REPORT
REVIEWS
REVEALED
/ Marshall Studios: retro Neve, modern outlook / Product Focus: consoles & summing mixers / Pro Tools: where next?
/ Flock Audio Patch: digital ease, analogue kit / Audio Digital Technology Olympic EQ & Pre / Inspired Acoustics Inspirata
/ Volker Bertelmann: abstract to soundtrack / Marc Sylvan: quiz show sting king / Resolution Awards 2021: all the nominees
V21.5 | September 2021 | £5.50
The
Interview
Guy Fletcher
Unleash your creativity Introducing GLM 4.1 loudspeaker manager software For 15 years, GLM software has worked with our Smart Active Monitors to minimise the unwanted acoustic influences of your room and help your mixes sound great, everywhere. Now, GLM 4.1 includes the next generation AutoCal 2 calibration algorithm and a host of new features – delivering a much faster calibration time and an even more precise frequency response. So, wherever you choose to work, GLM 4.1 will unleash your creativity, and help you produce mixes that translate consistently to other rooms and playback systems. And with GLM 4.1, both your monitoring system and your listening skills have room to develop and grow naturally too. Find out more at www.genelec.com/glm
/ Contents
20 V21.5 | September 2021
News & Analysis 5 6
Leader News News, studios and appointments 12 New Products Featuring PMC’s new monitors, and a new immersive monitoring collaboration
Columns
14 Crosstalk — Rob Speight Rob takes a look at what comes next for Pro Tools, following the introduction of the Hybrid Engine 25 RESOLUTION AWARDS NOMINEES Take a look at the products we'd like you to vote on in the Resolution Awards 2021 50 Playlist Following the news of his passing in September, we pick out some of the music of Richard H. Kirk, from Cabaret Voltaire and beyond
Guy Fletcher
26
Craft
20 Guy Fletcher A former member of Dire Straits, and long-time studio collaborator with Mark Knopfler, Guy Fletcher has recently been branching-out with collaborations on game soundtracks 26 Volker Bertelmann The Oscar-nominated soundtrack composer chats about his experimental roots, and how he’s parlayed that sensibility into his work on Netflix’s Stowaway and other recent projects 30 Andrea Lepori A UK based mixer, engineer, and producer — with credits including U2, The Rolling Stones and Jack Savoretti 34 Marc Sylvan You may not know the name, but if you’ve seen a UK quiz show in the last 10 years you’ll have heard his work
30
Technology
38 Consoles and summing mixers We take an overview of those creative souls still refining the classic mixing console concept, and pick out a few of the summing mixers that are bringing analogue flavour to in-the-box workflows 46 Facility The legendary Marshall brand has built a recording studio next to its UK base, you say? Classic Neve console, you say? Exclusive look at the finished facility, you say?
34
38
46
REVIEWS 16 17 18
Flock Audio Patch LT Audio Digital Technology Olympic Mic EQ & Mic Amp 65 Inspired Acoustics Inspirata
September 2021 / 3
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/ Welcome
Leader
John Moore
Editor/Content Manager John Moore john@resolutionmag.com
Editor-at-large Nigel Jopson
Contributors Mike Aiton, Dennis Baxter, John Broomhall, Simon Clark, Russell Cottier, Jay Dean, Gijs Friesen, Kevin Hilton, Tim Oliver, George Shilling, Rob Speight, Jon Thornton, Danny Turner, Phil Ward
Risks and rewards
Chief Executive Officer Stuart Allen +44 (0)7999 847715 stuart@resolutionmag.com
Chief Operating Officer — Publishing, Sales & Marketing Jeff Turner UK/Europe: +44 (0)117 318 5041 USA: +1 415 307 7337 jturner@resolutionmag.com
Director of Production Dean Cook The Magazine Production Company +44 (0)1273 911730 dean@resolutionmag.com
Finance & Accounts Manager Judith Clegg +44 (0)7977 104648 judith@resolutionmag.com
Printing Gemini Print Southern Ltd, Unit A1 Dolphin Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. BN43 6NZ Published by S2 Publications Ltd info@resolutionmag.com c/o 221 Commercial, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Gardens, London, WC2H 9JQ ©2021 S2 Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication, but neither S2 Publications Ltd or the editor can be held responsible for its contents. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publisher. S2 Publications Ltd. Registered in England and Wales. REGISTERED OFFICE Gowran House, 56 Broad Street, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol, BS37 6AG Company number: 4375084
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C
reative flair has always fared best when twinned with an entrepreneurial spirit. Taking risks, just getting yourself out there, and — let’s not deny — ‘faking it ‘til you make it’ have long been central to getting artistic careers off the ground in all areas of media. It’s also true on the technological side of things, especially in music. The history of recording is liberally sprinkled with stories of creative mavericks who parlayed their mix of technical expertise, insight and varying levels of business acumen into going-then-often-notgoing concerns that have shaped the business as we know it. The seed of each of these stories was an innovation or idea so good, and which appealed so strongly to a group of people, that they simply couldn’t resist putting their hearts, souls — and possibly houses — into making it a reality. We love to celebrate them, and rightly so. It’s a common refrain in the music scene, and life in general, that there simply aren’t as many ‘characters’ like that as there used to be. Some may bemoan the maturing of the music industry, and the dearth of mavericks in its newer corporate landscape, but there are still plenty of companies out there looking to take similar chances to those that got them started — every story in these pages, at some point, is
built on a leap of faith. Ours is not an industry that people tend to wander into, it generally takes commitment and perseverance to make it. The story of Jim Marshall is well known: drummer, to drum teacher, to music shop owner, to setting in motion a series of events that would end with him putting his name to an amp that he’d realised his shop’s customers — which, in the early 60s, included Pete Townshend and Ritchie Blackmore — were crying out for. It is a story of growth, growing expertise, underpinned by a leap of faith. In this month’s issue, we take a look at how the company Jim Marshall left behind is still looking to honour that way of doing business, by taking a leap of faith and opening a top-ofthe-line recording studio and facility close to the company’s home base. Those entrusted with developing the company now genuinely believe there is a need for such a facility both for it as a company, the artists which they represent as the owners of a record label, and those who depend on it for their products. In an industry that is still struggling postpandemic — to wit: we have received news this month that both the NAB, and NAMM shows dues to take place in the US have been punted further back in the calendar — it is a move we simply have to applaud and wish every success.
John
September 2021 / 5
News
Yamaha RIVAGE PM mixes Audi Q4 e-tron
Audi ‘digital world premiere’ for its new Q4 e-tron was a complex production, comprising 45 live streams — each in three languages — and routed to media in 28 different countries. The audio mixing for the launch was entrusted to Yamaha Rivage PM digital mixing systems, based out of a live broadcast centre built within Munich’s Eisbach Studios. Technical services for the interactive program were provided by Hannover-based AVE (Audio Visual Equipment Verhengsten GmbH & Co.), which was charged with managing 60 inputs and 25 outputs at FOH alongside 80 inputs, 46 mixes and 20 direct outs for broadcast. AVE rented Yamaha Rivage PM3 and PM7 systems from der Kohl GmbH, the dry hire business run by ‘der Kohl’, a well-known German sound engineer. der Kohl mixed the event’s front of house sound for the production crew, monitors, and routed communications on the Rivage PM3, while Michael Simon — a full-time sound engineer at der Kohl GmbH — created the streamed mixes on the Rivage PM7 taking inputs from Pixera media servers, 40 channels of Shure Axient Digital series wireless mics and 12 interpreters. www.yamahaproaudio.com
Metropolis opens Atmos room Metropolis Studios, based at the Power House in Chiswick, London, has added a new mix room. Notably, the latest option — completed by immersive audio specialist Sonosphere, in a room designed by Munro Acoustics — has a centrally located mix position and immersive monitoring environment. It can cater for all current surround formats, and is Dolby Atmos certified — indeed, it is capable of delivering 11.8.1 Atmos and includes an Atmos Mastering Suite server. The set up is based entirely upon Neumann monitors. The Sonosphere team has long history with the German brand, and recommended three Neumann KH 420 tri-amplified monitors were soffit-mounted to the front wall, with one KH 420 positioned horizontally beneath its video screen and twin KH 870 400 Watt subwoofers flanking the three-way monitors. Surround monitoring is handled by 17 KH 120 compact bi-amplified studio monitors.
SMPTE announces awards for 2021
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has announced its list of industry leaders and innovators who will be honored at its annual Awards Gala. While there was no recipient of the Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal this year, which celebrates innovation in sound — awarded to acoustician Andrew Munro and editor/director/sound designer Walter Murch in recent years — the society has added director Peter Jackson, former president of Sony Pictures Technology Christopher J. Cookson and TV and radio pioneer David Sarnoff (posthumous) to its prestigious Honorary Memberships roll. Progress Medals, which recognise technical contributions to the progress of the engineering phases of the motionpicture, television, or motion-imaging industries goes to former VP of Technology at Warners, Wendy Aylsworth, and virtual production innovator, Girish Balakrishnan (The Lion King, Ready Player One. The list of recipients and new SMPTE fellows is long and storied, and more can information can be found on those who have been honoured this year — and in the past — at www.smpte.org/about/awardsprograms along with more information on the Society and its role. 6 / September 2021
Sennheiser innovates with TED Sennheiser has built a one-of-a-kind headset mic for TED event speakers, that it believes matches “the sleek and minimalist aesthetic of the brand.” The new headsets debuted alongside the Sennheiser Digital 9000 wireless microphone system at TEDMonterey in August. This was the first in-person TED conference since 2019, and featured speakers including psychologist Adam Grant and musician Lizzo. Sennheiser was approached by Mina Sabet, director of production and video operations at TED, in 2018 as part of its
search for a solution to “clunky and obtrusive” headsets. The design takes cues from a few of Sennheiser’s top products, utilising a short boom arm — with a tiny microphone that leverages the transducer from the MKE 1. A thin neckband adds comfort and a silver colour was chosen for a modern edge. TED used the Digital 9000 wireless system to bring the custom headsets to life, operating four channels of wireless, across 15 belt packs that paired with 50 headsets and 50 handheld microphones across the course of the event.
APPOINTMENTS
The Voiceover Gallery expands Specialists in voiceover, dubbing, audio production and translation, The Voiceover Gallery, has opened a new London studio and in-house subtitling division. The new London studios is located on Berwick St., Soho, and features three light, airy rooms, with in-house engineers. From this base, and its other studio in Manchester, the addition of the in-house subtitling division will help to ensure quicker turnaround times, better quality and accuracy in that area of its business. The company is also launching a complete rebrand and new logo, which encompasses the company’s vision
throughout and is anchored on everything The Voiceover Gallery does in voice, language and sound. The studio can be contacted for enquiries on (+44) 0207 987 0950, or info@thevoiceovergallery.co.uk. Jerry Leonard, business development director, say that “bringing our London studios to Soho takes The Voiceover Gallery closer to our clients and partners. The move will help guarantee that we can continue to deliver outstanding service to our existing client portfolio and build on our strong network within the industry to broaden our range of partners.” www.thevoiceovergallery.co.uk
Producer Stephen W Tayler release solo LP Da Capo
AIMS offers free Media Over IP resources
Based at Real World Studios, and known for his production and mixing work with Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Rush, Suzanne Vega, Stevie Nicks and many others, Stephen W. Tayler has now released a new solo record, Da Capo. Described as “an atmospheric work combining his ambient instrumental compositions and soundscapes,” with the material all based on “the concept of time, memories and experiences,” written following the loss of a number of close friends, Da Capo physical release is as a CD/DVD double disc, offering stereo and surround mixes with visuals, plus live tracks from a performance in Real World’s Big Room. “The music stems from a meditative state that I often feel in quite varied environments, a personal testament to the passing of time and the meaning of the infinite moments that comprise the passage of a life,” Stephen says.
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has recently published an array of free educational resources related to media over IP for broadcast and Pro AV. The collection of presentations, papers, and solutions now available on the AIMS website highlights progress in achieving an all-IP ecosystem using open standards, offers forward-looking perspectives on IP workflows, and provides practical solutions for migrating smoothly to IP. New at tinyurl.com/aims-resource are videos from May’s AIMS TechFest 2021, including presentations on topics including IP video/audio taxonomy, live production, IPMX for both Pro AV and broadcast, NMOS, and more. AIMS also publishes and maintains a vendor guide showcasing an array of products from companies that support the principles of AIMS and follow the AIMS roadmap. This can be seen at solutions.aimsalliance.org. www.aimsalliance.org
Recently launched UK manufacturer Optimal Audio has announced the appointment of Al McKinna as Head of Product. A graduate of LIPA, Al joins after fifteen years at Avid, where he served in sales and then product management. As director of product management for live sound, Al led the business strategy and product development of Avid’s venue brand of consoles and software, overseeing thirty major product releases and achieving two patents during this time. Al will be responsible for creating a future product development strategy for Optimal Audio. Oliver Zimmermann has been appointed to serve as director of manufacturing for Riedel Communications. A physicist, supply chain expert, and change management specialist with more than a decade of experience in manufacturing, most recently in data and telecommunications, Zimmermann will focus on Riedel's supply chain and production processes to enable even greater efficiency and agility. Zimmermann earned a doctorate in physics from Ruhr University Bochum and since then has leveraged his knowledge of models and processes to analyse systems and refine internal structures to help manufacturing organisations become more efficient. He most recently served as director of operations for Telegärtner Karl Gärtner. B2B technology solutions provider Jigsaw24 has appointed Jason Cowan as Business Director, Media and Entertainment. Cowan joins the company from Avid, where he worked in business development for cloud and SaaS solutions. He has previously held managing director and business development director roles in production, post-production and cloud software development firms during a career spanning 30 years in the industry. Cowan will develop Jigsaw24’s media and entertainment wing, working across the business to develop future value propositions and identify new growth opportunities. Jigsaw24 is an Avid Elite Partner, and last year became the UK’s first Avid Certified Cloud Partner, allowing it to provide Avid-certified solutions that enable post-production professionals to edit their media from anywhere in the world.
September 2021 / 7
/ News
APPOINTMENTS
Multimedia systems integrator, equipment specialist and service provider CJP Broadcast — which provides a wide range of services in the broadcast, corporate, education and sports sectors — has added broadcast engineer Rees Williams to its technical support team. He joins the company after four years with events presentation company Universal Live, where he was a technical project manager specialising in audiovisual operations. A graduate of Birmingham City University with a BSc in Sound Engineering and Production, Rees established an audio engineering and stage event consultancy in 2008 before joining the technical support staff of Miami-based Celebrity Cruises where he supervised the operation and maintenance of shipboard AV equipment. He progressed in January 2017 to Universal Live, working alongside the sales and accounts departments to create bespoke audiovisual proposals for large bookings and hybrid events. Medialogy Broadcast, the London-based supplier of television and radio broadcast equipment, has appointed Etukudo Etebom Akpan as technical sales manager for West Africa. Based in Lagos, Nigeria, he will represent the company in the 15 countries which collectively form the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Graduating with a BSc degree in Physics and Electronics from the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Etukudo Etebom Akpan began his career in 2002 as an engineer at Minaj Broadcast International. In 2006 he progressed to Hi-Media Ltd, advancing from senior broadcast engineer to technical manager. Subsequent roles included six years as a Lagos-based broadcast engineering consultant and two years with broadcast service provider Econet Media. He joins Medialogy Broadcast from Nigerian creative content development specialist Plume & Partner Limited where he was a technical consultant.
