news
Kevin Killen: ON RECORDING PETER GABRIEL, ELVIS COSTELLO AND MORE
Kevin Killen has worked with some of the most brilliant artists in pop music. His diverse discography is evidence that he's an all-around type,...
news
Facilities
RECORDING ELECTRIC GUITAR
It is difficult to imagine what popular music in the latter half of the 20th century would have sounded like if the electric guitar...
news
dbx DDP: DIGITAL DYNAMICS PROCESSOR
The last couple of years have seen the birth of several cost-effective, all-in-one digital dynamics processors loaded to the gills with algorithms for
news
The Second British Invasion: UK TECHNOLOGY IN THE U.S. LIVE SOUND MARKET
When The Beatles played their last concert, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park in 1966, the equipment list for the show could have been written...
news
Audio Precision Portable One: TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS
Audio Precision introduced the System One in 1985 and the Portable One in 1990. Since then, many features and new capabilities have been added....
Live Sound
The Tour That Never Was MARILYN MANSON and Hole
The pairing of Marilyn Manson and Hole was surrounded by controversy from the get-go. Unofficially dubbed the "Beautiful Monsters" tour by Hole bassist
news
CLM Dynamics Expounder: STEREO DYNAMIC EQUALIZER
The Expounder, from Scottish company CLM Dynamics, is an analog stereo/dual mono 4-band parametric equalizer with stereo high/lowpass filters that expands
news
DACS MicAmp: MICROPHONE PREAMPLIFIER
The exhibit floor of an AES show is hardly the place to judge the quality of a mic preamp, but Lew Frisch of Comprehensive...
Live Sound
TOUR PROFILE: Lauryn Hill Live: Hip Hop Superstar Hits the Road
Lauryn Hill was only 15 years old (and working part-time as a soap opera actress) when she got together with high school classmate Wyclef...
news
BARENAKED LADIES: SHOWING GROWTH WITH “STUNT”
"The thing about this record is that it was their fourth studio album. I can't emphasize enough how marvelous it was to work with...
Films-TV
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE
In 1977, in a galaxy very close to home, Star Wars changed the way movies are made and released, ushering in the age of...
news
Soundtracs DPC-II: LARGE-FORMAT DIGITAL MIXING CONSOLE
Of all the incredible advances currently occurring in digital audio, perhaps the most impressive of all is in the area of digital mixers. The...
news
Lab Analysis: Sundholm Acoustics SL6.5w Monitors
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS The Sundholm SL6.5w cabinet is a bass-reflex design with a flared 2-inch diameter port on the baffle. The cabinet is constructed
1999
May 1, 1999
May 1, 1999 Technology Mackie Pro Touring Speakers: The Mixer Company Gets Serious About Sound Reinforcement Soundtracs DPC-II: LARGE-FORMAT DIGITAL MIXING CONSOLE Ashly Protea:...
Facilities
POST NOTES
The designers of the Soundmaster Integrated Operations Nucleus (ION), which serves as a "universal translator" for various technology standards in the
news
Cool Spins: The Mix Staff Pick Their Current Favorites
The Robert Cray Band: Take Your Shoes Off (Rykodisc) So many times you read a review of a new R&B release, and the press...
news
Royer Labs R-121: RIBBON-VELOCITY STUDIO MICROPHONE
Ribbon mics, by nature, exhibit a warm and friendly tone with a natural figure-8 pattern that's useful in a variety of studio applications. However,...
news
DTV and Your Wireless Microphone
There has been much talk about the sky falling down on wireless microphones. So far the RF environment, like the air quality in major...
news
LOS LOBOS’ CESAR ROSAS: BACK TO THE GARAGE
It was 25 years ago that four guys from Garfield High School in East L.A.-David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Louie Perez and Conrad Lozano-formed Los...
news
Yamaha DSP Factory: PC-BASED RECORDING/MIXING/SIGNAL PROCESSING PLATFORM
Everyone needs a typical gear story to maintain historical perspective when products like the Yamaha DSP Factory come along to shatter price and performance
news
Zaxcom Audio Deva: PORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDER/MIXER
Since the dawn of time, humans have recorded location audio on analog Nagra recorders. Along the way, brave individuals have made forays into other...
