cap) there’s still a flown Meyer PA, and six sends of UPM monitors. Yes, it’s half the size of The Basement and there’s a Meyer line array in there! CAFÉ LIVE – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA Sunday 21st November: After staying up late working on the bus (it was Monday business hours in Australia) I rise from my bunk at the very respectable hour of 3pm for load in. We roll in to a venue that sort of looks like it could be an RSL (as we know them in Australia) or maybe a cabaret club, or maybe a very fancy school hall. Whatever it is, it certainly doesn’t look like a music venue, except that there’s a bunch of crew waiting to help us with the gear. A Clair Brothers PA flies in the roof (the old ones – the first line array they made) and there’s a Midas Legend at FOH. This will actually be the first time I’ve used a Legend the way it was designed. The (slightly bizarre) split monitor section on these allows you to have all your monitor sends running post their own small fader; each band of EQ can be selected to apply to the monitors or not, and there are a further two bands of EQ dedicated to the monitor path. AT 8
THE OPERA HOUSE – TORONTO Tuesday 23rd November: The border crossing into Canada was uneventful… by which I mean we had to get up at 9am in the bitter rain and cold and stand on the street while the police searched our bus, and trailer, and counted the merch… They were big and tough blokes. But, of course, all our documents were in order, and after the usual tough guy questions and comments we were all allowed in. Even Aaron, the Mexican drummer, got through (though they did select him for a ‘random’ bag search and pat down).
We were playing at the Opera House (after the original venue sold out and we upgraded), which evoked thoughts of plush furniture and polished wood (well it does for me). What greeted us on our arrival, however, was actually much funnier than that. While the system was great – a Midas H1000 (my favourite console) and an Adamson line array at FOH, with an A&H ML4000 with some crazy homemade ’80s cabinets for monitors (though they were powered by Bryston 4Bs), the place looked like it hadn’t been touched since 1981. It was an old cinema theatre, strangely converted: raw stone floors, big gothic chandeliers, and a proscenium arch that looked like it was from an Adam’s Family set. Nothing was clean, and there were no lights anywhere. This was a classic basement rock club, except that it’s a 1000-cap ‘Opera House’. Soundcheck was all good, though there was some crazy bottom-end weirdness that was hard to control. Not just boomy – it was as if there was a three-second reverb, turned way up in the mix, but only on the subs. The house guy assured me it would go away, and I believed him. A very knowledgeable, friendly fellow; we talked about the touring he’d done with big metal bands down in Australia. He knew the Metro, the Enmore, that “horrible place” (his words)
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– the Hordern Pavilion. “Some crazy tennis centre or something in Melbooorne was my favourite.” I suppose he meant Rod Laver Arena, and it’s one of mine too. I guess it’s just experience, but one of the things in live sound mixing you really need to get your head around is what will happen to a room when it’s full of people. Some rooms stay pretty well the same, some get lots better, and some get lots worse when you add a thousand “portable sound absorbing devices” or “meat blankets” as this particular guy referred to the punters. I like to have a good play around on the graphic EQ during soundcheck – pulling and pushing things to see what happens: what resonates, what bites, what feeds back. Even if you don’t need to do anything about it yet – it’s nice to know where things are if you need to quickly grab them once you start your set. In this case – I picked that this was going to be a great room once it was full. It ‘felt’ like it was going to clean up (because the boom was reverby, not resonant – if that makes sense). Brooke and I discussed after soundcheck what to expect – even though she’s on in-ears the room still changes her experience as a performer. And come show time, right we were. All the bottomend issues went away. Completely. The room was tight… and dry.
LINCOLN HALL – CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Wednesday 24th November: The last night of the East Coast run, and everyone is excited. This show (like the rest of the tour now) is 100% sold out… there’s a queue out front when we pull the tour bus up for load in.
This place is a purpose-built venue. Apparently it’s been open less than two years. It’s only a 600-capacity venue: downstairs is all standing room, and upstairs is tables and chairs with dinner service. The food is amazing, the staff downright lovely, and there are a couple of loaders to help us get in (thankfully, since it’s a long push down the alley in the sleeting-trying-to-snow cold). The system is immaculate. Everything is clean, neat and tidy. The room is treated. It’s a d&b Q1 system hanging (too) high, with a Venue SC48 at FOH again (I’m learning to do what I need to on them), a Soundcraft Series 5 monitor console, with a load of proprietary wedges. There’s a great lights show with a dozen movers, and video if you want it. There’s the usual three crew (FOH, monitors and lights) on hand, as is Ryan Adams’ FOH engineer, who turns out to be the FOH tech! I recognise him from the show at the Enmore the year before last. We immediately start chatting about all things audio; how good the d&b system is, the fact that it’s too
high (he agrees, but they wouldn’t buy another two boxes-a-side, so to cover upstairs and down they had to hang high, and J it hard), why they have an SC48 (“everyone’s rider is Digi”), and why an M7 can be so much better and so much more useable. He toured a Yamaha M7CL with Ryan (the same way I use them, with lots of outboard). Soundcheck is great, though I talk more than mix. I hardly have to, though. I pull some frequencies out on both Brooke’s vocal and the mix bus that he says he’s never seen anyone do. The room is so well treated, no-one usually needs to be pulling out 6.3k and the like. I point at the Midas XL42 and say – “yeah, well, you’ve probably never had to put 70dB of gain on someone’s vocal either!” I love this show: the band is great, system is great, I have a great mix, there’s a rack of shirts upstairs in the dressing room from a local T-shirt shop – “free to band members: one each please. Love from Threadless T-shirts” – we couldn’t end this leg in better form. It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow and everyone is talking about turkey. Next it’s on to London before we return to the West Coast of the US, and Part 2 of the story. I better get this off to my editor before the AT boat sails! Out.
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FEATURE
Have you heard about
THE LONESOME LOSER? He’s turned his hand to more aspects of music production than just about any other Australian from songwriting and live performance right through to mastering but is he really a ‘lonesome loser’? Text: Andy Stewart
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David Briggs and I have been talking audio for about 20 years now, with gaps in the conversation here and there admittedly. To me David has always been the guy with the straight answer… along with the loudest and most contagious laugh in the history of audio. Whether the topic is songwriting, production, the science of recording, the benefits of the latest plug-ins – “I have them all” – mastering levels, down-sampling errors or bugs in DAW upgrades, ‘Briggsy’ always seems to have an educated response based on first-hand experience (and reams of documents to back it up where applicable). Well-known for engineering all day and reading and studying all night, Briggsy is one of the most gregarious, knowledgeable, scientific and opinionated men in the audio business. “I’m just a big kid with an enquiring mind,” he says of himself. “If it’s got buttons and lights on it I’m instantly attracted to it, and if I can pull it apart, even better.” If you want to know the facts about something, Briggsy is most often the man to ask. His knowledge base is wider than a Bob Clearmountain mix, and even more detailed.
Briggsy – as I’ll call him in this article from now on – is probably best known for his career as the lead guitarist of The Little River Band, for which he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2004, along with the rest of the band. He enjoyed a No.1 worldwide hit with LRB with his song Lonesome Loser in 1979 (which saw him collect an ‘Advance Australia Award’ for Outstanding Contribution in Music in the same year). He produced the seminal Boys Light Up album for Australian Crawl soon after, which went multi-platinum in Australia and made the members of the band household names. In the years since, he’s mixed and/or mastered more albums than just about anyone else in the country. Briggy’s walls are literally covered with framed gold and platinum-selling albums, and I’d wager there must be others gathering dust in a back room somewhere. But that’s not all he collects. There’s also Briggsy’s fabled guitar and amp collection, which will have you choking on your tea if it’s described to you mid-sip. Old Gibsons, Fenders, Martins, Voxes, Marshalls and Mesa Boogies abound at the Production Workshop – David’s studio of 30-odd years – the result of years touring in the US with The Little River Band. Briggsy still collects guitars,
although strictly speaking the most recent purchase was a mandolin: “a 1918 Gibson that I just bought from a guy in Kentucky called James Brown.” Then there’s the mic collection… did anyone say Neumann U47? Briggsy has three of this model alone, along with several pairs of KM84s, 83, 85 and 86is, 87s, 67s, KM74 and KM56 peanut valve Neumanns, a TLM170 and a host of AKGs. When they’re all out on display it looks like a Germanic invasion force. “While everyone else was still looking for old Fenders I was busy looking for valve Neumanns,” he remarks. What’s fascinating about Briggsy is that while he’s spent a small fortune on audio equipment over the years, he’s basically never sold any of it. It all resides in the Production Workshop; some of it fired up on a daily basis, other pieces falling into disrepair. Take for instance his rare Lyric two-inch, 24-track tape machine that sits unused in the machine room. And when I say unused, I really mean unusable. I made the mistake last year during a late evening drop-in (no pun intended) of touching the machine’s pinch roller rubber as Briggsy and I talked idly through the machine room door about the usefulness of two-inch machines. As I causally motioned to spin the roller guides – as one does when one peruses tape machines – the rubber crumbled under my hand like a Ringwraith’s sword (see pic). This was one tape machine that hadn’t seen much work lately – maybe since I’ve known Briggsy in fact. But would he ever consider selling it? “Andy, I wouldn’t dare put someone through the pain of restoring it.” Interviewing David Briggs for AudioTechnology was an odd experience for me, mainly because I knew covering all his bases would be impossible. When you don’t know someone very well you’re less
aware of the topics you might overlook in the course of a discussion. With David, however, I was acutely aware that we could roll the Dictaphone for a week and still miss out on a small mountain of anecdotes. For no particular reason I began our discussion by asking him about his recollections of working with George Martin on the Little River Band’s Time Exposure album at Montserrat in the West Indies, for which Geoff Emerick was the engineer and, coincidentally, Mike Stavrou was the tape operator. David Briggs: I remember one night when we were recording with George I naively said to him, “Hey George, where are we mixing this record?” And he turned to me sternly and said, “We’re not mixing this record anywhere… I’m mixing this record!” [Go to AT’s website to read the fascinating letter George Martin subsequently sent to Glenn Wheatley, the band’s manager, in reference to the final mixes and track order of the album back in 1981: www. audiotechnology.com.au] That’s the kind of guy he was – succinct and to the point. George had great musical knowledge, was a good people manager and a very capable arranger. He also had a remarkably fair ear for a good commercial song – as we all know! He was kind of like the headmaster of the group for that album. He’d be like; “Okay chaps, what are we doing now?” I remember George saying to me at one point that he thought the LRB situation was an extraordinary one because, as he put it, “Any one of you guys could produce this record,” which was a nice compliment. THE PRODUCTION WORKSHOP Andy Stewart: If we can spool the tape back to zero, as it were, for the benefit of AT readers, I’d like to ask you how you came to start the Production
