Dec 1, 2002 12:00 PM

Mix News for December 2002

Threshold Opens New Mastering Suite

Construction on Threshold Sound + Vision's (West Los Angeles) new mastering suite is almost complete, and preliminary work on the new Mix Room has begun with designer George Augsperger and contractors Blair Construction. The Mix Room will feature Threshold's beautifully restored vintage Neve 8078 and have full surround capabilities. The Mix Room is set for a February opening and a party is in the works.

Threshold has also been busy with recent music and video projects. On the audio front, chief mastering engineer Stephen Marsh completed final mastering for Terri Lyne Carrington's Jazz Is a Spirit, which features the talents of Herbie Hancock and Kevin Eubanks, among others. The album was released last month on the ACT music label. Mootroo/Interscope artists Campfire Girls also mastered their long-awaited Delongpre with Marsh at Threshold. Recent video projects include a series of Alanis Morrisette TV spots promoting her new DVD Feast on Scraps for Maverick Records with video mastermind Mikey P. In with editor Marc Schrobilgen was director Daniel Ezralow and producer Ian Point posting a music video of  "Gira Con Me Questa Notte" for Warner Brothers artist Josh Groban.

Visit Threshold online at www.thresholdsound.com.

Endless Noise Creates New Nike Spot

Award-winning commercial music and sound design company Endless Noise (Los Angeles) announced details of its music composition, arranging and production work for the new Nike Golf Ball Go Far Super Soft TV Series of television spots, which were directed by Gary Nolton for Limbo Films and produced for Wieden + Kennedy in Portland.

The first of the spots debuted on the Golf Channel and ESPN on November 20, with more scheduled to air during sports programming during the next few months.

For this third extension of the "Ball Go Far" idea, which was  created by project creative director and copywriter Jim Riswold, Endless Noise's creative director Jeff Elmassian composed original music for duets that treat the phrase "Super soft ball go super far." For the campaign's three spots, the talents of former Monkey Davy Jones were aligned with British rock icon Marianne Faithfull for "Post Modern," legendary blues/rock guitarist Dave Edmunds was reunited with frequent collaborator and deep-rooted country-western artist Carlene Carter for "Rockabilly," and Michael Jackson collaborators Siedah Garrett and Dorian Holley teamed for "Afro-Vegas."

During recording, only Garrett and Holley appeared in the same studio (L.A.'s Westlake Audio) to record their performances. Jones' performance was recorded at West Palm Beach's Saturn Sound Studios, while Faithfull was connected via ISDN to L.A.'s The Complex Studios from Studios Guillaume Tell in Paris. Edmunds was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, while Carter's ISDN feed from Audio Productions in Nashville was recorded at Westlake Audio. The mixes came together in Westlake Audio's Studio D, The Complex Studios' Studio B and Capitol Studios Studio A.  For "Post Modern," musicians included Andy Rehfeldt on acoustic and electric guitars, Mike Valerio on electric bass and Jimmy Paxson on drums. In addition to Edmunds' guitar work on "Rockabilly," Rehfeldt also played acoustic and electric guitars, Nick Ariando played accordian and Paxson played drums. "Afro-Vegas" again features Paxson on drums, as well as Rick Baptist and Wayne Bergeron on trumpets, Tom Evans and Brandon Fields on sax, Alex Iles on trombone and Tom Evans on clarinet.

The musical pieces were composed and produced around Jim Riswold's lyrics by Jeff Elmassian and arranged by Andy

Rehfeldt and the rest of the Endless Noise team at their L.A.-

based studio. Key contributors included producer Kacy Palmieri, orchestrator Chris Guardino and engineer Barry Goldberg. In addition to Jim Riswold, Wieden + Kennedy's project team also included art director Tim Hanrahan, producer Ben Grylewicz and account executive Eric Gabrielson. For production company Limbo Films, Pamela Standley served as line producer.

Portland-based Joint Editorial's Corky Devault edited the

spots with the assistance of post producer Patty Brebner. Visual effects and titles were supplied by Portland's Downstream digital and A52 in Los Angeles.

For more, visit www.EndlessNoise.com.

Sony Music Studios (New York) Selects Neve Console

Sony Music Studios New York recently installed an 84-channel Neve 88R analog console in its Studio B. It will be used for surround mixing on Super Audio CD, music recording and feature film mixing. In addition, an archive of existing material will be remixed from its current analog form to Super Audio CD on the 88R.

"The 88R has been optimized for surround from its initial design phase," said David Smith, VP of engineering at Sony Music. "It has a great versatility of operation in surround, with subgroup capability, stem management, surround panning, routing and monitoring capabilities. We've always had great experiences with our VR console, and this is a sonically improved VR. I'm confident of its future success at Sony Music Studios."

AMS Neve Eastern regional sales manager Gerard Fiocca said this about the effect the 88R will have on East Coast feature film and music mixing: "The 88R has already been very positively received in the U.S. market, where it has proven its sophistication and sonic brilliance at premiere studios like Conway Recording and The Village. With the 88R now headed for Sony Music Studios, our A-list clientele will continue to grow, not only on the East Coast, but worldwide. This console joins our roster of fully booked 88Rs already mixing at PLUS XXX Studios in Paris, Sony Music Entertainment in Tokyo, Sphere Studios in London and Studios 301 in Sydney."

Air Studios in London and Chalice Studios in Los Angeles have also recently selected the Neve 88R.

For more, visit AMS Neve online at www.ams-neve.com.

Steinberg Intros HALion String Edition, Volume 1

HALion String Edition Vol. 1 is Steinberg's first complete string orchestra for computer-based music production in the form of a comprehensive string library, as well as a versatile virtual instrument for VST and Direct X systems such as Cubase SX, Cubase SL and Nuendo for the Mac or PC. The eight double basses, 10 cellos, 12 violas and 16 violins provided offer a solid foundation to create the next Hollywood soundtrack or a classic rock symphony.

HALion String Edition Vol. 1 is a complete string orchestra with a 5GB sound library that comes with an integrated player. Well-known musician and composer Claudius Bruese, who made an important contribution to the development of the legendary VST piano, The Grand, co-produced the HALion String Edition.

Features include: complete orchestral strings; playing styles such as legato, tremolo, pizzicato or spiccato; suitable for all forms of music, from classical to popular; warm and defined tones, as well as perfectly balanced bow sounds; expressiveness, full dynamic range and up-and-down bowing; and natural room ambience and authentic note decay.

HALion String Edition Vol.1 is now available for $299 MSRP. Further information on HALion String Edition Vol. 1 can be found at www.steinberg.net.

System requirements for PC: Windows PC, minimum Pentium II 400MHz processor or comparable AMD processor; minimum 256 MB of free RAM (512 MB recommended;, free hard disk space of 5 GB; Windows 98/ME/2000/XP; Cubase VST 5.1 or higher, Cubase SX/SL, Nuendo or other VST 2.0 or DXi-compatible host application; and PC configuration according to the host application.

System requirements for Mac: minimum 500MHz/100MHz bus; minimum 256 MB of free RAM (512 MB recommended); 5 GB free hard disk space; Mac OS 9.x or OS X Version 10.2; and Cubase VST 5.1 or higher, Cubase SX/SL, Nuendo or other VST 2.0 or DXi-compatible host application.

