Jul 1, 2002 12:00 PM, Mix staff

Weeks of July 1-15

Sales of Audio Products on the Rise, Study Shows

Manufacturer-to-dealer sales of audio products grew to more than $579 million during April 2002, an increase of 7% compared to the same period in 2001, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Increased dollar sales of systems and aftermarket auto-sound products were largely responsible for the overall increase, according to CEA; aftermarket auto-sound products increased by more than 21% to $201 million and dollar sales of systems increased by 18% to $145 million. Year-to-date sales of aftermarket auto-sound also increased to nearly 9% over 2001 to $783 million.

"Overall, the conversion to CD in the car is continuing to drive the aftermarket audio category and the audio category as a whole," said Sean Wargo, senior industry analyst for CEA. "With manufacturer-to-dealer sales reaching $109.6 million during April, in-dash CD players are the largest audio category in terms of revenue. With it, healthy interest in better sound through speaker upgrades and amps is growing the aftermarket sector."

In fact, sales of power amps increased during April by nearly 20% to $31 million, according to CEA, and manufacturer-to-dealer sales of flushmount speakers increased by 25% to $19 million; the biggest push seemed to come from 6 1/2-inch speakers. Separate bass speaker sales also were on the rise during April, posting gains of 44% to $13.5 million, due predominately to sales of 12-inch woofers, according to CEA.

Wargo said, "Despite an overall drop in year-to-date audio sales, the long-term outlook for the audio industry remains optimistic as consumers enjoy all of the benefits digital audio has to offer."

All the data cited is available for purchase through CEA's Market Activity Reports and Analysis (MARA) program.

Visit CEA online at www.CE.org.

Philips, Crest National Bring SACD Plant to U.S.

Royal Philips Electronics and Crest National announced a partnership agreement to develop a Super-Audio CD hybrid disc production line to be installed in Crest National's replication facilities in Hollywood. The production line is scheduled to be installed this summer, with full production by fall of this year. The first line will have a production capacity of 3 million SACD hybrid discs a year, with more lines to follow, according to Philips.

According to Philips, this is the first SACD hybrid disc production line to be established in the U.S., and will increase the available hybrid disc-manufacturing capacity to meet the rapidly increasing demand for this new medium. The agreement also includes post-production activities in SACD authoring.

"Philips is pleased that SACD hybrid disc production will now be installed by one of the leading disc replicators and post-production facilities in the world," said Jos Bruins, Philips marketing director for the Super-Audio CD format. "This is an important part of the next phase of the roll out of SACD into the mass market." "Crest National is pleased to be taking a leading role in SACD hybrid disc manufacturing," said Ronald E. Stein, president of Crest National. "We welcome the opportunity to partner with Philips to bring this exciting new medium to North America. It is a further reflection of Crest's experience and expertise in implementing new technologies and bringing high-quality products to the world's most demanding customers."

For more, visit Philips online at www.philips.com

Apple Acquires Emagic

From www.emagic.de/english/news/index

Apple today announced it has acquired Emagic, a leading provider of professional software solutions for computer-based music production. Emagic's most popular product, Logic, is actively used by over 200,000 musicians around the world. Emagic will operate as a wholly owned division of Apple.

"Emagic has set the industry standard for professional music creation and production," said Sina Tamaddon, Apple's senior VP of applications. "We're very excited to have the Emagic team join Apple and create more amazing products for musicians."

Macintosh-based products account for over 65% of Emagic's current revenues. Emagic's Windows-based product offerings will be discontinued on September 30, 2002.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.

Steinberg Offers Upgrade to Emagic Users, Emagic to Release Logic 5.2

Steinberg North America (Chatsworth, Calif., www.us.steinberg.net) today announced a special upgrade to the new Cubase SX for $299 for all Emagic Logic Audio Platinum, Gold and Silver users, from July 1 to September 30, 2002.

This limited-time special offer comes after Apple's acquisition of Emagic. In a July 1st press release, plans were stated to discontinue Emagic products on the PC platform by September 30, 2002, though Emagic said that it will continue to support PC users.

Steve Garth, CEO of Steinberg North America, stated, "We are extending this offer as a means to introduce Emagic users, both professional and enthusiast, to the Steinberg platform and give them the tools and ongoing support to express their musical creativity."

Cubase SX includes a host of new features including a newly designed project window and mixer, unlimited undo/redo, surround sound, loop editor, Waldorf A1 synthesizer, and optimizations for PIII, PIV, Athlon, Altivec and multiprocessors.

Also announced today, Emagic plans to release Logic 5.2 for Mac and Windows in August 2002. Emagic is currently beta-testing Version 5.2.

New features in 5.2 include additional audio-routing possibilities through auxiliary channels, more audio tracks, improved track mixer, optimizations within the automation and other changes; also with this new version, there are individual outputs for VST 2.0 and Emagic software instruments to ensure that single output signals are automatically added to the sum output of the software instrument as soon as the instrument does not make any use of its individual output. Another feature is a newly created plug-in, known as the I/O-insert, which is used to route the signals of external effect processors into individual channels via inserts.