Workshop and who your competitors were in Melbourne back in those days? DB: I started this joint over 30 years ago now, in 1979 believe it or not, with an analogue tape machine that I’d bought from AAV, my AKG BX20 spring reverb and a Soundcraft 16-into-8 desk. There were only about four or five other studios in the whole town at that stage: Alan Eaton’s, AAV, TCS Studio (Channel 9) in Richmond, Platinum, and Richmond Recorders… although Richmond went belly up soon after I think. There weren’t any boutique studios, only the main players in town. It’s hard to conceive of now, but back then there was virtually no gear available for someone contemplating a modest home studio – not stuff that didn’t cost a fortune anyway. It was only really when ADATs came out that everything suddenly changed. Studios were affected badly at that point because suddenly people could record at home onto a digital eight-track recorder – or if they were mad (and wealthy) enough, two or three of them! They weren’t the best machine ever made, of course – Joe Camilleri used to describe rewinding and fast-forwarding several ADATs sync’d together as “the huskies” – such was their unruly behaviour! Even still, it was the beginning of the end worldwide for countless studios overburdened with rental payments, staff payments and equipment repayments and leases. AS: What prompted the move from LRB guitar player to console operator and knob twiddler? DB: When I started here I thought, “I’m a muso, I know what good recordings sound like. This shouldn’t be too hard.” I still remember the first time I put a microphone in a kick drum – I went back into the control room to listen to it; pushed the
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ready. I get lots of records to master that really could have benefitted from a good engineer recording it and a good producer going, “Hey, listen guys, one more time… that vocal’s flatter than a shit carter’s hat!” But it’s not all like that of course. I master some fantastic work in here that’s been done by musicians working at home or in studios who have really got it together and learnt their craft as producers, engineers and performers. Something I’m sure we both agree on is that if you’ve got a great bunch of players performing a great song, the damn thing nearly mixes itself because you don’t have to sift through 95 different ordinary takes. Prior to the emergence of digital non-linear multitracks we didn’t have to wade through all the useless crap while we were mixing because we couldn’t record it in the first place – the analogue medium simply couldn’t accommodate it. Then we tied two tape machines together and, oh my god, 48 tracks… more stuff we’ve gotta sort out and fit down that mix bus. When you think about it now, 24 tracks seems like nothing. Without naming names, I know people these days who’ll record 80 tracks… of vocals alone! Everything else is then quadrupletracked, tripled and then doubled and, holey moley, did we really need to do that?
Wadda ya know... it disinterated!: The pinch-roller rubber on David Briggs’ Lyric 24-track tape machine is a little the worse for wear!
fader up and thought, “What do you do with that!?” It sounded like crap – ‘boing, boing’ – and then after a while I realised you could knock out 300Hz, add a bit of 2.5kHz and from there I guess I just started on my journey of learning how to engineer. But just because I was a musician didn’t necessarily mean I could move over to the other side of the glass. That’s one of the issues I see – and I’d include myself in this – we all spend so much time reading the manual of whatever program it is we’re running that we often forget about being creative for the next six months because we’re trying to figure out how to make it go. AS: Speak for yourself! You may find that you’re in fact the only person that reads the manual! DB: Really? (Short pause…) But you know, I think people have forgotten how many benefits there are in simply having an engineer there to act as a buffer; someone who can twiddle the knobs, do all the left-brain stuff and free up the band to concentrate on their music. I don’t think it’s necessarily healthy for musicians to be tangled up in the recording process while they’re trying to perform at the same time. Going to a studio where an engineer can hit the record and stop buttons for you, and go, “Great, one more time,” or, “That’s good,” really helps people creatively. Years ago the emphasis was on playing instruments well, not playing a take and then reaching over to the space bar to hit stop. You didn’t have two or three days to get something right either. You had 20 minutes. There were real beads of sweat and tension, and a collective pressure to perform a good take. AS: Did that pressure help improve takes do you think? AT 14
DB: It did, for sure. Although, in my experience of recording albums with the Little River Band, I must admit we were usually in the luxurious position of being able to book a studio, or even two studios, for three months at a time. So I’m probably not the best person to ask that question. We were mostly developing songs in the studio, sometimes by ourselves, sometimes with a producer. I remember when we worked with John Boylan on Diamantina Cocktail, which included the song, Help Is On Its Way, John made me focus extensively on perfecting the guitar parts. There wasn’t pressure in the ‘we’ve gotta get this song done because we’re running out of time’ sense, but the pressure to refine and improve the parts we were recording onto our precious track of analogue tape certainly was. If I look back to, say, producing the Aussie Crawl Boys Light Up album, that was done over a threeweek period: one week of band tracking, one week of overdubbing, and a week of mixing. That’s all the budget we had. The problem was always that the further down the timeline of the recording process you went, the more rushed and lax you’d become. As I’m sure you’ve heard it said in the studio: “We can’t afford to keep doing this – we’ve only got two days left before we start mixing…” The key to that album was pre-production: I rehearsed the band for a long period of time before we hit the studio, so I had a fair idea of what to expect from them. AS: That’s one of the great advantages of recording at home of course. There aren’t the same time constraints. DB: Sure, but half the time there isn’t a decent acoustic environment either, let alone a range of microphones or an experienced engineer at the
What are you supposed to do with all that stuff when it comes time to mix? That’s one of the things I learnt in my time with the Little River Band – the art of developing parts. It’s critical in album production to focus on the parts – keep the good bits in there and repeat them. That’s one of the great things I learned from John Boylan and the rest of LRB. We were always onto each other about developing our parts so that there was the essence of a song there. The litmus test was that if you pulled down a fader you could immediately say “hang on, there’s something missing now, put it back.” GOOD IDEAS AS: What do you need to produce a good record these days would you say?
DB: I’m at the stage where I don’t really need a lot of gear, only good ideas to work with. It’s all about people with good ideas, in my book. After that it’s mostly about sitting back and trying to keep your hands off it. That’s one of the things I’ve learnt about producing over the years. It’s not about saying to the artist: “Look, don’t panic, I’ve got all the ideas, you don’t need to have any.” That might work very occasionally for some people but it mostly doesn’t. By all means help the artist: be the big brother, the psychologist, the bottom wiper, at times the good guy, at times the bad guy, depending on what the situation is. But it’s imperative to remember that different situations require different tact, and knowing when to keep your hands off the music is probably the most important lesson a producer can learn. There will always be those situations at the start of a day in the studio, for example, where you’re working with a new band – not necessarily as the ‘producer’ – and figuring a particular approach the band has adopted is never going to work. You (luckily) don’t say anything at the time, despite your misgivings. You’re trying to resist being Mr Producer guy
who feels he has to prove to these younger guys that he has all the answers. Thankfully you don’t put the kibosh on the approach because by the end of the day it’s worked! And you go, “Oh, I really learned something out of that.” I’ve been in enough of those situations to know that trying to assert your musical will all the time is folly. And besides, I hate to be the guy with the velvet sledgehammer going, “No, no, that’s not gonna work!” and knocking things on the head. There are so many hats you can wear in this process: from an operator, through to producer, performer, and surrogate songwriter. I’ve worn them all over the years because I like doing it and if I didn’t do this I’d probably be doing something horrible. I’m a band player when it’s all said and done. I’ve been playing in bands for well in excess of 30 years and I like that process… although going on the road for long periods of time – that, I’m not so keen on! AS: Is that what inspired you to take up producing bands then, rather than playing in them? DB: During my tenure with LRB I was working with other people in the studio a lot, and I really enjoyed working on other people’s tunes and helping them through the creative process. And I figured I’d spent so much time in the studio – for better or worse – that I’d like to learn more about it. That’s why I set up my own place here; so I could sit and learn how to engineer. I wanted to know more about things like: ‘Why do we always use this compressor on the vocal?’ ‘What does that other one sound like instead?’. When I experimented with stuff here I could discover sounds for myself and go: ‘Oh, now I know why we don’t use that!’ MASTERING AS: You’ve also been a mastering engineer since around 1990. When you’re wearing this hat, as opposed to all the others, do you approach things any more scientifically?
DB: Not necessarily, no. In mastering, if something already sounds good then I know I shouldn’t be doing too much to it. That applies to all aspects of this caper. Conversely, if it doesn’t sound good I’ve got a few techniques that I’ll apply to help it along, but it will never sound as good as if it had been half decent to start with. And sure there are some technical processes involved but the decisions I make aren’t just ‘scientific’, not at all. Mastering is primarily about understanding the genre of music you’re working with. A good mastering engineer requires a good understanding of music styles and how each one’s dynamics and tonality works. If it’s reggae it’s gonna be big on the bottom end; if it’s classical music it’s not going to be compressed and so forth.
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The mastering engineer has to be respectful of the artist, respectful of the music, respectful of the producer and the engineer, and like a producer, the mastering engineer has to try and avoid sticking his or her fingers all over it. If the artist comes to you and says, “we’re really not happy about the way our recording sounds; is there something you can do to get it a bit closer to how we want it?” then sure, I’ll put my fingers all over it.
