Fred Perry Artists Lounge at Stratosphere Sound (10/21) w/ SoundToys, Blue Mics, Brooklyn Brewery

Last year – Just Managing, Insound and Stratosphere Sound put on an awesome day-long recording open-house party during CMJ week, producing the resulting “Red Wax Sessions” digital mixtape. We did a follow-up piece on the recording sessions, engineered by Geoff Sanoff.

This year, they’re doing it all over again, with support from title sponsor Fred Perry – presenting the “Fred Perry Artists Lounge” next Friday, October 21. SonicScoop, SoundToys and Blue Microphones are also on board this year as sponsors.

The event, which goes from 11AM – 9PM, offers a rare glimpse inside the recording process along with a fun Brooklyn Brewery-sponsored CMJ/AES-style mixer. Industry guests should RSVP to RSVP@stratospheresound.com.

With the studio’s proximity to the Javits Center, Stratosphere will make a nice stop-off for folks hitting Day One of the AES Convention, and be an oasis for bands/CMJ goers from the typical CMJ showcase venues.

The schedule of recording sessions – which can be heard/watched from Stratosphere’s upstairs lounge – will go down as follows:

11AM – Caveman (Magic Man!/ORG)
12PM – Waters (TBD)
1PM – Weekend (Slumberland)
2PM – Gauntlet Hair (Dead Oceans)
4PM – Widowspeak (Captured Tracks)
5PM – 1, 2, 3 (Frenchkiss)
6PM – Memoryhouse (Sub Pop)
7PM – Tall Ships (Unsigned)

Additionally, SoundToys will also be hosting an AES Afterparty at the venue from 6PM – 9PM. Visit the SoundToys booth at AES to ensure your entry!

Hope to see you there!

The Chris Shaw Interview

Gather ‘Round! The Input\Output podcast series, hosted by GRAMMY-winning engineer/mixer Geoff Sanoff (Green Day, Fountains of Wayne, The Secret Machines) and top mixer/producer Eli Janney (GVSB, The Obits, Motion City Soundtrack), officially debuts. Recorded at NYC’s Stratosphere Sound, I\O launches with this essential installment, hosting all-world record producer/engineer/mixer Chris Shaw.

Full Length Podcasts by SonicScoop

A highly accomplished and hard-working studio maven, Shaw’s diverse credits include Bob Dylan, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Weezer, Cheap Trick and Lou Reed. Listen and learn along to the frank and lively conversation, as Shaw reveals the details of breaking into the industry, priceless producing/engineering/mixing/audio knowledge from inside the studio, up-close recording experiences with the legendary Dylan, and downright shocking stories straight from the control room.

Below, we’ve also posted the podcast segments according to topic so you can jump right in wherever you like!

Input\Output is produced by www.sonicscoop.com.

Input/Output Podcast: Chris Shaw by SonicScoop

Behind the Release: Fountains of Wayne “Sky Full of Holes”

WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN: Don’t get too comfortable. When your band is a model of rock song consistency like Fountains of Wayne, there’s only one way to keep your fans on their toes: Make those album releases few, far between, and well worth the wait.

With the release of Sky Full of Holes this week, FOW plays out their strategy to a T. The latest collection by songcraft experts Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger follows the group’s last album by a full four years, giving their followers 13 more of everything they’ve been longing for: 13 hooks to get addicted to, 13 characters to get intimately acquainted with, 13 more three-minute stories to get gloriously absorbed in.

Their fifth full-length release since their 1996 inception, Sky Full of Holes continues on FOW’s tradition with the original lineup of vocalist Collingwood, bassist Schlesinger, guitarist Jody Porter, and drummer Brian Young, smashingly intact. Also on board for a return trip at the Neve 8068-endowed Stratosphere Sound was engineer Geoff Sanoff and mixer John Holbrook, both of whom were fundamental in shaping the sound of classic FOW albums like 2003’s Welcome Interstate Managers.

Schlesinger is the unassuming force behind the band and a laundry list of high-stakes cultural cornerstones. He’s written the star songs of the films That Thing You Do and Music & Lyrics, dozens of TV themes, collaborated on the Cry-Baby Broadway musical, and produced for the likes of America and Tahiti 80. With so many balls in the air, you’d think having a band like FOW to come home to would be a beautiful thing to one of NYC’s master craftsmen – and you’d be right.

This is FOW’s first new studio album since 2007. Does that feel too long, too short, or just perfect?
It seems to be the amount of time it always takes us. There’s no easy answer as to why. There’s always a lot of stuff that gets in our way, sometimes professional, sometimes personal.

What’s gone on for you as a producer in that span of time? How did that change the way you approached putting together Sky Full of Holes?
I did Tinted Windows — that was kind of a year making that record. I did that Broadway show Cry-Baby, and I did a lot of random productions for TV. I’m drawing a blank right now! I don’t know if those projects influenced our record. I think you learn stuff from every project, whether you realize it or not.

Working on this new record, Chris and I had a few discussions about keeping it a little more organic and open-sounding. We wanted to hear more space in the mixes, not just a wall of guitar. And we had gone out and done an acoustic tour — we liked the idea of having just a little more focus on acoustic guitar and piano, which are the instruments that we tend to write on.

What was different about the way FOW approached the actual recording of this album at Stratosphere?
I don’t know if our process changed so much. But I think we’ve gotten better at having a looser quality, not totally ironing out everything to perfection. There are songs on the record where you can hear us fucking around in a good way. “Acela” has a bluesy groove, and that was a loose, improvisational take. We left a lot of that initial looseness there.

The first track, “The Summer Place,” we had done an earlier version of that song, and then played it live as part of the acoustic tour. When we listened to the recording after that, it felt lifeless and stiff. We threw it out, and the subsequent version we came up with breathes a lot more.

It sounds like there’s a lesson in that – what do you find out about songs from playing them live?
That is something new for us. We never did that before. I think, that a song evolves after you’ve played it for a while on stage. Things happen on stage that you can’t predict when you’re writing it.

Some of the songs from the new record we still haven’t played live. We’re just in rehearsals this week, trying these songs for the first time on these upcoming shows. We usually find that there’s a handful that work great live, and others that don’t work live — then we just never play them. I think we know going in which will be the hardest to pull off. But we’ve also gotten looser about finding a good live arrangement and not having it match the song on record.

What do you predict will work well at this point? Got an idea yet?
We’ll see. I think “Action Hero” will be a little tough. We cheated in the studio, moving the capo around recording the different parts, so I don’t think you can play it through the way we do on the record! But it’s got a lot of texture that I like…by this afternoon I may change my mind.

In addition to the band lineup staying unchanged for 15 years, you’re obviously also in a groove with your in-studio collaborators, Geoff Sanoff engineering and John Holbrook mixing. What’s the benefit of keeping the team together for each album? Is there any danger to this approach – can consistency lead to complacency, or a lack of risks?
With those two guys, they just know us so well, and they’re easy to communicate our ideas to. We all have similar tastes as well. It’s a good team. Chris and I have definitely worked with people in the past, where we’ve had a tougher time establishing that easy communication. So when you find someone where you’ve got something that works, hold on to that.

Hey, there’s a song in that Adam! How did you and John collaborate to meet the stated objective of “getting more space in the mix?”
By the time we got to John, a lot of that was a function of the arrangements. But we did also talk to him about not feeling the need to have every song punch you in the face with compression and treble – which really isn’t his style to begin with.

What new bands, artists, or producers are out there now that are inspiring you?
That’s always changing for me. I listen to all kinds of stuff. A lot of it has to do with what I might be working on at the time. I’m a fan of Greg Kirsten, who’s in a band called The Bird and the Bee. He’s a great producer. He’s worked with Lily Allen, and a lot of other very cool pop records — very sophisticated and always very groovy.