Version 5.2 of Logic Platinum will be available to all registered owners of Logic Platinum 5.0 Mac and Windows on Emagic's Website (www.emagic.com)

The Who Play On, Four Days After Bassist's Death

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Meet the new band, the same as the old band.

Or maybe not. Four days after the death of bass player John Entwistle, the two surviving members of British rock band The Who kicked off their previously planned North American tour in front of 18,000 fans at the historic Hollywood Bowl on Monday. While some people debated the propriety of playing so soon after the death, a surprisingly lighthearted Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend got down to business, grinding out two hours of classic material from three decades' worth of albums.

"Tonight, we play for John Entwistle," said vocalist Daltrey, three songs into the set. "He's the true spirit of rock 'n' roll, and he lives on in all the music we play." Standing in for Entwistle was Welsh session musician Pino Palladino, who had undergone two intensive days' of rehearsals after the band announced on Friday that its three-month tour would go on as a "tribute ... to an irreplaceable friend." Just the day before, Entwistle's body had been found in a Las Vegas hotel, where the tour was set to begin. Entwistle, 57, suffered an apparent heart attack, although autopsy results have not been published pending toxicology tests.

The decision to tour provoked disbelief in some quarters. "It's business--and I underline the word 'business'--as usual," a disgusted Jim Ladd, a veteran Los Angeles radio personality, said on his broadcast Monday night. Guitarist Townshend intimated as much on his Website last Saturday when he wrote, "I simply believe we have a duty to go on, to ourselves, ticket buyers, staff, promoters, big and little people."

The concert began on a poignant note as Daltrey and guitarist Townshend sauntered onto the stage and hugged each other. Both were dressed in black, as was a stationary Palladino who blended into the speaker stack behind him. The Who launched into three early hits, "I Can't Explain," "Substitute" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere." Townshend, in black sunglasses, furiously attacked his red Fender guitar. The ensemble was rounded out by drummer Zak Starkey, keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, and Townshend's youngest brother, Simon, on acoustic guitar and backing vocals. Original drummer Keith Moon died of an accidental overdose of sedatives in 1978

Townshend lightened the mood a few songs later when he compared the Bowl's white shell-like stage to a "white vagina," while the giant spheres suspended from the ceiling looked like a "testicle factory." While noting the absence of Entwistle's "huge harmonic noise," he congratulated Palladino on playing well anyway. "For fans that have followed us for many years, this is gonna be very difficult," Townshend said. "We understand. We're not pretending that nothing's happened." But he said Los Angeles was a great place to kick off the tour, joking that it was "full of emptiness, deep rivers of shallow nothingness. "I think you know, probably more than anybody, what the show business side of all this stuff is, and we do feel comfortable to be here tonight."

Other songs on the set list included "Who Are You," "Baba O'Riley," "Eminence Front," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Love, Reign O'er Me," "The Kids Are Alright," the 1981 rarity "Another Tricky Day" and their 1965 anthem "My Generation."

After the encore, a suite of tunes from the 1969Tommy rock opera, Townshend and Daltrey clutched bouquets of flowers and saluted photos of Entwistle on the giant video screens that flanked the stage. A male fan ran up and hugged a compliant Townshend. "Live every moment of your lives," Daltrey told the crowd before Townshend dragged him off, all the guitars intact.

Millennia Ships Number 10,000

Millennia (Placerville, Calif.) announced the shipment of the 10,000th HV-3 microphone preamplifier, which was shipped last week as part of a larger order to acclaimed operatic vocalist Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli ordered 28 channels of HV-3 preamps and a number of STT-1 Origin units; he has used HV-3 mic preamps and other Millennia products for live orchestral performances and studio recordings for years.

Factory-stock HV-3D preamps, as used by the Academy Awards and Grammy Awards television broadcast and pre-records, employ 36-position, mil-spec, gold gain switching, Neutrik gold XLRs, extremely "stiff" and over-designed toroid-based power supply, Neglex oxygen-free copper audio wiring, pure silver-plated individual Teflon power wiring (no ribbon looms), German-made ITT (one-million cycle) illuminated push-button switching, 3/8-inch-thick extruded and polished radius control panel, hand-machined aluminum knurl knobs, and components sourced from the finest manufacturers, such as Vishay, Wima, Beyschlag, Roederstein and Grayhill.

For more, visit Millennia online at www.mil-media.com

U2 Fails To Stop Demolition of Famed Studio

DUBLIN (Reuters) -- The Irish rock group U2 has lost a bid to prevent demolition of Hanover Studios where it recorded its latest award-winning album. Ireland's Planning Board has been given the go-ahead for a redevelopment project that requires the razing of the studio, feted by the group as part of Ireland's musical heritage.

The studio, on Hanover Quay in Dublin, was used by U2 to record the Grammy-winning album, All That You Can't Leave Behind and has been compared in significance to The Cavern Club in Liverpool, where The Beatles spent their early days. More than 8,000 fans had signed an online petition (www.saveu2studio.com) to preserve the studio, where the group also recorded some of its Pop album.

Dublin's Dockland Authority placed a compulsory purchase order on the property in August 2001, as a step toward demolishing the studio to create a public amenity on the quayside.

