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Welcome to the Family

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Professional Studio Reference Monitors

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REGULARS

Ed Space
No One Way to String a Cat
Column: Mark Davie

Editor
Mark Davie
mark@audiotechnology.com.au
Publisher
Philip Spencer
philip@alchemedia.com.au
Editorial Director
Christopher Holder
chris@audiotechnology.com.au
Editorial Assistant
Preshan John
preshan@alchemedia.com.au
Art Director
Dominic Carey
dominic@alchemedia.com.au

Ah orchestras, such beautiful yet complex beasts.

In this issue, we have three stories centred around
the process of orchestral recording and mixing. Which
will either turn you of Decca Tree, yada, yada, yada
or have you turning down your B&O hi-i and
reaching for the La-Z-Boys upright position. Rest
assured, its going to be a diverse ride, with three
completely diferent approaches to capturing the beast.
First up, theres the zen master of stereo, Tony
Faulkner, whos been around the block, oh,
thousands of times! Hes done it all: won
Grammys, recorded for all the major classical
labels, put mics up in front of 70 orchestras
and counting, and even had stereo
techniques named ater him without
his consent. Hes like an orchestra
recording superhero with a utility
belt of stereo miking techniques to
get him out of any sticky situation.
We caught up with him at the
Sydney Opera House, where
he was recording Beethovens
9th using a handful of Rode
prototype mics, including some
new omnis pointed up into the
roof. But an omni captures
sound from all around, you
say, why point them up? Tony
has the answer.
hen there was the revivalist crew,
who for his 80th birthday gited he
King a session with the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra. Of course, Elvis hasnt been around for
a while (or has he?), so it required high-level skilled
surgery to extract his original vocals, and further intense
editing to marry them with the new material recorded at
Abbey Road. Australian engineer, Peter Cobbin who
won two Grammies for the Lord of the Rings soundtracks
recorded the orchestra in the drier conines of Studio
2 (aka he Beatles studio) to control the orchestra
bloom. Being at Abbey Road, he opted to only use period
microphones, including the rare EMI RM-1B ribbon
made by Alan Blumlein in the 1930s. It was no easy ride,
the whole thing required some dramatic conforming to
the original phrasing to get it to sound right.
Lastly, we caught up with DJ Debris of the Hilltop
Hoods ater hed mixed his irst orchestral recording for
Drinking from the Sun/Walking Under Stars: Restrung. It
was the groups second crack at re-stringing selections
from their oeuvre. Last time, Neville Clark miked up the

AT 8

Graphic Designer
Daniel Howard
daniel@alchemedia.com.au
Advertising
Philip Spencer
philip@alchemedia.com.au
Accounts
Jaedd Asthana
jaedd@alchemedia.com.au
Subscriptions
Miriam Mulcahy
mim@alchemedia.com.au
Proofreading
Andrew Bencina
Regular Contributors
Martin Walker
Paul Tingen
Guy Harrison
Greg Walker
Greg Simmons
Blair Joscelyne
Mark Woods
Chris Braun
Robert Clark
Andrew Bencina
Brent Heber
Anthony Garvin
Ewan McDonald
Distribution by:
Network Distribution Company.
AudioTechnology magazine
(ISSN 1440-2432) is published by Alchemedia
Publishing Pty Ltd
(ABN 34 074 431 628).
Contact (Advertising, Subscriptions)
T: +61 2 9986 1188
PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest
NSW 2086, Australia.
Contact (Editorial)
T: +61 3 5331 4949
PO Box 295, Ballarat
VIC 3353, Australia.

orchestra in sections as well as with his modiied Decca

Tree. his time the Hoods were intent on capturing each
instrument with its own mic because the inal outcome
required shoehorning an orchestra into an already full
mix. You cant exactly put a composers General MIDI
Sibelius output into a track and hear the end product.
In just these three stories, the mic choices varied from
1930s period ribbons to unreleased Rode prototypes; the
placements encompassed everything from Faulkners
phased array stereo techniques to individual spot miking;
and the edits ranged from single takes to heavily conformed
edits in order to align with decades-old phrasing.
It goes to show that even in orchestral recording with its
century-long history of technique development theres
no one way to string a cat.

