SSL Announces New Nucleus DAW Control Profiles for Live & Reason, Additional Features

Solid State Logic has released several new features for its Nucleus control surface.

Nucleus users can now download dedicated DAW control profiles for Ableton Live and Propellerhead Reason. The new templates bring tight integration between Nucleus and these popular music creation platforms, and come as an addition to existing Nucleus profiles for Pro Tools, Logic and Cubase/Nuendo and any other DAW applications that support MCU or HUI.

In addition, OS X Lion is now fully supported for Nucleus, with a revised Java-based Console Browser.

Lastly, The Nucleus soundcard now also supports 64-bit for Mac users.

Any registered Nucleus user can download the upgrade bundle by clicking on the Download link on the Downloads tab of the Nucleus product page. The product serial number will be needed.

The download contains the latest upgrades for the Nucleus console:

- Nucleus console software version 1.5

- Nucleus browser version 1.06

- Mac Soundcard driver 2.00.05

- IpMIDI (latest versions for both Mac and PC)

Additional documentation is available via the Documentation tab on the Nucleus product page.

Nucleus is a blend of advanced DAW control, SSL’s transparent SuperAnalogue monitoring, high class SuperAnalogue mic pres, pro quality USB audio interface and bundled SSL Duende Native plug-ins. A compact desktop unit that creates a comfortable, efficient, hands on operating environment for DAW based Music and Film/TV Post production, Nucleus is designed to provide everything necessary to to record and monitor audio, and to control a DAW quickly and efficiently without a mouse.

Summing Up: Quad Launches Studio Q1

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: Blink, and you might miss it. The action in the NYC studio scene right now is raging fast and furious, with noteworthy new rooms opening up at a pace almost too fast to keep track of.

The latest big-time addition to the cityscape: Q1 at Quad Recording Studios. The flagship revision to this storied facility, Q1 represents the latest evolution in NYC’s world-class studio offerings for artists, producers, mixers, and songwriters in search of new creative options and inspiring surroundings.

With its arrival, the fascinating timeline of 723 7th Avenue gets yet another update. The seeds of this new room were sown in Quad’s 2010 sale of its 8th floor — emerging lean and mean, Quad President Ricky Hosn and his staff embarked on a $500,000 overhaul of its remaining territory, the 3500 sq. ft. 10th floor.

Ask Hosn about the current NYC studio climate, and he’ll readily admit that navigating the scene is more challenging than ever. “It’s kept us on our toes,” he says, “and restructuring the place was essential for us. Quad was five floors at one point, but the market won’t sustain that anymore. We had to reinvent ourselves, to move in step with a changing of the times — we feel we have the right formula now.”

Making the Update
The results of the remake are as easy to see as they are to hear. Visitors step off of the elevator directly into the atmospheric Qlounge, complete with a pool table, bar and a carnivorous fish tank (show up for feeding time – if you dare). Those familiar with the powerful audio pod previously known as Studio D – now Q2 – will be happy to know that that room remains intact, although it is equipped with a new lounge that flanks it to the left.

Also with a brand new lounge is the latest addition Q1, a space designed to make all kinds of waves. At 320 sq. ft., the comfortable Larry Swist-designed control room may seem slightly compact, but once the advanced functionality and exhilaratingly loud and accurate acoustics have been experienced, size no longer matters.

To the contrary, Q1 is already making a big impact with its extreme flexibility, both in workflow and capabilities. “In the past a studio would have a mix room, a production room, a tracking room,” Hosn explains. “We said, ‘Let’s put all three together, and make a room where any producer, engineer or artist can walk in and feel at home.

“That’s the approach we took. There’s a producer’s desk in the back where you can sit, listen accurately, and work. The producer or artist is never sitting too far from the controls and the engineer. It’s geared around the artist and production, and that’s the trend we see: A lot of producers are handling the whole project, and we built it around that reality. It’s the same principle we had with creating Studio D five years ago, but we made this a bigger format, with better gear and a much bigger live room, so you really can handle any kind of music project.”

Outfitted with oiled walnut wood appointments, Swist’s pleasing design employs generous views to the outside and the adjacent control room, providing Q1’s users with an expansive experience while they work. “Windows were essential: You’re in Times Square so take advantage of it,” Hosn says. “Both the live room and control room have windows out to Times Square, and the window between the live and control room is bigger than most windows in the city. You feel like you’re right next to the artist — it just feels like one big room between the control and live room.”

Once clients get settled into the welcoming environment, things get increasingly interesting. While the ICON control surface won’t raise any eyebrows, the Pro Tools HD 4 Accel 9.0 system is to be expected, and the comprehensive list of plugins is de rigueur, where the signal can flow from there is unique: three different summing mixers – a Chandler 16 x 2, SSL X Logic 16 Channel, and a Manley 16 x 2 Custom mic/line – flanked by a who’s who of outboard gear.

“We had the opportunity to go with a typical analog desk, but we said, ‘Let’s do something different and get creative with the equipment,’” Hosn says. “We focused on summing, with three summing mixers to give the engineer more of a choice for the sound. This is the best of the summing world: Chandler comes from the old EMI consoles, SSL is the industry standard, and we have something different in the Manley mixer, which is amazing on vocals. As far as outboard gear, we went for — not vintage, but brand new — Chandler, GML, SSL, Manley EQ/compressor, and of course the Universal Audio units like the 1176 and LA-2A.”

For monitoring, a pair of Augspurger Dual 15” main monitors, custom built by Professional Audio Design, supplemented with 2 subwoofers, throws down the gauntlet for mega volume listening in NYC. In a recent visit listening to hip hop, pop and rock through these speakers in the tight, well-tuned room was a sonically exciting experience, revealing extremely high levels of full-frequency detail cleanly across the stereo field. For those who need to craft, check or just feel their mixes at massive SPL’s, Q1 may well become a mandatory stop on the way to the mastering lab.

Design Assignment
According to Swist, whose credits include Tainted Blue, Premier’s Studio E, Eastman School of Music, SUNY Fredonia, and The Lodge, the directive for Q1 was to create a warm but contemporary look and feel. “We used a lot of sharp lines, and the sound has got to be there — the acoustics need to be spot-on because people are going to mix in there,” Swist notes. “The challenge today in an NYC facility is that you don’t have the cubic footage you used to, so you have to spend more time in the design phase ensuring that the room will translate in the outside world, especially with bass response. It also has to have a broad sweet spot. It’s easy to make it work right in the middle, but to make the room work for the producer standing next to you or in the back is a challenge.

“Most live rooms have an idiosyncratic quality to them: The great engineers find its good characteristics, the right places for the drums and mics, and use gobos,” Swist continues. “My approach is to keep it a relatively active room, and then you can come down from there. So Q1’s tracking room sits in a relatively live place: It’s good for drums, but reverb times can be cut down with gobos and more acoustical absorption. I think the live room is larger than most. It’s not huge, but then again most people are just putting in booths in a production suite today. This offers the ability to actually track a band. A lot of those rooms are going away, and this fills that void.

“Overall, the studio is something fresh, and you do have a really good initial emotional reaction to it. It’s positive creatively, and that’s what we were striving for. It’s like, ‘Wow, it feels nice and it sounds nice. We have a good combination there.’”

Under the Hood
Cleanly integrating Q1’s three analog summing mixers and outboard gear with the ICON was no plug ‘n’ play operation. “We wanted to do something focused on an easier workflow, quick mix recalls for engineers and easy accessibility for producers,” states Alessio Casalini Operations Manager and Chief Tech for Quad Studios NYC/Halo Records. “This improves the possibility to change little things fast and maintain top quality in terms of outboard gear and technical components like patchbays, wires, and connectors.

“The wiring of the whole studio and the patchbay’s layout were designed by Glenn Baughmann and myself,” continues Casalini. “We brainstormed in order to find the best result to yield a simple layout, one noted example being: The three summing mixers normalled to the multitrack outs, and the outs of those mixers normalled to the Stereo inputs of the (ICON) XMon (monitoring controller), and dedicated computer output to the XMon. Even the TV is on the bays.

“We started with the best quality wires and connectors, and used only two DB25 patchbays for connections with XMon and audio interfaces. All the other patchbays are soldered by hand and split to DL connectors panels.”