AIR, Pioneer Cooperate on New Amplifier

Recording engineers from Sir George Martin's AIR Studios (North London) have recently completed a design project with electronics engineers from Pioneer to create an advanced-specification, 7-channel, A/V amplifier, the VSA-AX10.

The VSA-AX10, which is now available through all Pioneer distributors, has THX Ultra2 post-processing and works on all Dolby Digital and EX formats, including Dolby Pro Logic II, as well as on all DTS 5.1 and DTS-ES 6.1 formats, including the latest 96/24 DTS decoding. Although the VSA-AX10 is primarily aimed at audiophiles and home cinema enthusiasts, it was designed from the ground up to be a true reference amplifier for critical studio monitoring.

Tim Vine-Lott, AIR's technical director, said, "In the perfectly symmetrical and uniform environment of a recording studio control room, one hears remarkably holographic audio images from multichannel music and movie soundtrack sources. But our living rooms are far from uniform or symmetrical in layout, and, in most cases, nor are our loudspeakers perfectly matched."

Pioneer answered this problem with its Multichannel Acoustic Calibration System (MCACC), which was developed with AIR engineers to aid nominally "perfect" setup in the home. The VSA-AX10 comes with a supplied microphone to measure living room acoustics and automatically set speaker distances, channel levels and time alignment. There is also a 9-band graphic equalizer (for each channel) that timbre-matches loudspeakers and can be tweaked manually to personal taste.

Vine-Lott said, "For professional purposes, the VSA-AX10 is ideal as a B-speaker amplifier, and we certainly can use it in all of our control rooms. However, the home environment is where it really comes into its own. It is so good that both myself and Geoff Foster (AIR's chief sound engineer) have got VSA-AX10s running in our living rooms.

John Bamford, product manager for Pioneer GB, added, "At Pioneer, we are proud to be the first company capable of manufacturing 'universal' DVD players that can play both DVD-A and SACD. Consequently, we were determined to make a 'reference-class,' multichannel amplifier that would get the very best from these burgeoning hi-res music formats. Our collaboration with AIR's engineers helped ensure that the amplifier was transparent to source."

For more, visit www.pioneerelectronics.com

Midiman Creates New Corporate Identity As M-Audio

Midiman (Arcadia, Calif.) announced today that it has changed its corporate moniker to M-Audio–the name it has been using for its Audio Division since 1999. This re-branding comes after the company’s expansion into a broad range of product categories related to musical performance, recording and pro audio. The Midiman product line will remain available through M-Audio.

"Midiman and M-Audio both have great brand recognition," said Adam Castillo, marketing director of M-Audio. "The fact is that the name M-Audio better reflects our expanded product lines and future directions as a company. Given our continued growth and diversification of products, we felt that this was a logical time to make the transition."

For more, visit www.m-audio.com

Firehouse Studios Warms Up To Meyer Sound

Firehouse Studios (Pasadena, Calif.) recently installed the first surround monitoring system in Southern California to incorporate Meyer Sound’s X-10 Linear-Control Room Monitors, after gutting the old building’s outer shell and rebuilding from the ground up.

Firehouse chief engineer Les Cooper chose the X-10 monitors after consulting with Tena Clark, founder and CEO of Disc Marketing, the multifaceted media production and marketing firm of which Firehouse Studios is the newest division.

"George Newburn of Studio 440, who designed the studios, said we might want to give the X-10s a listen," said Cooper. "I’ve been Tena’s engineer for years, both when she was a songwriter and later as a producer. Over the years, we’ve heard a lot of different systems. We were not overly pleased with many of them, so we were anxious to hear something new and different."

Clark and Cooper flew to Northern California and heard the X-10s at both Ex’pression Center For New Media (Emeryville) and at Meyer Sound's headquarters in neighboring Berkeley. For the auditions, they brought along a stack of CDs, both of Disc Marketing’s own productions and some by well-known artists who might be potential clients. "We came away very much impressed with the X-10s," Cooper said, "both installed at the studio and simply free-standing in the Meyer demo room. They have a clarity that never turns harsh. You don’t feel like you need to back away from them when they get loud."

System consultant Bob Hodas supervised the installation of the new monitoring systems and also performed final room tuning. The system in Studio A 's control room comprises three X-10s for front left, center and right; two companion X-800 Studio Subwoofers for supplemental deep bass and LFE; and an X-01 Crossover Module for signal division and bass management. Four UPA-1P Compact Wide-Coverage loudspeakers supply left and right split surrounds, with six CP-10S Complementary-Phase Parametric Equalizers installed for system tuning.

The smaller Studio B control room also features an all-Meyer 5.1 surround system, utilizing HD-1 High-Definition Audio Monitors for left, center and right, with a pair UPM-1P Ultra-Compact Wide-Coverage Loudspeakers for rear surround monitoring and three CP-10S Equalizers for system tuning.

For more information on Firehouse Studios, visit the studio’s Website at www.firehouserecordingstudios.com -- or read about them in the upcoming August issue of Mix in "Coast to Coast."

