SuperAnalogueâ„¢ Sound Perfect for All Styles of Music
SHREVEPORT, LA – Blade Studios, the newly opened name-sake studio for super drummer and co-owner Brady Blade, was built to bring the New York/LA recording experience to the growing recording and film industry in Louisiana. To meet that design expectation, Blade chose a 48-channel Solid State Logic Duality SE as the centerpiece for Studio A. Duality’s signal routing flexibility combined with sophisticated DAW control addressed the needs of all working styles, while providing SSL’s benchmark, industry standard SuperAnalogue™ sound quality.
Pictured are Blade Studios’ partners; Chris Bell, chief engineer (seated on left); Brady Blade, studio name-sake and co-owner (on right) and Scott Crompton, executive producer and CEO (standing).
“My partners, Brady Blade and Executive Producer and CEO Scott Crompton, felt that the time was right for a facility of this stature in Louisiana,� says Grammy Award-nominated Chris Bell, chief engineer and partner, Blade Studios. “To accomplish our goals, there was really no other console on the market that could match Duality. Based on my experience working on 9000 J and K series consoles over the years, I knew I could implicitly trust that Duality was going to be right for Studio A. We worked with the Russ Berger Design Group to build a great sounding room, so it was important for us to have the best quality electronics to match. Duality really sounds amazing.�
Studio A’s recording room can hold up to 30 musicians, allowing the studio to address acts ranging in styles from acoustic to zydeco, including small orchestras for film, gaming and commercial work. With the emphasis on sound quality, Bell uses Duality to shape the sonic signature of each track before the final mix.
“One of the reasons I love Duality is because I do all my sounds up front and commit to them while the musicians are still in the studio,� continues Bell. “With Duality I know that the sound quality is guaranteed right from the start, so when I go to mix, I just do fine tweaks. We have been seeing that our clients are returning to the concept of great sound quality over recording in the box, so we have a collection of outboard mic pres as sonic paintbrushes for color and we are also tracking to two-inch tape through a CLASP system to Pro Tools®. Duality brings all the outboard gear, the 24-track deck and the DAW together for a streamlined workflow.�
Since opening in March 2011, Blade Studios has hosted sessions with Darryl Jones (tour and recording bass player for the Rolling Stones and formerly with the late Miles Davis), completed ADR for the feature film Machine Gun Preacher with Gerard Butler, recorded music for a video game and opened its doors to local artists. Every session with Duality has received high praise for workflow and sound. Beyond sound and operational quality, the green aspects of Duality were also of great importance.
“In the past, it cost a lot of money to leave a large format console on all the time,� states Bell. “When I demoed Duality and found out the power supplies are built into it, eliminating a huge rack in the machine room, I was blown away. SSL really thought about how people work today. Duality is a perfect fit for the room on all levels.�
Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.