Connectivity in Q1 is obsessive: Every wallplate in the live room, control room and in the lounge are equipped with SpeakON plugs, Ethernet, instrument, MIDI, and BNC. “The goal being,” says Casalini, “to give the engineer every possibility, without trying to find a way around what he has in mind. In this scenario the artist, producer, and/or engineer will have everything accessible in the clearest way possible.

“New York City studios are looking to the future, and retaining our experience from the past. We expect that our careful planning yielded a room ninety percent ready for anything — with the client left only to decide the direction of the last ten percent.”

In Action
Online since June, Quad has quickly been breaking in Q1. Sessions include Engineer/Producer Andros Rodriguez (Shakira, Oh Land), Music Producer Rico Beats (Justin Bieber, Niki Manaj), and Universal Music Artist Stephen Marley. One frequent visitor has been the NYC engineer Stuart White (Alicia Keys, K’Naan), who’s gotten to know the room via mix sessions for the artists Borni, Fumibella, and Sunny.

“The mains are really smooth,” he says. “They sound good and balanced. The ProAc monitors I use a lot and they’re dialed in, very smooth on the top end. Having three different summing boxes gives you three different colors. The Chandler is really punchy, with a lot of transformers in it: It’s got color to it, with some punch when you drive it hard. I typically use that summing bus. The Manley is all tubes, which provides a fat tubey sound, and the SSL is a different color.”

According to Stu, Q1 met Quad’s objectives in smoothing out the NYC studio continuum. “I think in a lot of ways Q1 is bridging the gap between the old-style, large-format console style way of working and the new summing bus-style way,” Stu adds. “There’s not a large format console, but still a plethora of analog gear so you can mix with the speed of what we need today. You have clients that expect you to mix in the box for speed, but at the same time Q1 makes you and the analog purists happy by being able to sum in analog gear.

“I think it’s a new breed of room in that sense. A few years ago, most engineers didn’t want to mix on an ICON, they wanted a large format board. But Tony Maserati is working exactly this way, and he’s the one who kind of inspired me to do it: You’re mixing with faders, and tactile controls, so you can stay creative and not use the mouse so much. But if someone wants to come in and change the song, it’s very easy to pull your mixes back up. It bridges the gap between the older generation rooms and the newer ones that are all digital.”

Cue the Q
As New York production possibilities continue to morph, at least one thing is clear: As previously noted on this site, a subtle sense of cooperation is weaving itself into the intensive competition between NYC studios. Facilities are avoiding blatant duplication in favor of an overall sense of regional integration, where each new room creates a fresh niche, rather than further crowding an existing one. “You don’t want to build what’s already there, and then compete against the same thing,” Hosn says. “The key for us was to make it a top notch room at an affordable price.”

As Ricky Hosn points out, the big winner in the friendly NYC studio arms race are music’s avid listeners, whose insatiable appetite for new sounds are increasing yet again with the availability of Spotify in the U.S. “Who knows what the next big record will sound like?” he says. “There’s a lot of opportunity to come up with something that hasn’t been heard yet.”

– David Weiss

World Harmony Studios Opens in Upstate NY

The latest addition to the active upstate NY recording scene, World Harmony Studios has officially opened.

A high-end destination studio geared to accommodate a wide range of theatrical, feature film and music recording projects, World Harmony Studios is owned by producer/ businessman Samuel Nappi. Set on a 300-acre horse farm overlooking the Adirondack Tug Hill plateau, the 2500 sq. ft. complex was designed by architect/acoustician/WSDG co-principal John Storyk,

World Harmony Studios is built into a 3-story, 4500 sq. ft. redwood lodge/guest house, the 2500 sq. ft. complex includes a custom-built 700 sq. ft. live/screening room, a 300 sq. ft. control room; 120 and 220 sq. ft. iso rooms, and a lounge.  There is also a guesthouse offering a comprehensive range of comfort-focused amenities including a gourmet kitchen.

Highlights of the World Harmony equipment list include an SSL AWS924 Hybrid Console, Adams S4X-V mains, Neumann, Royer, AKG, Shure, Electro-Voice and Sennheiser mics, and an Antelope Engineering Isochrone OCX Master Digital Clock. WSDG system integration specialist Caroline Feldmeier developed the studios’ comprehensive, easily accessed wiring program

According to Nappi, World Harmony was designed with social consciousness as one of its core missions. Projects for the studio include a feature film based on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. in conjunction with DreamWorks, Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones;  co-production of a Broadway show based on the original Woodstock Festival, with Michael Lang; and the musicals Prometheus Bound and The Gift of the Magi.

World Harmony Studios can be contacted at 315-391-0094.

REVIEW: SSL Nucleus by George Walker Petit

Why I Need One/Reason for Purchase

As an independent engineer/producer for over 25 years, I’ve been somewhat reticent to outfit and install a “home” or “project” studio.  The majority of my work has taken place in major commercial studios, only occasionally moving to a smaller mix or editing suite if forced by budgetary constraints – or that “overkill” concept when using too much real estate.

These major rooms usually boast a large format console (SSL, Neve, API) with the de rigueur racks of outboard, professional room design and layout choices that (hopefully) make an engineer’s workflow efficient.

When digital audio first reared its head, the “home” or “project” studio had a somewhat negative connotation.  “Oh, you have a project studio.  Hmmm…how lovely for you!”.  Visions of ¼” patchbays with wires hanging out of the back, a home-made, plywood “rack”, the screws barely holding four ADATs.

OK, sorry, maybe your home studio was not that bad.  But most were sub-par installations in little more than a spare closet with neither adequate acoustic treatment nor quality signal processing — front end or back end.  In most cases, granted, these were “labs”,  places where one honed one’s skills, but hardly studios that were capable of producing a finished product of quality.  Years back you needed a bigger budget and more space in order to build anything respectable. The gear was still huge and expensive and the thinking was somewhat archaic.

But as the technology has raced to meet the qualitative demands of professionals needing to service clients with ever-decreasing budgets, I have been forced to re-assess my position, to sit up and take notice.  These days, I feel it’s essential that working engineers, producers and perhaps even serious songwriters have access to a professional system at all times.

More and more the music has become married to the tech (no comment on that here), and with the advances resulting from years of technical innovation and competition, I further believe that we all can in fact have such access.  If well thought out, such a studio can produce work sonically competitive with that of the commercial studio.

We’ll always need big live rooms and iso’s, budget willing, but to arrange, edit and mix “at home”, at a high level is more than just possible now.  I still track at major studios, but I would say that a good 60% or more of my work these days happens in my “home” studio. Which sounds fantastic, by the way.  I love it.

My latest upgrade has been the SSL Nucleus, a small format console aimed at a really good smaller professional studio — or what we used to in fact call the “project” or “home” studio.  The Nucleus is meant to act as the nerve center of a modern digital studio, a communications hub, a liaison with your DAW. In fact, with a few of your DAWS.

But before you read further, let me make a bit of a disclaimer here: During my rather exhaustive research before purchase, I looked at myriad websites quoting the specs, the numbers, the technical comparisons and measurements.  I needed to know those things and they are all rather impressive, and I urge you to get out there on the Web and do the same research.  But you won’t find them here in my review, since it’s already been done.

Instead, I prefer to talk about my reactions and observations in terms of how the Nucleus affects my work, how it makes me feel about my work and my efficiency.  The numbers inform my decisions, certainly.  But they do not dictate my decisions.

If a piece of gear sounds great, enhances my workflow and adds value to my final product I usually buy it.  If, above that, the gear removes encumbrances to the creative connection between me and the music, I certainly buy it.

I bought the SSL Nucleus.  I have had it installed for a little under three weeks. Here are my observations…

No Second Chance to Make a First Impression
The fact that Nucleus is an SSL cannot be ignored.  This brand recognition and reputation certainly impacts one’s decision to buy.  If it says “Ducati” on the gas tank, it had better respond like a Ducati.  If it is from “SSL”, I expect — 100 percent — that the chaps over there in Oxfordshire understand this client perception and would naturally not want to release any new piece of gear that doesn’t measure up.  The release of such a piece of gear would be disappointing, would impact client base and would be…downright foolish, right?

They are not fools in Oxfordshire, I am still an SSL fan and the Nucleus does not disappoint.

From Moment One, opening the box upon its arrival, I was impressed.  The Nucleus is well presented and packed for safety.  It comes with very little documentation, and it needs very little.  The unit is heavy, sturdy, doesn’t feel “hollow” and plastic, and  in fact it gives the impression of solidity and a high build quality.  An SSL through and through.  One touch of the transport section or one move of a fader and you just know it’s a professional piece of gear.  “Now we’re talking…” was, as I recall, my first thought.

