MIX 536 - August 2021 by publications

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Classic Tracks: ‘Summertime Blues’ ★ Mix Engineer Josh Gudwin ★ Nashville's D.I.Y. Hip Hop Scene August 2021 \\ mixonline.com \\ $6.99

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08.21 Contents

Volume 45, Number 8

FEATURES 30 On the Cover: Dave Way Is Digging Dolby Atmos Music BY TOM KENNY

34 Live Sound’s Staffing Squeeze BY STEVE HARVEY

38 The Many Mixes of Engineer Josh Gudwin BY LILY MOAYERI

42 Tango Fusion With Los Tangueros del Oeste

BY ROBYN FLANS

TECHNOLOGY

MUSIC

LIVE SOUND

44 New Products: Studio

16 Nashville Hip-

24 New Venues Debut, Post-Pandemic: The Music Room,

and Live Sound

Hop’s D.I.Y. DNA

BY MIX STAFF

BY KEITH NELSON, JR.

46 Tech Spotlight:

20 Music News & Notes

Mics & Headphones for Podcasting BY MIX STAFF

48 Innovations: L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio

BY MIX STAFF

22 Classic Tracks:

“Summertime Blues,” Eddie Cochran

PRESENTED BY

Cape Cod; The Factory, St. Louis BY CLIVE YOUNG

27 Blue Note, Peltrix, Audinate Team for Live Collaboration BY CLIVE YOUNG

28 News & Notes: Montreux Jazz Festival Returns; GLEIS4 Frankenthal; Adamson Goes to Space BY MIX STAFF

BY DAVID MCGEE

50 Review: SSL 500 Series— SiX CH and UV EQ BY MIKE LEVINE

52 Review: Hit’n’Mix RipX Deep Audio BY MIKE LEVINE

55 Review Shorts:

Muramasa Audio Electrum Plug-in • NUGEN Audio Producer Bundle • Campfire Audio Satsuma Earbuds • Accusonus ERA Audio Repair Bundle

DEPARTMENTS 10 From the Editor: Always Mixing

12 Current: Industry News 14 View From the Top: Romain Vet, Focal Naim America

58 Open Channel: To Get the Right Answer…Ask the Right Question BY CRAIG ANDERTON

On the Cover: Dave Way, with artist John Doe, at Waystation Studio, the engineer’s 7.1.4, KRK-based, Dolby Atmos Music personal room, going over the mixes for Doe’s recent album, the most recent project in their near-25-year-collaboration. Photo: James Donnelly.

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24 Mix, Volume 45, Number 8 (ISSN 0164-9957) is published monthly by Future US, Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Periodical Postage Paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mix, PO Box 8518, Lowell, MA 01853. One-year (12 issues) subscription is $35. Canada is $40. All other international is $50. Printed in the USA. Canadian Post Publications Mail agreement No. 40612608. Canada return address: BleuChip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

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Vol. 45 Number 8

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mixonline.com FOLLOW US twitter.com/Mix_Magazine facebook/MixMagazine CONTENT VP/Content Creation Anthony Savona Content Directors Tom Kenny, thomas.kenny@futurenet.com Clive Young, clive.young@futurenet.com Content Manager Anthony Savona, anthony.savona@futurenet.com Technology Editor, Studio Mike Levine, techeditormike@gmail.com Technology Editor, Live Steve La Cerra, stevelacerra@verizon.net Senior Content Producer Steve Harvey, sharvey.prosound@gmail.com Contributors: Craig Anderson, Russ Long, Barry Rudolph, Tamara Starr, Rob Tavaglione, Jennifer Walden Production Manager Nicole Schilling Managing Design Director Nicole Cobban Design Directors Lisa McIntosh and Will Shum ADVERTISING SALES VP/Market Expert, AV/Consumer Electronics & Pro Audio Adam Goldstein, adam.goldstein@futurenet.com, 212-378-0465 Janis Crowley, janis.crowley@futurenet.com Debbie Rosenthal, debbie.rosenthal@futurenet.com Zahra Majma, zahra.majma@futurenet.com

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Current From the Editor Always Mixing In the informal, unstated, modern-day hierarchy of recording industry job titles, mix engineers occupy rarified air, up there with producer and artist. They certainly have an open seat at the High Table. The best become hitmakers in their own right, and the very best keep contributing to hits for decades. Styles and genres may rise and fall, technologies can disrupt and be replaced, but the best mix engineers keep on mixing, focusing on the song in front of them, the technologies at their fingertips and the creative, musical instincts that make them what they are. We’re bursting with fortune this month, as we feature two of the finest mix engineers working today: Dave Way and Josh Gudwin. We’ve featured both of them before, and they just keep getting better. Four-time Grammy-winner Dave Way goes back to working with producer Teddy Riley at his height, later mixing for the likes of TLC, Babyface, Michael Jackson, Toni Braxton, Macy Gray, Christina Aguilera, Ziggy Marley, Pink, Sheryl Crow, Fiona Apple and so many others, including a 25-year, ninealbum relationship with this month’s cover mate, artist John Doe. He just finished mixes for Michael Marquart, Lyle Workman and Boyz II Men, as well as film scores for Echo in the Canyon, No Flags (directed by Sean Penn) and Reminiscence, featuring music by Ramin Djawadi of Game of Thrones fame. And now he’s excited beyond excited by the possibilities of Dolby Atmos Music, re-outfitting his home-based Waystation Studio with a 7.1.4 KRK monitoring system and throwing himself into the research, techniques and experimentation of the new format to the point that he’s incorporating “space” into his arrangements and compositions and mixes. Dolby Atmos Music projects have become the majority of his work over the past six months, he says, and he loves it. He’s also been as busy over the past year as he’s been in a long time. Josh Gudwin followed Way by about a decade, and he’s amassed an equally worthy list of credits, from Lady Gaga to Rihanna to Justin Bieber, Bad Bunny, Juanes, DJ Khaled, BTS and Dua Lipa, among many others. Back in 2015 when we caught up with him, he was at Record Plant working with Bieber and others. This time, he’s occupying two rooms in the basement of Henson Studios, one of them a Dolby Atmos Music-equipped room where he’s working on Bieber catalog (and new) material, along with other projects under way. In the past year, he mixed 350-plus songs, with help from his team of four assistant engineers. He’s made a big mark in the Latin Music market recently, and pandemic or not, he’s busier than he’s ever been. He, too, has become excited about working with “space” and movement in Dolby Atmos. Every mix engineer I’ve talked to over the past six months has reported that

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they’ve had their busiest year in a while. None of them expected that back in March 2020. In hindsight, it makes sense. With so many artists at home, no touring, the creative output has been enormous, and if you look back over the year in streaming, it’s been a banner year. The content never stopped flowing. There are no silver linings in a pandemic, but we can be thankful as an industry that we have the technologies and the talent to bring fresh music to the masses during lockdown. Whenever the annual Mix “Mixing Issue” comes around, I am reminded of some of the great engineers I’ve had the privilege to meet over the years and how their philosophies are generally quite simple, with the common thread being that mixers are always mixing. Bob Clearmountain, inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in the 1980s, years shy of his 40th birthday, was always somewhat humbled and puzzled by the honor so early in life. I’m a mixer, he figured, and I’m going to keep mixing. Joe Chiccarelli, who relishes seeing a new band in a small club just as much today as he did in the ‘80s, then taking that sound into the studio, tracking and mixing as if he were live, night after night. Shaping the studio sound from the first drumbeat in a club. Bruce Swedien, who only ever needed 32 channels on his Harrison console to mix Michael Jackson because he always just figured that he was mixing while recording, and with his decisions made early, why would he need any more than 32 channels? Or Al Schmitt, who also often mixed what he recorded, saying that he was mixing from the time he walked out into the room and set up his first microphones for the session. Finally, the great film editor and re-recording mixer Walter Murch, who when I asked how he approached a premix versus a final mix, said, quite simply, “Whether I’m recording a sound effect to a Nagra, cutting picture to the frame, or sitting at the console for the final, they’re really no different. I’m always mixing.” Writers write, singers sing, and mixers mix. And a good mixer is always mixing.

Tom Kenny Editor

Music Consumption Grows 13.5%, According to Midyear Report Music consumption dipped 8.6% during the first eight weeks of 2020’s COVID-19 lockdowns, but the trend is beginning to reverse. According to MRC Data’s 2021 U.S. Midyear Report, presented in collaboration with Billboard, the first six months of 2021 saw a 13.5% jump in overall music consumption, led by a 15% uptick in on-demand audio streaming. This year’s growth can be attributed to new releases from Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen, according to MRC Data. The company was formerly Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Music Products and is the source of sales information for the Billboard music charts. For the first time at the midyear point in MRC Data’s 30-year history, the report says, vinyl album sales outpaced CD album sales, increasing 108.2% year-over-year to 19.2 million units. Last year marked 15 consecutive years of growth for vinyl, and manufacturers are struggling to meet demand. CD sales enjoyed a modest 2.2% gain, to 18.9 million units. As a result, total industry album sales enjoyed their first year of growth in years, increasing 12.6% to 51.26 million units. The top midyear vinyl album-seller was Taylor Swift’s evermore, with 143,000 units. In second place, Harry Style’s Fine Line sold 125,000 units. Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, at number three, sold 99,000 units. Meanwhile, in the digital realm, album downloads plummeted 26.8% and track sales fell 20.3%. Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album topped the midyear album chart with 2.1 million total album-equivalent consumption units (combining streaming, song downloads and album sales). Coming in

Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash

Current // news & notes

Vinyl album sales hit 19.2 million units, a 108.2% increase year-over-year.

second, Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR clocked up 1.37 million units. In third place, Justin Bieber’s Justice posted 962,000 units. Streaming is now king, of course. The top on-demand streaming song six months into 2021 is Olivio Rodrigo’s “drivers license,” with 582.8 million streams (audio and video). During the same period in 2020, Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” streamed 1.07 billion times. In second place this year is Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” featuring DaBaby, with 438 million streams. The Weeknd occupies the third slot with “Save Your Tears,” which was streamed 411 million times. Overall, R&B/hip-hop is the top genre with a 28.25% market share. Rock is second with a market share of 20.36%. Pop music, in third place, enjoys a 12.9% market share. According to the report, the fastest-growing streaming markets globally are Japan, Poland and Turkey. Japan is finally making a meaningful transition into the streaming era, the report says, with streaming revenue up 27% from 2019 to 2020, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan. MRC Data also reports that Afro-Pop is poised for a global music breakthrough similar to K-Pop’s ascendancy over recent years, led by the likes of Master KG and Burna Boy. Livestreams, all the rage during the early lockdown months, are on the wane, the report says. As live concerts have started to return, new daily livestreams have dipped as much as 21% per month. n

Tokyo Olympics to Feature UHD Picture and 5.1.4 Immersive Audio Just ahead of Tokyo 2020, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), the permanent host broadcaster, published a media guide highlighting the audio and video innovations being used for this year’s production. Tokyo 2020 runs from July 23 to August 8, 2021. This year’s quadrennial sports bonanza will represent a number of

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technical innovations, most notably the first-ever live coverage of the Olympic Games with Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. On the audio side, OBS will generate immersive 5.1.4-format audio from every venue. Field tests of 5G networks for ENG camera content, begun at PyeongChang 2018, are also continuing. OBS, which was formed in 2001 and is headquartered in Spain, is providing broadcast feeds in UHD with HDR and 5.1.4 audio from 42 Olympic competition venues in Tokyo. The only exception is the tennis competition, where the feeds from the seven outside courts will be in HD. OBS is deploying a total of 31 OB vans and 22 flypacks specifically designed for the new production and distribution requirements to capture all the action. OBS generates radio and TV coverage at each venue, creating a world feed in the production unit that is delivered to the Technical Operations Center, the transmission hub at each location. From the TOC, the signal, monitored by Production Quality Control, passes to the Contribution, (continued on page 14)

View from the Top Tokyo Olympics (continued from page 12) Distribution and Unilateral master control room at the on-site International Broadcast Center for distribution to the Rights Holding Broadcasters. Three immersive audio quality control rooms have been set up to ensure consistency across all sports and venues. In an interview with Pro Sound News in mid-2019, Nuno Duarte, OBS senior manager, audio, stressed that the 5.1.4 feeds would not be encoded. Noting that North America has adopted Dolby Atmos as part of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, but in Brazil, China, South Korea and the European Broadcast Union countries MPEG-H 3D Audio is specified, Duarte said, “We need to be completely agnostic.” Consequently, OBS is providing each immersive audio feed as discrete channels: five on the lower listening plane, a sub-bass and four overhead, with adjustable height. OBS will use a total of 3,600 microphones at the venues, comprising 28 different models, including two specifically designed for Tokyo 2020’s immersive sound production. Audio-Technica reported that its BP4027 and BP4029 stereo shotgun microphones will be mounted on cameras at Tokyo 2020. AT4050ST large-diaphragm stereo mics and BP4025 X/Y stereo mics will capture ambience at the venues. BPHS1 broadcast stereo headsets and ATH-M50x headphones are also being widely used. NBC Olympics announced that its programming will employ six Calrec Artemis consoles in NBC Sports’ IBC in Stamford, Conn., with a 64-fader Artemis and a Brio console in the Main Control Room in Tokyo and a 32-fader Artemis Beam in the 4K control room. Two NBC Olympics flypacks include 40-fader Artemis consoles. The broadcaster is using six RP1 remote production units to connect Tokyo and Stamford, plus two Brio consoles for redundancy. According to RTS, NBC Olympics will use over 600 ports of OMNEO for local communication and RVON for international comms. ODIN, RTS’s newest intercom matrix solution, will also be employed in Tokyo. n —Steve Harvey

Creating Connections Romain Vet, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Focal Naim America By Tamara Starr.

Home Cinema listening rooms, ocal has been a key a pair of open Hi-Fi listening part of the pro audio areas and a specialized area landscape ever since it dedicated to high-fidelity was founded in 1979, straddling headphones. Meanwhile, Studio the line between the consumer DMI is a full-fledged production and professional markets. While facility offering three studios, known for its home audio a recording booth and an artist loudspeakers, headphones and lounge in a 4,000-square-foot car audio speaker drivers and building, all underlining Focal’s amplifiers, the company’s pro professional offerings…and offerings include long-revered credentials. monitoring loudspeakers and Romain Vet of Further emphasizing that headphones. Finding a balance Focal Naim America professional connection, earlier that allows the company to address both sides of the commercial fence is a this year, the company announced “Mixed on unique talent—and it’s one that Romain Vet, vice Focal,” highlighting its crucial presence at every president of Marketing and Communications for part of a track’s existence, from its creation by Focal Naim America, noted as soon as he joined pros to its enjoyment by listeners. “With the playlists for ‘Mixed on Focal,’ we finally have the company. Vet first entered the pro audio business a this link: Listen to music mixed on Focal,” he product manager for Sennheiser in the mid- says. “Everyone we work with—dealers, partners, 2000s, before moving to Focal in 2014 to take HIFI customers and pro audio professionals— on the role of chief of Multimedia Products. are all linked with one passion: the music, from Moving up through the ranks, he shifted to the creation to the listening.” Mix engineers featured on the first “Mixed on marketing and product manager roles within Focal Naim America in 2018, and quickly rose Focal” playlist include Mike Pepe (who worked to his current position of vice president of with Focal Trio6 Be / Twin6 Be monitors), Ryan West (Focal Solo6 Be), Eric Stenman (Focal Marketing & Communications. “Year after year, we develop new products in Trio6 Be), Rob Tavaglione (Focal Trio11 Be), new categories—speakers, headphones, custom Luca Pretolesi (Focal Trio11 Be), Jimmy Bralower integration—and we see more and more partners (Focal Twin6 Be), Ian Boxill (Focal Solo6 Be) and distributing all our products,” he says. “Now we Will Yip (Focal Trio6 Be). In the near term, Focal North America will are opening new stores, like the ‘Focal Powered by Naim’ in Houston, TX, or studios like ‘Studio be focusing on partnerships with artists and DMI Powered by Focal’ in Las Vegas, and, for studios, as well as its new ‘Focal Powered By the moment, we see more success than failure. Naim’ stores. Nonetheless, the long-term plan Failures have been transformed into success remains unchanged, says Vet: “Our main focus, forever, is to respect our dealers and customers, with adjustment, re-work and studies.” The physical locations are a new endeavor and make sure the Focal brand is well respected for the company—the Houston store is a for its products, company image and what we do 1,615-square-foot space with two Stereo and as a company.” n

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StillFamilia, from left: Sandbox, Melldose, Tim Gent, JTMuzik, Gates Gustafson and A.B. Eastwood

Nashville Hip-Hop’s D.I.Y. DNA Homegrown Talent, Lo-Tech Vibe and Signature Sounds By Keith Nelson, Jr.

ashville may be known as Music City, but usually that means Country music. Now the city’s burgeoning hip-hop scene is coming into its own with a new generation of homegrown artists. There’s everything from blue-collar rap over sophisticated trap music (Brian Brown’s “Tenn Toes”) to visceral street tales colliding with thudding 808 drums (“Way Bigger” by Lil Queze and Ganz), all emanating from the heart of Tennessee. “None of what I have is high-budget other than the interface, but everything else has character,” says Gates, a Nashville producer. “That’s the epitome of my sound: using what some would say are s----- instruments and

creating a very specific sound.” Gates is part of StillFamilia, one of four production teams we caught up with to find out the gear and techniques that help create Nashville’s varied hip-hop sound. The styles and tools differ, but they all share the same D.I.Y. DNA—the result of a community of creatives making the most of resources available to them. The results speak for themselves: The music for a Super Bowl commercial, ACC Network’s theme song and a Southern Entertainment Awards Mixtape of the Year were created by these rising pros on inexpensive gear, most often software like FL Studio, aka Fruity Loops. “FL Studio may get a rep as being childish

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because everyone starts off using it, but FL Studio has shaped the sound [of hip-hop] for the last 15 years,” producer A.B. Eastwood says. “I can only imagine the amount of Grammys and diamond-selling hits FL Studio has produced.” Here are four of the many producer/ production teams working toward putting Nashville hip hop on the map. KRASHMAX Lil Queze and Ganz, the trap rap symphony co-conductors of Nashville, attract hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube with every video and will have their names in your ears if you walk the streets of East Nashville long

PHOTO: Keith Nelson, Jr.