This has nothing to do with any music that I make, but Die Antwoord is a South African group that does this crazy rap performance art thing. On paper it sounds like something I would absolutely hate, but it’s awesome and funny and you would really have to get into it to understand it.

What are the other projects you’re involved in now/recently, outside of FOW?
Ivy has a record coming out in September – the first Ivy record in six years. That’s big for me, and we’re very excited about that record. I’m also doing some songs with Emmanuelle Seigner, she’s a very famous actress and singer in France, and she also happens to be married to Roman Polanski. She was looking for a change of direction, and I was recommended by some people working with her.

That’s great – to get calls like that.
I’ve always been a collaborator at heart, and never a front person. One of my favorite things is working with a new singer, figuring out what they can put across, and put myself in their head.

It sounds very psychological.
That’s a big part of it. There’s the technical part of it, but there’s also trying to imagine being them while being you. You have to be true to both of you: I want to write something I like, but also something they like and want to put across.

With all the music that you make, why does FOW continue to be an important outlet/expression for you?
Well, I think at the risk of sounding egotistical about it – Fountains of Wayne is a great band! That’s something I don’t take for granted. It’s really hard to find a great band, and it’s really hard to find that chemistry between people. Even though we sometimes fight a lot and don’t see each other for a long time, we all appreciate that it’s a good band. If we don’t do it for a while, we all start to miss it.

Sky Full Of Holes was released on August 2 by Yep Roc in North America, and by Warner in Japan.

– David Weiss

SonicScoop and Avid Present “Inside Sessions” Featuring Beirut at Stratosphere Sound

On Wednesday night, SonicScoop and Avid presented the first “Inside Sessions” event featuring Beirut recording at Stratosphere Sound right here in NYC.

The band tracked a new rendition of the nostalgic group crooner “A Sunday Smile” — an expanded arrangement of the original song from Beirut’s second full-length album The Flying Club Cup — led by Zach Condon on ukulele with bandmates Kelly Pratt (horns), Nick Petree (drums), Paul Collins (bass) and Perrin Cloutier (accordion).

Griffin Rodriguez (Icy Demons, Bablicon) produced the session, and Stratosphere Chief Engineer Geoff Sanoff (Obits, Nada Surf) tracked the band entirely to Avid’s Pro Tools HD Native recording platform.

Click for video of this recording session and event.

Recording and music industry guests got a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the recording as it was in progress, huddled in the control room and looking down on the live room from the upstairs lounge. The session ran flawlessly on Pro Tools HD Native, the new generation of Pro Tools HD core system said to provide the absolute best performance possible on the host computer.

The newly recorded version of “A Sunday Smile” will be released as a free download by Avid this summer. Stay tuned for more on that…

In other Beirut news, the band will be releasing a new full-length album this summer which was was largely recorded and mixed in Brooklyn, at Seaside Lounge and Vacation Island. Rodriguez produced and mixed the record.

Now, check out some photos from the event — by Diana Wong and Anthony Gordon — here:

NYC Studio THROWDOWN! The Magic Shop Takes On Stratosphere Sound for The NowhereNauts

SoHo/WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN: Why record your debut album at one slammin’ NYC studio when a dozen would do? That’s what the NYC rock three-piece The NowhereNauts thought as they attacked the making of their stirring, wise-beyond-their-years self-titled release that came out this week.

As it turns out, a dozen studios would have been nuts (and over budget), but two was certainly feasible. Ergo, producer Kevin March (drummer for Guided by Voices, the Dambuilders) and the band – vocalist Sofie Kapur, guitarist Hunter Lombard, and bassist Anders Kapur (Sofie’s bro) — split the spunky collection up between downtown contenders The Magic Shop and Stratosphere Sound.

The result is a record that’s absolutely worth a listen: The group has been together since their early teens, and their songwriting chemistry here is sharp, deep, advanced and still jarringly raw – articulate emotions, insistent guitars and jamming breaks come through loud and clear. Kevin March’s rhythms rock, but bring an intelligent twist to each section. These are songs that keep you guessing, in a most welcome way.

At SonicScoop’s behest, March and his charges pitted The Magic Shop against Stratosphere: The winner in this epic indie rock recording cage match is YOU.

Kevin, why do you think The NowhereNauts chose you to produce their upcoming eponymous record?
Kevin: I had already been working and recording with The NowhereNauts the past few years as part of an original music education program I was developing. That trial program introduced them to writing original music and then recording it all in a studio, so it was natural for me to continue developing and producing them.

I noticed in each of them a creative spark that reminded me of the many great musicians and songwriters I’ve been fortunate enough to create music with over the years. Also, their work ethic and drive reminded me a little bit of myself as a young musician.  As a result, I had my eye/ear on them and, when an opportunity came up, I approached them because I thought that they would be great to work with – and I was right!  I love their unique sound and the energy that they bring to making and creating music.

Bands obviously work in multiple studios all the time — in this case, why did The Nauts record in two NYC studios instead of one? How did you finally decide on The Magic Shop and Stratosphere?
Kevin: I chose Stratosphere and The Magic Shop because I had done extensive, spectacular-sounding recordings at both studios in the past. I also felt that my pre-existing relationships with the owners and engineers would allow me to successfully produce a complete album with a band new to the professional recording environment.

Almost all of The NowhereNauts’ debut album was recorded at The Magic Shop in 2010. The band recorded a different album as another band with Geoff Sanoff at Stratosphere in 2009. But, due to some unfortunate and unforeseen events, the album was shelved, the band dissolved and — the good part — The NowhereNauts were created.

Hunter: We chose the Magic Shop because our first recordings, ever, were made there and we really like the sound that we can get out of that studio. Stratosphere was chosen because of Kevin’s connection to Geoff Sanoff.

Fair enough! Which songs did you do at Magic Shop? What were the best things about recording there?

Kevin: The songs that we recorded and mixed at The Magic Shop (over two weekends) with the amazing  house engineer, Ted Young, were “Rather Be Haunted,” “Try to Light My Fuse,” “I’m Unlucky,” “We Got the Message,”  “Heat Stroke,” “Over and Over Again, “ “Newspaper Today,” “Delightfully Distracted” and “In the City.” Basically it was the entire album except “Where Is My Mind?”

The best thing about recording at The Magic Shop is the Neve console they have. It just sounds amazing, and it looks really cool too!  The live room is not too big, but it has a nice, controlled, accurate sound.  I love the vibe of the studio. Also, their  2″ Studer A827 tape machine, which we used to record all of the basic tracks, is in great working condition.

Anders: We powered through all the songs. It was insane how little time we had to record everything and how fast we got it done. Ted was so efficient; he got our recordings on to tape and, somehow, retained the rich, vintage-y vibe we were going for. His work in the studio is one of the reasons this album sounds so great.

Sofie: I loved the vibe at The Magic Shop, and the opportunity I got to experiment a little with mics. We also really got comfortable with Ted. Of course, his mixing is great too. We recorded on tape there, which really captured the sound we wanted.

Moving across town, why did “Where Is My Mind?” emerge at Stratosphere?

Kevin: The best thing about recording at Stratosphere Sound is that the live room sounds amazing!  And I can’t neglect to mention that all of the house amps and guitars that James Iha and Adam Schlesinger have there are in top working condition and sound incredible; but, of course, only with the help and knowledge of Geoff.  Geoff is a fantastic engineer with a musician’s ear and brain. He knows how to capture the audio of a great performance and, just as important, he knows how to create a comfortable, productive working environment.

Hunter: At Stratosphere you can get the HUGE guitar sounds that I really, really love. Also, our first time recording to tape was there and that was a very cool experience. I don’t think we could ever go back to recording digitally after that.

Anders: We tracked two other songs that aren’t on the record as well. I really love the atmosphere there. And, by the end of our recording sessions, I personally felt really comfortable and at home in the studio. Geoff was instrumental in getting the recordings we made there to sound as rich as they do. He had a lot of great input on our guitar and bass tones and the methods we used to achieve them. Having him there was almost like having a second producer.