Digital Bear Entertainment Revamps Image

As part of its recent expansion, Boston-based production and artist-development company Digital Bear Entertainment has a new company logo, a completely revamped Website and acquired new studio equipment.

During the past five months, DBE has added several new staff members and created an innovative talent scout program. The company is now offering new services including fee-for-service production and recording for the first time in DBE's history. A whole host of new gear is being added to the studio to improve its recording capabilities and to accommodate the increase in business, including a new Yamaha 02R96 mixing board, several Summit and Millennia preamps, AKG C12 microphones and an upgrade in recording software. As a result, the facility will be able to track larger ensembles and accommodate a wider base of clients. To mark these exciting changes, a new logo is being adopted alongside the new site by the end of this month.

"After all of the changes we've been making, we want our clients to feel our evolution. The new logo is more modern and sleek, but still keeps the friendliness and warmth that people associate with us," said company president Jordan Tishler. "Digital Bear Entertainment has always been a great company doing outstanding work. We've always taken a very boutique approach to it, but since we're growing, we want these changes to reflect our higher profile."

For more, visit digitalbear.com.

Airshow Mastering Releases SACD Guide

Airshow Mastering (Boulder, Colo.) has published a comprehensive guide on producing Super Audio CDs (SACDs), The Artist's and Producer's Guide to SACD. Intended to help artists and producers make optimal use of the high-resolution format, the guide is available for free at the Airshow Website, www.airshowmastering.com/sacd.html.

"We saw a need to help producers understand how making an SACD differs from making a CD," said David Glasser, Airshow's chief engineer. "Quality control, getting reference discs for approval, the manufacturing timeline and even test pressing are some of the important things that are different. Plus, there are entirely new dimensions of multichannel audio, text publishing and authoring. So, we combined the experience of our engineers with that of our SACD clients to produce a soup-to-nuts guide to creating SACDs."

Airshow has released 80 SACDs to date, including a surround reissue of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, as well as mastering SACD releases for the Telarc, Delos and Groove Note labels. In 1999, Airshow was one of the first studios worldwide to install Sony's Sonoma DSD workstation, and has continued to beta test new DSD and SACD production gear. Airshow plans to update the guide as new equipment appears on the market.

Producer/Engineer Bill Smith Favors Summit Audio

Grammy-nominated engineer/producer Bill Smith--whose 20-year-plus career has seen him working with Yes, Toto and John Fogerty, Diana Krall, Barbra Streisand, and many others--has come to rely on the Summit Audio TLA-100A classic tube-leveling amplifier and the MPE-200 processor to achieve balance, clarity and efficiency when recording.

"First and foremost for me is sound quality," said Smith. "I love Summit's sound. Their products are in almost every control room. The TLA-100A has the same style and characteristics of an old tube-style limiter, but with a sound unto itself.

"The quality of the Rupert Neve Class-A preamps in the MPE-200 is fantastic," Smith continued. "That combined with 4-band EQ per channel, switchable peak-shelving, variable-Q settings and a host of other goodies make this a very versatile piece of gear.

"One of the best things about the MPE-200 is that it is a digitally controlled analog unit. It gives you the ability to store presets, and I am really enjoying that a lot. This way, I can recall my EQ and preamp levels without having to notate everything on the dial with an assortment of colored markers. This saves me time and, in reference to the cost of studio time, it also saves the client money. Another feature that I love about the device is that the digital controls allow me to leave the unit out in the live room. This means that I can run a shorter cable from the microphone to the preamp, which gives me an improved signal-to-noise ratio. At that point, I can control any parameter on the unit via MIDI from the control room without having to run out there every two minutes. The MPE-200 basically gives me a 40-foot arm."

For more on these products, point your browser to www.summitaudio.com.

ATC SCM20s Monitor "The Ring" Trilogy

John Kurlander, who signed on last year to record the score for New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings motion-picture trilogy, recently completed sessions in England for the highly anticipated second part of the Middle Earth saga, The Two Towers. In order to maintain the consistency of the music score throughout the series, Kurlander reported that very little was changed from the scoring sessions for the initial installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, including the choice of venues for the orchestral recordings and the choice of audio equipment, which once again included a set of portable ATC Loudspeaker SCM20A active near-field monitors.

The principal recording venue this time around was once again CTS in London. The new CTS Studio, a semi-permanent setup in Watford Town Hall in the Northwest suburbs of London, utilized much of the company's equipment from its now defunct Wembley location. Although the studio owns a 5.1 ATC monitor system--which includes three SCM150s for LCR, two SCM20s for surrounds and SCM 0.1/15 subwoofers--Kurlander chose to use his own personal system at CTS and for additional scoring sessions at AIR Lyndhurst and Abbey Road.

"My three monitors traveled with us wherever we went," said Kurlander. "I just used the sub and surrounds of whatever room we were in. Because so many people needed to be in the control room, that to conserve space we didn't install the CTS LCR system at all. My three monitors sat on the top of the desk: We had some special tables made for the AMS Neve Capricorn and my 20A's matched in really well with CTS' ATC surrounds and subs."

Kurlander was also concerned that directors and producers of big action movies like The Lord of the Rings would demand to hear the score "very big and loud on a heavy-duty system. But that hasn't turned out to be the case. Filmmakers realized it isn't just the theatrical experience but also DVD. If it sounds that good on a near-field 5.1 system and they know it is translating well onto the dub stage, then they can relate to the music and its vital relationship with dialog and effects."

ATC Loudspeakers are distributed by Transamerica Audio Group, which can be found online at www.transaudiogroup.com. Check out the January 2003 issue of Mix for a more in-depth look at sound for the second installment of The Lord of the Rings.

Future Sonics Offers Wireless Package Deal

Future Sonics (Pineville, Pa.) announced a special limited-time "PowerPack" offer that includes the latest universal-fit professional monitor earphones, Future Sonics Ears (model EM3) and a product "bundle" for ease of use and affordability for most performers.

Future Sonics' PowerPack contains two sets of Future Sonics Ears universal-fit monitor earphones, one Sennheiser Evolution Series 300 wireless system, two Future Sonics Ears carrying cases, and two universal-fit foam-sleeve sample packs, all priced at $799 (approximately a $1,800 retail value).

The offer is valid for direct orders only via its Website at www.futuresonics.com or the toll-free customer phone number at 877/FSI-EARS. Orders must be received by March 1, 2003.

Chalice Recording Opens, Installs Neve Console

Chalice Recording Studios (Los Angeles) recently opened its doors and immediately put an 84-input Neve 88R console to work. Though owner Ben Tao sees his new 7,000-square-foot facility primarily catering to R&B artists, he welcomes all projects. The first act to use the console was From Zero, a nu-metal band signed to Arista Records. Producer/engineer Warren Riker spent two weeks mixing the album in Studio B, for an expected release late this year.

"The 88R was fantastic," said Stacey Dodds, manager of technical operations at Chalice Recording Studios. "Nothing out there sounds like it, and the automation system was easy to bring up and get onto without hitting a huge learning curve. It's a superb console in every sense, a classic blend of that rich old Neve sound, modern features and instant recall."

The new desk, with a 33609 compressor, is the centerpiece of Chalice's 1,200-square-foot Studio B, an exotically appointed space with rich fabrics and deep-stained walnut trim. Designed by Gary Starr, Studio B provides an abundance of outboard equipment.

For more, visit the 88R online at www.ams-neve.com or Chalice Recording at www.chalicerecording.com.