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It’s critical in album production to focus on the parts – keep the good bits in there and repeat them
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There are technical decisions that have to be made too of course: Do I process this as a stereo audio file? How do I deal with its EQ and dynamics? Do I use a mid-side process? Do I worry about the sibilance of the vocalist seeing as how the producer and the engineer haven’t considered it? Then there are the sub-categories of all those technical decisions: If I’m going to put a de-esser on a song, do I work that into a mid-side matrix? If so, where in the chain will I put it and which de-esser will I use? There’s a whole range of those kinds of questions I have to make decisions about pretty quickly once I hear the music and go: “Righto, I can hear that we’re sibilant, I can hear that it’s dull, I can hear that it’s not very wide etc.” Otherwise you can end up spending as much time mastering as you did mixing. AS: I know you use ProTools as your mastering DAW. So what program are you using to make the final Red Book CD? DB: I use Waveburner. There’s a variety of packages around but Waveburner has been pretty good to me. Occasionally I use TC Spark to write DDP files – as I
Hardly a mark on it: One of Briggsy’s classic ‘X’ amps! Sounds amazing.
believe you can in the newest version of Waveburner – but I don’t have that yet. GOOD MIXING/MASTERING AS: As a mastering engineer, what are you hoping to hear in a good mix?
DB: A good instrumental balance; a good bottom end; taking note of the fact that the vocalist is not exceedingly sibilant and that the overall tonal balance of the mix is not too dull. It’s important to develop an intelligent left/right placement, left/right balance, good depth of field, and not over-use effects such that they do weird things when you apply compression or limiting. AS: Flipping the question around, as a mix engineer what are you looking for out of the mastering process? DB: Well, fundamentally it’s about having a well-balanced piece of program to start with. As a mix engineer you want the mastering engineer to understand the genre of the music you’re presenting to them, and respond appropriately. Obviously there are some things best left dynamic and other things that require fairly heavy limiting. For instance, metal bands generally don’t want something that’s too dynamic. They want it to play loud in their CD carousel alongside Pantera and whatever else – they’ll be playing it against the most processed records on the planet and it’s gotta sit in there. Really it’s a case of helping people to feel comfortable about where music fits into the grand CD carousel of life, and how we get it to that stage. That’s an education process as much as anything, whether you’re the mastering guy, the mix engineer, the engineer or the producer. HI-RES PROCESSING AS: Before we wrap this up, can we talk briefly about the issues you have with down-sampling final CD masters, and the ‘overs’ potentially embedded in them? To start the conversation off, are you mastering at high resolutions or up-sampling projects at all?
DB: That’s an interesting question. The whole debate about high resolution CD processing or ProTools processing or DAW processing, is a moot point to me – as I’ve expressed to you before – because I’m never happy about the down-sampling. I see CDs clipping all the time, especially if they’ve been processed at elevated sample rates and then downsampled during the latter stages of the process. It’s especially prevalent when uneven multiples of the destination sample rate are involved: ie, from say 96k to 44.1k. I’ve played around with elevated sample rate mastering but generally if I do something at 24-bit/96k and then down-sample, often it feels dull when we get back to 16-bit. AS: But if you pull files in at 44.1k, are you not simply transferring that conversion point to a different part of the chain? DB: Yeah, but it’s unavoidable. AS: So why is it better to do it early do you think? DB: Well, because the end result is more predictable tonally, and you don’t get these clips occurring… what’s generally known as the ‘Gibbs phenomenon’. AT 16
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“
While everyone else was still looking for old Fenders I was busy looking for valve Neumanns
”
THE BRIGGS BIO 30+ years as a musician including lead guitar for the Little River Band 1975 – 1981. The first Australian guitar player to be recognised by US magazine Guitar Player (1976). Writer of several LRB hits including the Grammy nominated song: The Lonesome Loser (1979). Producer of many Australian artists including the multiplatinum Album, The Boys Light Up by Australian Crawl. Started the Production Workshop Recording Studio in 1979. Graduated Surrey University in the UK (Music Engineering) in 1985. Lectured at Victoria University since 2002: Applied Acoustic Design and Advanced Digital Audio. Advance Australia Award for Outstanding Contribution in Music (1979) Australasian Performing Rights Association Aria Hall of Fame Award for contribution to Australian music with The Little River Band (2004) Numerous Gold and Platinum International Record sales – LRB
If you process your masters at high sample rates and then, as the last stage of the mastering process, down-sample to 44.1k, you can generate ‘overs’ that simply didn’t exist prior to down-sampling taking place, as a result of the unresolveable mathematics. The maths involved in down-sampling from 88.2k to 44.1k is an elegant equation, but 96k to 44.1k is not. Hence the possibility of clipping during the course of down-sampling, especially after serious limiting and equalisation at elevated sample rates has taken place. AS: Are these ‘overs’ audible to you or are they only apparent on the analysers? DB: They’re there.
Now, while I don’t hear that clipping, I can see that it’s clipping on my analyser – a device that measures down to single sample resolution – so there’s no doubt that it’s clipping, that’s not the argument. AS: They’re not musically dynamic clips... just purely random as a result of the down-sampling mathematics?
AS: So does it matter?
DB: Yeah, it’s a random thing, not a predictable thing. Suffice it to say I try not to clip the audio.
DB: Well, let me put it this way: “Don’t panic, I’m just distorting your audio!” I don’t feel comfortable about that.
(NOT) ALL ABOUT THE LYRIC AS: When did you last use the Lyric tape machine, by the way?
AS: Presumably if you’re clipping the masters you’re driving them into a land of unpredictability. Is that what you see the main problem being?
DB: The big cassette player? Years ago now.
DB: Thomas Lund from TC Electronic delivered an AES paper on this called ‘Stop Counting Samples’, where he went through and listed (by brand and model) a whole range of CD players and where they start to clip in the headroom stakes. And some of them clip a whole lot earlier than others! I don’t feel comfortable about knowingly being aware of distortion or clipping the audio. I don’t buy the concept of soft saturation – I don’t like it at all. Mr Lund has also delivered papers documenting the Gibbs Phenomenon, which are well worth reading. I’ve got a whole range of CDs in my ProTools rig that I’ve sonically reviewed, from AC/DC through to Coldplay, and you can see the ones that clip at intermittent points. And it’s these intermittent points that are crucial to this discussion. I’m not referring to things like AC/DC’s Black Ice record,
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where the first two tracks basically clip on every kick and snare sample. I’m talking about the specific issue of audio that’s been mixed at an elevated sample rate, mastered at that elevated sample rate and then down-sampled as part of the final process. That’s where this random clipping occurs.
AS: The last time I touched it, it sort of disintegrated in my hand like something out of a sci-fi movie. DB: That’s right. The rubber has turned to Flubber! AS: Why did you stop using it? DB: The thing about an analogue tape recorder is that if you listen off the repro head when you’re tracking, then flick back to the line input and have a listen to what’s going into it, you quickly realise that what’s coming off the tape recorder is a pretty fuzzy representation of things. That bothers me. I’m into progress, not regress! But vintage guitars? That’s another story… www
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Stav’s shortcuts to great sounds! since I was a kid whenever I received a wrapped package “Ever or present I was incredibly patient when opening it. This was not the case when the two Mixing With Your Mind books arrived at my doorstep yesterday. I tore into the bubble wrap (with moderate care to not damage the books themselves) and held the ice cold hardbacks in my hands, fresh off the press, and fresh off the back of the postman’s frost covered truck. Love the hardcover! Love the weight! Love how it feels in ones hands! Love the foreword! Love the illustrations! LOVE THE CONTENT! To sum up though, surely the best-ever present I could buy myself and my mate for Xmas. Thanks heaps and have a good Christmas,
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REGULARS
Suffering constant abuse while you’re laying down a drum track may not sound like the best path to a great recording, but for Tom Larkin it was the best way out of a jam. Text: Brad Watts
Shihad has enjoyed a long and healthy history of record production since its inception in 1988, along with an ardent following. Hailing from the shaky isles of New Zealand, the band has an impressive nine albums and eight EPs under its belt, produced by the likes of Garth Richardson, Josh Abraham, Alan Moulder, Scott Horscroft, Malcolm Welsford and Jaz Coleman. Along the way, founding member and drummer, Tom Larkin, has picked up plenty of production tips and perspectives from these guys – to the point where he now runs his own studios in Melbourne. ‘Studios In the City’, as they’re known, actually exist in two locations; one helmed by Tom’s engineer Ben Ehrenberg in Brunswick, the other by Tom himself in South Melbourne. Brad Watts: Tom, can you tell me first up what inspired the move from drumming in a well-known band to sitting on the other side of the glass? Tom Larkin: When we started Shihad we did whatever we could to produce the best albums and EPs possible. But there wasn’t much choice in New Zealand in the way of studios. There were a couple of small home setups around at the time, but there really wasn’t that much going on. There was one central studio called Marmalade that was kind of renowned throughout New Zealand, which had a huge impact on music over there at the time. Marmalade was, without doubt, the studio that started me on this whole recording journey, and Malcolm Welsford in particular, who worked there at the time, was really great. He was responsible for
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our first EPs before moving to Auckland, where he eventually ended up owning and running York Street Studios, pretty much the biggest studio in New Zealand. That room had a fantastic 1974 custom Neve console that had originally been built for New Zealand’s EMI Studios. That console was in some ways the beginning of Shihad’s sound and history – at least for our first three records. I started out in that room, and I recall sitting on the back sofa during those early sessions thinking, ‘I really don’t want to leave this room. I really like it here’. The fact that you could lose yourself in a world of music really attracted me. It was as if nothing mattered outside those walls – the escapism of it all appealed to me immensely. I remember promising myself back then that this would be where I’d stay, and the position on the back sofa is where I’ve sat throughout every Shihad recording session since. CONTRASTING STYLES BW: You’ve worked with some pretty high-profile producers over the years… can you tell us a bit about them?
