news
Chris Blackwell: FROM LP TO DVD, STILL LIVING THE ISLAND LIFE
As a "glamour profession," the recording industry is full of people whose names and faces are familiar to the general public. Yet for the...
news
news
Year-End Tax Tips
A few lucky road dogs are going to get a little something extra in a few months. Their money back. From the Government.If you've...
news
ELLIOT SCHEINER SINGS THE PRAISES OF 5.1
In the last couple of years, veteran engineer Elliot Scheiner has become one of the recording world's most passionate and articulate advocates of 5.1
news
PRECiSION MASTERING: TWO DECADES IN HOLLYWOOD
Precision Mastering, based in Hollywood, Calif., is celebrating 20 years as one of the top mastering houses in the industry. Founded in 1979 as...
news
CLINT BLACK : UNPLUGGED WITH A DIFFERENCE
To Clint Black, challenge is the name of the game. "You gotta have some of that going or you're just going to go through...
news
Spectral Design AudioCube[superscript]3-II: Mastering and Audio Restoration Workstation
Founded in 1994, Spectral Design has been quietly-or perhaps not so quietly-making a name for itself as one of the world's major developers of...
news
Getting Elemental with Eric Ambel
Eric "Roscoe" Ambel is regarded by many fans of Americana and roots-influenced rock music to be one of the most inspirational and sensitive producers
news
I Came, I Saw, IRCAM: A VISIT TO FRANCE’S PREMIER MUSIC TECHNOLOGY THINK TANK
Keeping on last month's topic of travel, the great thing about getting out of your own country for a while is that you realize...
news
Brian Malouf: SHARING THE SECRETS OF HIS CROSSOVER SUCCESS
There's a real art to making successful transitions, whether in a career or in a life. Brian Malouf has managed to gracefully make more...
Films-TV
SOUND FX FOR “SLEEPY HOLLOW”: HEADS WILL ROLL, HORSES WILL RUN
A Tim Burton movie would seem on the surface to be a sound editor's playpen-stylized imagery, dark characters, evocative settings. Whether it's the scissor
news
COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT : IRWIN FISCH
Growing up in Queens, N.Y., Irwin Fisch gave little thought to a career in music. After high school, he earned a degree in journalism...
news
MediaFORM CD-3706P: CD DUPLICATOR/PRINTER SYSTEM
The full name of this product is the MediaFORM CD-3706P Autoloading Standalone Spindle-Based CD-ROM Copier and Printing Solution, which just about says
news
Speck Electronics XTRAMIXcxi: ULTRA-COMPACT 40x8x2 SYNTH/LINE MIXER
For the past 25 years, Speck Electronics has been providing high-quality mixers that address the needs of recording and touring professionals. Throughout
Live Sound
Metallica
Michael Kamen is sitting back, looking over the sea at his home in Tuscany, Italy. He's coming off a tremendous first half of 1999,...
Facilities
Old House Recording Studio
Not many prospective studio owners can imagine a 145-year-old farmhouse transformed into a recording facility. But, in the Bible Belt town of Gastonia,
news
Big Blue Meenie: RECORDING STUDIOS
Hundreds of hardcore, punk and metal bands have fueled Big Blue Meenie Recording Studios since its inception a decade ago in the basement of...
news
Mastering Forum: TWEAKING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, YET
As we close out the '90s, it's instructive to think back on all the changes we've seen over the course of the decade. In...
news
Soundtrack For A Century: SPANNING RECORDED MUSIC’S LEGACY
They say in the entertainment business that you're only as good as your last hit. But poised as we are at the end of...
news
DAVID HEWITT ON CAPTURING NATALIE MERCHANT LIVE
When Natalie Merchant decided to end her 13-month Ophelia tour with a week on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theater, it seemed a good...
New Products
PLUG-INS AT AES: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN
Last month, we presented some of the hot product hits from September's Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York. But with so many plug-in...
news
TC Electronic Finalizer 96: IT’S NOT JUST FOR MASTERING
ombining a host of processing functions in a single-rackspace package, TC Electronic's Finalizer 96 has more to offer than any unit I have ever...