Hit Factory Orders Third SSL XL

The Hit Factory (New York City) purchased its third Solid State Logic XL 9000 K Series SuperAnalogue Console for Studio 3. The growing demand from The Hit Factory's clients reinforced the decision to purchase the console, which adds to the recently installed XL 9000s in Studios 6 and 7.

"Obviously, we believe in the product if, in less than nine weeks of purchasing the first two, we are already buying a third," said Troy Germano, CEO of The Hit Factory. "Our clients love the console, the speed of the mixing features and its inherent SuperAnalogue sound, which were major factors in our purchasing decision. Another significant reason was SSL's announcement at the AES Convention of the console's ability to export mixes back to the J Series, which now gives us true compatibility between all six 9080 J and XL 9000 rooms.

"After Studios 6 and 7 opened with the two SSL XLs in them, we soon realized the need to start changing the Js to XLs, and this purchase of a third XL console is the next logical step."

Studio 3 is primarily used for stereo mixing and 5.1 projects, and Germano believes that the new XL 9000 K will be as successful in Studio 3 as it is in the new Studios 6 and 7. Studio 3's console change-over will begin late this month, and the room plans to open on January 6, 2003.

For more, visit SSL online at www.solid-state-logic.com.

MIDI Celebrates 20 Years

The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA, Los Angeles)  announced that a MIDI 20th-anniversary celebration will be held at the Winter NAMM music products show, January 16-19, 2003, in Anaheim, Calif. The MMA promotional activities will be based in Booth 1385 in Hall E of the Anaheim Convention Center.

The event will include a silent auction of new and "vintage" MIDI gear (donated by MMA members) used by famous artists, as well as product give-aways and 20th-anniversary memorabilia. MMA members are also providing MIDI productsfrom keyboards and lighting rigs to cell phonesto display at the booth.

Sponsors include: Yamaha and Korg (Platinum); Cakewalk and Edirol (Gold); Analog Devices, BitHeadz, MadWaves and Steinberg (Silver); and promotional partners NAMM, Music Player Group and Giles Communications.

"Our goal in celebrating this milestone is to really highlight the commercial impact that MIDI has had on the music products industry," said James Grunke, event program director. "We want manufacturers and dealers alike to be aware of the benefits MIDI technology offers as we all strive to create new music makers, and to show everyone the new market opportunities that arise as MIDI continues to develop and thrive."

Proceeds from the auction will help fund MMA initiatives to increase the market for music makers. Interested parties who want to learn more about the MIDI 20th Anniversary Celebration at Winter NAMM can contact MMA program director James Grunke at 408/828.0993 or by e-mail at mapleinc@earthlink.net. For more information about the MMA, visit www.midi.org.

Advantage Audio Installs Studer Vista 7

Advantage Audio Post-Production (Burbank, Calif.) has recently upgraded both of its studios to include Studer Vista 7 digital mixing console. The two consoles include 40 faders each and both are equipped with two empty bays, one at each end of the consoles. Both studios were put into commercial operation immediately after the installation of the consoles.

The upgrade to the Vista consoles was part of an overall expansion of Studio A and Studio B recording stages. Four enlarged Pro Tools|HD systems and a RADAR II recorder in each studio are connected to the Vista 7.

For more, visit www.vista7.com.

Euphonix Presents "Digital Transition" Solutions at SBE Meetings

Miami was the latest stop on the Euphonix Max Air Broadcast Tour, where solutions to help broadcasters make the transition to digital were discussed at the local Society of Broadcast Engineer's (SBE) meeting by Euphonix representatives.

Euphonix has partnered with other audio and video manufacturers to create an integrated broadcast-operation vehicle that demonstrates the latest in digital-broadcast technology. Main sponsors include Accom, Miranda and Pioneer; other sponsors include 360 Systems, Clear-Com, DK-Audio America, Dolby Laboratories, Genelec, NVISION, TC Electronic, TerraSonde and Wohler Technologies. In some cases during the SBE presentations, the tour sponsors will be available to give a short presentation on the transition to digital along with Euphonix.

"This was our seventh presentation of our ideas about the transition to digital audio at SBE meetings," said Andrew Wild, VP of marketing at Euphonix. "We have about 20 more demonstrations planned across the U.S. through March, ending up at the NAB show in Las Vegas. We feel that Euphonix has a lot to offer broadcasters on the audio side of the equation."

The presentations to SBE meetings are part of the 37 U.S. city Max Air Broadcast Tour, offering engineers hands-on experience with new digital audio and video technology. The Max Air digital broadcast audio console is the centerpiece of the demonstration and was designed specifically for regional TV and on-air news applications. Max Air builds on the System 5's DSP, redundancy and I/O technology, while offering a new, lower cost-control surface.

Upcoming SBE meetings that Euphonix will attend include Birmingham (Wednesday, December 19, 2002); Nashville (Thursday, January 2, 2003); New Orleans (Monday, January 6, 2003); and Houston (Tuesday, January 14, 2003). A complete schedule for SBE meetings and other Max Air presentations is available at www.euphonix.com/tour.

M-Audio Releases Ableton Live 2.0

M-Audio (Arcadia, Calif.) introduced Live 2, a major upgrade to its Live audio sequencer, which provides musicians with a new creative environment to record, import and arrange multiple audio loops into complete songs--in real time. Live 2 develops the original concept by making the program into a full-blown multitrack and editing suite.

In Live 2, pitch and tempo are completely malleable. Users can set or tap the tempo of audio recordings completely independent of pitch at any time during recording, performance or playback. (Live 2 also allows recording and editing tempo as a continuous curve.) Other features include key changes independent of tempo and application of time stretching to any kind of audio material via new algorithms.

Live 2 also allows for the user to record unlimited takes of audio on an unlimited number of tracks directly into the Arranger or Session view. Additions to Live's onboard processing include effects presets, new gate and redux effects, and new filter modes for the Auto Filter. (As with its predecessor, Live 2 also supports VST to extend the program's processing abilities.) A host of other new features include: Rewire support for seamless integration with Reason and other programs; automation enhancement; both traditional solo and pre-fader listening modes; input gain settings; mono/stereo selectors in Bus view; improved file management; and multiport MIDI reception.

New performance-related features include: refined MIDI and computer key mapping for playing sessions; assignable scene advance and track-launch buttons to help navigate large sets via a MIDI controller box; and free assignment of all transport and tempo controls.

"We're excited to bring musicians a completely new way of working creatively that frees them from technology hassles," said Adam Castillo, M-Audio's marketing director, "and we think people are ready for a program like this. Just think of how many times people have had to re-record their tracks because they were at the wrong tempo or in the wrong key. Live 2's ability to change those parameters on-the-fly is huge."

M-Audio is the exclusive distributor of Ableton Live in North America, Latin America and the UK. Live 2 will be available this month and carries an MSRP of $399. Upgrades for users of Live 1.0 through 1.5 are available for $69 (download) or $89 (boxed). New users to Live 1.5 or 1.0 after November 1, 2002, are eligible to download a free upgrade to Live 2.0.

For more, visit www.m-audio.com.

Sony/Tree Studios Rely on SNS A/V SAN PRO

Nashville-based Sony/Tree Studios has installed an A/V SAN PRO from Studio Network Solutions to streamline all of the digital audio data. According to studio manager Pat McMakin (also an engineer/producer/mixer), the installation has eliminated "sneaker-net" through the ultrahigh-speed Fibre Channel networking of three Pro Tools systems, one of which is located in a separate building.