Visually, it’s a treat.  Bold lettering, and apparent pride in design and build. Beginning with the start-up LED’s and the back-lit “Solid State Logic” the layout looks smart, is ergonomically functional and is immediately intuitive.  There is more than adequate room between knobs and buttons for my fat fingers.  The rear panel is clear, clean and equally solid, obviously well thought out.  I’d say the overall “look” is inviting, from the 16 smooth and precise faders to the uncluttered, functional layout of controls.  One instantly wants to engage with the Nucleus, to get down to some meaningful work.

Nucleus has a larger footprint than my old Avid 003 controller, but there is truly no comparison in design, build quality and intuitive layout.  Different world.  Nucleus makes me smile.  If you’ve spent time with an E, G, K, J or Duality over the years, you’re going to feel right at home here.

My old Avid sat to the right of center on my workspace for the few years I had it.  I used it sporadically, didn’t reach for it all the time.  For many reasons, I did not want it as a studio “centerpiece”. There wasn’t the immediate connection that the Nucleus makes.  My new Nucleus is centered in my workspace, in my studio, and I feel like I am back on a quality console, not a plastic controller.  Even before I installed and configured, I truly felt that it was going to bring up my game.

Installation
Installation and connectivity was a cinch.  The Nucleus connects to your computer via USB interface and with your DAW via Ethernet.  After installation of drivers and other needed software, connection of these two cables and power (standard IEC), I was up and running.

Before connecting my monitors, I plugged-in a pair of Grado headphones and began to configure the software, having attached my iPod through the “ijack” (1/8th miniplug input on the rear panel) to listen to some tunes while working.  At this stage, I was introduced to the Nucleus Remote, the nerve center of the Nucleus software, and the USB Control Panel, where users configure the sound card, again all very straight-forward and fast.  The users manual is completely clear, short and sweet, and gets you through the process without headache.

You can configure just about anything you can think of with the Remote: templates, “profiles” (their word), soft keys, functionality of the jog wheel, master transport control, preferred DAW.

A wonderful option to note here is that one can work with multiple DAW’s with any of three operating at the same time, a chosen one being the master. This switching/multiple DAW capability is a thing of beauty, and it is seamless.  I tried it with Pro Tools and Logic for a bit to test it…perfect.  Again, the manual is there if you need it, but the machine’s operation is so clear and logically presented that I was through the entire process and monitoring audio in no time.  In fact from opening the box to operational status was just shy of one hour.

I should mention that the only possible “issue” here is that when Nucleus is connected to your computer with the Ethernet cable, and once the network is configured, one can not use the Internet simultaneously. Some might consider that a big issue. I know I do — a big POSITIVE issue!  I am no longer interrupted in my workflow by emails and the temptation to play on the Internet.

Operation
Now, I have certain peculiarities in my workflow as, I am confident, most of us have!  Some projects work with templates including settings and chosen go-to plugins. Some work solely in 44.1 and 48 or, “Sorry, I only work in 96 and higher”…whatever.

I am pleased to report that the ability to custom configure your Nucleus is staggering.  It is obvious that SSL want you to make the Nucleus the hub of your studio – even in some cases programming the soft keys to deliver keystroke commands normally covered by your QWERTY keyboard.  Yes, you can do that:  One machine as the control center for basically EVERYTHING.  Get creative, and pretty much any function you need to control can be designed and assigned, then “played” on the Nucleus, and then saved to an SD card.  You “play” the Nucleus. Ever see Minority Report with Tom Cruise?  That’s the feeling I get.

I set up a quick user profile under my name with a session template and my go-to plugs, then opened a previous session of a multitrack project with some 38 channels of acoustic instruments recorded live by me at MSR Studios in NYC, with a tad+ of MIDI and overdubs, tidied up for a few minutes to impose order on the session and started mixing.  Then I saved the profile, saved the session, shut down and started up again…and gee, gosh, golly, it works!  You can get quite deep with configuration, and I intend to do so as time goes on fully buying into SSL’s intention for us here.

I should say that this ability to customize draws me deeper into SSL’s cunning plan, invites me further into the game, and I am really loving that.  I am not frustrated by a learning curve here, as one perhaps can be on a new OS. rather, I am anxious to get deeper to improve my workflow and product.  SSL’s clear, logical presentation and protocol actually invites me to peel back more layers.  The deeper you get, the better you work.

And nothing gets in the way.  Unencumbered, creative engineering. What a concept.

You’ll get the same feedback and solid feeling with the V-pots, V-sel switches, faders, everything functions as expected and screams: “Quality”.  Automation, plugin control, panning (continuous pots, by the way), assignments, monitoring and gain structure, any normal functions and processes associated with a session are intuitive, easily accessible and serve to improve one’s job.  The “conduit” between the engineer and the music has had a pipe cleaner run through it – all cleared up now, thank you very much.

Sound
Does a “controller” have “a sound”?  First let me say that I don’t consider Nucleus a controller, I consider it a small format console.  This niche market for an “in-the-box” control solution has many contenders, to be sure.  And they all pretty much do the same things, some more than others.  But to me, it’s how they do what they do, to what depth and with what level of sonic integrity, how effective are they?  I think Nucleus deserves to be called a console.

SSL has included a pair of their SuperAnalogue mic pre’s in the Nucleus, basically the same ones from the Duality.  The pre’s deliver a true SSL sound, folks.  The lo’s are rich and focused, mid’s are uncluttered and well-defined, while not overbearing and the hi’s are transparent with a lovely “shimmer” up there…sans ice-pick!  Plenty of punch or smoothness, depending on what you’re doing with it.  This pair of pre’s are far above the quality of the competition, and not even worth comparing to my old “controller”.  To have them included on the Nucleus is a gift.

Now, I am not using the Nucleus to track a live band in a live room, so I really don’t need talk-back or multiple cue mixes.  If you’re going to use Nucleus to that end, I’d suggest you also purchase the right gear to fill those needs, I don’t need it, so the fact the Nucleus doesn’t have it doesn’t bother me.  I’ve read a few complaints about this, but I don’t consider it a deal breaker.  Perhaps SSL will alter this situation in the future, perhaps not. Nucleus is not “all things to all people”, and it’s not meant to be.

But I do monitor on speakers and headphones, and…surprise!  The analogue monitor section is fantastic-sounding, worlds better than my old Avid, yet again.  There is a lot to be said for more headroom, a better sound card, increased clarity, right?  SSL has addressed these issues and clearly beat the competition again.  Quality AD/DA conversion and analogue outputs. Bullseye.

I will be using the Nucleus extensively to edit work tracked in large live rooms, do a number of overdubs and then fully mix projects ranging from jazz to acoustic music to rock, and the occasional film score. Fact is, I will use the Nucleus for just about everything I do, except track full bands.  I have little doubt that it will continue to impress and deliver.  Let me go one step further: Aside from working for my paying clients on it here in my studio, I have decided that I will record and mix my next project of MY music on it here as well – I really don’t see any limitations.

Sonically, the Nucleus beats what I used to run by leaps and bounds.  This creates something to me that is a game changer.  If you take that sonic integrity into account along with the intuitive functionality of the desk, its ergonomic, “sexy” design and the ability to customize its interface, what you end up with is a tool that gets you closer to the music.  I know I keep saying it, but I really want you to hear that.  Nucleus helps me make my work sound better.  Period.

Conclusion
Obviously, I’m a fan.  Over 25 years of working on many consoles including SSL’s of all shapes and sizes, I am not in the least bit surprised that the lovely folks from Solid State Logic have brought us a small format console of this quality, probably the best in this market.  The Nucleus measures up to the rest of the SSL line – you will get what you expect from an SSL.

From functionality to build quality, support and sonic footprint, Nucleus raises the bar and slays the competition.  I really have nothing bad to say about it that is of any weight at all.  I’d love another pair of XLR monitor outs for my second pair of speakers, but I won’t cry, I’ll probably buy the SPL 2-Channel next week.  Game over.