TL: Yeah, I’m fortunate to have worked with some incredible producers. People like Garth Richardson who’s responsible for Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Josh Abraham, who was a high-profile L.A. producer at the turn of the ’90s doing bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn. Everyone in Shihad learned a lot from those guys over the years. Starting out in L.A. back in 1988 meant we were invariably working on tape, and we were lucky
to have been exposed to that traditional album production style using some of the best guys in the world. I’d like to think I’m now ploughing that experience back into my own production ethic. BW: Passing that experience on in some senses… TL: Exactly. I started this room about four years ago now, working with local bands, and the experiences I’ve picked up in my own work as a producer during the ’90s have inspired me to pursue this role in parallel with the Shihad workload. It’s grown to the point now where we’re running two studios: one on the north side of Melbourne, one on the south. Ben [Ehrenberg] is full time here, and came on as assistant drums engineer on the album Shihad last did with Matt Lovell (Beautiful Machine). Ben was working at Sing Sing previously, but I was finally able to pay him enough to poach him. We run both studios at the same time and swap between them off and on. With most projects Ben will typically do the ‘middle part’, while I’ll generally do the front and back end. The thing I’ve noticed – and I’m not a lone ranger to have had this thought – is that audio production technology has become far more accessible in recent times, and musicians themselves have a much better understanding now of the production process. Though, ironically perhaps, I sometimes find this actually undermines a musician’s ability to be musical and imaginative. Having to intellectualise everything at the equipment end seems to get in the way of creative thought sometimes.
I think that’s the hardest balance to get right, actually. The point where your experience truly comes together is the moment when you’re able to hold both sides of the rope, and by that I mean, possess a technical understanding of the process that you can then apply creatively like an instrument. It takes a long time to get that balance right. Bands can quickly find themselves in a creative cul-de-sac if they obsess over the technical side too much and forget to let their creative side speak. BW: That also applies to the way certain studios are run don’t you think? TL: For sure. A lot of studios tend to try and do everything – take a project from beginning to end without outsourcing to do things like drums, for example. Quite early on I satisfied myself that there was a limit to what this room was capable of doing well. So, for example, as far as drums are concerned this place is not great. If you want a Fleetwood Mac sound it’s awesome, but outside that it’s not all that hot. But it’s a great facility for recording guitars, bass and vocals in – basically what I call the midrange of the record in terms of tracking – the stuff that tends to take more time to do than drums. I think we’ve achieved that here and we’re getting the kind of results we want. Our focus now is on expanding the amplifier collection, and upgrading and investing in equipment to make it a great tracking room. FROM LITTLE THINGS… BW: Are there any common threads to record production you’ve picked up over the years?
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TL: I’ve worked with many different producers over the years, and although many of them have had admirable traits, they’ve often been almost diametrically opposed. For instance there’s Garth Richardson’s approach, which is to be absolutely meticulous and create a great atmosphere of brotherhood in the studio, but whose production process is extremely long and detailed.
Picture this if you will: Neil Finn – who I still haven’t met to this point – is on the back sofa and Jaz has got what he calls ‘The Hate Mic’ set up. The Hate Mic is positioned in the control room and patched into everyone’s cans. It’s fairly innocuous… it just looks like he’s setting up a talkback mic. Then, as we’re tracking, he starts blatantly screaming abuse at us!
BW: As in ‘finicky’, you mean?
BW: What sort of thing is he yelling at you?
TL: Absolutely. Incredibly fastidious. But interestingly, his focus is not about the gear or recording. He takes care of all that. Guys like Garth almost make the technical side of things invisible. It doesn’t seem to stop a band or slow anything down. Garth’s focus is always on the application – what you’re recording and what you’re generating. It was an amazing experience working with him because he made the technology so transparent.
TL: Torrents of abuse, basically. He’s screaming: “You f**kin’ this, that and the other… don’t you f**k up you [unprintable]… don’t you f**k up this chorus. Here it comes again! One, two, three!”
Other producers I’ve worked with have taken the opposite approach. For instance, we worked with producer Jaz Coleman once – he was part of the ’80s English band Killing Joke. I ended up playing drums with them on one of their albums in fact after he’d worked with Shihad as a producer. BW: I’ve heard something about how Jaz Coleman produces… that he basically shouts and screams at people to get the performance out of them. Is that true? TL: Yeah, I had this happen when I was doing a drum track for him. We had two drummers in the room, and to add to the pressure Neil Finn had also been invited down to the studio. I had the flu at the time, so between Neil’s impending arrival and the hot and cold flushes roaring through my body, needless to say I was having trouble focusing on the click track. AT 22
All this he’s screaming right into your headphones and as loud, if not louder, than the click. Between the flu making the click track seem like a moving target, this guy abusing me and Neil Finn sitting on the back sofa looking like he’s realised he’s just stepped into a madhouse, it was tough going. But in the end we got a great recording. Unfortunately, that was my introduction to Neil Finn – getting my arse thoroughly kicked by Jaz Coleman! But to give credit where it’s due, Jaz’s energy was fantastic. From the outside it sounded insane, but being part of the process made me realise it’s all about power. It’s about extremities and driving people to a point where they’re giving you things they almost certainly wouldn’t have delivered had they not been pushed… hard in this case! Then there are producers like Matt Lovell, who recorded our last album, who’s just got really great taste and creates an hilarious environment to work in. A lot of these guys create a great energy in the studio, and a lot of them are quite off-the-wall and
create an awesomely colourful, creative energy. To watch those people work is quite inspirational, and I think you get a different perspective when you’re the musician being produced. You’re actually able to put yourself in the shoes of the musicians, and you’re able to see the project through their eyes to a certain extent. It’s an important perspective to hold on to. BW: How does your production style sit amidst these guys then would you say? TL: Well, I guess my approach tends to be a combination of all these things, plus whatever I’m thinking at the time. But it’s always evolving of course. I’m living it every day I suppose, although one thing that’s been great for me in the last couple of years is having Ben coming on board, and developing his role to the point where he’s had a massive influence on how the albums come out and how they sound – his input has been fantastic. He’s got a completely different sense of humour to me as well. BW: You’re not bouncing jokes around the room all day? TL: Oh no, Ben tells me jokes all the time, some of them are fantastic and some of them I just go “err… riiight!” Nevertheless we’re a great team. It’s really precious to find somebody who can not only work within the rough parameters you’ve set up, but also add to it and expand the horizons of what you’re doing. It allows me to plan for other aspects of the production process and work to my strengths. BW: What are your strengths would you say? TL: Basically what I call the ‘front end’ of a project: the songwriting, the structures, the arrangements, and the pre-production duties. Even though this
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I find the majority of the ‘front end’ work tends to be educating guitarists and getting them into a pocket where they’re really delivering a performance
studio mightn’t have the greatest drum room, we’ll set it up with the headphone sends and iso-booth so that we can have bands recording live – that’s a huge part of the front end of a project. You get a band in, keep them in here for a week or two, and go over every track while recording the whole time – it’s a complete free-for-all. You’re communicating the whole time. You’ve got the singer in the control room and the band in plain view through the big window, and it’s instantly reactive, which is the whole point. That’s when you can start filtering the stronger players in the band from the weaker ones. It helps you decide who needs the most attention with respect to performance. It’s quite common, actually, particularly with guitarists and bass players. I find the majority of the ‘front end’ work tends to be educating guitarists and getting them into a pocket where they’re really delivering a performance. BW: How do you politely get the guitarist to deliver then? TL: Well it depends on the guitarist and their personality of course. Sometimes you have to be gentle, but sometimes you have to awaken the understanding that an album will only sound as good as the band’s prepared to make it. Having come from the tape era I’m very aware of this fact. With Shihad we’d shred our balls off to be able to record in a studio. We understood very early on that what you heard on a record was down to how good you were as a band. If you didn’t practice your arse off and have your shit together, you didn’t get a second shot. If you were in a studio for a day it was going to cost you three thousand dollars, so we’d have a budget for, say, two days at most. We would practice our arses off beforehand and hit the studio primed for it. You’ve basically got to offer guidance on where the AT 24
player is going wrong. What’s also great about Ben is that he’s a guitarist. I’m just a drummer! I can convey the same information but he’s a ‘proper’ guitarist! SONG PRODUCTION BW: Dealing with the songwriters must be more intensive. If you decide the middle eight is garbage, or sounds the same as the last four middle eights, how do you open up this discussion without it turning into a train wreck?
TL: Well, if I’m brought in as a producer, I’m usually very up-front about it. My first line is usually, “By the way, I’m a complete bastard.” I explain that I have a high level of expectation and I won’t be pussyfooting around – I’ll say what I think. It’s really important to be clear about the task at hand. BW: Something along the lines of: ‘I’m not going to be your best friend but I will get you a great recording’. TL: That’s it. I want the band to walk away with something they can be proud of. It’s up to me to make sure we get those results but the band’s got to be prepared for what’s going to get thrown at them. They may be hearing one thing but I’m hearing something else – they’ve got to be open to changes. At this point Ben Ehrenberg breaks into the conversation… BE: Particularly the last few bands we’ve worked with. They’ve come to the studio with the understanding that they’re probably going to have their songs rearranged. When a discussion comes up it usually goes something like: “Hey, let’s try this for a verse or this for a chorus.” It’s generally a really fun and ultimately creative process. Tom always likes to point out during these discussions that the song is
always going to be there in its essence. TL: That’s right. Some bands come in with a certain amount of fear about this process. I think of it more as a partnership but unfortunately I’ve had a couple of bands find this type of collaboration quite intrusive, and can be quite stubborn in their reaction to it. It’s important to realise the worst a song can turn out is exactly how it is right now, and you’ve got nothing to lose by exploring different parameters. Still, sometimes you turn around and go, “You know what? All this work we’ve put in hasn’t mattered.” But for the most part I find the work you put in is worth it for the creative doors it opens. I think it kicks in the imaginative side for them. You get bands that are struggling with a song that doesn’t quite feel right and they don’t know why. A really big part of the production process then is to ensure the band understand a few basic principles. Firstly, if they really object to a situation or an arrangement, it’s their music and they’ve gotta live with it and sell it. The worst thing I can do is destabilise their ability to go out there and believe in themselves. The ultimate goal is to give them something they can really be proud of. So for that reason it’s very important that the band’s behind it. I suppose it’s a really strong point for me, that if you don’t try different arrangements and challenge yourself to come up with the best representation of an idea, a lyric, or an emotion you’re trying to convey, you’re missing an opportunity. You’re missing the possibility of finding something magical. I’ve watched magic happen… tracks that start out as nothing can turn into complete monsters in the course of a session. You’ve just got to allow it to happen.
