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 REGULARS

Ed Space Editor
Mark Davie
mark@audiotechnology.com
Publisher
Mark Davie, AudioTechnology Editor Issue 86 — 132 Philip Spencer
philip@alchemedia.com.au
Editorial Director
Christopher Holder
chris@audiotechnology.com
Assistant Editor
Preshan John
preshan@alchemedia.com.au
Art Director
Dominic Carey
dominic@alchemedia.com.au
Graphic Designer
Daniel Howard
daniel@alchemedia.com.au
Advertising
Philip Spencer
philip@alchemedia.com.au
Accounts
Jaedd Asthana
jaedd@alchemedia.com.au
Subscriptions
Sophie Spencer
subscriptions@alchemedia.com.au
LIKE SOME KINDA MAHARISHI: Proofreading

THANKS GOODBYE & GOOD LUCK MARK Andrew Bencina

Regular Contributors
Martin Walker
12 years. That’s how long I’ve had the privilege of contribut- It’s a good innings. Paul Tingen
ing to AudioTechnology in one way or another. Six years Brad Watts
Mark Davie took on the role of AudioTechnology Editor
steering the ship. I should have left myself more time to Greg Walker
from Issue 86 and with 46 issues of the magazine under his
write my last editorial, but why change now? Andy Szikla
belt has decided to call it quits. Andrew Bencina
I’ve got nothing poetic to say, no insightful sign off. I just Jason Hearn
It’s with considerable sadness that I see him go. Mark has
wanted to say, ‘Thank you!’ Greg Simmons
made the role his own and distinguished himself as a world- Mark Woods
Thanks for subscribing to a print magazine just because class writer and editor. Ewan McDonald
you love music and audio enough to read about how it’s Guy Harrison
Mark joined AudioTechnology’s staff back in Issue 53.
put together.
If you’re a little like me, you might get some context by tak-
Thanks to Chris and Phil for having me.
ing a look at Issue 53’s content. Digidesign (that’s right, Avid
Thanks for letting me loiter around your front of house was still something you’d only see in video post production)
tents and monitor positions. had just released the 003 Rack, TC was producing plug-ins
(the DVR2 and MD3), Rode had presciently released the
Thanks for answering all of my questions and being so gra- AudioTechnology magazine
Podcaster USB mic, I popped out to the Myer Music Bowl (ISSN 1440-2432) is published by Alchemedia
cious about it.
to check on Turbosound’s new Aspect line array, and Mark Publishing Pty Ltd
Thanks for showing off your amazing studios and allowing me hopped straight into the saddle reviewing a CME MIDI (ABN 34 074 431 628).
to uncover all the blood, sweat and tears they took to build. keyboard. Contact
T: +61 3 5331 4949
Thanks for investing everything you have into making music The one-page CME review is breezy and erudite, gently E: info@alchemedia.com.au
and taking time to chat about your hard work. torching the manufacturer’s claims of true piano action for W: www.audiotechnology.com

Thanks for sharing decades worth of road-worn stories under a grand. (Advertising, Subscriptions)
PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest
with me. Mark is smart and competitive. When he cleans out his desk NSW 2086, Australia.
Thanks for proudly showing off your latest gear and giving he may as well take every AudioTechnology office perpetual (Editorial)
me all the ins and outs. trophy with him — golf, darts, basketball, pizza eating… For PO Box 295, Ballarat
one short period during Mark’s ‘apprenticeship’ I challenged VIC 3353, Australia.
Thanks for hosting me at your parties and studio openings. him to include a new word into every issue of the magazine
Thanks for caring about your fellow producers and engi- as a means of stretching his writing and vocab. I genuinely All material in this magazine is copyright
neers enough to write obituaries and memorial pieces… it’s felt I had him stumped one month after tossing him ‘mahari- © 2019 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. Apart
from any fair dealing permitted under the
tough, but absolutely worth it. shi’. Sure enough — like some kinda maharishi — Mark rose Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by
to the challenge. any process without written permission. The
Thanks to our legendary stable of staple contributors for publishers believe all information supplied
taking time out of your day jobs to put review gear through AudioTechnology has remained strong under Mark’s in this magazine to be correct at the time
stewardship. In a period where half the world’s audio print of publication. They are not in a position to
the hard yards just because you love it. make a guarantee to this effect and accept
magazines have succumbed to the pressure of the internet, no liability in the event of any information
I’ll truly miss the job, it’s been a huge joy getting to know so proving inaccurate. After investigation and
Mark has consistently served up a smorgasbord of content
many of you, but it’s come time for me to move on. I look for- to the best of our knowledge and belief,
that’s proven stimulating to all audio people in our part of prices, addresses and phone numbers were
ward to reading how Chris and the team continue to cover
the world, and beyond. He’s universally respected in the au- up to date at the time of publication. It is
our world of music making. Hopefully, I’ll catch you behind a not possible for the publishers to ensure
dio world as not only being talented and competent but as that advertisements appearing in this
console or in a studio somewhere out there.
also being one of the nicest chaps you’re ever likely to meet. publication comply with the Trade Practices
Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person,
All the best, Mark Davie. We wish Mark all the best for the next phase of his career. company or advertising agency submitting or
directing the advertisement for publication.
He’ll be leaving AT in rude health. The publishers cannot be held responsible
for any errors or omissions, although
every endeavour has been made to ensure
Christopher Holder, Editorial Director complete accuracy. 7/3/2019.
AT 6
CONTENTS132
22

Louis Bell
Producing Post Malone,
Lorde, Bieber & More

FEATURES
34 Ocean Alley — Engineer Callum Howell Interview
42 Budget Spatial Audio — Yamaha Shows You How
46 d&b KSL Calls Australia Day Home (Just in Time)
52 4 Shows, 4000 Miles — Keeping Consistency

REGULARS
Alan Meyerson 10 What’s On
Recording Big Hollywood Scores 28 38 Studio Focus, Red Moon Studios
56 PC Audio
58 Apple Notes
82 Last Word, Greg Simmons

REVIEWS
18 Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88
60 Røde RØDECaster Pro Podcasting Studio
64 Sennheiser IE40 Pro Earphones
Moog Grandmother Review 66 68 Warm Audio WA-273 EQ
74 Zoom F8n Field Recorder
78 ExpressiveTouché MIDI Controller

SUBSCRIBE & WIN!

A Native Instruments Komplete
Kontrol S88 Worth $1399

SEE PAGE 81

AT 8
 Celebrating 50+ Years in the Music Industry

Pro Audio Interfaces Outboard Control Surfaces

PreSonus Studio 192 Audio Interface BAE 10DCF Single Channel Filter Compressor

Steinberg UR-RT4 Interface Rupert Neve Design BAE 1073MPF Dual Channel Mic Pre with Filter Icon QCON ProX USB DAW Controller

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Interface

Focusrite ISA430 MKII Producer Pack

Focusrite Red 4 Pre Thunderbolt Interface with AVID Pro Tools Dock Media Controller
Dante AVID S3 - Pro Tools Control Surface
Avalon VT-737SP Silver 737 Channel Strip

RME Fireface UCX Audio Midi Interface

API 2500 Stereo Compressor Rack Unit
SSL Nucleus 2 Dark DAW Controller with Mic Pre’s
Antelope Audio Orion 32 HD for ProTools HD Monitor Control & Dante
API 3124+ Four Channel Preamp Yamaha Nuage Control Surface

Antelope Audio Discrete 4 & Edge Modelling Mic Neve AMS 1073DPA Dual Mic Pre 500 Series

Converters IGS Audio iQ. Inductor Equalizer

IGS Audio ONE LA 500 (1LA500) “LA2A Clone”

Antelope Audio Pure2 Mastering Converter SSL Super Analogue XRack IGS Audio RB 500 ME Stereo Pultec style EQ
IGS Audio 576 Blue Stripe Rev A - Fet Compressor
Warm Audio TB12-500 Tone Beast 500 Mic Pre & DI
API 550B 4 Band EQ for 500 Series
SSL Solid State Logic VHD Pre Module - 500 Series
SSL Solid State Logic Stereo Bus Compressor Module
Summing (500 Series) G Comp
Focusrite RedNet HD32R Pro Tools HDX Dante

Shadow Hills Equinox Mic Pre & Summing Mixer

SSL Sigma Delta - Analogue Summing Mixer Neve AMS 1073LB Mono Mic/Pre 500 Series
Neve AMS 8816 Summing Mixer Neve AMS 2264ALB mono limiter/compressor
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50 YEARS
WWW.MUSOSCORNER.COM.AU
Musos Corner www.musoscorner.com.au
Newcastle West NSW 2302 02 4929 2829
 REGULARS

WHAT’S ON
All the latest from around
the studio traps.

DAMIEN GERRARD’S
The year was underway so quickly it hardly felt
like the engineers had a break at all. Sessions
were even running between Christmas and New
Year for the first time in a while. Notable artists
coming through in January included: Spike Vincent
finishing some vocals for his new release; Crosson
band working on the new album to be mixed in
Germany where they have achieved commercial
chart positions; Daxton remixing some acoustic
tunes for a ‘best of ’ acoustic compilation; Big
Merino mixing a new single Hummingbird;
Youth Band winners Deafening Silence from the
Randwick battle of the bands tracking their debut
release; Peter Colquhoun continued work on his console. Callum also recorded and mixed an EP for
MARSHALL CULLEN LIVE Melbourne rockers The Gems. Thick guitars, big
new project with some great slide guitar courtesy
of blues man Mick Hart; drummer/producer Mick On the live touring front, all of January was taken bangin’ drums and group vocals around the U48 in
O’Shea brought in Sydney band Bounty Hunters; up with The Under The Southern Stars tour which figure-eight is a winning combination!
in-house producer Peat Holz used the live drum Hoodoo Gurus headlined. You Am I, Eskimo Joe, Guus Hoevenaars has been working with Jorja
space for some of his own projects; and Mark Superjesus and British India were some of the other Smith’s band and Billy Davis who wrote new
Cashin band tracked a cover of a Screaming Jets notables on the bill. It was great to see everyone material utilising some of Newmarket’s recently
tune for an upcoming compilation record. work as a team to deliver the show each day even expanded backline stock. Also with Billy Davis
under harsh circumstances — arriving in Adelaide was a collaboration recording with Thando for
BIG SKY AUDIO for sound check on the hottest day on record is one Laneway, making the U47/Pultec/1176/Fairchild-
It has been a busy start to the year at Big Sky standout. The Production supply from Brisbane’s chain glow! Co-producing the immensely talented
Audio. Tony Faranda (ex Metropolis) has been CPSA (all d&B, Avid and Yamaha) was brilliant Michelle Scully on a children’s book album has seen
in producing a new EP for The Blue Hotel after and didn’t miss a beat. Novatech helped out in all the creme de la creme of Melbourne session
enjoying his time at BSA last year. James Freeman Adelaide because of the distance, and production musos come through the studio door. Working
is producing and engineering projects for Leslie managers Geoff McGowan and Matt Regan deserve with Richard Pavlidis on his forthcoming jazz
D. King and Libby Leissner, alongside his ongoing a big thanks. album (and putting all four (!) AKG C12s to work)
work with J.R, Reyne and I Know The Chief. Neil and most recently producing for Myllo working
NEWMARKET on his debut EP. Julian McKenzie has made the
Gray has been working with Jock Cheese from
TISM on his second solo album, and is currently Newmarket Studios is excited to share that start of a new album for Steve Boyd’s Rum Reverie.
mixing the debut EP from Barefoot Bowls Club engineer/producer Guus Hoevenaars will be Tracking the band live capturing the drums in
which he produced and engineered. taking over as studio manager and head engineer, a bright tracking room for big bombastic drum
as previous manager Callum Barter is making sounds. He finished up tracking The Northern
the move to the US long term. Guus has been Folk’s forthcoming album. Amazing songwriting
working out of Newmarket for some time now and paired with beautiful tones, this band was a joy to
WHAT’S HAPPENING? is excited to step up for the next chapter.
While finishing up in Australia, Callum
work with.
Charles Mann was in, recording Nasty Mars
Got any news about the happenings in your recorded and mixed an EP for Young Vincent. & The Martians for a nice new single, and
studio or venue? Be sure to let us know at The band tracked live to capture a great energy assisting Jono Steer on new ambient works from
whatson@audiotechnology.com and tasty tones running through the Harrison Impermanence.

AT 10
 GENERAL NEWS

MICROFREAK IS SUPER FREAKY NEUMANN CANS!

$549 | www.arturia.com $869 | en-de.neumann.com
Nothing ‘me-too’ about this new Arturia release. Say hello to the The Neumann NDH20 is a closed-back headphone designed
MicroFreak, Arturia’s first digital hardware synthesizer. Combining for excellent isolation, making them a detailed and balanced
the best of both worlds, MicroFreak includes a multi-mode digital monitoring and mixing headphone, even in loud and noisy
oscillator with an Oberheim SEM-inspired analogue filter. Seven environments. As high-isolation headphones, the NDH20s are
of the oscillator modes are the result of a collaboration between best suited for monitoring in the tracking room as well as FOH
Arturia and Eurorack specialists Mutable Instruments, and hence work. Thanks to its extended frequency response ranging from
let users control the sound of its Plaits module in the comfort of 5Hz to 30kHz the NDH20s are particularly helpful to check the
an all-in-one hardware synth. One of the most striking features of upper and lower extremes of the audio band. Neumann also cite
MicroFreak is its PCB keyboard. Despite having no moving parts, the ‘unusually even frequency response’ and ‘natural stereo image’
it’s pressure sensitive and, according to Arturia, lightning-fast, and of the NDH20s, providing an open-back-like mixing experience
also offers poly-aftertouch, making the ‘Freak a more than capable on the road. They feature 38mm, 150 ohm dynamic drivers, peak
MIDI polyphonic expression controller when connected with sound pressure of 114dB, an adjustable and foldable headband,
USB-MIDI. At its price, MicroFreak is a worthy “my first synth” two detachable and replaceable cables, as well as replaceable
contender, as well as a ‘what the heck, I’ll take it’ 2nd, 3rd, or 15th circumaural memory foam earpads.
synth for the collector or experimental sound designer. Sennheiser:
CMI Music & Audio: (02) 9910 6700 or sales@sennheiser.com.au
(03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au

RODECASTER PRO GETS MULTITRACK ANTELOPE STEPS INTO EDGE GO

RECORDING www.antelopeaudio.com
$849 | www.rode.com Antelope Audio hit 2019 running, launching three new products:
By way of a new firmware update 1.1.0, Rode Microphones has Edge Go, a bus-powered modelling microphone; and two new
enhanced its RodeCaster Pro podcast production console with flagship audio interfaces Orion32+|Gen 3, and Orion32 HD|Gen
the highly requested multitrack recording feature. The update 3. Edge Go is the new portable member of the Edge family of
also brings a more user-friendly interface and channel selection. modelling mics. A USB-C connected device, Edge Go achieves
All existing customers will be able to update their RodeCaster an entire processed vocal chain at the hardware level all in real-
Pro with multitrack recording, and all new units will feature the time, monitor-able via 3.5mm jack. A variety of condenser mic
update. The multitrack feature will record 14 tracks; A stereo ‘live models are available, along with vintage compression and EQs,
mix’ track, as featured since its release, a mono track for each of as well as built-in de-essing, gating/expansion, tape saturation,
the four microphone inputs, and a stereo track each for the USB, and reverb all controlled by a PC/Mac app. The Orion32+|Gen
3.5mm TRRS, Bluetooth and sound pad channels. Multitrack 3 brings the same connectivity, flexibility, and channel counts to
recording can be activated via the Advanced settings in the the table the original Orion32+ made its notable name with, but
Hardware section of the touchscreen interface. From there, a single with upgraded operating levels (+24dBu max), upgraded AD/
switch engages ‘Multi-Channel’ mode for multitrack recording. DA conversion, ultra-fast and stable custom Thunderbolt driver
The 1.1.0 firmware update will be available to download this for Windows, and a major facelift. Orion HD|Gen 3 gets similar
month from rode.com/rodecasterapp. upgrades and facelift.
Rode Microphones: Federal Audio:
(02) 9648 5855 or info@rode.com 0404 921 781 or sales@federalaudio.com.au

AT 12 MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com

DYNAUDIO CORE REFERENCE MONITORS AUDIENT SONO: 12AX7 ONBOARD
www.dynaudio.com www.audient.com
Dynaudio has launched Core – its latest high-end professional Audient has teamed up with cab simulation pioneers Two Notes
reference speakers. The series comprises a three-way monitor Audio Engineering to present Sono, a new audio interface for
(Core 59) and a two-way monitor (Core 7), both of which guitarists. Combining Audient’s analogue and digital conversion
introduce new technologies in all areas, focusing entirely on recording technology with speaker-cab simulation from Two
‘reproducing the best and most accurate sound possible’, to deliver Notes, Sono houses some tweak-happy valve goodness. Featuring
everything producers and engineers need to hear. The Core 7 and an onboard 12AX7 analogue valve and three-band Tone control
Core 59 feature Pascal class-D amplifiers and have both digital alongside Two Notes Torpedo power amp modelling and cab
(AES3), supporting up to 24-bit/192kHz signals, and analogue simulation, Sono provides a whole bunch of tonal options for
inputs, which the internal DSP acts on at the same high resolution. guitarists, whether they’re recording, practising or gigging.
Physically, the units are designed for flexible positioning, with pad- The interface features near-zero latency, a monitor mix feature
mounts on each side for equal surface contact, and the Core 59s for blending guitar input signal and DAW playback, as well as
feature a rotation flex system — the Orbit — letting you rotate the comprehensive I/O for recording more than just guitar: two
plate holding the mid/woofer and tweeter to adapt to vertical and Audient console mic pres and ADAT expandability to 10 inputs for
horizontal orientations. drum recording.
Amber Technology: Studio Connections:
1800 251 367 or sales@ambertech.com.au www.studioconnections.com.au

TASCAM INTRODUCES DR-X SERIES PMC’S NEXT GEN IB2S

From $229 | www.tascam.com www.pmc-speakers.com
Tascam introduces the DR-X Series, the next generation of its PMC claims ‘More power, more detail and more flexibility’ for its
line of professional grade handheld recorders. The DR-40X new IB2S-AII and twin cabinet IB2S XBD-AII reference monitors.
features integrated unidirectional stereo mics with scalable A/B This new generation of PMC’s IB2S active range is aimed at
or X/Y configuration, dual XLR/quarter-inch combo inputs, professional users working in stereo and surround formats for
built-in phantom power for condenser mics, integrated four-track reference and mastering applications. New in these models are
capability, and wired remote control option, as well as Tascam’s 3U rackmounted electronics, one per channel, delivering DSP-
Auto-Tone function, providing an audio cue tone identifying controlled Class-D amplification from afar — 2025W to the
each recording take. The DR-40X will be joined by the affordable single cab model and a hefty 3225W to the latter. PMC believes
DR-07X, which, with the same mic configuration, Tascam this increase in power will diminish distortion and gives greater
claims will deliver ‘professional performance’ for musicians and bass definition, attack and extended headroom. Both systems also
voiceover artists. Finally, the DR-05X is equipped with a pair feature HF and LF shelving filters, ±8dB input level trim, and an
of omnidirectional condenser mics, making it better suited to AES3 digital input. The input sensitivity of the balanced analogue
recording music, meetings and dictation. Each unit incorporates a inputs can also be adjusted from +4dB to +16dB, all of which can
2-in/2-out USB audio interface, microSDXC storage up to 128GB be accessed via an RJ45-connected tabletop remote.
and a daylight-viewable white backlit display, along with an Interdyn:
Overwrite mode with one level of undo. (03) 9426 3600 or sales@interdyn.com.au

CMI Music & Audio:

(03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com AT 13

 LIVE NEWS

EAW: FIRST PA FOR NEW ERA AKG DMS SERIES

www.eaw.com www.akg.com
EAW has launched the new KF810P line array. For the moment, At NAMM, AKG released the DMS100 and DMS300 professional
it’s designed specifically for installed applications, but you can digital wireless systems. The 2.4GHz system provides ‘advanced
be assured there will be a touring version down the pipeline. security features’, extended battery life and ease-of-use. The eight-
The KF810P integrates two high-powered, ported, 10-inch channel DMS300 and four-channel DMS100 are available in two
low-frequency drivers with three-inch voice coils; four five-inch configurations: an AKG handheld microphone or an instrument-
midrange drivers with 1.7-inch voice coils; and two high-frequency or headset-ready bodypack. DMS digital wireless systems offer
drivers with 1.4-inch exits and 3-inch voice coils. Tuned, phase- 24-bit/48kHz uncompressed audio coding, ‘ultra-low’ latency
aligned spacing of the low-frequency components extend pattern and signal security provided by AES 256-bit encryption. DMS
control. The output of these sources unites through an integrated systems were designed from the ground up for intuitive operation,
horn that occupies most of the forward face of the enclosure, with push-button channel pairing and colour-coding for easy
delivering up to 145dB SPL with accurate pattern control down to identification. Adaptive channel selection takes the guesswork out
250Hz to master challenging acoustic spaces. EAW claims their of locating available wireless channels, and DMS300 features a
Concentric Summation Array technology results in ‘smooth, high-resolution front-panel LCD screen that allows for even easier
accurate, studio monitor-quality response’ from 50Hz to 20kHz. setup, monitoring and control. Up to four DMS100 and up to eight
Nominal beamwidth is either 80° or 100° horizontal by 10° vertical. DMS300 systems can be synced and used simultaneously.
PAVT: CMI Music & Audio:
(03) 9264 8000 or www.pavt.com.au (03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au