Add to this the included Duende package and you have a real game-changer here.  Let me restate the obvious:  Other plugin designers “model” SSL EQ and dynamics – and there are some really great sounding emulations out there. I have a few.  But they always sound “just like an SSL”.  Hear me?  Duende doesn’t sound like SSL, it is SSL.  It’s made by the same guys that made the originals and inasmuch, these plugins have a richness and sound that is truly SSL, not a knock off.

I researched and got into this whole Nucleus thing looking for improvements to my studio and my work for clients.  I wanted to get my product better, increase efficiency through a more focused workflow and become re-inspired by my equipment.  Nucleus has surpassed ALL my expectations.  Fantastic piece of gear, best purchase I have made in years.

The MSRP is $4999.00: Is it worth this hefty price tag?  Absolutely.  Yes, perhaps it is “hefty” if one thinks in terms of a “home” studio in the old sense.  I don’t.  The Nucleus takes me out of that thought pattern.

Cheers!
gwp

George Walker Petit thinks a lot about mixing and many other musical things. An award-winning producer and mixer, he is based in New York City. Visit George at his Website, and keep up with him and the Drew Zingg Debut Album Project here.

Psyched on Sonics: Recording Voices in Challenging Locations

Every month, Matt McCorkle of EqualSonics.com brings you a day in the life of a New York City recording engineer.

The Mission: Recording Voices In An Unconventional Recording Space
In October of last year I was contacted by Whitney Bryant of the Tuesdays at Four company, inquiring about mobile recording services. She heads an intergenerational class held on Tuesdays at 4pm inside the The Hallmark of Battery Park Senior Residence. The class’ mission is to promote healthy aging via means of movement, community and the arts.

Her concept was to record the members of her class, who vary in age from 18 to 101, as they answered broad life questions and shared their stories. The idea was to later arrange these monologues and dialogues in a sequence that tells a bigger story. “I Was I Am We Are” was the name for the project and the recording and the questions to which the participants would attempt to answer.

After communicating via e-mail about the process for recording and the eventual editing necessary to create the desired cohesive spoken word recording, it was time to meet the class and scope out the room in which I would be recording.

Analyzing The Hallmark
Whenever I have the opportunity to scope a location prior to recording, I take advantage of that to obtain a clear perspective of what I’m walking into so that I can troubleshoot ahead of time and maximize efficiency come recording time. Upon my initial arrival at The Hallmark, I met Whitney and she gave me a tour of the space. Quickly, I was able to get a good sense of what I was dealing with.

It was a large room with florescent lights. The lights sparked immediate concern due to the noise they often generate, however, even up close, the lights were relatively quiet. The central air, however, which came on periodically, was loud! I asked Whitney about this and she said the central air can be turned off for each room, easy enough.

I walked around the room whistling short bursts of air. This particular exercise helps me determine the acoustics of the room:

• I whistle one note and then listen to the decay on the echo, the timbre of my whistle and the sound of my whistle in the room.
• I whistle one a little lower in pitch, then listen.
• Finally I whistle a couple more pitches to know how the room responds to various frequencies.

The ceilings were about 13 feet high, high enough to avoid ugly reflections from bouncing around, so I was confident that the space wouldn’t be an issue. The great thing about this approach is that I always have my whistling with me!

Each resident will be speaking into the same mic, one at a time. Three groups of 8-10 people for one hour each.

My plan was to setup a cardioid condenser mic in the central-most part of the room. The room sounded clearest and most neutral in the center without the ugly reflections that were generated closer to the walls. I felt good about the location and confident that my setup would yield great results having been able to take this initial inventory of the space.

Establish Homebase

Arriving a few days after my initial scope out of the room, it was time to record. I setup Equal Sonics Mobile in a far corner away from the center of the room.

After booting up my hard drives, laptop and Pro Tools I was ready to go. I setup a Neumann U87 in the center of the room and switched the polar pattern to cardioid. I ran an XLR cable from the mic to the rig, tucking it under tables, to keep the area clear.

The last thing to do was to set up headphones beside the mic for each speaker to use. I ran a HearBack mixer to the center of the room and placed a pair of cans around it. If they wanted to use it, great. If not, I had control on the digital mixer so I could turn it off if not in use.

Get Busy
The first group arrived and it was time to begin. Whitney had the first individual step up to the microphone. I hit record. She asked them a question, and they responded. Some people had their responses to these questions well rehearsed, while others were not so prepared. There were some hangups for those who were not as prepared, such as stalling between words, not phrasing an answer in an understandable manner and unnecessary pauses.

Whitney was good about coaching her class through these small setbacks, but with my recorder running throughout anyway. I didn’t want to throw off the group’s flow with stopping and starting, nor miss the golden take. All the extra material recorded could quickly be taken out in the editing process. In its entirety, this vocal tracking session took three hours to capture everyone’s voice.

Clean Up
After the recording was complete it was time to enter the first phase of post-production: editing. I chopped up each vocal take to start with the answer of the question, leaving out Whitney’s questions. Then I chopped off the end of the vocal take before Whitney’s next question.

This left me just the answer to the question in its own audio region. I put fades of varying lengths on the start and end of each vocal take. Labeling each audio region with a few snippets of the answer for easy recall later when putting all these takes together.

Step 2: Editing
I met with Whitney and Jamie Yasgur a week later to cut, chop, splice and dice the three hours of audio into a cohesive and poetic hole. Armed with my laptop, a hard drive, a Pro Tools interface and active monitors for listening we got to work editing.

She had created and typed out a story-line of how she wanted the vocals placed which was a helpful guide, sort of her post production, pre-production. On my end, as I mentioned, I had already organized the answers and labeled all my regions which made it easy to find all the necessary pieces with the help of Pro Tools’ region display. After some crafty arranging and well-placed fades we were working our way to a powerful finished product.

Special FX
There were two spots in the recording that Whitney had asked for a special effect. She wanted one of the phrases to start out while others started to wrap themselves around the first one. Essentially layered on top of one another, to create a chaotic moment in the recording.

I copied numerous vocal takes of various lengths and placed them on top of the original. I then panned each of the takes around the panorama spectrum, while EQ-ing each take to give it a bit of distinctive depth.

This created a mesh of vocals, seemingly coming from every direction. A sort of dreamy disorientation of space and time. After the final vocal take from this chaotic moment was finished, the track resolved back to the original singular spoken word.

The Mix

Once the entire vocal recording was laid out, syllables were clarified by chopping up the words into each syllable and moving them closer or further apart to create a more natural flow. Next, breaths were reduced in volume or taken out, long pauses were shortened, and the final fades were placed.

It was now time to sweeten the sound. I put a Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on the track with about 4-5 dB of gain reduction. I set the attack and release to both be relatively slow to get a nice smooth, flowing sound.

After the compression I added a bit of EQ to add some brilliance in the top end, around 10 kHz, and cut some sub frequencies out of the bottom end of the spectrum, at 60 kHz.

Once the EQ was sitting nicely, the Oxford Inflator from Sonnox was added to the equation. This is a great plug-in to use to create some warmth on a track. Using the curve control slider, which varies from negative fifty to positive fifty, you can flavor the warmth on your track. Negative fifty is very dark, positive fifty is very bright. Because this was a spoken word piece I wanted a more neutral warmth; I stuck with positive ten on the curve control slider.

Now that the tone was established, I wanted to add some depth to the recording. This was achieved by loading a reverb plug-in on an aux track and mixing the vocals with it slightly.

The effect created some slight space around the vocals, while refraining from drowning them in a sea of echos. Finally, I used the infamous Waves L3 to boost the overall level of the track and glue together the vocals with the reverb.

The Handoff
The track was recorded, edited, pieced together and mixed. I burnt the .WAV files on a few CDs for Whitney and was on my way.

It was a great tracking and mixing session, but there’s a surprise that came my way a few months later with this project: Whitney contacted me yet again to ask if there was any way I could turn this vocal recording into a dance track.

Check out the next installment of Psyched On Sonics where we will continue this story!

As the owner and operator of his own mobile recording studio, Matt McCorkle of EqualSonics.com is capable of bringing professional audio to anyone, anywhere, anytime. His specialties involves acoustic instrumental recordings, vocal productions, live tracking sessions, electronic music production and mixing. Whether in the studio or out in the field, Matt’s goal is simple: To create new music and sounds with passionate artists. To contact Matt please visit EqualSonics.com.

Premier Studios Hosts Sessions for Oh Land, O.A.R., Bow Wow, Kerry “Krucial” Brothers

On 7th Avenue in Midtown, Premier Studios has been busy with several sessions for high-profile artists and producers.