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PC AUDIO Do you ever feel like throttling your PC? Perhaps it’s already being throttled behind your back, and having its performance crippled in the process. Here’s how to find out. Text: Martin Walker
We’re all encouraged to help save the planet, and in the case of computers this means consuming the minimum amount of energy whenever possible. Over the years Intel, AMD and other manufacturers have introduced various ever-more-complex regimes designed to rein in our desktop and laptop PC power consumption when we don’t need them running flat out, and, in the case of the laptop, to also extend its battery life as much as possible. Unfortunately, while these schemes are great for mainstream users, they invariably backfire for the musician. Each time your CPU voltage or clock frequency is dropped to a lower value whenever you’re not taking advantage of the full available power of your processor, or ramped back up when you do, your audio stream will get momentarily interrupted and you’ll hear a glitch. This CPU throttling is almost always a killer when running audio applications, so it’s important to force your CPU to stay at its maximum clock value to maintain that smooth stream of audio, even if you help save the planet while running every other application. By the way, CPU throttling isn’t a new problem for the musician – I first came across it way back in 2003 when the first Pentium-M laptops appeared. However, throttling schemes are becoming increasingly complex, and in some cases (mostly laptops) impossible to disable. To avoid any problems you should first make sure your Windows Power Scheme is set to ‘Always On’ under Windows XP, or ‘High Performance’ with Windows Vista and Windows 7. Second, if at all possible you should also permanently disable any hardware throttling scheme from the appropriate option in your computer’s BIOS, the most common being EIST (Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology) and C1E enhanced halt state. Third, you should resist any temptation to install specialist overclocking utilities from your motherboard manufacturer, such as Gigabyte’s EasyTune, which also result in audio dropouts for the same reason – changing the processor clock speed behind your back. AT 26
LAPTOP WOES Sadly, many laptops don’t offer EIST and C1E options in their BIOS, rendering them unsuitable for audio purposes, but an even worse scenario is to buy a laptop with a custom laptop cooling scheme that adjusts the fan speed automatically to keep your CPU at a safe temperature. For the average user, such schemes are transparent in operation, and generally keep fan noise mercifully low, but some laptop designs interrupt the audio momentarily each time their fan speed gets changed. Even worse, while the CPU itself can normally be forced to run permanently at full speed from Windows, some such laptop fan cooling schemes can’t be disabled.
Sometimes you can work around the problem by increasing your audio interface ASIO buffer size sufficiently to continue through the interruption, but this may result in a latency of 20ms or more, making the playing of software synths feel sluggish and monitoring of your recordings almost impossible. Occasionally there may be a third-party utility that forces the cooling fans to stay at a constant speed (the i8kfanGUI utility, for instance, lets owners of a wide range of Dell Inspiron, Latitude, Precision and Smartstep notebook models take manual control of their cooling fan speed, and can be downloaded from www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html). However, sometimes there’s no cure other than buying a different laptop. The only way you can avoid making an expensive mistake when buying a laptop for making music is to let someone else try it out first, to check for any such incompatibilities. The ideal way is to buy one from a specialist DAW builder or music retailer, so you get a guarantee that it will work well with a wide range of audio hardware and software, although this will of course cost you slightly more. In my experience the only other real way to avoid your purchase ending in tears is to get a specific recommendation from another musician who has already tried the make and model you’re interested in, although laptop manufacturers do have a habit of changing components without warning, even on existing models, so this remains second best to buying from a specialist.
THROTTLING DOUBLE CHECKS But how can you check whether or not your CPU is being throttled due to an unsuitable BIOS or Windows setting? After a few stray audio glitches on my own PC recently I went off in search of an easy to use utility that would provide a real-time readout of CPU clock frequency – just in case! The freeware CPU-Z (www.cpuid.com) is a very handy utility that displays plenty of info about your CPU, motherboard, RAM and graphics. The Core Speed parameter on its CPU page provides a real-time readout, but what many people haven’t realised is that when you minimise it, the CPU-Z taskbar icon continues to display this frequency, albeit in a less useful non-rounded form (my 2.4GHz processor for instance displays 2397.74MHz).
Another contender is RightMark’s CPU Clock utility (http://cpu.rightmark.org), which among many other functions can permanently display a reassuring readout of the current CPU frequency in your System Tray. It also offers the distinct advantage of maintaining real-time graphs of CPU core speed, voltage and load, so if you do ever hear an audio glitch you can open it up and see if your CPU has changed speed or voltage recently, or if software demands resulted in a sudden CPU ‘spike’. The only unfortunate aspect is that it hasn’t been updated since February 2008, so it won’t recognise some modern chipsets for its other functions, although it will probably still display your CPU clock speed correctly. Make sure also that you un-tick the box in its Advanced CPU settings labeled ‘Enable Enh. Halt (C1E)’, as this will override your choices elsewhere. Even better, you can use it to set up various power management ‘profiles’ chosen from your Windows taskbar – No management displays a grey icon, Power saving is green, Maximum performance is red, and Performance on demand is pink – so you can swap between power modes at will and always have a visual readout. Let’s save the planet but avoid audio glitches on demand!
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MAC AUDIO To iChat or not to iChat… no matter the distances involved, the answer has to be yes! Text: Brad Watts
Being one of those guys who’s perpetually squeezing more life out of antiquated Apple computers (heck I own a few), one trick I recently got some great value from took place during a long distance recording session with a couple of friends. One compadré, the drummer, was fortunately in the same location as I – Ballarat – while compadré number two was in Sydney. The task at hand was to record half a dozen real drum tracks onto some songs that had been written and demo’d by the Sydneybased composer. Being the sensitive creative type of chap that he is, compadré number two dearly wanted to be present during the session, and of course I completely understood; they were his songs after all. Unfortunately, due to all three of us juggling work and family duties, it was impossible to get all of us in the same place at the same time. We hatched a plan. iTRACKING Instead of putting the session off and waiting until the planets aligned such that we could convene in person, we opted to bring the Sydney end of the endeavour to the session via video chat – brilliant! To turn this concept into reality, an old G4 iBook was pulled into service and attached to it was my wife’s Logitech USB camera. These two items were perched on my monitor bench so we could give our Sydney conspirator full view of anything and everything. The camera was connected to the iBook with one of those ridiculously long USB extension cables – if we needed further extension the battery-powered iBook could be dragged along with it. I’ll point out that this was far more versatile than using the built-in camera of my MacBook, as it was easier to show mic placements and so forth with a camera on a cable rather than a cumbersome laptop – something our Sydney cousin relished as he was interested in witnessing our procedures simply for the educational aspect. Plus, I wanted to set up the MacBook in the drum area as a third, stationary video conference point so I could keep eye contact with the drummer.
The video conferencing software of choice was, of course, Apple’s iChat. I must say I have a lot of time for iChat as I find the application easy to use and usually quite robust in its operation. It also does a whole lot more than other video conferencing applications such as Skype, and is more suited to this particular task for reasons I’ll get to in a moment. But first, to use the program you obviously have to set up an iChat account, which I assure you is absolutely free. Honestly, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me they were being drawn into Apple’s money-hungry clutches simply by attempting to register an iChat account, I’d have about, let me think… 50 bucks. The process is easy. Start iChat and follow the prompts. Choose AT 28
to set up a ‘.mac’ account (forget about MobileMe, AIM, Jabber or Googletalk as some of these won’t allow video conferencing and require setup procedures via other networks), then click on ‘Get an iChat Account’. You’ll be transported to an Apple web page asking for particulars for creating an ‘Apple ID’, such as the name you wish to use for your iChat identity and the email address you intend to use – that email address obviously has to be an address you can collect, i.e. an email address you own. Once you’re signed up you can log into iChat with the username and password you’ve chosen. Now both you and your remotely located friends can add each other to your iChat ‘Buddy List’. Click on the ‘+’ symbol at the bottom left-hand corner of the iChat window, and add your friend’s iChat address, not forgetting to add the ‘@.mac’ suffix. Each of you should now have each other’s name displayed in the Buddy List window. You’re in business. So back to our video conference/session setup consisting of one iChat-enabled iBook in the control room with its camera on a long USB cable, one iChat-enabled MacBook in view of the drummer in the drum area, and the final iChat-enabled machine (an iMac) in Sydney. To instigate the video conference I held down the iBook’s command key, selected the two other iChat ‘buddies’ and hit the video camera styled button at the bottom of the iChat window. Voila! A three-way video conference between all of us. I could see both compadrés one and two whether I was fiddling around the drum kit or in the control room, and they could likewise see me and one another. So why use iChat instead of an application such as Skype? Well, for starters, you can have three people in an iChat video conference, something Skype cannot do (plus this wouldn’t be a Mac Audio column had we used Skype). Secondly, Skype can drop out quite often whereas iChat powered on for hours at a time before needing to re-instigate the video session. The other reason to use iChat is that video conferences in iChat can function via a local network. In a situation where you need a teleconferencing system between your control room and a separate recording area, without the luxury of a window between the two areas for line-of-sight communication, iChat can supply this without to’ing and fro’ing data via the internet. Having this system set up really did add a very personal dimension to our session, and I can’t recommend the idea highly enough. Having the writer of the songs present, albeit virtually, was invaluable to making decisions quickly and getting on with the next task, and it certainly let him feel infinitely more involved in the process. And once we were done, we could virtually hang out together and have a virtual beer. Bewdy!
