AUSTIN, TEXAS: “Indie. Innovative. Intelligent.” yellow DOG Studios’ slogan is as true as a slogan can be. A place that artists as diverse as Brandon Jenkins, SQUINT, Pine Top Perkins, Mike Kelly, Green Day and Cody Canada have recently called home, yellow DOG Studios possesses the equipment, staff and the environment to produce high-quality recordings. Its Austin, location has great live and control rooms along with various vintage and boutique microphones, outboard pieces, guitars, amplifiers and even an API 1608. But having just one API recording console wasn’t enough for yellow DOG. Earlier this year, the recording facility commissioned a second 32-channel 1608 desk, and had it delivered earlier this month.
“I think the industry standard is to have different consoles in each room of a facility,” said studio co-owner and producer/arranger Ed Robinson, “but we decided to cut against the
grain and go with a second 1608. The concept of needing the tone of different desks is outdated with the presence of the API consoles and with the flexibility they offer. Additionally, the 1608 we already have is amazing, and in the end I want our projects to make a smoother migration to the mix phase.”
Last December, Robinson and his business partner, producer/engineer David Percefull, had ordered an API 1608 for their recording console in Studio One because of its reliability, headroom and punch. According to Robinson, performing both tracking and mixing in that same space became a competition “right out of the gate.” yellow DOG’s growing popularity showed Percefull and Robinson the not-so-distant need to acquire more space – and another console.
That point became very apparent to the two partners during Austin’s last SXSW festival. “We had dozens of artists through the studio during the festival,” said Robinson. “April and May bookings were instantly completely filled.” Although yellow DOG already had two separate studios, Studio Two was solely devoted to post-production. That May, the studio owners saw an opportunity in the available commercial space adjacent to yellow DOG. They leased it, commissioned the second 1608 through API dealer Mercenary Audio, and created Studio Three.
“The fact that yellow DOG Studios has two 32-channel 1608s really says something,” said Bill Thomas at Mercenary Audio, “and it speaks volumes about the API 1608. We were thrilled when yellow DOG came to us for their first 1608 and were even more excited when they decided to commission a new console. We’re sure everyone at yellow DOG will be just as happy with their second console as they were with their first.”
The first project scheduled for mixing in Studio Three is a new full-length recording by bluesman Pine Top Perkins, but Percefull said the new 1608 will see a number of rock, alternative, country and jazz recordings in the coming months. “Already having a 1608, we expect more of the same – excellent tone, punch, headroom and the flexibility to use different 500 series modules,” said Percefull. “It’s gonna rock.”
ABOUT API (AUTOMATED PROCESSES, INC.) Automated Processes, Inc. is the leader in analog recording gear with the Vision, Legacy Series and 1608 recording consoles, as well as its classic line of modular signal processing equipment. www.apiaudio.com