Music

PHOTO: Rodrecus Coleman

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PHOTO: Chieffa

PHOTO: CJ Lens

enough, thanks in part to producer Devin “KrashMax” Payne. Songs like “Way Bigger” derive their grimness as much from his ominous orchestration as they do from Queze and Ganz’s unapologetic LacMan KrashMax threats that would make gangsta rappers like Freddie Gibbs proud. That sound has begun to permeate the music of other Nashville hiphop artists, and it originated from KrashMax wanting to give the city its own sonic signature. “When I made that, I wasn’t trying to go for anything; I was trying to discover and make something that hadn’t been made,” he says. “I wanted to give Nashville a different sound where we stand out from other people.” To develop that, he employed a Fiend (in blue in the foreground) gaming PC, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface and FL Studio to create the core of the production. Melodies were vocals, without creating distortion. Everything created using Spectrasonics Omnisphere VST gets mastered through iZotope Ozone software, and Tone2’s Electra2 VST plug-ins by simply bringing clarity to work like Stain’s best-known trusting his ear and cycling through different track, the in-your-face “Everything Lil Nutty.” presets before stumbling across a sound that has STILLFAMILIA now become a movement in Nashville. StillFamilia, made up of producers A.B. Eastwood, Case Arnold and Gates Gustafson, along with LACMAN Few Nashville hip-hop artists have inspired JTMusik, Sandbox and hometown artist Tim as much hometown support as gangsta rap Gent, is one of the rare production homes in champion Luh Stain. A venomous lyricist known the Nashville hip-hop scene that marries live for injecting gritty aggression into his work, instrumentation with computer sampling. Everyone brings his gear and skills to the Stain generated millions of streams for his 2019 project Out of Dodge while serving 18 months table: Gates has a Sequential Prophet Rev2 synthesizer, 1962 Rhodes piano and a Ludwig in prison. One of the most crucial parts of that success Questlove drum kit, but started out simply was producer George “LacMan” Giggs. In sampling loops on his iPhone. Arnold is known addition to executive producing Out of Dodge, to fiddle with the guitar but mainly works in LacMan also played the slapping drums and Ableton after learning it from Grammy Awardmenacing keys on Stain’s 2020 single, “Mop Wit winning producer Jim Jonsin. Eastwood makes That 50,” which has more than 150,000 plays on sonic tapestries all from a laptop running FL Studio. The results are D.I.Y. magic. YouTube alone. If you saw the Tostitos commercial during Describing Luh Stain’s sound as a “mix between a Baton Rouge/NBA YoungBoy and his Super Bowl LV this year, you heard Eastwood own swag,” Lac’s setup centers around Yamaha mix 808 beats from a Mike Hector drum kit HS8 speakers, an Apple Mac Mini, Focusrite pack, meshing them with horn samples from interface, custom sound panels and the trusty Splice; likewise, if you watch Netflix’s 2020 wine drama, Uncorked, you’ll hear Eastwood’s somber FL Studio 20. Key to the vibe is the Fruity Flanger VST, drums and reversed piano chords creating an which he says helps blend the 808 drums at the atmospheric vibe. “We work with what we’ve got,” says Arnold. heartbeat of Stain’s sound with the beat and the

“Gates has a lot of gear and I have some, too. I use UAD, Native Instruments on the guitar effects— their Guitar Rig 6 Pro is what I use on a lot for guitars. Waves also has some guitar plugs I use.” StillFamilia’s resourcefulness shows up in tracks like R&B singer Bryant Taylorr’s “Worth It,” with its acoustic melodies that recall Nashville’s country roots while working around a Bossa Nova rhythm that Gates beefed up, creating more low-end with a Universal Audio Pultec EQ plug-in. The drum kit was simply captured with a Shure SM81 on the hats and snares and a Beta52 in the kick; Arnold added low counterpoint from a five-string Dean bass and recorded his Fender Strat playing through a “$40 Fender amp I got from Goodwill.”

FIEND When you hear Joseph “Fiend” Corley’s work, you’re hearing homemade, sophisticated gutter music. Take the track “Tenn Toes” by Brian Brown of the Black City, Funky Tenn collective. An ode to Tennessee artists’ committed grind, it’s built around a rattling hi-hat/drum with a down south bop, paired with the elegance of a flute sample that makes Brown’s determination sound both terrifying and inspiring. As Fiend puts it, “I try to keep a certain kind of bounce with my beats, so when you hear it, you’ll know it’s a Fiend beat.” Fiend’s audio arsenal includes simply a laptop and Ableton loaded with a curated list of VST instruments like Initial Audio’s Heat Up 3 for access to 860 different instruments; Cableguys’ Halftime, for shifting a beat’s mood with halfspeed effects; and XLN Audio’s RC-20 Retro Color Plug-in for vintage coloration effects that add texture. As one of the main producers for Black City, Funky Tenn, a collective whose artists have been featured on The Fader, opened for legendary rapper Rakim, and headlined Red Bull’s The Underflow event in November 2019, Fiend’s sound is becoming part of the foundation for Nashville hip-hop’s future. “My role is to keep the different sounds for them,” Fiend says. “I try to keep it funky. You want the sophisticated trap? You come to me.” n

Music // news & notes Audio Engineers of Detroit Launches New Studio Audio Engineers of Detroit has opened a new recording studio offering commercial voiceover, podcast, music recording, stereo, surround and immersive mixing, audio restoration, location sound and audio-visual services—all with a 32-channel AMS Neve console as its centerpiece. “Some years ago, I had the pleasure of mixing on a vintage Neve console and fell in love with the sound,” says Mike Kinnie, founder and vice president of Audio Engineers of Detroit. “We wanted that Neve sound for the new studio and we also wanted a console that had DAW control, so it made sense to us, after researching different consoles, to choose the AMS Neve Genesys Black console.” Kinnie began his career in live sound before moving into studio recording and now runs Audio Engineers of Detroit with Robin Kinnie, his wife and company president. The couple opened their first studio in 2016 to address the demand for an affordable, accessible Internet broadcasting voiceover facility. “The studio started as a digital radio station and has now expanded to producing podcasts, audiobooks and voiceovers,” Robin Kinnie says. The company additionally offers an education program for anyone wishing to pursue a career in professional audio. “We also offer digital courses, workshops and partner with the community.” Robin Kinnie regularly speaks on amplifying diverse voices and serves as

Mike and Robin Kinnie at the AMS Neve Genesys Black console.

the Detroit Chapter head of Soundgirls.org. She is also president of Motor City Woman, which also raises up women’s voices and tackles diversity and inclusion. “Providing an educational program within the studio was always our aim because I didn’t think the training I received when I was starting out was adequate,” Mike Kinnie says, “but I couldn’t afford to study at an outof-state program or college campus because of the cost. What we have put in place is a much more affordable program that offers in-depth training, including your own personal recording equipment, featuring a multitude of courses ranging from music production to entrepreneurship—all taught by industry experts.” Dave Malekpour of Pro Audio Design advised the couple throughout the project. “I first came across Dave in 2003 when I read an article he wrote on how to set up a recording studio,” Mike Kinnie says. “It was only when we began putting this studio together that I ran across that article and realized the Dave that I was working with was the same man who wrote the article that was so inspirational to me.” n

Vio-lence Tracks with Focusrite As a bassist, vocalist, composer and producer in the California metal scene for more than two decades, Christian Olde Wolbers has long worked with Focusrite products, and is currently using the latest generation of the company’s technology to record with his Bay Area thrashmetal band Vio-lence. Starting out in his native Belgium, then in California’s metal scene, Wolbers, who has also played with Fear Factory and Beowülf, says he would often encounter Focusrite audio technology. “The ISA 430 was in every studio,” he recalls. “I remember seeing the blue front plate and the yellow dials, and I came to associate that look with great sound. I eventually got my own 430 MkII and loved it.”. Today, Wolbers’ collection includes the ISA One mic pre, Scarlett 18i20 rack-mountable interface, with the OctoPre extending it to 16 inputs, and Scarlett 4i4 interface, which he takes with him on the road.

“I’m finding that the ISA One is just about all I need on some sessions,” he says. “It’s so versatile and I use it for everything—bass, guitars, vocals. At home, I’ll record bass using the DI going straight in and getting exactly the sound I want. In the studio the other day, the producer listened to the bass though it and said, ‘Let’s just go with that—it’s perfect!’”

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The Scarlett 18i20 rack-mounted mic preamps are his home studio linchpin, he says. Combined with the OctoPre, they give him 16 channels of A/D conversion up to 192 kHz. Connecting the 18i20 and the OctoPre is a matter of a single cable. “The OctoPre is one of those Focusrite units that are everywhere now,” he says. “I was at Ocean Way Studios the other day, and it was there. Engineers take projects home on their laptops and they all have that little red box. “I was just using two of them on the preproduction demos I’m doing for the next Vio-lence record with [producer] Juan Ortega and legendary mixer Terry Date. I’m using them to record drums, bass, guitar and vocals. And we’re also using the 18i20 preamps for that. In fact, it sounded so good that the band released a cover song they recorded—the Dead Kennedys’ ‘California Über Alles’—using it. That’s how good it sounds and how easy it is to use.” n

Music // news & notes Shawn James Goes to War After the Pandemic quickly.” Messer, who also played bass on the track, says, “We used 24 BAE Audio modules and went straight to a Studer A-800 tape machine, which I think has a lot to do with the quality of this record. Having BAE preamp/EQs direct to tape, and Shawn James’ voice, it became an amazing combination. I am still taken aback about how great this record sounds.” He recorded James’ vocals through a Neumann M49 microphone. The entire recording was sent through the studio’s custom Rupert Neve Designs 40-channel console, which is loaded with BAE 1084, 1028, 1073 and 1066 modules. Messer says the BAE 1084s are his favorites. “The 1084 has a high- and low-pass filter, so when you are cutting vocals, you can cut PHOTO: Michelle Mavrides

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, singer/ songwriter Shawn James cut short his European tour and returned home to begin crafting a new batch of recordings at Parts + Labor Records’ facility in Los Angeles through its collection of 24 BAE Audio modules. “War,” the classic protest song made famous by The Temptations and Edwin Starr in 1970, had been on James’ mind for a long time. “I’ve always loved that song, and I am a really big fan of boisterous, huge vocalists who know how to lean into singing and really give it their all,” he says. He brought the idea to his producer, Jimmy Messer, CEO of Parts + Labor. “We got into it, started jamming and it was just fire right out of the gate,” Messer recalls. “It gave Shawn an opportunity to growl and scream. He just has this intense, heavy distortion that he can call on at will, and the whole song came alive very

out the noise floor. Also, using the 1084s, you are able to add the extra Q above 10 kiloHertz, which is nice as well.” Messer adds, “I love the BAE 1073s, but the 1084 is a 1073 with even more options. We get multiple choices when EQing the high-end, since we are also getting to choose 12k, 16k. Also, with the filter, you can roll off the top if needed.” “War” is now available on multiple formats and platforms. A new album is scheduled for Fall release. n

Canadore College Launches New Program with SSL Origin Canadore College, an applied arts and technology school 180 miles north of Toronto, Ontario, is using its new Solid State Logic Origin analog in-line mixing console to teach students the similarities and differences between music production hardware and software. “A lot of our students are used to using the computer and have never worked on a console. They’re not familiar with what a console is capable of,” says Ben Leggett, professor and coordinator on the new two-year Recording Engineering—Music Production program at Canadore College. Leggett is a Juno Award-nominated producer, engineer and mixer working in music production and film post production, and also has his own recording studio in North Bay.

“I wanted to get the Origin because of the EQ on each channel, and how you can shape the sound with the four bands, just like you can in the computer,” he says. “So we’re able to show students how to apply EQ manually with a physical piece of equipment. Another big thing is getting students to understand how the routing works, and how it’s very much the same in a DAW and a console, and having that lightbulb go off.” For a generation of students that has only worked on a computer, the console also enables faculty members to highlight some of the differences between analog and digital audio processing. “Sonically, you can crank the console’s EQ knob all the way and it still sounds good, as opposed to digital, which sometimes doesn’t do the same thing,” Leggett says. Plus, he adds, “The sonic quality that the console will add when you push a signal into it is different. Depending on what you’re going for, you can push the signal louder into the SSL console and it will give you a different sound than pushing it into a computer program.” The Origin was part of a complete studio package supplied by Studio Economik in Montreal, including an SSL Fusion processor. Leggett and other faculty members at the college installed, integrated and commissioned the new music production studio shortly before the program launched in September 2020. The new control room is housed in a former television broadcast studio on the campus that the college enlarged during summer 2020 to provide space for the recording engineering program. n

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Classic Tracks “Summertime Blues” Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart Craft a Seasonal Classic By David McGee

PHOTO: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

yrics in search of a riff, a riff in search of lyrics, an artist in search of identity... and Amos ‘n’ Andy. Put ’em together and whattya got? In this case, Eddie Cochran’s original version of “Summertime Blues,” still the sine qua non of summer songs, 63 years after its debut. Unlike the other summer-themed hit from 1958, the Jamies’ “Summertime Summertime,” a driving, doo-wop indebted paean to the joys of slipping the surly bonds of academia for fun in the sun, “Summertime Blues” dared suggest a darker side to v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n, and used a hardflailed, angry two-chord guitar riff, a thumping ostinato bass lick, and double-timed handclaps to burn its message into rock ‘n’ roll legend. When Cochran and his manager/co-writer Jerry Capehart wrote the song at Capehart’s Sunset Boulevard apartment in Los Angeles in March 1958, the artist, then only 17 but a professional for nearly four years, was going nowhere fast. He had managed a modest hit in 1957 with a version of John D. Loudermilk’s “Sittin’ In the Balcony,” which did little beyond proving that with a lot of reverb Cochran could pull off an agreeable emulation of Elvis Presley’s hiccuping vocal style, and that as a guitarist he had mastered Carl Perkins’s razoredged sound signature. The writing session at Capehart’s apartment was intended to correct that problem. “We were looking for a hit that would give Eddie some identity,” Capehart recalled in what was his final interview [conducted by this reporter in April 1998 shortly before Capehart was diagnosed with brain cancer, to which he succumbed on June 7 of that year]. Cochran came over with his bass player, Connie “Guybo” Smith, intending to work out arrangements on three songs for an

Publicity shot of Eddie Cochran, circa 1959.

upcoming recording session. “We went through them all, and after we’d finished, I looked at Eddie and Eddie looked at me, and he said, ‘Dad, I don’t think we’ve got anything here.’” Capehart agreed and then ran an idea past Cochran: “You know, Eddie, there’s never been a blues song written about the summertime. Let’s

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write a song called ‘Summertime Blues.’ And he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this new riff on the guitar.’ And he went, da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da, you know, that was the new riff. Forty-five minutes later, it was all over—those lyrics just rolled out. Had the song as you hear it today.” Asked if Cochran had written any of the lyrics, Capehart

says, “He contributed a couple of words here and there. Basically, I wrote the lyrics and he had the guitar lick.” As to the lyrics themselves, which describe a young man butting heads with adult authority figures (his parents, his boss at work, his Congressman) who are doing their best to keep him from living the good life (basically dating and driving), Capehart says he wasn’t trying to raise a fuss or a holler but merely seeking the Grail: “We were just trying to hit the commercial market, just trying to get a hit record. As far as we were concerned, the way there was to go with basically what we were listening to on the radio. Trying to get in the pocket somewhere.” No message. The recording session, at Gold Star Studios (later famous as Phil Spector’s studio of choice in the 1960s) was intended to produce only a demo

Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart at the ‘Summertime Blues’ session at Gold Star Studios. Engineer Larry Levine is visible behind the control room window, along with Cochran’s girlfriend, songwriter Sharon Sheeley, who wrote Ricky Nelson’s first #1 hit, “Poor Little Fool.”

“[The drummer] couldn’t hold tempo; he was bad. And Eddie was about to go nuts. We got the one take—the one you hear on the record—everything else we had to trash. Thirty, thirty-five takes.” of the song. Capehart paid $350 for three hours of studio time and for a drummer sent over by the Los Angeles Musician’s Union to accompany guitarist Cochran and bassist Smith. Capehart could not recall much about the drummer— including his name—except that “he couldn’t hold tempo; he was bad. And Eddie was about to go nuts. We got the one take—the one you hear on the record—everything else we had to trash. Thirty, thirty-five takes.” (A Capehart obituary published in The Independent of June 18, 1998, quotes the songwriter as naming New Orleans legend Earl Palmer as the drummer on all the important Cochran sessions, including “Summertime Blues.” Earl Palmer, however, never had a problem holding tempo.) During the recording, Cochran had a brainstorm. Capehart had written the adults’ put-down lines (including the Congressman’s “I’d like to help you, son, but you’re too young to vote”) intending them to be played straight. Cochran, who was given to quoting pet phrases uttered by Tim Moore’s George “Kingfish” Stevens character on the popular Amos ‘n’ Andy TV show (“His favorite expression was, ‘I not only resents the allegation; I resents the alligator.’ That was Eddie’s thing,” Capehart claimed), had the idea

to do the put-down lines in Kingfish’s voice. These were recorded separately and spliced into the finished track, as were the double-time handclaps coming on every other beat, courtesy Cochran, Capehart, Smith and Gold Star engineer Larry Levine. Also in a 1998 interview with this reporter, Levine (who died on May 8, 2008) downplayed his role in the clean, robust sound of the finished track, which stands up to the work he did in later years with Spector. “I can’t take any credit for the sound other than what we had in the studio,” he insisted. “At Gold Star, we were working off spit and chewing gum. We would put things together just to make them work. Back in those days, mostly what we were using as far as microphones, and I’m sure what we used on guitar, was an Electro-Voice 256. That’s Eddie doing all that. The only thing I didn’t do is screw it up. To me, that’s what a good engineer does.” When the session ended, Capehart was sure they had found the elusive hit. Cochran agreed, saying only, “‘Dad, I think we got one’—which was a lot for him,” Capehart noted. Released on the Liberty label in May 1958, the single peaked at Number 8 on the Billboard

“Summertime Blues” single in Liberty Records sleeve, autographed by Eddie Cochran.