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Record video in FULL HD video resolution and include audio with two studioquality condenser microphones configured in a wide 120° X/Y pattern. Use the Q3HD as an audio recorder with clarity that far exceeds CD-quality. Upload your videos to YouTube, Myspace or watch direct to your HD TV via the HDMI output. With the Q3HD’s 2.4-inch LCD screen, you can monitor important information while recording, and the screen can also be used to show video file thumbnails or to display the menu screen with graphic icons representing the unit’s functions. Turn the Q3HD on its side and press play to watch your videos in “widescreen” 16:9 format.
Recorder. Control Surface. Interface. Sampler. Simultaneous Simultaneous 8-track recording; audio interface; control surface; sampler. Built in mics, guitar FX, drum machine, XLR/1/4” inputs plus phantom power. 96kHz/24bit encoding. Connects to PC & MAC via USB2.0. 8-track recording; audio interface; control surface; sampler. Built in mics, guitar FX, drum machine, XLR/1/4” inputs plus phantom power. 96kHz/24bit encoding. Connects to PC & MAC via USB2.0.
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REVIEW
AUDIO-TECHNICA AE5400
Big Mick Hughes wanted to use this mic on the Metallica tour but couldn’t… so we thought we’d review it instead. Text: Mark Woods
I’ve become quite a fan of Audio-Technica mics, especially for live use. It started with the company’s release of a range of instrument/drum mics that impressed with their sound quality, good value and solid reliability, but it wasn’t until I started using the AE5400 handheld condenser that I really embraced the brand for live vocals. Dynamic mics are cheaper and slightly easier to use on stage but the accuracy and detail available from condenser designs generally makes them a better choice for all but the crudest performances, and the AE5400 has gained a reputation for being one the best around. A SINGER’S LARGE DIAPHRAGM Most of the current-breed vocal condensers are based on small-diaphragm designs with bodies modified for handheld use. The Audio-Technica AE5400 is different to this design approach in that it – perhaps somewhat surprisingly – uses the same large-diaphragm capsule as the company’s AT4050 side-address studio mic. It looks purposeful rather than flashy but the body feels strong and, like so many Collingwood supporters, it has a tough head. At 330 grams it’s a pleasing weight and I like the flat section that runs down the body, housing sunken switches that activate the 10dB pad and 80Hz HPF. Microphones from other manufacturers typically have these functions too of course, but the switches are often hidden under or around the head, so it’s not obvious they possess them at all, and this then makes them fiddly to use.
The polar pattern of the AE5400 is cardioid, the frequency response is quoted at 20Hz – 20kHz and its self-noise is a respectable 14dB. The maximum input level before distortion is a whopping 157dB with the pad engaged so it’s not going to overload unless cannons or planes are part of the show. The frequency response plot gives a clue to the AE5400’s sonic character: essentially flat up to 2kHz before a mild presence peak rises between 2kHz and 4kHz. From there it’s back down a couple of dB at 6kHz before rising again to a peak of around +4dB at 10kHz. In use the AE5400 is immediately rewarding, especially if you replace a normal high-quality dynamic with it. It’s output level is about 10dB higher than the ubiquitous SM58, so if you’re performing this switcheroo on stage with an open foldback system it’s necessary to engage the pad first or you could get a face full of feedback that AT 30
will certainly detract from your initial impression. If the swap over is uneventful the improvement in sound quality is quite dramatic. The clarity and detail in the high frequency range of the AE5400 make a 58 sound like it has a blanket over it, while the shaped high-frequency response gives presence and air but avoids emphasising sibilance. The mids are accurate and natural, the low end is smooth and the proximity effect, plosives and boominess are well controlled, especially with the HPF engaged. Moving across the head of the mic shows the frequency response to be commendably even until halfway down the side of the head where there are deep null points. Sound entering from the rear is well attenuated in volume also, especially in the midhigh frequencies, but not unpleasantly so. Handling noise is low and not noticeable in use. Exploring high monitor volumes with condenser mics will always expose a greater tendency to feedback than good dynamic mics, but unless volume is the only important criteria the improvement in quality more than compensates. The AE5400 is as resistant to feedback as a condenser can be and when it does become unstable it does so quite evenly from low to high without any one frequency sticking out unduly. From front-of-house the AE5400 works beautifully on good voices of either gender with a rich quality to the bottom end, a complete lack of harshness across the mids and high-mids and a nice amount of airy top end. It’s much brighter than a 58 but not strident, pulling the voice forward with its clear and accurate presence. I use it regularly at gigs and apart from a HPF I haven’t found the need for any EQ. It won’t polish ‘proverbials’, however – I had a recent case where it was sounding just right to me in the monitors but crap when the singer sang. I kept walking up to the stage and checking the mic, feeling sure there must be something wrong with it, but it always sounded fine when I spoke into it. Eventually I swapped it for a 58 but the problem persisted… it was the singer. INTRUMENTAL TO SUCCESS The other important strength of the AE5400 for me is its ability as an instrument mic. Stringed instruments generally sound much better through a condenser mic than a dynamic or a DI, but often they require lots of gain, making them susceptible to feedback. The AE5400 meanwhile captures the
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It looks purposeful rather than flashy but the body feels strong and, like so many Collingwood supporters, it has a tough head
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Three paths to acoustic excellence PASSIVE
detailed transients and wide dynamic range of acoustic instruments while simultaneously allowing as much level as possible. It won’t replace a DI for loud bands using acoustic guitars, or performers who insist on running around the stage while playing, but for acts looking for the highest quality real instrument sounds the AE5400 will work well. For the commonest of gigs – the solo performer who sings and plays acoustic guitar – the AE5400’s tight pickup pattern and good off-axis response may allow these types of performers to enjoy the benefits of a more natural sound without undesirable amounts of vocal bleed into the guitar mic. These acts often use a DI for precisely this reason – often to the detriment of the guitar sound – but provided they’re not on the move, the AE5400 can provide a great alternative. The Audio-Technica AE5400 is also a handy studio mic. It’s become my favourite for guide vocals in the control room or recordings where the vocals are done live in the studio with the band. Guide vocals sometimes get used as keepers if the singer can’t do it better as an overdub, or just really likes their performance on the guide track, and even though the AE5400 is not as good as some of my dedicated studio vocal mics it’s good enough to allow the track to be used if needed. In the case of the singer performing in the studio with the band my regular recording mics pick up too much of the room sound but the AE5400 gives me enough separation to allow the vocal to be placed high in the mix without the spill having an adverse affect on the band’s sound. I’m not the only one who likes these mics. There’s a long list of big name artists covering styles from heavy rock to opera currently using them, and I know why. They may not be the best looking mics out there but they offer great sound quality and will do well in any comparison with competing products, including price. I own several Audio-Technica mics, including a couple of dynamics I’ve had since the mid ’80s that I still use on toms occasionally, and I’ve never had any reliability or build-quality issues – I recommended them highly.
NEED TO KNOW Price $595 Contact Technical Audio Group (02) 9519 0900 info@tag.com.au www.tag.com.au Pros High sound quality. Nice build quality and ease of use. High SPL handling. Low handling noise. Cons Plain looks. Summary If you’re looking for a competitively priced, decent sounding large diaphragm handheld condenser for live work, check out the AE5400. It’s hard to go past it from the point of view of sound or price, and if it’s anything like the wide range of other Audio-Technica products on the market, it’s likely to provide years of reliable service.
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AT 31
REVIEW
EIGENLABS EIGENHARP PICO
What do you get when you ditch the keyboard and cram as many control options into a MIDI instrument as possible? Eigenlabs have a few answers to questions seldom asked. Text: Brad Watts
These days, everyone has an angle on controlling computer-generated sounds. However, for the most part, MIDI-based control of software-based instruments has centred on the age-old keyboard paradigm. It’s not surprising really – an individual keyboard key is basically a switch after all, and a familiar one at that. Press it and you get a note. But once you add velocity sensitivity, and perhaps some form of aftertouch, you’ve taken that particular form factor to its limit. Then there are drums – a frightfully simple triggering situation with a dozen or so pitches to worry about. Things like guitar MIDI controllers are a more complex affair, relying on hexaphonic pickups and the need to ‘track’ inordinate amounts of pitch-bend information. There are, it should also be noted, occasional attempts at corralling the art of the woodwind instrumentalist into the world of MIDI. Akai went down this path years ago with the EWI range of wind controllers, a game they’re still chipping away at with the EWIUSB 4000. Yamaha also showed some interest with its WX5 MIDI clarinet, and of course instigated breath controllers on the DX7 years ago. But the issue (and limitation) with all these devices is that they emulate instruments that have existed for centuries, millennia even! Perhaps in this day and age there might be other avenues to pursue? After seeing the Eigenlabs Eigenharp Pico I believe this to be true. But first a little modern history: Eigenlabs is a British company, founded by John Lambert in 2001, with an aim to produce the world’s most expressive electronic musical instrument. It wasn’t until 2009 that the company released its first instrument, the Eigenharp. Eigenlabs offer three styles of Eigenharp: the Alpha, the Pico, and the Tau. It’s the diminutive Pico that’s the focus of this review, measuring approximately 335mm in length – about the length of a standard AT 32
primary-school issue English recorder. When unfolded, the mouthpiece adds another 150mm to the Pico’s length. It’s a handsomely constructed unit, consisting of a rectangular aluminium sleeve with all electronics sealed away from curious fingers. One end of the Pico accepts the removable mouthpiece, while the other accepts a mini-USB cable for connection to your PC or Mac – a three metre USB cable is also provided. On the rear-side of the Pico there’s a removable plastic clip offering two hooks that come into play when holding the Pico like a typical woodwind instrument. This also provides an anchor point for the USB cable. Remove the clip and the Pico can sit flat on a tabletop. PICO-LOWDOWN Around the front of the Pico is where we find the actual control buttons, and this is where similarities with traditional musical instruments and MIDI controllers disappear. As you’ll see from the image, 18 trigger buttons grace the front surface. Initially one imagines these to be mere velocity-sensitive triggers, much the same technology as a MIDI keyboard or drum controller, but there’s a lot more going on here. Each of these rubberised pads is a remarkably well-engineered device… I’ll explain.
