January 2012
ON THE COVER
Mix Interview: James Taylor
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Gregory DeTogne
With sales of more than 40 million albums posted over a lengthy career dating back to 1968, when he signed with Apple Records, James Taylor remains at the top of his game. Lionized by fans, respected by his peers and solidly committed to the art of his craft, the singer/songwriter calls his life his music. Despite all the Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum accolades, all the Grammys and all the fame, he still finds comfort and purpose on the road, where he continues to set records for ticket sales and simultaneously cultivates an uncanny knack for connecting with his audiences on an intimate level, even in large venues….
FEATURES
Corporate Audio Sound
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Chris Thomson
Sound reinforcement for events in hotels and convention centers has been a huge industry for many years. It goes through cyclical up and downs, like most corporate-related services, but right now it’s only getting bigger and more production-oriented. Ballroom events, meeting rooms, multipurpose venues, video conferencing, telepresence—they’re all proving a fertile ground for today’s audio school graduate. Often, professional A/V companies are the first employer for many of the students graduating today. …
Virtual Instrument Libraries | The Hybrid Score
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Gary Eskow
Take the time machine back just a few years—to 2005, say, or 2006—and you will see that the model that composers working to picture followed was fairly universal. Their DAWs might differ, with Mac the preferred sequencer platform for most. Some worked on PCs, but most composers had multiple computers (up to a half-dozen or more) networked together. Limitations in speed, RAM and hard disk size made it impossible for them to produce scores under the time pressures that the industry imposed using only one or two computers….
Digital on the Road
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
You’d be hard-pressed to not find a digital console on tour. Whether it’s employing snapshots, bringing in plug-ins to re-create an album’s sound, leaving behind racks of outboard or any other number of reasons, many touring engineers prefer to mix digitally. And each engineer has his/her techniques for creating a great-sounding mix. With this in mind, Mix asked some top live sound engineers to give us their tips on working with digital boards….
Halo Anniversary Disneyland Adventures | Music Centerstage in Game Releases
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Blair Jackson
As videogames have become more sophisticated and complex in recent years, so too have their music scores. Long gone are the days of simple scores banged out on solitary keyboards and integrated into the game at the lowest possible bit-rate. Orchestral scores are common for big-budget games, as are hybrid scores that use electronic and/or percussion elements, rock and other music forms, as well as orchestrated passages. With some top games requiring two or more hours of music, there has been plenty of work for large and small studios to keep up with the demand, and musicians and singers are finding a new source of income for their talents….
‘War Horse’
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Blair Jackson
Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is a classic Hollywood epic, a throwback to a different era of filmmaking, when character development and telling a story in a cogent and methodical way were more important than gimmicky effects and manic pacing. The film is unabashedly aimed at families—there’s no sex, bad language or gushing blood—yet it is also a tale about war, violence, and complex and often difficult relationships….
TECHNOLOGY
Robair Report | Welcome to the Robair Report 2.0
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Gino Robair
Welcome to the “Robair Report” 2.0. Starting this month, the “Report” is back and covering a broad range of topics for the recording musician. “The Robair Report,” originally launched online by Electronic Musician, focused on the gear and techniques we use in our personal studios and out in the world, whether we’re recording shows, doing pre-production or sampling environmental sounds. Version 2, however, will work from the perspective of the recording musician, navigating the confluence of pro and prosumer gear that promises unprecedented capabilities for working with sound. In addition, the new “Report” will encompass print, online and the occasional tweet to keep you in the loop with late-breaking news….