Singles chart in August and vaulted Cochran into the pantheon of the day’s rock ‘n’ roll stars and guitar heroes. Less than two years later, on April 17, 1960, he was dead, from massive head injuries sustained in a car wreck in Bath, England (Cochran’s buddy, Gene Vincent, riding in the same car, was permanently injured in the same crash). Toward the end of his life, Cochran, long haunted by premonitions of an early death, had taken to signing autographs with the sentiment, “Don’t forget me.” Job done, Eddie. Rest in Peace. n

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Live

PRESENTED BY

The Factory, outside St. Louis, is the Midwest’s first newly built indoor venue in more than 40 years.

The Factory Gets to Work in St. Louis By Clive Young

he Factory, a new venue outside St. Louis, opened its doors for the first time in midJuly with a sold-out Deadmaus show, and hasn’t looked back since. While there are other new facilities opening post-pandemic that can welcome up to 3,000 guests at a time, The Factory is unique because it’s the Midwest’s first newly built indoor venue in more than 40 years. “We drew on our experiences working in other venues across the country over the last 15 to 20 years,” says Brian Carp, COO for The Factory. “We could design The Factory in a way that made the most sense to operate, as well as to experience from both the fans’ and the bands’ perspectives.” As part of that effort, the Factory’s team worked with acoustical consultants Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon and Williams to fine tune the venue’s sound. “They did heat maps and 3D renderings of the venue to see where we would get reverberations and bounce-back off the walls,” says Carp. “Then we utilized Logic Systems, a local sound and lights vendor that’s very well known in St. Louis, to do our install. Having it be one of the best-

sounding rooms in the country was a goal of mine, and everyone involved in the project” The result, says talent buyer Dan Merker, is a venue that delivers on audiences’ expectations, sporting an audio installation built around Midas Heritage D consoles at FOH and monitors, and a sizable L-Acoustic K2 system. “The acoustics in the room are unbelievable,” he says. “For the size of the venue, the K2 rig is fantastic to have. Also, our house system is flown on a track, so if a band is traveling with PA and they want their d&b rig, our PA simply slides back on the tracks and they can fly right in front of it. We won’t have the added expense of taking our rig out and putting another one in. Little elements like that go a long way.” Some of the other elements created with visiting talent and crews’ needs in mind include five dressing rooms, a private production office, a catering room with outdoor deck, stage-level load-in across four loading docks, and space for three tour buses. The amenities’ inclusion comes from real-world experience. “Brian used to run The Fox out in Boulder, Colorado for AEG, then went to work for Live Nation,” says

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Merker. “I’ve always been on the promoter side as an independent, so when you travel as a rep, you go through hundreds of venues, and things like ‘hey, we should have two washers and dryers for the crew so a runner doesn’t have to go to a laundromat’ were crystal clear to us. Any step we could take to make them feel like they’re at home is what we wanted.” With everything from The Beach Boys to Billy Bob Thornton to Brockhampton scheduled to play The Factory in the coming months, those amenities will be put to good use. The drive to create an enjoyable space for talent, crews and audiences wasn’t just smart business, however; there was civic pride involved, too. “Dan’s originally from St. Louis, I’m originally from St. Louis, the developer is a longtime St. Louis native, our assistant general manager is from St. Louis and moved back to work here,” says Carp. “We’re not some big corporation coming in, trying to make our mark and have it feel like a local venue when it really isn’t. There’s a lot of hometown love put into The Factory.” ■ The Factory • www.thefactorySTL.com

Live // news & notes // presented by Making Room for Music in Cape Cod

While The Music Room is an 88-seat venue offering music five nights a week, it also has a recording studio (seen here) located behind the stage.

By Clive Young Cape Cod is known as an upscale tourist destination for the Northeast, packed with beaches and maritime history, but live music and recording studios? Not so much. That’s changing, however, thanks to the June debut of The Music Room in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts. An 88-seat venue for the musically discerning, it is fielding artists like The Immediate Family, Roomful of Blues, Peter Asher, Ari Hest, Billy Gilman, Jon Butcher, Popa Chubby, Richard Lloyd, Midge Ure, Blood Sweat & Tears and more in its first six months. “It’s an art gallery, a listening room…I don’t want to say it’s one-stop shopping, but there’s a lot of great creative elements here,” says Grammy-winning producer/blues guitarist Paul Nelson. One of three partners in the place, Nelson headlines occasionally (like August 20 this month), but his main role at the Music Room is to produce artists in the backstage recording studio. While that might bring to mind visions of a dusty DAW laptop at stageside, Studio A, located on the other side of the stage’s back wall, is actually a well-appointed control room with two iso booths. Using the venue as a live room, Studio A offers a choice of Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Studio One DAWs; studio monitors like Focal Trio11 BEs and PreSonus Eris E3.5s, along with traditional Yamaha NS10s; preamps from Focusrite, Universal Audio, Avalon, Warm Audio and dbx; outboard processing from Klark-Teknik, Rupert Neve Designs and others; and all the usual suspects when it comes to mics—Neumann, AKG, Sennheiser, EV, AudioTechnica, Shure, Aston, Røde and more. “It’s not like the studios that I’m used to, with a mixing board as long as a tour bus, but we can do just as much as damage,” jokes Nelson. “It’s a great place—I brought in friends of mine from NBC and SNL to design the studio’s acoustics. It’s surrounded by wood from 1709.”

The same acoustical team also developed the venue’s main room to provide an optimal listening experience for the audience while also ensuring that neighbors aren’t inundated by concerts every night. In addition to a front entrance built to lessen SPLs spilling on to the street, says Nelson, “We have double-thick walls with a layer of acoustic tiles and soundproofing so that no one can hear anything outside. That also makes it a pleasure to hear any style of music in here—it’s like sitting inside a speaker.” Creating that live sound experience is a house system based around a Soundcraft SI Impact 32-channel desk at FOH and Midas M32 at monitors, feeding a house PA of four JBL AE4612s loudspeakers, bolstered by a pair of JBL Marquis Double-15” subs. The 20x12-foot stage is often adorned with a variety of house floor monitors—QSC CP12s, Turbosound TFX122s and SoundBridge 3112WLs—but IEMs can be accommodated as well. When the Music Room threw open its doors in mid-June, it was the culmination of a longgestating dream. Former musicians turned realestate pros Scott Cornella and Brian Serpone had always planned to open a venue in the region; when Nelson—who won a 2014 Best Blues Album Grammy for playing on and producing

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Johnny Winter’s final album, Step Back—joined as a third partner, the trio took the plunge and signed a lease in December, 2019, just months before COVID-19 hit. “The pandemic didn’t slow us down,” says Nelson, who notes it gave them time to fully develop the venue’s offerings. Ironically, locals are now discovering the Music Room just as Nelson, who typically plays 150180 shows a year, is back on the road, talking up the venue/studio to every artist he meets. It’s working, too, as G Love and others have already recorded there. While Cape Cod has numerous outdoor venues, the Music Room is unique to the region in that it’s indoors and will offer live performances five nights a week year-round. So far, the community has been supportive, coming in to catch a show, browse the adjacent art gallery, grab a bite or just eyeball memorabilia on display like late Boston singer Brad Delp’s personal 1873 Chickering concert grand piano. “The Music Room is sold out every night,” says Nelson with a mix of pride and amazement. “There was a hunger for music on Cape Cod, so this was like a beacon—and it’s been very successful.” ■ The Music Room • www.musicroomcapecod.com

Blue Note, Peltrix, Audinate Team for Live Collaboration By Clive Young Blue Note Entertainment Group may be known for its iconic, often vintage jazz clubs, but for more than a year, it has been looking to the future, collaborating with Audinate to explore potential uses for the latter’s Dante AV networking technology. The mission is a familiar one: to help musicians in different locations play together in real-time via the internet. There are already a handful of solutions available for that task, but the Blue Note/Audinate collaboration, though experimental at this point, aims to take things up a notch by including video, too. A musician’s subtle head nod that says “take another 12 bars” or an encouraging grin caused by the resulting solo are visual cues that can make or break a live performance, so bringing video to the table is a considerable challenge—but one worth taking on. That challenge is also more than a theoretical exercise at this point. In late June, the collaborators held closed-door performances at Sony Hall in New York City, taking their research to the next level. With vocals and guitars in New York, electric bass at Washington, D.C.’s Howard Theater, and drums and piano at S.I.R. Production Studios in Nashville, the performances were proofs of

Grammy-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer and guitarist JC Maillard performed as part of the tests at New York City’s Sony Hall.

concept that worked not only technically but artistically as well. The performances—and the collaboration— were spearheaded by project leaders Amit Peleg of integration firm Peltrix working as director, technical manager; Glenn Dickins of Audinate R&D, overseeing the necessary Dante networking; and Patrick Killianey, senior technical training manager at Audinate, acting as coordinator and advisor. The project first began to take shape in May, 2020, when Peleg, working with Blue Note, and Killianey began discussing what might be possible for remote performers. The opportunity to find out emerged in September, 2020, when Blue Note, which owns Sony Hall, let the project turn the venue, shuttered for the pandemic, into a lab. Soon real-time audio performances of musicians in isolated rooms around the venue were recorded, using artificial delays to simulate long distances between them. Video wasn’t part of the picture, as Dante AV was still under development at the time, but Killianey recalls, “When I started

Blue Note and Audinate used Dante AV to send audio and video hundreds of miles between the three remote locations.

testing the latency that Dante AV provided, I asked Amit, ‘Do you want to try to do long-distance video in real-time?’” Soon video became a requirement, paving the way for a return to Sony Hall in June, 2021. For the June performances, each location had its own monitor engineer mixing on a Danteenabled Yamaha console for the musicians (two PM7s in NYC—one for monitors, the other for the streaming mix—and single CL5s at the other sites). Each console was tied locally into pairs of RSio64-D interfaces, each with three MY16Dante-AUD2 cards. “When we made a distant connection, we could transmit directly from our Dante devices,” said Killianey. “However, because we needed custom latency settings from each destination, we established Yamaha RSio64s and loaded them up with Dante cards. One Dante port managed the distance latency—whatever that needed to be— then the other Dante port repeated the signal to the local network at 0.5ms for consoles, recording, intercoms and so on, allowing us to split the signal easily. Each location had two RSio64Ds so we could maintain different latencies for each destination.” Video, tackled with Bolin D220 Dante AV cameras and Patton FPX6000 Dante AV encoders and decoders, ran at 1080P/30FPS, with some additional onstage side video screens for performers running 720P/60FPS. Ultimately everything was able to pass easily down a gigabit connection. The most important aspects learned from the long-distance performances involved finding appropriate latencies that worked equally well for systems and musicians. “Dante audio links like this could be made by anyone, today, but video required support from R&D,“ said Killianey. “Our goal now is to pack our video firmware with the new features we created so techs in the field can do it all.” As both the technology and collaboration continue to develop, more closed-door performances seem inevitable. ■

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Live // international news & notes // presented by Montreux Jazz Festival Returns with New Lakefront Venue Montreux, Switzerland—July saw the much-anticipated return of the Montreux Jazz Festival, revamped and reinvented for COVID times. With the 55th edition scaled back to four venues and lower capacities in order to meet local health and safety guidelines, the production staff and crew found themselves faced with a number of new production paradigms—and a new flagship venue, the Lake Stage. Able to seat 500 guests, the Lake Stage hosted most of this year’s headline acts, including Camélia Jordana, Zucchero, Woodkid and Ibrahim Maalouf. Situated on the shoreline of Lake Geneva, it was outfitted with equipment from Meyer Sound, on-board for its 35th year as a strategic partner and official sound provider. Accordingly, the new venue’s system was based around Leopard line arrays for the mains, with low-end support from 900-LFC low-frequency control elements. Ultra-X40 and Ultra-X20 point source loudspeakers were deployed to cover the outer seating terraces. “It feels great to be out doing live music again,” says José Gaudin, a Meyer Sound technical support specialist who has mixed FOH for the festival since 2007. “The new Lake Stage is very impressive. When the sun sets over the lake with the concert going, it is an unbelievable experience. It was a challenge moving outside, but it was well worth the effort.” In total, more than 160 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers and MJF Series stage monitors were deployed across the festival’s four venues. The Petit Theatre featured jazz and soul acts such as Bill Evans, Robben

The Montreux Jazz Festival’s Lake Stage seats 500 people and sports a Meyer Sound Leopard-based PA.

Ford and The Paradox, bringing them to audiences through Lina line arrays augmented by 1100-LFC and 750-LFC low-frequency control elements. Meanwhile, the Grand Hall sported Ultra-X40 loudspeakers and 750-LFC elements, while the Palace Gardens stage handled acoustic showcases, with reinforcement provided by UPA-1P and UPJunior loudspeakers. ■ Meyer Sound • www.meyersound.com

GLEIS4 Frankenthal Pushes Past Pandemic

GLEIS4’s Allen & Heath dLive system currently handles livestream mixes at the venue, but will take on FOH duties when the venue returns to in-person events.

Frankenthal, Germany—Located on the outskirts of Mannheim, GLEIS4 Frankenthal has become a mainstay in southwest German nightlife, welcoming 15,000 guests annually who come out to catch some of the 150-plus events held there. The 200-capacity venue typically hosts everything from rock concerts to poetry slams, and gigs are already on the books for when the venue reopens in October, when it will serve up disco, metal, flamenco and more. The pandemic has hurt venues worldwide, and GLEIS4 is no exception, but looking to make the most of a bad situation, the venue began streaming events during the pandemic, allowing it to reach out and provide a program of cultural content to an audience stuck at home. All those presentations required technological capabilities that GLEIS4’s aging digital FOH desk couldn’t handle. As a result, the venue opted to use funds from the federal government’s Neustart Kultur program to purchase an Allen & Heath dLive

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system, based around a C3500 Surface and a CDM48 Mixrack. There were more changes on-hand than merely technical, however. The new streaming gear needed a home, so the venue’s dressing room quickly became a control room, housing the 24-fader C3500 Surface and a pair of KS Digital studio monitors, while onstage, the CDM48’s 48 inputs and 24 outputs handled analog I/O for performances. When in-person shows resume in October, the C3500 will be moved to the main room and used as the FOH system for live events. “We currently use the dLive system for streaming live music, conferences and seminars, among other things,” explains Philipp Hahn, GLEIS4’s technical manager, “but we also plan to use it as an FOH console for our city festival stage, should that take place, depending on the pandemic situation.” ■ Allen & Heath • www.allen-heath.com

Live // international news & notes // presented by NEWS BRIEFS

Monte Bros. Outfits HOW with Audio-Technica RF Mics philadelphia, pennsylvania—HOW audio integration specialist Monte Brothers Sound Systems recently installed Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica. com) wireless microphone lines at the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Philadelphia. The church now has three A-T 3000 Series body packs plus a handheld microphone, all operating in the UHF band at 500 MHz. Besides the three celebrants that have the wireless body packs and headset mics on, any additional people speaking at the altar can be heard through the altar microphone, which is a System 10 PRO ATW-T1006 Boundary Microphone/Transmitter.

Adamson IS10 delays in SPACE Nanchang.

Adamson Goes to Space China—It’s a universal truth that EDM lovers everywhere want bass, and the club scene in China is no exception to the rule. With that in mind, Real Music Acoustics & Lighting Technology Co., operating out of Xi’an and Guangzhou, recently outfitted a pair of nightclubs belonging to regional chain Space. A veteran vendor to the country’s club scene, Real Music is a long-time, full-service integrator and supplier, operating across sound, lighting, control and AV for more than 20 years. Having outfitted more than 10 different clubs for the chain, Real Music was once again part of the projects when Space built two completely new clubs—one in Shenzhen, and another in Nanchang. At Space Shenzhen, the main stage is flanked by hangs of Adamson System Engineering’s flagship E12 line array elements, hung six a side. Further down the room, two delay hangs, consisting of four Adamson IS7 line array elements and a flown IS118 each side, cover the venue. A pair of Adamson PC 12 point

concentric loudspeakers handle the stage’s front fill, while 14 units of Point 15 point source boxes around the club cover any gaps to the sides. Low frequency extension is handled by four E219, eight IS219 and 10 E218 subwoofers, all installed across the front of the stage. Meanwhile, Space Nanchang’s main leftright PA combines six units of IS10n narrow dispersion line array elements underhung with two IS10 elements per side. A total of four more IS10 elements per side are hung three-quarters of the way down the club as delays and a pair of Adamson IS7p point source two-ways are installed as front fill. A dozen Point 15s cover any point out of the main array’s throw. Low-end is duly present in the form of 20 units of IS219 subwoofers arrayed across the front of the stage. Richie Wang, Real Music’s general manager, noted “They wanted high SPL mids and highs without noise or distortion, and the all-important low frequencies had to be very powerful.” ■ Adamson Systems Engineering • www.adamsonsystems.com

PK Sound, FM Systems Partner calgary, canada—Line array company PK Sound (www.pksound.ca) has partnered with audio production provider FM Systems of Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, with the latter taking on “a sizeable inventory” of PK systems to support production providers in the region with dry-hire rentals, or offer complete show services for live events. The two companies will also collaborate on initiatives like new product development, education programming, software testing and more.

Medieval Hall Updates Acoustics with d&b ghent, belgium—Billed as the oldest building in the world that permanently serves as a concert hall, De Bijloke recently installed a brand-new d&b audiotechnik (www.dbaudio.com) Y-Series system as part of a major refurbishment project.