Sofie: For my vocals, I recorded in the room with Geoff. It was a much more direct approach. I could have recorded in a booth, but I liked that I could see him and the band while I was recording. Also, the space is amazing — which I know isn’t exactly sound-related but, still, I’d live there if I could.

OK, most important: Who would win in an Ultimate Fighting match: Stratosphere’s people or the Magic Shop staff?
Kevin: The Magic Shop’s people! They have a lot more heavy vintage gear to throw around. Also, Stratosphere’s people are just so nice and easy-going that they wouldn’t want to fight.

Hunter: Tie! We really love the people that work at both studios. The workflow is really different for each of them, but the end result is always what we want.

Sofie: I’d have to put my money on Stratosphere, mostly because of Atsuo, the assistant engineer. He’s quiet, but something about him makes me think he’s secretly a superhero or a ninja or something. The Magic Shop would have a chance if they could bring all their action figures to life though!

– David Weiss

Review: The UAD-2 Satellite Quad Firewire DSP Accelerator by Bo Boddie

When Universal Audio first debuted the UAD-1 system in 2001, I have to admit that I didn’t pay it much mind. At that time I was still pretty skeptical about the quality of the mixes that I could get out of mixing in-the-box (ITB), and only used plug-ins for minor utility work and making roughs. Most of the work I was doing was in recording studios anyway, so I had access to great gear – why would I use a plug-in 1176 when I could insert a real one? However, I always liked the idea that I would someday be able to work completely within the computer and still get the results I was after.

A lot has changed in the music production world since 2001… CPU power has grown exponentially, and the quality and flexibility of both DAW software and plug-ins along with it. Engineers and producers who are so inclined have adapted to the idiosyncrasies of working ITB, adjusting working methodologies to compensate for the differences between the analog and digital domains, and it is becoming commonplace for us to make great sounding records without all of that analog outboard that set the bar so high.

And as a specific milestone on the timeline, I still remember the first time I used the UAD plug-ins. Between 2003-2008 I used to work at Stratosphere Sound (shout out to Geoff Sanoff!) pretty frequently and they had UAD-1 cards in both of their rooms.  During one session there, with an artist who was on Island records at the time, I decided to check out the UAD 1176 just out of curiosity. For someone who didn’t really care about using plug-ins, it was a big moment. It actually sounded like a real compressor! I was pretty floored and so I went and did the research on the UA software products.

Although I was skeptical of having to add a PCI card for processing, I liked the commitment that they had made to creating emulations that went the extra mile, and so said, required the additional DSP to do the convincing work.

These days I do most of my production work in my home studio, and so last year I purchased a UAD-2 card. Although the Mac Pro I use has a ridiculous amount of power which I have yet to max out, I still had that lingering memory of the first time I used the UAD-1 at Stratosphere, and growing gear envy over the ever-expanding line of UAD plug-ins. I was sold on the plug-ins; the fact that all processing took place on the PCI card was just an added benefit.

When SonicScoop asked me if I wanted to review the new UAD-2 Satellite Quad – Universal Audio’s new Firewire 400/800 UAD-2 plug-in platform (with Quad processing power) – I jumped on it. I was really curious to see how well the system would work over Firewire, and hoped I’d also get to try it out with my laptop.

SIMPLE SETUP

If you are new to the UAD system, the setup is extremely easy. The Satellite ships with the latest version of the UAD software, which includes all of the plug-ins (more on that later), all necessary drivers, and the metering and control panel application through which all features and authorizations are managed. The Satellite requires that you use software version 5.8.1, in which the “.1” offers the Firewire support.

If you don’t already have a UAD account, you will need to create one, as it is a necessity for managing plug-in and hardware authorizations.

The software must be installed first, after which, authorizing the Satellite is as simple as turning it on and plugging it into either a Firewire 400 or 800 port. To complete the authorization, you must click the “authorize plug-ins” button. Without following the instructions it took me a moment to remember this, maybe it would be a little more self-evident if there was a separate button for hardware authorization, but it’s hardly a sticking point.

Clicking the button brings you to the user area of the UAD website, and it is here that your system is recognized and authorized. As with all UAD authorizations, both software and hardware, a file is downloaded through your web browser which must then be dragged into the window of the UAD system software; which in turn enables the use of the hardware/software.

All versions of the Satellite include a stellar collection of plug-ins, which Universal Audio calls the “Analog Classics”:

1. 1176LN, 1176SE

2. Pultec Pro

3. Realverb Pro

4. LA-2A

All of the other UAD plug-ins are pre-installed along with the system software, and have 14 day demo periods which can be authorized through the control panel, or via instantiating the desired plug-in from within the DAW environment — a dangerous proposition to be sure, given the amazing sounds you are sure to get! An extensive manual is included on the CD-ROM, which details all of these steps, as well as detailed descriptions of all of the plug-ins.

IN USE

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the system works over the Firewire bus. I tested it at both 400 and 800 speeds, in both Logic and Pro Tools 9, and although less plug-ins can be used with lower data bandwidth, using the Firewire 400 bus did not seem to radically affect performance.

The UAD control panel offers extensive control over how the Firewire bus is used, and allows the user to make decisions about how much Firewire bandwidth is allocated for the card’s usage. This is a wonderful feature given that there will almost certainly be other devices on the Firewire bus, either drives or an audio interface, and being able to have some control over how data bandwidth is distributed is paramount.

Universal Audio recommends that the Satellite always be the first device in the daisy chain, if there is one. The Satellite does not distribute bus power to devices that may need it, so that will also be a consideration. The manual offers a several different connection schemes, all of which were helpful. I tried many different configurations myself, and I’m happy to report that the Satellite worked well in all of them.

All of this said, it is preferable to use Firewire 800, simply to maximize the power of the DSP card. The Satellite uses the same SHARC DSP cards as its PCI-based brothers, the only difference being the way it interfaces with the CPU.  There is no question that more plug-ins can be used with PCI-based cards, however, the Satellite’s major offering is its portability and compatibility on computers without PCIe, like MacBook Pros and iMacs.

It is here that we see the one major difference between the Firewire and PCI based systems: LiveTrack mode cannot be used with the Satellite. The major consideration with all of the UAD systems is latency.  Sending audio data out to an add-on card for processing, either PCI or Firewire, creates significant latency. Hence, tracking with a UAD plug-in instantiated can be difficult, and the PCI-based UAD-2 cards and software introduced a low-latency mode (LiveTrack) as a workaround for those of us want to use the plug-ins while tracking.

Because of the lower data throughout offered by the Firewire interface, this option is not available with the Satellite. For me, this certainly isn’t a deal-breaker, as I rarely incorporate any software-based processing while tracking; as long as I can mix with the plug-ins I’m happy. Perhaps we will see a UAD Satellite in the future that incorporates Apple’s new Thunderbolt interface protocol, which would undoubtedly offer the data bandwidth necessary to include this forgone option.

The only issue I had with the Satellite will not be a factor for most of you, but may possibly save a few people the disappointment of discovering too late that their laptop is not compatible, as was the case with my 2007 Core 2 Duo MacBook. The Satellite works with Intel-Based iMacs, select MacBook Pros and Mac minis. Just make sure you check out the UAD-2 Satellite Support Page to find your hardware on the list of compatible systems.

As you’ll see, the Satellite works best with later model MacBook Pros, iMacs, Mac Minis and Mac Pros, and is partially compatible – running at FireWire 400 speed, but requiring an adapter to run at FireWire 800 speed – with earlier models of MacBook Pro, Mac Pro and iMac. Based on how well it worked with my desktop system at both Firewire 400 and 800 speeds, I can only assume it would work perfectly on any of the systems on the list.