TechTalk: I’m a Studio Junkie
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Kevin Becka
After 30-plus years in the business, I’ve caught the studio bug again. I’ve been building a small mix room for four months now and it’s almost done. The paint is dry, but I’m still playing with the acoustics, learning to trust how it sounds and even doing some mixes on a small laptop-based rig while I wait for a computer, balanced power units and interconnects. I’ll have gear from Lynx, Radial Engineering, Dangerous Music, Monster, Focal, Retro Instruments, Lindell Audio, Millennia, Steinberg, Avid, and some “vintage” hardware reverbs from Lexicon and AKG. On the digital side, I’ll have plug-ins from Universal Audio, SoundToys, Vienna Instruments and many more. It’s going to be a hybrid analog summing and in-the-box combo mix room, all run on a rackmounted PC from Rain Computers that’s more than 30-percent faster (and way less-expensive) than anything currently offered by Apple. …
Tech: New Products, January 2012
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM
Mix magazine January 2012 tools of the trade article features new pro audio products in January 2012 Mix magazine pro audio product section…
The Sound Guy Spectral Machine Review
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Michael Cooper
New from The Sound Guy is a potpourri of effects—wrapped up in one plug-in—that use Fast Fourier Transform to massage and mangle audio. Flanging, multiband tremolo, equalization and pitch shifting are just the beginning. Other processors virtually transform vocals into keyboard instruments or robots to startling effect. But the biggest eyebrow-raiser is Spectral Machine’s list price: only $49.95….
Retro Powerstrip Channel Strip Review
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Kevin Becka
Some manufacturers produce products that are the best one-trick ponies money can buy, while others attempt to pack a wide range of features into a rackmountable or desktop unit. The Retro Powerstrip channel strip adheres to the latter philosophy with great results and no corners cut. The Powerstrip features a tube preamp with lots of clean gain; a Pultec-style, 2-band passive tube EQ; and variable-mu tube compressor in a two-rackspace unit. …
PreSonus Studio One Pro Version 2 Review
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Brandon T. Hickey
At the end of 2009, I first became familiar with Studio One and was immediately impressed with the overall look, ease of use and extensive features. The next upgrade, Version 1.5, added QuickTime movie imports, uploads to SoundCloud integrated into the mastering suite, “time stretching” and numerous other tweaks and improvements in response to user feedback. My expectations were high for V. 2, reviewed here, especially with radical innovations like the first DAW implementation of Celemony’s Melodyne ARA technology, which seamlessly integrates the popular pitch-correction software into Studio One. …
Slate Digital Virtual Console Collection Review
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Barry Rudolph
The Slate Digital Virtual Console Collection plug-ins model the sonically pleasing harmonic distortion, noise and saturation effects of overdriving the transistorized channel and mix bus amplifier circuits used in four of the most highly prized vintage English and American analog recording consoles ever made. …
MUSIC
John Lennon Educational Tour Bus | Bringing Music to the People
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Tom Kenny
It is unquestionably one of the most demanding jobs in audio, requiring a skill set that spans songwriting, musicianship, studio production, live sound, video production/post, IT and distribution. Ten months on the road, each day a new town, each day a new project from start to finish. It might be songwriting, it might be recording a band, it might be a documentary video. You never really know. The talent might be 13 years old and never have touched a musical instrument, or they might be in high school and in a band. They might just be in for a tour to learn about careers. …
Brian Tarquin Launches TVFilmTrax.com, Relocates Jungle Room Studios
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Matt Gallagher
Emmy Award–winning guitarist/composer/producer Brian Tarquin parlayed more than 20 years of experience in producing original music for libraries such as FirstCom, Megatrax, Sonoton, One Music, Killer Tracks and 5th Floor Music (ABC-TV) into creating TVFilmTrax.com, his new online production music library offering downloadable tracks to media professionals for licensing. …
B Town Expands
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
Burlington, Ontario–based B Town Sound recently hosted an expansion party to celebrate its Studios B and C rehearsal spaces coming online. The Hamilton Music Awards–winning studio (Best Recording Studio of the Year; also nominated this year) caters to small and large ensembles—both local and international—and is owned by engineer/producer Justin Koop. …
Drake ‘Take Care’
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
Drake may be the hardest-working artist in the hip-hop and R&B world. Three weeks after his 2010 Thank Me Later release, the artist and his longtime producer, Noah “40” Shebib, began production for what would become the 2011 album Take Care, released late November and debuting at Number 1 on the Billboard 200. In between tour dates, appearances at the MTV Awards, BET Weekend and other promotional jaunts, Drake would lay down tracks on the bus and in hotel rooms to the producer’s Mbox-based mobile rig. …
Reliving the Grateful Dead
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Candace Horgan
The Grateful Dead’s Europe 1972 tour is legend among Deadheads, in no small part because it spawned four prior releases, including Europe 72 and Steppin’ Out. This year, Dead archivist David Lemieux spearheaded a 73-CD box set of the entire tour. All 7,200 sets sold out, and each show has been released individually. A three-person team made it happen….