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on the cover

Y A W E DAV G N I G G IS DI C I S U M S O M T A ACES THE R B M E R E C ” RO D U ENGINEER-POSSIBILITIES OF “SPACE CREATIVE PRMANCE AND PERyFO

ntil a few years ago, Dave Way was pretty much a stereo mixer in a left-right world, and he had proven pretty adept at it, working in the early days with producer Teddy Riley and later on Gold and Platinum hits with Toni Braxton, TLC, Babyface, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Ziggy Marley, Christina Aguilera, Savage Garden, Macy Gray, Pink and so many others, including nine albums with this month’s cover mate, John Doe, formerly of X and now an increasingly prolific artist on his own. Over the years, he has earned four Grammy Awards and been nominated countless times. In 2019, he shared a nomination with Bob Clearmountain for Savior by A Bad Think, in the Best Immersive Audio Album category, which is a tiny bit ironic, seeing as Way was never rally a fan of mixing in 5.1. (See Mix March 2021 for a story on the follow-up, Lifelike, again with Clearmountain, Way and Machael Marquart.) Dolby Atmos, however? That’s a much different format and a much different story. Way has embraced immersive mixing in a way that finds him talking about music like he’s a teenage boy

PHOTO: James Donnelly

nn By Tom Ke

picking up his first guitar. He’s become an open evangelist for the creative possibilities of Dolby Atmos Music, from composition to consumer playback. And he clearly remembers his moment of conversion. It was at the 2019 NAMM Show, in the PMC Booth, where Maurice Patist set up a 7.1.4 system in an enclosed room on the floor and Steve Genewick of Capitol Studios played back sample tracks, taking audience requests from a printed menu-style list of songs that had been worked up for Universal Music Group’s impending rollout of some 3,000 titles on TIDAL by the end of that year. When the history of Dolby Atmos Music is written, that NAMM Show setup and its impact on the professional community will likely have its own chapter.

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“The first time I sat down and actually listened to a music mix in Atmos was at that NAMM show,” Way recalls. “ The first time I heard ‘Rocket Man,’ I thought, ‘Oh, yeah, this is different, this is incredible. Honestly, I went in there very skeptical and not really planning to stay more than a song. I was never even a big fan of 5.1, but when I sat there and heard ‘Rocket Man’ and then sat for a couple more things—I probably sat there for an hour and listened to a bunch of different styles of music. Some I thought were amazing, and some I thought were okay. But what I realized right then is that this is all really up to the mixer as to whether or not a song is going to be great. The ideas of what you could do with this really got me going, and so that’s when I really started paying attention and asking

John Doe, left, and Dave Way take a break from the mix at Waystation Studio.

questions. For the next year, I started doing my research and kind of getting up to speed.” Though he consistently interjects that there is a technical and creative learning curve to take into account for those entering the field, it didn’t take him too long to get up to speed. By the end of the year, he was involved in his first Dolby Atmos project, co-producing and engineering Aloha Radio Hawaii for Chinese label Rhymoi Music. TRACKING LIVE WITH ATMOS IN MIND “I had a Chinese client that wanted to do a record and I suggested we do an album of Hawaiian music, recorded specifically to be mixed in Atmos,” Way says. “The label producer didn’t know anything about it, but I convinced him

that this is soon going to be a big thing. I got some great musicians and great arrangements put together, and we just went in and cut the whole thing live on the floor. And I basically recorded it as if you were just sitting in the middle of Henson Studio with all these great players surrounding you. I put up a bunch of stereo-pair room mics, and they recorded it all in two days with no headphones. It was fantastic. “I knew that this Hawaiian record was going to be very much the idea of feeling like you were in a studio in 1940 because all these songs are classic Hawaiian, the kind they call the happy holiday period where it was jazz-influenced,” he continues. “I knew the room was going to be a big part of it because back then, everything was

recorded live and everything was leaking into all the mics— I wanted it to be like that, except now you’re going to feel like you’re inside of it rather than it coming at you in mono.” The hour-long listening session at the NAMM Show included all genres and styles of music, which proved a particular attraction to Way, who despite his early bent for hip-hop has developed a diverse and wide-ranging discography, from pop to rock to jazz to film scores. All, he says, lend themselves to an immersive mix in their own way; same as in the stereo world, the song and the arrangement help to determine the approach to the mix. “There’s the natural way to approach a mix and there’s the gimmicky approach, with things moving around and making your head spin,

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PHOTO: James Donnelly

taking advantage of all the movement that’s possible,” Way says. “The concept behind the Hawaiian record was to be natural, capturing the room and the players in it. Then the second record that I did—and these are records that I produced, so I’m fortunate to have kind of a say in how they were recorded—was basically with one guy, Michael Marquart, and it’s a very different kind of music; it’s very layered, very overdubbed, lots of movement around speakers, lots of ear candy. It was composed and arranged with movement of these pieces to be coming out of different speakers, whereas the Hawaiian album was meant to be inside of it, not moving around. “Those are two very different ways of doing things, and there’s a whole lot of ways in between. I love the fact that you can put on ‘Tell Me Something Good’ by Rufus, and Chaka Khan’s vocals are coming out of the back speakers and coming out of the front. On a song like that, it really works because it’s almost like everyone’s playing in different time signatures, even though they’re not.”

Waystion studio, with 7.1.4 KRK monitoring.

ATC mains, so that he could check his mixes. A little more than three years ago, he switched to KRK monitoring with the launch of the company’s V8 line. Today, he mixes in Pro Tools, and his two V8s have grown into seven V8s for the LCR and surrounds, with four V6s in the ceiling and two 10-inch KRK subs below his desk. “I started mixing on these KRKS just because I liked the musicality right away,” he says. “I very quickly found that I was getting mixes faster and I was enjoying it. I felt like I could hear the music tell me what I needed to do quicker and easier, and everything translated really well across the board. When I went to Atmos, I went with more KRKs.” It took Way a while to figure out how to judge what he was hearing, for the simple fact that there were very few studios in town that could play back immersive music mixes. He was used to referencing mixes on up to six or seven sets of stereo speakers, but this is the early days of Atmos mixing and finding comparable rooms for playback is difficult. He generously credits Steve Genewick and the team at Capitol for helping him out at the start with workflow tips and reference monitoring checks. He would also check mixes at PMC’s Hollywood studio and anywhere else he could. By the time the Marquart project rolled around, he was confident in translation to the downmix and with the binaural settings in the Dolby Renderer. Now, rather than finaling a mix in stereo and then building out to 7.1.4, he is confident in mixing to Atmos, then checking the downmix and binaural. The Atmos workflow is based around Pro Tools sent to Focusrite RedNet32 converters with Dante, another technology that Way was familiar with, but just enough to be dangerous. He thought that he would get by with 64 channels of the max 128 in the Atmos spec. He now goes 128 channels bi-directional over Dante. He also uses a Focusrite monitor

SETTING UP WAYSTATION Following Aloha Radio Hawaii, but before mixing A Bad Think, Way set about upgrading his home studio, Waystation, for 7.1.4 monitoring. Throughout the 1990s, Way was a part owner of The Pass studios. With the birth of his daughter in 2002, he decided that he wanted to spend more time at home, so he built out Waystation in his new home, which had been previously owned by Julian Lennon and included a well-tuned studio with vaulted ceiling. He installed an SSL 6000E console and a slew of monitors to go with his

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Dave Way, left, and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos standing, with John Doe during tracking at Public Hi-Fi studios in Austin, Texas.

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CALLING JOHN DOE Among Way’s many and varied client list, John Doe is special. The former X bassist, who two years ago was part of the band’s first album in 35 years, Alphabetland, has been unusually prolific of late, both live and instudio. His most recent, soon-to-be-released project is his ninth with Way, either engineering, writing, co-producing or all three. The relationship goes back nearly 25 years, to when Way was paired up with X to produce a version of “Wild Thing” for the movie Major League II. The studio gave the band free rein, not realizing what they unleashed; they ended up not using the X version, but it did cement a lifelong creative friendship between Way and Doe. This last time around found them in Doe’s new hometown of Austin, Texas, tracking live with his band Folk Trio, with special guest Steve Berlin, in Public Hi-Fi Studios. Again, Doe set up a slew of stereo pairs as room mics. “To me, X and Los Lobos are the two iconic bands of Los Angeles, at least among those still performing, and here I am in Austin with John Doe and Steve Berlin,” Way recalls with a bit of humble awe. “John is now a good friend, but he’s also one of my favorite songwriters and just one of my favorite people. He’s honestly just one of the coolest guys on the planet.” Way took the tracks back to Waystation, and worked up a few Atmos mixes. Doe, still not familiar with the immersive intent, flew out to Los Angeles, and Way, breaking a Steve Genewick rule of “never playing a client their own song the first time they hear Atmos Music,” played him his own songs, his own voice. “I played him the first couple of mixes, and I saw his mind was blown,” Way recalls with a laugh. “He said, ‘I can’t talk. Play me some more because I love it, but my brain can’t wrap my head around what I’m hearing.’ He had no reference at all, but he instantly loved it. He particularly loved it after we checked it in stereo—where it felt more normal—and then once we switched back he said, ‘Now I understand it.’” Way loved it, too, and he’s loving the entire process of rediscovering ways to compose write, arrange and record music. “I think we’re just at the beginning of this,” he concludes. “I think everybody’s really just starting to feel comfortable in this new sandbox, which is whatever you want to make out of it. We’re at the beginning of people conceiving compositions and productions with a full sound field in mind because it really breaks things open. I’m super excited about where we’re at and where we’re headed.” ■

PHOTO: James Donnelly

controller. He is thrilled with how Waystation sounds; he is more than confident in its translation.

Way’s Dolby Atmos connection, from his RedNet32 converters to the separate computer for the Dolby Renderer to the KRK VBS 6 side speaker.

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Violinist Lindsey Stirling hit the road in July, with LMG Touring and Entertainment providing audio for her amphitheater tour.

Inside Live Sound’s

STAFFING SQUEEZE 34

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By Steve Harvey

s coronavirus restrictions nationwide have slowly lifted in recent months, quite a few artists have returned to touring…though often for a succession of weekend dates rather than months of five or six shows a week, and often in smaller venues or just select regions. That’s become just one of the potential bumps in the road ahead as live entertainment production companies ramp back up in the wake of the pandemic. Check out any touring sound company’s website and you’ll likely see anywhere from a handful to dozens of job vacancies posted. Production companies did their best to hang on to as many employees as they could during the pandemic, but for some staff members, there was no alternative but to find some other paying job. “Unfortunately, last March, we had to release a large portion of our staff,” Bryan Brunclik, vice president, production, at Clearwing Productions, says, though the

processes to improve client and Arizona—had that program,” interactions and support. Brunclik says. With entertainment venues According to Craig Mitchell, closed down, Clearwing’s managing director, touring, for trucking division hauled LMG Touring and Entertainment, freight for retail and the company’s diversified manufacturing companies. services, encompassing video, Now, as shows begin audio and lighting, gave it a leg to return, including up during the pandemic: “We’ve Milwaukee’s Summerfest in been around for going on 38 September and other events years. We’re privately owned, we at that location before then, have very little debt and we’re Brunclik says, a number well managed. That’s given us Craig Mitchell, managing director, touring, LMG Touring and of previous employees are some advantages.” Entertainment. leaving their current jobs to LMG’s soundstages in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Orlando, Florida, picked return to Clearwing. “They love working here; up the slack when COVID-19 shut down they want to get back to their family.” Yet some people are not ready to return, he touring, hosting artists and Fortune 50 and 500 corporate clients shooting videos, commercials says: “They’ve found more stability or aren’t sure and other content. High-profile productions what’s going to happen with the coronavirus included Uber Eats’ Wayne’s World commercial, variants.” There is good reason for caution; which debuted during Super Bowl LV, and a as of July 16, the Centers for Disease Control performance from the roof of Caesar’s Palace in and Prevention reported that the seven-day Las Vegas by The Killers for the NFL’s Monday average of coronavirus infections nationwide had jumped nearly 70 percent in just one week, Night Football in September. “We were doing up to 18 or 20 events a day,” thanks largely to the Delta variant. Anecdotally, Mitchell says. “We had techs working 80-hour some observers believe a significant percentage weeks. We were able to train a bunch of people, of former live events production personnel may taking them from live events not return to the industry, for one reason or to streaming, so we were able another, including workers in catering, transport to keep comparatively quite a and other associated jobs. The hiatus also gave Clearwing, whose few people employed, along with freelancers. Some high- systems integration division had its busiest end media server people shifted year and continues to thrive, an opportunity into XR mixed reality work— to reevaluate the production division’s business we have XR stages in London, model, Brunclik says, in anticipation of labor company, family-owned since and resource shortages as touring work returns. Orlando and Las Vegas.” the 1970s, was able to retain Then, coming out of “The last thing we want to do is overpromise and about 30 people with the help the pandemic, he says, “We underdeliver,” he notes. of various state and federal aid Indeed, production gear could soon be in had some of the first tours programs, such as PPP. “We in the country. Country short supply, a situation exacerbated by the had to do a number of things, artist Dylan Scott was doing worldwide chip shortage. One digital mixing like reduce hours and salary weekend warrior shows in console manufacturer is reported to be backcuts, but everybody was very smaller venues a month ago. ordered as much as 12 weeks. And if everyone’s understanding,” he says. Lindsey Stirling started an gear is out on the road, there will be no possibility Even with the reduction Bryan Brunclik, vice president, amphitheater tour the first of cross-renting. in hours, the federal production, Clearwing Productions. “We’ve built a business where we can respond week of July.” LMG’s rehearsal government’s stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits helped studios are currently busy hosting multiple to last-minute requests—we make the impossible happen—but there’s going to have to be some employees through the pandemic. Clearwing also artists, including Travis Scott, he says. Clearwing, too, rolled with the punches awareness, as things get busy and there are more took advantage of Work Sharing, a state program that helps top-up weekly wages according to during the pandemic, providing production tours out than normal, that there are going to be the percentage by which the employer has had for hybrid, outdoor and political events. The some shortages,” Mitchell says. “Traditionally, the first thing a tour or to reduce a worker’s hours. “Luckily, each of company’s admin and sales teams reacted to the three states we’re in—Wisconsin, Colorado the situation by reevaluating and streamlining production manager does is lock down their

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buses, but we’re rolling into a situation at the end of this year where they might want to start taking that approach with gear, locking it in a month or two ahead of time instead of two weeks ahead of time, because we are expecting some potential shortages across all vendors.” Plus, Mitchell points out, companies still need to recoup on the equipment they bought prepandemic and may not currently have the CapEx to buy more. One place to turn for new staff might be the many specialist schools across the country. Rachel Ludeman, employment coordinator

with the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS) in Arizona, reports, “From my recent work with our CRAS graduates who are looking for employment, live production is on the upswing. There seems to be a very large need for stagehands, techs, A2s and A1s. It seems as though many of the previous engineers have either found new work or have retired. “I’ve noticed more companies willing to take on our recent graduates who have the education and foundation to perform the position and are more willing to facilitate a small learning

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curve in the workplace, in order to fill these positions,” Ludeman says. “This has given our newest graduates amazing opportunities to get their feet wet and make a name for themselves in the live industry.” That said, some positions can only be filled by experienced hands. “Even though there’s a demand and there’s a ton of work, we have to be selective with the people that we bring in. We want quality people,” Clearwing’s Brunclik says. There has always been a talent shortage, Mitchell believes. “I think 2019 was one of the peak years for live entertainment, and we had gear and talent shortages then.” This year, he suspects, even reticent techs will eventually return. “They may not come back on the first phone call, but they may be more interested on that third or fourth call—and there are always opportunities for more people to get into the business.” Colleges are great at turning out lighting designers and FOH engineers, Mitchell says, but what about the people behind the scenes who help make shows happen? “We realized that universities are not training system techs, LED techs, vendor account executives—so we’re building out curriculums and creating internship opportunities for the next generation. To grow, we need to take a leadership position in building that future.” To that end, LMG has set up the Coil Learning Center and established relationships with colleges near the weeks-long training program’s four U.S. locations, which include Baltimore, Md and Detroit, Mich. “We have paid interns come in on the technical side and the front office side,” he says. Classes cover everything from using Microsoft Excel in AV to L-Acoustics system fundamentals. Many touring production companies across the country kept idled staff sharp with technical refresher courses during the pandemic, including those hosted by some of the equipment manufacturers. LMG was no exception, offering employees a comprehensive menu of courses, especially on the visual side, from the likes of Barco, BlackMagic, NewTek/Vizrt and Ross, and trade association AVIXA. One thing is for sure: It’s as important to get the body as sharp as the mind. “Gigging is demanding; it takes a toll,” Brunclik says. “You need to be in shape to pull those hours and be on your feet working. Everybody’s going to have to get reacclimated.” ■

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The Many Mixes of Josh Gudwin From Bieber to Juanes to Bad Bunny to Dua Lipa...and Back to Bieber By Lily Moayeri

t’s easy to get lost in the maze of paths, buildings and hallways at the historic Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood. Finding Josh Gudwin in this labyrinth, however, is relatively easy. The superstar mix engineer makes his headquarters underground where he commandeers two small-ish but comfortably laid out rooms. Despite the compactness of this space, Gudwin has four engineers—two of them women—working for him, each occupied with an entirely different task, plus there is his genial dog, Stax. It is in this subterranean lair that Gudwin mixes 350+ songs a year. Among these have been the Grammy-winning albums, YHLQMDLG for Bad Bunny and Burn the Ships for KING & COUNTRY, as well as the song “Electricity” for Silk City and Dua Lipa featuring Mark Diplo and Mark Ronson. Gudwin’s Grammy nominations started back in 2011 with Rhianna’s Loud. He’s been nominated with Lipa for “Don’t Start Now” and Future Nostalgia, and twice with his core client, Justin Bieber for his monster long-player Purpose and the massive smash “Despacito.” Not to mention he has also snagged five Latin Grammys for his work with Bad Bunny again, plus J Balvin and Juanes. A couple of these Grammys are sitting on top of the multiple sets of speakers in Gudwin’s mixing room, the one he calls the “fun” room. His second room is for mixing in Dolby Atmos, which he is being asked to do more and more often, including (re)mixing Bieber’s and J. Balvin’s back catalogs. “I’m taking mix stems from my already mixed songs, opening them up and making them dimensional,” Gudwin says while sitting on his studio floor, twisting himself in restorative yoga positions. “I’m molding my mix into an Atmos space where musically it translates in a completely different way than how we listen to

music now. “The Atmos mix already has the right EQ and compression and all that stuff,” he continues, “but there are speakers on the ceiling, the walls, behind you and in front of you. You can play with the whole thing at once and pan things. I can move objects into different speakers. They can share speakers, they can share height, they can share depth. I can put a sound that’s sitting more in the front of the room and move it to the back of the room, make it feel higher. Doing all that to where psychologically it doesn’t feel weird is hard to do with music because mono is still the truest way to listen to music. It’s going to take me 200 mixes, making mistakes and doing the dirty work to dial the Atmos room in. Once that’s done, it is going to be a fun room to go into too.” JUANES, BAD BUNNY, LIPA A Hall of Fame alum of Full Sail University, Gudwin has always been learning on the job, but you would never know it hearing his final products. When Mix spoke to Gudwin five years

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Josh Gudwin at the console in Henson Studios, moving at blinding speed as is his primary mode when working with Bieber.

ago in the darkened SSL3 Studio at Record Plant, it was just a few months after the release of Bieber’s multimillion-selling Purpose. Gudwin cut, produced and mixed all the vocals on the album, on his own. It marked his second time doing so, the first being for Believe Acoustic, after tutelage from Kuk Harrell. And in a steep learning curve, Gudwin also mixed the majority of Purpose. It was through his work on Purpose that Gudwin was put forth by his sometime assistant engineer, Henrique Andrade, to mix Juanes’ album, Mis Planes Son Amarte. The album won the Latin Grammy for Best Engineered Album and Best Pop/Rock Album in 2017. It also started Gudwin’s career in the Latin market, most notably with charttoppers J Balvin and Bad Bunny, with Gudwin locked down in production mode.

