studio 11
February 2012 www.prosoundnewseurope.com
fstudio news APPOINTMENTS
FRANCE
Right time for sometime Guillaume Schouker reports from brand new multi-discipline residential site, sometimeStudio, in north-eastern France Acclaimed artist, musician, engineer and producer Ramuntcho Matta has turned his dream into reality with the completion of Lizières, a “centre for world culture” built from the ruins of the 19th century Château d’Épaux-Bézu. Lizières features a state-of-the-art recording facility named sometimeStudio based around a Neve Custom Series 75 console. Located in a small village in the Picardy region of France – about halfway between Paris and Riems – and set in three acres, the Château d’Épaux-Bézu was originally built in the 14th century. It was destroyed during the French Revolution (around 1790), before being reconstructed under the Second Empire (the Bonapartist regime between 1852-1870). Managing director and co-owner Matta explains: “The major assets of Lizières are both its geographical situation – near the city of Paris [86km], but also not far from Germany and Belgium – and the building’s several annexes in which disciplines such as music, visual arts, arts therapists and artists-inresidence can contribute to encounters that can be productive at the creative stage of an album or a piece of music.” In fact, Matta’s project is purportedly supported by a ‘council of the wise’, who will help to define its “artistic heading and bring Lizières its international radiance”.
JBL Pro 4333As are mounted on stands built out of reclaimed chestnut roof-beams
This council includes musicians Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed, human rights activist François Zimeray and artists Richard Nonas and Valérie Le Huche. Lizières’ sometimeStudio is centred around a well-appointed control room designed by acoustician Jean-Pierre Lafont and featuring a 32-channel Neve Custom Series 75. Matta reveals: “It is first of all an emotional principle: I have done my best productions on a Neve board in the early ’80s. The transparency of contemporary technology with the warmth of [the desk’s] retro mode allows a slight signal saturation, enabling a mild distortion that brings out all the potential in the harmonics of the sound.”
Next to the control room is a small voice-over booth, while two large live rooms – one of 80sqm and the other of 115sqm – provide plenty of scope for all manner of projects. Mounted on stands built out of old chestnut roof-beams reclaimed from the château, a pair of JBL Pro 4333As are used as main monitors; mid- and near-field speakers are Quested V3110s, Yamaha NS10s, Dynaudio BM5A Series and Auratone 5Cs. Matta explains the reasons for this choice: “We offer a selection of monitoring systems that make for a journey in time.” In addition to full daylight and a view of the lush greenery, the control room
offers a Pro Tools 7.2 HD system operated by an Apple Mac G5, plus 48 in/48 out SSL XLogic AlphaLink audio converters, SSL XLogic Delta Link MADI HD and Brainstorm Electronics DCD8 Word Clock. Top-range outboard mounted in more chestnut beam racks includes a D.W. Fearn VT2, Universal Audio 1176LN, TC Electronic D-Two, Line6 Filter Pro, Akai MFC 42, GML 8200, Eventide H7600, Portico 5012 Duo, Focusrite ISA 430, and Lexicon PCM70. The residential part of Lizières is well specified, consisting of two bedrooms with private bathroom, plus two large bright apartments of 55 and 60sqm respectively that can accommodate up to 12 people. An old pigeon-loft annex will be renovated this year and will be turned into an exclusive penthouse. Matta concludes: “Lizières is a place where the most important people are the project bearers – those who represent the philosophy of the place. This includes people such as Lou Reed or Gregorio Manzur, writers, doctors, philosophers... Talking music with a poet or an architect can lead to new directions. Having the gardener listen to a music draft is also an inspiratory gateway...” Q
f Audinate has named Dave Anderson as director of sales at the company. He previously spent 18 years with Avid, holding various sales roles; latterly he was territory account manager and US West coast sales manager with responsibility for the largest territory in Avid’s audio business. www.audinate.com
f Copenhagen-based Tube-Tech
has appointed Bigger Boat Distribution to represent its valve outboard in the UK and Ireland. The products have been added to a portfolio that also includes kit from Lavry Engineering. www.biggerboatdistribution.com www.tube-tech.com
f Simon Horn has joined console
maker Audient as sales manager for customers in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The addition comes following a period of growth in Germany that has led to a change in Audient’s distribution strategy. www.audient.com
f Unity Audio has been named
Assistance in preparing this article was provided by Edouard Hardel.
as the exclusive international distributor for Cartec Audio. Cartec, based in Manchester, UK, has been in business for just over two years and produces the Pultec valve EQ recreation, the EQP-1A. Unity Audio’s owner, Kevin Walker, commented: “Cartec Audio fits in perfectly with what Unity Audio does and believes in.”
www.lizieres.org
www.unityaudio.co.uk
www.sometimestudio.org