Guitar Center and GC Pro announced the delivery of the SSL AWS 900 Analogue Workstation System to The Trak Meet recording studios (St. Louis, MI). The Trak Meet is home to the hip hop production duo–Alonzo “Zo” Lee Jr. and Shamar “Sham” Daugherty–the Trak Starz. David Angress, Guitar Center executive vice president, announced the sale, which comes directly after the firm’s appointment as the exclusive U.S. sales, service and support organization for the SSL AWS 900.
One of the key factors of the sale of the AWS 900 to the Trak Starz was the close working relationship they have developed with GC’s Bridgeton, MO sales professional, Joe Thomas. “When Zo and Sham were in the planning stages of designing and building The Trak Meet, we sat down several times to discuss what their vision was for the ideal recording studio,” remarks Thomas. “Zo has been a customer of GC for over four years, and he has trusted our judgment and recommendations regarding what gear will work best for his situation. Based on their requirements, the SSL AWS 900 was the perfect solution — it has the functionality as well as the legendary SSL sound and world-class reputation. In addition, we were able to help them out with a custom designed console desk that houses the 900, which blends in perfectly with the studio’s architectural design. They are very happy customers!”
The Trak Meet owners Zo and Sham, who recently completed working on the soundtrack for the animated DreamWorks film, Shark Tale, are currently writing songs for upcoming Jennifer Lopez and Chingy projects and have remixed the Britney Spears and Madonna collaboration “Me Against the Music,” as well as Ludacris’s “Splash Waterfalls.” The Trak Starz were also the driving force behind new Capitol Records artist Houston’s hit single “I Like That,” which they wrote and produced.
The producers are very excited about working in their own studio with the SSL AWS 900 Analogue Workstation System. “The nature of our business, and the clients we record or mix, has us working on SSL boards all the time,” notes Zo. “Being able to offer our clients a new work environment designed to meet their specific recording requirements, including an SSL console that interfaces directly with Pro Tools, is a more cost-effective recording alternative to traveling to larger cities to do our work,” Zo concludes. Sham echoes Zo’s sentiments: “SSL is obviously an established world standard, and the new 900 takes their legendary sonic quality plus preeminent reputation and now makes it available to the high-end project studio environment. I think this board is going to revolutionize the market and the entire recording process. The 900 will enable facilities like ours to produce materials on par with the million-dollar studios at a fraction of the cost — and that’s good for everyone.”
In addition, Guitar Center outfitted The Trak Meet with Digidesign’s Pro Control 24 worksurface, MH192 high-definition audio interfaces, Apple PowerMac G5 computer with 23″ HD display, amplifiers from Crown, microphones including BLUE Bottle, Neumann U87AI and Sony C800G, KRK E8T monitors and outboard gear from Universal Audio, Empirical Labs, TubeTech, dbx, Trident and Groove Tubes, software solutions from Waves, Syncro Arts, McDSP and a host of other gear.
For more information about this new product, please go to www.solid-state-logic.com and www.guitarcenter.com.