CONCLUSIONS

In my mind, there is one compelling reason to use this product, and that is to have access to the dizzying array of analog emulations that Universal Audio has developed. They all sound fantastic, and have made a noticeable difference in my ability to more easily pull off great sounding ITB mixes.

While I was only able to use the Satellite with my Mac Pro for this review, the ease of set-up was fantastic, and I really enjoyed having 4 extra chips worth of power with which to go hog-wild with the plug-ins for a few weeks.

I should note, that even with my DUO PCI card alone, I usually do not max out the available DSP. A friend recently asked me if I thought the Satellite would be a good addition to his TDM Pro Tools system, as he had run out of PCI slots.  After seeing how solidly the Firewire interface has worked I can say yes!

The UAD-2 Satellite comes in several different configurations: DUO (2 chips) with $50.00 voucher ($899.00); DUO FLEXI with $500.00 voucher ($1,199.00); QUAD (4 chips) with $50.00 voucher ($1,499.00); QUAD Flexi with $500.00 Voucher ($1,799.00); and QUAD OMNI with all the UAD plug-ins up to version 5.7 ($4,499.00). Visit http://www.uaudio.com/uad-plug-ins.html for the full range of UAD-2 powered plug-in systems.

Bo Boddie is a Grammy winning engineer/producer and composer who has worked with Santana, Everlast, Korn, Reni Lane, and many others. He is currently beginning work on Imperial Teen’s second release on Merge Records. Also check out Psychic Friend, his new band with Will Schwartz (Imperial Teen) and Patty Schemel (Hole).

Session Buzz: Who’s Recording In & Around NYC — A Monthly Report

GREATER NYC AREA: Both through the grapevine and straight from the source(s), we’ve been hearing about a number of different recording projects going on in studios throughout the NYC area. The following is but a sampling of recent sessions, and works in progress…a snapshot of what’s going on around town:

Germano Studios has been going non-stop in 2011, between multiple months of lock-out sessions with Lady Gaga, and sessions with a host of other major artists.

Gaga and crew have been working out of both Germano Studio 1 and Studio 2, recording and mixing her upcoming album, Born This Way – due out May 23 – and the title track lead single, released in February.

Also – as previously reported – T-Pain was also at Germano Studios, recording vocals in Studio 2 with Levar “LV” Coppin producing and Javier Valverde engineering. And producer Steve Jordan and engineer Dave O’Donnell were in tracking basics with Kelly Clarkson and writing/recording with Keith Richards.

Meanwhile in the Brill Building, KMA Music has been going strong, with Beyoncé locked out Studios A and B for writing, recording and mixing sessions for her new album with an array of producers – The-Dream, Switch, Robert “Shea” Taylor, Jeff Bhasker – and engineers, including Swivel, Pat Thrall, Serge Nudel. Mya also booked out KMA for tracking and mixing sessions with producer Chuck Harmony and engineer Ben Chang. And Joe Jonas tracked and mixed material for his new solo project with Danja producing and Marcella Araica engineering. Lil Wayne was at KMA for a late-night vocal session as well.

In Brooklyn, producer/engineer Tim O’Heir has been holed up in his “Golden Ear” studio in the Music Garage in Williamsburg mixing the upcoming Austin TV double album epic. Austin TV, according to O’Heir, is “an instrumental group from Mexico City who compare themselves to Mogwai but with more ‘theatre.’

“The tracks were produced by Meme from Cafe Tacuba in Mexico and they FTP’d the Pro Tools sessions to me here in NY. It’s been a trip as these pieces are 100% math rock. The trick for them, and myself, was to get them as musical sounding as possible. (I think that was accomplished.)

The tracks were mixed in the box, summed through a Dangerous D-Box. Waves and Sound Toys as well as a few Digi plug-ins brought the whole thing to life.”

Nearby at The Bunker in East Williamsburg, Aaron Nevezie tracked and mixed the debut album by the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra. This is an 11-piece traditional salsa band tracked live, playing fresh arrangements of indie-rock songs by LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, Spoon and more. Nevezie also produced new releases for local Brooklyn bands Des Roar, and Crinkles, and mixed Peoples Champs.

The Bunker is also excited to have added a 1969 Steinway M grand piano and a new pair of vintage RCA ribbon mics to the studio.

And down in the financial district, Engine Room Audio has been popping with projects up in its SSL 4064G+ equipped penthouse tracking/mixing room, including G-Unit’s Tony Yayo and Waka Flocka tracking a new single with engineer Drew Fisher. Sean Kingston and Trav also mixed a new single at Engine Room, with engineer Sam Jacquet. Indie rock band Lowry just wrapped mixing on their new full-length album for Engine Room Recordings, with Mark Christensen producing and Fisher engineering. And “indie-pop-on-Mozart quintet” Wakey! Wakey! has been in recording for an upcoming Engine Room Recordings compilation.

Down in his mastering suite, Christensen’s been working on a new OK Go! live album, mixed by Dave Fridmann, as well as a new album by The Color Bars. Christensen also recently mastered the new Ryan Leslie single, “Glory,” and a new record by Cheryl Englehard.

Inside another popular NYC mastering haunt, The Lodge, mastering engineers Emily Lazar, Joe LaPorta, Sarah Register, and Heba Kadry have been busy with releases by Serg Tankian and Shirley Manson, Against Me!, The Naked and Famous, and Chris Taylor’s newest production work on Blood Orange’s upcoming 7″. (Lazar and LaPorta also mastered Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light!)

Other albums recently mastered by The Lodge crew: Tune-yards’ w h o k i l l, Fucked Up’s  David Comes To Life, Ford & Lopatin’s Channel Pressure, Cold Cave’s Cherish The Light Years, EMA’s Past Life Martyred Saints, Liturgy, Xray Eyeballs, Eternal Tapestry/Sun Araw, White Hills and more.

Back uptown at Area 51 NYC… singer Vita Chambers was working on a new release for Universal Motown with producers CJ, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, and Henry “Skem” Kaprali engineering, assisted by John Lurie. Also for Universal Motown, Gail Scott was in session working with producer Kenneth “Soundz” Coby and Michelle Figueroa engineering. French house DJ/producer David Guetta was at Area 51 co-producing new material with CJ, and engineer Dan Smith, for Guetta’s own Gum Productions.

Area 51 also installed new Augspurger mains in the North Room. Says Area 51 co-owner/manager Tony Drootin: “We purchased the dual 15” cabinets and subs that used to reside in Studio D at Sony Studios. We replaced all the components, added a new crossover, and tweaked the system to our room.” He also reports that Area 51 is now configured for drum tracking out of the South Room, and has added some new mics and outboard gear to its arsenal.

Nearby at Avatar Studios, the city’s most famous “Studio A” hosted… a duet by Tony Bennett and Sheryl Crow, produced by Phil Ramone, and engineered by Dae Bennett; Elvis Costello recording a song for an upcoming film with engineer Kevin Killen; and James McCartney recording new material with David Kahne producing and Roy Hendrickson engineering. Meanwhile in Studio C, Steve Reich / So Percussion recorded with producer Judith Sherman and engineer John Kilgore.

At Threshold Recording Studios NYC… singer/songwriter Alana Kessler worked on her new single “The Best Thing” with producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Sklarsky; composer / PBS producer Tim Janis prepared for his upcoming annual Christmas show at Carnegie Hall with Alexa Ray Joel; and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke was back as part of the Road Recovery Performance Workshops Program.

And finally, Stratosphere Sound hosted New Jersey indie rockers The Static Jacks for a month, recording their debut full-length in Studio A with producer/engineer Chris Shaw. R&B legend Aaron Neville also recorded vocals at Stratosphere recently with Geoff Sanoff in Studio A.

And Amanda Ghost, producer Dave McCracken and engineer Andros Rodriguez – long-term clients in Studio B – have been working with female rapper KFlay, singers Sky Ferreira and Murray James, as well as John Legend.