E: info@alchemedia.com.au
W: www.audiotechnology.com.au
All material in this magazine is copyright
2016 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. Apart
from any fair dealing permitted under the
Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by
any process with out written permission. The
publishers believe all information supplied
in this magazine to be correct at the time
of publication. They are not in a position to
make a guarantee to this effect and accept
no liability in the event of any information
proving inaccurate. After investigation and
to the best of our knowledge and belief,
prices, addresses and phone numbers were
up to date at the time of publication. It is
not possible for the publishers to ensure
that advertisements appearing in this
publication comply with the Trade Practices
Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person,
company or advertising agency submitting or
directing the advertisement for publication.
The publishers cannot be held responsible
for any errors or omissions, although
every endeavour has been made to ensure
complete accuracy. 18/04/2016.

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CONTENTS115
50

Stereo Masterclass
with Classical Legend,

Tony Faulkner

FEATURES

Doubling Down: Shure

Reinvents the Dynamic Mic

38 Peaceful Intervention: Violent Soho Hits No. 1

44 Wild Sounds: Mixing The Revenant
56 Elvis: Orchestrating The Kings Recoronation
62 Hilltop Hoods DIY Orchestral Mix
66 Blaskos Eternal Reinvention
70 Guy Sebastian: All the Right Regions

76

REGULARS
10 Whats On
36 Studio Focus: MESS
72 PC Audio
74 Apple Notes

Violent Sohos No. 1 Record

a Localised Hit

SUBSCRIBE & WIN!

A Shure KSM8 Dual Diaphragm
Dynamic Mic worth $949

SEE PAGE 97
AT 10

REVIEWS
38

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Advice. Price. Nice.

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PH: 02 4929 2829 www.musoscorner.com.au
AT 11
1

REGULARS

Whats On
All the latest from around
the traps.

Newmarket Studios Milwaukee Banks,

recorded and engineered by Callum Barter,
put on a great live show for their album launch
party in the studio space. he new album was
played in full and the subs were given a solid
workout. Mikelangelo & St Claire brought a
refreshing vibe into Newmarket for some Croatian
and Spanish lullabies. he Neumann U47 and U48
were the mics of choice for some smooth vocals,
and a pair of AKG C12Bs for gentle guitar.Barter
also tracked some Greek folk songs consisting of
Lyra, traditional drum and impressive Greek
vocals. he tasty valve mics did a sweet job
capturing it.
Heliport Studios Sunshine Coasts Heliport
Studios had a busy month installing a new SSL
Sigma summing mixer in Studio B which has
provided the facility with a super crisp sound. Troy
Brady (Amity Aliction) has been tracking drum
sessions in Studio A for an array of new up and
coming hard rock bands. Heliport has also teamed
up with Evergreen artists and Creature Creative
to provide full music production, branding and
release services for future releases.
Indie folk group Megan and the Achilles single
Empty Little Heart, and When he Gold Is Gone
by Chris Flaskas will be the irst cabs of the rank
for this new production to promotion process.
Excitement is building for Pineapple Festival and
its amazing line up happening in late May. Heliport
will be partnering with the festival and providing
local Queensland artists.
Deluxe Mastering On April 23 Deluxe
Mastering celebrated 10 years since opening its
doors, with sincere thanks to all clients who helped
make it happen.
Jack the Bear has mastered EPs for You Am
I (for digital and vinyl release), Eat he Damn
Orange, hem Bruins, singles for Lama (produced
by Jonathan Dreyfus), El Colosso (mixed by Jez
Giddings at Hothouse), Smoke Stack Rhino, US
act Street Rock Maia, and a new album for Daniel
Tooze. Music workshops have been held to support

WHATS HAPPENING?
Got any news about the happenings in your
studio or venue? Be sure to let us know at
whatson@audiotechnology.com.au