ADAMSON CS7P: MILAN READY MACKIE’S NEW FLAGSHIP PA

www.adamsonsystems.com www.mackie.com
Adamson introduces the CS7p point source enclosure, the first Mackie’s all-new flagship DRM Professional Powered
of the new CS-series of mobile loudspeakers featuring Class-D Loudspeakers are packed with up to 2300W of power, DSP and
amplification, DSP, and Milan-ready (AVB) network endpoints. full colour displays. Mackie promises the DRM Loudspeakers offer
The CS7p has already been successfully used as a FOH nearfield ‘incredible sound quality and reliability’ for a wide range of install
monitor at Hillsong Conference (pictured) and on the Drake and and production applications suiting houses of worship and rental
Migos North American tour. “In an application such as FOH systems. Five models comprise the Mackie DRM series, including
monitoring, Milan simplifies the deployment process by allowing a 2000W 18-inch subwoofer. All models are available in passive
users to make a single connection,” says Benoit Cabot, Director boxes. At the heart of every DRM Series loudspeaker, is Mackie’s
of R&D at Adamson. One of the benefits of Milan is being able to Advanced Impulse DSP module with precision crossovers,
daisy-chain networked audio between multiple sources in addition transducer time-alignment, and FIR filters. Mackie reports that
to an analogue XLR input and output. Acoustically, the CS7p the result is ‘crystal clear, punchy audio typically experienced
contains two seven-inch Kevlar Neodymium transducers and a only with massive touring systems’. The DRM Control Dashboard
three-inch compression driver, loaded with a rotatable 70° x 40° (H features an intuitive high-contrast, full-colour display on the back
x V) waveguide. The dipole arrangement of the cabinet provides a panel for quick and easy setup. To complement the DRM passive
stable polar response, and the CS7p can also be paired to increase loudspeakers, Mackie also released the MX Series power amplifiers
horizontal coverage and overall output. and SP260 loudspeaker processor.
CMI Music & Audio: Amber Technology:
(03) 9315 2244 or cmi.com.au 1800 251 367 or www.ambertech.com.au

AT 14 MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com

DBTECHNOLOGIES RS16000 TOURING RACK NEW MICS FROM EV
www.dbtechnologies.com www.electrovoice.com
The new RS16000 Touring Rack from dBTechnologies made its Electro-Voice launched new wired and wireless microphones at
official debut at this year’s Winter NAMM. Operable within the NAMM, producing the RE3 UHF wireless system, the RE420
UHF spectrum between 470-870MHz, the digital, 24-bit, true cardioid and the RE520 supercardioid vocal microphones. EV
diversity microphone system offers up to 400MHz of tuning claims ‘best-in-class sound quality, wireless flexibility and overall
bandwidth across six channels. A total of 16,000 frequencies are ease of use in alignment’ for its RE3 system which is available in
available to users, which can be selected in manual mode within 10 pre-packaged sets, containing a diversity receiver each with
25kHz increments to meet the needs of application across the antennas, universal power supply, rack mount kit, transmitter,
globe. The RS16000 system includes six RS16000R receivers, a batteries and an input device. Additionally, the RE3 portfolio
model AS6W antenna splitter with 9V phantom power, its own contains a comprehensive assortment of accessories to aid in the
active cooling system, an RPS10 power supply, and a HUB800 creation of large, multi-channel systems. The new wired RE420
network hub, which facilitates use of dBTechnologies’ proprietary and RE520 vocal microphones are the next generations of EV’s
Wireless Manager software via a front-panel USB port. An RE410 and RE510, featuring an updated design with multi-stage
Ethernet port is also provided in the back panel for building pop filters, selectable high-pass filters and internal shock mounts.
and managing multiple systems, each of which can virtually Bosch Communications:
support more than 60 transmitters simultaneously. Handheld and 1300 026 724 or stsales@au.bosch.com
bodypack transmitters are available for use with the system.
NAS:
(03) 8756 2600 or sales@nas.solutions

MARTIN GRASPS LONG BOW NEXO UNVEILS ‘THE BIG 12’ AT NAMM SHOW
www.martin-audio.com nexo-sa.com
Martin Audio is adding to its Wavefront Precision Series with The NAMM Show in January was the first public outing for
the Longbow (WPL) edition. It’s designed as a complete system NEXO’s new GEO M12 line array, the top-of-the-line addition
with external iKON multi-channel amplifiers, automated Display to the GEO M family of sound reinforcement systems by the
optimisation software and VU-NET control platform and will be French manufacturer. Sharing the same aesthetic design and
of interest to stadium concert, outdoor festivals, arenas and large sonic signatures as the other models in the GEO M Series,
house of worship installations. A three-way, bi-amped system, the GEO M12 promises to deliver all the NEXO hallmarks of
WPL’s high output is achieved by using Martin Audio’s horn- power, flexibility, coverage and ‘superb sonic performance’ in a
loading technology across all frequency bands — increasing the modern package. It is being launched together with the MSUB18
acoustic output of the low frequency section as well as the midrange companion subbass cabinet. The M12 line array module, which
and HF. It incorporates 2 x 12-inch drivers with Hybrid horn/reflex pairs a 12-inch LF driver and 1.4-inch HF driver, is available
loading, 2 x 6.5-inch cone drivers on a midrange horn which covers in 10° and 20° vertical dispersion configurations. The two-way
the vocal frequency range from 300Hz to 4kHz, and 3 x one-inch module will deliver a frequency response of 50Hz-20kHz with
exit HF drivers operating from 4kHz upwards. The maximum nominal peak SPL of 140dB and is housed in the same material as
peak outputs of the LF, Mid and HF sections are 139dB, 140dB and NEXO’s STM Series cabinets.
145dB per enclosure at 1m and 6dB crest factor respectively. Group Technologies:
Technical Audio Group: (03) 9354 9133 or sales@grouptechnologies.com.au
(02) 9519 0900 or tag.com.au

AT 16 MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com

 SOFTWARE NEWS

ABLETON LIVE: POINT ONE BITWIG STUDIO 3

www.ableton.com www.bitwig.com
Live 10.1 is a free update for all Live 10 owners. New features Building on the Nested Device Chains of version 1 and version 2’s
include: User Wavetables, expanding the capabilities of Wavetable’s modulation slots, the developers of Bitwig Studio 3 have added
oscillator section; and Channel EQ, a flexible and simple EQ with a whole new paradigm — The Grid, allowing all-out modular
curves and gain ranges suitable for a variety of audio material. routing and patch building. The Grid is broken up into three
The shape of the filters adapt based on how controls are set to types of Grids — Poly Grid for polyphonic synthesis; Mono
‘always provide musical results’. Also added to 10.1 is Delay, which Grid for monophonic; and FX Grid for churning up and spitting
combines Simple Delay and Ping Pong Delay and adds feature out audio. The Grid environment is a node-based patch builder
upgrades. Ping pong behaviour, as well as Jump, Fade-In and Pitch feeling like something in-between the standard NI Reaktor and its
controls from those devices are all accessed from the front panel. Blocks layout. You insert a Grid device and then work in the Grid
Users will also now be able to choose from a palette of automation environment, where you’re free to connect, tweak, and combine
shapes, stretch and skew automation and generally have greater little modules to build your patch. Unlike Reaktor, where you’re
flexibility in automation editing. Also added will be track freezing either in its very plain aesthetic or its pre-determined Block
with sidechains, VST3 support and single track export with return paradigm, all the Bitwig modules look like part of the DAW, with
and master effects applied. all their functions on display.
CMI Music & Audio: Innovative Music:
(03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au (03) 9540 0658 or info@innovativemusic.com.au

REVIEW

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS S88 Mk II

Hammer-Action MIDI Controller
Review: Preshan John
PRICE
$1399
CONTACT
CMI Music & Audio:
(03) 9315 2244 or
www.cmi.com.au

For anyone who’s invested in the Native The primary point of difference on the S88 MkII combination didn’t fall much short of delivering all
Instruments ecosystem, the king of is the weighted Fatar keybed which promises an the tactile nuances of playing a real piano.
keyboards is undoubtedly the new S88 MkII. It’s improvement over the S88 MkI. It certainly feels Of course, while the action is fantastic for piano
NI’s answer to many a musician’s demand for a ‘posh’ with a soft, weighty and refined touch. Key instruments, it’s not the best for others. Playing
full-sized hammer-action keyboard controller that travel is noticeably shallow and the action is firm Hammond organ slides or technical lead lines feels
plays like a grown-up piano. but smooth. a bit wrong, for no other reason than it’s designed
Like its smaller unweighted synth action siblings, Firing up The Gentleman in Komplete Kontrol to work best for piano.
the S88 MkII is a purpose-built dashboard for (a delightful Native Instruments upright piano) Weighing up the options, it seems to me that
driving NKS-compatible instruments via the I had my first proper bash at the S88 MkII. the S88 MkII is near on the perfect controller if
Komplete Kontrol platform. You’ll see from our The sensation is entirely different when you’re you’re seeking a piano-like experience above all
review of the S49 MkII in Issue 125 that the S Series hearing what your fingers are doing. The degree else. You’re also getting loads of NKS control and a
boards are a dream to use thanks to the blazingly of responsiveness and delicacy in each key comprehensive Komplete 12 Select software bundle
fast workflow and those beautiful colour screens. strike makes up for the relatively short travel with 14 instruments — including The Gentleman,
Deep DAW control is available for Maschine, Logic and the resistance of each key is very natural. In to get instant enjoyment out of those keys.
ProX, Ableton Live, GarageBand and more. fact, through headphones or nice monitors, the

AT 18
 REVIEW

ARTURIA PIGMENTS
Software Synthesizer
If you’re lacking a particular colour in your
sound, chances are Pigments has it.
Review: Preshan John

Pigments is a surprising first for Arturia. let’s break it down in a orderly fashion. wave types each, plus a noise generator. The
The company ostensibly built a reputation At the very top of the instrument are the Wavetable option contains tons of available
on its realistic software recreations of vintage global controls, as per Arturia’s V Collection wavetables categorised into Natural, Processed,
synthesisers, and it’s carved out a name for itself instruments. Here, you can enter a preset Synthesizers, etc.
in the hardware synth realm with the Brute and performance view with minimal visual Losing yourself in the Wavetable menus
collection. So why has it taken this long to distractions, or use the drop-down menus to doesn’t take much effort. There are all kinds of
develop a software synth of its own creation? the right to select presets by type or alphabetical textures to be found, organised neatly enough for
Perhaps because it already has a wealth of order. Further along are the global views — quick discovery and with a large central window
‘flavours’ covered in its V Collection series, Synth, FX and Seq — to access the different to display the shape. Once your wavetable is
Pigments is less about mastering a particular layers of Pigments. There’s a handy Master level selected, the Engine tab provides a number
style of synthesis and more about giving the knob perched top right, just before the MIDI of ways to manipulate it further: Tune (Fine
modern creative a ridiculous range of options. controller configuration view. or Coarse), Frequency Modulate (Linear or
Having spent a little while with Pigments, Exponential), Phase Modulate (Key, Mod Osc,
it certainly takes the cake as Arturia’s most START YOUR ENGINES Self or Random), Phase Distort, Wave Fold and
impressive all-in-one synth instrument. Pigments’ sound is generated by two Engines more. The Unison section has both Chord and
You’d be forgiven if you felt a little which sit top left of the instrument. Both Classic modes, letting you add up to eight voices.
overwhelmed the first time you laid eyes on of these are switchable between Analog With stereo and detune controls, it’s a great way
Pigments. It’s a busy GUI with all manner of and Wavetable modes. Setting an engine to to thicken things up.
waves, colours and shapes poking through. So, Analog reveals three oscillators with four

PRICE PROS CONS SUMMARY

NEED TO KNOW

US$199 Extraordinarily deep None Pigments is a hybrid wavetable and analogue synthesis gone wild. Like a workshop
editing with more tools than you’ll ever need, this instrument is paradise for those who love
CONTACT Lots of synth for the geeking out in the process of crafting unique sounds.
CMI Music & Audio: money
(03) 9315 2244 or
www.cmi.com.au

AT 20
FILTERS
Moving east of the Engines, we arrive at Pigments’ two Filter sections.
With a plethora of options, some of these filters model hardware synth
variants like the Oberheim SEM and Minimoog. By default, most of the
patches assign the Mod Wheel of your MIDI controller to the filter cutoff.
F1 FIELD RECORDER
Heading south now, the most striking visual feature of Pigments is its
long, colourful strip of 23 labeled blocks that runs right through its centre.
+ LAVALIER MIC
These exist to give you an at-a-glance read on everything that’s going on PROFESSIONAL AUDIO. UP CLOSE.
in your synth sound. The first block is Velocity and the little purple line
jumps up and down in real-time depending on how hard you hit a note.
The graphs in the LFO blocks oscillate constantly to the wave they’re set
to. The final four blocks display the level of each Macro. The Zoom F1 Field Recorder + Lavalier Mic is
When you click on the block’s label it turns the strip into a window the perfect solution for videographers who
where you can assign a parameter to that particular function. For need to capture the nuance of every word
example, if I click on Env 2 I can then click and drag the contour ring with professional quality audio.
around virtually any knob in the instrument (it’ll light up the same Superior Sound: Newly engineered LMF-1
colour as the modulator you’re assigning it to) to set the range to which lavalier mic+ (up to) 24-bit/96kHz recording
the Envelope 2 shape will affect that parameter; let’s say the Wavetable to micro SD card.
Position knob.
Low Profile: Attaches neatly on belts,
MODULATION GALORE waistbands, or slipped concealed into a pocket.
Say you’ve got the Wavetable Position knob tied to Env 3, and now you One-Touch Controls & Display: Instant access
want to change Env 3’s shape. The tabs just below the strip of blocks let to record levels, limiter control, lo-cut filter
you do just that. Colour-coded according to the blocks, click on one of and volume output + sunlight viewable LCD.
these tabs to deeply configure any of those modulators, be it any of the Videographer Essentials: Record Hold
Envelopes, LFOs, Functions or Random oscillators. function, onboard limiter, battery powered
The potential for modulation is truly endless, with three envelope (or power adapter), transfer files via card
generators, three LFOs, and three ‘functions’; all of which can be deeply reader or directly via USB.
customised and assigned to virtually any control. There are even three
constantly chugging Random modulators (Turing, Sample & Hold, and
Binary) waiting to add some instability to a parameter of your choosing.
Four macros give quick control and the graphical displays of all these
modulators let you keep an eye on what’s happening to your sounds.

FX & ARPEGGIATION
In appropriately OTT fashion, the FX section of Pigments has two discrete
effects buses (A and B), both of which can run up to three effects in any
sequence, with 14 effect options in each. By ‘effect’, that includes things
like a parametric EQ, compressor, stereo panner and multi filter. Of course
among the 14 options are all the usual suspects like reverb, delay, flanger,
phaser, overdrive, bit-crusher and more. They all sound great and provide
a comprehensive and configurable toolbox to enhance a tone.
The final feather in Pigments’ hat is the arpeggiator and 16-step
sequencer, accessed via the Seq button at the top. There’s plenty of
flexibility here.

FLYING COLOURS
The Pigments experience is utterly immersive and engaging simply
because there’s a massive amount of control at your disposal. The presets
list is an effective way of quickly ‘getting to work’ with this instrument,
rather than building your ideal sound from the ground up each time.
Because of its sonic breadth, it’s impossible to single out a type of sound
this instrument excels at, besides the fact that its wavetable roots dictate
a part of its sonic imprint. Notwithstanding, it’ll effortlessly generate
anything from fat EDM basses to atmospheric pads to sweet arpeggiating
plucks to completely weird and chaotic leads.
After spending hours trawling through its tones and taking a step
back from it all, I’m convinced Pigments has a freshness about it. There’s
many soft synths on the market today and it’s not too often that one is
strikingly distinct from the pack. By combining Arturia’s own characterful
wavetables with classic analogue subtractive synthesis, you can create
unique and extremely usable sounds that all have a vaguely dirty and
Proudly distributed in Australia by Dynamic Music
unrefined edge, in the best possible sense of those words. The result, is an
incredibly powerful tool with sounds that’ll make a statement, whether dynamicmusic.com.au
that’s producing an album or scoring a film.

AT 21
 FEATURE

From Fruity Loops to super hits. How Louis

Bell went from nobody to writing and
producing No. 1s for Post Malone,
Beiber, Lorde and Cardi B in only
three years.
Story: Paul Tingen

AT 22
 “Songs are like tornadoes,” mused Louis Bell. years I got my first keyboard, a Roland Fantom-X6, THAT GIVE YOUR EAR SOMETHING TO PLAY WITH. Michael
“They come out of nowhere and can cause which meant I could play the ideas in my head Jackson’s Remember The Time also has just two
some damage, but you don’t really know when with different sounds. I THEN STARTED CREATING BEATS chords, but they’re very complicated and inspire
they’re coming. Songs take everything around IN FRUITY LOOPS, WHICH I STILL USE TODAY BECAUSE IT’S an interesting melody structure. If you’re using
them, spin it together and turn that into a storm. It VERY FLUID WHEN SWITCHING SOUNDS AND DOESN’T TAKE the same four chords over and over again, you
affects people, but when you’re in the eye of the UP TOO MUCH CPU POWER, EVEN WITH TONS OF PLUG-INS may not be very inspired.
storm — just creating — you don’t notice. Then LOADED. It allows me to have lots of options already
after the dust settles you look at what you’ve created dialled in, so I can just start and be super-creative.
and go: ‘What did I just do? Was it something “Everything is ready to go, it’s like plug ’n’ play.
special, or was I just destroying stuff?’” Everything blends well and sounds great, so I don’t
In the last three years, songwriter and producer have to keep going in to EQ things. It gives me the
Bell, has been wreaking his own havoc. The freedom to think about the melody, chords and Unfortunately, you can’t
‘damage’ done includes eight tracks on Post
Malone’s debut album Stoney — including the
the song, rather than whether the bass is clashing.
I do all that later in Pro Tools. Creating is like wet
hire people to have your
massive hit Congratulations — and all tracks on cement; you have to keep it moving. If you wait too taste, so I have to do it
Malone’s mega-selling Beerbongs & Bentleys, which
harboured super hits Rockstar, Psycho and Better
long, the cement starts to dry and the next thing
you know you’ve hit a block that’s not shaped the
all myself
Now. Add to this Bell’s involvement in big hits by way you want it.”
Camile Cabello, Selena Gomez, Lorde, Halsey, JUST A PC & ONE $10,000 MIC
Cardi B, 5 Seconds of Summer, Khalid, Jess Glynne, Not straying from his PC roots, Bell’s computer is
Rita Ora, and there hasn’t been a Top 10 forecast an “ASUS PC, running Fruity Loops and Pro Tools,
without his name attached. with a UAD Apollo Twin and Quad Core expander. “The initial melody and initial lyric are the
Despite having been in the business for two That’s it. There’s an API board in the room with most important. You can then make things more
decades, Bell was a virtual unknown until 2016. Apogee conversion and so on. Those pieces of gear complicated, with passing chords and an interesting
By the time major success arrived, he was 34 and are occasionally used by others, but I don’t really bass line. Sometimes you inject something different
“over-qualified,” reckoned Bell. “I had built up my use any of that stuff. It’s pretty much me, my laptop, in the pre-chorus, so the hook will sound new
skillset for more than 10 years, by which stage I and a Native Instruments S61 Komplete Kontrol again. Those things help you create something
was very prepared and ready to wear a bunch of keyboard. I’ve always used minimal equipment and fresh. It’s rarer with rap music, because rappers are
hats. It just takes one song to put your head above have had the Apollo Twin since 2014. Before that singing so much now. They rap in the verses and
water. While it’s underwater, nobody knows you I had the MBox 3, the MBox, and as far back as sing in the hooks, so you don’t need to differentiate
exist. Once it’s above water, everybody will see 2003-06, a Pro Tools 002 rack. between the sections as much with chord changes.
you bob up and go: ‘Hey, who is this guy? Let’s get “MY VOCAL MIC IS A SONY C800, WHICH I LOVE. IT HAS “I go for what I call ‘predictable innovation’.
him on board!’” A LOT OF HIGH END, BUT I CAN EQ THAT OUT IF I NEED TO. I There are percentages related to how often people
HEADS UP have homed in on certain frequencies that can be expect a certain chord change to come next. Where
The song that pulled Bell above the waterline was troublesome at times, so I’m able to get the right the harmonies are, the overtones and so on, are all
DJ Snake’s Let Me Love You, which features vocals sound and dynamics with every artist that uses the factored into where the brain takes us next. At the
by Justin Bieber and was a worldwide hit in late microphone. Post Malone and Swae Lee used that same time, within a new digital landscape, where
2016. We caught up with him in the studio where mic for Sunflower, Camile Cabello sang Havana anyone is able to make music and it’s become way
he mostly works, Electric Feel in Los Angeles, to on it. Every artist has their favourite mic, often more disposable, there’s some responsibility to
find out about the exact skills that allow him to for good reason, but if I can’t get the right sound inject something better. You need to challenge
whip up multiple storms in short order. from the Neumann or specific mic they want to yourself, even if it is inspired by this or that artist.
Bell, a Boston native, started piano lessons when use, I’ll ask them to at least try the Sony. I use the Find ways of taking the souls of your favourite
he was 13. His mother drew, played guitar, and was in-wall Genelec monitors in this studio, they’re my songs and reincarnating them in new bodies.”
a computer teacher who filled the house with PCs. preferred monitors but are no longer made. I’m FRUITY LOOPS, OR JUST OCD?
With those influences, it wasn’t long before her looking for some smaller monitors for the home Bell labels himself as “super OCD when it comes
teenage son started making music in Fruity Loops. setup which I am building at the moment. I want to to organising myself in Fruity Loops. I organise my
Bell’s adeptness for beat-making soon blossomed have more advanced creativity going on at home. sounds according to what song they remind me
into his own studio in Boston where he worked It’ll be a more relaxed setting than here in the of, or according to year. I have drums sounds in
with local artists, often in the hip-hop genre. “I studio where there’s always this urgency and worry folders from 2017, 2018, and so on, I put all my 808
grew up liking hip-hop, because it was status-quo- about time and efficiency.” sounds together in one folder, and I’ll have folders
challenging music,” recalled Bell. “They weren’t PREDICTABLE INNOVATION with thousands of wav files organised by piano,
afraid of what anybody thought and I love that.” According to Bell, he’s worked on probably 95% strings, harpsichord, brass, choir —you name it —
In 2013, an invitation from rapper Mike Stud to of those hit songs at the room at Electric Feel. with subfolders inside. I title and classify them in
relocate to Los Angeles changed Bell’s trajectory. “Many of my ideas start a cappella in my living such a way that I can find them immediately.
They made two albums together and Bell met a room or bathroom or wherever,” he explains. “I’ll With his sounds organised, Bell starts working
musician and producer called Andrew Wyatt. record a voice memo into my phone and email it up short musical fragments into loops. “I’LL WORK
Wyatt, who became a friend, knew Bieber. Another to myself. When I get to the studio I’ll go through ON PROBABLY 20 LOOPS A DAY, AND THE NEXT DAY I’LL
LA friend knew DJ Snake, and both connections anything I remember being good and put chords DO ANOTHER 20. THEN A FEW DAYS LATER I GO BACK AND
led to Bell co-writing Let Me Love You. to those melodies. If it’s magical, I’ll continue. LISTEN TO ALL OF THEM WITH A FRESH PERSPECTIVE. Right
“Learning to play piano was massively Otherwise I move on the next idea. When I add away, I know the ones I like and the ones that need
important,” commented Bell. “It gave me the muscle chords, I like things to be subtly musical. I don’t more work. If I’m not immediately hearing where
memory to understand chords and scales intuitively. want to shove it down people’s throat. THE FACT IS, a loop wants to go, I quickly move onto the next
When I hear something in my head, I can just sit YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH JUST FOUR CHORDS IN A SONG, loop. If you work on an uninspiring song for too
down and play it and know all the possible chord SOMETIMES TWO. DRAKE’S GOD’S PLAN IS JUST TWO long, you’re doing more harm than good. It can
progressions. After playing piano for six or seven CHORDS WITH SOME EXTRA NOTES IN THEM, LIKE NINTHS, hurt your ego as a creator.

