www.psneurope.com
March 2014 l 33
studiofeature
I’d be quite interested in a classic model – but one that doesn’t have all the maintenance problems of something 40 years old. I’d be tempted by that idea. Otherwise I run with one microphone, doing huge numbers of vocal sessions that end up on chart records and, for all you might want to get into gear porn, no one ever comes in and asks what microphone we’re using. It’s a mid-range Neumann, and it does
virtually everything. Occasionally, if we’re mic’ing up a drum kit in a certain way, then we’ll track down something in detail. “This stuff is so delicate, people don’t tend to let it out of their hands – so it’s not rentable in that sense. It gives a case for a specialist commercial niche, a reason for certain recording studios to still exist. Having a well-curated, well-maintained collection of old equipment is
one USP – the other being a large, unique acoustic space. The studio has to answer the question: what can it do that you can’t do at home?”
PURPLE HAYES Some studios can answer that question easily – and give you something for home, too. Abbey Road’s replica hardware partner is Chandler Ltd, based in Iowa and founded by Wade Chandler. “Wade is doing TG-inspired
Curve Bender close up: Blunt or Med Blunt..?
hardware, based on our TG compressors, EQ units and preamps,” explains Mirek Stiles, Abbey Road’s head of audio products and an experienced session recording engineer here. “It complements our software plug-in partnership with Waves. Software is more popular in terms of numbers, because it’s cheaper, more accessible and more convenient for people to use, but there is still a market out there for hardware. The units sell in steady numbers every month – not huge, but steady. It’s quite surprising, in a way.”
THE (FLIGHT) CASE AGAINST
“I try to avoid collecting huge amounts of hardware,” admits pop producer and Young Punx co-founder Hal Ritson. “It takes up a lot of space and it sucks up all your money. I have a Moog Voyager, a reinvention of the Mini-Moog; I use all the software plug-in versions – keyboards, desks, EQs and so on; and I use Line 6 Variax guitars to model vintage tones. “I mostly stay working in the box, then if I need the real thing I use the studio of a friend who collects all this gear. He tends to collect the real, vintage originals. He wouldn’t complain about buying a new re- make, but he tends to hunt down the
Propellerheads’ ‘Abbey Road
Keyboards’ software bundle was clearly branded and marketed to make the most of association with the name, and the TG modules are no different. “Absolutely, Chandler markets the Abbey Road Range, including our logo,” Stiles confirms. “We fully endorse the products.” And what makes the studio decide which elements
actualone The Beatles used, or whoever. If you’ve got one sound that you’re after, then get the gear for that one sound. If you need a lot of variety, you’d end up with hundreds of racks to maintain and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment to use on a song once a year. It’s a better economic model to have one guy who collects it all and has people come to him to rent it, while everyone else has a lighter package for use every day.”
Hal Ritson: avoiding
of its own signal paths to offer up? replies Stiles. “We sit down with Wade and the schematics and try to work out what would be popular, what is needed by the recording community. It’s important to us to release what people will be excited by.” Before sending test signals to Chandler or Waves, Stiles has the privilege of being able to
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68