Gudwin, right, with Justin Bieber at Henson Studios during the making of 2021’s smash album Justice.

whom he won four more Latin Grammys. For the latter, Gudwin mixed an entire album in one weekend, “All night prepping, all day mixing. At that point, it’s a sport,” says Gudwin. “I know he’s going to elevate whatever I’m doing and take it to that next level,” says omnipresent super-producer Tainy who has worked with Gudwin on many songs for Bad Bunny and J Balvin. “He respects our vision as producers: how we feel, how a song should feel, how it should sound level-wise, and the essence of it. It’s something that you don’t always get with a mixing engineer.” For a lot of the Latin material, the song is being fixed in the mix and sometimes has different arrangements than the files Gudwin receives. Tainy concurs that some of the files presented to Gudwin are “messier” than others. He namechecks one of Bad Bunny’s

most successful songs, “Safaera,” as one with multiple rhythms, beats and mid-song tempo changes as a challenge to mix. Instead of printing his first pass, for these mixes and many others, Gudwin, who works in Pro Tools, sends a high-fidelity link to Tainy. They then get on FaceTime or text, going through the mix section by section, making adjustments based on the notes. “Every sound should be exported the way it sounds in the session,” says Gudwin of how he likes stems. “For production elements like synths, if a synth has a big reverb, and it’s timed out right and it’s part of the sound, that stays in. For a vocal, when you start EQing, you also have to EQ that reverb out and if they’re tied together, you’re affecting too much stuff. Also, when you turn everything up and it gets compressed, that reverb gets louder and sometimes it drowns out the vocal. Being able to turn down a vocal a couple dB can save that miscommunication.” Gudwin also suggests sending a dry version without the effects and a wet version with just the effects printed on a separate track. This way, if they’re both playing back at the same level, it should sound exactly like the session, but if the guitar is coming out too high in a mix, it can be turned down easily. “A rookie move for a young engineer is, ‘I’ve built the song up to where it is, I’m not going to pass it on to a mixer who is just going to use my sounds,’” says Gudwin. “All the work put into it—what the artist and the producer have been hearing—if you were to strip all that away and just give me blank sounds, you’re stripping all that work away from the artist and the producer. I’m not trying to rebuild what was already built. By getting a reference mix, I can build from there and take it to the next level.” In contrast, Gudwin’s mixes for Lipa come with a firm reference mix, or with a mix that simply has all the sounds and arrangements. “Sometimes clients don’t want to veer anywhere off the reference mix,” he says. “They just want it to sound a little bit more open, cleaner, and more expensive.” Lipa’s A&R, Joe Kentish, now the president of Warner Records UK, says, “I played [Gudwin] some music and discussed where I felt [Lipa]’s record was,” says Kentish. “It had been made

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Gudwin, seen from front and rear, in his Dolby Atmos mix studio within Henson Studios.

over time with various people and in various locations. Artistically, there was a strong theme, but there was still work needed to pull it together an album. We wanted a dynamic record that didn’t sound like it had all the life mixed out of it. If that sounds a bit vague, it is. [Gudwin] got it from day one. He spent a long time to get the records sounding the best he possibly could. “When it came to Future Nostalgia, it was an easy choice to work with him again. [Lipa] wanted something very specific. He was able to give us records that felt lush and euphoric, but that still knocked next to modern records.” BUT IT STARTED WITH BIEBER What Gudwin does for Lipa comes from a different place than what he does for Bieber in that he is involved with Bieber’s music from before inception. As Gudwin says, he has, “a lot more skin in the game, a lot more attachment to those projects.” Besides vocal recording, production and mixing, Gudwin is involved in the curation of both Bieber’s recent albums: Justice and Changes, and the mixing of them as well. At this point, it’s unlikely Bieber will step into a studio without Gudwin in tow. “Josh is really fast when [Bieber]’s cutting,” says Allison Kaye, Bieber’s longtime manager. “When he wants to go back to a certain part or start from a certain place, Josh instinctively knows it. It isn’t necessarily something they’ve developed over the years. When he was a little kid, it would still be the same thing. He didn’t have the ability to say, ‘I’m just going to cut by myself,’ so he would go in with producers and he would get annoyed when Josh wasn’t there. We’d start sending Josh to sessions with him.

“There is no room that [Bieber] can’t walk into with Josh,” she continues. “Another artist’s hotel room or a brand-new studio environment with a bunch of strangers. If he’s struggling with a take or something and Josh says, ‘You got it,’ [Bieber] knows he has it. It’s trust in Josh’s ears, it’s trust in his ability, but also trust in him as a human being.” Bieber released Changes just before the pandemic. Instead of the tour that was planned, once lockdown was in effect, he decamped to Toronto, in his home country of Canada, and started on Justice. He spent a few months in Cherry Beach Sound, cutting vocals from submissions funneled through Gudwin, and sent directly to Bieber, who is the executive producer for both Justice and Changes. When he’s focused, Bieber can cut a vocal in 45 minutes. These days for both professional and personal reasons, his work flow in the studio is streamlined and efficient. Upon his return to Los Angeles, Bieber set up at Henson’s A, B and D Studios to complete Justice under pandemic restrictions. Gudwin brings his own Sony C-800G microphone, TubeTech CL 1B compressor, ATC SCM25A speakers and his Pro Tools rig. “[Bieber] is hearing his voice the way he likes to without anything, just the microphone and his voice,” says Gudwin. “He knows how to move around the microphone to get the right sound he likes for the right song.” Gudwin uses the same three microphones he’s always used with Bieber: the aforementioned Sony C-800G, Telefunken ELA M 251 and Neumann U 67, and the same vocal chain: Neve 1081 or 1073 preamp, CL 1B compressor and GML 8200 or 2032 EQ, right into Pro Tools. He has a CPU-light tracking template he relies on in order to operate efficiently.

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“On my mix bus I have everything inactive and build it up as the mix develops,” says Gudwin. “My record track has AutoTune on the insert in the key of the song with a light setting: 20-2020. That’s just enough so he can sing into it without it drastically changing the voice. While recording, I always have a compressor and an EQ ITB in the box on inserts so I can mix on the fly. This is after it hits the microphone, mic preamp, compressor and after it gets converted to digital. I have options to pull up other effects like delays, choruses, flanges. I have certain effects (fully wet) on audio tracks I put certain words on to accentuate and effect certain parts of the vocal performance and word play. “There are empty audio tracks I use for comp tracks once we get a vocal we like,” he continues. “I drag those takes down to these tracks. They then get routed to an aux with EQ, compression so it’s easy for me to get the vocals to sound how I like them. This vocal aux will also send to shared effects. With this type of setup I’ll start dialing sound in, shaping vocals while he’s doing reference takes.” If Bieber wants to stack harmonies, Gudwin already has background tracks panned, tucked and grouped so they can be controlled and duplicated all together. This is in addition to effects, choruses, reverbs and delays at the bottom. He has these at the ready, fully wet, so he can drag audio to the track and instantly have it in Bieber’s ears with that effect. What Gudwin captures is clean with just a touch of barely audible compression which he uses just to take down a word. Gudwin is in mix mode the second he’s done with recording, as Bieber likes to hear a mix of his take within five minutes. Because Bieber plays drums, kick, snare and overheads are also in place and routed, with a click track at the ready. Gudwin has a filter on

the high end, but not on the low end as the latter is easy to take out in the mix when it’s split. TIME TO MIX Gudwin is approaching the mix from a production angle so he’s as much completing the song as he is mixing it. He saves all his takes from the performance captures for ease of replacement or ad libs. This is not less work for Gudwin, but the decision making process during the mix stage is simpler. “The first thing I do is make sure my gain staging, how loud everything is going into everything else, is correct,” Gudwin says of his mixing. “The more volume you put into a compressor, the more it starts reacting to that and starts turning things down. I’ll go to the

Gudwin at the board with Bad Bunny.

loudest section in the mix, loop it, make sure my input and output is correct so it’s hitting all my analog gear and not distorting, over-compressing or doing anything out of the ordinary. Once my gain staging is correct, I can start making sure my compressor is hitting correctly and my EQs are set to the right frequencies.” Drums are the first sound Gudwin tackles, removing odd frequencies and balancing all the elements. Bass is the next with particular focus on the bass and kick drum having their own space with the groove going into the compression. Guitars, synths and other elements come in next, with Gudwin spacing everything so no drums are clouded. Once the multitrack music bed is in place, the vocals are brought in, balanced and EQ’d for no drastic jumps in volume. “I slowly start to tame the vocal in so it sounds like a solid take,” says Gudwin. “I’m constantly

taking out frequencies that I don’t like in vocals and I’m compressing. The frequencies I don’t like are different in every song, but they’re around 2.5 and 4.5, and then between 5 and 8, and then 10 and 14 for vocals. Those frequencies are aggressive. They jump out. Certain vocals are sharp and when you turn the music up, those sharp frequencies hurt. I like finding those points and turning them down and so the louder you have a song, the more you are able to hear it and it feels bright, not harsh. “For the most part, I’d rather not turn down my vocal because I want it to sound fuller. If the instrument is the main thing, then I’ll take it out of something else. It’s all sharing frequency. Too much of the wrong frequency is bad and vocals have a lot of harsh frequencies. Some people’s

you take frequency away, you’ve got to rebuild a little bit. It’s like making pottery, growing, widening and balancing.” The mix is listened to on multiple speakers. Gudwin has Yamaha NS-10s, ATCs and Amphions at the studio. He works from the biggest to the smallest speakers, including a Bluetooth Bose, eventually landing on headphones. “If you go to the NS-10s and it doesn’t sound good, you missed a lot of things,” he says. “They’re mid-range heavy. It takes skill to make them sound full and loud without flopping. Every little speaker exposes a little more frequency and dynamic response. You listen on headphones to make sure nothing sticks out because a lot of people are going to listen on headphones. Then print the mix.”

Gudwin, left, with Skrillex.

voices resonate so low, that if they are raised, their range is between 100 and 200 Hertz and it sounds dull. You have to turn some of those low frequencies.” At this point, Gudwin starts boosting, which he can do because he has already removed the harsh sounds. De-essing comes next, then reverbs, which he times so there are no delays stepping on other words, then he starts getting creative with the vocals, using things like delay throws. He does the same steps for the featured vocal, if there is one, and then builds his master fader. He uses a combination of outboard gear and Plugin Alliance Brainworx bx_console SSL 9000J and Black Box Analog Design HG-2, particularly for mastering EQ, and FabFilter on everything, especially the Pro-DS for de-essing and Pro-Q 3 for multi-band EQ fixes for the frequencies he removes. Says Gudwin, “When

Although it is not his preferred mode, Gudwin has mixed using headphones while on the road, most notably when he took on Bieber’s remix of “Despacito,” originally mixed by Jaycen Joshua. Gudwin was in transit from Bogota, Colombia where he cut Bieber’s vocal in a studio, made some edits in his hotel room as Bieber wanted to change some of the lines, mixed in the airport lounge on his headphones and ran to catch his next flight, turning in the mix upon landing. As Bieber’s album producer, A&R, mixer and vocal producer and engineer, these types of demands are commonplace for Gudwin, who is an integral part of the very small, five-person team behind the Bieber phenomenon for the last 15 years. Says Kaye, “Josh has been in some of the worst rooms with that kid in some of the worst times in his life. Josh is a solver. He’s always working as hard as he can to push things forward.” ■

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Bassist/composer/ bandleader Sascha Jacobsen.

hile listening to Los Tangueros del Oeste’s (The Tangos of the West) new release Alma Vieja (Old Soul), tango dancers float across the imagination much as they must have moved physically in the streets of 18th century Argentina. Even as composer, producer, arranger, bassist Sascha Jacobsen fuses the traditional romantic and rhythmic music that originated in Buenos Aires with modern day electronica and hip hop beats, at the core of his interpretation is the established fun, flirtatious and sexy tango that back in the day was relegated mostly to the lower class. Jacobsen is quite an interesting artist, with a diverse taste in music and maybe somewhat of an old soul himself? “I’ve been accused of that before,” he admits with a laugh. This is a musician whose great, great, great, great-grandfather was the bassist for the Moscow Opera, and whose own classical training earned him a place in the Monterey Symphony and Sarasota Opera. Additionally, he has performed with the likes of Rita Moreno, Hugh Jackman, Martin Short, Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman and Josh Groban, among others. He also has led his original Musical Art Quintet, with whom he recently arranged and recorded “Prayer for the State of Israel,” honoring his Sephardic Jewish roots. And then there’s tango. Around 15 years ago, Jacobsen “took a huge left turn” into the genre after hearing Astor Piazzolla. He not only fell in love with the music and began to play it, but learned to play the rather complex bandoneon, or “tango accordion.” Out of the blue, he got a call to join the group Trio Garufa, and the more he became enmeshed in the music, the more he also began to embrace the lifestyle. He learned the traditional dance and began attending tango parties—or milongas— which he says are in abundance in his hometown San Francisco Bay Area. The concept for Alma Vieja had been in Jacobsen’s mind for quite some time, but the global coronavirus shutdown finally allowed him the downtime to create the project. That was the upside. The downside, of course, involved all the health restrictions, which meant no rehearsals and the necessity of doing a good portion of the recording for the project remotely. In 2018, Jacobsen met singer/lyricist Manuel Berterreix by chance at a local Berkeley café, and although Berterreix later returned to Argentina, the bandleader contacted him to work on the album.

Sascha Jacobsen’s

Los Tangueros del Oeste Argentinean Rhythms Meet Hip Hop and Electronic Beats By Robyn Flans

The record ended up with seven instrumentals and six songs with lyrics/vocals. It was released on July 30 through Avantango Records. ALL-STAR, INTERNATIONAL BAND Jacobsen wrote almost all of the songs during the pandemic. He would record some bass and perhaps piano to Pro Tools, then send the rough tracks to Berterreix, who would write the lyrics (in “Castellano,” the term for Argentine Spanish, also incorporating “Lunfardo,” the term for Argentine slang) and sing along. He would then send different ideas back to Jacobsen, who would send them back with his input. This went on for a year, making

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heavy use of Pro Tools and Google Drive. Once the songs were in a good spot, Jacobsen went into Tim Weed’s Buffalo Bill Studio in San Rafael, Calif., just north of San Francisco, to record the bass with violinist Ishtar Hernandez, who was about to move back to Puerto Rico because of Covid-19. Masks were put on, and separate recording areas were established. Guitarist Carlos Caminos lives in Venezuela and pianist Pablo Estigarribia lives in Buenos Aires. Both recorded in their home studios and sent in their tracks. “I was always saying, ‘Okay, can you change this, can you redo this part?’” Jacobsen explains of the process. “They would send me the first take, they

Mix engineer Charles Gorczynski in his Minneapolisbased Caverns studio. Above: Gorczynski recording the bandoneon, a traditional Argentine instrument.

would send me a second and sometimes a third, and I would take what I liked and basically edit what I wanted to keep.” One of the album’s most complex songs with regard to the remote recording process features acclaimed Argentinean singer Maria Volonte along with Berterreix (who moved to Mexico during the recording of the album), executing the track that best exemplifies Jacobsen’s creative vision. “El Rumbo de mi Corazon” is essentially a rap/poetry track with electronic hip-hop drums against a classical violin sonata and flamenco guitar. It has become one of Jacobsen’s favorites on the album because “it took on its own life in a way I didn’t expect.” The title track is also a great representation of Jacobsen’s concept, with Berterreix’s crooning and the traditional Argentine bandoneon mixed with Daniel Riera’s modern beat designs and subtle DJ scrubs. Riera designed all the electronic beats, which provided the bed for all songs except four. Drum set accompanies him on one track, while two tracks feature live percussion, including one (“Zamba Zephardim”) with the Bombo, the traditional drum used in the folk music of Argentina. CREATIVE CHALLENGES AT THE MIX Jacobsen acknowledges that the biggest challenge for the project was the mix. Bandoneon player Charles Gorczynski, who mixed the entire album with the exception of “El Rumbo de mix Corazon” (mixed by Riera), chuckles at the understatement of the word “challenge.” At the time of the Alma Vieja recording, Gorczynski moved to Minnesota and set up at

