Alan Parsons makes a move toward electronic and computer-generated music on his latest album, A Valid Path (Artemis/5.1 Entertainment), his first in studio album in five years. The album features collaborations with Crystal Method, Shpongle, Jeremy Parsons, Uberzone, Tthe Nortec Collective and PJ Olsson, who also now sings with the Alan Parsons Live Project, and used Steinberg’s Nuendo to help accomplish the task.
The bulk of the album’s creation and production took place at Parson’s Santa Barbara, Calif., studio, and often happened simultaneously. Parsons took a “mix-as-you-go” approach, incorporating virtual instruments with outboard gear.
“With Nuendo, I can automate any function at any time during the production process—mixing is just a formality,” notes Parsons. “For this project, I barely used my console.”
In classic Parsons style, A Valid Path merges cultures, sensibilities, instrumentation and artists in a unique but natural blend. Polyrhythmic drumbeats and soaring guitar solos fill the album, while dance loops and heavily processed vocals fuse with unusual chord progressions. He used acoustic instrumental lines with computer-generated algorithms, using Nuendo’s 32-bit floating-point audio engine and open architecture.
For more information on Parsons, log on to www.alanparsons.com. For more about Nuendo, visit www.steinberg.net.