8 / September 2021
Lectrosonics help ‘Cujo’ go remote Location sound mixer Aaron ‘Cujo’ Cooley has built his new remote workflow combining Lectrosonics Digital and Legacy Products In response to the FCC’s shrinking of the available VHF spectrum, and the onset of COVID-19, Cooley has created an optimised rack for on-set use and kitted out a mobile studio in a 16ft box truck to create his own bubble. He sets up and places the rack of receivers on set and works from the truck, with the two connected using Dante, meaning his receivers are close to the action but he can work at a distance in an optimised environment. His extensive arsenal includes Lectrosonics D Squared equipment, M2 Duet Series IFB equipment, SR series receivers, and a variety of other Lectrosonics transmitters. Cooley was also an early adopter of a Dante, and a beta tester for Lectrosonics’ Dante-enabled D Squared digital products. “When I added in the Lectrosonics D-Squared digital transmitters to my work, much of our location problems
disappeared,” he says, adding that it “helped me in my gain-staging... I was able to reduce my overall gain by several dB, which not only made the tracks quieter, it also gave me additional headroom. www.lectrasonics.com
NAMM is back for June 2022 The NAMM Show, the California-based event for the international music, sound and entertainment technology industry, has pushed back its plans to return until the summer of 2022. Held in an online format in 2021, it was initially scheduled for its usual January slot next year, now because of COVID-19, the show will merge with its Summer equivalent (which usually happens in Nashville) and take place on 3th-5th June 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Centre. Joe Lamond, NAMM president, says "The industry has not stopped evolving and
innovating during the pandemic, and the NAMM Show is evolving, as well.... here in the US and around the world, the new dates will help members maximise their opportunities and accelerate what has arguably been a transformative time both in new products and in how they come to market. “I imagine this gathering will have the kind of impact of a Beatles moment or the introduction of MIDI — definitely one you will not want to miss.” Additional details of The 2022 NAMM Show will be released soon. www.namm.org
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/ News
NI’s Community Drive kicks off with sound pack to help Girls Make Beats Native Instruments has donated $30,000 to Girls Make Beats, a nonprofit organisation that empowers girls by expanding the female presence of music producers, DJs, and audio engineers. The pledge coincides with the launch of the company’s Community Drive 2021 sound pack, featuring free exclusive audio stems, samples and production kits from Grammy-nominated artists and producers. Contributors include Sofi Tukker, !llmind, and Jamie Lidell. Girls Make Beats was founded in 2012 by audio engineer Tiffany Miranda, and is a non-profit whose mission is to expand the female presence in the music industry, helping young girls aged 5-17 explore audio engineering and production in a male dominated industry. The sounds on the Community Drive sound pack are free, but donations to Girls Make Beats are encouraged; the pack contains 165 samples, 74 loops, 91 one shots, and 104 presets for NI products. www.native-instruments.com
Keb’ Mo’ and Ross Hogarth reunite at United
Five-time Grammy Award-winning Bluesman Keb’ Mo’ and longtime collaborator and recording engineer Ross Hogarth, have returned to United Recording after 23 years. The pair were last together at the iconic studio in 1998, working on Slow Down — which earned the artist his second Grammy Award. This year, the duo returned to track a new version of the B Positive TV show theme song, which Keb’ Mo’ wrote with the show’s executive producer Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, The Kominsky Method). “United Recording is my home away from home,” says recording engineer/ producer Ross Hogarth. “It’s such a pleasure to return to these iconic rooms originally designed and built by Bill Putnam in the 50s, and sonically maintained to this day with the same extraordinary acoustics.” United Recording is one of the world’s most recognisable music studios, and music produced at United has generated more than one billion in record sales worldwide. www.unitedrecordingstudios.com 10 / September 2021
Elevate chooses Custom Consoles Elevate Broadcast has chosen control room and studio desks from project-specific furniture manufacturer Custom Consoles as part of a project for a free-to-air television and radio network. "Custom Consoles' technical furniture has always proved a good investment, appreciated by operators and engineering-support staff," says Russ Jones, who supervised the project on behalf of Elevate. "The project included nine desks to be installed among five television studios and two radio studios. All nine are based on the Module-R series, which allows us to specify exactly what is needed. A crucial factor for every desk is being able to accommodate relevant equipment, power cables and signal feeds while ensuring access from front and rear for routine maintenance. We specified and integrated a total of five TV studio control desks, two audio control desks and two radio studio control desks, plus a music studio desk, two transmission control desks and two studio interview tables." "We normally install Module-R on site," adds Custom Consoles' sales manager Gary Fuller. In this instance, we shipped the various pre assembled elements for integration by the Elevate team. That is routine for our EditOne and EditOne-Radio series, which are shipped as flat-packs.” Also included in the project were two four-bay wide transmission control desks with left and right supporting equipment pods, and four 4U-high back-tilted equipment pods, plus two studio interview tables with acoustically treated worktops.
PreSonus support for Apple Silicon PreSonus tell us that all of its plug-ins, extensions, and hardware drivers for macOS, as well as Studio One 5.4, Capture, Universal Control, PreSonus Hub, and Worx Control applications for macOS now offer full native support for Apple Silicon processor-based Macs. Its macOS apps are now delivered as universal binary installs and are switchable between native Apple Silicon and Rosetta Intel-emulation modes. Native mode offers additional CPU optimisation for overall better performance, but requires plug-ins and instruments to be native as well. "We've always been proactive in staying on top of the latest computer CPUs and OS updates, and having full native support for Apple Silicon is extremely exciting for us,” observes PreSonus executive VP of product management, John Bastianelli. “Our Mac customers can now take advantage of the processing power of the new Apple Silicon processors, enabling them to use more plug-ins, VIs, and tracks, all with increased
efficiency. At the same time, we support Rosetta 2, so, for example, Studio One will continue to ‘play well’ with properly designed third-party plug-ins.” www.presonus.com
EVENTS GUIDE NAB, Las Vegas AES Fall, Las Vegas AES Fall [Digital] Infocomm, Orlando
Cancelled Now online 16-31 October 23-29 October
NAMM, Annaheim ISE, Barcelona
Postponed 1-4 February 2022
NAB, Las Vegas
23-27 April
Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt
26-29 April
IoA Reproduced Sound, Bristol 16-18 November
Musikmesse, Frankfurt
MIDEM Digital Edition, online 16-19 November
MPTS, London
11-12 May
Broadcast Tech Fest, London
NAMM, Anaheim
3-5 June
30 November
29 April-1 May
New Gear
New products A guide to the latest new hardware and software PMC Loudspeaker
New mid/nearfield monitors and subss After five years of what the company describes as “intense development”, UK loudspeaker manufacturer PMC is now taking orders for a new line of compact and midfield monitors. The PMC6, PMC6-2, and PMC8-2 — along with their associated subwoofers, the PMC8 SUB and PMC8-2 SUB — will replace the company’s existing twotwo Series in its range. The company says they have “the same sound signature” as PMC’s main monitor products, and act as compliments to them. Among the innovations PMC has incorporated are all-new drivers, DSP and Class-D amplifiers, as well as “significant improvements” to the company’s proprietary ATL bass-loading internal porting and Laminair air flow technologies. The new range of models is all designed so that they can be used as elements in a scalable system that can easily grow to suit. For example, the active subs can be combined with a mid/nearfield monitor to create a unit akin to one of PMC’s twin-cabinet XBD systems. Alternatively, the subs can be used as stand-alone LF monitors for sub-channels. Every model will also feature an expansion card slot for planned future signal interfacing options as well as XLRs switchable to either analogue or AES digital inputs — an AES XLR out is also provided alongside RJ45 connection for the company’s Soundalign configuration software.
The new line will offer simple, menu-driven controls on the rear panel — or can be set up via Soundalign, which can be accessed through that RJ45 connection by any device on the same network via web-browser on PC, Mac or Tablet. www.pmc-speakers.com
Sessionwire
Focusrite
DPA and KLANG:technologies
Sessionwire 2.0 is an updated remote music and audio production environment that integrates with a wide range of popular DAWs using standard plug-in formats (AU, AAX, VST3). Available in a range of plans, including a free-trial, users can connect and collaborate musically (record/mix/overdub) via the peer-topeer connections created by the DAW plugins and Mac/Windows app, and an auto-mute Talkback feature can be accessed through Sessionwire Talkback plug-in. Others can listen-in and comment via audio/video chat from a invitation browser link. Additional collaborators can be found and invited to sessions using the Community Discover tab.
Clarett+ is Focusrite’s new range of USB audio interfaces. The Clarett+ 2Pre, 4Pre and 8Pre all feature the all-analogue pre-amps with ‘Air’ option, that can be switched either via Focusrite’s control software or from the front panel, and emulate the ISA 110 pre of classic Focusrite consoles to brighten the top-end. The largest unit on offer, the 8Pre, unsurprisingly, offers eight of these new mic/line pres (two front, six rear on combo XLRs), alongside ADAT optical I/O, SPDIF I/O, USB out to DAW, eight line outs, balanced monitor outs, MIDI I/O and wordclock. It also features dual headphone outputs on the front panel, with volume controls, and eight rotary gain controls.
DPA Microphones and KLANG:technologies have collaborated to create an immersive monitoring system. It integrates DPA’s 5100 Mobile Surround Mic and Klang’s Immersive Mixing Processor, negating the need for multiple microphones to capture environments. Inspired by high-profile live sound users, the system can be deployed in small clubs up to large arena tours. Dedicated presets can be integrated through the KLANG:app — a control application for all KLANG immersive in-ear systems The DPA 5100 has primarily been used to capture ambience in a live sound setting, as well as for communications and archiving during band rehearsals in the past.
www.sessionwire.com
www.focusrite.com
www.dpamicrophones.com
Sessionwire 2.0
12 / September 2021
Clarett+
Immersive monitoring
Louder Than Liftoff
Sound Particles
An analogue 2U stereo bus/line/mic amplifier, its creators describe the Silver Bullet as a ‘Tone-Amp’ for adding analogue flavour to DAW workflows. The mk2 builds on 2014’s original with twin topology (A or N) ‘Mojo’ amps, designed to colour the sound in the style of classic boards — with a third slot to accommodate either a different stereo Mojo amp or one of multiple ‘Colour’ module, dedicated expansion boards created by Louder Than Liftoff and third-party makers that can offer additional elements for the signal chain, such as alternative amps, filters or compressors that can offer additional elements for the signal chain, such as alternative amps, filters or compressors. Gain and Out knobs control signal level, while C-DRV and C-MIX control the amount of drive for the C slot, and blend the dry and processed signals. A rotary amp selector allows easy auditioning of the two amps, and cascade options. Mic, Track and Mix INPUTS feed separate Track and Mix Outputs. Each channel also features Insert, Send and Return jacks that can be switched into the signal path. There’s a three-band Baxandall EQ, as well as the Air HF-shaping circuit from the original. The original LF and HF frequency settings have been expanded to a total of four frequencies per band. A Tight filter tightens up the extreme bottom end with 25Hz and 50Hz settings. The switchable Vintage mode alters the high-end in a way inspired by 70s-vintage British consoles, while Aspect Ratio is a stereo Enhancer.
Sound Particles has a new solution for controlling sound movement, in the form of Space Controller - a phone app and DAW plug-in to allow you to locate a sound within a soundfield — from stereo to 7.1.2, from Ambisonics to binaural — by pointing your mobile phone. The app can operate in Cube or Sphere modes, and control sounds as a single mono sound source, using independent channels, by rotating the entire soundfield, or in symmetric-like approaches. Using the same phone, you can control multiple tracks or you can use multiple phones to control different channels. Two versions are available, standard (which handles formats from stereo up to 5.1 — including Ambisonic and binaural options) and Studio (all formats up to 7.1.2 for Atmos) utilising a plug-in that can be AAX Native, AU, AUv3, VST and VST3. The standard version allows connection to the phone app via Bluetooth, while the Studio version also allows connection via a wi-fi network, allowing for remote placement of the DAW's computer. Introductory pricing offers for Sound Controller are available via Sound Particles' site at time of going to press.
www.louderthanliftoff.com
www.soundparticles.com
Silver Bullet mk2
United Plugins/SounDevice
Space Controller
Black Lion Audio
Rockruepel
Designed as a one-knob tool to easily add punch to drum loops or percussive hits, Urban Puncher is a plug-in for DAWs that offers simple a ‘Punch’ control — which adds a customised mix of compression, EQ and spectral transient shaping effect behind the scenes — along with a Dry/Wet mix control (for parallel processing) and Saturation controls for tweaking the effect. These sit alongside a ‘Destroy’ button that triples the Saturation effect. A graphicalon/off button controls bypass to quickly A/B the effect against the original signal, and It’s all fronted by a jaunty GUI.
American readers may be interested to know about the PG-2, a 2U a 120V power conditioner with 14 outlets providing an average of 99.7% noise filtering, thanks to Black Lion’s PG-99 filtering technology. It also offers a suite of status and alert capabilities, along with duel front and back XLR lamp connections, as well as additional and front 5V 1A USB charger. It builds on Black Lion’s original PG-1 and features a bank of 12 switched, filtered, and surge-protected outlets on its back panel arranged as three groups. These are Digital Audio Outlets (x4), Analogue Audio outlets (x4), and High Current (x4), with the latter two being time delayed to ensure speakers and power amplifiers are the last to turn on and the first to turn off. While the original PG-1 also came in a Europlug variant, we have no word on whether the PG-2 will as well.
A German-made unit, the Sidechain.one is a mono VCA compressor with continuously variable high-pass and low-pass filters for the sidechain, switchable between ranges of 20Hz-200Hz, 150Hz-2.3kHz, 1.5kHz-20kHz and controllable via two faders. These filters serve to shape the frequencies that trigger the compression, which comes in ratios of 1:2 (soft), 1:4 (medium) and 1:10 (hard), with attack times ranging from 0.1ms to 120ms and release times range from 0.1ms to 1.2s. The 1U unit comes with an external switching power supply (110-240V) and a standard IEC cable. Two units can be stereo linked via a TRS cable for Mastering or stereo bus use. A Listen facility, that solos the sidechain frequencies, also means the unit can be used as a high-quality bandpass filter. The Sidechain.one now sits alongside the two other units in the Rockruepel range: the Comp.two Mastering-centric dual-mono variable -Mu compressor, and the Limit.one all-analogue brick-wall limiter.
www.unitedplugins.com
www.blacklionaudio.com
www.masteringworks.com
Urban Puncher
PG-2
sidechain.one
September 2021 / 13
Column
Crosstalk Rob Speight
Ornithological Audio sers of Avid’s Pro Tools often have a love/hate relationship with the industry standard digital audio workstation. You only have to read the Avid Pro Tools User group on Facebook or the DUC pond to get a general sense of the emotional swings that plague any long term user. As an aside, the DUC was originally called that because it was the Digi User Conference, but is now the Avid Pro Audio Community. Though an image of a Marreco Mandarin, a species of perching duck, still remains as the logo. More twitcher tips for audio professionals: coming soon. So, other than having made everyone hungry, what is the point of this article? The main point is to discuss the June 2021.6 update, which introduced the ability to run 2048 voices with Pro Tools Ultimate and HDX Systems Hybrid Engine. For those not familiar with Pro Tools, a voice is essentially a stream of data from the hard drive, so a mono track would be one voice and a 5.1 track would be six. Not only were the number of voices increased with the update, but the total number of tracks that could be created also doubled, so now it is possible to create up to 256 7.1 audio tracks in one session, using up all of your 2048 voices — or if you really want eye strain, 2048 mono tracks. Still following? Up until Pro Tools 2021.6 an Ultimate HDX system combo could only manage to play back a measly 256 voices per card, or a pathetic total of 768 voices for a three DSP card system. I mean honestly, why we just didn’t all go back to tape I don’t know! But, said Uncle Avid, ‘Fear not! Roll the Studer back in the cupboard, box up the Ampex and don’t forget to store your razor blades out of the reach of children and musicians.’ So now with 2021.6 (subsequently replaced by 2021.7) as per Avid’s monthly update
/ Pro Tools HDX hardware
14 / September 2021
Photo credit: Big Stock Photo
U
So, what's next for Pro Tools after the Hybrid Engine..? ROB has some ideas
/ An alternative view of the duck from the DUC
program, you almost literally have tracks coming out of your ears. As if this wasn’t enough, the 2048 voices are available at all sample rates. Additionally, it is important to remember that voices are only data streams, which means that things like VCA’s, aux inputs and groups do not use voices at all, as they only process data not stream it. Stepping out of the big boy shoes for one moment into the world of non-Ultimate Pro Tools, it was good to see that these systems have also had their track count doubled from 128 to 256 at all sample rates.
Where now?