The studio is currently working on linking the A/V SAN PRO to another facility several blocks away via fiber-optic cable.

"Prior to the installation of the A/V SAN PRO, my assistant engineer spent most of his time moving and managing hard drives throughout the three-room facility," said McMakin. "Now that we can access any drive in any room, my assistant engineer can go back to being an assistant engineer. Plus, with SCSI's maximum cable length of about three feet, we never would have been able to link studios that were blocks apart. But now, with Fibre Channel's ability to reach some seven miles, that idea can become a reality."

For more on the A/V SAN PRO, visit SNS at www.studionetworksolutions.com.

Sacred Noise Composes Johnson & Johnson Campaign

Composer Peter Rundquist of music and sound-design company Sacred Noise (New York City) recently wrote the score for a new two-spot branding campaign for Johnson & Johnson.

"What mattered most was finding the musical accompaniment for those touching, honest moments between a mom, dad and newborn," said Rundquist. "We didn't want the score to be overly pretty or do a sweeping Hollywood orchestra type of thing. I wanted to enhance the intimacy of the moments without stepping on them. The emotional aspect is captured in the visuals; it didn't need heavy-handed music.

"Because we got involved months in advance of the filming, the music actually helped conceptualize the spots," Rundquist continued. "Although our initial musical ideas evolved as the project moved forward, the involvement we had with the creative team helped make the spots great. They trusted us and our instincts to take the concepts to another level and that's exactly what we did."

Credits include: Aaron Jaffee, composer/sound designer; Sound Lounge (New York City), audio post; and Tom Jucarone (at Sound Lounge), engineer.

Check out the clips at www.sacrednoise.com.

Les Paul Donates Custom Guitar to eBay

Legendary guitarist and innovator Les Paul has donated one of his personal custom Gibson Les Paul model guitars to raise funds for the Uniformed Firefighters Association Widows and Children Fund. Peter Ortel, a retired New York City fireman from Rescue 3, painted a poignant September 11 scene on the guitar. Beginning today, Wednesday, December 11, through Saturday, December 21, this guitar will be up for bid on eBay. All proceeds will be donated to the FDNY fund.

A photo of the Les Paul Firefighter guitar can we seen on the Gibson Website at www.gibson.com/whatsnew/pressrelease/2002/sept9b.html. To bid, visit eBay.com.

Digital Audio Denmark Converters Available Through Sascom

Digital Audio Denmark (Oakville, Ontario) has announced U.S. and Canadian market availability of AD/DA converters at factory-direct prices through Irving, Texas,-based Sascom Marketing Group Inc.

The fully modular, field-expandable ADDA 2408 boasts these features: 8-channel 24-bit, 96kHz A/D converter, D/A converter and D/D sample-rate converter; A/D sampling with anti-AID filter for elimination of Alias Intermodulation Distortion; digital interfaces compatible with AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TDIF, ADAT and Pro Tools; eight low-noise microphone preamplifiers with 0.5dB/step gain control from 0 to 99 dB, phantom power, +48 volts and low-cut filter; built-in 8-channel digital mixer to monitor  A/D, D/D and D/A input; monitoring in L/R or M/S stereo; optional D/A outputs for 5.1 / 7.1 monitoring and solo monitoring for all channels; psychoacoustic dither selectable for A/D and D/D inputs to 16, 18 and 20-bit; 21 LED digital peak meters on all eight channels to monitor A/D, D/D or D/A inputs; line-input level adjustable from +12 dBu to +27 dBu; and remote controlled via MIDI or USB.

Visit www.sascom.com for more.

Bearsville Studios Reconfigures Operations

Bearsville Sound Studios (Bearsville, N.Y.), for the first time since its founding over 30 years ago, is undergoing a radical transformation with all studio services centered around Turtle Creek. Key components that were part of the separate Studios A and B have been reallocated to Turtle Creek with some notable exceptions, including the 40-input custom Neve 8088 console, which had been built in 1977 for The Who's Ramport Studio. The building that houses Bearsville A and B, as well as the console, is slated for eventual sale, as the transformation into Bearsville at Turtle Creek is made final.

This one-time barn was the brainchild of Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul & Mary; Janis Joplin; Paul Butterfield and others. Grossman also managed The Band whose Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson were involved in the creation of Turtle Creek. Muddy Waters and The Band inaugurated it as a world-class recording facility in 1975 with The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album; prior to that, The Band rehearsed for and recorded parts of their Stage Fright album there the previous year.

According to Sally Grossman, Bearsville owner and CEO, "All of our efforts are now being devoted to providing the kind of quality recording environment, brought up to date and sensitive to contemporary needs and current realities, that has always been our hallmark. Bearsville at Turtle Creek represents an innovative response to current conditions and expectations; we're delighted to share it with the creative community."

Housed in a century-old rough-hewn barn, Bearsville at Turtle Creek has been outfitted with the latest Pro Tools 192k units as well to complement the popular API Legacy console with its rack of 16 Neve modules, all housed in an extension of the original barn. Bearsville at Turtle Creek offers a residential recording situation with three soon-to-be upgraded duplex units on-site, as well as living accommodations within Turtle Creek barn itself. The facility also hosts high-speed Internet access, gourmet meals and a helipad. Bearsville at Turtle Creek's equipment cabinet includes vintage microphones from the vacuum tube era, classic Studer A-800 Mark 3 2-inch tape machines and the latest cutting-edge gear. Bearsville at Turtle Creek is fully staffed under studio manager Chris Laidlaw, who has been with the studio for over 15 years. Other key members include full-time maintenance guru Victor Segal and resident recording engineer Bill Synan (Steely Dan, Cheap Trick, Branford Marsalis, matchbox twenty, Keith Murray, Jeff Watts).

For more, visit www.bearsvillestudios.com.

Clark Wire & Cables Lowers Price During December

Clark Wire & Cable announced that it has put its "Christmas Cable" (all analog and digital stereo cables) on sale. Visit www.clarkwc.com/specials.htm.

SADiE Retouches Grateful Dead Track

When Jeffrey Norman, mixer and mastering engineer for the enormous archives of Grateful Dead recordings, encountered an audio glitch on a recording made in 1972 at a concert in the United Kingdom, he found that SADiE's CEDAR Retouch software was the solution.

The track, "The Greatest Story Ever Told," appears on the Steppin' Out four-CD album released last summer, another installment of Dead archive recordings that Norman has mixed and/or mastered. However, while working at the Dead's private studio facility--Club Front in Novato, Calif.--on this particular track, he found that a guitar part had bled into the piano pickup, creating a sonic problem that would render the track unusable. "Usually, the way I pan the band is the same as they would be onstage, with the piano on the right and the guitar on the left," Norman said. "But with this bleed, you could hear the guitar part in the piano track, and it was smearing it in the midrange area. It really was unusable the way it was, and it would have been a shame to lose the track."

Norman transferred the piano track along with time code onto a CD-R and sent it to SADiE U.S. VP Gary Rosen, who applied the Retouch. "When it came back, it was pretty amazing," Norman said. "It had been made usable. Without what the Retouch software on the SADiE was able to do, I wouldn't have been able to use the song.

"We do a lot of archival work here," Norman continued, "and many of the tapes are showing signs of needing corrective surgery. Based on this experience with SADiE and Retouch, I would say they're leading contenders when the time comes."