The Loop Studios
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
Coming off of the recent Linkin Park tour as programming/playback engineer/keyboard tech, Dylan Ely announces the opening of his new studio, The Loop Studios (Corpus Christi, Texas). Ely and his wife, Michelle, co-designed and built the space with consulting from studio designer Frank Comentale. The facility is centered on a Pro Tools|HD5 system with Genelec 8050 5.1 surround monitoring, a plethora of outboard goodies, amps and instruments….
Masque Sound Sparkles at 75
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
Jersey Boys, Billy Elliott, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats—Masque Sound has been integral to Broadway sound ever since three stagehands, in 1936, pooled their resources to create a new firm. Celebrating 75 years in the business under the leadership of third-generation owner Geoff Shearing, this SR/design/install company continues to expand its services, whether it’s a move to a larger space, purchasing Professional Wireless Systems in 2002 or adding a permanent systems install division….
Turner Turns to Lawo
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
Turner Studios, the broadcast production division of Turner Entertainment Group, has taken delivery of a second Lawo mc290 production console in its Audio Control Room 21 (ACR21), handling live sports studio shows and sports integration. The desk is configured with 48 channel faders, 16 central faders, 256 channels of AES I/O, 48 analog ins and 64 analog outs. The console’s core is tied to a Nova 73 HD MADI router with 192 channels of MADI I/O using fail-over redundant connections. For this project, the Lawo Nova 73 HD was expanded to 40 MADI I/O ports, providing access to eight sound stage/studios and other shared resources such as a 64-channel I/O Pro Tools|HD system and the other four Audio Control Rooms. The 8,000×8,000 Nova 73 HD router is configured for approximately 1,300 signals in and 1,000 signals out. …
LIVE
Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Tour Profile
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Candace Horgan
Although they have shared the stage together numerous times during the course of their 10-year marriage, last year marked the first time that guitar wizards Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi recorded an album together, Revelator. They assembled the 11-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band for the project and hit the road in the spring; in October, over the course of 21 days and 14 shows, they recorded material for their first live album….
All Access: Chickenfoot
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, Photos and Text By Steve Jennings
When you assemble Sammy Hagar (vocals, guitar), Joe Satriani (guitars), Michael Anthony (bass, vocals) and drummer Kenny Aronoff (filling in for Chad Smith), you get supergroup Chickenfoot, who bring classic rock ’n’ roll to each venue. Mix caught up with the group and crew at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater….
FixIt: Evanescence Front-of-House Engineer Eddie Mapp
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM
Having the option of four compressors on each channel [of the Midas PRO9] that retain your settings as you scroll through is invaluable. The adaptive compressor is amazing on drums and percussion, and I’m using two multiband compressors, a pitch and a delay for vocals, with two plate reverbs for drums. The ability to sidechain either the compressor or gate from any channel is now a must-have for my mixing setup. Another great feature is the KVM switch that allows me to have my Mac Mini on the right-hand screen….
