Safety Harbor, FL (August 3, 2017)—Recording and mix engineer Chris Sclafani made sure to include a copy of Metric Halo’s ChannelStrip plug-in when Ed Sheeran asked for help with his home studio.
“Metric Halo ChannelStrip was and is my favorite EQ by far,” says Sclafani. “It lets me carve up problem spots by notch filtering as well as shape the source to sound full and clear. I use it on all my vocal tracks as well as acoustics, keys of all types, and drums, to name a few things.
“Also, the compressor can really squash things in a beautifully musical way. Being able to use the ChannelStrip EQ in conjunction with the compressor can really help shape an instrument to stand out in the mix with ease. It’s the first EQ I go to when starting to shape vocal sounds, whether it be during tracking to give the singer a little more high end or afterwards when I’m doing more vocal production and helping the track sit in the mix.”
Sclafani worked with Sheeran in 2015 on vocals, guitars, drums and other instruments for X, which earned an Album of the Year Grammy nomination. The pair also worked together on 2017’s Divide.
ChannelStrip was reportedly at the top of his “must-have plug-ins” list when Sclafani was setting up Sheeran’s home studio with Joe Rubel over the summer of 2016. He also put it in a mobile rig to record song ideas and parts for Sheeran and producer Benny Blanco on the road. Part of that work ended up on Justin Bieber’s album, Purpose, which earned Sclafani his second Grammy nomination (Album of the Year, 2017).
“This summer, I’ll be going on tour with Ed and Benny Blanco again to start work on the next project,” he says. “On both my bus rig and the rig I set up in the venue, you can bet Metric Halo ChannelStrip will be front and center.”
Metric Halo
www.mhlabs.com