1999
December 1, 1999
December 1, 1999 Technology Spectral Design AudioCube3-II: Mastering and Audio Restoration Workstation MediaFORM CD-3706P: CD DUPLICATOR/PRINTER SYSTEM Avalon Design VT-747sp: STEREO OPTO-COMPRESSOR/PROGRAM EQUALIZER Speck...
news
Chicago’s Alien Soundscapes
If the name Alien Soundscapes Incorporated conjures up some nightmare vision out cf The X-Files or the paintings of H.R. Geiger, rest assured the...
news
Crane Song Trakker: ANALOG CLASS A COMPRESSOR/LIMITER
The Crane Song Trakker is a single-channel, all-Class-A analog compressor-limiter that uses all discrete components in the signal path. Housed in a single-rackspace
news
FACILITY SPOTLIGHT: DAVE DOES IMAX: TORONTO STAGE POINTS TOWARD A BIG-SCREEN TOMORROW
It would not be completely off base to imagine a team of sled dogs trekking across Dome Audio Video & Effects. The two-story facility...
news
RECORDIN’ “LA VIDA LOCA”: THE MAKING OF A HARD DISK HIT
Ricky Martin has been stopping traffic lately. Literally. Performances on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and elsewhere, on the heels of
news
Pendulum Audio OCL-2: OPTICAL COMPRESSOR
Why the world needs another optical compressor remained a mystery until I tried Pendulum Audio's OCL-2. I used the 2-channel OCL-2 as a vocal...
news
Tom Dowd, Part 2: ON RECORDING OTIS, ARETHA, CLAPTON, THE ALLMANS AND ROD STEWART
Forget the introductory hoo-hah (see last issue). We continue our conversation with recording legend Tom Dowd.How did Otis Redding strike you?Oh, he was
Films-TV
SCORING FOR THE BIGGEST SCREEN: STEVE WOOD CLIMBS “EVEREST” AND SWIMS TO THE BOTTOM OF “THE LIVING SEA”
The first time composer/engineer Steve Wood wrote for orchestra, he had to purchase a one-month pass to his chiropractor. No joke. His back went...
news
ROCKING IN L.A. WITH 311
Time should not be a luxury in the recording process, yet so often it is. Sometimes time is short due to budget, and other...
news
It’s a Large and Confusing World, After All: THOUGHTS ON DEALING WITH A GLOBAL INDUSTRY
No one speaks English, and everything's broken...- Tom Waits, "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)"There is not a more self-centered
news
RODE NTV: TRUE CONDENSER VALVE MICROPHONE
RODE microphones, which are designed and manufactured in Australia and distributed in the United States by Event Electronics, have earned an honorable
news
NEW STUDIO SPOTLIGHT: 48 WINDOWS OPENS IN SANTA MONICA
Promising a fresh perspective with a creative approach, 48 Windows officially opened its doors this summer with a gala celebration attended by several
news
Apogee PSX-100: TWO CHANNEL 24-BIT/96KHZ CONVERTER
For more than a decade, Apogee Electronics has been a pioneer in digital audio technology, releasing numerous products such as state-of-the-art digital
news
SAVAGE GARDEN FIND “AFFIRMATION” AT WALLY WORLD
Mixer Dave Way is standing in front of an SSL 9000E listening to the mix he finished the night before. Next to him, producer...
news
Abyssinian Sons Studio: FILTER FINDS A HOME-AND STUDIO-IN CHICAGO
Tucked away in Chicago's arty Wicker Park area is Abyssinian Sons Studio, the creative launch pad for Filter's Richard Patrick. It's more than just...
Facilities
REGIONAL STUDIO SPOTLIGHT: GRAVITY STUDIOS: CHICAGO FACILITY BUILDS A B ROOM FOR ALT-ROCK CLIENTELE
The down-to-earth vibe and vintage gear at Gravity Studios in Chicago draw demo work from local alternative rockers such as Smashing Pumpkins. But how
Live Sound
TOUR PROFILE: Catching “Up” with R.E.M.
It was the end of the world as we know it, according to the Aztec calendar, R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe announced. But Stipe and...
news
Engineers Compare Notes on Monitoring for Surround
WITH THE SUCCESS OF HOME THEATER SYSTEMS AND DVD-VIDEO, AS WELL AS THE UPCOMING LAUNCH OF DVD-AUDIO, there's no doubt that surround sound is...
Live Sound
Mixing the Money Channel: FOH ENGINEERS SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE ON VOCAL PROCESSING
In most live entertainment situations, and almost all of those that feature a singer, the FOH engineer's highest priority is the lead vocal mic....
news
Classic Tracks: Rickie Lee Jones’ “Chuck E.’s In Love”
In the spring of 1979, Rickie Lee Jones' "Chuck E.'s in Love" appeared like an oasis in a desert of disco and arena rock....
news
Marvin Etzioni: LOST IN THE MOMENT
Musician and songwriter Marvin Etzioni brings his passion for music and his own artistic sensibilities to all of his production work. As a result,...