news
Spirit 328: DIGITAL 8-BUS MIXING CONSOLE
There are more than a dozen entries in the "low cost" (i.e., less than $10,000) category of digital consoles, but in terms of pricing,...
news
Top Ten Product Hits From Musikmesse
Nearly 100,000 industry enthusiasts ventured to Frankfurt, Germany, to see the latest audio and music technogadgets at the 20th annual Musikmesse, held
news
Adgil Designs The Director: SURROUND MONITORING CONTROL SYSTEM
The demand for surround sound releases-in sound for picture, multimedia and audio-only forms-is on the rise, yet most of us work on consoles designed
news
Roy Thomas Baker: TAKING CHANCES AND MAKING HITS
Instead of simply giving rock fans more of the same, Roy Thomas Baker has managed throughout his long and distinguished career to produce audacious...
news
04/01/Y2K: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ=MSFT) announced today a change in the release schedule of its new operating system, Windows 2000, explaining that extra time was
news
FACILITY SPOTLIGHT: “IT’S ALL WE DO”: SOUND FOR ANIMATION AT ADVANTAGE AUDIO
Upon entering the premises of Advantage Audio in Burbank, the first impression is of decks cleared for action. There's nothing extraneous, nothing out
news
Vocal Recording: IN THEIR OWN WORDS
In the whole realm of recording, there's no place where art and technology are more hopelessly intertwined than in tracking vocals. Ask vocal-recording
news
Fairlight MediaLink: Networking for Multiroom Audio Post Facilities
One paradox of technological progress is that advances in functionality are soon outstripped by users' expectations and demands. For example, though the
Live Sound
Jonathan Deans: A Sound Designer’s Odyssey
Jonathan Deans is one of the most successful sound designers in the current musical theater. His credits as sound designer include Fosse, Ragtime, Mystere,
news
“FOOTLOOSE” ON BROADWAY AND ON CD
Skeptics raised their eyebrows up and down The Great White Way when the Broadway production of the movie Footloose was slated for the boards...
news
Disk-Based Recording To Go: A Guide to Stand-Alone Nonlinear Multitracks
Following is a guide to the top-of-the line offerings from various makers of disk-based recorders-emphasis on recorders. This is not intended to be a
news
Lexicon Studio: DESKTOP AUDIO HARDWARE
In audio circles, the Lexicon name is virtually synonymous with "digital." The first commercial manufacturer of digital audio devices, Lexicon never made
news
Audio Engineering Assoc. R44C: RCA RIBBON MICROPHONE RE-CREATION
For those of us engaged in professional recording on a daily basis, the availability of "classic" microphones is often more a necessity than a...
news
Tascam Digital Dubbers: ON THE DUB STAGE WITH THE MMR-8/MMP-16
Since opening in December 1997, Soundelux Vine Street Studios has been using Tascam digital dubbers as the primary record and playback machines on many
news
“WHEEL” ON THE ROAD
Wheel of Fortune, one of the most successful productions ever launched, went to Hawaii earlier in the year for a week's worth of shows...
news
KMFDM: THE TECHNO REMIX TITANS SAY “ADIOS”
Pioneers in the field of techno remixes and monsters of the industrial arena, KMFDM are specialists in the art of transforming sampled sounds from...
Live Sound
TOUR PROFILE: Matchbox 20
Matchbox 20 has experienced a phenomenal run with their debut CD, You or Someone Like You, which has sold millions of records worldwide and...
1999
April 1, 1999
April 1, 1999 Technology Fairlight MediaLink: Networking for Multiroom Audio Post Facilities Yamaha DSP Factory: PC-BASED RECORDING/MIXING/SIGNAL PROCESSING PLATFORM Zaxcom Audio Deva: PORTABLE DIGITAL...
Facilities
Quad Recording Studios
There is something genuinely comforting about walking into Quad Recording Studios after leaving the hustle of 7th Avenue ten floors below. The wood is
news
SOCK PUPPETS RULE: MTV’S “SIFL ‘N’ OLLY” TAKES MINIMALSM INTO THE KITCHEN
Sifl 'n' Olly, a show peopled by ragamuffin sock puppets with a soundtrack that's literally recorded in a kitchen, fits in with MTV's minimalist...
news
THE BOSTON POPS LIVE ON TOUR
For their 1998 Christmas tour, the Pops carried their own production for the first time in the group's touring history, squeezing sound and lights...