AT 12

Adam Dempsey, Tony Mantz, Andrei Eremin

new artists, inspirational videos are now on his new

Youtube channel Tony Jack the Bear Mantz, and a
new video podcast called Melbourne UNreal.
Adam Dempsey marks 30 years in audio and 21
years of mastering professionally, recently inishing
releases for Alex Watts (mixed by Jez Giddings),
Andy McGarvie (mixed by Sam Lowe), Frida, Lisa
Salvo, Masco Sound System, he Sand Dollars, and
Tetrahedra.
Andrei Eremin has found himself mastering
releases for Sticky Fingers, Cleopold, Tiny Little

Houses, Anatole, Ara Koufax, Audego, Darts, and

Alba, as well as many debut releases for new artists.
Ginger Studios Its been a cracker of a month
for Ginger Recording Studios. he Wu Tang Clan
rolled in between show dates in New Zealand and
Melbourne to work with engineer Jimi Wyatt on
some new material. he McQueens have been
pulling long nights and were hard at work during
the latter part of the month tracking the irst two
of 12 singles to be released, one per month over the
next year starting in April.

Electric Factory Pty Ltd 188 Plenty Road Preston VIC 3072 03 9474 1000

focusrite@elfa.com.au

www.elfa.com.au

Damien Gerrards he Dirty Earth's second

album Ascendancy is now released and was
recorded and mixed by Rusty and mastered
by William Bowden. Russell also worked up a
lightning-fast eight hour tracking session for
country music icon Bill Chambers, who recorded a
duet with singer Brielle Davis.
Other noteworthy sessions includeproducer
Jordan Ellery working on various projects,
producer Nathan Johnson from Mixosmosis
Studios utilising the drum room and tracking
facilities over a few weekends,blues singer Lily
Duval working with Andrew Beck and session
guitar player Scott Bird (Men From Earth), and
James Kyle also working with Andrew Beck.
he Red Stairs sees Peter Holz continuing to
mix various projects, some recently sent over to
Steve Smart at 301 for extra mastering. Andrew
Beck has recently mastered projects for Kate Miller
Heidke, Rust and Vera Blue (Universal), while Pete
mastered for Boris Sujdovic (Dubrovniks).
Will Bowden Down in Tassy, William
Bowden is busy mastering a multitude of projects,
including he Living Ends latest album.
AT 14

He's also been mastering albums for Bek-Jean

Stewart, Jack Carty, Jason Walker, he Crow Janes,
Matty Wall, Joey's Coop, Avargo Groove and
Donny Benet. EPs for Winterbourne, Heloise,
Tom Oliver, Like A hief, Eleanor Witt, Pleasure
Symbols, Ludodown,Tommyhawks, Sundown Jury.
Singles for he Living End, Allende Press, Georgia
S, Shimmergloom, King of Travellers, he High
Learys, he Lost Boys, Greg Chiapelli, homas
Fowkes, and Sam Stopforth.
Crystal Mastering At Crystal Mastering this
month, albums have been mastered for hip hop
artist Tornado, as well as Funkoars, Cooper West,
Renato Ozzimo, and more. Quite a few classical
projects came through the studio, with projects
tweaked for Allan Griiths, Vov Dylan, Anthony
Halliday, and Tegan Murphy.
Music Feeds Studio Music Feeds Studios inhouse engineers, Cat Colman and George Sheriden,
worked with Echo Deer in tracking their latest EP
to two-inch tape. Cat has also been busy recording
and mixing an interesting EP for local musicians
Leslie Marsh and Chanelle Collier, while also
tracking Frank Sultana's solo blues tracks to tape.

New Zealand engineer Michael Holland

lew over to track an EP for Sydney four-piece,
Rulefeather, and Simon Todkill has been working
on a recording for prog-rock outit, Meniscus.
In-house engineer, Chris Hancock recorded and
mixed the Shenton Gregory quintet of gypsy jazzstyle tunes. Chris has also started recordings for
local band, AlasKa, and has recently inished mixes
for Nic Cassey's latest EP Look Up At he Sky.