Caverns, his mix studio where he also does audio production/sound design for various clients, as well as composition for records, film, video games and podcasts. The first thing he did was record his part of the record. Then he got down to mixing. Gorczynski works off of Pro Tools and Ableton with a lot of outboard synths and drum machines. For mixing, he uses a slew of UAD plug-ins. “Alma Vieja was recorded all over the place,” Gorczynski explains. “I got a bunch of tracks from everywhere and I did kind of a hybrid approach— using Ableton on some of the more time-stretching stuff and then ultimately mixing in Pro Tools.” When asked which track was the toughest, he stumbles through a laugh: “They … were … all … hard. In their own way. We had tracks with four mics on the bass in a giant live room, and then the violin recorded in another giant live room.” The first order of business, he says, was “editing each track, to find some central space where everything comes together. When some are recording in different studios and many are recording in home studios where the volume is varying widely, my job was creative problemsolving. There’s a lot of creative solutions and saturator plug-ins or a lot of interesting cleaning things up in a creative way or making something musical out of it, creating breaks. When it didn’t work, I would create musical breaks where I would just pull the violin out and have other things just play the melody and make musical choices, some of which Sascha was into and some of which he wasn’t; so we found a nice balance.” Detailing the process on the track “A Pampa Cortes,” which had acoustic drums and electronic drums, Gorczynski says, “In this case I’m using a lot of the iZotope plug-ins to clear out some of the

frequency problems, normal stuff. I’m using a bunch from the company Baby Audio, one called I Heart NY, an interesting New York–style parallel compressor. I’m using some of the Slate Digital stuff—Fresh Air is on there. Another Baby Audio that pops up on a bunch of all the tracks is the delay Comeback Kid, my favorite delay right now. I’m automating a lot of delay on this track and automating the compression to some degree and creating a lot of breaks. “The drums needed some general cleaning, so I’m using the iZotope Neutron,” he continues. “There’s a great plug-in I’ve been using on drums recently for identifying problematic resonance called Oeksound Soothe2. I’m a big fan of handclaps, using the FabFilter compressors, and I’m a big fan of the Goodhertz Wow Control.” For the most part, the mixing of the additional instruments was fairly standard procedure. On this track, the bass was recorded at home, which made it easier to mix, Gorczynski says. On Jacobsen’s bass, he used the FabFilter EQ and multiband compressor. “Across the various tracks, I used a variety of things to build some edges into the sound: UAD Neve 1073, PSP Vintage Warmer 2, Slate Audio Fresh Air, UAD VSM-3, UAD 1176,” Gorczynski details. “Sometimes when I was using the piano in a different context, I would re-sample into the Elektron Octatrack and create ambiences with some motion and character. The guitar, he says, was recorded well, but sounded a little thin, so he used a VSM-3 saturator to “create some subtle harmonic distortion in there and a little more body.” The violin, which was recorded in the studio, proved a bit more problematic. “There was a lot of natural reverb on the violin,” he says, “There’s a lot of automation and trying to blend it into the rest of the track that makes sense. I feel like a lot of times on the tracks, what I came to was to almost treat it like a sampled instrument. I used the FabFilter delay here and automated the delay like crazy all over the place.” His reverb of choice for nearly everything was LiquidSonics’ Seventh Heaven. Gorczynski says he loves working with Jacobsen and feels the close nature of their relationship afforded him the liberty of the editing and mixing choices he made. Jacobsen, meanwhile, is proud of the outcome. “I consider this album to be my masterpiece,” Jacobsen says. “Maybe I’ll change my mind when the next one comes out, but right now, this is it.” n

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Tech Genelec GLM 4.1 Loudspeaker Manager Software

Genelec is marking the 15th anniversary of its GLM loudspeaker manager software with the introduction of GLM 4.1, which is compatible with all Genelec Smart Active Monitors and Subwoofers. This update debuts the next-generation AutoCal 2 automatic room calibration algorithm, which reportedly delivers a more precise frequency response in a fraction of the time than was previously possible. GLM’s reference microphone kit allows the user’s room acoustics to be analyzed, after which each monitor and subwoofer can be automatically calibrated for relative level and relative distance delay, plus subwoofer crossover phase and frequency response. GLM 4.1’s new AutoCal 2 feature and its calibration speed is further complemented by a completely new 64-bit architecture and fresh, lean code. Other new features in GLM 4.1 include an increased number of EQ filters in an effort to provide more flexibility, weighting refinements when using GLM’s unlimited number of microphone measurement points, and a Solo-X mode for faster soloing of monitors when working with immersive content.

Black Lion Audio PG-2 Power Conditioner Black Lion Audio’s new PG-2 offers filtering, surge protection and a bevy of features. The unit is equipped with 14 outlets. Twelve are switched and reside on the back panel. The remaining two are on the front and unswitched. The back panel outlets are divided into three categories: Digital Audio, Analog Audio and High Current. To guard against speaker pops, Black Lion installed a time delay in the switching so that the Analog Audio and High Current outlets are always the last on and first off. The PG-2 offers metering and indicator lights, including a front-panel meter that provides a real-time display of the line voltage at the source and the connected equipment’s combined amperage. A series of front-panel LEDs give you additional status info. If a dangerous power situation arises, the PG-2 sounds a built-in siren. A thermal circuit breaker protects gear from overloads.

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new products

Ashly Audio Expands AW Series On-Wall Speaker Line Ashly Audio has expanded its AW Series On-Wall speaker line with a new Plus model, sporting a higher power transformer for integrations in larger spaces. With the Plus model, Ashly Audio has increased the output power of its 70- and 100-volt transformers in a move to enable more integration options. The new Plus model, which will be stylized as AWT+, offers a power upgrade to make the speakers more accessible for larger rooms. The AW-5.2T+ is now available at 30, 15, 7.5, and 3.75W at 70V, and at 60, 30, 15, and 7.5W at 100V. The AW-8.2T+ is available at 60, 30, 15, and 7.5W at 70V, and at 60, 30, and 15W at 100V. A Directivity Optimized Crossover in the AW design reportedly reduces the off-axis deviation in sound pressure levels to <9 db, aiming to provide a wider “sweet spot” for audio. The AW-5.2T+ & AW-8.2T+ are also IP54 rated, so they are applicable for use in outdoor situations, like patios and public spaces, as well as for indoors.

d&b audiotechnik D40 Amplifier d&b audiotechnik has unveiled its new D40 4-channel Class D mobile amplifier that is the mobile version of the 40D installation amplifier. Its user interface consists of a 4.3-inch (480 x 272 pixel) color touchscreen and a digital rotary encoder, providing information of the device configuration and status monitoring. The D40 amplifier has a dynamic range of 116 dB (unweighted) and is designed to drive high-voltage d&b loudspeakers while providing management and protection capabilities. The D40 reaches 180 V peak, reportedly delivering full performance from d&b KSL System loudspeakers and V-Series and Y-Series. The D40 uses DSP to incorporate loudspeaker configurations and user-definable setups, equalization and delay functions. The D40 includes energy saving features, power efficiency and Automatic Wake up for environmentally responsible and sustainable Green Building requirements.

Allen & Heath’s New Installation Offerings Allen & Heath has introduced a variety of new options for its installation offerings, ranging from Dante breakout boxes to touchscreen control panels to an echo-canceling module. The new AEC processing expansion module

handles hardware-based echo cancellation for the company’s AHM-64 audio matrix processor, providing 12 channels of AEC with a 150 ms adaptive FIR filter, nonlinear processing for residual echo and background noise reduction, and AGC (Automatic Gain Control) for the far-end signal. Meanwhile, Allen & Heath’s Everything I/O range of audio expanders is growing with the addition of three new Dante interfaces—the DT20, with 2 mic/line inputs on combi connectors; the DT02, with two-line outputs on XLR; and the DT22, with 2x2 I/O on Phoenix connectors. AHM-64, dLive and Avantis mixers get new remote-control options with the introduction of Allen & Heath’s new CC-7-inch and CC-10-inch touch panels.

64 Audio U6t Universal In-Ear Monitor 64 Audio has introduced its new U6t Universal In-Ear Monitor. The six-driver IEM is designed for touring professionals and is intended to be a balanced, natural-sounding earphone that provides a softer presentation of a mix than other models that the company offers. The U6t IEMs are built around a half-dozen precisionbalanced armature drivers, with each containing a tia high, a high-mid, a pair of mids and a pair of lows, cumulatively offering a frequency response of 10 Hz – 20 kHz. The IEMs offer a reported -20dB of isolation, sport an integrated four-way passive crossover and feature a universal shell milled out of a solid aerospace-grade aluminum billet. U6t includes various 64 Audio technologies, including tia, apex, and LID. Air Pressure Exchange (apex) is a pneumatically interactive vent that releases air pressure in a sealed ear canal, with the intention of alleviating listener fatigue and opening the soundstage. Meanwhile, tia works by eliminating soundaltering tubes and dampers, using the tia high driver and the tia single bore design. Lastly, LID is intended to provide a consistent frequency response regardless of the source.

Solid State Logic LMC+ Compressor Plug-in Solid State Logic has introduced LMC+, a new plug-in based on the company’s 4000 Series console’s compressor. The SSL Listen Mic Compressor was popular among producers and a catalyst for that explosive ’80s drum sound. Originally designed to prevent overloading the return feed from a studio communications mic, the LMC’s fixed attack and release curves were discovered to be useful for drums and other applications.

Modeled on the original SSL 4000E console’s compressor, the LMC+ plug-in offers fixed attack and release curves; an external sidechain; and highpass and lowpass filters. To use the plug-in, users dial in the amount, optionally apply “Scoop” phase to invert the wet signal or “Split” to engage bandpass subtraction mode, and can additionally combine both to create different variations. The plug-in also marks the first deployment by Solid State Logic’s new eCommerce site, which the company plans to use as a platform in coming months to launch various new plug-ins based on its heritage and modern processing tools.

Elk Live Realtime Remote Collaboration Service Formerly known as Aloha by Elk, the newly renamed Elk Live allows up to five musicians within a 620-mile radius to play and record together remotely. Powered by the low-latency Elk Audio OS, the plug-and-play solution includes the Elk Live Bridge, an audio network hub, and the Elk Live smart app with video chat and monitoring controls. The web app requires no installation, allowing musicians to join sessions from the device of their choice. The onboard mixer offers control of the Elk Live Bridge and allows users to both send two channels of audio and receive the same from each player. The Elk Live Bridge connects to the internet via a standard router and features onboard A/D and D/A converters. Users can connect external high-end studio converters as desired. When not used for playing live, the Elk Live Bridge functions like a standard class-compliant USB audio interface. The device features two analog inputs and four analog outputs plus ADAT and S/PDIF digital I/O.

RødeCaster Pro Firmware Update Rolls Out Røde has updated its burgeoning RødeCaster Pro mixer with new firmware. Version 2.1.2 gives users access to MIDI control for synching the RødeCaster Pro with DAWs and streaming software, new sound pad modes, nine language options and more. New sound pad modes include “Swear Button” and “Trash-Talk” mode, and new language options for the RødeCaster Pro and Companion App include English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The RødeCaster Pro is an all-inone mixer/recorder primarily for podcacsting. The unit includes four Class A, servo-biased inputs, along with Bluetooth, a 3.5mm port for a phone or device, and a USB port. Also onboard are eight color-coded, programmmable pads that can trigger jingles and sound effects. There are four headphone outputs and a stereo speaker out, each with independent volume controls. Users can record to a microSD card internally, to a computer via USB or to both outputs simultaneously. Currently, the RødeCaster Pro’s MIDI control feature is only fully supported by Logic Pro X (Mac) and Reaper (Mac and Windows). ■

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Tech // spotlight Headphones & Microphones for Podcasting Shure MV7 Hybrid XLR/USB Podcast Mic While the SM7B remains Shure’s flagship for pro podcasting, VO and broadcast use, the new MV7 aims to entice content creators. As the company’s first hybrid XLR/USB microphone, the MV7 is designed for a simplified user experience, while providing audio quality commensurate with pro users’ expectations. An integrated touch panel optimizes control for quick adjustments, allowing users to adjust the gain, headphone volume, monitor mix, and mute/ unmute, with an option to lock customized settings. Also onboard the mic is Auto Level Mode, which sets gains in real time, so the output levels stay consistent and adjusts audio levels on the fly, giving audiences a more consistent listening experience. The mic works in conjunction with the new, free Shure MOTIV App for desktop, which offers a variety of preset modes. Users can select a tone (Dark, Natural, or Bright), depending on if they want a deep “radio” voice, or a crisp and clean sound. These settings are available in Auto Level Mode and can be selected in the MOTIV app. Similarly, users may select their mic distance from the MV7 (Near or Far), depending on how they are positioned. The mic offers an XLR output for use with interfaces, mixers and professional audio equipment, but also supports a USB-A and USB-C output for Mac and PC.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20x Headphones Don’t let the $49 price fool you. The ATH-M20x professional monitor headphones are a great introduction to the critically acclaimed M-Series line. Contoured earcups seal tight for excellent sound isolation, with minimal bleed. The closed-back dynamic design features advanced build quality and engineering; 40 mm drivers with rare earth magnets and copper-clad aluminum wire voice coils; tuning for enhanced low-frequency performance; circumaural design for excellent sound isolation in loud environments; and a convenient single-side cable exit. Frequency response is listed at 15 - 20,000 Hz, with Sensitivity of 96 dB.

AKG Lyra The AKG Lyra seems like it was built with podcasters in mind, It delivers acoustically transparent, 4K-compatible, Ultra HD-grade 24-bit/192 kHz

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audio resolution, and features the AKG Adaptive Capsule Array, providing four optimized capture modes that make it easy to deliver professional sound for any application. Plug-and-play operation allows creators of all experience levels to get set up and start recording quickly, while easily accessible controls provide complete control. An internal self-adjusting shock mount minimizes contact noise, while a built-in sound diffuser and AKG’s proprietary Internal Element Overload Prevention automatically reduce noise, eliminate pops and improve signal levels. The AKG Adaptive Capsule Array’s four capture modes adapt to performances automatically. Front mode isolates the target sound from distracting background noise by rejecting unwanted sounds at the microphone back and sides. Front & Back mode captures and blends together sound equally on all sides. Tight Stereo mode captures audio in true stereo with discrete left and right audio. Wide Stereo mode captures audio with greater stereo separation, room ambience and depth.

Earthworks Audio ICON, ICON Pro USB Microphone Earthworks Audio entered the growing USB mic and podcasting market with the release of ICON, a studio-quality USB microphone, and ICON PRO, a broadcastquality XLR streaming microphone. Both products enhance the quality and experience of remote working, podcasting, gaming, and home recording. As part of the look, Earthworks partnered with Triad-Orbit to design and build a custom desktop microphone stand that ships as part of the full ICON experience. The stand is sleek yet robust enough to hold and balance the stainless-steel microphone. For maximum flexibility, the integrated M-2R swivel ball joint can be disconnected and re-mounted on any studio mic stand or boom arm. ICON PRO looks and feels similar to the ICON USB microphone, but is hand-tuned with an extended frequency response and its capsule has a faster Rise Time Speed of 11.67 microseconds. Because it is an XLR broadcast microphone requiring 48 volts of phantom power, it offers extended headroom and dynamics. ICON PRO ships with an integrated Triad-Orbit M-2R adapter, as well. ICON retails for $349 and ICON PRO sells for $499.

PreSonus Revelator USB Microphone PreSonus’ new Revelator USB microphone, intended primarily for home studio use, podcasting and voice overs, includes accessible presets, loopback audio, and selectable polar patterns. The Revelator offers the same DSP algorithms found in PreSonus’ StudioLive Series III mixers, providing users with eight presets with various combinations of EQ and compression, and offers an additional eight userdefined presets that can be created and saved using the full StudioLive Fat Channel controls available in Universal Control. Also onboard are a selection of voice effects and the ability to store up to four presets to be instantly selectable via the Preset button on Revelator. Revelator also features two stereo streams for loopback audio so users can conference in Zoom calls, record gameplay, or showcase the audio in a YouTube video. Three pickup patterns are provided—cardioid pattern, for one-person use; figure 8 for two users; and omnidirectional to pick up multiple speakers around the microphone. The bus-powered, USB-C-compatible mic comes with PreSonus’ Studio One Artist recording and production software and Studio Magic Software Suite, as well as an integrated desktop stand with built-in cable management.

Sennheiser HandMic Digital HandMic Digital was developed as an elegant USB microphone solution for content creators that want professional results. Featuring a 24-bit/96 kHz capable digital audio converter inside an all-metal housing, the mic is tailored for mobile devices, combining USB and iOS connectivity with the typical benefits of a Sennheiser microphone. Features include: Sennheiser’s Ultralight Acoustic System; digital audio with Apogee PureDigital preamp and A/D converter; shock-mounted capsule for excellent suppression of handling noise; robust, rugged all metal body and grille; interchangeable cable for USB and an option to switch to Lightning; ultraflat transportable table stand; and Status/Peak LED. Frequency response is listed at 40 – 16,000Hz, with max SPL at minimum gain of 134 dB, at max gain, 99 dB.

Audio-Technica BP40 Microphone The BP40 broadcast vocal microphone offers a rich, natural, condenser-like sound from a largediaphragm dynamic design. The large diaphragm features patented floating-edge construction that maximizes diaphragm surface area and optimizes overall diaphragm performance, while the humbucking voice coil prevents electromagnetic interference (EMI). The hypercardioid polar pattern improves isolation, and the mic includes a

switchable 100 Hz highpass filter. The BP40 also boasts superior offaxis rejection for maximum gain before feedback; optimized capsule placement for commanding vocal presence even at a distance; a multistage windscreen for superior internal pop filtering; and rugged, all-metal construction for dependable use in professional broadcast environments. Frequency response is stated at 50-16,000 Hz, with a low-frequency rolloff at 100 Hz, 6 dB/octave.

AKG K361-BT/K371-BT Professional Studio Headphones AKG, a Harman company, first showed its new headphone line—the K361-BT and K371-BT featuring Bluetooth connectivity—at a 70th anniversary bash at Capitol Studios in 2020, featuring special guest Quincy Jones. The K361-BT and K371-BT feature an over-ear, closed-back design with plush, ergonomic earcups that swivel 90 degrees. They weigh less than 8 ounces, Frequency response is published at a stunning 15 Hz to 28 kHz in the K361BT and 5 Hz to 40 kHz in the K371-BT. Both models offer switchable Bluetooth 5.0 wireless and wired connectivity, with a built-in microphone. K361-BT and K371-BT professional headphones feature high-sensitivity, largest-in-class 50mm drivers and pure oxygen-free copper voice coils to deliver clear, detailed and balanced lows, mids and highs.