With all this amazing power Pro Tools presents its users, the question becomes where can the software go from here? Surely 2048 streams of audio is enough for anyone, even when mixing the biggest movies and taking into account stems, temp tracks and multiple versions all in one session. It gets to the point where the question becomes is raw DSP power enough? Pro Tools Ultimate has integrations for Dolby Atmos, obviously standard 7.1 and 5.1 mixing as
well as field recorder workflows, Ambisonics VR mixing, 4K/UHD video support and cloud collaboration. This may seem to provide a lot of flexibility, but when you compare it to other DAW systems out there it still lacks some well-used forward thinking features that competitors such as Nuendo and Reaper provide out of the box. For music composition, Pro Tools is often seen as a second fiddle to the likes of Logic, Cubase and Ableton. Though the software does provide a good selection of virtual instruments, Pro Tools is often perceived as having clunky MIDI editing and recording features in comparison to its competitors. So, it could improve in this area, but that being said the DAW has always been first and foremost a recording, editing and mixing package. Speaking of editing, if like me you spend a large amount of your day editing dialogue or sound designing, one thing I personally would like to see integrated into Pro Tools is workflow automation. As it stands there are workflows for importing audio from field recorders, but what about automating something as simple as
importing audio from my hard drive? If you’re doing a lot of this, why can I not set up a standard workflow that just does everything from the moment I have selected my audio to the moment it is in the clip bin? I count one shortcut and five mouse clicks to do that. Thankfully there are third party applications that will help you with this, Soundflow being the most prevalent. The software is seemingly like all software these days, subscription based, and comes with a huge library of automated workflows that negate large swathes of clicking. It is also possible to script your own one button macros and there is also a large marketplace of other users’ creations. Not only that, macros can be triggered either via a Streamdeck or their own app for iOS and Android on which you can create your own layout! I have toyed with the idea of investing in Soundflow and a Streamdeck, but have resisted due to the time commitment to get up and running and frankly the irksome thought of having to pay for yet another piece of subscription software. However, great swathes of people swear by Soundflow, including users of iZotope RX with which it also integrates.
but also to reverse the process back into Nuendo allowing for multi-track re-editing. This is an extremely powerful and time saving feature and one that is not possible in Pro Tools, either as part of the software or via a third party plugin. Is there a conclusion to this? How did we even get here? Why is a Marreco Mandarin duck the logo for the Avid Pro Audio Community Forum? My conclusion is this, Pro Tools is excellent at what it is excellent at. Recording, editing and mixing and with the increased voice / track count it seems like it will stay at the top of the pile for the foreseeable future. Do I want these other features included? Some more than
others. Why doesn’t Avid just buy Soundflow for example and integrate it? Maybe I should ask them? So to conclude my conclusion, do I want everything for nothing? Yes! Do I want to see the Japanese myth of a Mandarin duck transform into a human? Yes. Am I hungry now? Yes. I’m off to the Chinese. Pro Tools: www.avid.com Nuendo: www.steinberg.net/nuendo Soundflow: www.soundflow.org EdiLoad/EdiCue: www.soundinsync.com Virtual Katy: www.virtualkaty.com Wwise: www.audiokinetic.com
The world on a string
Within the film industry Pro Tools really is the standard and yet, given this, it does not include some extremely useful tools for ADR or re-conforming of a session. Nuendo provides both of these features right out of the box. To achieve both of these things in Pro Tools requires third party software. EdiCue for ADR and EdiLoad or Virtual Katy for session reconforms, being some of the most well known tools. However, licenses for these software packages will set you back anywhere from £400-£900. Finally, lets look at the games industry, which in 2021 has an expected global revenue of around $138 billion dollars - whereas the movie industry in 2019, pre-pandemic figures due to cinema closures, only saw a revenue of $42 billion dollars. There are many comparable features between movie and game production on the sound side; design, editing and dialogue recording being the main three — all areas where Pro Tools excels. However, Nuendo provides workflow integration with the Wwise game sound engine from Audiokinetic, allowing direct export of designs in Nuendo straight into your Wwise project. This is not just a background copy, the workflow not only allows for multielement, multi-variation sounds to be exported straight into the Wwise Actor-Mixer hierarchy,
/ Third party apps can fix issues at a cost
September 2021 / 15
Reviews
Flock Audio Patch LT GEORGE SHILLING sorts out the connection between inputs and outputs with this digitally controlled analogue patch system
D
igitally-controlled analogue is hardly a new concept in audio. Think of the late, lamented Euphonix consoles, the SSL Matrix, and the ever-expanding series of Bettermaker outboard processors. SSL’s X-Patch — a useful MIDI-controlled analogue patch-bay — disappeared in 2013, but in 2017 Flock Audio stepped into that void with the elegant and modern Patch, with 32 I/O, controlled by the dedicated Patch App, running on macOS or Windows. Since then, the company has introduced the cheaper LT version with 16 I/O, utilising the same software control app which cleverly supports combinations of Patch units (including also the ethernet-controlled Patch XT 96 I/O) while keeping all audio analogue.
inputs as your gear outputs (and vice versa too, of course). I know, I’m old and daft, but I did scratch my head for two minutes before realising this! The other thing I struggled with — also undoubtedly age-related — was the tiny sizing of the app’s window and text within, which had me squinting at first. Then I discovered that I was on the ‘Default’ option for the App Scale Size in the Preferences, which — bafflingly — was tiny compared to ‘Small’. Selecting ‘Large’ allowed it to fill the screen and made everything easier. Sadly, there’s no plug-in version, which would be handy (though we've been told one is in the works). Plenty of other fiddly bits are tweakable in Preferences, from the choice of screen font, to the hardware fan control; though, after an initial burst on power-up, it was generally inaudible in Inputs or outputs? default mode. The main app window looks like The LT (‘Light’) is actually a pretty weighty 1U a spreadsheet to show audio Paths, and once box, neatly constructed, accompanied by an you’ve named your gear and saved it in the inline PSU with a pro-spec latching connector, Hardware Setup window, it’s easy using and a generously long drag-and-drop to create USB B-type to A-type patches. cable for connecting to A simple click on the computer. There was something puts it into the recurrent macOS bypass, and Option-click security permission removes it. The multifandango to install the level Undo and Redo app, but once up and buttons come in handy running it was smooth too. And a stereo pairing sailing. Well, apart from function means my slight aberration of simultaneous patching of knowing the left and right when difference required. between inputs For recording and outputs! The / The Patch software — simple when you get the sizing right! setups, the Patch rear panel audio LT even provides connections comprise two pairs of DB25 individual switching of 48-volt phantom power connectors for the 16 inputs and outputs, wired for inputs (or is that outputs?!), with plenty of up using the usual Tascam convention. here’s safety options to prevent you from flicking it on also a single alternative I/O connection on the by accident. front, (activated in the software), for a handy quick hookup. Excitement So… outputs from your gear go to inputs in The prospect of testing the Patch LT hadn’t the box, and vice versa — all well and good filled me with excitement, but once up and — but then in the software, you need to label running I found it to be revelatory. My 16 / September 2021
Thermionic Culture Rooster for example has no EQ bypass button, but with the Patch LT it was easy and simple to pop both channels into bypass with one click — without having to lean across to the rack. Switching bypass is somehow utterly silent and seamless, while swapping processing order results in a brief mute while things are shuffled. But there are no relay clicks or suchlike. Each ‘Path’ has its own Solo, Mute and Clear buttons. Stored routings are easily accessed from a drop-down selector. Linking inputs and outputs with a padlock icon allows you to create ‘objects’ — such as outboard compressors — where one block can have an input and an output. By contrast, you’d want separate input and output blocks for your interface in order to place items between them. The PDF manual provides lots of information and examples of objects and routings like this, but it could have explained some of the workings more clearly and concisely.
Yes, Master
For a mastering setup, the Patch LT is ideal. Audio paths are completely transparent. Using one stereo insert point you then have the possibility of seven stereo processors, which you can easily re-order and bypass singly or in combinations, all at the click of a mouse button. Mults are easily created, allowing signals to easily split into more than one processor. You can use this to simultaneously record, say, a compressed and uncompressed signal from the same mic. The neat Patch app makes routing and patching a breeze compared to the oldfashioned tangle of a conventional patch bay. You can combine the two systems easily though, for an excellent hybrid setup. All kinds of audio professionals including recordists, live engineers, mixers, broadcast and mastering engineers will enjoy the power of this marvellous system.
VERDICT PROS
Pros: Great sound quality; instant bypass and instant comparison of outboard processors and signal paths; handy Link, Mult and Pair options, onboard phantom power
CONS
Confusion of inputs and outputs labelling — probably just me, though; manual could be better; no plug-in version of the app yet
www.flockaudio.com
Audio Digital Technology Olympic Mic EQ & Mic Amp 65 It’s a deep dive into history for GEORGE SHILLING, as he finds out that not all Helios modules are EQual
I
n 1969, the Helios company was founded when Dick Swettenham, who had designed the Olympic desks, was headhunted by Island to build them a desk. Orders followed from others like Rolling Stones Mobile, Apple Records, The Manor and Townhouse. Various hardware and software recreations of Helios circuitry have been based on modules from these later desks, but the design of the Olympic desk built in the mid 1960s — and used by the likes of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin and many others until 1978 in Studio One — was somewhat different.
Lucky Jim
Fortunately, Jim Dowler started at Sound Techniques in Chelsea in the 1970s then moved across to Olympic Studios, working with the legendary Keith Grant, so he has some knowledge of the true workings of the original consoles. His Audio Digital Technology company (ADT) is run from home in Devon, custom building units to order. But as the company name suggests, Dowler is no luddite, with experience setting up Drawmer marketing and sales in 1980, and producing digital interfaces, mixers and ‘problem solvers’ for mastering and broadcast studios since the early 80s. Latterly, he distributed Weiss hardware.
Germanium
These two 500 Series modules feel thoroughly well built and finished. Dowler has strived for authenticity here, with NOS transistors as per the original circuit. The components are sturdily encased, the front panel finish is smooth with legends as clear as can be hoped for on such small panels. At the bottom of each is the clue to a big difference from the later Helios designs — Germanium. This type of mic amp was used in the Olympic Studio One desk from 1966. In 1969, the first Helios desk was installed in Studio Two with Silicon mic amps. ADT’s Mic Amp 65 includes a switch to compare the two different types, with the germanium adding a lovely colour and warmth. The Silicon is crisper, as you might expect, but still beautifully musical sounding — and you effectively get two different mic amps in one unit. Both units have mini toggles for phantom
power with LED indicator, polarity switches, and 5dB stepped Gain knobs. The Mic Pre ranges from 10 to 60dB of gain, with a fader knob curtailing this or adding a further 10dB. The Mic-EQ ranges from 20 to 80dB, but adds a useful Line position, so you can insert the EQ on line sources.
Mic PreAmp
As well as the Germanium switch, the Mic Amp also includes a Transformer switch, allowing you to choose a discrete balanced Class-A output, or a custom Transformer for a more authentic vintage sound. Although there were no transformers in the desk, the outputs would typically be fed to Dolby units, Ampex or 3M tape machines. The Air switch adds a super-high frequency boost, which was a quirk of the original Lustraphone transformer. ADT makes Lustraphone mic transformers in-house using a custom winder and bespoke software, and the same size laminations, bobbin and winding sequence as the original. At the bottom of the Mic Amp is a useful high pass filter — not featured on the original desk, but very handy to have, with five corner frequencies available. The mic pre sounds terrific, beautifully smooth in silicon transformerless mode, but nice and musically juicy when you switch to Germanium, add the Transformer, and push it a bit. The Air opens up the top end for some lovely sparkle, whilst retaining the sweetness.
Mic-EQ
The EQ has a fixed 10kHz shelf at the top with clicked gain settings, and a similar low frequency control with a choice of 60, 120 or 240Hz. The mid-range bell EQ has a continuous gain pot, with a boost/cut toggle, and a choice of eight frequencies from 1.2 to 10kHz — a few
more than were on the original desk. The character of all bands is broad and smooth — something akin to the API approach where it’s hard to mess things up and make anything sound bad. And it’s got that magic to make anything sound better; despite the smoothness, there’s plenty of power here. Dowler’s modular approach to the innards means that different amplifiers can be used in four different stages of the circuitry for various character sonics. The mic amp is Swettenham’s threetransistor design, similar to the original Studio One desk. The next module is a simple two transistor Germanium post EQ amp. This has a little less headroom than the Mic Amp, adding nice warm crunchiness to drums; the vintage graininess is like listening to a lovely piece of wood!
Germs
The germ of these germanium designs originated more than 55 years ago, but they sound fabulous and undoubtedly bring some magic into a modern recording setup. Competitively priced at £600 for the Mic Amp 65 and £900 for the Mic EQ (UK prices plus VAT), these represent excellent value for a slice of the sound of what are probably your favourite records.
VERDICT PROS Authentic 1965 Olympic pre-Helios sonics; Air, Germanium and Transformer switches on mic amp for different characters; bonus HPF settings on Mic Pre; extra frequencies on the Mic EQ CONS
500 Series modules can be fiddly to use; 48v toggles vulnerable to accidental switching
www.audiodigitaltechnology.com
September 2021 / 17
/ Review
Inspired Acoustics Inspirata Has convolution evolved again? JOHN MOORE looks at another new take on the tech
T
he veracity of convolution reverbs has always been central to their appeal. While the emulation of specific acoustic spaces and equipment has always been their raison d'être , as they rely on recording that response in a specific state, the static nature of those emulations (and the lack of editing possibilities compared to algorithmic reverbs) has been a limitation. The last year has seen a couple of attempts to address this shortcoming, in Resolution 21.2 we looked at Nugen’s Paragon software, which facilitates the editing and resynthesis of the source Impulse Responses in order to change room characteristics as desired. Here, we’re looking at another solution: Inspired Acoustics Inspirata, which rather than reshaping Impulse Responses, leans onusing a vast number of them to allow accurate modelling of source and receiver location within a given environment.
Size matters?
Before we really get going, we need to talk about the 145GB+ download that underpins Inspirata’s operations, a process handled via Inspired Acoustics’ own Connect management app. Inspirata consists of both the software itself — a modest download — and the Room Pack, which features the necessary Impulse Response information. The latter is where that vast weight of data lies, and does as much to tell you the level of detail and preparation that has gone into creating these effects as anything. Each of the spaces available within the software relies on a large library of impulse responses, that come from capturing recordings of the space from many source and recording locations. This information is then handled and morphed together by the software’s internal algorithms to allow you to position source and listener virtually anywhere you want within a space with realistic results — and without noticeable artefacts as either moves between different locations.
The process and processing
While this is all extremely clever processing, what we as users are presented with is a very simple interface that presents a large amount of information in very practical ways. The bulk of the work happens in three tabs, seen to the left of the window when you open an instance of Inspirata in your DAW. 18 / September 2021
These are the Basic, Finetune and Browser tabs — the first of which lets you flick through the available spaces and orient the 'listener' in a simple manner. More detailed positioning of both sources and listening position can be done in Finetune, which utilises a graphical representation of the space for drag-and-drop changes to any of the editable elements. This is either the ‘Sources’ (the number of which corresponds to the number of channels on the track Inspirata is Inserted on) or a single option for the listener. Either can be moved or automated to positions denoted by highlighted areas that appearwhen you click on them. So, for example, when the space is a hall or arena, the Source area may be limited to the stage, with the out of bounds areas of the space darkening on the display. Usually, the listening position can be moved around the given space at will. Finetune also affords access to a set of Global parameters, that offer editing of the source and space’s characteristics, this includes some spatial parameters for perceived width, an envelope shaper for the IR, shaping parameters for the early reflections and controls for frequency-specific handling of the later reflections. There are also options for directivity of the listening position, morphing the virtual microphone picking up the reverb from Omni to full figure of 8, and the output options — which can be adjusted from Stereo, through all-manner of options through to 7.1.2 or 8.0. Many of the Finetune parameters are echoed on the right-hand side of the display control panel as graphical knobs and sliders. These can be tweaked to suit, and the use of 'plain english' terms like 'Clarity' makes it easy to tweak to taste. Inspirata certainly moves the flexibility of convolution reverbs forward in a way that seems true to the spirit of the technology, and the results are certainly impressive on the ears within the scope it provides. The pricing options are also reasonable, especially if you’re not going to insist on having the full range of surround options and can use the Personal or Professional options (which max out at Stereo and
7.1.2, respectively — we reviewed the latter, for the record). The resources and time needed to download Inspirata are not insignificant, even with my speedy internet connection, it took around a day to get down to my machine for the purposes of this review. But, after that effort, the software is speedy and responsive to use- though does get resource intensive as sources build up. Of course, if quality is the be-all-and-end-all of your concerns, then the effort means little or nothing if the results it achieves justify it, and Inspirata performs admirably and sounds wonderful. However, the core problem of convolution still sits at the heart of it. Unlike Paragon, which uses mathematical trickery to fundamentally alter the nature of its spaces, Inspirata goes into granular details within a given space rather than offering such a range of alterations The irony of this is that, while the qualities of Inspirata may ideally suit post-production uses, the spaces available are distinctly musical in their emphasis. Because fundamental tweaking parameters are only within a range, if the spaces here fit your purposes it’s an amazing option that offers greatsounding highly editable reverbs as well as movement options that are unique and highly useable. If they don’t, you’re really going to have to wait for Inspired Acoustics to expand its options on that front. If you’re looking for some amazing sounding halls, and larger esoteric spaces in which to place multiple sound sources in highly editable ways, this software does things with them that justify the investment. For more out-there soundscapes and editability, you may have to look elsewhere.
VERDICT PROS Amazing sound; good collection of lovely halls; highly editable characteristics in terms of positioning and movement; seamless transitions between location within spaces CONS
Massive download; limited space options and scope for expansion
www.inspiredacoustics.com
m908 24 Channel Monitor Controller - Atmos Music® Ready. The big push to deliver immersive music to streaming platforms means your music production room could soon be mixing for Dolby® Atmos Music. If this sounds like equal parts yikes and yeehaw, we can help the transition be more of the latter with our award-winning 24ch, immersive audio-friendly monitor controller.
ing a simple Dolby Atmos Music Target Curve setup), bass management and individual channel delay settings. With a powerful, dedicated remote control unit, all monitoring functions are at your fingertips, and system info is clearly displayed on the large LCD screen. To top it off, the m908 delivers the finest audio quality of any monitoring equipment in the world.
The m908 will easily manage your stereo and 7.1.4 Atmos speaker systems, providing 12 bands of parametric room correction EQ per channel (includ-
Visit us at gracedesign.com for complete details about the m908 and our entire line of professional audio equipment.
• 24 channel AES3 digital I/O • 16 channel analog outputs • 16 channel ADAT Lightpipe in • 24 channel inputs USB • AES3, S/PDIF, and TOSLINK stereo inputs • optional Dante™, DigiLink™ or Ravenna™ modules for additional 32 channels of I/O • optional 8 channel ADC modules for 8 - 16 channel analog inputs • our latest generation AD / DA converters • 4th generation s-Lock pll clocking system for vanishingly low jitter • powerful room correction EQ • complete bass management capability • channel level and delay calibration • comprehensive downmix control • 5 year warranty • made in the USA
“I found it hard to think of something that, after a little interrogation of the manual, that the m908 couldn’t do. And to cap it all, the overall audio quality is astonishingly good. Another winner from the Grace brothers” -Jon Thornton, Resolution Magazine
www.gracedesign.com
The Interview
…when I met Mark [Knopfler] things changed a lot. I started learning a whole different set of skills, understanding more about the history of music, because that is Mark's obsession as much as anything else.