And we know there’s so much more going on out there! If you’d like to be featured in “Session Buzz,” please submit your studio news to submissions@sonicscoop.com.

Op-Ed — Beware The System Upgrade or: We Have Nothing to Fear From The Robots

I finally had to concede that it was time to buy a new computer. It seemed wasteful to get rid of a perfectly good machine, but Pro Tools 9 had just been released, and my Quad Core G5 was a full version behind and losing ground in the endless cycle of OS updates. With Christmas approaching, I knew I’d have a little more free time to deal with the headache of upgrading.

Talk about sticker shock: the top of the line Mac had more than doubled in cost to well over $5,000 since my last desktop purchase. Clearly, I wouldn’t be buying from the top tier as I had last time. I decided to go with the 8-Core Mac with the recent “Westmere” version of the Intel chip. Eight cores seemed forward-looking enough and by getting the newest chip, I hoped I’d be able to work with this computer a little longer than if I’d gone with a lower rung model.

But I wasn’t as excited as I might have been about this new machine, and it wasn’t just about the stress of shelling out a large amount of cash. Having upgraded plenty of computers over the years, I knew quite well what was in store for me: a day or two of copying over files, installing updates and dealing with the inevitable compatibility issues. It’s hard to look forward to this kind of work when the end result is having the same system you had before you started, albeit on a faster computer.

Foolishly, I decided to schlep my new MacPro on the subway. Somehow spending another $20 just to get the thing home seemed lazy. But upon entering my apartment, I thought my arms were going to fall off. I saved $20 only to spend $80 on a visit to Charlie, my chiropractor!

I managed to open the box anyway and noticed that (Cool!) the new Mac keyboard is childproof and coffee-proof. Well, that was something to be enthusiastic about. The new mouse looked snazzy too. With the enthusiasm of a geeky man-child, I forgot about my aching back. I dragged the whole shebang into my office, found my extra monitor cables and began the tedious file migration process.

My old computer had a helluvalot of files on it after 5 years of use, so I knew this was going to be a lengthy process.  Turning on the new Mac, I noticed one new feature that is possibly my favorite improvement over the G5: this new Mac is quiet! My G5 was like having a heat-generating rocketship in my studio (exactly what you want when mixing in  a 7’x9’ room right?). This Mac Pro is the quietest machine I’d ever owned, and considerably cooler. I hooked up the Firewire cables and let the computers do their thing.

Dave: Hello HAL, Do You Read Me HAL? or: Why Aren’t My UAD Cards Showing Up?

The next morning (!) the migration was finally done. “Ok,” I said to myself, “Time to see what doesn’t work.” But upon my cursory examination, everything appeared to be working fine. I was shocked…until I hit my first snag: “Why aren’t my UAD cards showing up?”

I powered everything down, reseated the cards, and turned the machine back on.

Thinking that I probably needed to get some new driver software, I went to the UA website, downloaded the latest version of their software, installed it, downloaded the authorization file, and opened the UAD Control Panel software.

Success?

Well….almost. Now the computer saw the UAD-2 card, but the UAD-1e cards were still not showing up in the UAD Control Panel. I went online, spending all of two minutes looking for answers, before quickly giving up and calling Universal Audio tech support.

Universal Audio is still a small enough company that when you have a problem with their products, you can usually get someone on the phone quickly at no extra charge. God, I hope that doesn’t change, because whether the answer to my question has been obvious (did you try a restart?) or frustrating (that’s a bug we are working on), you get a knowledgeable and helpful person on the other end every time you call.

Today was no exception. I got an immediate answer to my question: My new Mac runs natively in 64-bit mode. The driver software for the UAD-2 is coded for both 64-bit and 32-bit modes, the drivers for the UAD-1 cards are not.

It was recommended to me (!) to consider selling/replacing my UAD-1’s because 64-bit mode uses the computer’s power more efficiently and gives it access to the full amount (8GB) of RAM that’s installed. In 32-bit mode, the computer can only use half of my machine’s available RAM.

Hmmm…well that’s not exactly what I was hoping to hear. But then came the work around. If I wanted to get those UAD-1 cards to run, I just had to hold down the <3> and <2> keys while starting up, and the machine would boot into 32-bit mode.

I did it, opened the UAD control panel, and voila, saw that all three of my cards were recognized and working. Cool. While not being a perfect solution (I’d prefer not have to choose between using my computer’s 64 bit power or using the UAD-1 cards) at least there’s a way to make them functional. And it was easy to get a straight answer too.

My next step was to install Pro Tools 9. One of the things I was excited about with Pro Tools 9 was not having to spend hours with a calculator figuring out latencies or troubleshooting the ingeniously creative but somewhat bug-laden Mellowmuse ATA delay compensation plug-in.

Because UA plug-ins are processed on the UAD cards, their latency is significant, approximately twice the audio buffer size (one trip to the UAD card and one trip back to Pro Tools = 2 times the audio buffer). Mixing at a buffer of 1024 samples means that each plug-in has around 2048 samples of latency! Use two or 3 plug-ins on a track and the audio really gets delayed. So this was a major headache for me.

UA’s workaround, Mellowmuse’s ATA plug-in, does help, but it’s not foolproof. And in my setup, which includes an M-Audio ProFire 2626 I use for extra outputs, a Rolls Folcrom I use for analog summing, and a Mytek 8×96 DA I use for getting back into Pro Tools, the ATA plug-in was extra buggy. It did work substantially better when mixing completely in the box. But, the minute I start breaking the tracks out into stems for summing, the whole ping mechanism of ATA goes haywire, and I’m forced back to the year 2006.

Doing everything semi-manually in order to get the Mellowmuse ATA plug-in to function costs me about an extra 30 minutes per song (approx.) on a mix. That factor alone made my decision to upgrade much easier. 30 minutes a song on a 10-song album is almost an extra day of work. Save enough time this way and the computer pays for itself.

HAL: I’m Sorry, Dave. I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That or: FYI, Core Audio Doesn’t Work With Every Product

The other major selling point for me with Pro Tools 9 is that you can now expand your system to include non-Avid hardware. Apparently you can even combine different products using Core Audio’s aggregate I/O. I’ve been using a Black Lion modified 002 console and an M-Audio ProFire 2626 to allow me to do 14 channels of analog summing while mixing.

They’re connected via optical cable, but one of the other major quirks with my system is working at 96kHz. At higher sample rates, the 002 does not use SMUX or give you the use of its optical outputs, so the number of potential outputs at 88.2khz/96khz is reduced to 10 (8 analog, 2 coax SPDIF). I had heard that you could use an Mbox with other pieces of gear and so I was hoping to be able to bypass this problem by using both the 002 and the ProFire as standalone I/O routed via Core Audio.

When I opened Pro Tools and went to the I/O menu I saw that I had a choice between either the 002 or the Pro Tools Core Audio Aggregate. Well that sucks. I can’t have them both? After futzing with Core Audio for an hour I become entirely frustrated because I didn’t understand why it wouldn’t let me add the 002 into the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O grouping.

Next step: the internet. After searching the Avid User Forum (formerly the DUC) I discover a few other people asking the same question and the answer is…

It doesn’t do that.

WTF?? That’s not very satisfying.

I wondered “Why would Avid sell 2 products, the ProFire from Avid’s M-Audio division and the 003 from Avid, that compete both at price point and feature set and yet one, the cheaper M-Audio ProFire, is able to do Core Audio and the other, the company’s flagship Firewire interface, the 003, cannot?”

Perhaps once upon a time, Core Audio was less desirable? But if it’s good enough for Pro Tools 9, someone must have worked some bugs out.

So, if they already know that the 002/003 family of products does not support Core Audio, how hard is it to actually post this information on the PT9 section of their website so that people like me and the 20 other people poking around the User Forum that day don’t sit around scratching our heads with frustration, wondering why this isn’t working?