Mackie Element Series Microphones Mackie launched its new EleMent Series of microphones back at NAMM 2020, consisting of three models and all of them suitable for home studio and podcast/streaming applications: the EM-89D Live Vocal Dynamic, EM91C Large-Diaphragm Condenser, and EM-USB USB Condenser microphones. The EM-89D features a cardioid polar pattern and is primarily designed for stage use, but can double in the studio. The EM-91C’s classic cardioid polar pattern makes it flexible enough to handle a variety of studio applications. While Mackie recommends using it on stringed instruments, the microphone is also up for live streaming, voiceovers and other types of content creation. The EM-91C comes with a shock mount and an XLR mic cable. The Mackie EM-USB condenser microphone connects directly to a laptop or mobile recording device using USB-C and features a builtin headphone output with independent volume control. It also provides controls for main input gain and mute. Included with the EM-USB are a mic clip, tripod mount, and USB-C cable. ■

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Tech // innovations

Guillaume le Nost, executive director of Creative Technologies at L-Acoustics, putting L-ISA Studio spatial software to the test.

Taking Spatial Live Sound into the Virtual Realm L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio Immersive Audio Software By Guillaume Le Nost

ince the introduction of the line array, live concerts have become increasingly sophisticated with ultra high-resolution video and lighting technologies, yet professional audio reinforcement continues to use stereo — a technology more than 50 years old. Not satisfied with this approach to sound in live entertainment, L-Acoustics introduced L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology in 2016. This provided a new way to design, process, mix, and experience multi-channel sound for live performances. Since 2016, we have seen numerous benefits of L-ISA technology for large scale tours and 360° experiential events, as well as permanent installations in art galleries, houses of worship, performing arts centers and more. Meanwhile, other pro audio manufacturers have also developed immersive audio solutions, and we have seen significantly increased interest in this topic in the professional sound community. Today, professional audio professionals are largely convinced that immersive audio is the future; our challenge now is to educate the wider community of creators and to facilitate the creation of immersive content, right from the inception of a project. When the “spatial audio” dimension is taken into account during the creative process, the results are significantly better than when it only comes as an afterthought, so our main question became: How can we facilitate access to this immersive audio technology? How could sound designers, music producers or sound engineers create with L-ISA, even if they are not in a venue with an L-ISA processor and an immersive sound system? In a world where a given audio creation can take multiple shapes — whether it be a stereo album on a streaming service, an art installation in a digital gallery, a live show, a livestream or even an NFT, we wanted to offer a unique workflow that benefits from the L-ISA Object-based mixing approach. We wanted to help facilitate a seamless transition from a “nomad” situation to a “studio” situation to a “live” situation. Our L-ISA Processor is a great piece of hardware for live performances, but can be hard to integrate into the other

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two categories. What if we could develop a “virtual” L-ISA Processor that could run on a desktop computer, that people could access anywhere and even use with a simple pair of headphones? This idea emerged in 2018, long before COVID hit the world, and our R&D teams worked passionately to make this vision a reality. We rewrote our audio engine from the ground-up, created a new binaural renderer with headtracking and integrated innovative scale simulation algorithms. Today, L-Acoustics provides a unique workflow where a sound engineer or sound designer can prep a mix on a laptop using the L-ISA Controller and render the audio via the L-ISA Processor Desktop — both part of the new L-ISA Studio software suite. Once in the venue, the user can open the very same L-ISA Controller session, connect to the hardware renderer (the L-ISA Processor) and drive a speaker setup. Out of the performance space, any tweaks and edits can be continued on the laptop. This opens doors to more efficient workflows and a lot of saved time. The vision of a pure software solution — which is now realized as L-ISA Studio — was also driven by our wish to facilitate a broader and deeper understanding of immersive audio, while accelerating the adoption of new spatial mixing concepts. After our recent release of L-ISA Studio, creators are using our immersive audio tools beyond “pre-production” scenarios, using it to mix content for binaural streaming or to mix content in 7.1.4 for a Dolby Atmos song on streaming platforms. One of the most exciting instances of this is by Grammy-winning creator Latroit, who used L-ISA Studio to remix his latest track, “Dance My Tears Away.” Having revealed the song to fans in June, he’ll follow up with a binaural version of the song on YouTube, and plans for a Dolby Atmos version of the song are already underway. At L-Acoustics, our excitement to see and experience the immersive content that will spring from the creative imagination of artists is matched only by our passion to continue supporting the wider adoption of immersive audio creation. ■ Guillaume Le Nost is executive director of Creative Technologies at L-Acoustics. www.l-isa-immersive.com

Tech // reviews SSL SiX Channel and UV EQ Versatile New 500 Series Processors By Mike Levine

guitar, and as long as I carefully set the controls on both units to match, the results were impressive.

SIX FOR 500 Featuring SSL’s distinctive gray background and colored buttons, SiX CH offers functionality similar to a channel on another of the company’s products, the SiX mixer. You get mic, line and Hi-Z inputs, two bands of EQ and a compressor. As is standard in this format, you make mic connections using the appropriate XLR input on the back of your 500 Series rack. On the front of SiX CH is a ¼-inch jack for line and Hi-Z inputs. Next to that jack are Line and Hi-Z buttons, which allow you to select the input type. Pressing the Line button switches the active input from the XLR to the ¼-inch jack. If you want the highimpedance input, you must also push the Hi-Z button. It’s a little counterintuitive that the Line button needs to be in to activate the high-impedance input, but it’s a minor point, and you get used to it soon enough. Other controls on SiX CH include a knob for Gain and switches for polarity reverse, 48V phantom power and a highpass filter. The latter is set at 75 Hz with a 12dB/octave slope. While many 500 Series preamps offer only a single LED for signal present and overload, SiX CH features a five-segment, color-coded LED meter. The preamp itself is of SSL’s SuperAnalogue design, just like the one in the SiX mixer. According to the company, the design originated in the company’s Duality and AWS consoles. I tried SiX CH’s mic preamp on both sung and spoken vocals, acoustic guitar and mandolin. For mics, I used either a Mojave Audio MA-300 tube condenser or a Neat King Bee FET condenser. I also recorded DI electric guitar and bass through the SiX CH. The preamp offered a clean and rich response, with quiet performance and plenty of gain. The mic gain goes up to 72 dB and the line 63 dB. I compared SiX CH to the other 500 Series mic preamps that I have installed, which I like plenty, and SiX CH’s tone held its own with them. I also used the pair of SiX CHs for recording stereo acoustic

ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL You can modify the performance of the preamp with SiX CH’s EQ and Compressor sections. Both are completely bypassed from the signal chain until they’re switched in with the EQ In and CMP In buttons, respectively. The EQ configuration is the same as on the SiX mixer, with its circuitry related to that of the SSL E Series console EQs. It consists of two bands, HF (high frequency) and LF (low frequency). You control each with a single boost/cut knob with a handy center detent. Each band gives you the choice of two filters: a high-shelf set at 3.5 kHZ SiX CH is a versatile preamp/channel strip that offers SSL quality at a superor a bell at 60 Hz for the affordable price point. highs, and low-shelf set at 60 Hz or a bell at 200 Hz for the lows. The shelving filters are on by default, but pressing the Bell button for either band switches it. I found it handy for minor tweaks such as adding highs to an acoustic guitar or accentuating the bottom on a spoken-word recording. In order to be impactful in a two-knob configuration, SSL gave each band a pretty wide Q. Particularly with the shelving filters, I had to be fairly ginger with my settings. By offering the filter and frequency choices, SSL made the EQ

efore releasing these new modules, SSL already had a significant presence in the 500 Series processor market. Now its offerings are even more varied. SiX Channel (SiX CH) is a versatile and aggressively priced preamp/channel strip, and the UltraViolet Stereo Equalizer (UV EQ) is the company’s first stereo EQ in the 500 Series format. For this review, SSL sent a pair of SiX CH units and a UV EQ.

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about as versatile as you can get given the space limitations of 500 Series units, particularly those with as many features as SiX CH. The compressor section is also of the oneknob variety. It provides an over-easy-style response with a fixed 2:1 ratio. Both the attack and release times are preset, with the former at 5 milliseconds and the latter in the neighborhood of 300 ms. The knob controls threshold, and a horizontal three-step LED gives you a rough visual representation of the amount of gain reduction. It’s handy to have the compressor right there. I used it both on input, which I think it’s particularly suited for, and as a hardware insert in my DAW while mixing. I found it to be pretty transparent, even at higher settings. Because it’s got such limited parameter control, the compressor seems better for constraining dynamics than as a creative tool for changing or coloring the sound. It worked well for containing fluctuating levels of an electric bass part. Without the compressor on, some of the louder notes might have clipped. ULTRA-COOL UV EQ Because it’s a stereo module, UV EQ takes up two spaces in a 500 Series rack. SSL started with the minimum-phase EQ circuitry from its Fusion processor and added bands for low-mid and high-mid. On the low end, UV EQ features a highpass filter with a stepped frequency control. It offers settings of Off, 30 Hz, 40 Hz and 50Hz, with a slope of 18dB/octave.

PRODUCT SUMMARY COMPANY: Solid State Logic PRODUCT: SiX Channel and UltraViolet Stereo Equalizer WEBSITE: www.solidstatelogic.com PRICE: SiX CH: $399, UV EQ: $1,299 PROS: SiX CH—Impressive sound quality. Great value. Excellent metering. Two different filter types and frequency settings for EQ bands. Built-in compressor. Plenty of gain. UV EQ—Sweet-sounding. Excellent on mix bus. Center detents on Gain knobs. In button makes on/off comparisons easy. Focus mode for narrower frequency selections. CONS: SiX CH—Counterintuitive to press both Line and Hi-Z buttons to activate Hi-Z input. UV EQ—HPF could use additional frequency choices.

Although I would have preferred a couple more frequency settings above 50 Hz, many 500 Series EQs don’t offer highpass filters, so no complaint here. Having it for rolling off lows when tracking is one of its most useful abilities. Next to the HPF is a Trim control on the output stage. It offers a range of plus or minus 12 dB of gain. The LMF (low-mid) and HMF (high-mid ) bands both offer frequency, gain and Q controls. The LMF offers continuously sweepable frequencies between 100 Hz and 1.1 kHz and the HMF between 400 Hz and 6 kHz. All the Gain knobs on UV EQ are continuous but feature a detent at 12 o’clock, delineating the line between boosting and cutting. It helps you get your bearings if you’re not looking at the knob when making an adjustment. The LMF and HMF bands each have a switch titled Focus. SSL designed the feature to let users pinpoint a narrow frequency range for adjustment. When pressed, the Q gets narrower relative to where you’ve set it, and the gain range is increased. UV EQ is a stereo equalizer offering analog sonics and plenty The LF and HF bands consist of of control. shelving filters located at the top of the If you have an otherwise “in the box” mix, unit. I’m guessing that SSL chose that placement to maintain the symmetry of the knobs, which running it through the UV EQ allows you to add would have been difficult if the LF were on the not only frequency tweaks but analog color. bottom. It took me a little while to get used to NO DIGITAL HERE the lows being on top. The LF band features stepped settings of 30 Both the SiX CH and UltraViolet are valuable Hz, 50 Hz, 70 Hz and 90 Hz. The HF choices are new products for SSL, which has been putting out quite a bit of new products lately. The former 8 kHz, 12 kHz, 16 kHz and 20 kHz. The unit also features a conveniently gives them a preamp/channel strip that will be positioned In button, which lights up a violet- highly competitive due to its low price, clean colored LED when engaged. When it’s off, the sound and useful features. Although more in line with SSL’s other 500 EQ is completely bypassed. Having the In button makes it easy to compare sounds with and Series products from a price standpoint, the UltraViolet Stereo Equalizer is versatile and without the EQ. Once I got accustomed to its architecture, has an excellent sound. It fills a gap in the I found UV EQ to be quite an effective and manufacturer’s 500 Series line for a stereo EQ musical EQ. SSL touts its abilities on the mix module. I always have high expectations for SSL bus, referring to it as “the ideal partner to the legendary SSL 500 Series Bus Compressor.” products, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed Although I didn’t have that compressor on hand with either the SiX CH or UV EQ. Both perform to try it out, I did use it on the mix bus with as advertised and are potent tools to have in a 500 Series collection. ■ good results.

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Tech // reviews Hit’n’Mix RipX DeepAudio Powerful Software for Editing Inside a Stereo Mix By Mike Levine

hanks mainly to artificial intelligence, it’s now possible to reach inside a stereo mix and manipulate or strip out the individual instruments and vocals. Hit’n’Mix, the British company that is one of the leading developers for applications with those capabilities, recently released an upgrade to its Infinity audio editor. Not only did it improve the features and performance, but it changed the name, as well. The software is now called RipX DeepAudio (Mac and Windows) and is one of two titles in the new RipX Future Audio Platform. Hit’n’Mix also released a less-expensive version for remixers called RipX DeepRemix. GET READY Before you can edit, RipX DeepAudio must first “Rip” the file. Ripping is the process of separating the audio into various editable components.

When you open a file to Rip, you get a dialog box that allows you to choose between a single instrument or multiple instruments. For the former, you can set DeepAudio for the type of source you’re Ripping with checkboxes for Voice, Bass, Other Sounds and Instruments, and Drums and Percussion. A slider lets you choose between four settings, with Quality on one extreme and Speed on the other. You also have the option to Save Stems Only, which separates the file into stems without opening them in the editor. DeepAudio supports WAV, MP3, FLAC, Ogg, CD track (.cda), and its proprietary Rip format. Surprisingly, it doesn’t support AIFF. You’ll have to convert such files to a supported format before Ripping them. You can even open type 1 (multitrack) MIDI files, in which each track shows up as a Layer. On the Mac version of DeepAudio, it’s also possible to open a wide range of video file types and edit their audio. Doing so not only Rips the audio, but also opens a resizable, floating video window.

Pitched layers show up as color-coded notes that can be edited individually or in groups.

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After you make your audio edits, you can export videos in MOV or MP4 formats. Depending on the file type, the setting and the speed of your computer, you’ll likely have to allow a little time for the Ripping process. In my admittedly anecdotal testing, Ripping was about 30 percent faster using Save Stems Only than with a full, multi-instrument mix. According to Hit’n’Mix, you need at least a dual-core machine for Ripping to function correctly. Even so, it can take time. On my “Garbage Can” Mac Pro, which has 3.5GHz speed and six processing cores, a three-minute song took more than nine minutes to Rip at the second-fastest setting. When I Ripped the same file and set it for Save Stems Only, it only took about six minutes. I opened the same file on my 2019 MacBook Pro, which has four processing cores and a 1.4GHz processor, and it took about a minute longer than the Mac Pro for the full Rip. Once your Rip is ready, a color-coded list of the various Layers created shows up in the lower right-hand corner of the GUI. Each Layer has a volume slider and buttons for soloing, muting or locking. Each Layer has a disclosure triangle that reveals sliders for Stereo Positioning (pan) and Low, Mid and High EQ. OPEN SESAME The content of the Layers depends on the nature of the file you Rip. Generally, if you choose the Multiple Instruments/Full Mix option when

PRODUCT SUMMARY COMPANY: Hit’n’Mix PRODUCT: RipX DeepAudio WEBSITE: hitnmix.com PRICE: $349.99 (also includes DeepRemix) PROS: Split mixes into editable component parts. Export layers as stems. Change levels and EQ Layers. Add effects to Layers. Edit single notes, full layers or multiple layers. Edit harmonics. Create tools using RipScripts. Numerous file formats supported. Edit a video’s audio track on the Mac version. Create chords from single notes. Quantize pitches. Replace notes with different sounds. RipLink plug-ins for DAW integration. CONS: Substantial learning curve. Layers can include artifacts and reduced transients. Ripping can be slow. Not enough parameter control of effects and noise-reduction features.

active (non-muted) Layer show up color-coded in the timeline. RipX places bar lines automatically, but you can adjust them by dragging them in the timeline if they’re not accurate. Once you get one or two set correctly, DeepAudio moves the others to match. Drums and percussion, which DeepAudio refers to as “unpitched audio,” appear at the bottom of the timeline. Instead of a piano keyboard on the far left, you get a frequency

Having a separate Layer for the kick drum can be extremely handy if you’re trying to rebalance or move elements in a mixed file. Ripping, you’ll end up with separate, color-coded Layers for Voice, Bass, Bass Drum, and Drums (minus the bass drum). You’ll usually also get a Layer called Other, which has the chordal instruments like piano and guitar usually all together, although those do sometimes come out on their own Layers. Having a separate Layer for the kick drum can be extremely handy if you’re trying to rebalance or move elements in a mixed file. I’ve tried other applications that offer audio separation, and none put the kick on a separate layer. The main editing area features a timeline on top. For pitched audio, the program displays a piano keyboard on the extreme left, like in a DAW’s piano roll editor. The notes from each

display. If you want to focus strictly on a drum or percussion layer, you can select the Edit Unpitched Tool to hide the pitched notes and vertically enlarge the unpitched ones. Certain editing processes aren’t available for unpitched Layers, namely pitch shifting. TOOL KITS In addition to letting you raise, lower, pan and EQ each Layer, DeepAudio offers an impressive collection of editing and processing options. The tools are broken up into two categories: Audioshop and Other Tools. They’re all audioediting features, so that category distinction isn’t clear. Audioshop features a toolbar with tools for

selecting, moving and resizing notes, drawing notes, joining notes, editing unpitched audio, applying patterns and more. The Audioshop menu features many processes and effects that you can apply to your note selections. Each of the tools in the menu offers a slider that enables you to adjust a critical parameter. If you want to pitch-correct a vocal or instrument, you can use the Quantize Pitch control, which has a percentage slider. You can also select a scale of your choice and have DeepAudio conform the selected notes to it. The Harmony effect lets you add a harmony note, either an octave-up, octave-down or major or minor third, to any note or group of notes. Other Audioshop effects include Low- and High-Pass Filters, Shift Formant, Vibrato, Reverse audio and more. You can even add ambience to your selections or entire layers with the Reverb and Delay effects. For the Reverb, you can adjust the decay time. For the Delay, the delay time. Audioshop’s Replace Sound Tool is a unique feature that lets you select a note or series of notes in a Layer and replace them with samples. You can use DeepAudio’s built-in instrument and drum samples or upload your own. The results will depend a lot on both the sound you’re replacing and the sample you’re replacing it with. DeepAudio won’t be able to imbue the sample with any articulations from the original, so the replace feature works best on instrument parts with a consistent attack and decay, like a bass drum or bass guitar. OTHER EFFECTS The Other Tools selection is quite extensive, as well. One of them is the Harmonic Editor. It opens in a separate editing window where you can graphically erase, draw in and clone harmonics, among other functions. You can even specify that it edits only specific types of harmonics (Odd or Even, 3rds, 5ths or 7ths).