All Star Guitar Night To Pay Tribute To Chet Atkins

Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night, to be held on July 19, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, will feature a heartfelt musician's tribute to Chet Atkins, who passed away a year ago, June 30.

Chet and his music played a part in the formation of the All Star Guitar Night back in 1993, when Anderson attended The Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention, also held in conjunction with Nashville's summer session of NAMM. A casual gathering of musicians from both conventions joined together in an informal setting to share music, which created the All Star Guitar Night.

The All Star Guitar Night's celebration of Atkins will be primarily through music, but the night will also include vintage film clips from the Country Music Hall of Fame Archives. Adding to this year's special lineup are Junior Brown, Victor Wooten, Alison Brown, Suzy Bogguss, Vassar Clements, Phil Keaggy and Alex De Grassi. Also playing will be Ed Gerhard, Nokie Edwards (of The Ventures), Seymour Duncan, Brent Mason, Thom Bresh, Johnny Hiland, Pat Bergeson, Richard Gilewitz, Ben Lacy, and the Second Nashville Guitar Quartet (the first included Chet and Liona Boyd) with Richard Smith, John Knowles, John Pell and Muriel Anderson.

Also appearing this year are Danny Flowers (author of Tulsa Time), Curb artist Jenai, noted bass players Dave Pomeroy and Charlie Chadwick, and percussionists Danny and Beth Gottlieb.

The All Star Guitar Night benefits the Music For Life Alliance, an organization founded by Anderson to provide instruments and lessons to under-privileged young people with the support of grassroots organizations nation-wide. In the past, Music For Life Alliance has worked with the WO Smith School in Nashville and Guitars in the Classrooms. This year, the concert will benefit the Chet Atkins Music Education Fund. Also, All Star Guitar Night 2002 is working in conjunction with the Nashville public school system for middle and high-school students, as well as helping to publicize the VH1 "Save The Music" Program, designed to be implemented at the grade-school level.

Tickets are $18, general admission, and are available through the Ryman Box Office and Ticketmaster. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. To contact the Ryman box office, visit www.ryman.com

Linkin Park Remixes with Korg

The members of alt rock band Linkin Park are back in the studio working on a remix album of the songs featured on their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Korg products are featured among the tools the band is using on this remix album, including the TRITON, TRITON-Rack, MS2000 and Electribes.

"We are experimenting with things that are not guitars, and that’s where the keyboard elements come in," band MC Mike Shinoda said. "It’s a very heavy sample and keyboard-driven album. One piece of gear I’m using and like a lot is the TRITON-Rack--it’s really light and versatile. There are so many sounds and ways to manipulate those sounds to make them your own that you don’t just have to grab and use a stock sound. I also used the Electribes a bit. I used the ES-1 in particular to manipulate vocals or beats. There are certain effects in there that you can’t get with other equipment."

DJ Joe Hahn, who remixed the cuts "With You" and "Cure For the Itch," talked about using his Korg MS200: "I used it on the remix that I did for ‘With You.’ I mixed it with a lot of samples. I even took some sampled vocals and tweaked them in the MS2000. I’ve been using the TRITON and the MS2000 a lot." Hahn said that the Korg gear will again factor heavily into the mix: "It’s very versatile and the sounds are good. As far as any keyboards out there right now, Korg is at the top. They’ve got great variety, which is nice when you’re going for different types of sounds." "I want my equipment to be versatile and user-friendly," Shinoda concluded. "And if it is, then I can get really good work done. The Korg gear that I’m working with now really has those qualities and helps me to achieve the type of music that I want to play."

The Southern California quintet Linkin Park has gathered an enormous and diverse following. The band has remained in the Billboard Top 20 for more than 80 weeks, with more than 13 million albums sold worldwide and over 8 million copies of its debut CD, Hybrid Theory, sold in the U.S. alone. Hybrid Theory was nominated for three Grammy Awards in 2002, winning for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Crawling." Find out more about Linkin Park and their latest projects at www.linkinpark.com

Visit Korg online at www.korg.com

Allen & Heath Creates New U.S. Distribution Company

A new company located in Agoura Hills, Calif., North American Pro Audio (NAPA), has formed to provide United States distribution for British audio mixing console manufacturer Allen & Heath. The new company will operate as Allen&Heath USA. Allen & Heath will be represented by NAPA beginning August 1, 2002, ending the UK company's business relationship with Utah-based Harman Music Group.

Allen & Heath left the Harman International Industries Ltd. group following a management buyout in June 2001, but continued to distribute its products through Harman Music Group until the present time. Allen & Heath's managing director Glenn Rogers explained the move: "This change in distribution is the final step on the journey to full independence, which we embarked on with the buyout last year. We're grateful to Harman Music Group team for all the work they have done over the years to support the brand."

NAPA was founded by Lynn P. Martin, an industry veteran who has held executive positions with Harman International and, most recently, with Guitar Center. Allan Nichols will continue as director of sales for the new company. He will operate a satellite facility in Nashville to cover the east and west coasts. NAPA said it would retain the existing rep network to ensure a smooth transition for their dealers and customers. Martin said, "This is the beginning of an incredibly exciting future for us and for Allen & Heath. The team we have built has an unsurpassed knowledge of this business, and we are all huge fans of Allen & Heath's products. I've seen the new product plan and the future looks very bright indeed."