In addition, the studio’s new venture, Premier Media, launched with Post Mix Engineer/Producer Mark Barasch working on a number of projects. Highlights include VO’s with F. Murray Abraham, and Jay Sanders, to audio post for Norwegian Cruise Lines, Turner Classic Movies, CNN, Cartoon Network, ESPN, Nickelodeon, & STARZ Entertainment.

On the music side, action in their SSL-equipped Studios A&B, and Writer’s Rooms E&F included:

Sony Artist Oh Land recorded promos in Studios A for her upcoming release.

Producer Gregg Wattenberg worked with O.A.R. tracking a 16-piece choir for their new album. Ari Raskin engineered, and Sam Giannelli assisted.

Stuart White engineered and mixed tracks for GRAMMY-winning producer Kerry “Krucial” Brothers.

DefJam artist DJ Khaled tracking, with Ben Diehl and Kevin Geigel assisting.

Cash Money artist Bow Wow recording vocals, engineered by Ari Raskin and Assistant Anthony Daniel.

Kimbella, produced by Tonesha “Big Drawaz”. The sessions were engineered by Kevin Geigel.

Producer Scyence worked on EMI Writer Sessions, with Anthony Daniel engineering.

Producer Chuck Harmony worked with Tanya Lacey. The sessions were engineered by Sam Giannelli.

Sean “The Pen” Garrett worked on tracks, with Michael Miller engineering and Anthony Daniel and Colin Rivers assisting.

SSL Announces New X-Panda 24 Channel Superanalogue Mixer

Solid State Logic has announced the release of X-Panda, a versatile new 24 channel compact SuperAnalogue mixer at Musikmesse 2011. It will be priced at $3199, and available in June, 2011.

X-Panda is a new small-format analogue mixer aimed at project studio owners, with a versatile feature set and compact frame. As a standalone product it serves as a high-quality 24 input mixer that can be used for tracking (in conjunction with external mic pres) or master mix summing.

In conjunction with an SSL X-Desk, X-Panda introduces 24 additional channels, which via the “X-Desk Link” connection, feed directly into the X-Desk Master Buss, Cue and Aux Send/Return system. In conjunction with an X-Rack summing system fitted with a Master Module, X-Panda adds faders and additional inputs to create a versatile mixer. X-Panda can also be used with any other mixer to expand available channel count.

X-Panda provides 8 mono channels (each with Main and Alt inputs giving 16 mono inputs) and 4 stereo channels, giving a total of 24 channels at mix down.  All channels feature an input Level Trim with a centre détente at Unity Gain, tri-colour signal indicator LEDs, Phase Invert, an Insert and a  Direct Channel Output (which can be switched post fader). Each channel has a Stereo Cue section with dedicated Level and Pan controls. When tracking this is traditionally used to create a monitor feed to the Stereo Cue Buss Output, but on mono channels Alt buttons flip the Stereo Cue section controls to adjusting the Alt input Level & Pan for mix down.

Each channel features independent FX1 and FX2 send level controls (globally switched Pre/Post fader). Self illuminated heavy duty Solo and Cut buttons, Pan/Balance controls and precision 100mm faders complete the channel strip.

X-Panda features a stereo Mix Buss, Stereo Cue Buss and Solo Buss. When linked to an X-Desk using the ‘X-Desk Link’ connection, the X-Panda Mix Buss and Stereo Cue Buss feed into the respective Busses on the X-Desk. The Solo systems are also linked so that Soloing any channel mutes all other channels on all Linked units. Similarly when an X-Panda is Linked to an X-Desk with a Master Module fitted the Mix, Cue and Solo Busses are also Linked. It is possible to cascade up to 8 X-Desk and X-Panda units using the ‘X-Desk Link’ system, enabling very high channel count systems to be configured.

When used as a standalone product the X-Panda main Mix Buss and FX Busses are set to sum at unity gain, enabling it to act as a summing mixer without the need for Master Level controls.

Features:

– Versatile compact analogue mixer with SSL SuperAnalogue benchmark audio quality

– 24 Ch expander for X-Desk or any other analogue mixer

– Adds long throw 100mm faders and 24 Ch Inputs to an X-Rack summing system

– Stand alone 24 input summing mixer

– 8 mono fader channels with main and Alt inputs giving 16 mono inputs Inserts & Direct Channel Outputs

– 4 stereo fader channels with Stereo Inserts and Stereo Direct Outputs

– Stereo Cue, and FX1 & FX2 mono Aux send controls

– Heavy duty self-illuminated Solo/cut Switches

– Compact desktop design with removable 19” rack ears

– Rear panel connections via DB25 D-Sub

Redefining NYC Recording: Downtown Music Adds a Neve 8014 Console

SOHO, MANHATTAN: The studios of NYC are not sitting still. As evidence consider the latest sonic escalation, launched from right below Broome Street and Broadway. There, Downtown Music Studios has upped the Big Apple ante with the installation of a vintage Neve 8014 console into the control room of Studio A.

Extra musically satisfying and aesthetically amazing, this 16-channel board represents more than just a fancy bunch of faders from the year 1970. Its addition provides a focused window on NYC studio economics in 2011, shedding light on the artistic and technical demands of the sector’s current clientele, as well as the informed interplay between facilities striving to be competitive instead of repetitive.

The console has been busy since it arrived earlier this year. Early projects on it include Santigold, David Guetta, Mike Posner, Benny Blanco, and Jason Goldstein mixing SNL-borne rock stars The Lonely Island. Downtown Studios Chief Engineer Zach Hancock explained to SonicScoop exactly why this bold new board has rolled into town.

How long has Downtown Studios been going now?
The studio is approaching our third year. It’s evolved from a production space that we rented at Chung King to the full-fledged, two-room commercial recording facility that it is now.

We initially started this facility with two control surfaces, moving from two Digidesign D-Commands to just one of those, in Studio B.  That’s because of the importation of an 8014 Neve into Studio A.

What led Downtown initially to the D-Command for both rooms?
For the longest time we were large format console people, and we fought passionately to prove not only to ourselves, but to the world that mixing in the box was a viable option. The move from SSL desks to mixing with a Pro Control and an HD5 was a revolutionary phase for us in the early 2000′s. Working with Tony Maserati and Vaughn Merrick, they proved that it could really be done. Implementing mixing-in-the-box with a control surface in both rooms was in part an outgrowth of my relationship with Vaughn, and his astute idea that it was the best way to work.

Part of what makes Downtown Music Studios special is that as a record label, and a publishing company. We’re generating content ourselves. We provide a commercial workspace for clients half the time, and the other half we are the client. I wanted artists and the publishing company to be able to use the space as creatively as they could.

Downtown is a brand dedicated to forward-thinking artists, and that comes out intensely in the music.  Part of that is having the studio time that they need, therefore a device at the center of the workspace that isn’t proprietary.  If we had a large format console that was doing the mixing, I felt that they’d have a hard time translating that at their personal spaces, or in another commercial studio.

I saw other people’s workflows following suit — mixing in the box. So that’s why we equipped studio A to what we previously had. I still believe in it, and it was an amazing opportunity to work that way for two years.

What paved the way for switching to the Neve 8014?
Something happened when Avid acknowledged to the rest of the music community that native processing was just as robust as a small TDM system. When PT9 came out, I realized all at once that so much of our workflow – editing, doing overdubs, mixing – was going to happen in personalized spaces. It was an outgrowth of the music community, an outgrowth of the robust environment the computer now provides.

I saw the opportunity to focus Studio A as a tool to record bands, and handle all the elements of a project’s tracking. I thought that if you’re going to end up doing 30 to 40% of your workflow at home editing, maybe some mixing, etc… that it would free up your budget to work at an “A” level studio to do your recording. So we picked the console that was best for that.

This Neve 8014, working in coordination with PT9 and a EuCon control surface, is the perfect implementation of the modern workflow we’re talking about. It is truly the best of both worlds, a hybrid analog digital environment. It sounds astonishing, everything works in a very elegant workflow, and people are reacting to it very strongly.

What were the criteria going in to the new console search, before you settled on this particular board?
The selection process was laborious, we looked at every option out there: SSLs, APIs, Neves of different variety. Ultimately, the most important things for us were that 1) it was not counterproductive to the way we had worked previously, and 2) that it had had the best sounding mic-pres, the best sounding EQs, and it could really bring something to the table that wasn’t there in the market before.