Producing Mark Knopfler, soundtracks and solo albums — NIGEL JOPSON interviews a multi-talented multi-instrumentalist
Photos: Ben Peter Catchpole
Guy Fletcher
/ With composer Stephen Baysted, working on the soundtrack for video game Project Cars 3
A
s an accomplished musician, recording engineer, mixer and producer, Fletcher seems like a prototype for the production pro of today. He's featured on stage and in the studio as keyboard player, arranger and MD with artists such as Cockney Rebel, Tina Turner, Randy Newman, Dire Straits, Mick Jagger, Roxy Music, Jimmy Nail and Mark Knopfler. In 1983, Fletcher was asked by Dire Straits' guitarist Knopfler to work on the music for the films Cal and Comfort and Joy. He subsequently joined Dire Straits in 1984, a year before the band recorded their most successful album, the 30m-selling Brothers in Arms. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Fletcher continued his association with founder Knopfler in his solo career as a core member of his band, and more recently as producer. Fletcher has also taken the production chair for various bands and solo artists including Bill Wyman and Vicente Amigo. Fletcher's first self-recorded and mixed solo album, Inamorata, was released in 2008 with Knopfler guesting on guitar. Since then, Guy has released another three albums, Stone, Natural Selection, and High Roads, with work on a fourth album underway. Resolution sat down with Fletcher to discover how he co-wrote, recorded and mixed the music for Codemasters' video game, Project Cars 3.
Is this the first video game you've composed and mixed? It actually is the first game, and we've got some more planned. It wasn't written to picture, like a movie would be, it was very open musically, and I enjoyed the freedom. I love mixing-up genres. It was really a lot of fun working with composer Stephen Baysted on the project. Did you start making music as a musician or an engineer? Because I remember you used to work at DJM studios… I left school quite young and I just wanted to be in the music business. I had a bedroom studio — a couple of Revoxes and a mixing desk my Dad had built [Guy's father is Ted Fletcher — designer of Alice mixing consoles]. I wrote letters to everybody — all the studios, all the publishers. I got a job with ATV as a tea-boy/ runner. I did that for a year and then something opened up at DJM, and I just left within two days, which pissed-off Peter Phillips, who was the head of ATV. He said: "You're never going to work in this business again!" So, in your head — where did your future lie — engineer or musician? I was writing and dabbling with bands when I got the job at the studio. As usual, studio hours were getting intense, so I didn't have any time
to do the other thing I loved, which was play live with my band. It came to a crunch one day where I was doing too many long hours, and I actually asked my Dad what I should do. He said: "Just do what you really want to do." So at that time I gave up the studio job to go and play with the band, which turned out to be great. Because then we got spotted and I ended up joining Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel shortly after that. But I never forgot the year, plus training, at DJM — it set me up to feel at ease in a studio. I've changed a bit now, I love being in the studio every bit as much as I do playing live in a band! After you toured with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, you went on to play with Bryan Ferry… I got an audition through a recommendation by an engineer who was working at [Roxy Music guitarist] Phil Manzanera's studio. He'd been working with Brian and he'd heard that they were looking for a keyboard player. I went down there with my Jupiter 8 and Brian got me to play over all these tracks that he'd been working on, which turned out to be his solo album Boys and Girls — he just recorded everything I did. So Brian's album was my audition to Roxy Music, which was a bit sneaky of him! But it got me the gig, so I wasn't going to complain. September 2021 / 21
…it was just lots of little steps forward in my career, because after those big tours, I would spend a year being a struggling musician to work on another tune, we'd have to take a two hour tea break to back-up onto tapes, and then re-load the new songs we wanted to work on.
/ With canine assistant 'Gidget'
So what was your mindset when you played on all those great records as a keyboard player — Bryan Ferry, Tina Turner, Randy Newman — were you in the control room taking notes between overdubs?! I tried to get involved whenever I could. Depending on who it was, if I knew the engineer or if the vibe was right… because some records were just sessions and so, yeah, you can't really get involved at all. But others, I would hang out there all day, get in people's way and make suggestions. I would stay until they kicked me out! Was playing with Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry a pivotal moment in your career? I certainly didn't think that at the time, although it was actually my first world tour. For me, it was just lots of little steps forward in my career, because after those big tours, I would spend a year being a struggling musician again, getting sessions — there was work around — but there were lots of down times like all musicians have. Obviously, when I met Mark [Knopfler] things changed a lot. I started learning a whole different set of skills, understanding more about the history of music, because that is Mark's obsession as much as anything else. Through Mark, I was introduced to music I didn't really know much about, which made me realise I needed to start looking into other areas of music. That is one of the great things about being a musician, there's always stuff to learn from the past. That sort of applies to everything in life, but particularly in music, and now of course, it's so easy with Spotify to be able to do the research. 22 / September 2021
Did your journey to producing Mark Knopfler begin when you were a band-member in Dire Straits? When we were making Brothers in Arms, I do remember hanging around the control room quite a lot… and now I'm engineering and producing for him. I believe that is something that's just evolved over many years. I think the production role probably stems from the very first time I met Mark. He was looking for somebody to play and program the Synclavier system, which he had just bought. I literally turned up at his house with a DX7 keyboard under my arm, but I didn't need it because he had this amazing new Synclavier there in what was a makeshift studio. The Synclavier manual was sitting on Mark's coffee table — it was more like a pilot's manual for an Airbus A380 than for a keyboard! It was heavy duty. Mark said to me, can you operate this thing? And I said, "yeah" instinctively — and rather too quickly. How was your experience of recording with the Synclavier? My memory of it is of a rather mercurial temperament… I'm not going to say that I totally understood everything about it, but we did get some amazing sounds. And it was a joy to operate — when it worked — when it booted up! We had a lot of trouble with that thing, getting it to fire up in the mornings. But you know, this is the '80s, it was an amazing technological achievement at the time. Although I really don't know how we made some of the records that we made on it. We recorded The Notting Hillbillies album entirely on the Synclavier, using the eight track direct-to-disc. We could only load two or four songs at a time. If we wanted
Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time is a fantastic-sounding album, and still a benchmark play for 'audiophiles' demoing their equipment… It was just ridiculous what we achieved. We had a cupboard in the kitchen downstairs at Mark's little mews house, and there was a doorway into a tiny garage where we kept the twin Synclavier towers. All the disks were in one of the cupboards in the kitchen, and on the inside door of the cupboard was a giant sheet of paper with all the updates that we were doing to each tape. As I backed up, I would write down what we'd done. It was insane, but we got it done. Tell us about your working relationship with Mark Knopfler, because it must be a challenge to move from being a musician to also engineering and producing an artist. It wasn't particularly intentional, I think I made the transition because I'd always been involved in the sounds we've been making and productions. I've worked with Mark on so many different projects, the toughest being when we were working on the film soundtracks for Princess Bride and Last Exit to Brooklyn, it was literally just he and I in a room for endless hours. I was translating everything Mark was telling me musically and inputting it into the Synclavier. So I was being an engineer and a musician at the same time, and that was some of the toughest stuff I've ever done, because having to keep up with his stream of ideas was quite difficult. That has sort of translated to the production side of things as well. Mark likes to try loads of different ideas on songs. And it's just an evolution, I'm now able to understand what Mark probably wants almost as he realises it, so we definitely have an understanding. Mark really is quite intense when he's working — that's what great creative musicians are like. He comes up with some good stuff, you have to admit!
/ Interview
What was the thinking behind the use of a Synclavier for the movie scores — fidelity? Flexibility of arrangement? It was simply used in the same way as you'd use Cubase now, to sketch with a pallet of sounds, sketch it out and then get an orchestra to play it. That was the original intention, but we never got the orchestra! The whole Princess Bride soundtrack is Synclavier, it's all samples — apart from one solo fiddle and a solo nylon-string guitar — I played every note. It sounds unusual, but I think because that particular film is a fairy tale, with a surreal feel to it, the slightly surrealsounding score with samples enhances it and makes it completely unique. Last Exit to Brooklyn kind of does the same — but in a darker way — it was adventurous stuff for the technology of the time.
just the result of lockdown and people doing their parts separately. So to have all these individual instrument recordings was quite unusual. It meant that I could play more with it as an engineer, and use it in different ways, different areas of the mix. You could set it up so that the orchestra sounded like it was all in a big room — or you could take it and split it and move it apart in stereo and have it play off different things and have different reverbs. It was a real fun mix. I just felt like I wasn't constrained in any way — maybe that was the fact that there was a drum and bass groove going on in the
background — it was very, different. Being recorded separately, you could tuck orchestral instruments in closer with the drums rather than having to crowd the reverb, you could actually fit them inside the mix a little bit better. Stephen told me a Studer A80 tape recorder was part of the sound? I found one earlier in the year, Stephen and I thought it would be a good idea to get it on the project. I mean — I knew how it would sound — Stephen was blown away when he actually heard it! Everything went through the Studer,
More recently, you've worked on the last six Mark Knopfler albums… I'm playing as much as I ever did. When we get the band into British Grove Studios (Resolution V16.2), Mark tends to bring Jim Cox in to play piano and Hammond. I mainly play synths and do some piano as well. Having been a sample pioneer, are you still playing hardware synths? I love hardware synths. I've got a CS80 here, and I still play my DX1 [the most expensive synth ever made by Yamaha — $14,000 in 1984 — only 140 were ever made] which I used on the Brothers In Arms tour… actually it remains in really good condition. I've got a Juno 60 here and a bunch of newer synths, mostly Roland. I have Roland’s latest synthesizer flagship, the Jupiter X. So I like lots of hardware. But I've got to say the world of the plug-in synth is getting better and better. Stephen Baysted mentioned how great it was for him as a composer — who's basically been working on his own — to bounce ideas off you for Project Cars 3. When you're composing with Stephen how does your collaboration work as far as who plays what? The structure of Project Cars 3 was we would decide: 'I'll do one and you do one', or 'I'll do two ambient versions and you can do an orchestral'. So we would take on each challenge, as it were. We didn't spend any time writing in the room together, like we probably might've done if it had not been for lockdown, but it was absolutely fine. Stephen told me you mixed the whole project. Tell me about that, because the orchestral musicians recorded all their own parts at their homes… I've got to say, the orchestral players were fantastic. They would send me finished compsections. It wasn't really new ground for me, but they did a fantastic job. And for it to all be recorded so dry and controllable — as opposed to a ensemble orchestra recording — which can often be difficult to adjust or EQ if it's not done in a great room. The whole 'dryness' thing was
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/ Interview
and I was pleasantly surprised as to how the orchestral stuff came back. I've always had tape around whenever I could. Working with Mark Knopfler, we use a lot of tape. I'm fortunate enough to have access to A800s whenever I need… so having one at home in my studio — but in fact I actually prefer the sound of the A80. So I've now got a tape machine in my machine room back there, squeezed in! it's just a great sound — plus it makes things easier to mix. Did you transfer all the digital recordings via the A80? We transferred pretty much all elements, so it wasn't just a case of putting the mix or stems through. I thought the hardcore D&B [Drum and Bass artists from RAM Records on the Project Cars 3 soundtrack] reacted really well with tape. Are instruments easier to mix off tape because of HF saturation, or because transients are slightly tamed? I think it's a combination of everything. If you're used to dealing in the digital domain where you can hear a quarter of a dB change in a balance, it can be a surprise. So if you've got something playing from tape that's a little bit too loud, it's not like — 'Oh my God, it's too loud!' It just has a pleasing imbalance. So I think you can take a lot more liberties when you're mixing from tape. Which DAW are you mixing with? I haven't switched from Pro Tools because it feels like it's part of my DNA, but I do a lot of work in PreSonus Studio One. Certainly for creative use, I find Studio One really quite inspiring. The speed of it. The fact that you can have as many sessions open as you want, the whole drag and drop thing. It's just very quick. I find myself, being more creative with it than I would with, say Cubase. I also have some PreSonus Quantum 4848 interfaces, which I like a lot. Which interface do you use with Pro Tools? I've got an HDX system for Pro Tools and I use the Quantum for Studio One, which I run in the same computer; when I link Pro Tools and Studio One, it's with the Mac IAC [Interapplication communication] bus, but most of the time I've been going through tape because the Quantum's 16 ins and outs are set up with the Studer A80 tape machine. So I'll go into and out of tape, create a new audio file and then drag that into Pro Tools. So actually, you're using a Studer A80 like a massive plug-in? I tend to do it quite early in the recording, I've used it on some of the tracks I've been working on for my own album, where I've got a sort of '70s (programmed) drum sound. Same with bass guitar, it's just very handy to have a tape machine that you can just turn on and record through! 24 / September 2021
/ Fletcher playing an ultra-rare Yamaha DX1 he used on the Brothers In Arms tour
What gave you the idea to take advantage of the Mac IAC bus? I first heard about it through Christian Hensen at Spitfire. I noticed he was using Logic with Pro Tools on the same computer. Previously when I've done that, I've linked to MIDI interfaces with time code, and I suddenly realised the IAC bus was a lot easier. You literally send MIDI time code to the IAC bus, and tell the other DAW to receive MIDI time code from the IAC bus and — lo and behold — they speak to each other. If you word clock-lock the interfaces as well, you've got a pretty robust system — I clock from an Avid Sync IO. So you have two DAWs on the same computer linked virtually with the Mac IAC bus, using separate interfaces, both interfaces clocked from a central master clock. Exactly right. In fact, the other day I was running Cubase and Studio One and Pro Tools and Ableton Live — all in the same computer
— a 2013 trashcan with 64GB of RAM. And I noticed that Cubase and Studio One were both connecting to the Quantum interface. They were using the same interface with absolutely no problem at all! I have the Studer connected to the PreSonus Quantum, so if I want to use it in Pro Tools, I just switch interfaces. What future projects have you got planned? I'm looking forward to doing more stuff with Stephen. This was the first thing we've done together and we're both hoping that it's going to be an interesting working relationship. I'm looking forward to doing more video game music, plus I have my own album that I'm hoping to finish within the next few months. I'm sure there are some things with Mark going to be happening soon — that's all I can say! He wants to get back in the studio, and that will involve me for sure. So I'm looking forward to recording at British Grove Studios [Resolution V16.2) once again as soon as we can.
Awards
AWARDS 2021 REWARDING QUALITY AND INNOVATION
Vote now for the Resolution Awards! The nominations for the Resolution Awards have been drawn from suggestions from our writers, all industry experts and practitioners. The nomination is our accolade — now it’s over to our thousands of readers to vote…
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espite the ongoing challenges of global pandemic, 2021 has continued to see the development of new and innovative products. Our nominations include high-tech AoIP equipment, digital and analogue processing, artisanal custom-builds, and reinvigorated DAW and plug-in software — all of which reflects the (sometimes esoteric) recommendations of our writing team, trusted colleagues and peers. Since the 2019 Awards, we have opened the voting process to our digital community — audio pros who receive our email newsletter, issuu.com readers and our wider Facebook and social media community; this year, as last, we’re making it even simpler to have
your say, by offering an online voting portal through which to submit their choices. Simply navigate to the URL below, make your choices on the voting form, and click ‘Submit’. We maintain fairness by only allowing one vote per IP address (the numerical label assigned to each device connected to the internet) — the voting page can only be submitted once per reader — so be sure to register all your choices before clicking the submit button. Voting for our 12th annual Resolution Awards will close at the end of November, and the winners will be announced in a special digital Winners Supplement, and in the Winter edition of Resolution.
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TO VOTE: www.resolutionmag.com/awards-2021-vote September 2021 / 25
Craft
Volker Bertelmann Initially known for his experimental neo-classical releases, Volker Bertelmann talks to DANNY TURNER about his adaptation to film scoring.
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t the turn of the century, Düsseldorf– based composer Volker Bertelmann drew from his classical background to release a slew of acclaimed experimental instrumental albums under the name Hauschka. Attempting to avoid traditional classical clichés, Bertelmann adopted an avant-garde approach to recording, primarily employing prepared piano techniques to create distinctive replications of rhythmic and electronic sound. Successfully established, Bertelmann broadened his scope to integrate electronic and instrumental overdubs while collaborating with artists from the electronic dance and classical music realms. In 2012, he wrote his first feature film score for Glück, followed by the Oscarnominated Lion with Dustin O’Halloran (also know for his work with Devics and A Winged Victory for the Sullen). Bertelmann has been lauded for his radical approach to film scoring, while his rapidly ascending career includes high-profile feature films such as the recent American crime drama Your Honor and Netflix sci-fi thriller Stowaway. Your soundtrack career has exploded over the past few years; do you find this more stimulating than recording as Hauschka the solo artist? Not at all. I made records every year since 2001 under the name Hauschka but needed a break and also wondered how else I could make a 26 / September 2021
/ Volker Bertelmann in his production studio, where he prefers to employ hardware synths to software
living. When I did the soundtrack for Lion with Dustin O’Halloran in 2016, I suddenly saw the chance to make more film music. Having an Oscar nomination was a great starting point but doesn’t guarantee that you’ll work in film forever, so I tried to find movies that would establish me as a solo film composer. How would you compare your film scoring to the abstract instrumental music you’re best known for as Hauschka? The film scores are much wider and more accessible than the Haushka music. Under that name, I could work on a piece with just whispers or play with very abstract components, but I couldn’t survive that approach to making music for a film score comedy like Downhill with Will Ferrell. I would rather see Hauschka as music for dance or theatre — a more cultural approach. It’s very seldom that somebody asks me to use prepared piano in a score. You’re known for experimentation, but where do you find room to do that in film? People who know my solo work also know that I’m not making conventional film music and often ask me to be experimental. Downhill, for example, was quite a commercial film but because it played out in the Alps the first draft had a lot of yodelling. I was completely amazed by the idea of working with a singer who’s not a traditional yodeler and trying to transform her vocal by employing abstract looping techniques, so I got the chance to push the boundaries of abstract sound more than I would on your usual thriller or comedy.