For more information, contact NAPA at 800/431-2609 after August 1.

Special Offers Abound for Logic Windows Users

Cakewalk (Boston) announced in early July that it will provide Logic users with a Web-based crossgrade offer to the company's Sonar 2.0 and Sonar 2.0 XL digital multitrack recording systems for Windows. This announcement comes after Apple announced that it purchased Emagic and that subsequently Emagic would discontinue manufacturing PC products after September 30, 2002.

Cakewalk's offer will be available on its Website (www.cakewalk.com) by Friday, July 12, 2002. Qualified Logic customers worldwide will be able to purchase Sonar 2.0 for $199 U.S., plus shipping and handling, after filling out an online application form; Sonar 2.0 XL will be available for $299 U.S., plus shipping and handling. (Sonar 2.0 has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $479 U.S.) The company will also provide a free, downloadable VST-to-DX wrapper that will allow Logic users to run any VST-compatible plug-in within Sonar 2.0.

Cakewalk will honor crossgrades for all Logic users, whether they are currently on a Windows or Mac platform. In addition, the company will offer Logic customers a 60-day money-back guarantee. The offer is good through October 7, 2002.

Meanwhile, Emagic announced that beginning August 1, 2002, Logic 5 owners (which includes Logic Audio 5, Gold 5 and Platinum 5) will be eligible for a free crossgrade to the MacOS version of the same product. Full details on how to apply for the program have not been released, though Emagic stated that the offer will only be available until December 31, 2002. For more, visit www.emagic.de.

Weeks of July 15-31

Digigram Completes Acquisition of InnovaSon

Digigram announced today that it has completed the acquisition of French-based InnovaSon, a manufacturer of digital audio mixing consoles for sound reinforcement in live performances.

The deal completes a move made by Digigram when it acquired a 44.76% stake in InnovaSon in January 2001; Digigram now owns 100% of InnovaSon.

InnovaSon will maintain its identity and commercial autonomy within the Digigram group. InnovaSon products will continue to be distributed by the company's established network, while Digigram will provide sales support in markets that the company has yet to penetrate. InnovaSon's current management remains in place, with Philippe Royer as managing director for sales and marketing and Gérard Malvot as technical director. Both are co-founders of InnovaSon.

"We think that this acquisition will lead to the development of technological synergies, particularly with the transfer of skills and the release of new products under the InnovaSon brand name," said Digigram managing director Philippe Delacroix. "In the near future, you might see InnovaSon consoles that are compatible with Digigram's EtherSound technology."

"Joining the Digigram group provides us with the additional resources to fulfill our product development and process industrialization ambitions," commented Royer. "While many professional users have validated our technology, digitalization of live sound is still in its infancy and there are many opportunities ahead for us."

Visit Digigram online at www.digigram.com or InnovaSon at www.innovason.com.

DVD Multi Moves Ahead

The Recordable DVD Council (RDVDC), a coalition of nearly 95 DVD technology developers and manufacturers, has provided an update on the DVD Forum's DVD Multi specification, emphasizing that the new recordable DVD drives preserve the investments made in DVD Forum-compliant DVD players and drives that were purchased before the spec was established.

DVD Multi puts an end to the compatibility issues by ensuring support for all formats developed by the DVD Forum (www.dvdforum.org), an industry association that includes all of the major DVD manufacturers and leading DVD software developers/media producers worldwide. The DVD Multi spec covers all of the current formats that have been approved by DVD Forum, including DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-Video recording. Formats created outside the DVD Forum are not covered.

According to Tony Jasionowski, RDVDC North American program director, "DVD Multi ensures disc compatibility and cross-device support without making the original recordable DVD formats obsolete. Several members of the RDVDC have announced that they will be shipping DVD Multi drives in volume before mid-year. With the new drives, users have a single DVD/CD storage solution that provides the broadest compatibility and security of write-once, the flexibility of rewritable, backward-compatibility, cross-device compatibility and a growth path to the future."

For more info, visit www.rdvdc.org/english/index.html.

Mix Editor To Host Open Interview Session at NAMM

Mix magazine’s own editorial director George Peterson will be conducting live interviews with musicians Sammy Peralta, Wallace Roney and Alan Asusta after their performances in the Control Room at Summer NAMM, which is co-sponsored by M-Audio and NAMM.

The three featured musicians bring a wealth of talent and diverse experience to the mix. Multi-talented instrumentalist and producer Sammy Peralta has worked with Tito Puente and jazz legend Lenny White. Jazz trumpeter Roney performed second trumpet to Miles Davis at the historic Montreaux, Switzerland concert, and has also released solo albums. Alan Asusta (aka, The Rooster) is known for co-headlining with contemporary DJ/producing greats Todd Terry, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, "Little" Louie Vega, and others.

The Control Room is located in the Gaylord Entertainment Center, booth #5820. Live performances will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 20. The interviews will commence at 4:00 p.m. in M-Audio’s Booth, #234. Performances and interviews are open to all.