LIVE
Marshall Cullen March saw one of the best
lineups ever for A Day On he Greenwith Hoodoo
Gurus, Violent Femmes, Sunny Boys, Died Pretty
and Ratcat gracing the stage at the sold-out shows.
Mixing the Gurus was a dream for Marshall on the
East Coast, with JPJ rigs featuring L-Acoustics K1
and V-Dosc Systems. In the west, Perth saw a very
hi-i yet powerful d&b hang rigged up by Audio
Technik. Marshall also managed a quick day at
Womad with Kev Carmody. Avid consoles helped
the need for speed with no soundcheck festival
changeovers.

GENERAL NEWS

UAD OPENS WINDOWS TO USB

$1499 | www.uaudio.com

SOUND PRODUCTION 101 AT 90

www.90deg.com.au/academy/soundproduction101

UAD has started to bolster its line of Windows-compatible Apollo

products. Previously, the only recourse for PC users was to use
Firewire devices like the original Apollo and Firewire UAD-2
DSP accelerators. Alternately, if serious speeds were required, a
PCIe card with portability taking a knock. Mac laptop users
have been treated to high end hunderbolt Apollo interfaces of
all persuasions for a while now, and Windows users can start to
join them via USB 3. Its not the whole line yet, but so far UAD
has released a USB 3 Apollo Twin, which is available now, and
announced a couple of Satellite USB 3 DSP Accelerators (QUAD
and OCTO) due later in the year. You get all the same power at
speeds up there with hunderbolt. In another big announcement,
Universal Audio has announced a development partnership with
guitar and amp manufacturer, Fender. No word on whats being
developed yet, but cross your ingers for that Champ or Fender
Bender emulation.

New to the list of audio schools and education courses is 90Degree

Studios Sound Production 101 course, hosted by music retailer
Musos Corner in conjunction with Hunter TAFE. Its the irst
ever nationally recognised Skill Set for Recording and Mixing
in Australia, apparently providing over $8000 of education and
training value for just $399. As youd hope, the Newcastle-based
course puts a lot of emphasis on hands-on experience, and less so
on theory and textbooks. Its great value considering you also get
$349 worth of free gear when you enrol, including an interface,
microphone, four hours of studio time, and exclusive discount
ofers at Musos Corner. he course itself is described as a pathway
to the Diploma of Sound Production, and provides 24 hours of
recording training in the 90Degree Studio. Each course is delivered
by an experienced producer and teacher and successful completion
of the assessments nets you a Certiicate of Attainment towards a
Diploma of Sound Production.

CMI Audio:
(03) 9315 2244 or sales@cmi.com.au

Musos Corner:
(02) 4929 2829 or www.musoscorner.com.au

JBLS MONSTER STUDIO SUB

www.jblpro.com

FOCUSRITE RED MASH UP

$4399 | www.focusrite.com

JBLs new 18-inch SUB18 studio subwoofer provides response

down to 18Hz with a peak output of 137dB. SUB18 wears the
studio sub title due to its linear frequency response, making it
suitable for mixing and production applications for dance music
producers and engineers, not to mention post production for
ilm. he 8000W peak power handling capability meant special
technology was required for heat dissipation. he Diferential
Drive design incorporates two four-inch voice coils that share the
thermal load to reduce power compression and non-linear output.
he 2269H transducer is housed in a 24-inch-deep birch plywood
enclosure. JBL says the highest possible output and performance
are obtained by powering the SUB18 with Crown iTech HD series
power ampliiers.

Focusrites new lagship Red 4Pre 58 x 64 I/O interface can be used

with both hunderbolt 2 and Dante network audio connectivity.
And, would you believe it, youll actually ind two hunderbolt
ports on the back! he new Red Evolutions mic pres can be digitally
controlled for recall and stereo linking via Focusrite Control.
hey also come equipped with Air, irst introduced on the Clarett
interface range that recreates the sonic signature of the ISA preamps
by changing the impedance in the analogue domain. Focusrite also
reckons the Red 4Pre boasts the brands best converter performance
yet, with a parallel path summing coniguration for low noise, as
well as lowest round trip latency. Dante connectivity means you
can easily expand input count over Ethernet with Dante-enabled
hardware. he Red 4Pre will also drop right into a Pro Tools HD
system, thanks to its DigiLink connectors.