Photo credit: Nina Ditscheid
In this domain, are you able to fight strongly for something that you feel should be implemented into a score? With Your Honor we used a lot of dark, scratchy breathing sounds but the producers were a little insecure about the soundtrack’s lack of melody. When producers come to a screening they might get some wind against them, but if you want to invent something new you have to venture into these risky areas. Sometimes their comments are coming so late that it’s impossible to change anything, which is an advantage to the risk-taker but there are always ways of firing and replacing you as the composer. That’s only happened to me once, when a whole film went in a different direction after a screening, but there’s never a safety net until the movie is released. What effect do deadlines have on your ability to be creative under pressure? In most cases, before the picture is locked I’ll have an average of 8-10 weeks to finish the music, but whenever scenes are changed or revisions made I have assistants to help me speed up the process. If a cue I’ve written is beautiful but needs to start a little later, I’ll have people help me to edit certain things or change the music to a new cut, but if a composition is so affected that you might have to cut out three-quarters of a progression or create a
I do try to keep sounds out of the box and no score I’ve worked on since 2016 has been done solely with MIDI instruments different ending, I’d never give something like that away. It’s more about making practical, time-consuming changes, while I concentrate on writing and finishing the music. How many people are in your team? I have a location with four studios, one of which is used for orchestration, and my assistants can do everything including orchestrate, play instruments and all the Pro Tools stuff. They attain all the knowledge I need from a university here in Düsseldorf and all have their own careers and ambitions.
Has your studio been adapted towards working in the box as a result of your increased participation in soundtracks? That depends on the turnaround. For a series, it’s much easier to work with MIDI because things are changing very quickly and you have a huge amount of music that needs to be turned around. Sometimes you might only have two weeks to write everything for an episode, so you have to be very aware of that, but I do try to keep sounds out of the box and no score I’ve worked on since 2016 has been done solely with MIDI instruments. I might compromise if a September 2021 / 27
…if a piece needs more substance because the cue is not quite working then sometimes I’ll mix the sample underneath to balance the bass
/ Volker with his grand piano, a key element in his sound experiments
cue has been changed very late after the orchestral session has finished, because you can’t re-record a whole session for one cue, but generally I’m trying to replace MIDI with real instruments. Are there particular technologies that really help with your creative workflow? On the technical side, I really like ChronoSync, which is an amazing program because it helps to synchronise and match all of your data and sample libraries so you don’t have to put much work into organising them. Sound-wise, I always prefer using a hardware synthesiser to software because I like fiddling around with the knobs, and foot pedals are fantastic. Instead of using a sample library synth preset I might play piano through a [Chase Bliss] Blooper or a [Hologram
Electronics] Microcosm pedal, with a loop station going through a reverb to a distortion and suddenly I’ll have a synth sound that’s never existed before. One English piece of gear I love is the [Thermionic Culture] Culture Vulture, which I often use to crunch up sounds to make them more visible in the mix. Do you employ a particular mindset when it comes to preparing a demo for live orchestration? It’s not always helpful to bring emotion too early into a cue, because the orchestra has such a rich amount of emotion that to try to replicate it with a mock-up doesn’t make sense. Let’s say I have the most perfectly written cue with all the samples recorded in very high quality, everything is sitting exactly how I imagined and
/ The studio features a range of hardware synthesiser options, shown are a MiniMoog and Sequential Prophet 5
28 / September 2021
I’m very proud of it, when it goes into a mix the director might tell me to take the strings out because he can’t hear the dialogue, take the drums away because they’re disturbing everything or make the music 20db lower because it’s too loud, in which case all the preciseness of the work that I’ve done suddenly disappears down a black hole. So I think it’s very important to think through the transformation of a cue, which means the most important thing is the process of finding the right music, tonality, tempo and palette of sounds, knowing that it won’t be finished until after it’s been approved. Do you see a big divide between how samples and real instruments are integrated into a score or is that process becoming unified? They co-exist. If you have a constant cello figure that has a lot of bass and an eighth motif on the same note, when you play that with a sample it’s compressed, always has the same bass pressure and can only be played on one level, whereas if you record a cello live it’s constantly moving all over the place. Sometimes that’s very nice because it sounds alive, but if a piece needs more substance because the cue is not quite working then sometimes I’ll mix the sample underneath to balance the bass pressure or even just take the bass frequency from the sample and add it to the mix. I’m not a fan of working with orchestration as one piece of music. I prefer separation, because if you don’t like the trumpets for example, you have the flexibility to change the stems and can EQ certain instruments much better when they’re separated. So you would never record an orchestra in its entirety and use that as your final take? I did do one score where all the parts were played at the same time but you have to be really convinced that this will be the finished piece of music. When that’s done it can sound beautiful — like a band, but as we’ve known since the’70s or ‘80s, bands are not always recorded playing together. Sometimes the bass
/ Craft
than just being focused on the aesthetics of space. It’s maybe too negative to say it’s a ‘practical’ film, but the movie deals with themes of everyday life, which then becomes much more touching for a composer. Do you always write to picture? Sometimes I start writing having only read the script, so I’ll write themes and ideas but I’m often totally wrong when I see the picture and realise my imagination was somewhere else. But I love detaching myself from the picture because you can concentrate on the piece more than you would for scenic motives.
Is working on a big franchise the ultimate ambition of a score writer or do you think that environment’s too politicised? Honestly? I’ll tell you when I’ve done one. Animation, a superhero movie or video game, they’re all just as challenging and interesting. Every project has its own ambition and I think it’s important to find out whether that’s something you like. The more films I do, the more I’m leaning towards psychological thrillers and action. I love speed in films and like it when the music is creeping under your skin, but I’d love to do a Marvel movie at some point to see if I could take a new approach.
/ The Dusseldorf-based composer received a 2012 Oscar nomination for his work on Lion alongside Dustin O’Halloran
player arrives a week later or the drummer wasn’t there because he has a girlfriend in South America. Overdubbing has its advantages and disadvantages but, ideally, you want to get the best of both worlds. For your soundtrack to the sci-fi movie Stowaway, were you attracted by its existential themes and did that give you more scope to experiment with sound and emotion? I was always longing to work on a sci-fi movie and when Stowaway came along I had a lot of time, which was great because I could experiment with sound. The existential theme was important, but also space and time. I discovered how a spaceship or footsteps sound in space and of course learned that there is no sound because it doesn’t travel without gravity. For me, when the music plays a supernatural role or puts you in a fantasy world, that makes it very attractive. With sci-fi you also have license to work with a combination of real instruments and electronics in a minimal way. For example, 2001: A Space Odyssey has very abstract music, but it doesn’t disturb you because you accept that a film about space will be abstract and atonal more than one made about Beverley Hills. For this project, did you have other classic sci-fi film scores in mind? There were a lot of sci-fi films that I had in mind, but you have to find your individual place within that and try to create something that people will talk about in terms of it being their favourite film or score. In that sense, Stowaway takes a very interesting and fresh approach because it has a very clear philosophical roadmap rather
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September 2021 / 29
Craft
I was listening to a lot of different music and knew absolutely that, for me, the adrenalin and excitement came from recording. (Arcade Fire), Pauline Taylor and many others. But he also been involved in whole-album projects, including Kevin Simm’s Recover LP and a forthcoming release from 2019 Montreux Jazz festival winner Afra Kane and UK-based funk ensemble Soul Grenades. Resolution’s conversation with Lepori touched on all aspects of his work and love of music, but we began with his earliest recording revelations in his own small studio space in Italy.
Andrea Lepori The U2 and Jack Savoretti mixer, engineer and producer tells DAVID DAVIES about his very first studio space in Italy, spending time in LA, and his current studio in London.
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rowing up in Italy as a keen music fan with a burgeoning passion for technology, Andrea Lepori went on to study sound engineering in Milan and London. Having spent a hugely informative few years in Los Angeles, where he worked with an array of established classic rock acts, he has 30 / September 2021
subsequently explored a broader musical palette from his own studio base in East London. Lepori’s commitment to realising the vision of the artist and producer has earned him a particularly high-profile as a mixer, working with U2, The Rolling Stones, Jack Savoretti, George the Poet, Bobby Bazzini, Régine Chassagne
At what point in your early life did your love of music begin to translate into a desire to find out more about recording and production? By my mid-teens, I was playing a lot of guitar and it felt great. But, at a certain point, I realised I could get more out of the guitar sound with MIDI pickups. So my parents bought me a Fender Stratocaster with a MIDI pickup in the amp instead of a single coil. Together with an old Alesis keyboard that I had, I started working out harmonies and arrangements — basic stuff and very rough, but it was intriguing to me. I also loved working out how to create and recreate particular sounds. So at some point, I asked if I could build a little studio — if that is the right word — in my granddad’s shed, which was situated next to my parents’ house. Over time I added different bits of equipment, such as an Akai S1000 sampler and a Tascam eight-track recorder. That studio, which I called ML, is still there and is now a fully pro studio. It’s full of memories and I still use it when I am in Italy. A few years later you went on to study at the School of Audio Engineering, first in Milan then in London. What are your memories of that time? I made some of my best friends then — and they still are now. Some of them also helped me to get my first big gigs in the business. [In terms of my ideas about recording] I was still exploring at that point, but I did know I wanted to take aspects of electronic music into more of a classic rock type of thing. I definitely liked some of the [production details] that I heard in music by The Cure and U2 — for example, the echo on The Edge’s guitar.
/ Craft
Producers like Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno had a big role in developing the sound of bands such as U2, so were you listening to their work? Totally — to the point where in some cases I would go on to buy the deluxe or special editions of some albums because I wanted to get more insight into them. But yes, I was listening to a lot of different music and knew absolutely that, for me, the adrenalin and excitement came from recording. So I absorbed as much knowledge as I could and learned how to do important tasks such as how to sync tape machines — analogue or digital. Because by this point [late ‘90s/early ‘00s] digital recording was really coming in and there was a big shift away from tape. Not long into your career you moved to LA and began working at a number of prominent studios. How important was this period to you? Very important — it gave me so much great experience working at studios such as NRG, Paramount and East West. I had the chance to record some sessions with musicians from Guns & Roses and Slash’s Snakepit, as well as Billy Idol, Keith Richards and Soul Asylum. Amanda Shires [singer/violinist, solo artist and now a member of country supergroup The Highwomen] is one session I remember very well. She was in the early part of her career, but we managed to do two songs in one day — to the point of almost having final mixes. That was a really defining moment.
Over time you have concentrated more on mixing than recording — was that a conscious decision? It just happened gradually. One factor was that I had not had the chance to finalise many of my own projects in LA. So when I moved back to London and [producers/songwriters and long-time Andrea’s friends] Matty Benbrook and PNUT started giving me other artists to mix. I was so happy. It also underlined the fact that whatever ideas you have as the mixer, they should always be in the service of someone else’s vision. If you let your own vision overtake that of the artist and
producer, you are lost. But, although I am doing a lot of mixing, it’s still great to have the chance to see a project through from beginning to end. Just before the pandemic I was working with a band called Soul Grenades, which was 11 people in a room — including horn players — all playing together. That is the vibe of the record, which I have just been mixing recently. I would love to do more of that live in the studio recording – it’s so enjoyable. I think [my ideal] from this point would be to do at least 2/3 complete album projects (full production) per year, alongside the mixing work.
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The Bettermaker EQ232D is the Pultec of the 21st Century. Matt Schaeffer - Recording Engineer (Kendrick Lamar, Bakar, A$AP Rocky) I can use my Bettermaker on a plane, I can use it on a train, I will use it on a bus, I will use it everywhere man oh man. - Jimmy Douglass (Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Ginuwine, Jay-Z.) The Bettermaker certainly lives up to its name, it's a wonderful sounding EQ that's simple enough to get results quickly, but with enough features to address any problem areas in your audio. The P EQ section allows for great tone-shaping, while EQ 1/2 and the HPF let you address the fine details. A great addition to anyone's EQ arsenal. - Paul "Willie Green" Womack (The Roots, Wiz Khalifa, ScHoolboy Q) The analog version of the Bettermaker EQ has been my final top-end and bottom-end for final touches on almost every single mix for the past five years. The plugin version is a winner! Sounds, looks and feels fantastic. - Luca Pretolesi - Producer/Mixing/Mastering Engineer (Diplo/Major Lazer, Snoop Lion, Steve Aoki)
/ Andrea learned his trade at SAE in London
September 2021 / 31
My hope would be that some of the independents latch onto technologies such as Dolby Atmos, so they get used by a broader range of artists
/ Andrea at his base, The Mix Room
writing and co-writing. In terms of the main mixing room in which I am based, we have a great 24-channel SSL 4000E console. We do use Pro Tools, but I also work a lot in Logic too, while Ableton is very good for my own writing and co-writing. All in all, it’s a set-up that allows me to work effectively in plenty of different contexts. And we continue to add new equipment as and when we need it — one of the latest purchases involves KRK 9000B 2-way 9” passive studio monitors and a KRK S10.4 sub. I really trust KRK’s speakers.
You are now primarily based out of your own worked in both of them – those spaces are facility, known as The Mix Room, in East currently occupied by a French label. It’s great London. Can you tell us a little bit about how to hang out and chat with other producers in that works and some of your favoured gear? the communal lounge/kitchen. I am in a location (Studio 45) where The Mix Some of my favourite gear includes: Avalon Putting new music to one side for a moment, Room serves as my own space, with two AD2022 and Universal Audio LA-610 what do you make of the current vogue for separate control rooms. The bigger one is microphone preamplifiers, API 512c mic/line/ remixing classic albums? equipped with analogue gear (including an SSL instrument preamps, Neve 1073 preamps, I think there are two possible takes on that — 4000E console) and overlooks Regents Canal, Universal Audio Apollo AD/DA converters, one is technical and the other is personal. To and both the larger and smaller rooms are SANSAMP pedals, Avalon VT747SP spectralsome degree, we are all used to a version of a connected to a huge and fully equipped live opto-compressors and SANSAMP pedals. We given album that was mixed and mastered that room of 400+ sq ft. There are two other rooms do use Pro Tools, but I also work a lot in Logic way, and I think that should be preserved. I at the studio andDudman over theAd years I have whilet chosen Ableton is very good my own08:16 Page don’t 1000060 AMScomplex Neve Andrew Resize 216mm wtoo, x 82mm ol.qxp_Layout 1 for 26/08/2021 1 really understand the desire to ‘reinvent’
32 / September 2021
/ Craft
/ Andrea is hoping for more interest in Atmos mixes
an album by remixing it, unless the artist is still alive and is totally involved in the process. Having said that, I already dived into Dolby Atmos mixes. It’s clear there is a lot of work there as the request from labels is already pretty incredible. We are working with KRK to see how to implement a setup using V series speakers and the 10.4 sub I already own. It’s a work in progress but that is the project right now. There is a lot of excitement around immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos, but how big a trend do you think it can become? It’s a bit difficult to say at the moment. Apart from the technical aspect, you definitely need to have the marketing in place. If the A&R and marketing people at the labels don’t get behind it, then it won’t be [an enduring trend]. My hope would be that some of the great independents — Domino and XL, for example — latch onto technologies such as Dolby Atmos, so they get used by a broader range of artists. There is a lot of potential in all this for providing a new approach to listening to music, but it does need to be carefully thought through if it’s [to realise its potential]. You’ve mentioned that you’re still a very keen listener to new music, so what has been inspiring you lately? The recent Laura Marling album [2020’s Song For Our Daughter] is unbelievable. The way it
has been produced is such that with some songs you feel like you are in the same room, having a conversation with her. The song ‘Hope We Meet Again’ stands out, starting out with only nylon guitar and vocals before the drums come in really suddenly. It’s abrupt and so full of character. I know that a lot of the album was done [in Marling’s] home studio, which shows how much you can do if you have the right ideas and have developed them in your mind. I sometimes mix stuff at home, and of course we are now at the point where you can also record something on your phone that sounds amazing. It’s very liberating. Finally, what can you tell us about your current projects? Over the last few years I have been doing an archival project for the Rolling Stones. I can’t say much about it, but it has been fantastic to be involved and so interesting to go back through their tapes. In terms of the future, I hope to carry on doing the combination of mixing, recording and writing that I have been doing for some years. It would be nice to do more wholealbum projects, such as Toby Sebastian, Afra Kane & Soul Grenades, and it’s my intention to do a few of those each year if I can. There is a special thrill to recording a band live in the studio, especially after the 18 months we have all had where that hasn’t been an option.