While each pad will of course trigger a note and the registered velocity, they can also be wiggled laterally in any direction, somewhat like a short and stubby joystick. In addition to transmitting note information, velocity and pressure, each pad can register and transmit MIDI continuous controller or pitch information in north/south and east/west directions. Each pad samples its current setting 2000 times per second, with 10-bit (1024step) resolution when addressing the EigenD control software. Getting the picture so far? These aren’t anything like your typical keyboard
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In addition to transmitting note information, velocity and pressure, each pad can register and transmit MIDI continuous controller or pitch information in north/south and east/west directions.
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controller keys or triggers – there are five avenues of MIDI information that can be streamed from each pad. Add the 18cm ribbon controller and the breath controller and you’ve got what’s possibly the most expressive MIDI controller available. You’ll notice the pads are laid out in two rows without any delineation or indication of semitones – it’s up to the player to invent and develop their own technique. Hey, this is a completely new instrument after all. The Pico arrives with a number of accoutrements: two mouthpieces for the breath controller so you can avoid sharing your current ailment with your collaborators, a lanyard for swinging the Pico from your neck, saxophone style, and an 8GB USB memory stick containing the requisite software installation to drive the Pico. Initially the software for the Pico only supported Mac OSX, but Eigenlabs recently released a Windows 7-compatible version. One should note that the software is an intrinsic component of the package. The unit doesn’t actually produce any sound under its own steam – it must be connected to a host computer. Using Soundfontcompiled sound-sets, the software also searches your system for any Audio Unit plug-ins you might have installed. These can be integrated into patches, and like many of the Pico’s operating features, can be recalled and instigated via the Pico itself. Using the Pico to control software instruments within your favoured DAW is also possible, but you must have the ‘EigenD’ application running and set up an IAC bus within the OSX AudioMIDI Setup application. Eigenlabs supplies all the relevant information and Help files to get this happening.
NEED TO KNOW Price $759 Contact Crossroad Guitars (07) 3805 8049 www.guitar-market.com.au www.crossroadguitars.com Pros Extraordinarily different. Excellent performance tool. Superbly made. Available in silver, black, and now pink! Cons Takes more than the usual setup procedure. Not inexpensive. Summary The Eigenlabs Pico goes where no other MIDI controller goes… and it’s uncharted territory out there. Players will ultimately determine how this innovative instrument develops and where it takes computer-based performance, as is the case with any of the Eigenlabs instruments.
In use I have to say the Pico takes some getting used to, and yes, I did my interpretations of the Star Wars cantina scene music. On a more serious note, the Pico is an extremely innovative instrument. The number of continuous controller messages this thing puts out is largely impossible with any other style of MIDI controller. Then, when you consider much of this data can be output on a per-note basis, you realise just how powerful and expressive the Eigenlabs instruments can be – startlingly different and primed for new and innovative approaches to performance.
AT 33
REVIEW
RME BABYFACE
It may be cute but can this pint-sized interface really perform? Text: Andrew Bencina
Over recent years RME’s department of unnatural selection has turned its focus inward. After Apple’s disastrous decision to abandon their reliable Firewire implementation for a cheaper and less stable alternative, it became clear that future interfaces could no longer rely on the consistency of third-party technology. Twelve months ago RME revealed the first of these new hybrids, the Fireface UC (Issue 72). Falling short of a completely new species, the UC was in fact a Fireface 400 employing a proprietary USB 2.0 implementation rather than the pre-existing Firewire interface. While the development of the UC core, based around an FPGA, was a significant and promising mutation, in the end it merely scratched the surface of potential developments leaving plenty of room for future evolution. For at least six months now the RME stork has been flapping overhead as company boffins tweaked and due dates drifted by. Finally this week we were able to celebrate the arrival of a bouncing Babyface. IT’S A... BOY? Weighing in at one pound, one ounce (0.5kg) this baby blue bundle of audio is the runt of the RME litter. The compact and stylish form factor is something new for the German company, traditionally known for its professional rack and half-rack solutions. Housed in a robust and sleek chassis that’s carved from solid blocks of aluminium, the Babyface is smaller than a pulp paperback and only 25mm thick. While a fresh design approach for RME, the Babyface bears some resemblance to Apogee’s Duet (though not so Apple-conscious in its styling).
Like the Duet, the vast majority of the Babyface’s I/O is accessed via a 25-pin breakout cable. RME’s sister company, ALVA, provides the 30cm long main breakout along with a 1m Dsub-to-Dsub extension. The two fit together cleverly within an enclosed plastic hood, somewhat avoiding the ugly standard VGA/serial cable appearance. It’s intended that you’ll use the extension to banish all connections to the floor but I preferred to have them within easy reach most of the time. The accessory list is completed by a shortish USB 2.0 cable and a fairly swanky AT 34
padded handbag, which features three compartments for safe transport of the Babyface and its leads. Although the Babyface makes use of the now-taken-for-granted USB 2.0 protocol, it does so in a very RME-like manner, extracting the maximum performance from a communications bus long maligned by pro audio manufacturers and customers alike. While the unit will run identically on a Windows machine (at least XP SP2) and a Mac (OSX 10.5 or later) the system requirements do specify a minimum Core2Duo CPU. This has very little to do with processing power and everything to do with the poor USB implementation on older motherboards. You may indeed find the Babyface functions with older machines but it’s far more likely to be limited in its stable performance. It’s entirely bus-powered, and while a power adapter input is provided there’s no current evidence to suggest it’s required. Indeed, no factory power pack is even supplied. While the packaged USB Y-cable does feature a second connector for bus power reinforcement this is provided primarily as a precaution for systems that fail to meet the expected standards. GOOD BREEDING While much about the Babyface is new, its bloodlines can be traced to earlier RME progeny. The Babyface features two analogue inputs and four outputs, with support for up to 24-bit/192k recording and playback. This number can be expanded via ADAT to 10-in/12-out at up to 48k and also supports higher ADAT resolutions via SMUX. The A/D converters in the Babyface have been taken from the Fireface 800 (AK5383) while the D/A is from the M32DA (TI PCM4104) ensuring that existing RME standards have not been compromised. In addition, you get all the usual RME staples, like support for both internal and external clock sources, DDS – RME’s version of varispeed pitch control – and rock solid performance at low latencies. Using an additional ADI8 DS converter I was able to comfortably record six channels of 24-bit/96k audio, error free with a buffer size of 96 samples (1ms latency).
The top of the Babyface is dominated by a large stepped
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...the RME Babyface provides a level of performance and flexibility that belies its diminutive appearance.
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continuous jog-wheel and two 10-segment LED meters. Using the smaller Select button the rotary encoder can be switched to edit Input gain and Output level for both stereo analogue channels (the second doubling as headphone level). By depressing the wheel you can select individual channels for parameter setting and alternately engage the Dim function (a user-configurable output level pad). Each of these selections is reflected by Mode status LEDs and also the meters themselves. Single LEDs are supplied at the base of each meter to indicate the active state of the 48V phantom supply. The Recall button allows users to save their own preferred monitor level which can then, as the name suggests, be instantly recalled. Depressing the button for two seconds stores the current Main Output level. While the detented multi-function wheel is well suited to the configuration of Input gain on the preamp/instrument channels – which varies in baby steps of 3dB – some users may yearn for that solid pot or fader control over their main output. The breakout cable features two balanced XLR outputs, two XLR inputs for the excellent onboard mic pres (shared with the Fireface UC), a headphone socket, which doubles as unbalanced analogue Outputs 3&4 and MIDI I/O. The rear also accommodates a pair of optical TOSlink connectors for either ADAT of S/PDIF (selectable within the driver window). The side of the unit provides a second headphone output, sharing both its channel and amplifier with the breakout socket, and a selectable Hi-Z (470kΩ) instrument input, which shares analogue Channel 2. BABY MONITOR If that wasn’t enough, the Babyface incorporates a brand new routing and mix environment called TotalMix FX. Ralf Männel (co-founder of RME whose initials comprise the company name) has returned to design the FPGA for the Babyface and upgrade the long-serving DSP mixer. Unlike many other devices, this is located entirely within hardware and thus has no effect on CPU load. While existing RME users will welcome the significant user interface overhaul and the availability of settings configurations previously located within the driver, it’s the processing power of the custom FPGA that delivers the biggest wow factor.
Every input and every output channel comes equipped with three-band parametric EQ and a high-pass filter which can be switched into the record path. Stereo channels feature width control and MS processing, and all channels offer 180º polarity
inversion. An effects bus, containing a range of high-resolution reverb and echo options, expands the possibilities even further. Add to this multiple monitor submixes, an enhanced router matrix, parameter grouping, MIDI control, and a range of snapshot and recall options and you’re faced with the possibility of a whole new way of working deserving of an article in its own right. RME’s next release, the Fireface UFX, makes even greater use of these advances and will allow a deeper exploration of TotalMix in coming issues of AT. TEETHING When it comes to affordable portable devices, compromises based on either cost or space seems almost inevitable, and unfortunately the Babyface is no exception. While not faults per se, the following is a list of things worth noting. Unlike other RME external interfaces, the Babyface does not work standalone, the main XLR outputs are not servo-balanced (which means you’ll need to custom wire connectors to any unbalanced equipment), and the balanced and unbalanced analogue outputs have a maximum output of only +15dBu and +7dBu respectively – the latter reduced even further when connecting high powered headphones to the duplicate side panel socket. This last issue will also affect levels when two sets of headphones are used, although I found this to be minimised by less demanding (high-impedance) cans.