In search of some more clarity on this subject, I emailed a friend who works at Avid about my confusion. Well, truthfully, he emailed me first after seeing my bitchy postings about this on Facebook. He was equally perplexed when I explained my questions to him, and said he’d look into it.

I was rewarded in a couple of hours when he had a “clearish” answer for me. And it is summarized thusly:

The 002/003 family of products (and the HD hardware as well) communicates directly to the DAE (digital audio engine) and circumvents Core Audio altogether. Thus, it cannot be aggregated in Core Audio. The ProFire, by contrast, communicates via Core Audio to the DAE and so it can be aggregated.

I was also referred to a disclaimer about Core Audio and Pro Tools 9 on the Avid website which says that Core Audio doesn’t work with every product.

“Ok,” I thought, “that is sort of what I gleaned from the Avid User Conference, albeit with more detail. But what’s up with referring me to their disclaimer? It’s totally opaque.”

The first part of the response was mildly enlightening. I could imagine that rewriting the 002/003 (or HD hardware) drivers to work with Core Audio might be an expensive undertaking, assuming that it’s even possible to do this. So I can’t really fault them for not wanting to attempt it since it seems like it could be more time consuming than is worth the effort (not unlike rewriting 64-bit drivers for the UAD-1.) I tried finding out if there were any plans to do this, but that question has gone, so far at least, unanswered.

The second part of the response I got through my friend was aggravating though. The fact that Avid’s marketing materials vaguely suggest “Buyer Beware!” with regards to what may or may not work with the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O seems evasive. Avid knows that 2 families of their products (003 and HD) will not aggregate under Core Audio with other products, third party or otherwise, so why wouldn’t they make this explicit and clear on their website and in their manuals?

It’s confusing and doesn’t need to be. Especially when given the fact that some of their products, the M-Box and M-Audio gear DO actually work with Core Audio.

The advertised possible 32 ins and outs in Pro Tools 9, is actually impossible on some of their most popular hardware, despite the new Core Audio support (which is great by the way. Mixing on your laptop with only an ilok is going to be rad).

I LOUDLY applaud Avid for liberating their software from their hardware, I just wish I had known the answer to this question before I’d begun my upgrade.

Well, at least I was lucky to get this issue addressed easily.

HAL: I think You Know What The Problem Is Just As Well As I Do or: Another (Small But Frustrating) Bump In The Road: Mac + ProFire

It has become my rule of thumb that the smaller the stakes, the bigger the headache. My next stumble was both the most frustrating and the least important.

I’ve tried to keep in mind that this is somewhat of an arcane issue, but still, I couldn’t believe how hard it was to find an answer. At issue initially was the digital input of my Mac: it wouldn’t clock to the optical output of my ProFire 2626 at any sample rate other than 44.1khz.

I use this connection to play mixes back into my computer and stream them on the web via the program Nicecast. For those of you unfamiliar with Nicecast, it’s an awesome and cheap product that allows you to stream audio over the web. I use it when mixing to get feedback from clients in real time. They click on a link, and can listen to the mixes I’m streaming on their laptop or home stereo and then suggest changes to me over the phone or IM. It’s obviously internet-dependant, but when it works, it’s a real time saver.

My first attempt at troubleshooting was to disconnect the optical cable from the back of my Mac. But I found that I still couldn’t change the sample rate on my computer’s digital input using the Audio/MIDI setup menu. That seemed odd, so I called Apple. I explained my problem to a series of tech support people, who gradually were more and more familiar with digital audio. It took 15 minutes and 3 tech support people to get to the advanced Apple Engineer. He couldn’t figure out what the problem was either, but promised to get back to me within 24 hours. 48 hours later I emailed him. Then I emailed again, and finally 4 days later, I called again.

Since it was the weekend, I got a different Apple Ninja on the phone, but after looking at the case notes, this guy seemed to think it might be hardware related. He had me do a clean OS install on the computer’s second internal drive. That was complete two hours later, but the problem was still happening, and I remained unable to change the sample rate on the Apple’s Digital input. At that point I got an RMA from Apple and was ready to return the computer.

It was going to be a real pain in the ass if I had to go through the whole installation procedure again, so I hoped that the good people at Tekserve —where I bought the new machine — would find a way to make this easier. I went back and forth with Jeff (who puts the tech in Tekserve) over the next hour in an effort to work out the problem before I took the computer in.

He setup a new machine at the store and found to our mutual dismay that it was doing the same thing, not letting him change the incoming digital sample rate. I started thinking darkly conspiratorial things: Had Apple unleashed a defective product upon the professional market? Was this a hardware design flaw like the iPhone 4 antenna? Given that Apple was so quick to let me exchange the computer and clearly didn’t know what the problem was, anything seemed possible.

Thankfully, Jeff’s cooler head prevailed. He had me try clocking the Mac to the 002, which I had avoided doing because it was a little awkward to pull everything apart in order to switch out cables. Given that the next step was going to be returning the computer, I followed Jeff’s directions. And lo and behold, the sample rate changed. The Mac had no problem switching to incoming 48khz or 96khz audio coming from the 002.

Hooray! The problem was not with the Mac!

Now I just had to figure out why the ProFire optical output B only worked at 44.1 kHz.

Dave: HAL, I Won’t Argue With You Any More! Open The Doors! or More Adventures in Tech Support & Eventually, An Answer

I spent an hour or so on the internet looking for insight. I tried reinstalling drivers several times, and I tried every configuration change possible. I even found out about some bugs I’d had no knowledge of when I bought the thing. But in the end I realized I needed phone support from Avid, M-Audio’s parent company.

When I looked them up, I discovered that you now have to have a code to get any kind of phone support. You get one with new purchases or you can buy a code from Avid’s website. Unfortunately registering Pro Tools 9, did not qualify me for a code. BUT I realized that I had forgotten to register the ProFire when I bought it 8 months ago, and minutes later, after registering it, I was “rewarded” with a free phone code.

I’ve never been to the Twilight Zone before but I think I just wrote the script for a future episode featuring M-Audio technical support. Or maybe it was just a reverse prank call. Regardless, it lasted for what seemed like forever but in reality was only about two hours, half of which was spent on hold, literally.

I spent 60 minutes in increasing intervals out of a two-hour phone call on hold with tech support. And it would have been worth it too, if the auto-generated email I received afterwards from M-Audio describing the call had accurately described the call. But they didn’t even correctly identify the piece of gear I was calling about, never mind the content of the “conversation.” The call also failed to troubleshoot my problem.

[Note to Avid: if you are going to outsource your tech support to a place where people are neither fluent in English nor in audio, please include a free option for therapy and /or alcohol.]

Seriously, I can’t believe how patient that guy was, staying on the phone with me while I degenerated into a Tourette’s-like state, using swear words as if they were air, as if the only way I could accurately describe the problem with the ProFire’s digital output was by using language that would melt the face off a newborn baby. It’s also amazing that my friend on the phone let me describe the problem so many times (was it 5 or 6?)  considering how (or was it as a result of) my descriptive abilities were trending bluer and more violent by the minute.

I think it was at minute 75 that I began requesting that someone with more experience take over the call.  Finally, at hour 2, after this endurance test of a phone call was about to enter into its 3^rd(!) Dada-esque hour, I managed to get my M-Audio “tech support engineer” to schedule a call back for the following day with what I assumed/hoped would be a senior “engineer.”

Perhaps this is how they weed out the serious problems. Either cough up $40 or go through the Minotaur to get to the solution.

Well, imagine my surprise when the return call the next day at noon was the same guy.

Of course it took me about 15 minutes to realize it was the same guy.  After describing my problem yet again, and being asked to repeat myself yet again, I had the realization that I would not hold up long under torture. And with this newfound knowledge of self, I demanded to speak with someone else and was promptly placed on hold…for 40 minutes.