TF11 FET September 2021 / 33
Craft
Marc Sylvan DAVE ROBINSON talks to the man behind the music for so many quiz shows… So, for £100, what is his name? Can you repeat that...? No, you can’t phone a friend…
W
hile some of the show names may be anathema to our international readers, trust the British arm of the Resolution team when we say that if you’ve been exposed to British TV in the last 10 years, you’ve probably heard Marc Sylvan’s work. He’s written music and links for so many leading shows — the almost ubiquitous BBC game, Pointless; Channel 4’s winning 34 / September 2021
format, The Million Pound Drop; and international hit, Total Wipeout to name three — that’s it’s almost impossible not to have. What is your background, Marc? I studied music at school, but I was always surrounded by keyboards: as a boy I had a MIDI controller and a Roland MT-32 [module] — just 127 sounds, but my favourite one was called
‘Soundtrack’, it had these lovely sweeping fifths in it. I wrote lots of little albums of stuff, and then I was applying to the BBC for work experience as a journalist, and the fourth time, they said, Yes! So I went up to the ‘doughnut’, BBC Television Centre, and because I had all these MiniDiscs of music, I managed to get one of the tracks synced on a fashion show. That would have been 1999. It all kicked off from there? Yes, that led me to doing music for the Booker Prize and the Samuel Johnson prize, and gradually I built up a body of work so I could get a showreel together, which got me a publishing deal with Faber. That hooked me up with a drama composer, Simon Lacey, who was doing a game show and needed someone who could handle electronics. That was my break into light entertainment. Then I got asked to
pitch for a show against eight other composers…. and I won the pitch! I was in a band for a time too — Playing Nervous we were called — not a good name in retrospect but we did some decent gigs — but you can’t keep all the plates spinning, you’ve got to make a choice. I’ve found a lot of media composers formerly failed in a band and went into composing! What was the show? It was called For the Rest of Your Life and it was about pulling rods out of the ground! That was 2004, 2005. And it just built out from there — Total Wipeout, Goldenballs and so on — I got typecast for doing game shows, but I do enjoy it.
/ The Masked Singer
/ The Million Pound Drop
/ Wipeout
/ Tipping Point
might sound like. One of the worst things is when the producer says, ‘We’ll know it when we hear it!’. I think, do I go down the indie route, or funk, or what? But when the music ‘sticks’ to the image, then you’re on to something. I did geography at school, we were shown lots of BBC nature videos with all these ambient pads. There was one about Vesuvius, and the pad sounded like the blue sky. I was lured in, I used to sit there dreamily watching. That’s when I realised about the synaesthesia. Sometimes, I write the theme around the host of the show: some have a lightness, some are very serious. When I did The Million Pound Drop with Davina McCall, she’d been associated with
Big Brother, so I wrote an orchestral, epic vibe. The thought of losing a million quid into a black hole — a nightmare concept in itself — needs that epic sound.
Getting ‘on the ladder’ is the key move. Yes, I had many years of getting no phonecalls and thinking, maybe I should give this up, and then you get that phone call and you’re jumping around. But you’re learning a lot in that time. I didn’t know how to produce properly at first. I remember, I did this music show, and U2 were on it with their stellar production sound, and I was thinking, God, my music’s much quieter! What about using real musicians in your work? I always like to use live players when I can, especially for the top line. And you want, say, a sax player to make a few mistakes — because that’s the human bit, the performance. In this age of AI, you want more mistakes and quirks. Don’t over-perfect things, don’t fillet out the humanity. When you are given a programme brief, what’s the first thing you do? Well, what drew me into all this, I get this synaesthesia malarkey, so when I see hear sounds I see colours. I’ll get a logo for a show, and it might be orange, so I think, what orange
Pointless is a particular favourite of my family. How was that put together? That was fun! I did about ten versions of the ‘column’ music, some sound like aliens landing. One was a bloody slide [swanny] whistle! I took them up to the pitch meeting, I thought a reggae-style theme might work for them because it’s a playful show, and reggae worked on [the BBC’s evergreen comedy panel show] QI...I was laughed out of the room, they said
“Truth is ever to be found in the simplicity” Isaac Newton quested.com | info@quested.com September 2021 / 35
/ Craft
slide whistles and reggae weren’t right, try again. I went away and saw an animation of how the column worked and I could get my subconscious working and tie it all together. The countdown is worked by MIDI, by the way. Where do you work? I have an outhouse which I’ve converted into a studio. The pandemic lockdown had no real effect. I need to always have some music on the go, it’s my comfort zone. In the studio, I use a lot of Roland gear — I love the Roland sound, it always sits well in a mix. I had a Korg Z1, but I find Korg sounds are a bit too fat. Now I’ve got rid of most of the synths and gone virtual, because you can work fast. An old synth can break, and you can’t have that in the middle of a job. I’ve got Spectrasonics, the Vienna Symphony stuff, and the Roland online libraries are great. What about the platform? I use [UK custom PC maker] Chillblast. I’ve gone PC. Um, a PC…? I know, that’s a shock, isn’t it? But it’s totally tooled-up for audio and it’s done me proud. The processing power is extraordinary, in this media lark you have to work really fast. These days, when I get a piece signed off, I’ll send, say, the brass parts from a tune to a real brass player, they’ll re-record them and send them back. Again, not affected by the pandemic. What about the DAW? I use Cubase. I used to use Cakewalk on my [earlier] PC, which turned into Sonar. I think it’s good to keep things simple sometimes with the software, it’s can be more creative. Tell me more about the procedures, your processes... First of all, you’ve got to get the theme signed off, you’ve got to know what key you’re in, so all the beds and stings won’t clash. I once had 12 themes on the go, which is too many. It’s a trial by fire, it really teaches you [to work quickly]. I composed with [LittleBigPlanet 2, Sonic the Hedgehog] composer Richard Jacques on a video game — there’s so much music. You have to write two tracks a day for two months. It’s like, bloody hell! You have a bad day, and it’s four tracks. You learn to be a little less precious about it. This game was a… well, ‘kiddie’ game, the music was bouncy, fun stuff, which should be written quickly to keep up the energy. I remember in my Playing Nervous days, we spent two years on one song — ‘Well, if Simon and Garfunkel can do it, so can we….’ — but we ruined it, chewed it to pieces. Music is best made spontaneously and quickly. Wise words. What else is in the studio? I use a lot of iZotope stuff, Ozone and RX. The [Overload] Rematrix, that’s got some wonderful [convolution] reverbs. When it comes to 36 / September 2021
/ Goldenballs
/ House of Games
/ Pointless
/ Lightning
mastering, I do most of it in the box. I sometimes want a real ‘tape’ effect, but I’ll send the music off elsewhere for that. Becoming compact, that’s the way I’ve gone. You know, I used to be a mini-Vangelis with all these keyboards around me, and there’s the whole analogue versus digital debate, but ‘in the box’ sounds brilliant these days, and it’s a new way of making music, so you might as well embrace it.
with Carole Chabat and Mark Swinnerton] as a theme tune. It’s very 80s’ synth-poppy, Roland JP synths and Prophet 5. I love all that kind of stuff.
What’s with the SpaceX connection? The company is using a track called Hopeless Romantic by Buro [Sylvan shares writing credits
Well, let’s hope he sends you a free Tesla instead… A Tesla would be nice!
Do you think Elon Musk will give you a free lift into space? [Laughs] Oh god, I get claustrophobia, the thought of being in a capsule in space. No!
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Focus: Consoles
Focus: Consoles It’s undeniable that the role of the mixer as the centrepiece of the studio has been diminished considerably in the 2000s. What was once the monolithic slab of technology that could make or break the reputation of a recording facility became something of a dinosaur for a while as DAW technology ascended — and it often found itself sidelined in favour of control surfaces or simply a mouse and a keyboard as more an more of us work solely in the box. It never has, and probably never will, completely go away, though — kept alive by the need for tactile interaction and the wish to keep some of the analogue sound listeners find so pleasing. Here are some options — large, small, and somewhere in between — that can fit with a wide range of workflows, traditional and modern.
API
Audient
Heart-warmingly traditional in appearance and operation, the 2448 offers 24 ins, each with API 212L mic pre and 550 EQ, 24 faders plus eight aux and eight summing buses, four returns and a stereo bus — which can be further augmented with API’s final touch automation system. It can be beefed up even further via the eight 500 Series module slots or optional 529 stereo bus compressor. It provides full analogue VU metering, in a classic black/red scale to complete the classic look and feel. We could talk forever about this desk, we think, but you perhaps already know if it’s for you. By contrast, API’s The Box seeks to bring API’s sonic template to a stripped-back workflow (and at a price that makes brings it down to very serious project/smaller commercial studio levels), offering eight input channels with mic pre, line-in and HP filter alongside its eight 500 Series slots with LED metering for each of its 24 summing channels (with 0dB bypass switches). There’s also an on-board stereo bus compressor that can be assigned to the stereo out bus or input channels 1-4, instrument DIs on channels 1-4, a stereo and two mono aux sends — and all the cue, headphone and talkback functionality you would expect. All that and it has a nice API look to it as well. Which, y’know... we’re not too aloof to say we like.
Perhaps known by most musicians for its pre-amps and interfaces these days, for studio heads the Audient name will be synonymous with the 8024 large format console. That has been around for nigh-on two decades now, and popular enough to have earned itself a Heritage Edition iteration (8024HE) to bring the original design of the company’s co-founder (and famed behind the scenes tech for John Lennon’s Ascot Sound Studios, and console builder for George Harrison and Ringo Starr among others) David Dearden (Resolution 4.8) up-to-date. While that’s been Audient’s top-of-the-line console for five years now, its compact smaller sibling the 4816 fills that currently pre-eminent ‘modern workflow’ product slot for the company. It offers 16 of the company’s signature mic pres among its 48 inputs, 4-band switchable EQ, eight subgroups/inserts, 16 record buses, six auxes and a mix bus compressor as the core of its functionality, within a footprint of 109cm (43”) by 99.5cm (40”). It utilises both long and short faders, in an in-line architecture, to create monitor and record balances using a single channel strip, while the EQ can be split to allow the parametric or shelving EQ functionality to be assigned to the short fader channel instead, allowing EQ to be applied to record and mix channels simultaneously.
www.apiaudio.com
www.audient.com
2448 & The Box
38 / September 2021
ASP4816
AMS Neve
Calrec
The 8424 is geared toward DAW-based production studios and offers flexibility rather than an excess of circuitry. This serves to keep dimensions and costs down but, given the company that created it, makes it tempting to focus on what it doesn’t offer rather than what it does. The prime example of this is its assignable 1073 mic preamps, of which there are two as part of its core design — the other live recording option being two front-located DI inputs (the rest of the desk utilises the Virtual Earth Bus system seen on the Genesys and 88R). Those four input channels can be further augmented with either or both of two 500 Series slots that can also be assigned as Inserts to the mix bus, and groups, but users who require extra capacity will need to leverage the versatility of the network-controllable Neve 1073OPX units — or, of course, any pre-amp of their choice — to expand when needed. The addition of the motorised fader option allows the 8424 system to control multiple DAW platforms (and the 1073OPX) via a direct or networked ethernet connection, again adding to its modern workflow credentials and making it a great option for someone looking to get a bit of the 80-series sonic colour from their modern rig.
While the Apollo and Artemis models sit on high as the large format gods of Calrec’s range, the Brio is its broadcast-focused compact solution. With up to 96 channels and 36 main and group busses, fully integrated I/O (24 mic/line ins + eight AES3 / 16 analogue outs + eight AES3), and 96 DSP paths the Brio is a ready-to-go solution for space-restrained applications mixing in up-to 5.1 at 96kHz. The addition of expansion modules can add MADI, SDI, Dante or Calrec’s Hydra2 system for additional I/O routing audio between consoles. For example, the Br.IO Hydra2 unit will double the number of inputs and outputs that are standard in the Brio 36 outlined above. Moving things forward even further in the compact space is its AoIP Type R solutions for Radio and TV. The mixing system uses networking hardware, ‘soft panel’ touchscreens and ethernet-connected fader units with operations tailored to need. Its three hardware panels can create a variety of systems, and tie in with Calrec’s Assist system for mixing in the cloud. It provides capacity for up to three independent mixers to hang off one system core, with expandable DSP licenses to suit.
www.ams-neve.com
www.calrec.com
Cranbourne Audio
Korg
The idea of creating a 500 Series unit with ADAT I/O is a clever one, that will utilise an oft-unused aspect of many an audio interface’s connectivity. Utilising ADAT optical connection, the 500 ADAT can take eight ins and outs from an interface and feed them to the eight corresponding channel slots in the rack. In terms of this product focus, it means the potential to create an eight-channel mixer utilising 500 series strips such as SSL’s SiX Channel. Or a hybrid of whatever you feel like using, via the unit’s internal signal routing. Even without 500 units installed the 500ADAT (or its ‘RB, USB-connectable audio interface cousin), can work as an 8-channel line mixer, that can interface with Cranbourne’s CAST Cat-5/6 audio cabling system — to route audio to its headphone amp or breakout boxes — and provide headphone monitoring itself. However, when you start adding in modules it becomes a much more interesting proposition, of course. The options are pretty mind-boggling for a small scale studio that doesn’t need a massive amount of processing. No, it’s not a ‘proper’ mix console, but it’s an innovative way to access extra probably dormant feature of your interface to add the kind of processing that a high-end tracking and mixing desk can provide — such as master bus compression, for example — at a relatively low cost.
Korg’s foray into the mixer market is, in a similar vein to the examples herein from PreSonus and Tascam, a hybrid system designed to appeal to live and recording musicians and engineers. Designed by Peter Watts and Greg Mackie — the former a veteran of R&D at Trident, and then the latter’s eponymous company that built on his success with Tapco in the 70s and 80s — the 24:8:2 is first and foremost designed to make live mixing easier, but also has features that will appeal beyond that arena (pardon the pun). The pair have collaborated in the wake of the Mackie’s sale in the early 2000s as consultants under M&W Pro Audio moniker, the most high-profile of their projects being the QSC Touchmix line of Wireless digital mixers. This is a more traditional offering, however, providing a desk with 16 mic preamps with 3-band EQ and a Watts-designed ‘one knob’ compression control on each channel as well as mute groups that will be a boon for presentation and church users. The eight bus configuration and routing make it flexible for recording — it is also DAW connectable via USB — and these sit alongside additional features specifically tailored for live applications. That includes a feedback suppressor, spectrum analyser and all-XLR speaker outputs. As you would perhaps expect, it also includes internalised Korg digital effects taken from the Kronos workstation. Much like Tascam’s model below, this is very much aimed and suited to the recording of live events with the addition of a DAW, or performers who need value for money from their kit and would appreciate its dual uses and competitive pricing.
www.cranborne-audio.com
www.korg.com
8424
500 ADAT
Brio & Type R
MW2408
September 2021 / 39
Lawo
Looptrotter
The compact mc²36 received an upgrade at the start of the year that means it now echoes its larger mc²96 and mc²56 brethren. An IPnative mixer, the ‘36 has 16 mic/line ins and outs, with eight AES3 ins and a built-in SFP — DI port for legacy equipment. DSP has more — an doubled with the update, now totalling 256 processing channels, available at both 48 and 96kHz, which provide fully parametric 2-band filters and 2-band EQ, as well and expander, gate, compressor (incl. parallel compression) and limiter dynamics modules. A new 46-fader version has recently been added to accompany the existing 32- or 16-fader versions, all of which have ButtonGlow and touch-sensitive rotary controls, fully configurable colour TFT fader-strip displays on the overbridge, 21.5” full HD touchscreen controls and remote desktop functionality that can utilise the display to show additional connected PCs running third-party applications — such as Waves’ SoundGrid, which is additionally supported by snapshots and production files, which can store settings. There is also full loudness control compliant with ITU 1770 (EBU/R128 or ATSC/A85), while peak and loudness metering can measure individual channels as well as summing busses.
Designed by musician and engineer Andrzej ‘Looptrotter’ Starzyk, the modular console is a customisable solution for integrating 500s modules into a recording and mixing chain as desired. Modular Console all-analogue design allows for split and inline configuration, offering eight subgroups and four Aux Sends. It is expandable in eight-channel modules, that offer selectable Record (mic) and Mix (DAW) work modes. Each channel offers two 500 Series slots that can be populated as required, bypassed, or left unused. Every channel is assignable to five different summing busses in the separate Master section, (stereo summing groups 1-4, Master or both), with two further 500 series slots available on each of the summing groups as well as the Master bus, and a further switchable Insert option on each too. The system uses Alps faders, LED metering for the channels and the summing groups, and VU meters on the Master output. A talkback and listen mic system with three modes and/or footswitch control is built-in. On the eight-channel modules, all I/O (mic/line, DAW, output for Tape and the Insert I/O) is via DB-25 connection. The Master module offers three selectable monitor outs via balanced XLR, studio listen and (optional) external talkback mic connections via XLR (both with gain control). There is also external stereo input via TRS, with Stereo input. Group output, external/aux output, main output/insert/DAW input and Insert I/O handled by DB-25.
www.lawo.com
www.looptrotter.com
PreSonus
Rode
As a part of PreSonus’ fully integrated AVB networking range, the StudioLive 64S digital mixer offers not only its own array of functionality but also the ability to connect to the firm’s NSB-series stage/breakout boxes — to add remote analogue inputs and outputs — or EarMix personal monitor mixers. As you may expect from the name, it is a digital mixer intended to bridge the needs of both recording and live engineers wanting to make the most of PreSonus’ processing ecosystem, with its functionality powered by the company’s new quad-core FLEX DSP Engine. It offers 76 input-channels with 33 touch-sensitive motorised faders with scene recall; 64 of those inputs can be sourced from either the 32 local, digitally controlled XMAX mic/line inputs or any AVB, USB, or SD input — while there are two additional, stereo aux inputs; a stereo ‘Tape’ input, eight Flex FX returns, and Talkback facility. These can be routed to 43 mix buses (32 Aux, Subgroup or Matrix; eight dedicated Flex FX buses; Stereo Main bus or a main Mono/Center bus). The system provides 526 simultaneous processors, which means PreSonus’ powerful FAT Channel dynamics and EQ plug-in models (and more) can be inserted on every channel (there are no connections for outboard Inserts), while the Flex FX channels provide Reverb and Delay. It provides 64x64 recording to a PC or Mac via USB, plus onboard 34x34 onboard multi-channel recorder for virtual soundchecks in a live setting. Users of Studio One will also get control integration, with additional MCU and HUI emulation modes from Logic and Pro Tools respectively.