Jands:
(02) 9582 0909 or www.jands.com.au

AT 16

Electric Factory:
(03) 9474 1000 or sales@elfa.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

APOGEE RELEASES SECOND ONE

$429 | www.apogeedigital.com
Apogees latest mini interface is the 24-bit/96k One for Mac. Its a
cheaper version of the One for iPad & Mac originally released
in 2013, and supplanting the original 2009 One without the
iPad connectivity, but with pretty much the same spec list. Its a
2x2 USB interface in a die cast aluminium body with a built-in
omnidirectional condenser. Apogees interfaces seamlessly integrate
with OS X, and One for Mac is no diferent. Its designed to ofer
low latency and direct monitoring with complete input/output
control via Apogees Maestro sotware. You can connect via XLR
or 1/4-inch inputs via a breakout cable, with 62dB of gain on the
mic preamp. heres also a 1/8-inch stereo output for headphones
or powered speakers. One for Mac will work with all major DAWs.
Apogee also includes exclusive ofers on Waves plug-ins, available
upon registration. When you purchase a qualiied Apogee interface
(One included) youll be entitled to 35% of Waves bundles and
25% of individual plug-ins, plus receive a $100 voucher.
Sound Distribution
(02) 8007 3327 or info@sounddistribution.com.au

MORE FROM SENNHEISER & APOGEE

www.sennheiser.com.au
he ongoing relationship between Sennheiser and Apogee has
birthed the MK4 Digital for USB and iOS, where Sennheisers
large-diaphragm MK4 condenser mic gets Apogee conversion
and preampliication. he MK4 Digital is targeted at mobile
recording tasks and home recording applications. It also comes
with a Lightning iOS cable for connection to iPad, iPhone or iPod
Touch, as well as a microphone clamp and pouch. Sennheiser
also previewed the new HandMic digital, a rugged handheld
microphone that boasts built-in Apogee A/D conversion and
preamp for use with smartphones or tablets. Ideal for mobile
journalism, podcasting, and perhaps even vocal or instrument
recording. HandMic digital connect directly to USB inputs or to
Lightning sockets of iOS devices. A mic clamp and solid table
stand are included.
Sennheiser:
(02) 9910 6700 or sales@sennheiser.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

AT 17

ANTELOPE CLOCKS UP 3 NEWBIES

www.antelopeaudio.com

RMES 4 NEW FACES

www.rme-audio.com

Antelope Audios new LiveClock is based on the companys

Acoustically Focused Clocking (AFC) technology and designed for
live sound applications. he 1U unit supports up to 192k sample
rates, distributed via four Word Clock outputs on BNC and two
pairs of AES/EBU and S/PDIF outputs. Antelope has made it easy
to conigure using its touch interface and a cross-platform sotware
control panel. While Live Clock is tailored for the stage, itll
work just as well in a studio. Alongside LiveClock, Antelope has
announced another two new products. he aptly-named Goliath
is a hunderbolt, USB and MADI I/O audio interface with 36 x
32 analogue I/O, including 16 channels of mic pres. Goliaths two
MADI ports allow a total of 128 MADI channels, and Goliath also
features built-in DSP efects. Antelope has also debuted a portable
USB and hunderbolt interface called ZenTour. he desktop
interfaces eight analogue I/O, two reamp outs and Antelopes new
guitar amp emulation sotware makes it a strong contender for
bands.

In typical RME style, its four new products add power without
fussing over looks. he MADIface Pro desktop interface has 64
channels of MADI I/O on top of four analogue I/O. he ADI-2
Pro solely takes care of conversion, and all the way up to 768k.
Its a USB 2.0 class compliant interface and headphone amp that
can convert between AES, S/PDIF and ADAT. You also get a
built-in ive-band EQ on all analogue I/O and a high-resolution
IPS display. You wont be let wanting with the Fireface UFX+
hunderbolt interface. Its got a combined total of 188 channels
of I/O counting up ADAT, MADI, AES, S/PDIF and analogue
connectivity. Even cooler is the ability to record up to 76 channels
directly to a lash drive, if your laptops in for repair. Lastly, ARC
USB (Advanced Remote Control) gives you tactile control over
RMEs TotalMix FX sotware with 15 assignable buttons, a jog
wheel, footswitch port, and USB connectivity.
Innovative Music:
(03) 9540 0658 or info@innovativemusic.com.au

