April 1, 2010

Features

TV on the ‘Fringe’

Parallel universes. Cryonics. Mind control. Clairvoyance. Mutations. Bald-headed Observers. What do these things sound like? Figuring that out and bringing them to life is the weekly challenge for the sound design team behind J.J. Abrams’ hit Fox series Fringe….

Location Recorders | When Two Channels Won’t Cut It

During the past few years, the industry has been flooded with portable “pocket” 2-track digital recorders. But in an increasingly complex world of location recording, two channels are sometimes not enough. Even on a relatively simple job…

Product Reviews

Tech: New Products, April 2010

Mix magazine April 2010 tools of the trade article features new pro audio products in April Mix magazine pro audio product section …

Alicia’s Keys Technology Spotlight

Kevin Becka talks to engineer Ann Mincieli about creating Native Instruments’ Alicia’s Keys virtual instrument of her Yamaha C3 Neo grand piano for the April 2010 issue of Mix Magazine….

Black Lion Audio FM192 Interface Review

The FM192 is a collaboration of Black Lion Audio (BLA) and Requisite Audio Engineering (RAE). Chicago-based Black Lion modifies audio equipment and is best known for its Digidesign 002 and 003 mods, but the company also builds preamps, summing mixers and an external clock…

API 527 Compressor Review

API’s 527 single-channel compressor is a 500 Series module based on the company’s 225L discrete channel comp and rackmount 2500 stereo bus compressor. All in the same family of VCA-based compressors, the 527 has continuously variable attack, release and ratio controls …

Neumann TLM 102 Microphone Review

On first sight of the new Neumann TLM 102, one might ask, “Honey, who shrunk the TLM 103?” Indeed, the TLM 102 looks like a miniaturized TLM 103, the mic that made quite a splash on its introduction in 1998 as the most affordable offering ever from Neumann. …

Waves Vocal Rider Review

Tight budgets or deadlines don’t always allow for the manual line-by-line tweaking of fader levels on a vocal track to perfection at mixdown. Waves’ Vocal Rider automatically rides the vocal’s levels for you, saving time and avoiding tedium. …

Live Mix

Fela! Tour Profile

Mix magazine interview with sound designer on designing audio for Fela Broadway Tour tour. …

U.S. Audio and Lighting Goes North

U.S. Audio and Lighting opens up a Northern California office as reported by Mix magazine in the April 2010 issue …

Jason Aldean Tour Profile

Mix magazine interview with audio engineers and live sound crew on mixing audio for Jason Aldean 2010 tour. Tips, techniques and equipment applications from Jason Aldean’s front of house (FOH) engineer. Mix magazine April 2010…

FixIt: Norah Jones FOH Engineer Brett Dicus

Above all else, the most critical sound reinforcement tool that we bring with us to every date is Norah’s Neumann vocal microphone. She’s been using some variant of a Neumann microphone or a Neumann capsule with a Sennheiser RF transmitter for almost all of her touring career….

Jann Arden Tours Canada

Multi-Platinum artist Jann Arden is currently touring with her band in support of her eighth studio release, Free. Vancouver-based Gearforce—which specializes in high-end concert rental systems—is providing the tour with a complete package that includes an L-Acoustics KUDO large-format line source P.A. system…

Load In: Sound Reinforcement News, April 2010

Read Mix News For the Concert Touring Professional In the April 2010 Issue of Mix …

Road-Worthy Gear: New Sound Reinforcement Products, April 2010

Mix magazine new sound reinforcement products column in the April 2010 issue of Mix magazine live sound products section article…

All Access: Tegan and Sara

Singing/songwriting sisters Tegan and Sara (say that five times fast!) are out in support of their latest effort, Sainthood, with fellow musicians Shaun Huberts (bass), Edward “Ted” Gowans (guitar/keys) and Johnny “Five” Andrews (drums); they will open up for Paramore this summer….

Music

Music: John Butler Trio

What are the odds that a singer/songwriter/guitarist from a small town near the Western Australian city of Perth—where 14 years ago he was busking on the streets—would develop an international following for his infectious and powerful amalgam of dancehall reggae, rootsy blues-rock, harmony-filled pop and Hendrix-influenced guitar …

Music: Frank Vignola

New York–based guitarist Frank Vignola has tackled nearly every style imaginable during the course of a long career that has included work as a sideman for the likes of Madonna, Ringo Starr, Leon Redbone and Donald Fagen, and as a bandleader fronting his own groups, which have played everything from smooth jazz to fusion to standards. …

Classic Tracks: Stephen Bishop’s “On and On”

If you happened to take a course on the art of songwriting given recently at the Songwriting Institute of Los Angeles and were not aware that the middle-aged fellow sitting in your midst was in fact a highly decorated recording artist who had a string of hits in the late 1970s…

Sessions

Clean Cuts Audio

Full-service sound for picture providers began 30 years ago as an independent record label. Founder Jack Heyrman was following his passion, producing artists such as Phil Woods, Wall Matthews, and Dr. John when, in 1985, he got a call to produce music for an ad agency. …

Project Studio: Randy’s Recording

Randy Green had been working steadily as a musician in Madison, Wis., since 1966, when, in 1985, he built a recording studio in his garage near Cottage Grove, Wis. “I wanted to record myself,” he explains. “In those days, the average musician never saw a studio. …

‘Chase the Devil’

Gary Lucas is a mind-bending guitar master, and vocalist Dean Bowman fuses authentic blues and avant-jazz. Together, they’ve invented a new kind of gospel—a naked, syncopated, spiritual sound that almost has to be heard to be believed. …

Track Sheet, April 2010

Read Mix Report on New Recording Sessions Across the United States …

L.A. Grapevine, April 2010

When it came to decide on the focus of my final column, I knew it could only be Jeff Greenberg, my friend of 35 years, and his baby, The Village Recorder. Not only was Greenberg the first person I interviewed for “Grapevine,”…

Nashville Skyline, April 2010

We live in a world where we’re barraged every day by how bad things are,” says Phil Madeira, the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer who operates out of a Franklin studio he calls Planet of the Tapes. “But most people really want to do good.” …

New York Metro, April 2010

Those of us whose lives revolve around audio know our field has many gifts that keep on giving. One is the fact that there’s something new to learn every day while we track, mix, master, edit, overdub or perform 1,000 other sonic tasks. …

Tech’s Files

Tech’s Files: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Broadcast audio signal chained examined and explained by Mix colunnist Eddie Ciletti …

Current/Industry News

Welcome to Mix Nashville 2010

Promotional video for Mix Nashville 2010…

MPSE Announces Winners of 2010 Golden Reel Awards

Audix’s Silver Lining

“To commemorate our 25th year, we chose to make the i5-SILVER because it represents simplicity, elegance and performance. And besides that, it just looks awesome in silver!”…