For more, visit SADiE online at www.sadie.com.

Stephen Arnold Music Hits the West Coast

Stephen Arnold Music (Dallas), a provider of original and syndicated music to television stations and TV networks throughout the United States, has expanded into the West Coast by naming Alice Smith, head of new business development for the West Coast.

In her new post, Smith will be responsible for directing the company's strategic marketing operations throughout the Western U.S., with an emphasis on seeking new clients from the broadcast, film, production and multimedia arenas.

Regarding the company's expansion, Arnold said, "For 10 years, we have been extremely fortunate to establish relationships with key marketing and promotional executives throughout the U.S. from our home base in Dallas. However, we felt that now is the time that would be right for us to expand our presence by pursuing new projects emanating from the West Coast and Hollywood, including non-news-oriented television programming and network IDs. Alice is the right person at the right time living in the right place, and we are delighted to welcome her aboard!"

Prior to joining Stephen Arnold Music, Smith was director of new media and entertainment for SabreMark Inc. (Los Angeles).

Stephen Arnold Music/West Coast, 27439 Freetown Lane, Agoura Hills, CA 91301; 818/889-2456; www.stephenarnoldmusic.com.

DaleProAudio.com  Announces CD-R/RW Price Break

In conjunction with New York City-based www.DaleProAudio.com's newly renovated Website, it is offering a price break on the Sony CDR-W33 CD-R/RW recorder for $439.

Every CDR-W33 ships with a free CD-R media sample pack containing an assortment of blank discs.

M-Audio Releases 7.1 Sound Card

M-Audio (Arcadia, Calif.) announced Revolution 7.1, the first high-definition 7.1 surround sound card providing up to eight channels of professional 24-bit/192kHz audio with consumer-oriented features. Specs include 107dB signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio and THD rating of 0.0031%, as well as an intuitive control panel that provides access to bass management, speaker optimization and input metering.

Revolution 7.1 offers outputs for up to seven speakers and a subwoofer; whereas a 5.1 format places speakers beside the listener, 7.1 places them both beside and behind them for a much more immersive surround sound experience.

Revolution includes over $200 worth of high-quality bundled software with full versions of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, MixMan Studio, Vjay Lite and the Dolby Digital EX Version of WinDVD 4. Also included are award-winning music-creation programs with over 100 sounds and loops, as well as a free sampler CD of music from M-Powered artists who use M-Audio products. Also included are a Dolby Digital EX DVD player and built-in SRS Labs' Circle Surround II and TruSurround XT technologies. Revolution 7.1 fully supports stereo, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1 formats, as well as full support for Microsoft Windows Media Audio 9 Professional to deliver high-quality, discrete multichannel audio over the Internet; for gamers, Revolution 7.1 supports today's popular technologies such as Sensaura, EAX, DirectSound and A3D.

"Revolution is the first consumer audio card to offer the same high-quality Circle Surround II technology found in many home theater receivers around the world," said Ted Franceschi, executive VP, marketing and sales. "SRS Labs is excited to partner with M-Audio in providing PC and Macintosh users the ultimate surround sound experience on a computer."

"Revolution 7.1 earns its name as a truly revolutionary product by simultaneously delivering fully immersive 7.1 surround sound and amazing high-definition 24-bit/192kHz audio," said Jason Ivan, director of product marketing for M-Audio's Consumer division. "And where most cards sacrifice audio quality for surround sound playback, Revolution delivers all eight channels at full 192kHz fidelity. Listeners can finally enjoy movies, music and games the way they were meant to be experienced. Revolution 7.1 delivers serious audio performance and quality with ease of use designed to appeal to a wide segment of the consumer market."

Revolution 7.1 is scheduled to ship in January 2003, and will be distributed in major retail stores throughout North America. It will be released shortly thereafter in Japan and Europe. Estimated street price for Revolution 7.1 is $99.99.

To find out more, click on www.m-audio.com.

Kampo Sells Video Gear, Welcomes New Production Team
In an effort to consolidate its efforts on audio-recording facilities, Kampo Studios has eliminated its "Audio/Video" moniker and has made available for sale its entire inventory of video gear. Kampo Studios will retain its lock-to-picture capabilities in its two state-of-the-art SSL console-equipped studios: Studio A and Studio C.

With the renovation of Kampo's video suite into a Pro Tools suite, Kampo is proud to welcome the newly formed production team of producer/musician Dougie Bowne (Chris Whitley, Marianne Faithful, Cibo Matto, Lounge Lizards) and producer/engineer Patrick Dillett (They Might Be Giants, Marisa Monte, Mary J. Blige, The B-52's, Ryuichi Sakamoto). The innovative pair is currently in pre-production for the forthcoming solo disc from former Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty.

Also in were producer Bill Laswell and longtime engineer Robert Musso in Studio C for a 5.1 surround mix for African world music singer Gigi, with assistant engineer Alan Ford.

Guitarists Arto Lindsay and Marc Ribot were at Kampo with engineer Patrick Dillett laying down tracks for French artist Sebastian. Lindsay was back in Studio A wearing the producer hat with Dillett engineering tracks for an upcoming release from bassist Melvin Gibbs (John Zorn, Rollins Band, Sonny Sharrock) with assistant Alan Ford.

Sessions@AOL continues to bring talent to Kampo for its live performances and interviews. This season has seen the likes of David Gray, Tonic, Kenny G, Ryan Adams, Shaggy, Badly Drawn Boy, The Donnas, Sean Paul, Andrea Bocelli and Lou Reed, with Kampo engineers Greg Thompson, Alan Ford and Michael Bowden at the helm.

Kampo engineer Michael Bowden has mixed the critically acclaimed debut solo album History That Has No Effect (JMZ Records, www.jmzrecords.com) from Tyondai Braxton. He is continuing work with Braxton (who is the son of experimental composer Anthony Braxton) on his forthcoming band project. Bowden also recorded and mixed the debut from Parts and Labor, who are releasing their Bowden-engineered full length this coming spring.

New York bassist/composer Brad Jones (Marc Ribot, Jazz Passengers) recorded and mixed an as-yet-untitled forthcoming quartet album with engineer Kenji Shimoda and assistants Michael Bowden and Hideki Nishino.

Check out Kampo at www.kampo.com.

Meyer Powers "Prune Danish"
Venerable comedian Jackie Mason returned to Broadway this fall for his sixth one-man show, Prune Danish, which was also a return engagement for Christopher Cronin, sound designer for this current production, as well as Mason's previous Broadway outing, Much Ado About Everything. For this show, Cronin chose a Meyer Sound M1D Ultra-Compact Curvilinear Array system.

Even though it's a one-microphone show, Cronin pointed out that Mason's offhand banter and quick-release punch lines made reinforcement of his voice a deceptively challenging task. "Clear enunciation is hardly Jackie's trademark," Cronin said. "Also, quick follow-up jabs are part of his style, which means he's talking over laughter. That's why consistent coverage and very high system intelligibility are crucial to making this show work in a theater setting." Also on hand was veteran theater mixer Eileen Macdonald.

For the center cluster in the 1,068-seat Royale Theater, Cronin specified an array of 10 M1Ds, flown with a maximum eight-degree splay angle for even, single-point coverage of most seating areas. "The M1D array covers from the last seat in the balcony down right up to the fifth or six row of the orchestra," said Cronin. "Also, the wide horizontal coverage is great, since you don't need multiple boxes arrayed horizontally to get your coverage."