Audio Chocolate:
(03) 9813 5877 or www.audiochocolate.com.au

My EMA In Ears sound awesome and have

never let me down over the last 10 years
- Shannon Noll

Custom Moulded and

Generic Fit In-Ear Monitors

Ear Monitors Australia

38 Hall Road,
South Warrandyte
VIC 3134
T: 03 9844 2524
www.earmonitorsaustralia.com

EMA Supporting Australian Touring Artists AUSTRALIA WIDE & INTL SERVICE

AT 18

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

AKGS FLAGSHIP CLOSED-BACKS

$3199 | www.akg.com

GENELEC EXPANDS SAM LINEUP

www.genelec.com
Genelec has expanded its range of Smart Active Monitoring (SAM) systems
with ive new additions the 8340 and 8350 monitors, 7360 and 7370
subwoofers, and the 9301 AES/EBU multichannel interface for connection to
7.1 digital audio sources. Floating point DSP is a part of all SAM systems, as
is linearised phase response, auto calibration and spectral tuning capability.
he eicient Class D ampliiers in the 8340 and 8350 help the new monitors
pump out more SPL than previous models. hey also sport the Directivity
Control Waveguide (DCW) for accurate sound reproduction, even if your
head isnt bang in the middle of a pair. Both 7360 and 7370 subs accept
analogue and digital inputs and boast a multichannel bass-management
system. he new 9301 AES/EBU interface complements the SAM subwoofers
output link for integration of all multichannel sources. he Genelec
Loudspeaker Manager sotware (GLM 2.0) manages connectivity to all
Genelec SAM systems.
Studio Connections:
(03) 9416 8097 or enquiries@studioconnections.com.au

AKGs K872 closed-back reference

headphones are the sibling of the
lagship K812 open-back model that
was released last year. Designed for
accuracy and detail for recording,
mixing, mastering, and even live sound
applications, the K872 has a sizeable
53mm transducer that was developed
from the K812s drivers. If it feels
anything like the K812s to wear, itll be
delightfully comfortable with its slowretention foam ear pads and open-mesh
headband. AKGs stated frequency
response for the cans are from 5Hz to
54kHz, while delivering low distortion
levels throughout. he closed-back
design means you can use the K872s
without the whole room listening along
with you. he headphones include a
case that functions as both a headphone
stand and a low-proile carrying bag.
Hills SVL:
(03) 9890 7477 or www.hillssvl.com.au

YAMAHA CATERS FOR ALL

www.yamahaproaudio.com

KRKs Rokit series of monitors have always been lashy; those yellow cones
are hard to miss. Now you can choose an alternative bold look with KRKs
new metallic gold and whited out models. While sprucing up speakers with
some metallic bling might not be for everyone, those white models just might
help your monitors fade into the background. Either way, its nice to have
some colour options that go beyond bog-standard black.

Yamaha pulled out all stops at Prolight

+ Sound, showing of products that
cater to the live sound, studio, broadcast
and post production markets. he PX
Series is a brand new range of power
amps featuring Yamahas latest DSP
technology in a package thatll work
for both live and installed audio. he
RPio222 I/O rack is a compact variation
of the current RPio622 I/O rack for the
RIVAGE PM10 digital mixing system.
In the sound-for-ilm sector, Dolby
Atmos for Nuage was demonstrated
which allows lifelike aural experiences
to be mixed on the Yamaha system.
More new products from Yamaha
include the EMX2 portable powered
10-channel mixer with 1-knob Master
EQ ($700); the 1020W 18-inch DXS18
powered subwoofer ($2399) which can
deliver 136dB SPL with bass extension
down to 32Hz; and HPH-MT7 closedback monitoring headphones with
40mm drivers ($300) designed to
deliver a frequency response of 15Hz25kHz.