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 “I don’t like using loops from sample packs,
because I don’t know how many people are going to
grab the same loop. Whatever I am creating, I want
to feel like I’m the only one creating it. I like to
create the most complicated loop possible in Fruity
Loops. Once I know all the sounds work together, I
can pull sounds out again afterwards.
“I’ll always export to Pro Tools right after I’ve
made the beat. I don’t take them any further in
Fruity Loops. I also don’t use the Fruity Loops
sequencer; everything is played or programmed
by me in four or eight bar loops. The song lives in
Pro Tools for the longest period of the process, it’s
where I start dialling in EQs, sequence things and
create the song structure.”
DON’T JUST GIVE IT AWAY
While Bell whips these musical ideas into shape at
great speed, he’s not hasty about releasing the gems.
“If I don’t find the right song or artist for a special
idea, I just let it sit there,” said Bell. “I’ve had ideas
that sat around for three years before they were
turned into a hit song. I don’t want to give my idea
away to the wrong artist. I’m not about making
songs, I’m about making the right songs. I want to
make sure that everything I put my energy into and
my name on is something I love in that moment.
“WITH EVERY SONG I HAVE EVER MADE, I CAN REMEMBER
EXACTLY WHERE I WAS, WHAT I FELT AND WHO I WAS
WITH. THE SONG BECOMES A WORMHOLE IN TIME THAT
ALLOWS YOU TO GO BACK TO THAT MOMENT AT ANYTIME.
If you do it right, you have created a personal little
synapse network for yourself which allows you to
revisit things, get nostalgic and tap into a certain building a house. You have to find someone who not. I’m waiting for a face that says, ‘oh-my-God-
emotion. It makes you a more formidable creator, wants to live in that house. I like to have all the I’m-really-connecting-with-this!’ I can tell if an
and helps get an artist excited. They may come in a different materials lying around and ready to go — artist is just trying to please me, or whether they
little indecisive or not feeling up to very much, but bricks, wood, straw, furniture, marble, whatever it really believe in what we’re doing. Some artists may
if you can play them songs or tell them something may be — and when an artist comes in, I ask them, feel pressure to love my ideas, but I don’t want to
that triggers an emotion, all of a sudden they start ‘What would you like your house to be?’ When I push an artist into doing anything. If they’re really
playing or singing. Many artists are empaths. They build houses with no one around, I spend a lot of present, their energy is imprinted on what you do
can sense energy. If you have beats and emotions time making things that may not be useful at all. and they’ll feel like it’s their beat as well.
to tap into, you can jumpstart the artist. It’s not a Sometimes an artist knows right away that they “When I have them in the room with me I have
matter of me telling them what to do.” don’t like the song’s chords. At that moment all the a far better understanding of what the person really
Sometimes Bell doesn’t start from his pre-made drums I’d put underneath mean nothing. does and doesn’t like. I can change or add things
song ideas, preferring to create a beat from scratch “I now prefer to work with artists in the room. I in real time based on their reactions. It’s like I’m
with the artist in the room. “I used to send my start by playing them loops and look at their body having to read someone at a poker table. To find
stuff to people, but now I see building songs like language. I want to see whether they’re excited or out what hand they have, I need to see their body

AT 24
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T 25
 Do you keep gravitating towards the
same sounds you had success with
because they make you feel something,
or do you try to move to the next thing?

language, hear the tone of their voice, and how they I have Antares AutoTune on, very lightly, just to kicks sound as if they have a bass underneath them.
express themselves. make sure everything is locked in and tight. Even The Waves LoAir plug-in does the same thing. I
“CREATING BEATS WITH THE ARTIST IN THE ROOM CAN after applying Melodyne there may be a note that also like to use UAD’s Raw for adding distortion,
HAPPEN IN DIFFERENT WAYS. USUALLY I’LL PUT TOGETHER A strays a little. I know that many people think Post and then cut off some high end if it gets too noisy.
SOUND TEMPLATE IN FRUITY LOOPS, SPECIFIC TO AN ARTIST Malone’s vocals have a lot of AutoTune, but it’s NOT HAVING A BASS CAN MEAN THAT YOU’RE LACKING
OR SONG IDEA. It means I have a collection of sounds Melodyne. I THROW AUTOTUNE ON SPECIFIC LINES AS AN FREQUENCIES AROUND 100HZ AND THE WAVES RBASS
that I know fit together. I may have nine snares and EFFECT, LIKE A FLANGER OR SLAP DELAY. IT’S NOT BECAUSE IS REALLY GOOD FOR THAT. IT ALLOWS YOU TO SATURATE
ten claps that I can quickly cycle through, and one HE CAN’T SING THE PART IN TUNE, IT’S BECAUSE IT SOUNDS A CERTAIN FREQUENCY. You can literally dial in a
of them is usually right.” COOL. People also think that the shaking in his voice, frequency above the sub bass and bring that out.
POST MALONE-WORK like in Rockstar, is AutoTune, but it’s how he sings. “Post and Swae’s track Sunflower starts with an
Once the song is ready, Bell records the vocalist, “Post doesn’t need AutoTune. I want his voice actual bass, which is an ’80s synth sound that I ran
then he’s back working on his own again. “I spend to sound tight and futuristic and still have his through a bunch of stuff to give it a warbly, detuned
a lot of time listening to every single vocal take, wideness. Most of all, I want his soul to shine vibe. It then has an 808 underneath to have that
comping, editing and tuning the vocals. I don’t through. I want the honesty and depth of his balance and give it a hip-hop vibe. I didn’t want the
know whether it’s my OCD side, but I feel that unique tone. His voice is so unique, you don’t track to be a throwback to the ’80s, I wanted it to
if I don’t listen to everything I’m going to miss want to dress that up too much. All I do is add the be modern.
something. Unfortunately, you can’t hire people right reverb, because he likes a lot of reverb. He “I try not to think too much about what tracks
to have your taste, so I have to do it all myself. I’ll likes that wetness, because it makes his vocals feel remind me of because I fear it might take me
send what I have done to the artist for approval, anthemic and arena-esque. He loves ideas more out of the zone. Music is like a recurring dream
and most of the time the artist is pretty happy. when his vocals are wet, but sometimes I’ll dry sometimes. There are sounds that make you feel
“My go-to plug-ins for vocals are the UAD 1176, them up a little before sending them to Manny a certain way, and maybe you just keep playing it,
which really warms things up and makes them nice [Marroquin] for the final mix, depending on or maybe you want to try to find a way of doing
and loud, and the Waves CLA Vocals, for EQ. It’s a what’s going on musically.” something new this time. Do you intentionally try
kind of one-stop shop that allows you to do many As Bell works on the borderline between pop to repeat the recurring dream, and keep gravitating
things easily. If you want more ‘bite’, it instantly and urban, bass is of supreme importance, and towards the same sounds you had success with
allows you to manipulate the vocal in that way urban’s low end is dominated by 808 and kicks, because they make you feel something, or do you
without really needing to know much. My favourite often without any bass at all. “I like to use the try to move to the next thing?”
reverb is Waves’ RVerb, which gives you a classic UAD Brainworx bx_subharmonics on the bass,
sound. I do vocal tuning in Melodyne. After that particularly 808s, and on kicks as well. It makes

AT 26
Ph: 03 8373 4817
www.linkaudio.com.au

AT 2
 FEATURE

Veteran scoring engineer Alan Meyerson is known

for making Hollywood sound even bigger than it is.
We shadow his process on two epic films: Jumanji:
Welcome to the Jungle and Thor: Ragnarok.
Story & Photos: Ben Tolliday

AT 28
 Rifling through Alan Meyerson’s catalogue of
engineering and mixing work takes a while.
His oeuvre is packed tight like extras in a wartime
epic, but where one dot on the battlefield happens
to be the calibre of a Julia Roberts or Johnny Depp.
Films like Inception, Interstellar, Wonder Woman
and Dunkirk are just some of his score credits,
thanks to his longstanding relationship with Hans
Zimmer and composers like James Newton
Howard and Danny Elfman.
He’s also mixed records for Bryan Ferry, New
Order, and Etta James, which has afforded him a
unique reputation in Hollywood as being the go-to
guy if you want a tougher, more aggressive film
score sound.
When Meyerson kindly agreed to take me under
his wing as part of a Churchill Fellowship, it didn’t
take long to experience the sheer magnitude of a
Meyerson job. He invited me to observe orchestral CLEAN & UNCOLOURED APPROACH
sessions for two big budget Hollywood film scores: Before the musicians arrived on the morning of
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (composed by
Henry Jackman) at the Barbra Streisand Scoring
the first orchestra session, Meyerson had made
educated guesses at the mic preamp levels, using
Seeing as engineers
Stage, Sony Studios in Los Angeles. Then Thor: his arsenal of Grace, Pueblo, Manley, Forssell have access to the same
Ragnarok (composed by Mark Mothersbaugh) at
Abbey Road Studio 1 in London.
and AEA preamps. As the players began their
warmups, he quickly soloed each mic and fine-
plug-ins, Meyerson
Following these recording sessions, I tuned preamp levels. Meyerson’s 30-plus years places a higher value on
shadowed Meyerson and assistant film score
engineer Forest Christenson during mixing
of experience was apparent in how fast he set
an overall balance during the first take. All mics
creativity to execute
sessions at Remote Control Productions, Los and outboard preamps on this session belonged sonic ideas
Angeles. I was going to get the whole picture, all to him, giving him an intimate understanding
the way to the final act. of their characteristics and parameters. He
prefers preamps to be set up in the live room to
AN ARRAY OF MIC OPTIONS avoid long cable runs between mic and preamp.
The score for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle MEYERSON’S RECORDING APPROACH IS SIMPLE: CHOOSE crossovers, plus a pair of ATC HTS11 speakers
featured a full symphony orchestra, choir, piano, THE APPROPRIATE MIC, THEN CAPTURE AS CLEANLY AS (side channels), a pair of ATC SCM20PSL Pro
celeste, harp and extensive percussion overdubs POSSIBLE THROUGH UNCOLOURED PREAMPS. speakers (surround channels), and a Kreisel DXD-
with very little use of samples or synths. For When tracking the orchestra, he used Bowers 12012 Duo subwoofer.
maximum flexibility, Meyerson and Jackman & Wilkins 802 D3 speakers as his LCR monitors, The mix rig comprises two Avid Pro Tools HDX
decided to record the strings, brass and woodwinds paired with the studio’s own surround monitors systems connected via a Digital Audio Denmark
together, then overdub keyboards, harp, choir and and subwoofer. MADI interface, clocking via an Antelope OCX-V,
the percussion separately. Henry Jackman and his team spent three and with the capacity to capture up to 128 channels in
MEYERSON’S MAIN MIC ARRAY CONSISTED OF A DECCA a half months composing the score for Jumanji, one pass. Meyerson’s control surface is the Avid S6.
TREE OF FLEA 50 OMNI MICS, FOUR MOJAVE MA-1000 which fuses influences from Copland and Scriabin, Outboard hardware includes six Bricasti M7
MIDFIELD CARDIOID MICS, AND A PAIR OF SENNHEISER plus a mix of African and Asian percussion styles. reverbs, three Manley Massive Passive EQs, an EAR
MKH800 OMNI OUTRIGGERS TO CAPTURE THE WIDE Jackman prefers the control room perspective 825Q EQ, and a Manley Vari-Mu compressor.
ENDS OF THE ENSEMBLE. He had a pair of MKH800 during tracking, where he can control the pace of Aside from this outboard gear, most of the
omnis as side mics, another pair of MKH800 the session. His energy was quite remarkable. He’d mixing happens in Pro Tools. Meyerson owns just
hypercardioids behind the conductor as the often jog around the control room during a take, about every plug-in available, and he uses a wide
surround mics, plus two more wide-spaced pairs somehow listening closely whilst simultaneously range of them in his workflow.
of MKH800 omnis at the front and rear of the having a conversation with his music department. He began by listening to the orchestra mics,
ensemble as the height mics. The front pair of His feedback was concise, yet he was very detail- balancing and panning the main array, then
height mics were mounted behind the conductor, oriented with phrasing, at times having the removing unnecessary mics and filtering low
approximately 20 feet high, and the rear pair orchestra record numerous takes of a particular end rumble. He moves fast to create momentum,
were at the opposite end of the room, behind the passage to achieve his desired outcome. adding plug-ins and twisting virtual knobs in a
percussion section. stream-of-consciousness fashion.
Above the woodwinds/choir, he placed three MONITORING THE MIXING PROCESS I didn’t notice a formulaic approach — he
spaced Royer 122-V ribbon mics as LCR mid The mix sessions for Jumanji required a lot of would experiment with a variety of processing. For
spots. Together, this main mic array captured the preparation, but Meyerson and Christenson show example, at times he used the Fab Filter Pro-Q 3
essence of the ensemble in the room, with closer great synchronicity. Meyerson began mixing just plug-in, yet other times he’d opt for the Massenburg
detail captured by spot mics. Meyerson always a few days after the final recording session, while MDW EQ to perform the exact same task. He’d
recorded the main mic array — in addition to Christenson edited and prepped the remaining alternate merely for the sake of tonal variation.
certain spot mics — for every recording pass. music cues, racing to keep a few cues ahead. Seeing as engineers have access to the same plug-
This kept each overdub sonically consistent, Meyerson’s 7.1 channel surround monitoring ins, Meyerson places a higher value on creativity to
and meant he might capture anything from 22 set-up includes ATC SCM100ASL Pro speakers execute sonic ideas.
mics for a harp overdub, right up to 69 mics per (LCR), with left and right running via two Meyerson regularly compared his mixes with the
orchestra pass. Bowers & Wilkins active subwoofers with built-in composer’s reference mix so as not to lose sight of

AT 29
 insert a high-pass EQ for the full duration of the CUE HIGHLY PRESENTABLE, WHILST LEAVING ROOM FOR THE
DELIVERABLES cue. INSTEAD, ALAN AUTOMATED A HIGH-PASS EQ FOR COMPOSER’S REVISIONS. Meyerson has learnt not to
Jumanji’s largest cue had over 700 audio tracks JUST THE EXPOSED START OF THE CUE, LEAVING THE FULL aim for perfection before the first playback review
due to multiple orchestra, choir, percussion, FREQUENCY RANGE OTHERWISE UNTOUCHED. with a composer. Earlier in his career, he would
keyboard and harp parts! Seeing as it was to be Meyerson and Christenson created a tree-like get too emotionally invested in his mix balances.
presented in Dolby Atmos, Meyerson delivered structure for his VCA groups, starting with an Taking it personally when revisions were inevitably
two height stems to the dub stage, in addition ‘ALL’ VCA group, controlling the overall level of requested by the composer.
to numerous 7.1, 5.1, quad and stereo stems. all musical elements. Next they branch out to VCA At the end of the session, after the mixes were
This gave the dubbing mixer options to assign sub-groups: all orchestra, all choir, all percussion approved by the composer, Christenson printed
the height stems to audio objects in the Atmos and all else. Below these were another set of the 25 stems for the dub stage, and 29 stems for the
array, adding vertical dimension. sub-groups: live orchestra, sample orchestra, live composer’s soundtrack mix. This process requires
choir, sample choir etc. At the bottom were VCAs great attention to detail. On large-scale scores like
controlling effects returns: all reverb returns, then Jumanji, having an assistant who can carefully
the composer’s intent and head out on a tangent. sub-groups of the individual reverbs and other execute this volume of work is essential.
He’d also often check his work at a lowered volume, effects. These VCAs are organised so Meyerson
while cross-checking the reference mix. can select any VCA group, and easily access all HAMMERING OUT THOR
of its spill tracks via the Avid S6 control surface. Thor: Ragnarok’s film score was composed by
ADDING CHARACTER This workflow is key, especially given the high Mark Mothersbaugh, whose previous score credits
Generally, Meyerson would use auxiliary sends track count. He made all of his volume automation include Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom,
to reverbs and delays, blending the effects returns moves using VCAs, greatly enhancing the The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic.
on auxiliary tracks. Sometimes he inserted the dramatic impact. Mothersbaugh was previously the co-founder,
effect directly on a track or an instrument group’s singer and keyboard player for Devo.
auxiliary bus, adjusting the wet-dry balance to REVISION DECISIONS In Thor: Ragnarok, the protagonists travel
taste. ON JUMANJI, HE INSERTED A D-SPATIAL REVERB When Meyerson was ready to present his work to between fictional planets Asgard and Sakaar, so
PLUG-IN DIRECTLY ON THE AUX OF A SNARE DRUM OVERDUB, Jackman, a playback review was scheduled. During orchestra and choir featured more prominently
SPREADING IT AROUND THE SURROUND IMAGE AND the review, Jackman was active on the console, for the Asgard scenes, while electronic
PUSHING IT DEEPER INTO THE SOUND FIELD. doing subtle, yet very musical volume rides. To synthesiser elements were at the forefront for the
Saturation plug-ins appeared frequently in accommodate this, separate VCAs were created, so Sakaar scenes.
the mix, adding grit and analogue flavour, and Meyerson’s automation wouldn’t be over-written. Mothersbaugh and Meyerson chose to record
helping to shape tonality. For example, he would This workflow could easily have gone awry, but orchestra and choir at Abbey Road Studio 1,
insert a Plugin Alliance Black Box Analog Design Jackman and Meyerson are masters of their craft, London. The orchestra comprised 89 players,
HG-2, plus a Fab Filter MB compressor to control and they’re quick to call each other out if a volume recorded live in a single pass on all but one of
the resulting resonant frequencies created by ride sounds forced. the cues.
the saturation. Occasionally he would insert a Jackman’s mix revisions often called for subtle
saturation plug-in after a reverb, to darken its tone subtractive changes. For example, reducing a guitar ABBEY ROAD MIC COLLECTION
and sheen. level to serve the orchestra melody, or removing Abbey Road Studios has one of the world’s finest
On a quiet cue, Meyerson employed a great some 700Hz from the violin spot mics to create working collections of vintage microphones,
technique to minimise low frequency rumble. space for other parts. MEYERSON’S GOAL WHEN maintained by microphone technician, Lester
Some engineers might use iZotope RX, and/or PREPARING FOR A PLAYBACK REVIEW IS TO MAKE EACH Smith. On set-up day, the jovial and eccentric

AT 30
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ambertech.com.au 1800 251 367 sales@ambertech.com.au
Smith gave me a personal tour of his staggeringly committed during recording. feet from the singer, with a Neve AIR Montserrat
impressive domain. There were 19 Coles 4038s, 18 The level of musicianship from the orchestra was preamp, plus he captured the room sound with
Neumann U67s, 15 Neumann M50s, 13 Neumann fantastic, with many of the players either current or the main mic array. It was the only occasion I
U47s, and eight AKG C12… to name a few. past members of the London Symphony Orchestra observed Meyerson using compression during
Meyerson’s main microphone array for Thor: or London Philharmonic. recording — he ran the C12 through a Teletronix
Ragnarok included: a Decca Tree of Neumann On day 2, I met associate principal violist Pete LA2A compressor.
M50s, four Neumann U67 ‘midfield’ cardioid Lale, who has been a regular on London film score
mics, two wide-spaced Neumann M50 outriggers, sessions for approximately 20 years. He mentioned MIXING TWO WORLDS
two Brüel & Kjær 4006 side mics, two Sennheiser how much the players appreciate some positive Compared to Jumanji, the list of stem deliverables
MKH800 hypercardioid surround mics, two more reinforcement from the control room first, before for Thor: Ragnarok was quite compact, due to the
pairs of Brüel & Kjær 4006 height mics, and three getting any constructive criticism. He said the orchestra mostly recording live without overdubs.
Royer R121s as woodwind/choir LCR overheads. musicians’ vibe sinks fast when all of the feedback Also, Mothersbaugh didn’t request additional
For spot mics, Meyerson used: AKG C12s in is negative. Pete was very complimentary about stems for a separate soundtrack mix. Because of
cardioid (French horns), Neumann U47s and the positive energy coming from the control that, Alan routed a folddown stereo mix through
Sennheiser MKH800 Twin cardioids (double room on these sessions. It was a great reminder his analogue mastering chain — Manley Vari-Mu
basses), Neumann U67 cardioids (celli), Coles that even the most experienced top-level session compressor and EAR 825Q EQ — printing stereo
4038s (trumpets and trombones), a Neumann musicians are human. Respect, decency and mixes for the soundtrack release, in addition to
M49 (timpani), Schoeps CMC6 MK4s & MK21s positivity goes a long way towards getting the best printing stems for the dub. His three Manley
(violins, percussion section and violas), Neumann out of the players. Massive Passive EQ units were inserted over the
KM84s (woodwinds), Neumann U87 cardioids LCR and side channels of the main orchestra stem,
(piano) and Brüel & Kjær 4011s (percussion). LONDON VOICES for added warmth and sheen.
For preamps, he used Neve AIR Montserrat The choir was made up of 32 singers (12 gents On the electronic music cues, Meyerson used
preamps on the main array mics, remote-controlled and 20 ladies) from London Voices — the UK’s modern approaches to classic 1980s pop mixing
via the Neve 88RS console. For all other spot mics, premiere choir for film score sessions. London tricks. If a synth part or drums needed more
he used the built-in Neve preamps on the console. Voices comprises a pool of professional singers, so weight, he might try duplicating the track, pitching
THE MAGNIFICENT ACOUSTIC QUALITY OF ABBEY ROAD the ensemble for a session can be tailored to the it down an octave and blending it with the original.
STUDIO 1 WAS ANOTHER X-FACTOR. IT WAS ORIGINALLY specific needs of any given project. Alternatively, he might add subharmonic synthesis
BUILT FOR SIR EDWARD ELGAR IN 1931, WITH A 40FT CEILING The main mic array captured most of the choir via Waves R-Bass or Refuse Lowender plug-ins.
HEIGHT AND 92FT BY 52FT FLOOR PLAN. sound. THE ADDITION OF THREE LCR ROYER R121 MICS, When Mothersbaugh came in to review mixes,
SET ABOVE THE GENTS IN THE BACK ROW, GAVE MEYERSON he was very happy with the results, and made
POSITIVE RECORDING PROCESS FLEXIBILITY TO BOOST VOLUME AND PRESENCE OF THE just a few minor changes. With the first review
The full orchestra was recorded in one pass, with TENORS AND BASSES IN THE MIX. completed, it meant Meyerson could confidently
harp set up in a separate isolation booth. Given this Meyerson used a vintage AKG C12 cardioid proceed onto the remaining cues with his mix
approach, balance and arrangement decisions were mic for the solo soprano, set approximately three aesthetic calibrated to Mothersbaugh’s taste.