After this 2^nd call had been underway for an hour, I was informed that I would be receiving a call from someone else within the next two hours. Four hours later I received that call, again from another offshore support “engineer.”

This time however the call lasted a mere 40 minutes, was clear, directed and while it did involve being put on hold for 10 minutes at a time, the guy completely understood what I was explaining to him. At the end of 45 minutes, he asked if he could check into it some more and call me back the following day. Sure, why not?

The next day I got the call and after another 20 minutes of trying stuff, this second guy finally conceded defeat and promised to refer me to the next dude up the chain.

By this point I had not only called my friend at Avid, who got a very precise description of my experience, but also the head of Avid Public Relations, who couldn’t have been nicer. I knew that I was going to get someone who had a clue on this next go around. But I was curious to see who got me there first.

In the end, it was the triple onslaught that sent Duane my way. Here was an obviously competent and knowledgeable engineer, he might have been working at Universal Audio or Tekserve. His manner was genial, his attitude curious, and his knowledge of the product up to the challenge. And what we uncovered was this: it’s a fucking bug.

The ProFire 2626 for whatever reason doesn’t output optical SPDIF properly when using the port B set to SPDIF at sample rates other than 44.1khz. Duane’s solution was to send me a product called the Transit which reads the optical output of Port B on the ProFire at whatever sample rate you send it and then connects to the Mac via USB where the computer accesses it through Core Audio.  My problem was kind of solved and my curiosity abated, though I do look forward to learning what the nature of this bug turns out to be.

And that is the end of this saga, the moral of which is that we have nothing to fear from the robots. Computer self-awareness is decades away. They can’t even decide whether they prefer 32-bits to 64-bits, optical SPDIF to optical ADAT or Firewire 800 to USB 2. There will be no Terminator any time soon. Ray Kurzweil will need to do a half-century of beta-testing on himself before I’ll even consider any kind of cyborg operation.

The computer systems we are designing are becoming complex and interdependent to the point that nobody can know everything about a product or how it will interact with the myriad other products out there.  It’s almost a miracle that things work as well as they do.

Anyway, when you finally do get to upgrading to Pro Tools 9, you will enjoy it if you are coming from the LE side of things. The new features are worth the upgrade price. Just try to avoid having any technical issues if you can. Use the web first, especially the DUC.

If you do end up having to buy tech support from Avid I’d make sure you use a credit card that will allow you to challenge the charge just in case your number comes up like mine did and you end up with the Crank Yanker’s answering your call.

And now off to mixing the fuck out of something and enjoying using PT9 in conjunction with my UAD 2 card on my new MacPro. I still can’t believe I can do this at home. Anyone want to buy a quad core G5? I’ve got one I’ll sell you cheap.

Geoff Sanoff is a GRAMMY-winning NYC-based producer/engineer and musician who’s worked with Fountains of Wayne, A Camp, Obits, Blk Jks, Keith Urban, Michael Stipe and Green Day (among many others!). Contact Geoff through Dan Backhaus at Just Managing.

SonicScoop wants to hear your tech stories — the nightmares and the breakthroughs, the rants and the raves! Reach out via submissions@sonicscoop.com.

Avid HEAT Reviewed by Geoff Sanoff

HEAT (Harmonically Enhanced Algorithm Technology) is Avid’s new software that runs within Pro Tools and adds tape and tube like saturation to all the audio tracks in a session.

It runs as a globally activated plug-in that is applied to all active audio tracks in a session (although it does not work on auxiliary, master fader or instrument tracks). The master controls consist of bypass, drive and tone. These do exactly what you think they do. On individual audio tracks the controls are equally scaled down, allowing you to bypass HEAT on a track and to set it as either pre or post insert. And that’s it.

The drive knob in the master section of HEAT is the primary control. Turning the knob to the left generates increasing amounts of third order harmonic content, emulating the sound of a tape machine. Turning it to the right adds second order harmonics to the third order saturation thereby emulating a tube stage along with the tape saturation.

The tone control allows you to brighten or darken the overall effect. Because it is a saturation effect, the ability to set it to be post or pre-insert on individual channels is important because this is the only way to alter the degree of saturation on a specific track.

HEAT IN ACTION: NEW CASSETTES & MAKER’S MARK RED WAX SESSIONS

I used this plug-in on two mix sessions recently and found it to be tremendously useful. The first of these was for British band New Cassettes. When they sent over their files for us to begin mixing, I noticed that they were 16 bit and overall rather hotly recorded.

The tracks all sounded good out of the gate, but it seemed like a perfect time to see what a program like HEAT could add to 16 bits. So after saving the sessions as 24 bit sessions, and adding a trim plug-in to knock down the overall levels a bit, I turned on HEAT and was immediately glad I did. It brought things to life in a way that made mixing this already well-arranged material that much easier.

Turning the HEAT drive knob to the left and right I discovered that I definitely preferred the more basic, third order harmonic settings. It was thicker and well…saturated. In general, I stayed within two or three clicks of the unity setting.  And while the tone knob does adjust the overall tone (surprise!), in practice I never used it, preferring to use individual channel EQ’s to add or subtract top end as I felt was warranted.

[AVID Note: According to Pro Tools product manager Bobby Lombardi, "The tone control alters a number of algorithms and tables which affect how frequencies are being saturated and compressed. Moving the Tone control away from the center position will accentuate the amount of detail and brightness. The effect of raising the tone control is different, depending on which direction the Drive control is turned in. The amount and character of the harmonic content is changed by this control, in a non-linear fashion, unlike what a tone control in an EQ would do."]

When mixing in the box, I tend to route all the tracks to a common bus and then print the mix to another track within the session, rather than bouncing to a file.  Since HEAT doesn’t effect aux sends, if I wanted to print with HEAT on the mix, I had to use an audio track set to input as my master fader.

This wasn’t a big deal because these sessions were all at 44.1khz and they didn’t have heavy track counts, so sparing a track and the processing to run HEAT was no problem. But what was a little confusing at first was remembering to bypass HEAT on the track to which I was printing the mix. It was easy to forget to do this and I wanted to monitor the final mix as it would be when exporting the file from the session, not as it sounds with an additional amount of HEAT processing.

My primary observation about this plug-in (other than the silly name), is the monotheistic way it has been implemented. It’s very all or nothing. On one hand this is quite nice and leaves decision making to a minimum. Either you like it or you don’t. The gradations between settings are very minimal as well. You get a total of 5 detented settings in either direction of the drive knob. It’s tricky to tell whether it actually sounds better with it on, however, because the minute you engage it and begin to play with it, everything gets louder. This does not happen by leaps and bounds, but in subtler, non-linear ways inherent to a saturation type effect.

Since our ears tend to perceive louder sources as sounding “better,” comparing the effect of HEAT bypassed versus engaged is awkward. You turn it on and it gets a little louder so of course you think, “Wow, that sounds better!” But does it? It’s pretty easy to overdo it with brickwall limiters, and I was nervous that HEAT, while much subtler, would be similarly easy to push too far without realizing I was overcooking the mix (sorry couldn’t resist!).

The only way I could manage to figure out how to compare HEAT engaged and bypassed was to set up an offset trim on the master fader, turning it on at the same time as I turned HEAT on, which is not a terribly accurate way to measure.

I don’t know that there is much of a workaround for this given that saturation by its nature does increase overall RMS levels. It would be nice to have some kind of global trim that knocks down the level a smidge, post HEAT processing, so that comparing its on and off states is easier to accomplish. That said, I didn’t find HEAT’s increase in level to be massive, and this wasn’t a huge sticking point for me, since I like how it sounds.