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Drums can be edited with the Edit Unpitched Tool.

Impressive as it was, it’s pretty complex and not something your average user would probably reach for. If you’re deep into sound design or audio restoration, it could be a real boon. Speaking of audio restoration, DeepAudio also offers corrective tools, including Noise Removal, Clean Phase and Clean Frequencies. The latter two are designed to minimize artifacts. The Noise Removal tool lacks the parameter controls of a dedicated processor but does include a Detect feature that automatically sets the threshold for the reduction, which is helpful. If you want to geek out, DeepAudio even lets you program custom editing tools with its “RipScripts” feature, which uses the Python 3 programming language. An essential new feature in DeepAudio is the RipLink plug-in for VST3/ARA and Pro Tools. It allows you to send audio from your DAW to DeepAudio for editing and then render it back into your track. The technology in DeepAudio is miraculous in many ways, but is also far from perfect. As is true with any editor that separates audio, when you solo a Layer, you almost always hear

some artifacts at certain frequencies, and the transients on a separated layer are often not as strong as on the original. You might also hear DeepAudio’s version of “bleed,” where a bit of another element ends up on the wrong Layer. You can always try Ripping the file at a higher-quality setting if you don’t like the results of a particular Rip. REACH IN AND CHANGE What are some of the ways people use DeepAudio? One of the obvious applications is removing vocals from mixes. Doing so lets you create instrumental tracks for use in live performance or even for Karaoke. You can also separate vocal, bass or drum tracks to use in remixes. The program’s also excellent for changing levels of elements in a stereo mix when you discover a problem but you don’t have access to the multitrack DAW files. For example, I used DeepAudio to bring down the drums slightly and bring up a vocal and didn’t notice any degradation. Although they’d have to be very careful about introducing artifacts, mastering engineers will

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likely find uses for DeepAudio. In particular, they’ll appreciate its ability to adjust elements that are too loud or soft. And then there’s replacing instrument sounds, fixing late or early hits, removing glitches and noise, creating sound effects. The possibilities are many and varied. RipX DeepAudio is a good name for this software because it’s truly deep. I didn’t even have space in this review to cover all its features. It goes beyond any other software that I’m aware of for editing the component parts of a mixed audio file. Compared to the previous version, Infinity, RipX DeepAudio is more powerful and more user-friendly. That said, other than with simple tasks like changing layer levels, don’t expect that you’ll always get instant results. It’s a complex application, and it takes time to learn how to use it, and to know what’s possible and what isn’t. Fortunately, the manual is thorough and Hit’n’Mix posts tutorial videos on its site, which help show you the possibilities. The company also offers a one-month free trial, which I’d recommend taking advantage of if DeepAudio interests you. ■

Tech // review shorts instance on a mono rhythm guitar, and you’ve got an instant, fat, doubled part. The powerful Modulation module features Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Tremolo and Sweeper (envelope filter), which you can dial in individually or in combination. The Autowah is also impressive and allows you to vary its response quite a bit. The Reverb module offers plenty of different flavors and sounds quite good. Curiously, it lacks a spring reverb setting, an odd omission on a guitar-amp modeler. Quite simply, Electrum is a powerful and flexible tool for bringing your DI guitar tracks to life. — Mike Levine

NUGEN Audio Producer Bundle 8 Powerful Plug-ins for Shaping Sound—Mixing to Mastering

Electrum features a pedalboard-style interface.

Muramasa Audio Electrum Guitar Amp-and-Effects Modeling in a Single Screen If you’re looking for a realistic-sounding amp modeling plug-in with plenty of effects choices, Doubler Effect you’ll want to check out Electrum from Muramasa Audio. The company is one of several that make up the Prague-based audio consortium United Plugins. In addition to the amp and cabinet modules, Electrum contains nine effects modules and a tuner. Its single-screen GUI (switchable from 3D to darker and more modern-looking 2D) makes it easy to turn on only the components you want, which can save CPU power. You can easily change the signal order by dragging and dropping the icons near the top of the screen. If you want, Electrum will even analyze your input and set the ideal level. The amp section features five generic models,

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The NUGEN Audio Producer Bundle features eight elite plug-ins that provide deep control over your full MasterCheck & ISL production workflow. From 2 True Peak Limiter EQ, stereo panorama and low-frequency content to mixing and mastering today’s streamed delivery services, this comprehensive audio analysis suite can identify and solve a multitude of audio issues. Streaming apps, download stores, websites, and podcasts all use data compression, loudness matching, or both. These processes can affect your mixes in various undesirable ways: a loud, punchy mix could end up quiet and flat, or suffer clipping or distortion. MasterCheck reveals problems ahead of time and enables you to deliver masters perfectly tuned for specific playout systems. Essentially, you can have several different mixes of one song for all major platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and others, and they all sound amazing. Next is the ISL 2 True Peak Limiter tool. It sounds natural and adds no color to the mix, which is important in adjusting for final delivery. These two plug-ins go together like peanut butter and jelly for any last-minute adjustments to your final master, for whatever platform you choose. Visualizer 2 is the perfect audio metering window for spectrum analysis, peak hold, stereo

MOST IMPRESSIVE FEATURE

each one higher in gain. They all have identical controls, making it simple to compare amp sounds. In addition to a Gain knob, you get 3-band EQ and several other parameters. Each amp is named after a color: Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red and Black. Unlike a lot of modelers, Electrum’s amps are not intended as exact models of specific amps. That said, Blue, the only clean amp, sounds pretty Fender-like, particularly with the Gain set low. Yellow has a Marshall quality to it, and Orange offers highgain tones reminiscent of its namesake. Red and Black go from crunchy at minimum gain to super heavy at higher settings. The Cabinet module lets you alter the sonic character, the speaker type and the virtual mic distance, or you can select from a list of presets. Surprisingly, the presets don’t indicate type and speaker size (4x12, 1x12, etc.), but that omission encourages you to use your ears more when choosing. Effects include Gate, Comp, Doubler, Modulation, Distortion, EQ, Autowah, Delay and Reverb. I liked them all, but several stood out. The Doubler sounds excellent on both single notes and chords. Apply a mono-to-stereo

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spectrogram, vectorscope and stereo bias meter. It covers everything you want to keep your eye on to make sure your mix is going in the right direction. This plug-in comes with a stand-alone mode so you can analyze audio without a DAW. All of the meters can be seen in one easy-to-read window. The Mono Filter is amazing for low-end management, giving you the ability to turn an entire mix’s low end into a mono signal that gives a tighter and punchier bass. It also helps out with the image width and phase control, a perfect plug-in to polish a mix. Stereoizer 3 gives the ability to change a mono source to stereo images. Let’s say you don’t want anything below 100, 200, 300 Hz in stereo, but the rest you want to be wider. You can also control the frequency content. Stereoplacer 3—the name says it all. Modern music has so much more room on the stereo spectrum than recordings from the ‘50s or ‘60s, and this plug-in lets you use all of that space! It is a great tool for music producers who want to take a project to another level creatively by placing different frequencies across all parts of the stereo spectrum. The SEQ-S plug-in delivers sculpting power beyond any other EQ, with a resizable directdraw interface that makes it easy to quickly finetune your audio with resolution that you can’t get with a traditional parametric interface. The three independent EQ curves can be individually assigned to channels across the surround panorama, giving complete control over your spatial environment, with access to stereo. The SigMod plug-in instantly enhances the functionality of your plug-ins and DAW with 12 different signal modification units. Each module can easily be inserted, swapped and moved around,

making new options to correct, convert or tweak your audio. The module allows you to control Mid/side, Protect, Tap, Crossover, Insert, Mute/ solo, Trim, Switch, DC offset, Mono, Phase, and Delay. Also, a huge plus is that it gives you the ability to use VST3s even if your DAW doesn’t allow it. If you’re a seasoned audio engineer or music producer and want to start taking your mixes to another level consistently, NUGEN Audio’s products sound great and add little to no color, which gives you the power to create an amazing soundscape. The price for this bundle is a reasonable $499, considering all the audio tools available. You could easily spend thousands mixing and matching a similar workflow set from different companies. — Fela Davis

Campfire Audio Satsuma In-Ear-Monitors for the Studio and Beyond Satsuma is a new in-earmonitor from Campfire Audio, a Portland, Oregonbased manufacturer that Generous Selection makes custom-fit and of Eartips universal-fit models. The company says the orangecolored IEMs can “transition effortlessly from studio monitor to everyday listening companion.” If you’re someone who produces music while on the road, a product like this could be particularly appealing. It would shield you from outside sounds enough to work in public spaces like airport waiting rooms without having to carry around a pair of full-sized studio headphones. The Satsumas come with a generous selection of different-sized earphone tips. I experimented with several until I found the ones that worked best

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for me. Their snug fit helped improve both the isolation and bass response. Although the Satsumas didn’t provide as much isolation as my custom-fit IEMs—no big surprise there—they did cut out a lot of outside sound. The Satsumas feature a detachable twistedwire cable with a 3.5mm jack on one end and Campfire Audio’s Custom Beryllium/Copper connectors on the other. The latter feature microminiature coaxial (MMCX) connectors, which are truly tiny and provide a snug connection. Campfire Audio doesn’t include a 3.5mm-to1/4-inch adapter, which you’ll need to connect with pro gear. I found that a bit puzzling since they’re marketing these IEMs for studio use. I own several different varieties of those adapters, and the first couple I tried didn’t connect securely with the Satsuma’s jack. Wiggling the jack caused the connection to cut out intermittently. At first, I thought it was cable itself, but it turned out to be the adapters. The third one I tried, an old Radio Shack adapter with a plastic grip, fit snugly. I looked on the Campfire Audio site but couldn’t find any adapters for sale or any that the company recommended. You may have to experiment to find one that works best. Once I got that squared away, I was able to focus on the sound quality. I used the Satsumas while tracking and mixing and listening to streaming music, and I was impressed with their sound and isolation. Campfire Audio describes these IEMs as sounding “natural and balanced,” which seems like an accurate description. I could definitely mix with them. And for traveling, they’re a big step up from most earbuds from a fidelity standpoint. For stage use, I’d prefer universal fit IEMs, but Satsuma’s isolation seems quite good for a universal-fit model. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to Campfire Audio’s gorgeous industrial design. — Mike Levine

Accusonus ERA Bundle

The Satsuma IEMs are designed for balanced frequency response.

Audio Repair Tools for Podcasts & Voice Overs Accusonus, a Greecebased audio software company started by three entrepreneurs in 2014 Reverb Remover (two of them in the music industry and one with a tech startup background), was created to give tools to engineers in three sectors of audio postproduction: Video & Film, Podcasts & Voice Overs and Music Production. Here, we’re concentrating on the Podcasts & Voice Overs section, and in particular the Audio Repair ERA Bundle, which includes Noise Remover, Voice Deepener, Mouth De-Clicker, Voice AutoEQ, Voice Leveler, Reverb Remover, De-Esser, De-Clipper, Plosive Remover, and Audio Clean-Up Assistant. AutoEQ is a fun plug-in to play with, especially if you’re a novice, with useful presets to get you started and plenty of room to tweak further. It’s especially effective on muddy vocals where you may want to add Clarity, Body, or Air. The Reverb Remover solves half the battle of poorly recorded audio in an untreated room. Recordings in a kitchen or living room with high ceilings inevitably come with unwanted echo, so this plug-in alone is a great value for any firsttime podcaster. Plosive Remover suppresses “spitting” B, P and T sounds—recording quirks that can be superdistracting and a major turn-off for listeners—

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and instantly improves dialog recordings when a pop filter wasn’t used at the source. Noise Remover is great for a loud fan or air conditioning in the background, as well as all forms of white noise. It really locks in on that background audio, takes it out and leaves the source. Mouth De-Clicker highlights all mouth sounds, lip smacks and saliva crackles in your track. DeEsser gets rid of harsh sibilance that can be very annoying, both in dialog and vocal recordings. De-Clipper instantly repairs distorted and over-saturated audio that would otherwise be unusable. It doesn’t completely get rid of the noise, but it does make it more tolerable than just a digitized, crazy distorted podcast. Audio Clean-up Assistant allows you to curate your own audio bundle by stacking all of these different plug-ins together in one. Then save the preset plug-in chains for future recordings that may be in the same room or vocal style that you need for a future project. The Standard ERA Bundle comes with all 10 of these plug-ins that are meant for audio repair. For those audio professionals who require more powerful audio tools, the Pro Edition adds Reverb Remover Pro, Noise Remover Pro and De-Esser

Pro for a total of 13 plug-ins. When we used the Noise Remover on a recent podcast episode of Holding Court with Eboni K. Williams and co-host Dustin, the latter was in Mexico, recording in a large untreated room with a loud air conditioner, using his laptop’s internal microphone and speakers—and picking up a lot of background audio. The raw audio files needed help, so it was perfect timing to try out these plug-ins. I simply opened a preset on the Noise Remover plug-in, and tweaked a little. The background noise was removed and the vocal had more space in the mix. The ERA Bundle works with all major DAWs. Each plug-in has a sleek look and a friendly GUI, with simple buttons and knobs for novice podcasters. With so many people starting podcasts, this is one of the easier routes to repair badly recorded audio full of background noises. The ERA Bundle is a lifesaver if you’re new to audio production, but it’s also a great starting point for audio veterans. Monthly subscriptions for the Standard bundle are $7.99/month; the Pro bundle is $24.99/month. — Fela Davis

Open Channel To Get the Right Answer…Ask the Right Question

Or the question might be, “How do I write a song?” There’s an ad on usic has become more homogenous since 1955—just ask the Artificial Intelligence YouTube for a guy who says he wrote the song you’re hearing in two Research Institute of the Spanish National minutes, with his canned MIDI sequences. I believe him. It indeed has the Research Council in Barcelona. The organization “look and feel” of music. It would be perfect as a soundtrack for a video analyzed half a million songs and came to the conclusion presentation that urges you to buy a timeshare. But if you appropriate that timbral variety has gone down, pitch content those sequences, are you creating a unique, personal statement based on (the variations in chord structures and melodies) has your artistic vision? I’m not sure the correct answer for “how do I write a By Craig Anderton decreased, and as we all know, dynamics have narrowed song?” is “appropriate parts of someone else’s.” Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with asking how to do to where nothing can stand out—because everything stands out. The study also alludes to less instrumental diversity, and more something, because that’s how you obtain a specific, desired result—but it’s also a trap: Asking “how do I…” can only elicit an answer based on standardized recording techniques, as contributing factors. Sure, you can quantify musically related parameters on a technical something that’s been done before. You’re asking how to do something basis—but can you correlate that to whether music is “good” or “bad”? that already exists. If you ask, “How do I get that cool synthesizer bass Well, I think the Ramones and J. S. Bach are “good,” so what do I know? sound?” and the answer is a Minimoog, then you’re going to use the same For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard that “today’s music isn’t as good Minimoog sound that has been on a zillion recordings. Yes, it is a cool sound—but nothing evolves from that choice. as it used to be.” Granted, there’s something to be said for respecting stylistic norms. But… You’re not going to hear a lot of People often cite the ’60s as a particularly adventurous time in If you ask “What if…?”, then that can elicit death metal played on ukuleles and nylon-string guitars. pop music. That’s a little skewed But… because the good stuff has stood an answer based on something that hasn’t If you ask “What if…?”, then the test of time while the dross has been done before, at least by you. “What that can elicit an answer based fallen by the wayside. Nonetheless, if I played death metal with ukuleles and on something that hasn’t been people were integrating synthesizers, nylon-string guitars?” is going to take you done before, at least by you. sitars, harpsichords, and wildly experimental recording techniques down a very different path than, “How do I “What if I played death metal with ukuleles and nylon-string (like reversed tape, running guitars get a death metal guitar sound?” guitars?” is going to take you through rotating speakers, crazy down a very different path than, panning, and the like) into the mix. A pop musician might just as easily cite Stockhausen or Robert “How do I get a death metal guitar sound?” Yes, there’s something comforting about asking, “How do I?” because Johnson (or both!) as an influence. Concerts could have a folksinger open for a hard rock band, with Miles Davis as the headliner. Even that much- you know what the result will be. Asking “What if I…?” can result in an epic maligned era of ’70s music brought us everything from Kraftwerk to disco fail—but that’s part of the process. I write a weekly DAW tip, and every one to soft rock to metal, and the ’80s witnessed an explosion of new textures of them starts with a “what if?” There are usually several “well, that didn’t work” attempts before I go far enough down the “what if” path to come from electronics. up with something cool. But… One of my favorite clavinet-like sounds, which doesn’t sound like other Let’s ignore the question of good or bad; it can be debated endlessly. Instead, let’s ask if music is getting more … well, inbred. If indeed it is, clavinets, happened from asking, “What if I transpose this bass up two octaves?” One of my favorite reverb sounds was the result of “What if I maybe I know why. It seems most of what’s being offered as instructional material on throw two reverbs out of phase?” (Answer: They cancel at first, but then as YouTube (and other places) address questions that start with “How do the tails become more dissimilar, the sound “blooms.”) I think we all want more creative music, more creative recording I?” How do I get that big drum sound like John Bonham? How do I set my compressor to make vocals pop? How do I choose the right mic for techniques and more creative mixes. The solution is simple: Ask “what if recording a guitar amp? How do I master to make my music loud? How do I?” instead of “how do I?” Problem solved. ■ I treat my room acoustically?

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