A diminutive, all-in-one solution for podcasting that’s designed for ease of use, the RØDECaster Pro offers four mic inputs with Class A preamps alongside smartphone, USB, and Bluetooth channels for integrating remote guests with automatic mix-minus to eliminate echo and feedback problems. The unit also features internal DSP including compressor, noise gate, high-pass filter and Aphex’s Aural Exciter and Big Bottom algorithms. Recordings (24-bit, 48kHz) can be made to microSD or a computer via USB, in stereo or multitrack for post-production tweaks. There are also eight sound pads for triggering music and sound effects across eight banks for a total of 64 options limited by the 512MB of internal storage set aside to hold them. Weighing in at less than 2kg and with a footprint of 350mm x 275mm (mm), it’s a highly portable option for content creators and those that need to wrangle them when on the go.
www.presonus.com
www.rode.com
MC236 — 48 Fader
StudioLive 64S
40 / September 2021
Modular Console
RØDECaster Pro v2
NEW
PM3
NEW
PM7
PM10 yamahaproaudio.com
PM5
Rupert Neve Designs
Schertler
The 5088 system (described as “an extraordinary beast” in Resolution 7.1) by US-based Rupert Neve Designs, the company where the famed audio engineer and designer plied his trade until his passing earlier in the year (see Resolution 21.1), is a fully modular desk design that ticks the boxes that anybody looking for that vaunted ‘Neve sound’ would want. The basics are a 16-channel, fully discrete, eight bus console, with custom-designed input and output transformers. The trick, though, is that it’s expandable in 16-channel sections for 64 or more channels — and latterly has also been available in a stripped back eight-channel version too. All input channels offer bus/line/tape input selection, transformercoupled direct outputs, while the 16 channel+ versions provide eight mix buses, eight auxes and 100mm faders. The monitor/master section includes four effects returns, switchable selection of three control room monitor outputs, six monitor sources and AFL/PFL solo modes, as well as talkback, oscillator and 100mm master and stereo master faders. Metering is via two VUs and an optional meter bridge, while a further optional ‘penthouse’ module provides 25 slots for Neve’s 5088-specific preamp, EQ and Compressor options: one above each channel, plus nine above the group/master sections. The area can alternatively be configured to hold its 500 Series modules and standard rack units as required. The console can also be fitted with Swiftmix automation and motorised faders.
Schertler’s Arthur mixer (reviewed in Resolution 15.7) is a modular system whereby you can configure your own analogue mixer from scratch, adding a variety of input and output modules as necessary. You can add pretty much any number of channels you want, attaching extra power supply modules for larger setups that employ more of the utilitarian looking modules. There are multiple input and output options, including mic and instrument pres up to 8x channels — with ULN (Ultra Low Noise) and a ‘Yellow’ DI options for extra flavour, the latter of which is also available separately as a 500 Series module — returns and few different master section choices depending on your needs. All the ins offer a three-band EQ, with an On button, and fixed High and Low boost/ cut, plus a sweepable two-knob mid-band ranging between 250Hz to 3.2kHz; they also provide three auxes — each selectable Pre or Post, then there is the Pan knob, PFL button, and finally a long-throw fader with three large LEDs, which meter post-EQ/ pre-fader signal level.
www.rupertneve.com
www.schertler.com
SSL
Studer
You won’t find many ‘new’ consoles like this one anymore, and it’s easy to understand the buzz that surrounded Origin’s NAMM launch back in early 2018. Reviewed in Resolution 19.3, the Origin is an unashamedly analogue console, but with a focus on modern hybrid workflows and SSL’s build quality — and a system that hits a price point capable of attracting many potential customers. Drawn from the 4000 series, the in-line mixer design with flippable short and long faders uses a microcontroller-based routing system that saves space, and the desk sports other slight ergonomic changes that make use easier. At the front-end of all the channels is SSL’s SuperAnalogue PureDrive pres, offering a wide gain range from +2 to +70dB for mic inputs and -12 to +55dB for line, with a Drive button to switch it from clean to a more coloured, saturated sound. There is then the classic 242 E-series EQ, two stereo cue sends and four mono aux sends — with 0dB buttons allowing a very quick and consistent way to sum a mix through the console at unity gain. The configurable 19” centre section is where the Origin becomes really versatile, and be adapted to house 500 series modules, control surfaces, keyboard, trackpad, monitor as well as the console Master Section and Group faders; which includes the classic SSL Bus Compressor, a circuit originally from the 1989 G-Series.
Nominated for a Resolution Award in 2015, the 52-fader Vista V is still going strong. Based on Studer’s ‘Quad Star’ tech, created for its predecessor the Vista X, the Vista V comes in a more compact form while featuring a meter bridge, motorised faders, and built-in dynamic automation with DAW remote control. The console is surround-sound capable, with versatile panning and monitoring functionality. At the heart of Vista V is the Infinity Core, which uses CPU-based processors to deliver 800+ audio channels and more than 5,000 inputs and outputs. The Vista V with Quad Star technology uses four processors to achieve ‘aviation standard’ levels of redundancy in the control surface, while CPU-based DSP makes it viable to provide two completely independent DSP cores running in parallel with instant changeover and no audio dropout. The desk features VistaMix — Studer's automated microphone mixing algorithm, based on gain sharing, and which runs directly on the Infinity Core with no external hardware required. As the system has matured, it’s gained easy integration into popular AoIP broadcast networks including Dante, Livewire and AES67, etc. It features the BSS DPR-901 Dynamic EQ Plug-In, assignable to any channel as desired and running directly on the Infinity Core and up to six Lexicon PCM96 surround reverb processors can be connected, with their parameters stored in the mixer's snapshots and accessible directly from the Vistonics Interface.
www.solidstatelogic.com
www.studer.evertz.com
5088
Origin
42 / September 2021
Arthur F48
Vista V
/ Focus: Consoles
TASCAM
Tree Audio
A revival of the expanded portastudio format that was a fave of some pro and many project studios in the late 90s early 00s, the TASCAM Model 24 is both a 24-track digital recorder and 24-channel USB Audio Interface with analogue mixdown capabilities. Like PreSonus’ StudioLive line, it is designed to work across stage to studio. The Model 24 enables you to record and playback any combination of the 24-track digital audio (recorded to SD card), making it ideal for live recording or playing along to recorded backing tracks, as well as building songs with overdubs and traditional or DAW-based recording methods. It offers 12 Mono input channels and four mono/stereo channels, the first two mic/line inputs offer ¼” TRS Inserts, while all 12 offer a ‘one-knob’ compression suited to live shows. They all have EQ and 100mm. There is also a 7-band master EQ, dual monitor sends, and onboard FX send — which can access one of 16 preset effects. Channels 13-20 are configured as stereo input channels, and feature an XLR Microphone input as well as dual ¼” stereo inputs, with the Left input summing to mono if the right input connector is unused, while 21/22 has stereo RCA or 3.5mm inputs as well as Bluetooth pairing. While it lacks some features many will consider standard, particularly aux sends, as a songwriter or live performer’s tool there’s a lot on offer here — and its all-around functionality will appeal to some.
Creators of hand-built tube and solid state analogue recording equipment, Tree Audio was founded in 2007 by Steve Firlotte and Ian Gardiner, who have been working together since the late 90s creating custom desks for Flea, Herbie Hancock and Daniel Lanois to name just three. The Roots console was introduced in 2012 and now comes in five different possible iterations. The largest of these is called Gen II 16 — a 16 channel/2 Bus tube hybrid console with rotary controls rather than faders and a pleasingly retro style. It offers a channel strip with mic pre/line input/direct input (instrument in) with all tube Baxandall-type EQ with controls over low and high bands and optical-type limiter on each channel. There are also four 500 Series slots for additional processing. The Mic preamp provides up to 60dB of gain and is complemented with a direct output trim. A selectable high-pass offers a choice of three frequencies, 80Hz, 125Hz and 250Hz and an input transformer impedance select. At the top sits four aux sends with the option to set each pair as Pre or Post (or Off). These can be routed to the 500 Series processing, which can also hold processing for the master bus.
www.tascam.com
www.treeaudio.com
Trident Audio Developments
Yamaha
The Trident 88 Custom is the company’s flagship console and a classically styled, in-line, eight bus analogue system from the same stable as the famed 80-series mixing desks that were widely employed during the 80s. It is now available in stock configurations of 8, 16, 24, 32, and 40 channels — and beyond — with options for LED or VU metering and upgraded Lundhal transformers where desired. The 88 series aimed to improve functionality, workflow and performance specifications in terms of the integration of outboard processors and mic pre’s, such as 500 format. This is done via a switchable input, which bypasses the channel preamp circuitry and allows for the insertion of external signal sources directly to the channel equaliser. This EQ is an 80C unit, the newest iteration of the classic 80B. It provides 4-band fully sweepable, and is available on every channel, with an additional Tilt EQ on the monitor section — the EQ also has its own independent Insert, so you either bypass it in favour of outboard units or use them in conjunction with each other. Also configurable is the I/O connection type, either XLR and ¼: jack or XLR and DB25. The master section features eight aux masters each with Solo, AFL/ PFL Master with level adjustment — and also two separate ALT Monitors, each with level control and on/off switches.
Appearing in 2014, Yamaha’s Rivage line of touring and installation consoles — which have also found their way into many recent event broadcast and live stream set-ups — began with the PM10, and was augmented by the PM7 option in 2018. Last year saw the addition of two new models, the PM5 and PM3, as well as new DSP engines — the DSP-RX and DSP-RX-EX. Both offer the same large touchscreens with multi-finger gesture functionality: the PM5 offers three screens, while the PM3 gets one as part of a control surface that’s the most compact Rivage thus far, at just 45” wide. Both have PM5 and PM3 each have 38 faders — three bays of 12, with two masters — but with updated control surfaces geared towards efficiency. But it's under the hood where there have been real changes; with the new DSP-RX and the DSP-RX-EX, as well as the existing DSP-R10 systems capable of being employed with any Rivage system except the PM7, which has built in DSP. DSP-RX offers 120 inputs by 48 mixes and 24 matrices, while DSP-RXEX doubles the inputs, going to 288 inputs with 72 mix outputs and 36 matrix outs. DSP-RX provides for 384 plug-in ‘slots’, with 512 as part of DSP-RX-EX. An expansion pack allows users to make the move between the two systems should they require the extra capacity. DSP mirroring is also supported by the new DSPs, allowing two DSPs to be run simultaneously to provide redundancy.
www.tridentaudiodevelopments.com
www.yamaha.com
Model 24
88C
The Roots Gen II 16 Channel
Rivage PM5 & PM3
September 2021 / 43
Focus: Summing Mixers
AMS Neve
Antelope Audio
A hand-built, hand-wired 16:2 summing mixer using the classic Neve analogue transformer mix bus topology. The densely packed 2U front panel of the 8816 highlights its versatile feature-set, where settings can be instantly recalled from a PC or Mac via USB and AMS Neve’s Recall software. It offers the 16 input channels plus additional aux inputs and a mix Insert. Its channel offers Cue, Level, Pan, Solo, Solo in place and Mute controls. There are also separate Monitor and Cue levels out level, headphone outs to the front and back, as well as outputs for Main and Alt speakers — alongside an onboard talkback mic — a 2 track return and 3.5mm input for iPod or another player. This makes it a useful tool for mixing and tracking for those wanting to add some analogue warmth to their DAW workflow, which is enhanced by the addition of the Width feature on the mix bus and the ability to send out of the Mix Insert in Sum & Difference for MS EQ alterations.. For those requiring digital connections an optional A/D card supports sample rates to 192kHz and direct conversion to DSD (Direct Stream Digital) while an optional 8804 fader pack add 100mm fader bank and additional and 16 additional direct outs, which allow the Level pots on the main rack to operate as dedicated aux send controls.
Though ostensibly and primarily a monitor control solution, the Antelope Audio Satori also offers up to eight channels of analogue summing in a unit that, as you would expect, offers remote control either via the R4S unit or its control software. The 1U unit offers plenty of I/O options, with eight stereo inputs and four stereo outputs via XLR, 1/4” TRS and D-Sub 25. Satori also boasts a subwoofer output and four independent 1/4” headphone outs, with control connection via USB. While Antelope has built its name of A/D conversion, this is an analogue unit, though one we described as “a centre section for the digital studio era” in our review (Resolution 14.1). As such it offers volume control; monitor and source selection; talkback and headphone control as well as that summing functionality — which is simple in execution. The front panel buttons that select from the eight stereo inputs are overridden by a single Sum button that sits to their right, whereupon the unit will output the summed output of stereo inputs 5-8 to a pair of TRS jacks labelled ‘Sum’ on the back panel and mirror the feed to whichever of the four monitor options you have selected and the headphone outs. This allows four stereo pairs to be summed, thus eight channels — though none of these can be Centred for mono sources, as their L-R is hard-panned. Sound-wise, Russell Cottier was impressed with the transparent sound of the unit, and believed it would fit well into a control-surface based pro studio; the Summing, though limited, is certainly an interesting additional feature here.
www.ams-neve.com
www.antelopeaudio.com
Rupert Neve Designs
SPL
A charmingly simple 1U rack, the 5057 orbit packs all the Neve class-A summing behind an almost bare faceplate that offers no more control than the option to mono sum any of the stereo pairs making up tracks 1-8, and switch between Silk Red or Silk Blue circuitry (or neither) for variable harmonic saturation. After that there are only two knobs: for ‘Texture’ of the saturation and volume Trim, with two colour LEDs for signal present (Green), and 2dB below clipping (Red) on the Left and Right output channels. The output transformer configuration comes from the Shelford Channel and provides both a Main and -6dB to allow headroom for really driving the Orbit. Every mix demands its own treatment. If you need more features, the 5059 Satellite offers a 16:2+2 mixer with individual level, pan and inserts for each input channel; alongside output channel ‘Texture’ controls akin to those of the Orbit. Each channel of the 5059 can also access the Stereo 2 send via a front panel switch, which splits its input signal and routes it simultaneously to a second stereo output, where it can be treated by a separate Silk circuit or extra external processing — or routed wherever you wish.
The SPL MixDream is a cascadable, 16:2 1U summing mixer, purely designed to deal with the output from a DAW. Thus is offers no pan or fader controls, acting purely as a through-way for the DAW output and imparting analogue flavour to taste. Each of the 16 input channels has a switchable insert, that can handle compression, or indeed any effect; for example, DAW aux sends could be routed to the corresponding output and mixed back accordingly. Channels 1/2, 3/4 as well as 5/6 can be switched to mono, so that two signals can be converted by one D/A chip. Each channel also features a No Mix option, which means it is muted for summing, but retained at the Direct Out output. Each channel has an active Direct Out, which allows individual channels to be recorded back into the DAW after insert editing. There is also an Insert and Stereo Expander on the Master bus, and its is equipped with and output level switch and two Lundahl LL1539 output transformers. I/O is via XLR or DB-25 connection and channel capacity can be increased by the linking of up to three units. The same summing circuitry is also available in a stripped-back option dubbed the Mixdream XP, which strips out the extra functionality in favour of basic 16:2 summing that retains DAW settings. Indeed, the XP moniker denotes its origin as an expansion for MixDream users needing more capacity.
www.rupertneve.com
www.spl.audio
8816 Summing Mixer
5057 Orbit & 5059 Satellite
44 / September 2021
Satori + RS4
MixDream
Thermionic Culture
Tree Audio
A straightforward all-valve 16:2 input summing mixer offers no level controls, preferring to simply offer on-off switches per channel pair, and extra switches to allow inputs 13-16 to be switched to ‘Centre’ (mono) if required. Designed as a compact version of the far more extensively featured Fat Bustard, it utilises the same input circuitry as that device (though employing 16x XLRs for its extra channels — The Purple Bustard has 16 compared to the Fat Bustard’s 12), as well as its ‘Attitude’ control to provide 2nd order harmonics for that analogue warmth and grit. It doesn’t, however, provide any of the panning or tone-shaping Varislope EQ and filters of that unit, alternatively offering a simple ‘Air’ option to boost high top-end. Outputs are unbalanced XLR, though a separate Balancing Box is available as an optional extra. There’s not a lot else to describe here, beyond the natty purple front plate, no surprise there, and the pleasing retro styling of the control and level out knobs. The Purple Bustard is a simple unit that trades in Thermionic Culture’s reputation as a trusted British purveyor of valve tone. That's a reputation that's borne out by the impressive amount of times you hear praise for its equipment withing these pages and in wider conversation.