20 Years for Audio Logic Systems
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
What began as a small audio production company, Audio Logic Systems (Bloomington, Minn.) now boasts full-service production and installation services, including the recently upgraded Bethel University’s (St. Paul, Minn.) Great Hall performance venue (pictured). According to director of operations John Simshauser, “The acoustical challenges of this highly reverberant space were minimized by the application of a d&b audiotechnik Q1 line array and a flown cardioid Q-sub array. The Q1 speakers are flown in a left/right main system with a center array covering the long throw to the balcony seats. The design maximized the visual impact of the system while maximizing the coherence of the audio system.”…
Church’s New KARAi System
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Sarah Benzuly
Christ Fellowship Church’s flagship Palm Beach Gardens worship center is the first U.S. facility to take delivery of the new L-Acoustics KARAi system, as well as installing SB18i enclosures. Designed in SOUNDVISION, the three KARAi arrays are flown in an L/C/R configuration concealed in soffits above the stage of the 2,200-seat octagonal sanctuary….
Dante in Inter-M Gear
Nov 22, 2011 2:05 PM
Inter-M, South Korea–based P.A. and installed sound manufacturer, will begin collaborating with Audinate to produce a line of products that will feature Dante, the latter’s patented media-networking technology. …
CURRENT
AES Tackles Digital Cinema
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, Compiled by Sarah Benzuly
The Audio Engineering Society has formed a provisional committee to review audio reproduction for digital cinema and television. Spearheaded by Brian McCarty, managing director at Coral Sea Studios (Australia), the new AES Technical Committee on Sound for Digital Cinema & Television, AESTC-SDCTV, is planning a meeting in Los Angeles in early 2012. To participate in this event or to join the AESTC-SDCTV committee, contact Brian McCarty. …
Lawo Acquires Innovason
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, Compiled by Sarah Benzuly
Console manufacturer Innovason’s products and trademarks are now owned by Lawo AG following the company’s acquisition of Innovason’s majority shareholding in April 2008. According to Marcel Babazadeh, Innovason international sales director, “Our focus for the future is on the continued development of the Eclipse platform. The difference is that we will be able to pursue this development with more resources available to us than before.” Following this move, Hervé de Caro is now product manager for Eclipse; Nicolas Gozdowski will continue in his role as service engineer; and Benoit Quiniou in R&D….
New Networking Standard in the Works
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, Compiled by Sarah Benzuly
Addressing the need for interoperability between products from many different manufacturers, X192—an audio network standard created by an AES standards task group chaired by Kevin Gross—will provide manufacturers with the means to remain with the network technology they are invested in while also interfacing with products that support other networks….
Poetic License: The Engineer
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Michael Golub
Recording Engineer Michael Golub Writes a Poem About Engineering in Mix magazine January 2012 Issue…
Steve Vai to Receive Les Paul Award at 27th Annual TEC Awards
Nov 7, 2011 1:27 PM
TalkBack: How Did You Get Into Game Audio?
Jan 6, 2012 2:02 PM, Compiled by Sarah Benzuly
I started doing sound design as a child, recording my sister’s voice and then editing it with razors I stole from my father, cutting the tape and putting it back together to change and reverse the phrases. I then found out that I could achieve better performances from talking through a tube or similar items to make it sound even stranger. At 16, I developed my first polyphonic sequencer using Pascal and Assembly (as a tool for composing music for a game that I was developing as a hobby). …
DEPARTMENTS
Editor’s Note: The Importance of Crew
Jan 1, 2012 9:00 AM, By Tom Kenny, Editorial Director
When my younger daughter Jesse was in the fifth grade, her class at Thornhill Elementary in Oakland, Calif., put on an original musical based on Aesop’s Fables. Two moms had written it, one directing the action, the other playing piano and coaching the singers. I was asked to be the Tech Parent. We put four mics on the stage, with two speakers on sticks and a simple Mackie board at the rear of the cafeteria; my daughter was to be lighting director, running her own board on a riser. At the final rehearsal, I reminded the backstage team to show up dressed all in black….