Recording Academy P&E Wing to Recommend Delivery Formats at NAMM

The Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing will present its master-recording delivery recommendations to the recording community at the NAMM Summer Session today (Friday, July 19), from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The presentation will take place at the Cantina Restaurant & Bar, located at 209 10th Avenue South (in Cummins Stations) in Nashvile.

Among the presenters will be: Leslie Lewis, director of the Producers and Engineers Wing; Nancy Shapiro, VP of the Recording Academy, Southern Region; the P&E Wing Master-Delivery Recommendation Committee co-chairs Kyle Lehning and George Massenburg; and committee members including Chuck Ainley, Jeff Balding, Steve Bisher, Alison Booth, Tony Brown, Barry Cardinael, Eric Conn, Sharon Corbitt, Tom Endres, Garth Fundis, Scott Hendricks, Steve Marcantonio, Pat McMakin, Betsy Morley, Jake Nicely, Gary Paczosa, Mike Purcell, Traci Samczyk, Kay Smith, John Spencer and Bil VornDick.

If you would like to attend, contact the Nashville Chapter at 615/327-8030.

Fostex Cuts Price of Digital Multitracker

Fostex America announced today at Summer NAMM a price reduction on one of its popular digital multitrackers, the VF160CDR. The MSRP has been lowered from $1,799 to $1,399, and the MAP has been adjusted from $1,299 to $999. These prices include the CD-R burner installed.The VF160CDR is the latest in a series of self-contained digital recorders/mixers/editors with built-in mastering capabilities that Fostex has been offering over the past several years.

Additionally, the unit also includes a custom CD-R of Real Drums by David Jones as a value-added incentive for customers to buy the unit as long as supplies of the CD-R last. Various sets of David Jones CD packages will be offered by Fostex through its network of music retailers.

According to director of sales and marketing Phil Celia, "This product category has always been price-sensitive, and we have adjusted our pricing in order to remain competitive in the marketplace.

"The new pricing, plus the value-added packaging of the Real Drums CD, has given a tangible boost to the attractiveness of the VF160CDR, and our reps and dealers have already responded very favorably," Celia concluded.

For more, visit www.fostex.com/Products/vf160.html.

Waves Releases Version 3.5

Waves (Knoxville, Tenn.) has announced the new Version 3.5 software upgrade, available for free to all users of Version 3.0 and higher. In addition to more processors supporting high sample rates (96 and 192 kHz) and dual processors, Version 3.5 focuses on optimization of system processor usage by loading optimal software code for the specific processor being used.

Version 3.5 provides superior optimization of digital audio signal processing to free up processing power so that the user can run additional plug-ins or carry out other operations. On the Mac, eight of the standard plug-ins (Ren Reverb, True Verb, C4, Ren EQ, Ren Comp, Ren Vox, Ren Bass, Ren De-Esser) have been optimized. Other upgraded features include enhanced support of dual processors and control surfaces like the Digidesign Pro Control, Control 24 and Mackie HUI. On the PC, V. 3.5 features optimization of all processors, support for Direct X 8 with automation and dual-processor support. For Digidesign’s HD TDM system users, additional versions of processors supporting 96k and 192k sampling rates are included.

"This is really the culmination of nearly two years of research and implementation," stated Gilad Keren, CEO and co-founder of Waves. "We have not only raised the level of performance of our own product, but we have gone to extensive lengths to optimize our entire code base in an effort to fully realize the benefits granted by the new CPU architectures available. In each case, the result is completely different code that has been hand-tweaked to provide maximum performance. Through the program's self-customization, we have also cut out many of the doubts and troubles associated with working with a given software platform on multiple machines. With the new Waves 3.5 upgrade, the customer can be sure that their software indeed has been setup for their specific needs."

The Waves Version 3.5 upgrade is available from the Waves Website (www.waves.com) or from your local dealer, and will also be included in new standard Waves bundle software. It is free to users of Version 3 and higher, and free to Version 2.X users with the purchase of a Version 3 upgrade.

Stephen Paul, Alan Hyatt Partner Up

It was announced at the Summer NAMM show that an agreement between Stephen Paul and Alan Hyatt to collaborate on bringing the new Stephen Paul Audio microphone line to market has been reached.

Stephen Paul, widely known for his modifications of current and vintage pro condenser microphones, said, "This partnership feels right. I have declined other offers through the years by several high-powered foreign and domestic microphone and audio manufacturers, aimed at producing a product design, but were really business ventures aimed at acquiring rights to my name for use on unexceptional products."

"With Alan Hyatt," Paul continued, "I believe that I have found that special partner I have sought for so long in my quest to create a microphone for the pro market, which represents the best of Stephen Paul Audio's most popular technology, delivered intact at a price that, while reflecting my desire to have the important things right and some real innovations, will still be more affordable in a production environment than it currently has been on a boutique basis. We have agreed that compromise is not an option where I consider perfection a must, and Alan has demonstrated to me that he is a man of his word. I am very excited about finally realizing the fulfillment of my dream in a manner that truly demonstrates what I have worked so hard to achieve in our exclusive designs, and produce a product that I can honestly stand behind. A microphone good enough to be able to say, 'yes, this is a Stephen Paul Audio Microphone,' and is an honest piece of the 'Big-Time,' which has earned its keep on thousands and thousands of great works of recorded art. It was done the way I really wanted."