AT 32
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 FEATURE

OCEAN ALLEY
Baden Donegal (vocals, guitar) Mitch Galbraith (guitar)

Artist: Ocean Alley Angus Goodwin (lead guitar) Nic Blom (bass)
Album: Confidence Lach Galbraith (keyboard, vocals) Tom O’Brien (drums)

AT 34
 Does anyone else think it’s strange that over because there was so much added in post. They’re
two million Aussie kids voted up a song adamantly against playing with tracks or a click.
that’s not only by a ‘real’ band, but also smoulders I’m sure they could do it, but it would suck the
with sleazy ’70s vibe? fun out of it for them.”
Confidence, by Ocean Alley, pinches wah out
of the Marvin Gaye Let’s Get It On playbook and CONFIDENCE START
smacks of Lionel Richie/Commodore’s Easy, yet Confidence arrived in the same way a lot of Ocean
took out the number one spot on this year’s Triple Alley songs do, said Howell. “It was just a live jam,
J Hottest 100 countdown (along with three other at about 10 o’clock at night. Lach started playing
Ocean Alley songs in the top 100). I guess it is that wah-y keys sound, which is just a patch he
all about confidence… baby! Great musicians, found on the Korg SV-1. Everyone was asking,
tracking live, minimal editing, nailing it within a ‘What’s that?’ Then Baden came in with the line ‘It’s
few takes… it’s not what you’d expect, but isn’t it all about confidence baby!’ We looked at each other
great that something funky and weird has come out and knew we were onto something. Then everyone
on top this year. had it stuck in their heads for about two weeks,
“It’s nice to see the band thing coming back,” which is how we knew it was going to be catchy.”
agreed Ocean Alley’s engineer, Callum Howell. “It’s After toying around with adding other sections
also nice, because we don’t have an overproduced to the basic tune, they decided to let it ride on the
sound. Don’t get me wrong, I love that when it’s strength of the hook loop.
done right, like Sticky Fingers’ Land of Pleasure, While the song comes off as heavily
which is one of my favourite records, but Ocean ’70s-inspired, Howell says it’s mostly because of
Alley sounds very much like a band.” Terry’s drumming style. Aesthetically, they don’t

HOWELL LONG
Howell has been a long-time associate of Ocean
Alley, and is now both their recording and mixing
engineer, as well as their FOH engineer when
they’re on the road. If you’ve heard Ocean Alley
since their In Purple EP in 2015, then it’s been
filtered through the ears and fingers of Howell.
Howell went to uni at JMC and started handling
the in-house sound component of a music school They’re great musicians,
in Crows Nest as a 19-year old. He worked around because they came up as
a bunch of studios, even doing tape transfers at
301, met the guys from Ocean Alley and eventually a live band. You tend to
recorded that second EP at the now defunct have the take within three
Palmgrove Studios.
“Everyone’s been learning together as we’ve or four attempts, and
gone,” said Howell. They’ve now recorded an EP there’s minimal editing
and two albums together — including their latest,
Chiaroscuro — and when I catch up with Howell,
he’s just back from six days at Rockinghorse Studios
in Byron with the band.
Originally, the focus was on recording
everything live as a band, explained Howell.
“But the way they work, where half of the songs
are written on a Tuesday and recorded on a
Wednesday, means tracking everything live isn’t
practical because we end up changing parts.”
So while everything is set up and ready to go
in a recording session, it’s more to jam out the
ideas, before laying down beds and layering it
up as they go. The reason it still sounds so live,
TAKING IT LIVE
Callum Howell: “We tour a Digico SD11 at the moment. I have a Waves server as well, all controlled
is simple, said Callum, “They’re great musicians,
off a laptop. I bring my little pedalboard (Boss RE-20 sandwiched between a reamp device and a DI).
because they came up as a live band. You can’t
I used to be on larger format consoles — SD8 and SD10s. Then we did a European run where I was on
really pay for that experience. You tend to have
an SD11 the whole time and that allowed me to get my whole show down to one page.
the take within three or four attempts, and there’s
minimal editing.” “It’s nice to have everything within arm’s reach. My delays are off by my right foot, there’s 12 faders on
Because they come from a live background, the surface and my laptop is right next to it. We’ve got a great stage crew, too, so our show is super
overdubs are kept to a minimum. “When we’re consistent. We’ve finally managed to get it to the point where we can do a festival and I’m not pulling
working in the studio, we’re considering if it’s my hair out for the first 30 minutes.
possible to translate it live,” said Howell. “If they “I’ve got a combo page with my drum group, bass group, the individual keyboards, three guitar groups
can’t do it live, they don’t want to do it. I’m with (we dual mic all the guitar amps), then the vocals, and backing vocal group. I typically do the vocal
them on that, it’s important to be able to bring a processing on the groups so I can take the show into smaller venues without worrying about having
song into the world as it was heard on the record. heaps of compression in a wedge if I’m mixing monitors as well. Lastly, I have a tap delay fader control
It’s always disappointing when it doesn’t match up so I can pull it down if it gets wild, and a master fader. I can basically stay on that page the entire gig.”

AT 35
 If they can’t do it live,
they don’t want to do it

get too heavy into mimicking the sounds of the room sounds to glue the tracks/drums together. Back in the studio, in a similar way to how delays
era. “We’re aware of them and it occasionally It probably lends itself to that ’70s aesthetic. become their own character in dub, the RE-20 acts
gets spoken about, but we’re not shooting for a Otherwise, it’s just heaps of delay on the vocals… as a link between lead singer, Baden, and Howell.
throwback ’70s sound,” said Howell. “We try not all the time.” “We’ll typically have it on while tracking,” said
to think about anything else other than what Howell. “A lot of time it’s just something quick and
suits the song.” BOSS OF DELAY fluttery on the pedal. I’ll often be tapping along,
Because they’re writing and recording almost He uses a bunch of reverb and delays: typically speeding it up and slowing it down for certain
simultaneously, Howell spends a lot of time getting a gated Waves RVerb for drums — H-Verb and sections. We play off each other in that sense. He’ll
the tone right to begin with, “moving mics around RVerb are his go-tos, and there’s plenty of UAD’s hear something and work with it, or I’ll change the
until it can fit in the mix without me having to do EMT plate on the record as well as a touch of the delay to match where he’s going. In terms of the big
too much to it. It’s a better way to work for all of us, Bricasti M7 for vocals. The guitar reverb usually throws, that’s typically something I work out in my
because we have a better idea of how it’s going to comes off a pedal or amp spring reverb. “Then I own time.”
come out while tracking.” might add a little short room reverb around it to
For Confidence, that meant asking Nic to play put it in a space,” said Howell. “The only things that AUTOMATED SUCCESS
a Jazz bass instead of his usual P Bass. “He hates get serious delay or reverb treatment are drums and With most of the sounds locked in during
his Jazz bass, because he thinks it’s too clicky,” vocals. There’s a lot of ambience on the vocals.” tracking, it frees up Howell to put lots of
said Howell. “But we needed some grit, sizzle and His go-to delay is a physical Boss RE-20 pedal — movement into the mix — with level and space
finger noise on that tone. As for miking it, it was a which emulates a Roland Space Echo tape delay. “I — just like he does live. “In a lot of songs, their
Neumann U87 on the amp, and a DI.” have it in a pedal setup with a reamp box and a DI parts will take on very different roles throughout
Keeping with his philosophy of not chasing a that I use for live and in the studio. Often it’s just to the song. At the start they might be in a lead
particular aesthetic, rather than relying on a single get the ideas down, and then half the time, they end role, then they might drop back to an ambient
ribbon mic for a crushed tone for the drums, a la up staying there. swell for much of the song, before coming
Daptones, Howell employs a fairly standard multi- “I like to get things off the surface and within up for another bit,” he said. “So I use a lot of
mic drum setup: Coles ribbons on overheads, Shure arm’s reach. Things that keep the ideas going, automation in Pro Tools — especially with delay
SM57s on snare, Josephson E22s on toms, an AKG that you can grab quickly during a moment of times, cutting things off and the occasional
D12 on kick in, a Rode K2 on kick out and some inspiration is super important. There’s nothing cheeky incidental reverb.”
room mics. His concession to a more vintage tone worse than having an idea then having to wait while Taking out top spot on Triple J’s Hottest 100 put
is “we mainly try and get something going in the you patch something in.” That goes for live as well, Ocean Alley in the same company as Kendrick
explained Howell. “I like to always have Lamar and Flume. It’s a big deal in Australian
the feedback knob available. Especially music, but for Howell it was just great to get
HOTTEST 100 VOTING STATS for the overseas tours — when we’re
walking into different venues with
recognition for the years of work they’ve put in
together. “It was amazing for everyone, because
2,758,584 votes different consoles — it allows that this was the first time we’d all been really happy
Most common age: 18 extra bit of consistency to get it right with something we’d done together — both the
60% aged 24 and under wherever we go. As you can imagine, a engineering and musicality. Having that validated
set without delays in it is pretty dry.” was really special for everyone.”
80% aged under 30

AT 36
AT
T 37
 At Red Moon Studios, every day is different. Hip hop
with Illy, tracking a record live with The Cat Empire or
John Butler, or composing an award-winning TV series,
it’s no different for multi-talented Jan Skubiszewski.
Story: Mark Davie

AT 38
 Peter Weir’s film Picnic at Hanging Rock is like Björk. “Andy called me once during the school after our interview, Jan was due to start a session
one of those monolithic, unimpeachable holidays in about 2001 and told me. ‘I’m going with Illy and songwriter, Cam Bluff. “I’m writing
icons of Australian creativity. Whether you like it or up to Byron Bay to record a band. It’s going to be pretty much every day at the moment,” said Jan.
not, it doesn’t matter. It’s become so legendary that about three months, they’re called The Cat Empire. “Something my dad really drilled into me is to get
like the rock itself, it’s unmovable, fixed into the It’s going to be their debut record.’ We went up into your creative space every day. Even if it’s just for
landscape of Australian art. onto this old macadamia farm and converted a an hour. If you get in there and scribble something,
So what do you do when you’re asked to mess farmhouse into a studio. We recorded the record, there’ll be a lot of days you don’t create great content,
with the untouchable? When Jan Skubiszewski and it went double platinum.” but it means the ONE LITTLE IDEA OR MELODY YOU CAME
was commissioned to compose the music for a UP WITH THAT WAS GOOD WILL EVENTUALLY FIND A HOME.
Foxtel series of the same name, he was wondering HOOKED Things will come together, but it only happens if you
a similar thing. The pan pipes theme of the original On the drive home Baldwin let Jan know about an continually make yourself available to it. That’s just
were ringing crystal clear in his mind. They were as independent record label owner who was looking the discipline.”
integral to Weir’s chilling weirdness as the dubbed for an in-house songwriter/producer. It was a place
voices and soft focus of the wedding veil draped called Marlin Records, owned by a Sri-Lankan
over the camera lens. But… don’t tell anyone… born businessman, Marlon Goonawardana. “I
he never really liked the score. Naturally, he was worked a lot with Daniel Merriweather, during that
relieved when a single stipulation came through
from the producers: steer clear of pan pipes.
time,” said Jan. “He was the same age as me. He
later worked a lot with Mark Ronson, and had his
He bankrolled this
own record that went to No.2 in the UK. He and I, hopeless bunch of kids
BETWEEN A ROCK & A GORGEOUS PLACE
Jan Skubiszewski is pretty familiar with the actual
and another friend Phrase, who was a rapper, we all
just lived in the studio for a couple of years and got
and gave us the keys to a
Hanging Rock. It’s close enough to his home at completely absorbed with how it all came together.” very expensive, well-
the doorstep of the Macedon Ranges that his
young family goes on the odd walk there. He’s also
Despite telling Marlon he knew how to work
the studio, Jan had no idea when he first started.
kitted out studio, and told
familiar with well-known Australian scores. His “It was a Friday and I was supposed to start on us to go for it
father, Cezary, has been composing for decades, Monday,” Jan recalled. “I asked if I could grab the
writing scores for films like Red Dog, The Sapphires, keys over the weekend to check the lay of the land.
and Two Hands (which he co-wrote with Jan). I spent the next 48 hours with every manual open
He and Jan collaborated on the score for Picnic at of every piece of gear, which I had no idea how to
Hanging Rock, too. use. I didn’t know how to use a patch bay, so I was SCORING IN BUNCHES
Jan’s route to Hanging Rock, both physically and manually patching things, and calling my mentors, Jan doesn’t draw too much of a distinction between
musically, has not been without its serendipitous like Andy and Adam Rhodes, who guided me his different jobs. “In a way, film and television
moments. Growing up in the Otways, he always through it. By the time Monday morning came, I composition is similar to record production,” he
had a desire to see his kids experience the beauty had the Akai MPC coming through and recording explained. “You’ve really got to listen to what the
of nature, but it was always going to take the right to Pro Tools, and I had a vocal chain. From there director’s vision is then apply your aesthetic to
place. Then a couple of years ago he was invited to it was a case of ‘fake it until you make it’, and I got that. Rather than slapping your aesthetic on it and
attend an APRA SongHubs session at Jon Hume’s away with it. saying, ‘IT’S GOTTA BE TRAP BEATS THE WHOLE WAY!’ YOU
studio in South Gisborne. Originally a horse “I really thank Marlon, who bankrolled this WON’T GET VERY FAR DOING THAT. I’M PRETTY SURE YOU’LL
stable, the Hume brothers, who played together hopeless bunch of kids and gave us the keys to a JUST GET FIRED.”
in Evermore, had converted it into a studio and very expensive, well-kitted out studio on Greville St Jan explained his process, which usually starts
residence. Jon had since bought the others out to in Prahran, and told us to go for it.” with a script or the first cut: “With something
use it as his personal space. After Marlin, Jan bought a studio in Hawthorn like Picnic at Hanging Rock, there wasn’t that
Jan didn’t get to experience the full beauty of the East off Barry Palmer from the Hunters & much dialogue, especially in some of the earlier
property because, “it was the middle of winter” and Collectors called Way of the Eagle Studios. As episodes. It’s built around this mood, and a sense
during the SongHubs sessions he was working flat part of the sale he also bought some of the gear, of space, and mystery. Without the music or any
out in the studio control room. Still, it was enough including a TL Audio Tubetracker and Neve sound designing it just looks like a bunch of girls
of a taste of the country life for him: “I said, ‘if you preamps. “I was there for seven or eight years in wandering around in the bush. Often they give you
ever want to sell, let me know.’ Six months later a dark cave,” Jan said. “It was an awesome studio, a direction to steer — like ‘sad, but tense’ — then
they did, so my wife and I bought it off them.” It’s but there was no natural light. I’d get there in the you’ll trial something. People often need to hear
now called Red Moon Studios. morning, leave at night, and it would be dark and something to realise what they do or don’t like. It’s
rainy. I’d feel like I wasn’t part of this world.” He had pretty rare they’ll write the draft off. Usually they’ll
FINE ART OF MUSIC partnered up with Chris Scallan, who took over the use it as a springboard to discuss the dramatic
Now 37, despite his father’s influence, Jan wasn’t whole studio when Jan left, turning it into more of pulse or beats they want to hear.
always convinced his path would take him in a a post-production/film house. “When you all work together and get it right in
musical direction. At 19, he was actually studying the end, it’s pretty cool. The only thing we were told
Fine Arts at the VCA where he found himself HATS OFF was to steer away from the original music, because
gravitating towards the jazz musicians because he Over the years, Jan has kept his hand in a number of it had this very iconic pan pipe theme. They didn’t
“thought they were a lot more fun.” areas. On any given day he can draw on all facets of want to just rehash that, which was good, because I
Jan had learnt the craft in his father’s converted his production and composition background. There’s wasn’t in love with the original music.”
garage studio. It centred around Logic with a the film and television work, and he continues to
32-track system. The interface was connected by play live, these days as a keys player for Dan Sultan; ENGINEERING BLISS
SCSI leads, which would fray over time. When it though along the way he started a band with Harry, While he got into record production early on, the
was only good for eight channels, Cezary kicked from the Cat Empire, called Jackson Jackson. On engineering side of the job never appealed much
it Jan’s way. the record production side he still works with The to Jan, “until I REALISED ENGINEERING WASN’T JUST
Playing in bands with the VCA crowd meant he Cat Empire, and lately he’s been producing albums A MEANS TO AN END, BUT WAS A COMPLETE PALETTE OF
started working with producers, including Andy for John Butler, as well as an Alabama Shakes-esque COLOUR YOU COULD INJECT INTO YOUR RECORDINGS. THEN I
Baldwin, a popular producer who worked on lots soulful record for Karise Eden. Following on from STARTED BLISSING OUT. I realised it was a really creative
of Australian records as well as for internationals his largely hip hop and pop work at Marlin, directly way to make music and enhance the production.”

AT 39
 Jan in his studio, and [below left] tracking
John Butler in Red Moon Studios.

controller, to being an analogue console, with the the hardest thing to learn, but easily the most fun
flick of a button. That hybrid between analogue and aspect to get right.
digital is the perfect way for me to work.” “How I approach it depends on what I’m going
He’s got some great gear around the room, for. Sometimes I just really like a mono overhead
including a collection of guitars that aren’t all and often don’t mic the toms. I’ve got this old AKG
his. “It’s the cool thing about owning a studio, it D1200, it’s kind of a 57-ish mic that’s brighter. I
becomes a dumping ground for all your mates’ often use it on the snare taped with an AKG C451
bits of gear their wives don’t want in their houses,” condenser. Then just add a kick, a mono room, and
laughed Jan. “Three of these guitars are Dan mic up the bathroom next door and I’ll just try and
Sultan’s, he used to keep a lot of his guitars here get a huge vibe out of that.
because he thought it was safer.” “On the flip side, there were a couple of songs on
Some of the tasty bits include a Neumann U87, the John Butler record where I was running out of
which he sends into a Neve 1073, and a mono side mic stands. We were just trying everything — mics
of the Shadow Hills Compressor for Illy’s vocals. “I up in the ceiling, multiple overheads, all of that. In
used to always use the 1176 or the Retro, but then the end, the drum sound is so huge, but it’s not hi-
I started using the Shadow Hills and I can’t go past fi. We were really wanting that Bonham vibe where
it,” explained Jan. “Someone can slam into it and it it still feels really tough, not clinical.
still sounds musical. You don’t lose all your gain. It “Once you learn a few different setups, you can
has a great way of grabbing dynamic vocals that’s start applying them to the music you’re making. For
really cool.” the Karise Eden soul sound, I used a really minimal
setup; mono overhead, no toms, kick, snare — a 57
DRUMMING UP THE COURAGE through a Neve 1073 and Distressor — and some
When Jan found that engineering bliss later in life, rooms. Then I’ll just really spank it with compression
he immediately started tackling his biggest fear. and get a lot of the colour from the booth.
These days Red Moon Studios is Jan’s He’d long felt insecure about recording drums, so “I usually put a mic behind the drummer’s arse,
playground. He’s often working by himself, but would farm them out to another engineer. Coming or behind their head from their perspective. Because
doesn’t resort to working in the box. It’s one of the up through the hip hop beat-making scene at their body usually kills a bit of the sharp tops of
reasons he still prefers to use Pro Tools, “because it’s Marlin — where he exclusively focused on soul the cymbals, you can get the snare quite explosive
more of a tape machine to me. You have to create a breaks and drum samples for years — he never without having too much wash at the top end.
great sound into it”. quite felt other engineers delivered the colour he “On previous Cat Empire records I’d done, I like
While he’s not adverse to digital — using NI’s was after. These days it’s turned into one of his the way the drums sounded, but sometimes too
Session Strings and Embertone’s Intimate Strings biggest engineering pursuits. compressed. This time, I wanted to make them
among others — he tries to incorporate as much “Marlin gave me an intense love of drums that breathe, because I knew a lot of the other elements
analogue gear and physical playing as possible. weren’t clinical, generic or hi-fi sounding,” said would be quite treated. In that way, it was creating a
“I really love things that have elements of human Jan. “It was really only when I started recording natural sound, which made way for other things to
calamity in them. That’s why I love my studio,” said them myself that I worked out how to do it with be more out there. You’ve just got to adapt to what
Jan. “The SSL AWS console flips from being a DAW different mic techniques and different rooms. It was things need.”