A unit that can be used as a sidecar alongside a Roots (or other) mixing console or as a stand-alone summing mixer, The Stem is a chunky, distinctively styled 3U rackmount unit that features eight input channels, all based around SP690 discrete op amps and that all offer level and pan controls alongside a mute/on/solo three-way switch. The master section includes two outputs, alongside the chunky master level control familiar to users of the company’s mixers. A stereo bus insert is also included to allow for mix bus compressor or additional EQ, controlled by an insert bypass switch. The operation and configuration here is really simplicity itself, so it’s definitely the rugged build quality, and the emphasis on a vintage analogue tone that you’re interested in if you’re willing to invest in a unit such as this. None of Tree Audio's products are even remotely looking to compete in terms of price with other options out there, however The Stem is a significantly cheaper option if you’re happy with your in-the-box mixing workflow and don’t feel the need for the retro EQ facilities the full mixer offers. Alternatively, you could potentially pair this with one of the Branch channel strips to get Tree Audio flavour at either end of the recording chain in a more compact package.
www.thermionicculture.com
www.treeaudio.com
The Purple Bustard
The Stem
September 2021 / 45
Facility
Marshall Studios NIGEL JOPSON finds the iconic amp brand have turned the dial to 11 with a new recording facility
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hen you’re recording rock music, there's one classic amp topping the list: Marshall! The British backline mainstay is unusual as an MI manufacturer in that practically every process — from woodcutting and metalbending through circuit assembly — is completed on-site at their factory in Bletchley, Milton Keynes. In recent years Marshall has added wi-fi speakers and headphones to the product line, acquired drum-maker Natal, and in 2017 started a record label — now the legendary amp-maker has built a fantastic recording studio. Arriving to view the new studio, we were taken aback at the scale of the project. “This has been a passion project for the Marshall team,” said commercial director Alex Coombes, “our ambition was to build a versatile and flexible commercial multimedia facility to serve the modern entertainment market, and at the same time to promote young talent and give something back to the artist and producer community.” 46 / September 2021
The facility is constructed on the site of an old hall behind the factory, with private car park adjacent. This is not just a recording or ampdemo room — this is a full-blown multimedia facility, with a live room capable of accommodating an audience of up to 250.
The layout
The entrance to the single-story building gives onto a spacious reception area, with video screens, a bar (complete with Marshall branded beer taps) and a reception area. It’s easy to imagine this space being used to welcome guests before a showcase performance or album launch event. A corridor links to the control room and huge recording space, capable of accommodating an orchestral ensemble or audience, with a stage at one end and a loading bay behind the stage. Adjacent to the stage is an artist green room, with the live area in front of the green room having a slightly lower ceiling height giving a more damped acoustic. The ceiling in front of the stage holds
/ View of live area, from control room window (entrance to green room to right of stage).
four lighting trusses, with sufficient space to accommodate film crews and cameras if required. The loading bay behind the stage has a large through-wall cable flap, enabling an OB or video truck to be positioned in the car park. “I think we can do everything here,” says studio manager Adam Beer. “We've got a world-class recording studio, it's a showcase venue and we can do video recording — for product reviews, podcasts, live streams — you name it! We've set up a place that can allow creative people to fulfil their potential, whatever they want to do. I think it's a massive vote of confidence in the creative industry from Marshall themselves. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to run this studio — this is a ‘limitless’ building.” Beer arrived at Marshall after a decade of experience in both recording and live sound, and has specified equipment with an eye on flexibility and connectivity. “Every part of the building has a mic tie line, a speaker output, and an instrument output for guitar amps, plus you've got data via RJ45 for monitoring or remote connection via six Focusrite RedNet AM2,” explains Beer. “We can take any Dante mic preamp, put it anywhere in the building, it will come into our main network and we can record it directly. It means that the whole building is effectively the studio, even the office at the top!” With an eye to the detail, we like the little Marshall logo on all the custom mic boxes — and the black elephant grain Tolex wrap on the panels.
Neve will rock you
Stepping into the control room, a massive vintage Neve 8048 40-channel console, with a separate custom analogue patchbay installed to the left side, confirms Marshall’s serious ambition with the facility. Making some final adjustments is Blake Devitt, vintage-expert par excellence, well known for his work in repairing
/ Producer Chris Sheldon at the controls of the Neve.
/ George Drewry of Bad Touch recording drums.
Our ambition was to give something back to the artist and producer community and reconstructing all things Neve, and responsible for many classic re-builds including Paul Epworth’s console at The Church studios (Resolution V13.8), ICP studios in Belgium, and Miloco’s Pool studio. The Marshall console frame came from EMI Pathé-Marconi studio in Paris, and is populated by a selection of Devitt’s hand-tweaked modules. To the left are 24 channels with 1093 modules, whilst the right 16 channels include an
additional mix of 1065, 1066 and 2065 modules. “The patchbay would normally be at the end, making these consoles in their original form incredibly hard to move,” explains Devitt, “but I have re-positioned it to be free-standing to the left side of the desk in this control room. I had the remains of a BBC console, and I changed the shape of it to house the patchbay. I decided that what was needed was a ‘co-pilot seat’; vintage desks would always have two positions,
/ Neve 8048 with Pro Tools screen in the centre.
September 2021 / 47
up whatever is coming out of the DAW outputs, but it now also picks up the channel outputs, offering many possibilities,” (for example a live stream broadcast mix in parallel with multitrack recording). Devitt explains he has applied his no-compromise ‘1% better’ audio fidelity methodology to each channel on the Neve, a concept which he says will also apply to every equipment decision at Marshall.
Producers approve
/ Guitar overdub with Thousand Thoughts, custom-made Neve patchbay in background.
We've got a world-class recording studio, it's a showcase venue for 250 and we can do video recording but nowadays the assistant tends to hover, so I made the patchbay match the Neve layout in style and everything else. The console now disassembles into three pieces, making it very easy to move. I’ve even made the patch section ‘plug in’ in blocks of eight by changing the sockets underneath to reflect custom configurations, so the mixer can be linked to Pro Tools without filling the patchbay with a nest of cables.” The Neve frame arrived with no EQs or line amps; an empty shell that hadn’t done any recording since it left the legendary Pathé studios. “After splitting it into three pieces, I did functional modifications — in what, I believe, is the same manner Neve themselves would have made them if requested in 1974,” Devitt continues. “So no modern parts at all, all period parts, I put my whole collection of rare bits that I've found all over the world into this console — only Marinaire transformers, no St. Ives, are installed; all-discrete circuit boards, the things you can’t buy!” Modern working styles are more suited to having a screen and keyboard in the centre of the console, so Devitt has re-configured the frame to accommodate this layout. Sliding plates are provided to cover some of the modules to the right, in order to support a full orchestral score if required. “I used the same concept when I rebuilt the 1975-vintage Neve for Question de Son Studio A in Paris: it was the first trial of the idea of putting a screen/producer table in the middle 48 / September 2021
of a vintage console” Devitt reveals. “It’s a lot of work, and you can end up with a very noisy ‘Frankenstein’ console if you do it wrong!”
Splitting the difference
Devitt has actually provided Marshall with two separate vintage Neves in one frame — with obvious modern workflow benefits as regards monitoring and grouping within Pro Tools. His aim was to speed up the transient performance of the mix bus, and “get it sounding more like an EMI Neve.” The 16 channel section (situated where the returns would originally have been) is a completely separate console from the 24 modules to the left side. Three new low-noise busbars — including one for solo-in-place — have been made for the summing system. “You’ve got two ‘fast’ summing systems rather than one big mix bus. I’m pleased to say you could really hear it on the drums during the test sessions. I’ve been able to get much more control over the noise floor and dynamics of the console this way.” The redundant 3+4 rear speaker buttons on the modules can select to listen to any pair of busses without interrupting signal flow (e.g., stems). The first 24 channels have also been equipped with pre-eq inserts, a goodie which no other 8048 console boasts. “By a happy coincidence the monitoring section was a 32-line return specification, so I’ve added an insert point on the monitor summing section so it can now be used as a [third!] independent mixer. The monitor section picks
The studio was launched with a test session helmed by Romesh Dodangoda (Resolution V18.6, V19.3) producing band Thousand Thoughts. “We managed to make a test session into a proper session within the space of half an hour,” said Adam Beer, “we turned the preamps up and went — yeah, this is a goer!” The live space proved too tempting not to use for extra overdubs. “We got some gang vocals and some drumming going. We fetched some drums from the factory — we're next door to the Natal warehouse. We got the band with their floor toms around the room playing along to the track. The space meant that we were able to do that relatively easily, it made a huge difference to the way the track sounded.” The involvement of several well-respected production names in the Marshall project certainly bodes well for the future. Producer Chris Sheldon (Resolution V19.1 — Foo Fighters, Feeder, Therapy?) has also recently been in the studio recording rockers Bad Touch. “I love the new studio — a fantastic live room big enough to track a band — in fact, big enough to track a decent-sized orchestra comfortably,” Sheldon told us. “The vintage Neve desk sounds glorious — anything coming through those mic pres sounds, well, better! A great microphone selection to covers all eventualities and if you can’t see something you like, lots of equipment is pretty much two minutes away in the factory … what’s not to like?” Over 100 microphones are available, and the entire facility is equipped with tie lines, speaker connectors and AoIP Ethernet links. Four Focusrite RedNet A16R 24-bit 192kHz 16-channel analogue interfaces feed the Dante digital network, with an Avid HDX card providing the workstation link to Avid Pro Tools Ultimate. When we visited, the studio’s digital network was happily interfaced with a small treasure trove of classic outboard in Tolexcovered racks next to the Neve. We spotted six Audio Developments AD055 compressors, a pair of 1176LNs, a couple of dbx 160a, a Smart C2, Teletronix LA-2A and (quite rare) rack of eight APSI 562 EQs. Studio manager Adam Beer made the point that the configuration of the studio will develop in a synergistic manner: “We will always have something to do, always have an evolution, and that's so exciting. We'll take feedback from artists, feedback from the professionals doing video and photography, and feedback from people in R&D at the factory; they're going to be bringing in some equipment for us to use, we'll
/ Facility
/ Studio entrance: park your amp here!
get artists to respond to it, how they like it, how they don't — the studio will really be a melting pot for talent.” As Beer explained, the new studio forms a cornerstone of the company’s holistic approach to music: “Marshall not only have a record label, they also have a booking agency. So this really is a part of the whole ecosystem of Marshall. The young talent on the record label is incredible. I see the studio as making the record label really soar — you know, why go somewhere else when you can record in the world-class studio right next to the factory?”
Forward-looking facility
Twenty years ago, a hot topic of conversation for myself and recording engineer colleagues was: who will build the large studios of the future? It was pretty clear that the wonderful facilities my peers and I had worked in lacked commercial justification, and studios like them would never again be built. Producer’s ‘project studios’ were fine for mixing, but would there still be large rooms to record live acts? Mixed media facilities like The Hospital in Covent Garden (Resolution V2.6) gave a clue as to a possible future direction, but it remained unclear who would actually be using such facilities. To be honest, those of us involved in building and specifying studios 20 years ago still had our heads in the era of major label budgets. Marshall Records boss Steve Tannett — who started his career playing guitar with punkrockers Menace — has a story about Miles Copeland watching one of his gigs and telling the band ‘Hey, wanna make a record? Turn up at the studio tomorrow!’ It is this freewheeling musician-friendly approach — more common in the ’70s than the later big-budget era, which Tannett hopes to recreate in spirit. “It’s all designed to be the best possible experience for the musician, for the artist — it’s not bound up with any onerous terms and conditions or anything like that. We really are trying to be a bit revolutionary in what we are doing.” Tannett, who was formerly head of IRS Records, thinks the new facility is a real winner: “I have considerable recording experience going back to when I was working as an A&R
guy, recording The Alarm’s first hit album [Declaration] at Abbey Road Studio 2 in 1983. When I look at what Marshall has built I feel we actually have a technical ability that is on a par with top studios… there’s plenty of amazing talent that will be coming through soon! An important part of what I will be doing is introducing international artists and producers to this amazing studio,” Tannett continues, “there are so many artists globally who will be interested to come and record in this space because of the brand.” Early in my recording career, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Marshall (who passed away in 2012, the year his company celebrated its 50th anniversary). At the time, Jim had brought along a new amp for Jeff Beck to try, and I thought he would have plenty of ‘amp man’ talk. Instead, Jim was keen to discuss music stores, his drum playing and teaching (he had taught Mitch Mitchell, drummer with The Jimi Hendrix Experience) — and to ask a much younger me how I thought recorded music related to what audiences wanted to hear live. Marshall, the man, was super-focused on what musicians of the day needed to succeed — the design of his eponymous amplifiers fulfilled a COMPRESSOR LIMITER pressing need, in an era when other amps often had the sound (and looks) of something better suited to a lounge organ or country fair. Despite his dominant market niche, Jim was keen to www.davehilldesigns.com understand new developments in music. His holistic view helped Marshall, the company, become incredibly successful. What is in desperately short supply for live Dave Hill Designs SHW 0914.indd 1 14/08/2014 musicians and bands today is a supportive framework to connect with audiences. Currently, labels are structured in a way that drastically tilts to helping those who’ve already been successful with fairly narrow-genre music. Live bands need help finding venues, arranging tours, recording, streaming, Sign up at www.resolutionmag.com/newsletter releasing and distributing music. “Nowadays for the all-new, fortnightly Resolution email you need to be providing something for newsletter, featuring exclusive Resolution features everyone, you've got to do everything and and content, news and competitions, and more! you've got to do everything well,” says Adam Beer. “I think that the spirit of Jim Marshall really lives on in this place; from what people tell me, this is exactly the kind of thing he'd be wanting us to do.”
FORWARD THINKING AUDIO GEAR
TITAN
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September 2021 / 49
09:04
Playlist
Richard H. Kirk JOHN MOORE marks the passing of Cabaret Voltaire and electronic music pioneer Richard H. Kirk, a stalwart of alternative music in the UK from the mid-70s onwards, with a pick of tracks from his catalogue
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hen I was first paying attention to music that wasn’t classed as pop, it was around the explosion of the UK acid house scene at the end of the 80s and Cabaret Voltaire’s Groovy, Laidback and Nasty became a staple of my listening rotation. It was one of their less abrasive LPs, and while dance music of the late 80s, was very US-centric, Cabaret Voltaire seemed to do a little of what Kraftwerk had done — to graft a European sensibility on to electronica — for the UK, and I loved it. I began digging a little deeper and discovering that Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder were far from just faceless guys with banks of synthesisers; that they had a history that took them back to the DIY punk scene and beyond, and a whole host of interesting projects behind them. Sometimes together, and sometimes separately, they continued to be fascinating. Sadly, Richard H. Kirk passed away at on September 19th this year, but here is a selection of his music by way of a tribute from us.
Cabaret Voltaire YASHAR (1983)
Cabaret Voltaire NAG NAG NAG (1979) Kicking-off with a swathe of delay and feedback, this beatbox-led noisefest was influential enough to end up with a London club night named after it — and continued to inspire the more distorted strains of electronica into the new millennium and well beyond. . Cabaret Voltaire KEEP ON (I GOT THIS FEELING) Another slice of pop from the early nineties that is as close as Cabaret Voltaire ever got to the slick house sound of exponents like Kevin Saunderson’s Inner City. Pure joy for me.
Cabaret Voltaire HYPNOTISED (1989)
The tape loop experiments of early Cabaret Voltaire merge with detuned synthsiser oscillators and thudding percussive patterns in a wonderfully discordant, more than vaguely middle-eastern slab of electronica. Cabaret Voltaire SENSORIA (1984)
The massive gated drum tracks, post-punk scratching and chorused guitars, along with glitchy samples of this 1984 track adheres to - and warps a template followed by so much club music of the time. Creative delays keep the groove bouncing and propel a very British take on US house.
Starting off with a classic Linn drum line, this track morphs into what is probably Cabaret Voltaire’s poppiest moment. More classic late 80s delay, with glitches, big synth stabs, a bit of Italo-house piano thrown in, and a heavily effected vocal combine to create a great track. Cabaret Voltaire THEME FROM EARTHSHAKER (1984) A track with soaring synthscapes and clattering industrial percussion that never quite finds a groove, this is an instantly ear-catching piece of proto-synthpop that is definitely not pop.
It’s got a touch of Jarre and Vangelis, but has definitely had a few late nights out in the North of England too. It comes from the LP MicroPhonies, which generally showcases the band very cannily balancing its art-rock and electronic influences; not here though. Cabaret Voltaire EASY LIFE (1990)
Another Groovy, Laidback and Nasty LP cut, this one is unashamedly percussive and leans back on a 303 pattern and synth vibraphone to keep it moving forward in as loose a way as is possible in that format. Plenty of cowbell, too. Richard H. Kirk I WANT MORE
Just a basic 303 and drum machine, twinned with a breathy vocal, but this unreleased track from an anthology LP covering 74-89 — being a cover of the Can song from 1976’s Flow Motion — says pretty much all you need to know about where Richard H. Kirk saw his sound as coming from, and heading. Richard H. Kirk THE FEELING OF WARMTH AND BEAUTY (1995) In contrast to the abrasive edge of Cabaret Voltaire, Kirk’s solo LP Virtual State deals in a much warmer, deeper, sound, with almost Reich-like interest in repetition. Here. a looping filtered synth line, underpinned by propulsive bass, keeps this track centred while fizzing percussion comes in and out but never really kicks it off.
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50 / September 2021
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