Because the rigging position was further into the house than optimum, leaving some front corner seats outside the M1D's 90-degree pattern, Cronin added single UPA-1P Compact Wide-Coverage loudspeakers at each side of the proscenium. For front-fill, six MM-4 Ultra-Compact Wide-Range loudspeakers were mounted on the stage lip.

"I had heard the M2D some time ago, when Peter Fitzgerald was prepping the system in the shop for Movin' Out, and I was blown away," Cronin said. "So when the Jackie Mason show came out, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to hear the new baby brothers. I checked with Pro Mix and found out that they were getting their first M1Ds. I heard them there, and the next day they loaded in for our show."

John Petrafesa, manager of special projects for Pro Mix/Electrotec, coordinated the system installation and performed final alignment using SIM System II FFT Analyzer. He also consulted with Cronin on the M1D cluster configuration, using the Meyer Sound MAPP Online (Multipurpose Acoustical-Prediction Program): "We looked at the room and used MAPP to determine the proper hang," Petrafesa said. "When we did the SIM-ing, the coverage pattern and sonic response were dead-on accurate."

For more, visit Meyer online at www.meyersound.com.

KVUE Austin Orders Euphonix Max Air
Austin, Texas,-based KVUE has ordered a Euphonix (Palo Alto, Calif.) Max Air digital broadcast console, which will be used for the station's live news broadcasts.

"KVUE auditioned a lot of consoles before choosing Max Air," stated Mike Franklin, Euphonix director of sales for Southeastern and Central U.S. "Max Air has a depth of operational features that the competition just doesn't offer. System modularity and remote microphone preamps also contributed to the switch to Euphonix. I feel that people are more educated about digital consoles today and very confident in our price performance offering with Max Air. That's why Max Air is taking off really fast."

KVUE is owned by Belo, one of the nation's largest media companies with a group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive-media assets. Belo's Broadcast division comprises one of the country's largest and most successful television station groups with 16 network-affiliated television stations, including six CBS affiliates, four NBC affiliates, four ABC affiliates, one independent station and one FOX affiliate.

View the Max Air at www.euphonix.com.

Steinberg to Be Sold to Pinnacle Systems
Pinnacle Systems Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of Steinberg Media Technologies' (Hamburg, Germany) stock. The companies expect to close the transaction in early January 2003 and have agreed on a total purchase price of approximately $24 million, consisting of $8.2 million in cash and $15.8 million of Pinnacle Systems common stock. At closing, Pinnacle Systems will acquire all products, software and intellectual property rights, along with all other assets and liabilities of the company. Pinnacle will account for this transaction as a purchase in Pinnacle Systems' fiscal Q3, ending March 31, 2003. The company will host a conference call at 2:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) on December 18, 2002. The call in number is 800/634-1569, no password required.

J. Kim Fennell, president and CEO at Pinnacle Systems said, "We are delighted to welcome Steinberg's customers and employees into the Pinnacle family. Steinberg is a recognized industry leader in digital audio and this transaction significantly broadens Pinnacle's digital media offerings. By adding the talent and technology of Steinberg to our company, we believe we can bring our customers an even stronger solutions portfolio."

"Steinberg is pleased to be joining forces with Pinnacle Systems. Our customers and products will benefit greatly from the combined resources of the two companies, and we look forward to bringing audio production expertise to the award-winning Pinnacle Systems' product lines," said Manfred Rürup, president of Steinberg Media Technologies AG.

Other information was not made available. Visit Steinberg at www.steinberg.net or Pinnacle Systems Inc. at www.pinnaclesys.com for more.

NFL Fox Mixer Relies on Sennheiser Mics
Michael Del Tufo, senior audio mixer for the NFL on
FOX's studio shows, is using Sennheiser microphones, transmitters and receivers for FOX's NFL coverage since the 1994 football season.

The majority of the in-studio banter between hosts James Brown, NFL alumni Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson is captured with Sennheiser MKE 2 sub-miniature lavalier mics; their small frame allow Del Tufo to easily hide them on FOX's on-air talent. "We hide the mics on our guys, which is the unique thing about our show," Del Tufo said. "So we need a mic that can be put under clothing and sound like it's out in the open. The MKE 2 does the job and sounds totally natural."

Del Tufo also relies on the Sennheiser Evolution E 835 to handle on-field interviews; he said that capturing high-fidelity sound is no cakewalk with the screaming fans and hustle and bustle of the sidelines. "It is the best interview mic ever made," he said. "I use them for all the interviews in loud stadiums. I use them for Terry Bradshaw's interviews on the field or in the locker room."

It was during FOX's coverage of the 2000 NFC Championship game that Del Tufo appreciated the sonic clarity afforded by the E 835: Terry Bradshaw, interviewing the victorious coach of the New York Giants, Jim Fasell, talked away with the mic pointed directly at Fasell instead of himself. Still, the E 835 picked up crystal clear audio from Bradshaw. According to Del Tufo, "It was amazing; you wouldn't even know that Bradshaw wasn't on the mic."

Regarding RF interference, Del Tufo can place his Sennheiser SK 50 and SK 250 body pack transmitters, and EM 1046 and EM 3032 receivers up to 100 yards apart. "We use the RF for on-field interviews, and I have to firmly believe it will work since I don't have a chance to hear it before air time," commented Del Tufo. "And 99 percent of the time, they do!"

A three-time Emmy Award winner, Del Tufo has mixed audio for FOX Sports' NFL coverage for the past four years, including all of FOX's pre-game, halftime and post-game NFL shows, as well as on-location shows for the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Check out the gear at www.sennheiserusa.com.

Ableton Releases LIVE Delta
Ableton, a Berlin-based music software company, announced LIVE Delta, a entry-level version of the popular LIVE program for Mac 0S 9, 0S X and Windows that is being bundled with M-Audio's Delta Audio cards (part of the company's Maximum Audio Tools bundle). Users can upgrade LIVE Delta to the full version of LIVE 2 to gain the more advanced features such as Rewire support and MIDI sync.

The Delta line includes the Delta Audiophile 2496 and the Delta 1010. M-Audio's Delta cards feature high fidelity, quality construction, low latency, 36-bit internal mixers and impressive driver support.

"We are very happy to enter into such an exciting deal with M-Audio," said Gerhard Behles, CEO of Ableton. "We have been working with M-Audio as our distributor for the U.S. and UK market for a year now, and have got to know them as a company that has an amazing customer focus. The fact that every Delta user will now be able to play with LIVE Delta creates a huge added value, not only for the Delta products, but also for Ableton as it expands the amount of people getting in contact with LIVE."

Said Adam Castillo, M-Audio's marketing director: "The ability to treat audio elastically to create entire productions in real time without ever hitting the Stop button is nothing short of incredible. This bundle allows musicians to explore the amazing creative freedom that LIVE provides in the comfort of their own home or studio."

For more, visit www.m-audio.com.

Alan Lomax Named NARAS Trustees Award
Alan Lomax has been selected by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' (NARAS) Board of Trustees as one of this year's recipients of the Academy's Trustees Award. This merit award is presented to individuals who, during their career in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.

Anna Lomax Chairetakis will accept the award on behalf of her father. The award ceremony will take place at the nominee banquet on Saturday, February 22, 2003, in New York City. Excerpts from the ceremony will be broadcast the following night at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards telecast.