I’m close to people who, on paper, could be considered to be our competition. It didn’t make a lot of sense for us to be doing what they were doing. I’m really happy to see that the community of studios run by people in NYC are really good people. That wasn’t always the case.

Let’s drill down to this Neve 8014 that’s sitting in front of us. Why did it finally make the cut?
The main reason is that this console is in pristine condition, and it has the best of what we want for tracking, mixing, summing or any other in-the-box permutation of analog and digital equipment.

One of the things that we’re very mindful of is the acoustical installation in this room. It sounds like one of the best rooms I’ve ever worked in, and I’m not the only person who feels that way: Tony Maserati, Jason Goldstein, Vaughn Merrick, Ari Raskin, are serious engineers. We work out of this room for different reasons, but one is that it’s acoustically flat – Pilchner-Schoustal knocked it out of the park.

I didn’t want to get a console that would require us reworking the acoustical or mechanical infrastructure. I didn’t want to have to put in another AC unit or bulkhead, or rip apart the room to get it in, because to me the most important part of the room is the acoustics, and the ergonomics.  The equipment is always within reach, and the fact that there’s not a credenza behind you is meaningful. That’s why if we had put in a 72-input console, that would have been counterproductive.

Where did you locate this particular board?
I always said I wanted an 80-series Neve. The difficulty in acquiring an 8068 is that it would have been too big a car to fit in our garage. The 8014 is really the perfect-size console, given the modern integration of the computer, and the way Studio A is layed out. We found this board in Ireland – I sent Joe Russo, who’s an amazing young tech, to Ireland to inspect it, and he spent four or five days there. We did a very thorough inspection, and decided it really was the console. Rock-It Cargo handled the logistics of getting the desk here quickly and safely.

We split a lot of hairs when it came to planning the actual switch from the D Command to the 8014. When the time arrived, we executed the plan and there weren’t a lot of surprises — it went very smoothly. The people at Neve and Geoff Tanner were kind enough to send us some documentation, and Alto Music NYC provided us with a lot of outboard gear and a new Pro Tools rig. Everybody did a really exceptional job.

You’ve been working on this board since January – how has it matched up with your vision of an ideal tracking tool?
I think that there’s an “X-factor” to the sonic architecture of the mic pres and the EQ that make you feel as though you’re listening to a record. Working in the box is transparent, and sometimes indicative of something a little bit lifeless, but this console sounds a little less like real life in a super-natural way. Ergonomically, it’s the best way to work in a tracking situation. All of your mic pres and EQs are there. It’s not arduous. It’s logistically easy to accomplish tracking.

The other thing is that the Class A mic pre really is a cut above. I think these mic pres are the best for pop and rock music. It’s a very clear, robust sound, and it has a harmonic detail in certain frequencies that are very musical. It’s difficult to explain how they sound better, but they’re famous for a reason. Having them inline, directly in front of you and your PT rig is great. You can get what you need really fast.

The artists we’ve been working with on this console have been excited about the sounds that we’ve gotten. That gives you confidence in your ability, and that’s what it comes down to: making sure the artist can create. This console has definitely augmented our ability to do that. That’s a really rewarding feeling after working so hard to acquire it.

How are you’re using the 8014 in the mix phase?

The first thing I should note is that it’s not an inline console – it’s a split console. It’s got an interesting set up for monitor returns. We’ve integrated the monitor returns at mixdown to become inputs to the console, but with a flick of a switch they can function, as they would have when they left the Neve factory in 1970.  Some engineers prefer this for tracking.

So we have, essentially, 32 inputs to the desk; 16 of those inputs have faders and 1084 mic pres and EQs etc…, and the other 16 inputs allow the room to use some of the other pieces of the installed outboard– the Chandler TG1, the Distressors, 1176, Pultec style EQs, GML EQ, tube limiters.  Everything can fold down to the stereo bus.

It’s all new outboard equipment in Studio A that we thought would be the perfect complement to the console, and we made a point not just put in vintage equipment. There’s some incredible new gear, and we’ve adopted a lot of that stuff in the workflow. I think of outboard processing as an opportunity to add different spices to your mix. So we bought valve EQs that would complement the Neve – they have some color that the transistors in the console don’t have, and the dynamics that we have are different than the compressors in the desk. We wanted to have mono tube limiters and compressors that you would use in a tracking environment, and the stereo bus compressors that you would use in a tracking environment or on groups in a mix.

The automation comes from the Euphonix Artist Series Controller with EuCon, integrated into Pro Tools 9, which together works like the D Command. So we were able to get the same level of integration into this amazing analog console as we had before.

Can you explain exactly how that EuCon-to-Neve connection works?
We’ll come out of Pro Tools, and dedicate an analog output to a group of audio i.e. a “stem”, or one analog output per instrument. So that comes from Pro Tools into the desk, and then the desk functions as an analog mixer.

It goes a step beyond a summing mixer, in that you can do inserts on the console that allow you to step away from hardware inserts in Pro Tools.  That requires a level of digital-to-analog conversion, then analog-to-digital, so you covert twice while you go out of the box then back in. The beauty of the Neve is that you can use the inserts on the channel fader and avoid all that conversion.

For automation, we modulate parameters in Pro Tools, volume data etc… with the Euphonix control surface.  Any volume changes happen before they arrive at the console. It’s an important step in making recalls easier, more convenient for all parties involved. Most people are doing automation in the box so if you open the session the next day, the automation is there. There’s no lengthy recall, and that can save your client money.  You can also bring it home, etc…

You said before that you were paying attention to where Downtown fits into the overall scene, in NYC and I guess that goes for nationally as well. Why is that so important?
One of the difficult things about owning or running a studio is that there are so many choices at hand for people. At the same time one of the incredible things about making music is you have so many choices.

For me, the challenge was to live on the side of the debate where you’re making music and loving the choices. I think it’s silly to be doing the same thing that five or six other people are doing. So it was a no-brainer for us to do something a little bit unique. But it’s not just the console – the truth is I feel that we have the best Pro Tools rigs – an HD5 system, an HD Native system and an Avid Symphony system. We take each one seriously, whether its Logic or PT. We can accommodate at a high level of integration. We have almost every plug-in you could want, and a UAD 2 card, which I’ve been raving about.

The bottom line is that the computer has always been the most important thing for us. One of the ways to find a lane is to take our expertise as computer and process people, and combine it with the best hybrid approach which we’ve been developing over the last 10 years. It’s not completely unique, but it’s not run-of-the-mill by any stretch of the imagination. It’s something that people are really excited about – the response that we’ve gotten so far is amazing.

In the last several months we’ve covered some significant console switches in NYC – the ICON was switched out for an SSL G+ at Stadium Red, and prior to that Tainted Blue traded their SSL J9000 for a Euphonix System 5. Why this increased activity?
I think that studios have always changed consoles. I read Stadium Red integrated Just Blaze into their workflow. Not only is that an amazing facility, but he’s one of the greatest producers of all time. Just Blaze has had an indelible mark on hip hop and R&B. His work is amazing. The guys at Tainted Blue I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, but time to time you hear glowing reports of what they’re doing. I can’t tell you why they switched, but I know the System 5 is the pinnacle of post production consoles. Some people use it for music, and for post it probably is one of the best tools.

I do think that technology is at a place where for the last four or five years there was an identity crisis of how people wanted to work. The expediency of working in the box became really important, because recording budgets have scaled back. The need to make changes at the last minute possible has made a definite impact on our workflow.

Computers have gotten so good that a large-format console isn’t a need, it’s a want, whereas before you had to have one. Whether or not a studio needs an analog console is something you need to look at on a case-to-case basis. But for us, this change is exciting. It makes a lot of sense.

– David Weiss

Return of the Nomad Engineer: The Top NYC Studios of Freelancer Ari Raskin, Part I

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: No one can say Ari Raskin hasn’t paid his dues. This in-demand freelancer engineer may regularly make the rounds of NYC’s top studios today, but it’s only after he’s sweated it out for a decade-plus, making a name for himself in the city’s fiercely competitive studio scene.

Raskin can contribute in many ways to a project – tracking, mixing, editing, drum programming, and even the occasional master – and has done just that for a wide range of artists: Whitney Houston, Wyclef Jean, Meshell N’Degeocello, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, J.Dilla and Illa J — Yancey Boys, and Justin Timberlake among them. His career got moving after he departed Berklee College of Music with the goal of being the next Brendan O’Brien or Andy Wallace, then went from being an intern at Chung King to House Engineer.