In addition to the cutbacks, potential buyers should note that the Babyface – like any bus powered interface – is susceptible to audio interference from the computer, generally as a result of poor earthing within your machine. These problems tend to be a subtle nuisance more than anything but it’s still worth doing some testing before you commit to any new device. In the case of a laptop, the solution is often (as it was in this case) to disconnect the charger during critical listening and run off battery alone. BABY LOVE Previously, I’ve always considered this type of device to be a luxury, hidden away in the cupboard for that odd live gig or location recording. Not so with this baby; the RME Babyface provides a level of performance and flexibility that belies its diminutive appearance. The possibility for expansion, when partnered with an ADAT-compatible converter, means it could easily stand alone within a small project studio. RME is set to make a host of adoptive parents very happy and I guarantee noone will put this baby in the corner.
NEED TO KNOW Price $999 Contact Innovative Music (03) 9540 0658 info@innovativemusic.com.au www.innovativemusic.com.au Pros Sleek and solid build. Key functions controllable from front panel. Musical preamps and pristine conversion. TotalMix FX simplifies configuration and expands functionality. Cons Significant level reduction in dual headphone output with certain headphones. Side panel connectors not particularly ergonomic. Main analogue outputs not servo balanced. No standalone operation. Summary RME’s freshest delivery is the offspring of a petite and portable USB-powered DAC and a full-blown studio interface. Teamed with a set of ADAT converters the Babyface will more than satisfy the varied requirements of countless project studios yet still slide just as easily into your laptop bag for a live stereo performance. As a bonus, the powerful new TotalMix FX takes onboard mixing and routing to a new level.
AT 35
REVIEW
ROYER R-101 An addition to the Royer stable is always worth a look-see. Text: Greg Walker
Here we go again! As lucky beneficiaries of the great ‘Ribbon Wars’ of the early 21st century, the audio community is getting bombarded with quality ribbon mics on an almost daily basis. If it’s not louder, cooler looking or trickier somehow, then it must be cheaper, and Royer’s new R-101 ribbon mic slots neatly into this last category (and that’s no bad thing by the way). While the R-101 may be cheaper, that’s a relative thing where Royer mics are concerned, and the 101 certainly doesn’t come off looking or sounding second best. The R-101 is a chunky beast, built like a tank and very stylishly decked out in black. A silver mesh grille pokes through the series of concentric openings in the top third of the mic, giving it that unmistakable Royer signature. Gone are the Prince Charles ‘ears’ that stop the high-end models from rolling off the table but, as if to compensate, the R-101 is a tad bigger all round (200mm x 36mm) and a bit of a heavyweight at 483g. Inside the capsule lurks a 2.5 micron 99.99% pure (apparently) aluminium ribbon element and high-grade neodymium magnet assembly in Royer’s patented ‘Flux-Frame’ transducer. The passive capsule design delivers a figure-8 polar pattern that’s been optimised for close-up work with a maximum SPL of greater than 135dB, making it suitable for a variety of close-miking duties. A NEW BRO’ Like all its brethren in the ‘R’ series, the R-101 also features the offset-ribbon design which positions the ribbon element more towards the front (or AT 36
logo side) of the mic, allowing the ribbon more space to move inside the prime magnetic field, thus improving its performance in high SPL situations. It also means there’s an ever so slightly brighter response from the back lobe of the mic. The R-101 also comes with an excellent and sturdy shock mount, a comprehensive and informative manual (which includes many tips on mic placement and signal processing), and a cute little black felt mic bag that you can slip over the mic at night to stop fairies from stealing pixie dust out of it. The whole package comes in a petite silver flight-case that reinforces the sense of the mic being a serious professional tool. More significantly, Royer also offers a lifetime guarantee to the original purchaser and one free reribboning service – excellent! HONEST REFLECTIONS Taking the R-101 out of its case I was very impressed by its appearance and heft, and it wasn’t long before I had it plugged in and seeing active duty in the studio. I was a bit surprised by its relatively low output (being a tad lower than my somewhat outdated Oktava ML-53), but after trying various high-end mic pres and impedance settings I resigned myself to this limitation and put the issue to one side.
While cozy terms such as ‘warm’ and ‘mellow’ immediately spring to mind when describing the sound of the R-101, it’s important to note that all Royer ribbons also have a tendency towards unflinching honesty and this mic is no exception. If you’re recording in a large, lush sounding space
the results can be amazing. Conversely, if you’re tracking in a suburban bedroom with carpet on the floor and a low-slung ceiling, that small boxy sound is exactly what this mic will throw back at you. It neither flatters nor deceives and there isn’t a hint of condenser zing or hype to be heard. It’s really in the midrange and the lower frequencies where ribbon mics do their best work and in this regard the Royer’s new offering has some interesting strengths and weaknesses. MID-STRENGTH The 101 has a very pronounced midrange character to it while not displaying the big bottom-end response of some older ribbons, giving it more of a ‘modern’ ribbon sound overall. This is no doubt partly to reduce the proximity effect which in turn allows the mic to do good things at close range, but I have to say I missed the bottom-end extension at various times while using it in the studio. On acoustic guitar it’s nevertheless sweet and warm while retaining soft detail in the higher registers. In this application, miking from a couple of feet or more away lets the room in a little and gives the performance a sense of occasion, which I really like. On vocals it’s fairly dark but certainly exudes a nice bit of old world charm with its emphasis on the middle registers, and for singers with a natural tendency towards brightness this mic is a beautiful fit. It also excels at backing vocals where a smooth and unobtrusive tone is required. The R-101 really shines up close on guitar amps and delivers lots of eminently useable low to upper midrange oomph
while being slightly deaf to the nasties around 4 - 5kHz (a great advantage of ribbon mics in general). On bass amps the Royer is also impressive. I used it several times about three to four metres away in conjunction with a close-miked dynamic to capture a bit of bloom from the amp and some room reflections, which worked a treat. I wasn’t so impressed with it as drum room mic though, where the 101 seemed to capture a pretty muted version of the energy of the kit with a lot of tubby mids and not a lot else. Even massive low-end EQ boosts didn’t really provide the sort of wallop I was expecting. The Royer was a bit of a revelation as a close mic on kick drum however, imparting a bit of ribbon magic to the kick sound while not chewing your ears off with snare and cymbal spill. For this application I followed the manual’s instructions to set the mic up two or three feet out from the kick drum with a pop shield, tilted slightly downwards to reduce stress on the ribbon element. This worked very nicely indeed. BACKGROUND ARTIST On strings the Royer also worked a treat for conjuring up a soft, pillowy texture that sat beautifully in the mix. Indeed, I often found the R-101 naturally slotted the tracking it captured into a background/reinforcement role. On two separate occasions I had to improve existing sounds, once by adding real strings to a sampled orchestral arrangement, and once by adding subliminal extra acoustic guitars to a critical but slightly shaky original take, and the Royer was the perfect tool for this kind of work. The string arrangement came to life with the softer ‘old-Hollywood’ tonality of the real playing underneath the samples, while the acoustic guitar seemed to straighten out and move more easily with the subtle underpinning of the new overdubs. On both occasions the Royer’s gentle top end meant that any slight irregularities in the playing of the new parts didn’t jump out or get in the way, while the darker tone of the reinforcements added smoothing body and weight to the original parts. While not perhaps apparent on first listen, I’d say this ability to blend into the background is a real strength of the 101. Then again it’s only really a strength when you’ve got a decent mic or two in the studio already so it depends a bit on the user. Quite often I found myself miking sources with both the 101 and something like a Neumann condenser or a Shure SM57 and mixing the signals to taste in fairly conventional fashion – sometimes abandoning the other mic altogether where the darker tone worked better, but often ending up somewhere around 50/50 for guitar amps, strings and other acoustic sources. I really liked the R-101 but didn’t always feel it had sufficient bite and wallop to cover all my bases. Having said that, it did give me some great results in tandem with other more traditional mic choices. THE NEW BLACK While words like ‘soft’ and ‘subtle’ do describe the sound of this mic, of course digital and/or analogue EQ is always within arms reach and the Royer responds well to this sort of treatment in most cases. Brightening up things like vocals and drums reveals quite a quick transient response and, as with most ribbons, there’s plenty to like about the top end of the 101 when it’s judiciously unveiled. Unfortunately, for low-level sources in particular, opening up the top end with EQ also exposes the mic’s rather high noise floor. But whether this is a strength or weakness depends entirely on your source volume. I have to admit I’ve been pretty spoiled in recent times by some of the active ribbons I’ve billeted in my studio on behalf of AT lately, with their effortless high-gain outputs and low noise floors, so perhaps I’ve had unfair expectations of this new passive Royer by comparison. In the end this gain limitation really only becomes problematic when you’re recording low-level sources. The Royer R-101 has a highly desirable tone, smoldering dark looks and general flexibility as a studio tool. Just don’t try using it to record the sounds of mice scurrying in the wall, that’s all.
NEED TO KNOW Price $1090 Contact Atlantis (03) 9818 7778 info@atlantisasia.com www.atlantisasia.com Pros Great for close miking louder sources. Versatile performer for most studio applications. Looks great. Slightly brighter response from rear lobe. More affordable entry to the land of Royer ribbons. Cons Low output gain can cause noise issues on quiet sources. Bottom end quite restrained. Doesn’t flatter poor sources. Summary Another good addition to the formidable Royer roster, the R-101 works well in many applications and in particular on close miking duties where amp cabinets, kick drums and vocals benefit from its smooth tonality. A little on the noisy side for quiet sources or in situations where tracks are stacked up liberally, but in general a very tasty addition to any studio’s mic collection.
While it’s not going to be the centrepiece of every recording, the R-101 has a great midrange tone and will no doubt provide character and colour to countless projects in the coming years, and for the right voice it could also be a smoking lead and backing vocal mic. The new price point brings a high-end brand within the reach of the more well-heeled home studio enthusiast and, for those with a few other condenser and dynamic options already in the mic cabinet, the R-101 could well be the perfect entry point into the wonderful world of Royer ribbon mic recording. AT 37