Alan Hyatt, the principal of Studio Projects Microphones, said, "I have been wanting to bring out a higher-end line of products to prove that a world-class microphone can be built, representing quality and performance levels that equal the best in the world and still be marketed at a reasonable selling price. When I met Stephen, we really hit it off. We are from the same hometown, know the same people, even recorded on the same label when we were young, and just became good friends. A joint partnership between us was obviously a perfect fit, and since Stephen's microphone technology is acknowledged to be the finest in the world, who better to design the higher-end line of products I had dreamed of.

"We will show our first product at this year's AES in Los Angeles, and hope to ship by January 2003," continued Hyatt. "Stephen has amazing ideas and has been building the prototype by hand. Literally everything, including personally machining all the original parts in his lab's metal shop. I believe that this new line of microphones will turn the industry upside down. If I were in the high-end microphone business, I would be paying very close attention to the fact that Stephen Paul is finally entering the market."

Stephen Paul Audio Microphones will be distributed worldwide by PMI Audio Group.

Amek, DAR, Soundcraft Merge UK Operations

Amek, DAR and Soundcraft announced that they have merged their UK operations to form a much stronger console group with a wide-ranging portfolio.

Soundcraft sales director Adrian Curtis now also takes overall responsibility for sales of Amek and DAR with his existing team of Jon Ridel (Middle East and Asia), Karl Chapman (Europe) and Trevor Coley (UK and Ireland) to head up regional sales for the three brands. Inder Biant joins the team as product specialist and there are plans to strengthen the team further with new market and product specialists. All marketing activities for the group come under David Neal.

The combined portfolio means that the group has a much wider range of products and solutions for their existing markets.

Manufacturing and production of current Amek and DAR products are being integrated into the Potters Bar, England, facilities that already house Soundcraft and BSS Audio.

Here in the States, Amek has already peacefully shared a distribution facility (HPNA) with Soundcraft and BSS Audio for several years.

For more, visit www.soundcraft.com.

Engine Room Audio Opens Mastering Lab

Engine Room Audio (New York City), a full-service audio production facility, has introduced a new state-of-the-art mastering lab. Walters-Storyk Design Group's principal architect John Storyk completed the acoustical design and installation following original construction consultation by Chris Bowman of CHBO.

Engine Room owner/head engineer Mark Christensen reported that the mastering suite represents the final step in the development of the young facility: "We opened our new facility about a year ago with six editing rooms, two live rooms and duplication services. When we entered the final stage of the build, our budget was stretched pretty thin. We weren't planning to build a room of this caliber, but Chris convinced me that with John's help, this could become an A-list room.

"Our old facilities primarily targeted small-scale projects and duplication clients," continued Christensen. "When we built this room, our intention was to construct a high-end mastering suite to cater to our growing downtown clientele. We wanted to create a top-of-the-line room that was accessible to independent as well as major label projects." The room features a hybrid of digital and analog gear including a SADiE 24/96 digital audio workstation and a host of classic Tube=Tech, Manley, Universal Audio, Ampex, Avalon, Waves and Crane Song outboard gear.

CHBO oversaw the initial design phases, including the construction of the isolated acoustic shell. WSDG completed the design with interior room acoustics, including a number of cutting-edge acoustical accouterments. "This is our first New York City installation of a new European product called Tobakustik, which is distributed in the U.S. by RPG," said Storyk. "The splayed suspended panels, located on the back half of the ceiling, combine with the rear-wall wood diffusers to deliver the required amount of mid-frequency scattering and absorption."

"The room is spectacular; it sounds phenomenal and looks great," Christensen said. "John and Chris are the best in the business. Our clients are really impressed. The feedback has been very positive."

Recent mastering projects completed at Engine Room Audio include a J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) produced album from recording artist Tony Jarvis, several classical music albums for Museovitch Productions, the new Goat CD produced by Tony Mangurian (Veruca Salt), and a number of assignments for Hong Kong-based alternative dance label, Respect Music Inc.

For more on WSDG, visit www.wsdg.com.

Tascam Brings MX-2424, MM Series Engineering Duties In-House

Tascam (Montebello, Calif.) announced that it has recently brought ongoing engineering development in-house for the MX-2424 Hard Disk Recorder/Editor and the MM Series film dubbers, which were designed and manufactured in conjunction with TimeLine Vista Inc. The company has established a direct working relationship with Gerry Lester and Teeto Cheema, the Academy Award-winning engineers primarily responsible for the development of the MX-2424 and the MM Series.

"Every user of our MX-2424 and MM Series recorders can feel confident and excited that Tascam is moving forward and advancing the capabilities of the products we created with TimeLine," said Gene Joly, TEAC VP for the Tascam division.

For further information, visit Tascam online at www.tascam.com.