Gibson AMI:
(03) 8696 4600 or www.gibsonami.com

More info:
Yamaha: www.yamahaproaudio.com

KRKS NEW BOLD LOOK

$638/pair | www.krksys.com

AT 20

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

ZOOM U-24 & U-44 INTERFACES

www.zoom.com
he Zoom U-24 is a compact, 2-in/4-out audio interface with
24-bit/96k recording. Its got the same preamps as the H5 and H6
recorders and hooks up to your Mac, PC or iPad via USB, to form
a quick and easy recording device for when size matters. he U-24
has two combo inputs for mics or line ins, each with its own gain
knob and multi-colour level indicators. 48V phantom power is
available on both inputs, with the irst also accepting Hi-Z inputs
for direct instrument connection. Monitoring is zero latency. he
Zoom U-44 basically looks like a blue version of the U-24, but it
has four outputs instead of two. And, thanks to its 10-pin Zoom
connector, its compatible with all of Zooms interchangeable
input capsules. Youll also ind MIDI I/O, S/PDIF optical/coaxial
connectivity, three TRS phone jack outputs, and more monitoring
lexibility. Ableton Live 9 Lite is included.
Dynamic Music:
(02) 9939 1299 or info@dynamicmusic.com.au

BUZZ AUDIO VIBES ON COMPRESSOR

US$2595 | www.buzzaudio.com
New Zealand-based manufacturer Buzz Audios new DBC-M
compressor is a version of the DBC-20 diode bridge compressor
with a diode bridge gain reduction element coupled with a side
chain design. According to Buzz Audio, it delivers a vintage vibe
like no other, thats perfect for mastering and bus compression.
he DBC-M audio path uses Class A discrete ampliier designs in a
circuit thats balanced from input to output. A radio steel laminated
transformer adds extra colour, with the overall compression
characteristic being described as tight, colourful, and rich with
harmonics. he DBC-M has a self-adjusting ratio where the
compression amount increases with deepening gain reduction.
he big 24-position stepped knobs make repeatability easy, and
Sot provides a diferent lavour where dynamic peaks are partially
retained. A red LED bar graph displays gain reduction.
Audio Chocolate:
(03) 9813 5877 or www.audiochocolate.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

AT 21

REVIEW

EVE SC203
Compact Desktop Speakers
Review: Preshan John

Im sure we can agree that a studio monitor

doesnt have to be enormous to be accurate.
But lets face it you cant get much smaller than a
three-inch speaker before the term pro audio
starts to lose weight.
he Eve Audio SC203 is the baby of the
companys well-regarded ofspring of studio
monitors. Its a master/slave speaker system,
o
meaning the unpowered let speaker is chained to
the right, which receives power and input signal via
v
USB, optical, or analogue RCA connections. You
ut,
can hook up a subwoofer through the RCA outpu
though its quoted frequency response of 62Hz21kHz actually puts it in the full-range category.
he provided FlexiPads are like the toy in a
HappyMeal not really a mandatory addition,
but it totally sweetens the deal. Like the base of
the SC203 itself, the FlexiPad has a 7.5-degree
slant. Sticking it underneath a speaker kicks it
back 15-degrees while lipping the pads allow
the speaker to sit lat for ear-level mounting. As
a bonus, the FlexiPads rubber surface provides a
degree of acoustic decoupling for cleaner low end
and isolation.
Other goodies include threaded adapters
that let you mount an SC203 on any speaker or
microphone stand. Eve Audio also graciously
provides an abundance of connection cables
companies with hunderbolt interfaces, take note.
WHIZ KID

he SC203 is laden with digital intelligence.