The first releases from Alan Lomax's vast body of work issued since his death are the new anthology CD The Land Where the Blues Began and book of the same name, which are drawn from his legendary trove of original field recordings of rural blues, country and other American roots music. The disc was released by Rounder Records and the book was reprinted by the New Press; it was originally published in 1993.

The book The Land Where the Blues Began is based on Lomax's accounts of extensive travels through the rural South in search of singers and players who had maintained the precious legacy of Afro-America's deep-rooted "folk" music traditions, unsung and unknown, including artists like Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Honeyboy Edwards, Son House and Mississippi Fred McDowell, to name a few. The CD includes landmark musical performances, as well as compelling spoken material by the artists. Most of the tracks are discussed in the book and appear in corresponding order.

For more information regarding this release, or other
Alan Lomax Collection releases, please contact Howard Wuelfing at Howlin' Wuelf Media: 215/428-9119 or www.howlinwuelf.com.

Trinity Sound Company Chooses XTA SiDD, Series 2
Trinity Sound Company (TSC) in Ontario, Calif., has purchased an XTA (Farmingdale, N.Y.) Series 2 C2 compressor and SiDD (Seriously Intelligent Digital Dynamics) multifunction signal-processing system. TSC covers music recording, live sound mixing and remote recording.

"I was looking for a product that I could use in my rack in every application," said Devin DeVore, owner of TSC. "I found exactly that with the XTA gear. I use them in the studio, live and remote sound work. The XTA gear gives me studio-quality processing without the artifacts you get from analog filters and VCAs. Many times, the artifacts of analog gear can mask the pure tone. What I can achieve using the XTA gear is to capture the true tone first, and then process it digitally with far less phase artifacts or distortion to color the original sound."

The XTA SiDD system has become DeVore's "kick and snare" combination in a single box when recording and mixing music, as well as his de-esser, EQ and a range of other processing functions. In addition, the SiDD performs well in live applications, such as processing the audio from lavalier microphones on a recent MSNBC remote project.

Visit XTA on the Web at www.g1limited.com.

Audio Rents, Cedar Audio to Co-Host Product Launch
Audio Rents (Hollywood) and Cedar Audio (Cambridge, England) will host an open house on Wednesday, January 22, 2003, to introduce Cedar's new Cambridge System; Cedar's DNS 1000 will also be on display. Demonstrations will be presented throughout the day from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and refreshments will be served.

The demonstrations and reception will be held at Audio Rents, 1541 N Wilcox, Hollywood, CA 90028. Please contact Traci Bradford at Audio Rents (323/874-1000) to confirm attendance and schedule a demonstration time, as attendance for each presentation will be limited.

Cedar's Cambridge, the newest addition to the family of audio restoration and noise-suppression devices, is a multichannel, 24-bit, 96kHz system that will remove more noise and more types of noise than before, without damaging the audio or introducing unwanted side effects or artifacts.

Now Disc Installs Otari CD-R Unit
Now Disc (Boise, Idaho), one of North America's CD-R duplicators, doubled its manufacturing capacity overnight with the acquisition of an Otari CDP-64 Large-Scale CD-R Duplication system; the installation took place in mid-October 2002.

Now Disc serves a diverse array of corporate, insurance, advertising and software clients for their CD-R needs, including General Motors, FreightLiner, Hewlett-Packard and Extended Systems. In addition to increasing manufacturing output, the CDP-64 also brought with it other economic and ergonomic benefits. For example, according to Mike Armstrong, director of operations for Now Disc, "We had been using four lines of 32-bay duplication systems, which we had developed ourselves. The CDP-64 was able to interface with the same workstation we use to create masters; as a result, we now have double the capacity, and the entire duplication operation can be run by a single operator.

"The CDP-64 was up and running the same day it arrived, and our staff was ready to run it at the same time."

Visit www.otari.com to find out more on the CDP-64.

Gibson J-200 Celebrates 65 Years
This year, Gibson Montana celebrates the 65th year of the J-200 alongside its 15th year of making acoustic instruments in Montana.

"The older Gibsons sound great, but the new ones already sound great, right out of the factory," said Tony King, who plays guitar with country-music artists Brooks & Dunn. "Those guys at Montana love their instruments."

Kelly Jones of Stereophonics agreed: "We've been using the Gibson Montana acoustics for a while on the road now. They're very versatile and work on a whole range of different types of songs and stages."

Gibson's flat-top acoustic guitars were famous from the 1930s through the '60s, played by everyone from cowboy movie stars to country music legends, from the Everly Brothers to Elvis. But by the mid-1980s, Gibson was near death, and the J-200s and J-45s that trickled out of the Nashville plant were no longer worthy of the Gibson name. New owners Henry Juszkiewicz and Dave Berryman took over in January 1986, and immediately brought Gibson's electric guitars back to life in Nashville, but the acoustic line needed something different.

In 1988, on the 50th anniversary of the J-200, Gibson began tooling up the newly acquired Flatiron mandolin company in Montana to make Gibson acoustic guitars. "Montana is a long way from Nashville, and from an administrative point of view, it was a very risky move to have a factory so far away," Juszkiewicz said. "But the ‘patient' was very sick, and the best guitar ‘doctors' were in Montana."

The J-200, which was introduced in 1938 as the Super Jumbo, remains the flagship model of a wide range of Gibson flat-tops made in Montana. Familiar Gibson models such as the Hummingbird, the Dove, the Southern Jumbo and the J-160E (the John Lennon model) also carry on Gibson's tradition.

For more, visit Gibson online at www.gibson.com.

Ilio Revamps Website
ILIO Entertainment (Malibu, Calif.), manufacturer and distributor of license-free audio sample libraries, has unveiled its new Website (www.ilio.com), featuring info and demos of ILIO's products, Spectrasonics Virtual Instruments and libraries, Sonic Reality, the Vienna Symphonic Library, as well as software patches and informational tools for producers, composers and remixers.

Each product features a detailed text description, including liner notes, reviews and multiple high-quality MP3 demos. The home page provides direct access to detailed product information, as well as online ordering, company news and a new "Tips and Tricks" column created especially for the site by music writer Jim Akin.

According to ILIO principal Mark Hiskey, the new site will also provide ongoing customer support, from product patches and updates to professional tips.

Joe Strummer, 1952-2002
Joe Strummer, frontman for the seminal British punk band The Clash, died on December 22, 2002, at his farmhouse in Somerset, southwestern England.

Strummer had most recently been touring with his band, The Mescaleros. Since The Clash disbanded in 1986, Strummer has dabbled in film music (Sid & Nancy), acting (Walker, Mystery Train, Straight to Hell), sat behind the producer's desk for The Pogues and got back behind a mic as a solo artist (Earthquake Weather, Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, Global A-Go-Go).

"Joe's more of an intuitive guitar player," engineer Bill Price told Mix ("London Calling," Classic Tracks, November 2000). "He used to bash the living daylights out of his guitar when the song demanded it. He also had a sort of unconscious way of damping the chord with his right hand, which used to produce this incredibly urgent, clanging and clashing sound, which I've never heard any other guitarist ever produce. Joe always played a Fender, unless it was broken, and then he'd play anything. Joe's strumming was so intrinsic to him that we used to do his vocals with him strumming an unplugged Fender, because it was the only way he could get into it. And if he didn't have a guitar there for some reason, Joe would beat his chest with his right fist."

