Chris Shepard (pictured), studio manager for Chicago Recording Company, has captured some of the largest music festivals of 2005 with his remote studio. “This year, we’ve recorded stages at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and Vegoose,” he notes. Shepard’s own remote recording rig features 48 channels of TRUE Systems preamps straight to Pro Tools|HD and RADAR 24s for backup. “We’re not only multitracking the shows, we’re mixing them live for video and Webcast!”
Speaking on the TRUE Systems preamps, Shepard says, “I’m sold on these things. For the cost, you can’t beat them. I like the sound when you really gain them up—that sound when you really turn something up loud and it’s not just loud, it has gain to it. So I ride them as hot as I can before clip. I really like them.”
Chicago Recording Company has also installed TRUE System microphone preamps in several of it’s “13 and growing” studios. “Many of the engineers have also purchased these pre’s once they’ve had a chance to use them,” says Shepard. “When we were doing some of the Coldplay record here at CRC, I turned the production team on to them and they loved them.”
The Elvis Costello recording sessions for the The Delivery Man CD made extensive use of his TRUE Systems analog mic preamps, says Shepard, whose seven-case fly-pack goes wherever he goes. Costello’s album was recorded very quickly in Oxford, Miss., at producer Dennis Herring’s Sweet Tea Studio. It also includes a bonus 5-track disc recorded at Delta Recording Studio in Clarksdale, Miss. “The single ‘Monkey to Man’ was recorded in Clarksdale,” recalls Shepard. “I think we recorded the whole thing with eight microphones, and it ended up being the single.”
Shepard’s TRUE Systems preamps were also part of the gear arsenal used for tracking and mixing Costello’s Grammy-nominated DVD, Club Date Live In Memphis with bandmates Steve Naïve on keys, bass player Davey Faragher and drummer Pete Thomas. The 5.1 surround mix was done later in studio 5 at CRC.
For more information on Chicago Recording Company, visit www.chicagorecording.com. For more information on TRUE Systems, visit www.true-systems.com.