Today, no longer afforded his home base that was Chung King, Raskin makes music all over Manhattan and beyond – a positive vibes traveling man that makes him the perfect subject for the return of our Nomad Engineer series.

How would you describe the ups and downs of a New York City freelance audio engineer in 2011?
The real benefit of freelance engineering and traveling is getting to choose which studio is right for the project — be it the sound of the live room, the sound of the control room, the vibe of the control room, the gear, the rigs’ plugins, the budget, or just how late the staff stays — so that you can comfortably make a great recording that fits the music. Also, having clients agree that you suggested a good studio for them is a nice thing too.

If you’re a staff engineer at a small Pro Tools studio with a 5′ x 8′ live room, and a rock band is introduced to you by the studio manager, you’re never going to be able to tell them, “We should do the rhythm section at Avatar or Skyline. You’re never gonna get real big drum sounds here, and these reissue mic preamps and 414′s just don’t have the real rock-star vibe you’re after.” Although of course most of us now would just shut up and do the modern thing and use Drumagog or SoundReplacer.

I’d like to note, though, that when I first stepped into the major-label part of the recording industry when I moved to New York 10 years ago, there were LOTS of freelance engineers working from studio to studio. It seemed much less common for labels to use house engineers unless it was for a transfer session. Engineers definitely used to be more highly regarded before everyone and their sister had Pro Tools, so I think that’s why hiring the respected freelance guys was much more the norm in the day, whereas now labels just want a house engineer who knows how to use Pro Tools and isn’t expensive.

Lately, whenever I run into former Chung King clients at other studios, I constantly get told “Oh, I didn’t know you were still working since Chung King closed,” or “You work here now?” as if the idea of a tracking engineer being freelance is now an unknown concept.

We’re glad to get the inside track from you on your fave NYC recording spots. What made you say “Yes” to this article, rather than keeping your top studios close to the vest?

Seemed like a fun topic, and I do work around, and do have opinions on a number of various rooms. I just wish there were more large-format rooms in this city, with all the standard vintage outboard gear and mics. Five years ago there were a lot more real-deal pro-studio choices, and 10 years ago a lot more than that.  It’s getting hard now, especially when your first choice-room is already booked, and you’re actually trying to do a serious recording and not just track vocals. Therefore…

Downtown Music Studios, Studio A; SoHo, NYC

Many positives about this place.  For one, there isn’t a vibe like they are dying for business and need to squeeze every penny they potentially can out of your clients.  Also, the ProTools rigs have more plug-ins than any other rigs I’ve seen.  Unlike so many rooms, the studios at Downtown were planned and configured by good working engineers, so things make a lot of sense in real world practice.

Studio A there is possibly the most accurate-sounding control room in the city that I’ve worked in, and has no room EQ on the mains. The almost-mint Neve 8014 console they just installed is not only amazing for its sixteen 1084 pres for tracking, it’s also possibly the best summing amp in Manhattan for Pro Tools in-the-box mixing. There’s also a ton of clean vintage and high-quality modern gear — they won’t let someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing assist in sessions.

The live room in Studio A is very clean and neutral-sounding, great for tracking vocals, instrument overdubs, or a live band. You can easily get a dry drum sound, or put up some far room mics, 1176 them, and get a big rock sound. Studio B has a great rig as well, with good external converters, a totally different vibe from Studio A, and is probably the most-equipped room for the money in Manhattan.

Some of my recent sessions there include Sean Paul, Black Thought, Kat Deluna. I’d recommend this studio to any type of client, other than a gigantic orchestra or those craving a huge castle drum sound, or those wanting to mix on an SSL. The Neve console they have has no automation, but for mixing a jazz, acoustic, or a small production, it sounds incredible.

Platinum Sound Recording, Studios J and K; Times Square, NYC

The “sexiest” of the big studios in NYC. I think it’s the only studio I know of — not that I claim to have worked in every studio — that has a designated receptionist and interns always ready for runs, 24 hours a day. That might seem like a minor detail, but for those who have clients who like to work past midnight, it’s a major concern.  Very cool vibe, cool staff.

They have a real live K, and a J — and unlike most SSL’s in NYC, they get used for mixing regularly still, so the assistants aren’t new to that: big board mixes with old-school engineers who use lots of gear are often the most demanding type of session for an assistant. Also, I haven’t heard the new Augspurger speakers in studio K, but the J room has the HEAVIEST bass of all time — although Studio C at MSR is quite thumpin’ too.

Some of my recent sessions there include Wyclef, Kat Deluna and Ritz Crackers. This is a good studio for SSL board mixing; good studio for late-night artists/producers; decent-sized live room with some good mic pres, so it’s not a bad choice for producers who like live instruments. The best for those who like it so loud their faces melt and eardrums shred. Great for those who like to vibe and create.

Premier Studios, Times Square, NYC

Premier is the former Studios A and B of Quad, renovated and heavily cleaned up, with two newer, very good Pro Tools “writer’s” rooms, very fairly priced.  Studios A and B were both recently tuned and both sound accurate and get quite loud. The live room in B is great for a clean drum sound, and great for any vocal or instrument overdub.

The staff there is eager and friendly and understands the concept of working towards the future — in other words, they don’t take the clients that come in for granted. They have real LA-2A’s in most rooms — which didn’t used to be unusual anyway — and they are maintained.

Another great thing — they have four rooms, all with excellent Pro Tools rigs with all the necessary plugins, so if a room is booked, there’s still likely others open. How many other 3+ room studios are left and commercially-bookable in NYC today? Also, so many other studios are opening now with gear you can also easily get at Guitar Center, and not enough real mic pres or compressors in the room, forcing clients to rent every little thing (which, along with today’s tight budgets, can make a freelance engineer seem needy).  Instead, Premier seems to be constantly investing and trying to improve their gear arsenal to impress engineers and producers. The recent addition of two perfect vintage Neve 1073′s and the overhauling of their Studio A Steinway piano are both welcome improvements and important tools for making great recordings.

My recent sessions there include Oh Land, Duane McLaughlin, Rich Hil, Kat Deluna. Premier is great for J9000 mixing, Pro Tools in-the-box mixing, instrument and vocal overdubs, pop songwriting sessions, and jazz and rock bands that want some real isolation but don’t want to pay for one of the city’s massive rooms.

Grand Street Recording, Williamsburg, BKLYN

I only worked there once, but I think it’s by far the best studio for tracking instruments for the money.  Amazing selection of vintage mics, pres, keyboards, amps, and drums — nothing I used there seems modded or overly repaired, and none of the current reissue stuff (that doesn’t actually have any magic. I’m a snob about having the real vintage stuff, clearly).

The staff is knowledgeable too.  The ceilings aren’t that high and live room isn’t terribly ambient, but for plenty of bands it’s perfect.  You can make a real, classic-sounding, proper recording there for not a lot of money.  And their vintage mics may be in better shape than any other studios I know of.

I recently did a tracking session there for the jam/rock band Moose Convention. I think Grand Street is great for rock or jazz band tracking — live and overdubs — and vocal tracking.

(Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to this studio as Grand Street Studio. It should have referred to Grand Street Recording.)

jrock Studios, Chelsea, NYC

I saw you guys did a piece on Jamie Siegel and his studio recently, and I will second that it’s a cool spot. Great location, nice dry-sounding live room that has some breathing space so it doesn’t sound like you’re tracking in a closet, some nice pres, and a real chill pleasant vibe, good for getting work done.  And of course, not nearly as pricey as the big SSL rooms.

Recently I did some vocal and percussion sessions there with singer/songwriter Erin Barra. Recommended for anyone who wants a relaxed spot to do overdubs, writing, or Pro Tools mix sessions.

Next Week! Return of the Nomad Engineer Part II: More finds, from Midtown to Greenpoint.

You can find Ari Raskin at REThuggz.com and AmIaGoodSinger.com.

On Top Of The World: Jungle City Studios Shows NYC In A New Light

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN: NYC is quite literally the backdrop to Ann Mincieli’s brand-new Jungle City Studios. One step into the top-of-the-world Studio A, with panoramic views uptown along the High Line and west to the Hudson River, and you’re hitting the Alicia Keys chorus of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind;” it’s a cinematic moment.