Producer Dudgeon Killed In Car Accident
Gus Dudgeon, 59, a veteran record producer best known for his work with Elton John, was killed on July 22 when his Jaguar XK8 left the road and plunged down an embankment near Reading, west of London, England. Dudgeon's wife, Sheila, also died in the accident.

Dudgeon, who was born in Surrey, England, on September 30, 1942, had a highly successful production career that began with Ten Years After's debut album and included David Bowie's first hit, Space Oddity, in 1969. That same year, Dudgeon was hired to work on the self-titled debut album by Elton John, then an unknown artist, leading to a long relationship that produced a string of hits, including "Your Song," "Rocket Man" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."

The pair eventually went their separate ways, reuniting for several projects in the mid-'80s. Dudgeon also oversaw the reissue of Elton John's classic '70s catalog and produced Two Rooms, a tribute to John and his longtime collaborator, Bernie Taupin.

In a statement, Sir Elton John said, "I am devastated by the tragic news about Gus Dudgeon. He was an incredibly talented producer and a very dear friend for many years. I will miss him terribly."

Dudgeon began his career at Olympic Studios in the then-traditional manner, as a tea boy, and by his early 20s was a house engineer at Decca Records' studios. There he worked on recordings by John Mayall, The Zombies, the Small Faces and many others.

Through the '70s and '80s, Dudgeon worked with artists such as Joan Armatrading, Lindisfarne and Chris Rea, and in 1992 produced XTC's Nonesuch album. At the time of his death, he had been working with a new British band, Slinky, and a tribute to musical comedy act, the Bonzo Dog Band, which included contributions from Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison.

Meyer Sound Featured in Spanish Music Awards

Spanish rental company Fluge provided an all-Meyer sound system for this year's Spanish Music Awards. Now in its sixth year, Spain's Los Premios de Música Awards, sponsored and supported by the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias de la Música (Arts and Science of Music Academy), has grown to become one of the country's biggest annual music industry events.

The awards were held at the Palacio de Congresos de Madrid, a modern wooden building in Madrid with a capacity of almost 2,000. The system consisted of four M3D Line Array loudspeakers, five M2D Compact Curvilinear Array loudspeakers and two M3D-Sub Directional subwoofers on each side of the stage, with four UPM-1P Ultra-Compact Wide Coverage loudspeakers used as frontfill to cover seats closer to the stage. The system was monitored using Meyer Sound's RMS Remote Monitoring System.

The awards show featuered eight live bands as well as the various hosts and awards presenters. The use of digital mixing consoles for FOH and monitors made it possible to stage all live performances with no interruptions.

Technical support staff from Meyer Sound Spain, including Alvaro Elena Falco and Jose Antonio Castro, assisted the two Fluge systems engineers, Ricardo Carazo and Pablo Moreno, to configure and set up the system. Also on hand was Pablo Espinosa, customer service manager at Meyer Sound's Berkeley headquarters, who analyzed the system using Meyer's SIM System II FFT Analyzer and equalized it using CP-10 Parametric EQs.

Jose María Rosillo and James Woods mixed the show; afterward, Rosillo said that he was impressed with the performance of the system and that he particularly liked its definition, which allowed him to carry out a consistent mix.

Another fan of the Meyer Sound M Series system was Alberto Bravo, technical director of the show's production company, Sold Out, who said that he was quite satisfied with the performance. "The directional control of the M3Ds and M3D-Sub played an important role reducing the sound leakage onto the stage," he said. "This helped us to achieve a very clean audio quality--both in the house and for the broadcast--and also allowed a better gain before feedback for the podium mics."

The show was broadcast live across the country by Spanish TV broadcaster TVE. Remote recording company Payton took care of the audio for TV, which was mixed by Jose Angel Doray and Juan Vinader.

For more, visit www.meyersound.com.

M-Audio CEO Named Entrepreneur of the Year

M-Audio's founder and CEO Tim Ryan was named the 2002 Los Angeles Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Media/Entertainment category. The awards banquet was held Wednesday, June 26, in Hollywood and Highland’s Grand Ballroom.

Mr. Ryan was recognized for founding and guiding a company that is currently one of the dominant suppliers in the computer-centric digital audio arena and one of the key players in the desktop recording revolution. According to the company, its vision is to increase virtualization, musical malleability, performance control and portability to an unprecedented level.

While working toward a B.A. in Applied Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology, Mr. Ryan co-founded his first company, Con Brio, which developed and manufactured cutting-edge digital music synthesizers. In 1982, he went on to co-found Third Street Software, a software development company that did contract development for the Commodore 64 and Apple II computers, and later specialized in music software development.

In 1989, Mr. Ryan founded Music Soft, a music software company that was later renamed to Midiman to reflect its increasing development and marketing of MIDI music-related hardware products.

Winners of Los Angeles regional honors are now eligible for the National Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, which will be announced at a black-tie gala in Palm Springs, Calif., on November 23.The Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes business leaders who have demonstrated outstanding success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their business and community. Los Angeles’ award recipients were selected by an independent panel of judges from business, academic and civic organizations.

For more on M-Audio, visit www.m-audio.com.

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