For more, check out the "Mix Interview" in the August 1997 issue.

FirstCom Music Adds New Library
Dallas-based FirstCom Music Inc., a provider of production music via CD and the Web, announced a long-term agreement with Noise Pump Music Ltd. to provide music for the FirstCom Music Library; Noise Pump's repertoire will be featured in the FirstCom Music Library or the HollywoodMusic Library catalogs.

The Noise Pump series will debut in January 2003 with an initial 10 volumes: New Jazz Incantation, a rarely heard combination of jazz innovation and contemporary rhythmic structures; Dramascore, a fusion of contemporary orchestral scoring and sound design; Orchestral Phantasia, which host scenic atmospheres; The World Around Us, an orchestral suite focusing on Mother Earth; Jazz Misery In 12 Bars, a fusion of contemporary styles; Spot the Difference, a collection of ambient textures with hypnotic, explorative beats and grooves; Asian Beets Culture, a new beat, new arrangements of Bollywood music/Indian pop; Technovibe, across the spectrum of house; Unload and Show Clear, vocal and instrumental ambient beats and grooves written and performed by Unloaded; and Garaged R&B Jam, urban vocals and instrumentals reflecting our inner cities.

For more, visit www.firstcom.com.

Shakira Uses Wireless on Tour
In support of her latest album, Laundry Service, her first in English, Shakira has begun an extensive touring schedule that will take her into North and South Americas and Europe. Monitor engineer on the world tour is Vish Wadi; handling FOH is Robert "Cubby" Colby, aided by the Clair Brothers crew of Gene Phillips, Mike Mason and Tom Ford.

"She started with the Neumann/Sennheiser KK 105-S before I came into the picture," said Wadi, whose has performed monitor engineering duties for the likes of Sting, Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige. Shakira first used the Neumann/Sennheiser hybrid microphone at VH1's Divas Las Vegas; according to Wadi, Shakira really liked the mic, and he has since being keeping it in his gig bag for the Latin artist.

Wadi's first introduction to the hybrid mic was when he beta-tested it with Sting during his Brand New Day world tour. "I like it; it sounds good," he said. "It's nice and breathy. It's a studio-quality microphone." The hybrid pairs the new Neumann KK 105-S capsule head, based on the KMS 105 studio vocalist mic, with Sennheiser's SKM 5000 N handheld transmitter.

Shakira and her band are also carrying a Sennheiser Evolution 300 Series wireless ear-monitor system. "When you look at the audio quality," noted Wadi, "the transmission and everything, I think that the Evolution 300 Series is the best ear-monitor system on the market right now."

Wadi continued, "Altogether, including effects and stuff, I'm handling 24 mixes on the Midas Heritage. Everybody is on ears, except one of the background singers; she's on wedges, she's just not an ear-monitor person." Those using the EW 300 wireless system include Shakira, the two guitar players, the violin player and the drummer; everybody else is on hard-wired ear monitors.

For more, visit either Sennheiser (www.sennheiserusa.com) or Neumann (www.neumannusa.com).

Wave Arts Drops Challenge/Response Copy Protection
Wave Arts (Arlington, Mass.) announced that it will no longer use challenge-and-response copy protection in its plug-ins, beginning with its next update release. The company will now use a simple serial number as its unlocking method of registration.

"Since cracked software and serial numbers are readily available, consumers are on the honor system when it comes to buying software," said Bill Gardner, president of Wave Arts. "By purchasing legitimate copies of the software they use, they've already chosen to be responsible. As manufacturers, we should be rewarding these people instead of making them jump through more hoops."

According to Gardner, some of Wave Arts' customers felt that the challenge-and-response protection limited their flexibilities in the studio, including the ability to effortlessly reconfigure their systems without fear of losing their registrations, and the ability to install the software on their laptops in addition to their studio workstations.

For more, visit www.wavearts.com.

Mackie Re-Organizes
Mackie Designs (Woodinville, Wash.) announced a new operating structure to weather the current economic downturn, as well as streamline its communication channels and reinvigorate product development.

Changes include increasing overseas production; expanding management accountability with a broader team of functional leaders; and realigning resources into three areas: front office (sales, marketing, customer service), operations (product development, engineering, manufacturing) and back office (finance, information systems, human resources).

"This is a major realignment," commented Jamie Engen, president and CEO at Mackie Designs. "We carefully weighed our strengths and weaknesses, as well as the many challenges that we face today. We are confident that we have set Mackie on the course to a prosperous future."

For more, visit Mackie on the Web at www.mackie.com.

RealNetworks Offers Source Code to Software Developers
Seattle-based RealNetworks announced that its Helix DNA Producer source code is now available to software developers through the Helix Community at www.helixcommunity.org. Helix Producer is used to create RealAudio and RealVideo content. RealNetworks also announced that more than 5,000 software developers have registered in the Helix Community since the initial launch of the community this past July. Companies currently supporting Helix DNA Producer include Pinnacle Systems, Virage, Envivio and CollabNet.

The source code will allow application and content developers to build multiformat content-creation products for PCs, Web cams, traffic cameras, personal video recorders, mobile phone and much more. Developers can use the code to build applications that support any file format from any operating system platform. App developers can also integrate RealAudio, RealVideo and Ogg Vorbis output, as well as expand the outputs to any number of media formats, such as Windows Media, QuickTime, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MP3 and MPEG-4.

Helix DNA Producer is currently available for Windows and Linux OS; a pre-beta release for Mac OS X is also available.

Cignal Open for Business
A new company named Cignal (St. Louis) opened its doors on December 1, 2002. The company is targeted toward intermediate-size systems integration and design projects for audio, video and lighting systems.

Gary Haselhorst, president of Cignal, was the former manager of the pro audio department at McMurray Music (St. Louis). Chip Self is VP of engineering for Cignal and president of Logic Systems, a mid-size production company in St. Louis that provides integrated multimedia services for corporate events and sound reinforcement. Brian Rice, VP for Cignal, has 11 years of pro audio experience in retail sales at McMurray's pro audio department and has served for the past 10 years as the technical director of a 3500-member church. Jim Cutshall and D.J. Kent will both serve as technical supervisors for Cignal.

Cignal Systems Inc., 9535 Watson Industrial Park, St. Louis MO 63126; fax 314/968-2599; www.cignalsys.com.

Telarc Chooses ATC Loudspeakers
To accurately monitor the ultrahigh resolution of DSD technology, Telarc has installed a multichannel monitor system from ATC at its Cleveland facility and has taken delivery of a portable ATC 5.1 system for monitoring while recording on location.

"We feel like we're finally hearing the detail of our work for the first time," said Telarc president Bob Woods. "As a professional studio product, we've never encountered anything quite like it. You want something that's accurate, but to have a system that can handle all types of musical programming equally well is downright remarkable."

The installed system consists of five ATC SCM150A active three-way speakers and two 12-inch, 1,000-watt Sub1/12 Pro subwoofers. Five ATC SCM20ASL two-way near-field monitors and a 15-inch SCM0.1 subwoofer provide accurate monitoring for location recording. Telarc recording engineer Michael Bishop said that he plans on using the SCM150s for front-left and front-right monitoring and SCM20s for center and surrounds on location.

For more, visit ATC online at www.atc.gb.net. Visit Telarc at www.telarc.com.

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