This is how Mincieli — Keys’ longtime engineer and studio coordinator — conceived of the deluxe studio facility, incorporating the best of everything she’s encountered in studios around the world to her own vision for a top-of-the-line and uniquely “New York” studio experience.

She’s quick to reference Hit Factory Studio 1 as her all-time favorite live room, but also mentions immersive destination studio experiences in France and Germany, as influential in her designs for Jungle City, located on W. 27^th Street.

“I wanted to find the ultimate location that really represented New York City with the views, the art and culture,” Mincieli shares. “This is such an up-and-coming neighborhood — you have the art galleries, the High Line, views of the Empire State building and the water. And there’s a luxury hotel [Hotel Americano] opening right next door which benefits us so much because people will stay there and work here.

Looking at the post-Hit Factory/Sony/Chung King/Clinton NYC studio landscape, Mincieli saw a void. “I wanted to bring something back to NYC, to the industry here, give people something they can be excited about. A real experience. Not just to bring back the clients from NYC, but from around the world.

On the day of our visit, in fact, the Japanese pop band Dreams Come True were recording in Studio A with Ed Tuton. Downstairs, Swizz Beatz had been working out of the Euphonix room, and Keys has been in working on a couple projects, including material for her next album. Like Keys’ Long Island recording studio complex, The Oven, Jungle City was devised by Mincieli with superstar artists in mind, and designed with signature features by John Storyk and Walters-Storyk Design Group (WSDG).

Jungle City Style, Sights, Sounds

Situated on the top two floors of a brand-new building, Jungle City’s three studios provide distinctly different environments, though all feature the custom Augspurger mains with Aura subs — an expensive custom system (painted at a car dealership for extra flash) but a necessary expense as Mincieli sees it.

“The Augspurgers sound incredible,” she notes. “They’re loud, the image on them is great. It’s a no-brainer. People come in and it’s psychological — they’re relieved to see them. You have to give the clients what they want.”

For that matter, Mincieli sourced what she determined was “the best of everything” for every aspect of this facility — that is three impeccably equipped studios, lounges, kitchens, bathrooms, the works. And though she knows her audience well, she did her homework.

“I co-designed the studio with a lot of research, input from artists, labels and producers on what they felt the industry was missing,” she explains. “I’d ask them, ‘What would you like to see in a studio in NYC?’ ‘We want light. We want it to feel like home.’” From the Louis Vuitton wallpaper and fabrics in the control rooms to the tastefully appointed lounges, to the unique acoustic treatments, the Jungle City interior design — coordinated by WSDG’s Beth Walters — lends that opulence of a high-end hotel, or home.

And then there’s the gear. Knowing what her network of top-tier artists and producer/engineers would expect, Mincieli handpicked all the gear with attention to every last detail for different users and workflows.

“There are so many ways to work now,” she notes. “Different mixers mix in different ways — some have migrated all in the box, some are half-in half-out, some are SSL, some are Euphonix. So I wanted to give people a few different flavors. The two mix/overdub/production rooms are very versatile with both the retro and cutting-edge technologies.”

And each has its own flavor of console: one with an Avid D-Control, and the other a Euphonix Fusion System 5. Both have Pro Tools HD3 rigs loaded up with plug-ins and corresponding iso booths. Along with the 32-input D-Control, the ICON room highlights include “the newest Avid HD IOs, Dangerous summing and the great [Antelope] OCX-V clocks.” Across the way, the Euphonix room offers a whole ‘nother experience.

“The integration between Avid and Euphonix is just incredible,” Mincieli says of the S5 Fusion.

“They’re taking advantage of the EUCON control so the features and plug-in channels that you see in Pro Tools show up on the desk. It’s a dual-purpose desk and control surface. I have 16 channels of Euphonix mic pre’s, and running at 96K, I can still get 64 channels of EQ and compression. And when you want to be all in the box, you can use the EQs, compressors, the bussing, and it’s all digital — it all converts via the new Avid Digi I/Os and Avid also made a new MADI converter specifically for this desk.”

Mincieli adds, “I love the way it sounds: the EQs, compression, the stereo bus. You can pull a compressor up in Pro Tools and control it without having to look at a monitor. And the 7.1 surround and film panning is insane — I can do a 12.2 mix in here. This is the wave of the future.

Upstairs in Studio A, Mincieli went retro-futuristic with the centerpiece 48-input SSL Duality analog console, Pro Tools HD3 and a rare 1968 EMI TGI 12345 Mark 3 console she’s completely restored. The EMI sits to the right of the SSL, side-car-style. “You can use it in a variety of ways,” Mincieli notes. “The EMI console can be used for mic pre’s, for the EQ/compressors, and it’s a fully patchable console.”

And of the sizeable control room, Mincieli shares, “I wanted one big old-school control room so we could accommodate artists who want to have their four guitar heads, or several keyboards in there with them.”

With the unique clear glass diffusion panels across the back wall windows, the clients are working inside a North and South facing top-floor studio.

On this, the studio’s ultimate wow factor, John Storyk describes, “To maximize the impact of the studios’ expansive North and South picture windows, we floated the custom Augspurger Dual 15 Vertical main speakers in an outsized glass speaker baffle. This is only the second time we have done this, creating a kind of transparent ‘wall of sound’ between the live and control rooms.

“This provides artists and engineers with the creative advantage of full visual connectivity plus, NYC’s ultimate eye candy, views ranging from The Empire State Building to the Hudson River. The audio sound field is extremely accurate throughout the full frequency range, particularly at the critical low end, necessary for many of Mincieli’s demanding urban music clients.”

Monitoring accuracy is paramount in these environments, as Mincieli points out more than once during our tour. Just prior to opening, in the first week of January, she worked closely with mastering engineer Dave Kutch and WSDG’s Dirk Noy to tune all three Jungle City studios over four days. For an inside look at Jungle City, check out this video documenting that tuning process:

Jungle City’s Studio A live room — with 14’ ceilings, inspiring views and glass-encased iso booth — is tempered by entirely custom acoustic treatments and programmable color LED mood lighting. “Drums sound great in the big room,” Mincieli assures. “And the shades are remote-controllable via the Crestron system. You can close the shades for 40% deadening.”

Clients on both floors can easily access a terrace, and if that’s not enough fresh air, they can hit the 2400-square-foot rooftop deck. Sweet!

Jungle City was an ambitious design/build carried out by an expert team. “Our project manager, Joshua Morris; systems designer Judy Elliot-Brown and studio builder Chris Harmaty of Technical Structures all fully embraced the complexity, and scope of this project,” Storyk notes. “The ultimate goal was to realize Ann’s dream of making Jungle City a significant addition to NY’s recording industry.”

The Future Is Now…

The Jungle City layout provides ample space for the modern artist doubling as producer a la Keys, Kanye West, Jay-Z, in that they can maximize production by running two rooms at once and jumping between projects. And the construction will continue.

When all is said and done, Mincieli reports, Jungle City will encompass five studios, including a second Studio A-style room. Inspired by Jungle City, Keys will build an Oven Manhattan location.

To continually tailor the studios to top-tier clientele, Mincieli draws insight from everyday experience with these artists while always looking ahead. “With a new studio, I’m looking to see what’s next,” she notes.

“What can I do? How can I be out front of everything that’s coming. The record labels didn’t do that, and it hurt everyone. We’re catching up now, but artists [at this level] need to have people in place with that foresight. And the artists and the labels need to be looking to the future.”

In this age of major releases leaking early and often, security is a huge concern, and protocols are in place at Jungle City.  “I don’t have any of my rooms networked together,” Mincieli points out.

“Artists bring in their own drives and I don’t have copies of anything when they leave. I will have the ability to store anything the labels need me to store (in a fireproof safe) but until then, I have these internal SATA drives on the computers. You can’t pull them out so you are forced to copy your stuff onto an external drive and take it with you when you leave. And then we’ll erase SATA drives. You don’t want to be the studio who leaks someone’s album.”

Leak-proof, airtight and on top of the game, Jungle City has arrived. Records are made to be broken, and elite studios are designed to be outdone. Just don’t be surprised if it takes the world a minute to surpass the new standard that’s been set on West 27^th Street.

To book Jungle City, visit www.junglecitystudios.com.

And for more on the Walters-Storyk Design Group, visit www.wsdg.com.

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