A word of caution on this point: because HEAT is implemented globally, turning, it on or off on a mix means that the mix changes across the board. Futz with it before you really get into mixing because it is reactive to the source material, and tones and balances change when you use it. You don’t want to be 85% of the way done with a mix only to turn HEAT on and find your mix is no longer working. The overall level increase and tonal shifts are cumulative so they will affect not only individual channels but also any bus compression/effects you may be using.

Moving on…the other project I used HEAT on was recorded at 88.1khz. This was mixing the Maker’s Mark Red Wax Sessions in which I recorded 8 bands in 8 hours and then tried to mix the resulting 30 odd songs as quickly as possible.  Because this session was such a whirlwind, tape machines were completely out of the question. So it seemed like an opportunity to see how HEAT handled higher sample rates both in terms of sonics and processing power.

As any Pro Tools HD user knows, HD cards are some old-ass processors and don’t match the power of today’s computers. So TDM based processing on higher sample rate recordings sometimes needs to be carefully delegated.

HEAT does use up a noticeable amount of processing at higher sample rates, but on the HD3 system I was mixing on at Stratosphere Sound, this really didn’t become an issue for me because the track counts were low enough and the Mac was fast enough, that I could use RTAS plug-ins to make up the loss of TDM slots. But, I can see how this would be a problem on a larger session especially as bypassing HEAT on a track does not free up DSP. You have to use RTAS plug-ins to save the DSP (which then uses up a time slot) or print the tracks with effects and deactivate the plug-ins (or buy more HD cards.)

After using HEAT on the second mix session, I was sold on its sound. Again, I found that turning the drive knob to the left two or three clicks added the saturation I was looking for and made the drums and bass sit like I wanted them to without a lot of work. The second order harmonic generation is just a little pointier and brighter than I seem to like. I can see how others might prefer it, but to my ears, the purely third order harmonic setting is easier to work with.

I don’t know that it sounds 100% like tape, others can worry about that question, but it does sound good. It makes it sound like there is more of what you want to hear without going into distortion.

I’d go so far as to say the fact that it doesn’t work exactly like tape is a plus, since even on the hottest recordings I was dealing with, HEAT never saturated into crackling or brittle distortion.  When driving HEAT harder, it just gets darker (when putting the drive knob to the left) and less defined, like tape. But unlike tape or tubes or a lot of saturation plug-ins, it doesn’t seem to get distorted in an ugly way. The tubesque, second order harmonic setting gets a little shriller when hit hard but I never noticed it crackling or crapping out.

Dave Hill and Avid seemed to have figured out precisely where the useful range of their plug-in lays, and stepped the controls accordingly. So while I would have liked a few more options, what they have given us in the way of controls is well thought out within an extremely useful range of settings.

My only other irritation with HEAT is that I don’t know why the folks at AVID would design it to be HD only. It’s damn annoying even if it was a technical necessity. The upside to this, I suppose, is it may keep me from overusing it and getting sick of it. But, at a time when so many good things get recorded in less than optimal situations, HEAT gives you the ability to reinvigorate tracks in an easy and pleasing manner. And I want to use that power for good wherever I work, not just on high end rigs where, arguably, it’s actually less important.

[AVID Note on why HEAT is HD-only at launch: “Dave Hill writes some pretty incredible code that is highly optimized in assembly language suited for the 56k DSPs on HD. Host/RTAS code was not only unavailable, but early experiments had shown that the host code could not optimized without compromise to signal integrity when compared to HD, and for these reasons the initial launch was maintained as HD only. Avid certainly recognizes that there will be demand for the HEAT process on the host, and more importantly that without it, true round-trip session interoperability will not be possible.”]

HEAT
AVID Pro Tools HD
$495.00
Visit www.avid.com/us/products/HEAT to purchase HEAT or get a free 30-day demo, and be sure to check out the video on “Generating Heat,” featuring co-developer Dave Hill.

Geoff Sanoff is a GRAMMY-winning NYC-based producer/engineer and musician who’s worked with Fountains of Wayne, A Camp, Obits, Blk Jks, Keith Urban, Michael Stipe and Green Day (among many others!). Contact Geoff through Dan Backhaus at Just Managing.

Geoff Sanoff Records 8 Bands in 8 Hours for Insound at Stratosphere

In the midst of CMJ last week, Stratosphere Sound hosted rapid-fire recording sessions with eight bands chosen to record tracks for an Insound.com digital mixtape release.

Grammy-winning engineer/producer Geoff Sanoff recorded the eight bands in eight hours — capturing Fake Problems, Dom, Bear Hands, Surfer Blood, Ma.Mentor, Woven Bones, Class Actress and Jukebox the Ghost for the ultimate surf-punk-electro-dance-pop-rock CMJ 2010 mixtape. (Scroll down for photos!)

Sponsored by Maker’s Mark, Fred Perry and Insound.com, the “Artists Lounge” sessions and party at Stratosphere provided a unique, in-studio CMJ experience for the bands, press and other industry folk. And SonicScoop was there to catch some of the action.

One by one, bands quickly setup, got sounds and ran through takes, recording three or four songs in their hour-long session. Sanoff and his second engineers, Mike Nesci and Atsuo Matsumoto, were totally in the zone, working as fast and furiously as possible to provide a totally pro, if on the fly, recording experience for each of the artists.

To mentally prepare for this marathon session, Sanoff says, “I was thinking of my old friend Kevin McMahon, who once upon a time was the sound guy at Brownie’s, and how he used to do 5 bands a night routinely. I decided if I approached this experience with the mindset of a live sound guy, even though its not a world I’ve inhabited for any substantial length of time, it just wouldn’t seem as daunting or hectic.”

The biggest challenge, notes Sanoff, was constructing a studio setup that was both conducive to quick changeovers but could also accommodate a wide variety of setups from full rock band to acoustic duo.

“The other part of the equation, arguably the more important part, was using the space in a way that would be as immediately comfortable as possible for the artists but also sonically satisfactory,” Sanoff adds. “The goal was to get recordings by the bands that forced them somewhat out of their usual comfort zones musically and to hope that they would respond creatively to the challenge.

“Knowing that getting 8 bands in and out in 8 hours was going to force us to make compromises on how we setup, I decided to try and channel some of practice space vibe into the setup so people wouldn’t feel as awkward as they can entering a studio for the first time and so that what we lost in audio fidelity was made up for by the energy of the day.

“Better to have an interesting recording that’s going to draw your attention than a flawless recording of a bland performance. Live in the studio things can too easily become inferior versions of songs a band has already perfected, and that seems like a wasted opportunity to me. In this case there were a lot of people at the studio milling about so there was an element of a live show energy there, even though it really wasn’t set up that way visually.”

In the case of UK rock trio Ma Mentor, lead singer and guitarist Boban Tran was setup at a microphone in a blanketed corner of the control room, with his band mates each playing in separate, isolated live rooms.

After the session, Tran mentioned how happy he was with what he was hearing. No doubt. Sanoff’s a talented and extremely well-versed engineer and Stratosphere is a top-notch studio, with great rooms, a classic Neve 8068 console and other awesome vintage and modern gear to aid in getting those good sounds, quickly. The bands tracked via the 8068 into Pro Tools HD.

And the sessions went as smoothly as possible, with Sanoff and team ready for anything. “With events like this you know from the outset that there are going to be unexpected last-minute changes and our job was just to roll with it and keep everything running,” says Sanoff.

“And thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, especially my awesome second engineers Mike Nesci and Atsuo Matsumoto, we managed to do just that. I was lucky to have them and all the rest of Stratosphere’s great staff behind us 150 percent.”

For more on Stratosphere Sound, visit www.stratospheresound.com and get in touch with Geoff Sanoff (Obits, A Camp, Secret Machines, Tinted Windows) via Just Managing. Check out the following photos from the Insound + Maker’s Mark + Fred Perry CMJ sessions at Stratosphere by Jessica Lehrman and Beka Venezia, where noted.

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