AT 40
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 FEATURE

Yamaha Australia wanted to prove the average venue can

get into spatial audio for the price of a conventional PA.
So it built a system to prove it.
Story: Mark Davie

It wasn’t perfect conditions; outdoors on a artificially change the acoustics of a room with lots budget level a normal venue operates at. We built
sweltering 40-degree day, with the slatted of hardware and processing grunt. one, it was really simple and it cost way south
roof of Melbourne’s M Pavilion the only respite. Lately, the focus for spatial audio has shifted to of $50,000,” explained Tait. “You’re using lower
Nevertheless, it’s the proving ground for Yamaha’s incorporating object-based positioning. Whether wattage transducers, just more of them.
cobbled together object-based spatial audio system it’s flying sounds overhead or simply positioning “We thought it would be an interesting project to
and their claims that it’s possible to build one them relative to where they are onstage, it’s become do for the audio community, but there was a huge
anywhere — even in punishing conditions — for the next problem to solve. vacuum of information and working systems out
the price of a conventional PA system, and with With a few projected AFC installs on the cards, there. We went looking around for open source
readily available parts. the conversation at Yamaha Australia naturally equivalents and found Sound Scape Renderer, then
“It’s the next thing,” was Simon Tait’s matter-of- turned to how the team could implement real-time built a prototype system in the office meeting room
fact summarisation of why he, Mick Hughes and live rendering of object-based sources in those and it worked really well. We could place guitar
the rest of Yamaha Australia’s pro audio division venues as well. amps and other sources wherever we wanted. It
decided to try the DIY approach. “Stereo is a There are a few speaker-agnostic options, was a revelation, because we’d heard spatial systems
format that has served us well since the ’60s, but as like Barco’s Iosono and Astro Spatial Audio, before that hadn’t been very convincing. They just
a presentation canvas, it’s 60 f**king years old! It’s which still operate on a hardware rendering sounded like multi-channel surround.”
been done.” engine. Flux::’s SPAT Revolution requires the With a proof of concept, the team thought they
least overhead, as a software-specific solution. should put on a show. It is, after all, about providing
OBJECT OF THE EXERCISE Still, the Yamaha crew wanted to go as low-cost a new way of experiencing music. “The artists are
Yamaha isn’t new to the spatial audio game. Its as possible. Not as a diss, but to make the point the ones who put food on the table, so we thought
assisted reverb product, called AFC (Active Field that it’s an approachable topic for the average let’s put on a show with the widest variety of artists
Control), has been around since 1985. It’s similar venue who might have previously thought it to we can. Then put them in a rehearsal room for two
to Meyer Sound’s Constellation in that it can be out of reach. “We know it can be done at the weeks and see what they come up with.”

AT 42
WAVEFIELD SYNTHESIS wavefront within those critical speech frequencies, it. It depends on the size of your stage — an arena
like 1kHz, then beyond that your ears perceive the stage might have the guitar amps eight metres
To make sense of the spatial system, you have to
wavefront at that frequency but also an amplitude- from the drum kit, accumulating 20ms in time of
get a handle on what the end result will achieve.
related directionality from that sound source. The flight — but here, anything above 8-10ms would
For this particular show, there was no overhead
associated delays are also in-phase, so your ear have started to be noticeable. We got the entire
fandanglery, or even surround elements. The setup
forgives it and locates the sound. roundtrip system latency down to 6ms in the
of MPavilion just wouldn’t allow it. Instead, the
“Overall, with more loudspeakers, you’ll get a end, and with audio stability.”
focus was on building an immersive Wavefield
stronger image, but there comes a point where it
Synthesis rig that could give the illusion that the MORE OBJECTS, LESS SPACE
kind of doesn’t matter.” What Tait it saying is that
sound of the PA was matching up perfectly with the
he could have used far less speakers if the double The PC was running Soundscape Renderer, open
position of the musician.
bass player wasn’t literally standing a metre from source software from GitHub. “It allowed us to
Why not just pan it, you ask? Well, stereo
the array. automate the movements of objects over time.
panning doesn’t work like that. The image might be
We synced up timecode with the performers’ kit
maintained for one specific point in the audience, THE SYSTEM: LATENCY AS RELIGION over MIDI, then used a VST plug-in written for
but you can never maintain that perspective across
You can follow along in Figure 1, for a break down Soundscape Renderer inside Nuendo to read the
all punters. Wavefield Synthesis is different, it helps
of the system in a conceptual manner, and compare timecode and run automation in time with it.”
your ears locate an object to that spot no matter
it with the actual system in Figure 2. While it’s tempting to turn every possible source
where you’re standing.
All the analogue inputs were routed into the into an object, Tait said it becomes pretty obvious
The rub is that if everything goes according to
Yamaha CL1 via the Rio racks, while any digital that’s a bad idea. “The number of sound objects is
plan, you shouldn’t notice it’s working. It should
signals from the artist’s DAW were tapped using limited to how cluttered the GUI gets,” he explained.
just sound incredibly natural; like the PA isn’t even
Dante Virtual Soundcard. “You could conceivably get 32 objects out of the
working at all. That was exactly the impression I
Tait mixed on the CL1 in a similar way to a CL1; 24 mixes and another eight matrixes. Early
got when sitting there waiting for New Palm Court
monitor console, creating 18 mixes that were on, I loaded up every instance of a 32-channel live
Orchestra to start. Tait was quickly sound checking
then sent to a PC via Dante. They used a PC recording I had as objects. It becomes unmanageable.
the chamber ensemble, and as each instrument
tower because the entire ‘religion’ with this Especially if you want to move and place things.
went from acoustic to amplified, the only difference
system was latency. While Dante PCIe-R card “You’re better off busing the drums and
was in level. There was no sensation of the sound
drivers are available for Windows and Mac, PCIe everything that has a built-in spatial element to
coming from a speaker, let alone being farmed out
slots aren’t a feature of Macs any longer. “DVS stereo. A guitar amp should be a single object. A
to the left and right. Big success!
imposes a latency of 4ms, whereas the PCIe card larger instrument like a grand piano should be
3 KEY VARIABLES allows you to get the latency down to 0.25ms,” two objects at the most, spaced by a small amount.
explained Tait as to why the PCIe pathway was Backing vocals, stereo at most.
There are three key variables to think about when
important. “The whole roundtrip latency had to “The renderer we were using has an Android
designing a Wavefield Synthesis rig: The size of the
be low because artists were performing live with app, so if you want, you can bring a tablet around
area you’re trying to cover, the number of speakers
you have at your disposal, and the distance the
listener is going to be from the array.
The rule of thumb is is that the minimum distance
between the punter and the closest speaker should
Yamaha DZR10 (×24)
be no less than the distance between two adjacent +
Yamaha DXS18XLF (×2)
speakers. The closer the speakers are together, the
higher the frequency you can render objects at.
In a situation where the audience member might
be a metre from the closest loudspeaker, you need iPad
Cl StageMix
to therefore make the interval between speakers less
than a metre. In an arena, they can be spaced further Windows PC
i7 4790k
apart because the audience is likewise further away. 16GB/250GB
Wireless Access Point
Nvidia GTX970
Yamaha Stage & Recording
The speaker arrays can simply be arranged in a AIC128-D Inputs & Outputs
PCI-e
line across a stage, or completely surrounding the
audience for a fully immersive experience. In this 1 2 3 4 5

case, Yamaha set up a relaxed L-shape with the

apex at the centre of stage. Tait used the Yamaha 1 2 3 4 5

emblem to space each speaker 600mm apart. The

reason for the tight spacing was that the array was Yamaha
SWR2100P-10G 12× Out
doubling as foldback for the artists, and some were Yamaha CL1
Mixing Console (×2)
right up against it. 64 in/35 out Dual Gb Network for Yamaha Rio3224-D2
Dante Primary & Analogue I/O
At that proximity, objects were being rendered Secondary

accurately up to around 1.2kHz. “As you walk back,

two things happen,” explained Tait, digging into oi

the science of perception. “The ability for you to Yamaha MRX7-D

perceive frequencies higher than that increases, DSP & Matrix

but the vector-based panning element becomes the 12 + 2× Out

localisation. At 4kHz, you’ve got all these speakers
Yamaha Rio3224-D2
producing 4kHz, but your ears perceive the front Analogue I/O

of the speaker that hits you first with that sound Mac Mini
Dante Controller & Backup
because the other ones are lesser in amplitude. SSR + Jack host

“It turns out your ears are quite forgiving of

that phenomenon. If you can properly render a

AT 43
 CONCEPTUAL SIGNAL FLOW — YAMAHA/MPAVILION
‘Space & Sometimes Movement’ spatial rig

Matrixing & System

Input Management
Management via
via CL1
MRX7-D

L/R/L/R ‘Glue’ Bypass

Yamaha 12× Out
Analogue Rio3224-D2
Stage Inputs Analogue I/O

Mixing Console Windows PC

i7 4790k Yamaha MRX7-D
Yamaha CL1
16GB/250GB DSP & Matrix
64 in/35 out Nvidia GTX970
Yamaha
DAW + Dante AIC128-D Yamaha
Virtual Soundcard PCI-e Rio3224-D2
Analogue I/O 12 + 2× Out

into the WiFi zone, and touch and move objects

around. In much the same way the VST plug-in THE GLUE
tells objects to move over TCP. Another tip Tait had was to create a ‘Glue’ stem;
basically ‘everything everywhere’. “Spoonbill [the
SPEAKS DANTE last performer] was throwing stereo stems hard left
Out of Soundscape Renderer, the final step was and hard right, and it worked a treat. Balancing
a Yamaha MRX7-D (a 64 x 64 Dante matrix) as it all, he had his groove stems like kicks and bass
master EQ, gain and limiting for overall system running through the ‘Glue’ stem.
management. The outputs were sent back out to “You had to have some things everywhere.
the 24 Yamaha DZR10 top boxes via the same Otherwise you get a bass groove coming from
Rio racks via analogue. Tait also stacked a pair of an object. Time alignment is so important to
DXS18XLF subs at the array apex to provide the groove. If that object is physically displaced
bottom octave below 50Hz. from other things, for some audience members
Ideally, they would have used all Dante-equipped it’s going to be ahead, for others, it’s going to UPSIDES TO BE GAINED
versions of the speaker, but the Dante versions be behind. With that established, then the On the upside, there’s generally more gain before
are only a few months old and Yamaha only had ornaments become the objects.” feedback available in a system like this explained
a dozen that weren’t already sold off. “Rather Tait: “It becomes a totally different formula,
than mix analogue and Dante top boxes — the TIMING ISSUES & PHANTOM SOURCES evidenced by the fact that for Cookin’ on 3 Burners
small difference in conversion might affect the As a system engineer, designing a spatial audio we had a full band with drum kit, guitar amps, and
rendering,” figured Tait, “it had to be either all system presents a new set of challenges. The first is a screaming Leslie cabinet, and a singer who could
analogue, or all Dante. So we ran into the analogue changing the way you think about sub timing. In hear herself perfectly. And that was all running
inputs of the Dante-equipped boxes.” short, says Tait, “there’s literally no point in timing through the PA coming from behind them.
your subs. It’s not unimportant, it’s just impossible. “If you have a gain before feedback issue, it’s just
SPACE VS MOVEMENT What are you going to time them to? You’re moving a matter of moving the object a little bit away, so
Yamaha specifically chose a variety of artists for the sources around in space, so the alignment with the you’ve still got the same SPL reaching the audience,
show — starting with the drum, bass and guitar sub becomes irrelevant. and the performer still gets everything they need.”
avant-garde of Turret Truck, followed by the New “The answer to that is using top boxes with the
Palm Court Orchestra acoustic chamber ensemble. lowest possible crossover point. If you can use top AT A VENUE NEAR YOU
OK EG’s electronic set and LAPKAT’s art DJ-ing boxes that are good down to about 50 or 60Hz, Tait says the learning curve shouldn’t be a turn off:
opened up the mix for plenty of movement, Cookin’ that’s your best bet. We were crossing over those “I’ve immersed myself in it for a few months so I’ve
on 3 Burners mixed robust live performance with subs at 50Hz, because the DZR10s were pretty good become familiar with it; but the amount of skill
pre-recorded stems, and the event was capped off down to there.” required is akin to setting up a Q-Sys, or Crestron,
by a bit of Spoonbill eccentricity. Tait says that while you can do a simple frontal or big concert PA. Anyone that can do that, can
Throughout the show, artists used the system to system, it’s preferential to have the array wrap do this. The time has come where the cost of
varying effect. Some kept it simply as a localisation around the audience, and even better if it remains everything is low enough where you should be able
tool, others went wild auto-panning objects as one unbroken ring. to get someone clue-y to get the software working
throughout the field. Tait: “You need to render the side, just to try and and get a proper spatial system.”
“What we found in this whole discourse is that complete the wavefield synthesis wave formation. With readily available tools, Yamaha proved it
space is more important than movement,” said Tait. When you break the array — either to the extreme doesn’t take a team of acoustical engineers and
“The most important achievement these types of left or right — you introduce artefacts, which is software programmers to build a spatial audio
Wavefield Synthesis rigs gives us is not the ability just inescapable physics. The reason is, if you want system; and that it doesn’t have to be bankrolled by
to swing the hi-hat around at a million miles an to synthesise a wave coming from a point just to an arena tour budget. “We want to see venues and
hour. That overuse does no service to the artistic the left of the end of the array. Some loudspeakers rehearsal studios that are putting a left/right line
intent. The more important element is localisation. within the array have to fire first, then the ones array — that probably shouldn’t anyway — cost up
You have an amplified product a large audience can at the very end of the array fire a little bit later. a spatial system,” said Tait. “It’s going to use many
experience, but not restricted to hearing it through If you’re standing inside the array, instead of more, but less expensive drivers and amp channels.
a left/right window. It’s a more aesthetically perceiving the properly synthesised wave, your ears You can do a lot more with it, and even simulate a
believable and comfortable listening experience.” might localise the speaker that fires first.” stereo PA system… if you want to.”

AT 44
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 FEATURE

8th Day Sound fast tracked a 24-box d&b KSL

rig for an Australia Day gig. We line up J with K
for a fascinating comparison.
Story: Christopher Holder
Photos: Harry Holder

AT 46
 NO NOISE IS GOOD NOISE
The rear ‘rejection’ of the PA is really quite extraordinary, a point not lost on
Tristan Thompson: “It’s half of what I’m thinking about on a Forecourt gig: I’m
thinking about what’s coming off the back as much as I’m thinking about what’s
coming out the front — it’s that kind of outdoor gig because of the location and
the neighbours.”
The speed limit at the desk was 92dBA or 102dBC, on a five-minute LEQ.
Tristan Thompson: “Australia has some heavy restrictions. Using the Sydney
Opera House’s forecourt has always been delicate from a noise police
perspective. The Opera House is intent on ensuring it can keep staging
outdoor events into the future and do not want one single event to jeopardise
the future of those events. It’s a really big deal for them and they take
compliance extremely seriously.
“For quoting purposes we use d&b’s NoiseCalc prediction software. Then I use
another piece of software called ArrayCalc to take care of the PA predictions —
what loudspeakers to use and where. The setup runs on d&b’s R1 software. On
the day, I use a piece of software called Metrao — which gives me all the noise
monitoring once the system is up and running. Those four pieces of software
take me from the beginning of the process to the end.
“From an Opera House perspective they engage [audio consultancy firm]
Auditoria to put together a sound plan for an event, then The PA People do
the official noise monitoring. They have metering in the Toaster [the nearby
residential apartments], at front of house, on the northern shore of the harbour,
and a mobile measurement. Finally, the Opera House has a sound management
team that liaise between me and The PA people. So there’s four levels of
noise management on an event like this. We all work well together with no
infringements and fewer complaints over time.
“KSL is another step in the right direction.
“I’ve had feedback from The PA People, reporting that we were quieter behind
the stage. One of their main reading points is the nearest residents straight
behind the stage, so that’s a huge plus. My belief and my hope is that KSL will
give us measurable improvements in the surrounding areas and so far it’s
looking very much like it does.”
FOH Engineer Ian Cooper. The all important
SPL figures never far from his field of view.

Air freight is a wonder of the 20th century. One suggestion would be to offer them all free is now refit with a d&b Soundscape immersive
What for centuries took months on a boat VIP tickets. Another is to turn down the volume of system. And apparently the Opera House sound
could now magically materialise in days or hours. the PA. Now, there’s a third way, employing d&b’s department has regularly been checking in on the
Its novelty has worn off somewhat. Order a $2 newest PA: KSL. status of KSL — ‘when’s it landing?!’
cable from eBay and it arrives a few days later from The arrival of KSL was so touch ’n’ go it wasn’t
Hong Kong. Something that travelled 6000km was NOT LACKING DIRECTION even on the initial 8th Day quote. But when it
cheaper than driving to the mall. KSL’s headline feature is remarkable directivity materialised, and occupied the main left/right
But how about the air freight of 24 loudspeaker right down towards 50Hz. The spill from the rear hang of the Australia Day Live rig, no one was
cabinets, just in time for a gig? Surely, this is non- and side is eerily negligible; meaning, you can put complaining, least of all FOH engineer Ian Cooper.
trivial enough to make you think twice. more sound where the people are and way less
What’s more, this was no ordinary speaker box; sound where the easily irked residents are. MIXING AT THE STEPS
and this was no ordinary gig. You can begin to understand why 8th Day Sound Ian Cooper has plenty of Forecourt shows under his
was quick to pull the trigger on getting a 24-box belt. He’s worked with OB maestro John Simpson
IT’S BENNELONG TIME system parachuted into its Caringbah offices only on a many occasions, teaming up on events that
8th Day Sound was supplying the PA for the days before the concert. require a TV broadcast mix, such as Australia Day
Australia Day Live concert in the forecourt of the “Last time I checked, 8th Day Sound has the Live which went live to air on the ABC.
Sydney Opera House. The forecourt, on the steps biggest d&b inventory in the world and we were The event is a variety-show-format, family
of the opera house is an amazing venue. There one of the first to receive KSL. These particular concert with a bunch of talent show winners
have been some unforgettable live sound moments. boxes have come from our US office. We were singing faves from the Oz rock songbook. Sounds
(Crowded House’s final concert was there, for doing our best to get the system here for Australia reasonably straightforward, but when you add a
example. The Bjork gig was something else as Day Live for a few reasons: to better deal with the 33-piece Sydney Symphony Orchestra ensemble,
well.) But the Opera House isn’t the only resident environmental noise concerns, plus we knew the you realise you need a safe pair of audio hands.
of Bennelong Point; some of Australia’s priciest Sydney Opera House would be keen to hear KSL “It’s all about hearing the detail. That’s the aim
apartments are all less than 100m away. in action.” for this gig,” commented Cooper. “But when you
Ever since The Toaster (the nearby residential 8th Day Sound’s head of sound, Tristan have dozens of open mics on stage there are some
apartments) was constructed there’s been some Thompson, is of course referring to the Sydney constraints. We have all the strings close-miked
tension: how to stage a gig without poking the Opera House’s love affair with d&b. The Concert on DPAs, while there’s a good complement of
hornet’s nest of the local burghers. Hall is packed with J Series. The Opera Theatre Neumann and AKG condenser mics on reeds and

AT 47
 RIEDEL COMMS: LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE
Big Picture had the no small task of running all connected with over 7km of OpticalCon Quad and Business Development Manager, Josh Moffat.
the outside broadcast elements, as well as event Fiber, and over 7.5km of 16 Core Fiber that was “It was impractical for some staff to wear five or six
network and communications backbone of Australia run between Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay, two-way radios so the Bolero system implemented
Day Live. Big Picture is a part of the NEP Worldwide Hickson Road, the Harbour Bridge and beyond. across the job was the ideal solution,” added Josh. “It
Network and has a warehouse full of Riedel The Artist frames were connected in a redundant was seamless, and the audio quality was very good
inventory which they supplemented with Riedel fibre ring across the site and integrated with over 51 despite being in such an RF congested environment,
Australia’s rental stocks for the event. radio channels, 68 Artist Panels, 24 Bolero Beltpacks in fact you really couldn’t fault its performance and
Seven Riedel Artist frames were located at key and a large array of Analogue and MADI 4-wires. integration into the larger Artist system and the audio
operational areas across the Sydney Opera “Reliable, high-quality comms are now way more quality is indistinguishable between a Bolero pack or
House and Circular Quay precinct to handle all than a matter of communications and convenience wired panel, We couldn’t imagine facilitating an event
communications, and 25 Riedel MediorNet MicroN on an event like this, especially when the system is as complex and demanding as Australia Day Live
nodes were utilised for all video and audio transport covering full event control in addition to the broadcast without using Riedel Intercom and Mediornet as the
between broadcast and event sites. All this was requirements,” noted Big Picture’s Special Projects backbone, it is reliable, proven and just works.”

winds. You can’t just push the level up if you want available on the KSM9 head, and it just doesn’t hang, then walked around to listen to the side hang
to keep the balance but that’s definitely where KSL seem to be as nice coming out of UHFR as it does and I was like, ‘Wow’.
helped us compared to last year — what didn’t out of Axient. It did make me more aware of the “What am I hearing? For starters, I’m hearing
come out of the back and sides of the KSL PA was KSL’s top end, which seems to be quite smooth. the classic sound of d&b — the German’s take on
quite helpful when you’ve got that many open mics Other PAs can be terribly strident in that regard. what a good box should sound like. But that was a
on stage.” Normally I’m winding a lot of top end out just to given. On top of that the KSL’s throw is further and
Tristan Thompson also instantly noticed the keep from sounding sibilant or unnatural. But this smoother. It’s a lot more controlled in the mid range
lack of on-stage spill: “Behind the KSL it’s almost time around I was actually dialling in all the high and the low/mid range, and there’s power there.
silent. It’s so quiet that the monitor guys had to beef end because it was sounding so good.” “I’ve been working with d&b loudspeakers since
up the side fills a little bit and add a little bit more 1997 and power has always been a feature of d&b.
on the stage to compensate for what you would COMPARING J TO K KSL has power. It’s got headroom. I used to have to
normally expect to spill onto stage from the PA.” With years of being around d&b’s J Series, Tristan push the J a little bit harder. KSL, I’m not having to
Ian Cooper had a few more reflections regarding Thompson knew that KSL was something special drive so hard.
the KSL sound and what he was doing differently very early on. “The box has a slight tonal difference to the J, but
this year: “There were a few factors in play such “I had J Series on the side hangs of the Australia it has a very true tonal signature to what I expect
as this year we had the KSM9 heads on Shure Day Live concert — which I’m a big fan of and used from d&b.”
Axient handhelds, which is definitely a departure for a long time — and KSL as the two main hangs. Tristan was tasked with tuning the PA and had
from KSM9 on the UHFR. There’s a lot of top end When I walked out there, I listened to the main his antennae up:

AT 48
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 The gig was a good chance to hear the combination of
Shure Axient wireless and KSM9 capsules through the
d&b KSL PA. FOH Engineer Ian Cooper, liked what he
heard, especially in the HF.

“It sounds nice straightaway and the transition As soon as I put that in, the linearity over distance inclinometer contains temperature and humidity
between the mids and the highs seems smoother is increased… the PA is optimised. sensors. This information is relayed to the R1
now with that extra power in the mids. As soon as “It’s an interesting experience. It’s my job to spec Remote control software via OCA/AES70 or the
you put the vocal in the PA it seems to jump out at the correct PA for a job. I do that in Array Calc. It’s handheld meter unit.
you straight away. Very cleanly and truly.” satisfying when you rig that PA and you know the Tristan Thompson: “Now I’m able to look at the
predictions were right. Now with ArrayProcessing humidity above the crowd as well as at crowd level
WORKING WITH ARRAYPROCESSING it takes that predictability up another notch. I and see the difference, because the ArrayProcessing
I asked Tristan to elaborate further on the KSL tone can hang a huge J Series festival rig and with I use is based on humidity and temperature. I now
and how KSL gels with the software tools d&b has ArrayProcessing I can present the PA to the FOH have that comparison.
been developing over recent years. sound engineers with flat EQ — literally no system “I’ve always known that what’s going on six
“It’s our job to create a tonally-even audience EQ. It’s like I’m giving them a blank canvas to paint metres above my head is totally different but
area, front to back. While we accept there’s a on. That’s ideal.” it was impossible to quantify. I’ve never really
level drop off over distance, we want to sound thought about the solution, so it’s a cool step; it’s a
tonally the same at the back as we do at the front. IN YOUR SIGHTS very cool step.”
ArrayProcessing is something d&b developed for Another SL Series Easter egg that came to
the new SL range [although it also works with J Tristan Thompson’s attention was a feature called
Series, for example], so after we’ve set up the PA ArraySight. Mounted directly on the GSL and
and tuned the PA we can run the ArrayProcessing. KSL Flying frame, the d&b ArraySight laser

AT 50
Pierr
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 COLUMN

4 Days, 4 Shows,
4000 Miles
Liam Clifford, JMC alumnus and boss of Howlaround
Entertainment, tells how to maintain consistency
across crazy fly dates.
Column: Liam Clifford

I always open tour-routing emails

with a mixture of trepidation and
excitement. This December when I got
the dates for Elle King’s string of
back-to-back Christmas radio shows,
I immediately went into attack
mode. Getting consistency across
this crazy schedule was going to
take some figuring out.
First, we were heading 1000
miles west from the Great Lakes
to the middle of the country, then
scooting down south to Florida,
before returning to pretty much
where we came from for a final date
in Chicago. Meanwhile, the four dates
would include three of the main touring
food groups — large clubs, an arena and an open-
air amphitheatre.
Keeping consistency on and off stage with
varying gear, an ever-changing venue type and every day with the
size, with little to no sound checks is always going exception of the drum
to be a challenge. Adding a rather intense travel kit which flip flopped between
schedule of late nights and early mornings, plus a C&C or a vintage Ludwig. The
most variability tends to occur in and sound check schedule of our regular tour.
the looming threat of winter storms across the
in the quality of the guitar amps, Leslie cabinets The audio vendor for this show was Clearwing
USA, and this run was looking tough. Thankfully,
and Wurlitzers. Thankfully, our amazing backline Productions and we were able to get everything
the travel gods smiled on us; we managed to avoid
tech ensured all the local gear was up to spec and to our spec.
any major delay and the airlines didn’t lose any of
sounding spot on before we put it on stage. Console choices were Digico front and back,
our fly kit.
On the production side, we aimed to maintain with an SD10 handling FOH and an SD5 at the
SWAT-STYLE FLY KIT consistency across mic choices, IEM units and monitor position; with a rack of Shure PSM1000
consoles. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to IEM systems working flawlessly.
In the grand scheme of touring, our fly kit isn’t
keep gear the same every day. We opted for fairly We had just come off a tour performing in
enormous. We only carried 23 pieces on this leg,
generic mic choices, like Shure SM57s on guitars, large clubs and small theatres using Digico SD9
with most of it being backline items. I’m a firm
a Beta98AMP for the Leslie, and SM58s for vocals, consoles, so my monitor show file transferred over
believer in making sure it’s right on stage before
with the exception of Elle’s vocal, for which we nicely. We really didn’t have to change too much
putting a microphone in front of it. The number
carried our own wired Shure KSM8. from the tour mixes.
one priority is making sure the band has everything
they need to feel comfortable. We travelled with SHOW
SHOW
all of our guitars, pedal boards, snares, cymbals, as
well as tech and production work cases for on-the- THE RAVE HALL — MILWAUKEE, WI 1ST BANK CENTRE — DENVER, CO
road repairs. Day one for us was a headline radio show. It was Denver was a fresh challenge. Not only were we
We would then advance local backline and the perfect kick off, allowing us to make sure we swapping our theatre show for an arena radio
production to spec, or as close as we could were set up for the tour. We were able to treat it as show, we also had to swap our comfy Digico SD
get. We’re able to keep the backline consistent a standard headline show, implementing the load files for Avid Profile files. Thankfully, we were

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Intakes in February, June and September. Check the courses out online at jmc.academy/audioat

AT 52
AT
T 53
 MIX TIPS
When faced with these kinds of fly dates these are
some tips and rules I try to follow:
• Keep mic choice simple or carry your own mic kit.
If you’re using local microphones each day try and
keep your choices to something that the majority
of audio companies will carry.
• Get it right at the source. If something isn’t sound-
ing right when you bring your gain up, check the
source. Move the microphone around, tune the
drum kit or have the guitarist adjust their tone.
• Keep your mix simple. Once your sound source
is right you should only need to high pass filter,
use some light compression and then balance
faders. Diving into a mess of bussing, plug-ins and
effects can only complicate your mix, especially in
monitor world. When you have limited time stick
to the basics.
• When mixing monitors remember you’re mixing
for the performers not yourself. Even if it sounds
weird to you, if they’re happy on stage you should
be happy.

able to keep all the microphone choices relatively To help keep today running smoothly I had pre-set risers and wheel them on stage. The way
consistent with the previous night. It kept some completed a relatively in-depth backline advance the venue and backstage is laid made it impossible.
level of consistency when mixing on the different so that a local tech from the backline vendor could Our crew had to go back to grass roots and build
sounding consoles. pre-set and build on our risers. backline, mic and patch at the same time on stage.
Our greatest challenge on this show was purely We were also back to our trusty SD5s, and With the assistance of some great local crew this
time and space. Being a larger radio show our build thankfully, with this being another large radio was relatively painless.
and sound check times were short, and we were show I was the only engineer on the house Nevertheless, we did come across a grounding
sharing the stage deck with quite a number of other console. We were able to mic up in the loading or power loading issue with the local backline.
bands. To keep our changeovers tight we would dock and run out our multi-pins prior to After a few well-placed ground lifts and moving
delegate our roles; our FOH engineer dealt with the changeover. This allowed us a rather lengthy line some circuits around we were able to eliminate it
stage patch, which I would jump onto once I had check from the load dock without disrupting what from the show.
finished setting risers and musician positioning. was happening on the stage with the other artists. We found ourselves back on Avid Profiles and
with a rack of PSM1000s were sounding nice and
SHOW SHOW consistent from the previous couple of shows.
MIDFLORIDA CREDIT UNION AMPITHEATRE — ARAGON BALLROOM — CHICAGO, IL
TAMPA, FL Today we were back up north in an amazing large
Today was going to be the long haul of these four theatre. Aragon ballroom has an incredible history
days, with an early lobby call of 4am to make our and packs in 5000 punters. This was a smaller radio
flight. We had a very limited window to get out of show with only three artists on the bill, and Elle
Denver, land in Tampa and then get to site to build King as direct support.
and line check. Today’s unique challenge was not being able to

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 REGULARS

PC Audio
Fitted studio acoustic
treatment, yet your mixes
still don’t fly? Sonarworks
to the rescue!
Column: Martin Walker

I recently ended up spending some time correction to non-ASIO playback systems, so I why I’d missed the 10kHz air EQ in my mix – with a
investigating the playback chain of my little could finally listen to CDs and YouTube videos with 6dB peak centred around 1kHz it’s hardly surprising
studio, after missing a couple of anomalies on a similar correction to my DAW. A new Zero Latency that high-end subtlety was being masked.
recent mix. The first was a section of string bass that filter mode proved very useful during tracking, but
proved to be noticeably louder than during the rest I stuck with Linear Phase filtering for mixing and CALIBRATED MIC
of the song, and which was plainly audible through mastering (still the best-sounding option, at the After some on-line investigation of just how hugely
my hi-fi system, yet I hadn’t noticed it in my studio. expense of around 40ms of latency). budget measurement mics can vary in response
The second was at the other end of the spectrum; I’d from unit to unit (there’s a sobering set of results
been experimenting on the mix bus with an EQ SPEAKERS CORNER at www.cross-spectrum.com/weblog/2009/07/),
plug-in renowned for adding ‘air’ to a mix while still Having got these improvements between my I subsequently ordered one of Sonarworks’ own
sounding effortless, yet could hear little difference ears, I demoed Sonarworks’ Reference 4 Studio XREF20 microphones, which are individually
after adding a conservative +2dB at 10kHz. Edition Plug-in, which effectively performs the calibrated against an ANSI-certified measurement
However, on my other playback system the top-end same function for loudspeakers as its headphone microphone so their unique response is known
improvement was as clear as day. I obviously had counterpart — following a calibration process using and more accurately compensated for. Although
some issues to explore, and wondered if there were the associated Reference 4 Measure utility and a the Tandy and XREF20 frequency responses
any PC-based utilities that could help. suitable omnidirectional microphone. I already had proved to be similar up to around 1kHz (which is
an old Radio Shack SPL Level Meter that I’d modded why my Tandy SPL meter had already improved
A NEW REFERENCE to extend its response down to around 20Hz, so I my low end anomalies), above this they diverged
I often mix on headphones, with only occasional used that to start with. I would rarely recommend significantly. I had already suspected that the Tandy
cross checks on my small ATC loudspeakers to using any form of EQ to ‘flatten’ the response response might be falling rapidly above 10kHz,
check the low end balance and spatial issues in the of a room without first installing some acoustic so had already limited the Sonarworks correction
real world, so the easiest thing to check first was treatment, because otherwise you’re just EQ’ing the curve to ignore this anomaly. Nevertheless, I was
headphone playback. Although it can be easy to direct sound while still hearing unbalanced reflective surprised that the Tandy mic response had such a
get lost in the details, many engineers now mix sound bouncing off all the walls. In my case, I’d large low-Q bell curve between 2-8kHz, peaking
under headphones — largely because so many already installed some reasonable acoustic treatment at around +4dB at 5kHz. Thank goodness I hadn’t
end listeners do the same, whether on ear buds (10 bass traps of various descriptions plus a large attempted to compensate for this! The correction
or higher-end open-back headphones. While ceiling cloud, and had also done plenty of Room EQ curve of the accurately calibrated Sonarworks
initially skeptical, I’ve now been using Sonarworks’ Wizard (www.roomeqwizard.com) plots to minimise XREF20 mic proved that my little studio was
(sonarworks.com) Reference 3 headphone the peaks, dips and decays in my waterfall plots. already reassuringly flat above 2kHz, requiring just
calibration plug-in for several years, as it’s a great The Reference 4 Measure process proved simple +2dB shelving lift from 8kHz up, which restored
way of correcting any anomalies in their frequency to run through, and far easier to understand the ‘air’ I’d previously been missing in my mixes.
response. I’ve got Sennheiser HD650 phones than other room correction utilities I’ve used in My top end now sounds beautifully silky and flat,
(renowned for their flat response compared with the past. It builds up its accuracy from a total of while the lows are now extended to -3dB @ 37Hz
many other makes/models), which Sonarworks 37 measurement points around your listening (pretty good for my tiny ATC SCM10 loudspeakers).
managed to tweak to a finer degree. My AKG position, all with on-screen visual feedback of I could switch to a flat response down to -3dB @
K712 Pros have a somewhat harsh response to my where to move your microphone next. At the 27Hz by changing to the Sonarworks Aggressive
ears, which after correction through Reference 3 end of this sequence, Measure presents you with low end response, but that would require up to a
sounded remarkably similar to the 650s, albeit with a frequency response plot of your loudspeakers 9dB boost at 20Hz, and I really don’t think the extra
a more powerful and deeper bottom end. in situ, and then generates a corresponding filter 10dB of low end would benefit my music, or the
I could hear my mix anomalies under profile to flatten everything out. longevity of my monitor speakers. However, the
headphones, which proved that it was the The frequencies of my overloud string bass notes most remarkable improvement is that my stereo
loudspeaker chain at fault, but took advantage of corresponded with a couple of measured dips at imaging is for the first time razor sharp. Acoustic
this playback checking opportunity to upgrade to 100Hz and 300Hz, and with the correction curve treatment should always be your first port of call, but
Sonarworks’ Reference 4, and I was surprised at just in place the required loudspeaker mixing tweaks with the basics in place I can heartily recommend
how many new features it contained compared to now became obvious. Measure also noticeably the Sonarworks Reference 4 Measure software,
my previous version. Older PCs are now supported improved my stereo imaging, which had previously although switching to the XREF20 mic gave me
using a new 32-bit ASIO plug-in to supplement the been a little lop-sided due to a large window on one improvements in high end smoothness and stereo
original 64-bit plug-in, while loads more headphone side of my studio, leading to various differences in imaging that were nothing short of remarkable.
makes and models have now been ‘profiled’ (a left and right channel playback response between I am now able to hear further into my mixes and
massive 227 at the current count). An extremely 100Hz and 1kHz. Frankly, I was shocked at the feel significantly more confident in my future mix
useful Systemwide app now lets you add Reference measurements, since they also largely explained decisions. That’s a result!

AT 56
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 REGULARS

Apple Notes
New Macs & Terminally Killing
Animations
Column: Brad Watts

Where’s the new Mac Pro? The fabled Pro team is successfully upgrading late model Mac simply copy the command then paste it into
successor to the Trash-can released in late Pro ‘cheese-grater’ towers to startling extents. A Terminal, an app you’ll find in your Utilities
2013 is still yet to materialise. That’s five entire recent kerfuffle was prompted by a customised folder. Some commands will ask for your account
years — then some. It’s incredible behaviour from Mac Pro user having successfully managed to password, others won’t. Then if you don’t like the
Apple, a company which prides itself on its get Thunderbolt working on a 2009 Mac Pro. change there are Terminal commands to reinstate
penchant for innovation. Being 2019, the year Previously thought to be impossible, the Gigabyte the default settings. Give it a go. You’ll be surprised
Apple promised a new Mac Pro after initially GC-Titan Ridge PCIe card will bring your 10-year- how snappy your machine becomes, and just how
announcing and reneging on a 2018 release date, old Mac Pro up to spec with Thunderbolt 3. There’s much of the OS is bogged down with pointless feel-
there’s now some credible rumours coming to light a few caveats of course: you need to use Windows good animations.
as Apple reaches closer to releasing a professional 10 to initialise the Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge card,
spec workstation. so you’ll have to install windows on a partition,
Revered Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has then use Bootcamp 5.1.5621 to restart into your
recently prophesied Apple is about to release either macOS. But once you’ve jumped through these
a 16-inch or 16.5-inch display MacBook Pro, a hoops you’ll have Thunderbolt 3 connectivity – all
31.6-inch 6K display, and of course, a new Mac Pro. with a card available for around $170. You really
One would imagine the 31.6-inch 6K monitor will have to give the old Mac Pro cheese-grater units a
be arriving to run alongside the Mac Pro. Mr Ming- stack of credit.
Chi Kuo has also hinted, as has Apple, that the
direction for the new Mac Pro will be both modular HANGRY ANIMATIONS
and upgradable. What that means specifically is New Macs aside, here’s a little tip for speeding
difficult to define, but any upgradability would up old Macs. I came across this recently when
be better than the Trashcan design, which pretty attempting to get MacOS Mojave running on my
much couldn’t be upgraded without tethering ancient unsupported MacBook Pro. While I did get
Thunderbolt devices to it ad nauseam. Modular? it up and running it became pretty obvious Mojave You’ll be surprised how
What’s the deal there? Easily upgradable GPUs? uses a stack of graphics resources. Slow and glitchy snappy your machine
Upgradeable CPUs? Some say the new Mac Pro doesn’t cut it. It was at this point that I started
will be a similar form factor to the Mac Mini, with looking for a way to turn off some of the GPU- becomes, and just how
a primary CPU unit, with optional, similarly- hungry animations in MacOS. It didn’t take long to much of the OS is bogged
sized modules offering additional GPU, RAM stumble across the website, defaults-write.com.
expansion, SSD, PCIe and SATA storage housings At defaults-write.com you’ll find dozens of down with pointless
etc... all daisy-chained via a proprietary connector terminal commands for all sorts of augmentation in feel-good animations
and a stupidly quick interconnect. Thunderbolt 4 MacOS. Some are specific to particular versions of
is the likely contender, which, by the way, will be OS X and MacOS while others can be used on most
backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and will versions. Of most use with my Mac Book Pro were
use the same USB C-style connector. terminal commands killing pointless animations,
No doubt, the machine will incorporate the T2 such as the Dock animation delay, and animations
chip found in the iMac Pro, which, incidentally, used when opening and closing windows, and
seems to be causing headaches for some using USB commands making all animations faster when
and Thunderbolt audio interfaces. Clicks and pops using Mission Control. You can even accelerate
in audio are the unsavoury symptoms. Apparently, the animation speed for playback when adjusting
this is occurring with all 2018-released Macs, with window size in Cocoa-based applications. If you’re
the only real fix being to shell out for a Thunderbolt a Safari user you can disable delays when loading
or USB3.0 audio interface – USB2.0 interfaces don’t web pages, which does speed up the application,
like the 2018 Macs at all. or you could use Google Chrome. What I’d like to
So until we see the new Mac Pro, and its credit know is why Safari is so slow in the first place.
card slaying price-tag, the good old custom Mac Instigating these changes is dead simple, you

AT 58
 REVIEW

RØDE RODECASTER PRO

Podcast Production Studio
Røde just upped the game
for podcasters,
podcasters without making it harder
harder.
Review: Preshan John

PRICE PROS CONS SUMMARY

NEED TO KNOW

Expect to pay $849 Perfect product for Sound processing controls Like the VideoMic before it, the RodeCaster Pro gives podcasters exactly what
podcasters intentionally limited they need, before they even knew it. Taking the essence of a broadcast console, but
CONTACT Very easy to setup & use making it decidedly easy to use and podcast focussed, it’s the perfect solution if
Røde: Great sound quality you’re telling a story with audio.
(02) 9648 5855 or
info@rode.com

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 There’s no denying that podcasting these products separately, we couldn’t find
has now turned into an enormous this custom configuration on Røde’s site.
industry. Stats from mid-2018 confirm Hopefully, it’s a package Røde considers
there were over 550,000 podcasts available releasing in time.
online with over 28 million episodes on The RodeCaster Pro unit is fairly light
virtually any topic imaginable, with the and kicks back at a good angle for desk use.
numbers climbing daily. To endorse those All inputs and outputs are along the back,
stats, Spotify recently purchased a except for the secondary 3.5mm TRS master
four-year-old podcast publisher, Gimlet Headphone 1 output on the front edge.
Media, for the impressive sum of $230m. Next to the four XLR microphone inputs is
While top end podcast production can a 3.5mm TRRS aux input to accept audio
make for scintillating audio, the podcasting from a smartphone, iPod, etc. The four
world is still largely untouched by the pro stereo 6.5mm headphone outputs each have
audio industry — it’d seem listeners will a level control on the top righthand corner,
forgive poor sound quality if the content is as does the main left/right balanced TRS
unique and relevant — but that’s changing. monitor outputs. The microSD slot sits next
With great foresight, Røde Microphones to this and a readout in the corner of the
has jumped in with easy-to-use audio tools. touchscreen will tell you how much storage
Like its move into the video world, this has remains on the card in hours/minutes. A
already proved very lucrative. USB-C connector lets you turn RodeCaster
Pro into an audio interface for use with a
RØDE’S GOT IT IN THE BAG computer and DAW.
Røde isn’t new to podcasting, it has a
USB mic called The Podcaster. It’s also SIMPLE, YET EFFECTIVE
been steadily releasing broadcast-style The Class A microphone preamps offer
microphones. However, its latest product 100dBA dynamic range and 55dB of fairly
— the RodeCaster Pro — is much grander. clean gain, and the audio resolution is
It ties all those products together and 24-bit/48k. The Aphex processing on board
shows that Røde takes podcasting deathly consists of both Aural Exciter and Big
seriously. Taking the appearance of a small Bottom processing, both of which are well
digital mixer, RodeCaster Pro is an all-in- suited to spoken word channels.
one podcast production studio designed to Each fader is tied to an audio source
give podcasters a professional sound with — the first four being the XLR mic inputs,
minimal audio fuss. Bearing in mind that then USB input, 3.5mm aux input, and
a lot of these content creators don’t possess Bluetooth input. The right-most fader
huge amounts of audio knowledge, Røde controls the level of audio triggered by the
has ensured the RodeCaster Pro is extremely eight sound effect pads. Sounds can be
simple to use. loaded to individual pads using a PC and
Røde sent us a comprehensive podcasting accompanying drag ’n’ drop software, or
kit which not only included a RodeCaster by recording a sound straight in. A total
Pro but also two Procaster dynamic mics, of 512MB of internal storage is assigned
DS1 desk stands, XLR cables and even a to the pads. Using the companion app,
microSD card, all snugly packed into a you have a choice of three options for
custom backpack. While you can buy all how the pads fire — Play (one-shot style,

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 PROCASTER IMPRESSIONS RodeCaster Pro is an all-in-one
Røde’s Procaster is an end-address cardioid dynamic microphone with an
RE20-esque aesthetic that’d make anyone in front of it feel like a radio podcast production studio designed
presenter. Commendably, we didn’t really need an external pop shield as the
built-in mesh did the trick rather well. The relatively tight cardioid pattern
to give podcasters a professional
gives Procaster quite an exaggerated proximity effect that sounds good if a sound with minimal audio fuss
presenter maintains a consistent distance.

stoppable if you press and hold for two seconds), Medium or High) or by strength (Soft, Medium output of the ‘mixer’. Røde quickly resolved this
Replay (restarts the sample every time you hit the or Strong). For more in-depth control, there is an with a firmware update, however; no doubt after
button), or Latch (starts/stops the sample with Advanced section tucked away in the Setup screen; receiving numerous requests and/or complaints
every consecutive button press). but even here you can’t get any deeper than turning from users. Firmware V1.1.0 introduces a ‘Multi-
There is a backlit Mute and Solo button beneath a processor on and off. It can be annoying for Channel Mode’ (accessed via the Advanced Settings
every fader and these affect the recording feed. A an audio person but extremely time-efficient for menu) which records every input channel as an
large Record button sits next to the screen and lights everyone else. individual track in addition to the summed stereo
up solid red when you’re recording. RodeCaster automatically gained up the output; a total of 14 tracks.
Headphone outputs have loads of oomph, Procaster the moment I plugged it in. Not only that, One omission worth mentioning is that
enough to run even high impedance open-backs. it applied the full gamut of onboard processing RodeCaster Pro doesn’t offer a way to pause a
In the menu are options to Boost Headphone right off the bat; the Aphex Aural Exciter and Big recording. Once you hit the big red button, then
Volume or Limit Maximum Volume. Brightness Bottom, De-Esser, Noise Gate and Compressor. hit it again, the audio files are finalised and saved
can be adjusted independently for the screen and To hear a mic’s true character, go to Setup, hit onto the microSD card. It would have been nice
backlit buttons. All the knobs and buttons feel Advanced, and flick the bottom switch to turn to be able to hit pause then continue on the same
sturdy, however, the fader movement did feel a little all processing off. As anyone who’s used an Aural recording if you want to, say, set up a phone call,
scratchy. Hardly a deal breaker, though. Exciter will know; they can be a dangerous high or sneeze.
and hard to come down off. When deactivated, it
EASY PEASY left the Procaster sounding a bit dull, like an SM58 GETS OUT OF THE WAY
Powering up instantly brings the touch screen to with suppressed high mids. I certainly don’t possess any radio talent but I’ll
life. The high-resolution and responsive interface Bluetooth pairing was super easy. Just press the still gladly admit the RodeCaster Pro is very fun
make it a joy to use while the matte surface ensures Bluetooth button above the fader and the screen to use. It’s easy to see the appeal for those whose
good visibility even in bright and reflective rooms. prompts you through the rest. Not only does podcasts are their livelihood and need efficiency
Our first podcasting attempt with the this let you play music into RodeCaster Pro with without sacrificing professionalism. If I was a
RodeCaster was a success, at least by technical your smartphone, it enables you to run phone podcaster, I couldn’t care less about a mic’s input
standards. It’s immediately apparent everything call interviews during a podcast. RodeCaster Pro noise level and the dynamic range of my interface
about this system is designed to provide a path automatically provides the caller with a mix-minus converters — I just want to be heard. In this sense,
of minimum resistance for a podcaster. Once the feed so they hear everything in the show except the RodeCaster Pro does an incredibly good job of
mics are connected, press the mic channel button their own voice. Having tried it out, it couldn’t be ‘getting out of the way’.
to apply processing to that microphone. Presets for simpler. If you want to avoid the call up process With RodeCaster Pro, Røde has nailed the
individual Røde microphones are pre-loaded into mid-show, make the call prior to hitting record and winning combination of identifying a gap in the
the RodeCaster, including the Procaster, PodMic keep the channel muted until you’re ready to bring market before its competitors, and filling that
and NT1A. the person in. gap with an extremely attractive and functional
Other processing features are dumbed down product at the right price. Well done, Røde, you’ve
to make sense to anyone. For example, instead of PACK IN THE MULTI-TRACK done it again!
terms like ‘high shelf ’ or ‘threshold’, EQ curves Upon its release, the RodeCaster Pro did not have
and compression settings are dictated by how multitrack recording capability — your only option
you’d describe a presenter’s voice — by tone (Deep, if using the microSD card was to record the stereo

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 Wireless Microphones Portable PA Systems

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 REVIEW

SENNHEISER IE 40 PRO
In-ear Monitors
Sennheiser’s new line of in-ears rely on a
single dynamic driver to rule all the balanced
armature designs. But is just one enough?
Review: Rob Holder

The IEM market is becoming as saturated IEMs. I’m a Shure se315 owner and have listened performing high-impact synth patches I found
as a sturgeon tank in a caviar farm [huh? and performed with a range of balanced- the HF response uncomfortable.
—Ed.]. It’s teeming with generic models pitched armature single and double driver IEMs. While Unfortunately, despite the IE 40 Pro’s great fit,
at teenage commuters, audiophiles, touring these lack the forward mids of other multi- and deftness for staying wedged in, their isolation
musicians and everyone in between. driver configurations, they don’t miss out on isn’t as robust as other generic IEMs. During my
Interestingly, Sennheiser has appealed directly clarity. The low end is big and detailed, with on-stage tests they didn’t do as much as I’d like to
to stage musicians with its IE 40 Pros. For those those quite large 10mm dynamic drivers pushing protect me from the full force of the bass cab and
already jamming with ears, does this single much more air than any other IEMs I’ve heard, drums on the other side of stage. On later dates,
dynamic driver design improve on the stalwart especially at this price. I performed bass guitar with lots of drum and
balanced armature heavyweights? Headphones and in-ears can often be too subwoofer leakage muddy-ing my IEM foldback
‘scooped’ for me, but these tread that fine mix. Upon reflection, the ear tips on the IE 40
SENN-DING THE RIGHT MESSAGE line nicely. The bass response is big but never Pros are comparatively shallow — which cuts
At first impression, these in-ears tick all the overbearing, and is necessary for vibe onstage. down on weight and can improve comfort, but I
boxes for a pair of stage monitors. Detachable The instrument separation is nice, as is the wasn’t able to be insert them as far as I needed to
cables? Tick. Flexible ear loop? Tick. The sound stage; wider than my Shures, and often get the isolation I desired on a loud stage.
medium size tips fit me perfectly from the get- clearer in busier mixes.
go, not even budging during a quick jog. I can’t The dynamic driver approach makes the sound FIT FOR PURPOSE
say the same for my weightier Shure in-ears source seem physically further from my ear If you’re a muso looking to upgrade your rig with
which would wiggle out over time. The time drum, which I find pleasant over the feeling of IEMs, this pair are a great place to start, offering
since I purchased them in 2010 has allowed having sound injected into your ear drums. many advantages over offerings at similar (or
Sennheiser to shave down the size of its in-ears even higher) price points. Everything else
considerably, and the cable is also far lighter. ZING, YOU GOT ME apart from the highs and iso-fit is best in class.
One caveat that must be tabled within these The sound has one blemish though: quite They would also be a great choice for houses of
preliminary assessments comes as a product of zingy highs. After listening to the IE 40 Pros worship, theatres or education facilities looking
Sennheiser’s laser-like focus on stage use: the on multiple occasions, separated by time and to invest in a complement of sets. The IE 40 Pros
omission of a stepped 3.5mm connector will listening on monitors and my Shures, they are priced well, comfortable, if upgrading to
inevitably force phone users to de-case should still continue to surprise me when I pop them an ears system for foldback, especially if you’ve
they want to plug in. back in. Hi-hats and cymbals can be especially already tamed your stage sound.
These are, subjectively, a great pair of listening penetrating and there were times when

PRICE PROS CONS SUMMARY

NEED TO KNOW

$170 Serious value for money Zingy highs A very capable, impressive-sounding pair of IEMs for the price; ones that newcomers
Super light Lightweight construction should love, though the few ‘cons’ will give veterans reason to ponder.
CONTACT Detailed & deep sacrifices some isolation
Sennheiser: soundstage
(02) 9910 6700 or Impressive bass response
www.sennheiser.com

AT 64
 REVIEW

MOOG GRANDMOTHER
Analogue Synthesizer
Moog adds another ‘Mother’ to its affordable
analogue synth range, and it’s pretty grand.
Review: Preshan John

PRICE PROS CONS SUMMARY

NEED TO KNOW

$1599 Authentic Moog tone Not very practical for stage use While its colourful panels look like modules, the
Huge potential with patching options Grandmother is semi-modular. There’s enough
CONTACT Spring reverb a fantastic addition complexity for the experienced, while minimising the
Innovative Music: learning curve for beginners. An onboard arpeggiator,
(03) 9540 0658 or sequencer and spring reverb make Grandmother worth
info@innovativemusic.com.au a good look.

AT 66
 Prior to the Moog One, Moog’s releases had peak. With the Envelope Amount knob, the Cutoff The left hand control buttons double as Tie, Rest
centred around those poor pups without frequency is modulated with the shape you created and Accent options to spice up a sequence. Once
much expendable cash, ie. musicians, not in the Envelope section. Twist the Envelope Amount you’ve locked your sequence in, flick back over to
dentists. There were a few vibey sub-$1k products knob to negative values to reverse the direction of SEQ mode, press Play and hit a note. You can edit
such as the DFAM (Drummer From Another the cutoff modulation (i.e. from low to high). a sequence in real time by switching to REC mode
Mother) and Mother-32 that were still fully Four patch points are available within the while a sequence is playing.
analogue, and all Moog. Coming in at around filter section. The Envelope Amount In and
$1300, the new ‘Mother’ — the Grandmother — Cutoff In let you modulate these parameters GO MODULAR
joins this lineup of affordable synths, with clear with an LFO or oscillator, for example. There’s Moog designed the Grandmother to be playable
influences from far more expensive Moog also an Input to introduce external signals to straight out of the box. Notwithstanding, it bears
monophonic and modular varieties. the filter (or internal, from another section of the ‘semi-modular’ title because it contains 41
The Grandmother synth falls under the semi- the Grandmother). An Output lets you send the patch points (21 inputs, 20 outputs) which, when
modular category; which basically means it doesn’t outbound signal elsewhere, such as the Input of patched, override the Grandmother’s internal
need friends, or patch cords, to generate cool the high pass filter. signal flow allowing you to treat the individual
sounds of its own. The modular side of the ‘semi’- sections of the synth as independent modules.
equation means you do get enough patch points SPRING IN HER STEP While it’s capable of a massive spectrum of sounds
to make your own circuit, or plumb it into a larger I love that Grandmother has a completely analogue as is, the patch cables (included) really expand
modular system. six-inch spring reverb tank built in. It’s a single- Grandmother’s sonic horizons.
Grandmother looks somewhere between toy-like knob affair placed in the right hand corner of the You can make use of the keyboard’s velocity
and retro. Its brightly-coloured panels are laid dash and it affects all oscillators equally. The reverb sensitivity with the KB VEL OUT patch; for example,
out to mimic a modular workflow, and the classic has an appropriately wobbly sound that adds a connecting it to CUTOFF IN on the Filter section.
Moog knob shapes, switches and serrated pitch and watery vibe to most synth tones. Dial in anything Moog generously included a Utilities section
mod wheels are all retro. I really dig the aesthetic from a drip to a drenching. where you’ll find an assortment of non-wired,
Moog has gone for — it screams, ‘fun!’ Sounds can be manipulated to great effect just patchable resources at your disposal built right into
by twiddling the reverb and cutoff knobs over a the Grandmother. At the top is a four-point Mult
GRANDMOTHER PUNCH looping arpeggio or sequence. I spent a fair amount for sharing and distributing control signals. Next is
After ripping Grandmother out of her box, I of my time with the Grandmother using the reverb a high pass filter (-6dB/octave slop), then a bipolar
plugged it into the office pair of PMC bookshelf to push tones forward and back. It’s very well- Attenuator, both of which have In and Out patch
speakers. It had plenty of analogue depth and suited to live applications. points. Putting together all the options, you soon
meatiness, even through a sub-less system. Two realise this unassuming little synth is far deeper
onboard oscillators each have four waveform ARP & SEQUENCER than it lets on.
options; triangle, sawtooth, square and narrow The arpeggiator and sequencer section adds an
pulse. They just sound good… all through the extra bucket of fun to the Grandmother, and it’s PROCESS VS PRACTICALITY
range of four switchable octaves — smooth with worth noting that more expensive Moog models As far as making sounds goes, the Moog
lush lows. Oscillator 2 can be free running with (such as the Minimoog) don’t include such Grandmother is more than a means to an end. It’s
the Frequency knob, or sync’d to the first oscillator luxuries. Three arpeggiator modes are accessed about the joy of the journey — exploring sound
upon which each wave cycle is forced to begin with a switch: Order, Fwd/Bkwd and Random. You creation— because, let’s face it, practicality is not
at the zero-crossing of Oscillator 1. The adjacent can hold a chord by pressing the Play button to its forte. You can’t save a preset and recall it for a
mixer section lets you balance the two oscillators the left of the keybed, then the blue Hold button performance. You can’t quickly go from a searing
and add white noise with a third control. — freeing up both hands for entertaining LFO and lead to an ambient arpeggio without reconfiguring
The 32-key velocity-sensitive keybed begins with filter manipulation. The three-position switch at the whole panel. While Grandmother has its place
F and ends on B. To jump octaves press the Play (-) the bottom of this section either sets the number on stage, that’s not its M.O.
or Tap (+) buttons while holding the centre Hold of octaves when in Arpeggiator mode, or selects Grandmother is Moog’s most accessible leg up
button (Shift). a recorded sequence to play back. Sequences can into the world of modular analogue synthesis; but
have up to 256 notes and the Grandmother lets it offers things that much more expensive Moog
FILTER OUT THE NEGATIVE you store three of them internally. instruments, like the Minimoog, don’t. Things
The Filter section is simple, with a large central Punching in a sequence is as easy as switching like a built-in spring reverb tank, arpeggiator and
Cutoff knob; Envelope Amount and Resonance over to REC mode, then selecting position 1, 2 sequencer. Whether you’re new to the modular
knobs underneath; and a three-way Keyboard Track or 3 on the OCT/SEQ switch to dictate where environment or a synth nerd with lots of gear
switch. Being Moog’s classic four-pole ladder filter, the sequence will be stored. The keyboard is now already, the Moog Grandmother promises a wealth
it sounds beautiful and has a smooth resonance armed, so whatever you play will be stored as steps. of possibilities in the creation of new sounds.

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 REVIEW

WARM AUDIO WA273-EQ

Dual Channel Strip
Does the Warm Audio 1073 clone sound like
the original? We put it up against a pair of
vintage Neves to find out.
Review: Mark Davie

Every time you see a review comparing a HONING THE CLONE transformers are where the magic happens.
Neve clone to a vintage 1073, the reviewers Warm Audio makes a lot of claims regarding On the build side, these aren’t replicas of a
typically give a similar disclaimer. It goes the authenticity of its reproduction. Firstly, 1073 down to the trace level. While they still
something along the lines of having used, hired, that it has commissioned custom transformers use discrete components, unlike AMS’ newer
borrowed, or stolen a number of vintage 1073s from Carnhill that are supposedly faithful surface-mount 1073DPX models, the boards are
over the years, and no two sounding the same. reproductions of the early transformers not copies of the originals.
To try and dodge that issue, we hired a pair (presumably the first Marinair 10468 input I asked Joe Malone — who has worked on
of vintage 1073s from Kaj Dalstrom at Sing transformers). Your level of care probably countless Neves and makes his own JLM Audio
Sing. Sure, these two came from the same depends on how much of the folklore Neve-like preamps — to take a cursory glance
generation, but having survived almost 50 surrounding these transformers you’ve engaged at the guts of the 273-EQ to tell me what he
years, they undoubtedly have a completely with and whether you believe Carnhill’s could see.
different service history. VTB9045 (the model number they moved to) Joe was on the fence about the transformers;
Nonetheless, these were a pair of well-preserved, continues to test the same as the originals. Some while his tests of the Carnhills have never lined
studio-bound, looked-after vintage 1073s. And say not, including AMS Neve, which moved away up with the original Marinairs, he hadn’t had
they proved themselves to be fairly well matched. from Carnhill some years ago, for its 1073. a go at these specific ones, so couldn’t give a
In the other corner we had the Warm Audio It’s necessary for Warm (or any clone verdict. Either way, they’d be a far cry closer than
WA273-EQ. It’s basically two channels of 1073 manufacturer for that matter) to claim exactness some of the Chinese transformers you can find
clone stacked into a 2U housing. here, because in many people’s minds the some clones.

PRICE PROS CONS SUMMARY

NEED TO KNOW

$2210 Fully discrete 1073 circuit Front panel legending can be awkward The Warm Audio 73EQ doesn’t sound exactly like
Affordable dual channel strip Feel of pots hit ’n’ miss a vintage Neve, but it shouldn’t have to match up
CONTACT More flexibility than original 1073 perfectly with a 50-year old unit. This is a new, well-
Studio Connections: made clone of the famed circuit, and it gives you much
(03) 9416 8097 or more than the vintage design ever did.
enquiries@studioconnections.com.au

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BRING
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jmcacademy
 Speaking of Chinese, the units are hand wired, six EQ knobs, some had a quality feel with decent
but likely in a Chinese factory; which is not resistance, others felt a little elastic, while one was Angus Legg is a super talented soulful, singer-
necessarily a bad thing. Inside, there’s a bunch of very loose. They were not a match for the original songwriter; think Ed Sheeran, Jason Mark, John
PCBs interconnected by ribbon cabling. On the knobs. Likewise, the click of the main switches felt Mayer. He’s an absolute professional, and a
one hand, multiple boards does make serviceability more clingy and the reissue Marconi knobs don’t privilege to work with. You can follow him most
easier, like the original. The feel like the real thing. Still, places @angusleggmusic
downside is it’s easier to they do a good job at their
make wiring mistakes when function, it’s just hard to
you don’t have a full PCB, imagine them holding the to -20dB for line level inputs. It does alter the gain
or when they don’t slot in same level of quality in 50 staging and switch labelling a bit. Traditionally,
like the pinned cards of the It was hard to fault years time when they start the line level section would travel from -20dB to
original. At the end of the the solo vocal through out inferior. +10dB. It then has an off switch, so you don’t get a
day, if all functions test fine, One cost-cutting thump when switching between the two sources.
it should be fine, but you the 273-EQ, which had measure common to clones Likewise, there’s another off position above +50dB
have to know it’s desired more presence and air is to label the chassis to stop another thump occurring when the third
behaviour in the first place. instead of the face of the amplifier is switched into the path.
Other than potential than the vintage Neve button. It’s understandable, Like most clones, the Warm Audio saves a bit of
solder and connector issues, but is a little problematic dosh by ditching the separate line input stage and
one future issue Joe did on the 273-EQ. There simply switching in a pad. In this case, a rotary pad
touch on was the small size are six buttons for each that extends past the 0 setting on the switch.
of the heatsinks attached to channel, in two rows I doubt most people looking at buying the 273
the 24V regulator, and their potential for long-term of three. For some reason Warm printed the EQ are going to miss the separate stage. Especially
failure. It would have been better for them to be legending for the top row above the buttons, and considering everything else is there: A full 80dB
bolted to the case. Other than that though, “not a the rest below the second row. If you stick it in of gain for mic inputs, high pass filter with four
bad attempt at a Neve channel,” he said. a rack, you have to bend right over below the selectable frequencies, three band switchable EQ,
buttons to read the bottom set of labels. If they’d and a phase flip.
WARMING IT UP simply printed the labels above both rows of
Over the last couple of months of use, the Warm buttons, it would be far less of an issue. FREQUENT FIXTURES
Audio 273-EQ has been faultless. The internal There are plenty of features you don’t get on a vintage
power supply doesn’t induce any noticeable noise, JUST ONE TRANSFORMER 80 series 1073 module that you do on the Warm
and makes it simple to rack. All the buttons have Insofar as similarities go, the Warm Audio 273-EQ Audio 273-EQ. On the 1073 EQ, the low band has
a nice deep travel, and all the dual concentric has every single feature of the original. switchable frequencies of 35, 60, 110 and 220Hz,
switch pots are from Blore Edwards, a UK The only major circuit difference is the inclusion while the mid band switches between 360 and
manufacturer that makes Neve-specific switches of only one mic input transformer — not separate 700Hz, and 1.6, 3.2, 4.8 and 7.2kHz. The high band
and pots. The switches all felt good, but the pots stages for mic and line, with separate transformers is typically set at a fixed frequency of 12kHz. The
were inconsistent. Even over a small sample size of to match. Instead, the signal is simply padded by up Warm Audio EQ adds some extra choice up here,

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 the character of the gear starts to shine through. tracks. In particular, when Angus occasionally
We did this with Angus — recording his plucked the lowest string on his guitar, it resonated
BE YOUR OWN JUDGE acoustic guitar and vocals, then layering a bunch satisfyingly deep and long in the Neve recording.
You can listen to the unmixed 96k recordings on of harmonies, shaker, and trying to play around On the Warm Audio recording, it didn’t have that
our Soundcloud account. There is just some mild the out-of-tune octaves of an upright piano to get a resounding low end. The resonance of the low
compression on the mix bus to bring up the level stereo track. string matched the length of other strings, giving
of both recordings. We had both channels of each preamp ready it a more compressed, controlled sound. In a mix,
Go to: to go into the line inputs of an Antelope Audio that can really help, but it also paints you into a bit
soundcloud.com/audiotechnology/sets/warm- interface. After each take, we’d simply swap the mic more of a corner.
audio-273-eq-vs-vintage-neve-1073 to compare. leads over and go again. The gain matching between On the vocal side. It was hard to fault the solo
both was pretty spot on with the Warm at full fader. vocal through the 273-EQ, which had more
presence and air than the vintage Neve. It sounded
allowing you to switch between 10, 12 and 16kHz. COMPARE THE PAIRS pre-polished. However, when pushed, that presence
While the original only gave you buttons for With everything tracked, Preshan did a rough mix could get a bit much and started to tax a little after
phase flip and switching the EQ in and out of the and copied the processing between the tracks. He layering three backing vocals. The Neve sounded
circuit, the Warm Audio version also allows you then did the rounds with a couple of unnamed more laid back on the solo vocal, and never felt
to instantiate an insert, switch a DI into the circuit stereo tracks to see what we all liked better. Unlike overbearing when stacked.
and change the turns ratio on the transformer, a high-end converter comparison, where the devil
which adjusts the input impedance. This function is is in the infinitesimal, largely indistinguishable RING TO IT
marked as Tone. With the switch out, microphones detail. The differences were darn obvious. It simply This is where the clone wars get interesting. Unlike
will see an impedance of 1200Ω, for a more came down to a matter of, which would I choose? the vintage Neve, the 273-EQ just sounds more
natural open sound. Pressing in Tone changes On first listen, one was very forward. It had a modern. It was as if the harmonics were more
that impedance to 300Ω, which can sound thicker lot more presence to it, and just generally sounded obvious in the upper ranges than in the low end.
and punchier with dynamic and ribbon mics. more punchy. The other undoubtedly felt more Overall, it came across more modern mix ready,
Condenser microphones could care less. glued together, but the acoustic had a boominess I at the expense of extended low end and a darker
The DI is a great advantage. It makes the 273EQ felt was distracting tonality that can help to glue a track together.
a really well-rounded channel strip. Especially for You can probably tell where this is going. Functionally, the 273-EQ far exceeds the vintage
those looking to make a leap in quality from the After a couple of listens I went with the first one, Neve. For one, you don’t have to carry it around
front end of their audio interface. which turned out to be the Warm Audio 273-EQ. in an 80 series rack. Everything you need for high
Quelle horreur! quality stereo recording is in the one box.
HOW DOES IT SOUND? While I couldn’t get the acoustic boom out of my If you’re desperate for the Warm Audio 273-EQ
We set up both the Neve 1073s and the Warm head, others were far more entranced by the glue of to be a dead ringer for a vintage Neve… well, it’s
273-EQ in a side-by-side test, and asked talented the Neve and picked that. not. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just different; it’s a
singer-songwriter Angus Legg to come down and Comparisons are not without perils, and very capable, great-sounding preamp, that’s well-
play a tune. mixing one side first was probably an unfair play. built, has a gorgeous EQ on it, the convenience
Preamp shootouts are always tough. Unlike There’s just no way to mix one and translate it to of a built-in DI and 80dB of clean gain. All for a
converter tests, it’s incredibly hard to conduct them the other. EQ to compensate for a lack of body very keen price. If you’re looking for a different,
exactly. Split the signal and there’s always a tradeoff; in one, would only accentuate the boominess in Neve-ish sound to add to your arsenal, then this is
transformers added, loss of level, or even frying an another recording. a solid bet.
input with phantom power. Rather than trying to Listening back to the original recordings, that If you’re low on quality channel strips and were
make it overly scientific, we like to test preamps by acoustic boominess in the Neve mix translated looking around for a classic design to kick off your
taking a song and layering a bunch of tracks up so to body that just wasn’t there in the Warm Audio setup, then this is a great place to start.

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T 73
3
 REVIEW

ZOOM F8N
Location Sound Recorder
Zoom’s run of releasing tasty ‘n’-spec updates
of its products doesn’t disappoint with its top
field recorder.
Review: Stephan Schütze

I want to start this review by responding to such as the Australian-designed Boomerang and SIZE WISE
some statements I have heard about Zoom Wirraway, I was able to record the interior of
Before I even switched the device on, I was
devices. They often get labelled as ‘cheap’ these planes for one reason only; because a Zoom
impressed by its size. I pulled out my H4
alternatives, or only suitable for amateurs, with H1 was small enough for a pilot to safely and
to compare. It was the first Zoom device
critics citing various issues from noisy preamps happily carry it in a leg pocket while flying.
I purchased — over 10 years ago — and
to build quality and just a general feeling that The ‘best’ piece of equipment for any job is the
frankly, there’s not a huge difference in size
Zoom products are not suitable for professionals. one that lets you get the job done. I have strapped
between the two. Remarkable, considering the
I have been recording sound for 20 years, my a Zoom H4n onto the bottom of a skateboard, I
significant difference in capabilities.
libraries are used by many of the biggest producers have attached various Zoom devices to cars and
For the Zoom F8n I did something I rarely do;
in the world and yes, a significant number of those motorbikes, and there is a Zoom H2n which fell
I started by reading the manual. Usually I prefer
sounds were captured on Zoom devices. off a boat and found its final resting place at the
to learn by doing, but I wanted to be thorough
I am not going to claim that a $1000 Zoom bottom of a lake in Melbourne.
with this device and make sure I understood
recorder is in the same league as a $6000 Nagra I prize the quality of a recording very highly
what it was capable of and how the manufacturer
or Sound Devices machine, but if you are and so I am of course very interested in how the
thinks it should be used.
obsessing about the ticket price of equipment preamps on the F8n perform; but I place a high
It revealed a solution to a problem I’d been
then I would suggest you are focusing on the value on the ability to capture the sounds needed,
manually solving for 20 years. Back then, when
wrong thing. and that often demands a variety of devices for a
I hired my first portable recorder (a portable
When I recorded a series of rare aircraft, host of situations. For over 10 years I have found
DAT) the very helpful woman providing the
including a Spitfire, Kittyhawk and oddities many reasons to use Zoom devices.

PRICE PROS CONS SUMMARY

NEED TO KNOW

$1799 Advanced look-ahead limiters Input layout in ‘opposite’ direction The F8n adds automixing, look-ahead limiting,
Able to noiselessly capture super- better clocking and more to an already feature- and
CONTACT quiet sources value-packed recorder. Its functionality makes it
Dynamic Music: Built-in dual-channel ’safety’ recording more than just a field recorder, but a recorder for
(02) 9939 1299 or Automix function makes podcasting almost any application.
info@dynamicmusic.com.au a breeze

AT 74
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gear showed me a useful trick. By using a Y splitter linear audio for most of my career I have seldom
cable, I could take a mono mic signal and split it used timecode functions, but it will be a welcome Stephan Schütze has been a location
into two channels with different input levels so upgrade for many users. recordist and sound designer for nearly 20
if a sudden loud sound occurred, I would have a In the time since the original landed, Zoom years. His sound libraries are used by many
second ‘safety’ copy of the sound at a lower level to updated the design a little, but most of the work was of the top production companies in the world
avoid peaking. done inside the box. With a host of new features. and in 2018 he released the first book on audio
The F8n has this functionality built-in. A single The Automix function is one of those. It’s production for new reality formats.
mic can have its signal duplicated onto a second incredibly useful for podcast producers or anyone
channel at a lower input level. This is bloody using multiple microphones for different sources.
brilliant and would save me a fortune in splitter With Automix on, the F8n detects signal input
cables and messing around with extra gear. from each channel and attenuates unused mic
The more time I spent with the Zoom F8n the channels. This reduces unwanted noise as well as
more its available functions and their accessibility, reducing the chances of feedback. The real benefit However, that’s less than 10% at the top end where
became its strongest feature. It has a clear, easy-to- is in the time saved during post-production. I bad noise was introduced; comparable with devices
use interface; one of the best I’ve used on a device could unload all my channels and clean them up that are much more expensive than the H8n.
of this type. The colour display makes discerning for my podcast, but the Automix feature does this
information at a glance much easier and the simple at recording time and cuts the time required to get ADDED EXTRAS
rotary dial with built-in push button makes back- your content out to your audience. This device uses eight AA batteries, and when using
and-forth navigation quick and intuitive. It’s significant because the sound quality gap for alkaline batteries that is going to get pricey pretty
Obviously recording quality is critical, but as a hardware is continually decreasing, and users are fast. Rechargeable batteries are the way to go, and
tool to be used the F8n appears flexible and reliable. looking at what other advantages their equipment Zoom gives you the option to attach an external
offers. Professionals in audio production are always battery back via a Hirose connector. Having both AA
BACKWARDS LAYOUT burning the candle at both ends, so features that and an external rechargeable battery maximises my
There is one thing that bugged me about the F8n: save us time start to look like real game changers. options, especially if I’m on a remote location where
The layout of the mic inputs is ‘wrong’. While it Other improvements on its predecessor include: a faulty built-in battery would kill the entire job.
might seem like a small thing, for me, it’s a design a new Fader Mode view, instead of the knobs on The various functions for routing allow for
flaw that could have been easily avoided. the home screen; Digital Boost for the headphone a variety of input setups, like the previously
At one point during testing I could not figure output (up to +24dB); selectable volume curves mentioned mono signal split into two channels. It
out why I was getting no signal. Everything was on, for headphone output (I really like this one); and also supports ambisonic input and even converts
all the routing was correct, phantom power was a maximum fader level increased from +12db to A-format mic signals to B-format within the device.
activated, yet still no sound. I finally tracked down +24dB. Thankfully, with all these being software The F8n also supports a range of recording formats,
the problem. I had plugged my mic into Input 4 updates, they’re now available to F8 users, too. sample and bit rates up to 24-bit/192k.
instead of Input 1. Huh? Why would I do that, and When I first started recording, I kept wondering
why does it matter to this review? NOT A LIMITING FACTOR why everything was distorting. Turns out the
The F8n has four inputs on each side, 1-4 on the A big addition to the F8n is a new set of advanced default routing is post-fader, which was simple to
left and 5-8 on the right. The issue is how Zoom has limiters. Zoom claims these provide protection change when I figured it out and returned to my
arranged these inputs. On every device I have used against incoming signals peaking, and it seems to habit of monitoring pre-fader.
if you turn the device so you are looking directly at work as advertised. You can control the F8n remotely via your
the left-hand side, they read 1, 2, 3, 4 from left to The ‘look-ahead’ limiters take advantage of the mobile phone, which sounded like a brilliant idea
right. The F8n has reversed this. F8n’s digital architecture. By delaying the signal a until I read it was iOS only. It’s a pity considering
To me, this is a little like a car manufacturer few milliseconds, it can take the content directly the prevalence of the Android operating system. I
flipping the brake and accelerator pedals around, through the mic, assess it, process it and then pass it hope those lucky iOS users are taking advantage of
you just don’t do it. There is a long-term established on through the rest of the signal chain uncorrupted. how useful this could be.
layout that everyone else seems to follow, so why Obviously, this cannot compensate for a signal Finally, the F8n includes a built-in slate
change it? My Sound Devices 788 follows left to too loud for your mic diaphragm to handle, but microphone, which I think is a cool idea as it allows
right, Nagra do, Tascam do, etc. beyond that it works well. I would have loved to test you to add notes while recording even when your
Much of my work over the years has been it with something like gunfire sounds as the very mics might be at a distance from the recorder. This
opportunistic. Oftentimes I’m driving or walking, quick changes and huge output levels would really is another function I would have used over the
sometimes not prepared for recording at all, show the effectiveness of the advanced limiters, years if I’d had it.
when an event happens that I want to record. but I spent a while whispering and then suddenly
Manufacturers include pre-record buffers for shouting into the mics and the final recordings went ZOOM, ZOOM
exactly this type of scenario. In those instances, from very distorted with the limiter off, to strong While some manufacturers desperately flog useless
I have to respond quickly in order to capture the but clear with the limiter on. This works for me. features to sell a sequel product, this update to
sound, reverting to habits built up over time. The the F8 is a pleasant antidote. It’s a solid recording
reverse numbering scheme could make me miss CLOCKING THE NOISE device with nice, quiet preamps, and the range
a take. While in some ways this is trivial, it would At the other end of the spectrum was my ‘quiet of functionality gives it a broad user base. It can
also have been trivial for Zoom to have gotten it place’ test — an old wind up clock miked with comfortably capture live musicians or concerts,
right in the first place. a Sanken CS1e in a dead quiet space. I’m always record in remote places, cover jobs that need
more interested in how these devices handle the SMPTE for linear sync, or it can simply be a
AUTOMIX UPS THE FUNCTIONS softest of sounds, which the F8n did quite well. convenient device to use in the studio for foley or
The F8n was preceded by the F8. You can read Greg The Zoom F8n has an input gain with a range voice recording.
Simmons review online for a comprehensive look from +10dB to +75dB which is a broad range. The Zoom has always crammed as much as it possibly
at the clocking and sound of the original device. clock came through nice and clear, and there was could into its devices. Within its price point —
The clocking tested very well then, but Zoom still almost no unwanted noise when boosted up to probably even up to twice what you would pay for
claims to have improved accuracy in the timecode 60dB. Above 65dB the noise was at a level I wouldn’t the F8n — I would be confident selecting this device
when the F8n is powered off. Working in non- desire, and the range from 70-75dB was unusable. over other available choices to get the job done.

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2 - C H AN NE L A U D IO IN T E R FAC E S

THE FUTURE OF SOUND

P R O U D LY D I S T R I B U T E D I N A U S T R A L I A B Y C M I M U S I C & A U D I O | CMI.COM.AU
 REVIEW

EXPRESSIVE E TOUCHÉ
Creative MIDI Controller
If you like to get hand-on with your
sounds, then you need to tak ke Touché’s
hand surfboard out for a spinn.
Review: Preshan John

PRICE
Touché: $799
Touché SE: $499
CONTACT
Expressive E:
www.expressivee.com

MIDI controllers come in all shapes and sizes

but I reckon you’ve never seen one like the
Touché. It’s not often we get to review something
that doesn’t quite fit the mould of an established
product category — the last thing that came close
would be ROLI’s unique family of keyboards — but
it’s always fun when we get our hands on somethin ng
truly fresh; like the Touché.

VERY TOUCHÉ
There are two sides to getting the most from a
virtual instrument. The first, of course, is the inpu
ut
of MIDI notes to play the instrument. The second is
the input of control information to manipulate thee
instrument using the various MIDI CC parameterrs
available to you. Most off-the-shelf MIDI LIÉ llets you rest one hand
h d on th
the T
Touché
hé andd another
th
keyboards offer control over two such parameters Lié is Expressive E’s control software which on a keyboard, offering an enormous amount
by way of the pitch and mod wheels. Two, however, partners with Touché. Once installed, it’ll let of dynamic expression in quite a natural-feeling
is often insufficient for the numerous expressive you know if the connected Touché has the latest manner. Tapping the surface mimics a bow striking
controls found on today’s virtual instruments. If firmware and download it if not. the strings, or you can emulate long legato bowed
you can tweak more of these controls in real- Lié scans your drives for all of your virtual notes by pumping the surface like it’s the bellows
time, it makes for a more articulate and colourful instruments and can host them individually within of an accordion. Keyswitching and button pushing
performance. the software, a bit like how Kontakt hosts sample becomes largely unnecessary when you have this
The Touché is a solution that offers expressive libraries. The left/right buttons at the bottom of much tonal control under your palm. The whole
control in a unique format. It makes a departure Touché let you move through presets. With Lié you experience is both fun and functional.
from more common ergonomics like faders, ribbon can also configure Touché’s CV and MIDI outputs
sliders or wheels. Instead, Touché is built around and a number of mapping presets come included TOUCHING
a single contact surface with both directional for various hardware synths. Yes, Touché is unique. But how much value does
information and pressure sensitivity. The oval- it have once the novelty wears off? A lot, I say.
shaped mahogany wooden pad forms the primary ARCHÉ Especially for people who care about getting the
medium of expressive input and is slightly shorter Early this year, Expressive E released Arché, a most from their virtual instruments; either on
than the length of my hand. The pad is sprung from suite of three stringed instruments (violin, viola, stage or in the studio. If you’re the type who’d
underneath and rocks backward and forward, as cello) designed specifically for use with the Touché rather input some notes with a keyboard and
well as sliding from left to right, each with a few controller. When you load up any of the three then draw in MIDI control automation in a more
centimetres of travel. instruments in Lié, you can assign Arché-specific surgical manner, after the fact, Touché probably
Touché has a USB connection for use with a control options to Touché’s physical movements — isn’t for you. On the other hand if you care about
computer along with four CV outputs to hook things like Bow, Vibrato Gain, Vibrato Frequency. having more control options at your disposal while
it up to your analogue synths or modular setup. I found Arché a great primer to get comfortable performing or recording — perhaps you compose
There are MIDI in and out ports, too. Expressive using the Touché as a performance controller. for film or TV or produce music on a regular basis
E’s budget version, Touché SE, comes with just a Assigning the Bow control to the Touché heel — then Touché offers you an extra set of tools to lay
USB connection. while twiddling vibrato with left/right movement down the perfect take first go.

AT 78
AT
T 79
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A Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 Mk II
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We’ve all played a lousy ‘hammer action’ MIDI controller without ever needing to look at your computer, thanks
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AT 81
 REGULARS

LAST WORD
The Internet is
Fast Enough, Dude.
Column: Greg Simmons

April 1st 2005, 11am. I’m pushing bacon around my plate I’ve named them simply Black, Red and Blue, and changed their
with a disinterested fork. I’d just lost years of emails, on-screen icons to represent their colours — anyone who works
followed by my appetite. “They must be on my hard disk with multiple drives will appreciate that. After each expedition
somewhere,” I pleaded, hoping it was a date prank. “Yes and no,” I spend ages shuffling things between them so that every audio
Greg Simmons is my IT buddy replied, sipping his third short black. “That’s what and video file is stored on at least two of the three drives. If any
a writer, educator happens when Outlook crashes — they’re there, but they’re one of those drives crashes I won’t lose anything, except perhaps
and sound recordist irretrievable. You eating that bacon?” “Nah...” It vanished in a the drive itself. When finished, each drive gets enveloped in
with a passion for blur of cutlery, caffeine and disgruntled seagulls. “It’s 2005, dude. bubblewrap and placed in a zip-up hard shell along with its USB3
travelling. He was The internet is fast enough. You should be on webmail...” cable and a bag of silica gel. I probably should use Pelican cases,
the Founding Editor Back at the IT workshop, I’m expressing my disdain at the but that’s another matter. Whenever I take the drives out of their
of AudioTechnology clutter and clunkiness of Hotmail and Yahoo. Webmail? Urgh. storage locker I handle them like eggs, and I panic whenever I
magazine, and “Have you heard of Gmail?” he asked. “It’s coded to be fast and hear of floods, earthquakes or hotel fires because it reminds me
currently enjoys light, with none of the ‘bloat’ of those others. It does this cool that I’ve got all my eggs in one basket.
exploring the many thing that keeps all related messages together as a conversation, Meanwhile there’s my iPad Pro; a post-‘social media’ design
possibilities the and super fast searching because it’s from Google — the search that is all about wireless connections, cloud storage and
internet and social engine guys. Plus they give you 1GB of free storage that’s going to automatic backup. I take it with me everywhere. I’ve got 2TB
media have to offer get bigger over time, so you’ll never have to delete things to make on Apple’s iCloud, 1TB on Microsoft’s OneDrive and 100GB
the audio industry. He’s room for new messages. It’s invitation only for now. Interested?” I on Google Drive. That’s 3.1TB of distributed cloud storage at
also fond of writing wasn’t comfortable with the idea of storing my emails outside my my fingertips as long as I’ve got a Wi-Fi connection — which
about himself in the computer, and yet I’d just lost them all because they were stored is everywhere I go because the iPad Pro has a data SIM. I never
third person. inside my computer. “Sure, invite me...” worry about losing my iPad data because it’s safe and sound
A moment ago I searched Gmail for my oldest message: April in huge distributed storage systems belonging to some of the
1st 2005, 1:06pm. It’s from ‘Gmail Team’ and the subject line Top 10 richest corporations in the world, whose wealth has
opens with “Gmail is different...” Fourteen years, six computers been built on storing, analysing and exploiting everybody else’s
and 11GBs of emails later, Gmail has not lost a single message. I data. Any event big enough to cause those corporations to
found the oldest one in seconds with three taps and a swipe, and lose my data, without advanced warning, will probably be so
I could do that from any computer anywhere in the world — as catastrophic that losing my data will be the least of my worries.
long as it’s connected to the internet and I can authenticate my Nuclear war, alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, the closing
identity. Welcome to cloud storage. You’ve probably been using it scene of Fight Club. Get the idea?
for years, whether you realised it or not. I’ve got expeditions coming up that will push my total content
Last November I wrote about my transition from laptop beyond 6TB, at which point my hard disk system will need
to iPad [‘On The Go’, AT130]. This excerpt from the closing another drive to maintain its redundancy. I’m not going to buy
paragraph reflects the last traces of my ‘pre-cloud’ thinking: it, because the notion of a personal hard disk archive is as dated
“My transition from OS X to iOS has been so successful that as the word ‘dude’. The new stuff is going straight to the cloud.
my Macbook Pro and hard disks now live in a storage locker in I’ll eventually migrate the older stuff over as well, because there’s
Bangkok, coming out once a month to archive recent recordings no way that a set of mollycoddled hard disks in a storage locker
and videos.” can beat the reliability and global accessibility of the mass storage
There’s something falsely reassuring about having everything systems belonging to the richest corporations in the world,
stored in tangible little boxes. I’ve got 5TB of content spread whose very existence relies on storing my data.
redundantly over three spinning drives. To satisfy my pedantry It’s 2019, dude. The internet is fast enough. You should be on
for collections, they’re all Seagate ‘Backup Plus’ 4TB drives with the cloud...
anodised aluminium finishes — one black, one red and one blue.

AT 82
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