24-bit/192k Cirrus Logic converters deliver signal
to the DSP section. hese converters are bypassed
entirely if you use the optical digital inputs. Among
the almost unnecessarily large amount of DSP
tweakability are three settings depending on what
position the speakers are in ear-level on stands,
angled up on a desktop, or somewhere in between
on a consoles meter bridge. Each option sounds
notably diferent, but to my ears the best-sounding
setting in each scenario didnt always correspond
with its intended position.
All DSP functionality is controlled with the knob
on the right speaker, with which you can adjust
volume, select input, control the 3dB high/low
shelf setting, choose speaker position, adjust let/
right balance, and more.
Next to even a pair of humble ive-inch M-Audio
monitors, its still abundantly clear that a three-inch
monitor wont reproduce sounds with the lifelike
quality of larger drivers. Its just the way things are.
Itd be unreasonable to put the SC203s up against
AT 22

Price: $999/pair
Electric Factory:
(03) 9474 1000 or
www.elfa.com.au

six- or eight-inch monitors; but put

them in a decent space, crank them
up, and theyll punch well above their
weight. Its near impossible to make
o
them sound tinny, even if you choose to
MT
use the DSP controls adversely. he A.M.T.
tweeters dont provide a clinical sense of clarity in
the highs; they have a certain mush to them, but
impart enough top end to not sound bland. Of
most surprise was the woofers tight and deined
low end. Whatever technical wizardry Eve Audio
has implemented with the coated paper woofer
membrane and rear passive bass radiator, it works
admirably for the size.
SMALLS SMALL

he thoroughbred DNA the SC203 carries is

apparent in its DSP capability, but theres no
denying its still a small speaker so small it
basically renders itself unworthy of the monitor
title. To be fair, Eve Audio actually calls the SC203
a more itting compact desktop speaker. In other
words, you wouldnt use the SC203s for mixing,
and Eve Audio seems to know that. Its hard to
ignore the family of premium studio monitors

these micro-speakers are joining.

So instead of underwhelming monitors, I see
(and hear) the SC203s as impressive-sounding
mini speakers, with a truckload of DSP and
lexible input options. hey are expensive for
their stature, so to buy these you really have to
be sold on the concept of size and the USB D/A
conversion gaming, education facilities, and
travelling producers come to mind. he SC203s
are miniaturised enough to it in a backpack with
plenty of room to spare, and you only need to
locate a single power outlet when you whip them
out. Potentially just the ticket for location recording
playback. hey wont replace your go-to mixing
monitors, but they might suit your speciic need
to a t. Plus, with onboard USB D/A conversion,
theyre certainly a step up from plugging speakers
into your laptops headphone jack.

The

REVOLUTION
REINVENTED.
In the early 1990s we took our studio-grade Dual
Concentric drivers and put them in the ceiling, giving
birth to our legendary CMS (Ceiling Monitor System)
and bringing true high quality audio to the ceiling loudZWLHRLYZWHJLMVY[OLYZ[[PTL>OH[MVSSV^LK^HZH
YL]VS\[PVUPUPUZ[HSSLKZV\UK;^VKLJHKLZSH[LY^L]L
[HRLU[OLILZ[HUKTHKLP[L]LUIL[[LY

Featuring a fundamental reinvention of the

Dual Concentric driver, the revolution
continues with the all-new CMS 3.0.
Find out more at www.tannoy.com

WE CHALLENGE YOU
TO A DUAL.
>L]L Z\IQLJ[LK [OL (4: YHUNL [V [OL TVZ[ YPNVYV\Z
LU]PYVUTLU[ [LZ[PUN PU ;HUUV`Z OPZ[VY`  HJOPL]PUN
a catergory leading IP65 rating which is amongst the
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P[Z NLULZPZ PU THU` VM [OL ^VYSKZ OPNO LUK YLJVYKPUN
Z[\KPVZ [OLYLMVYL [OL UL^ (4: SV\KZWLHRLYZ LUZ\YL
that playback of recorded material sounds exactly as
the engineer intended when it was mixed in the studio,
making them perfect for indoor and outdoor entertainment
venues in fact anywhere true sonic clarity and long term
YLSPHIPSP[`PZLZZLU[PHS>LJOHSSLUNL`V\[VH+\HS

WWW.TANNOY.COM
Unit 10, 163-173 McEvoy St, Alexandria NSW 2015 P (02) 9698 4444 E proaudio@australismusic.com.au W australismusic.com.au
AT 23

LIVE NEWS

BEHRINGERS X AIR GETS IN TOUCH

www.behringer.com

SOUNDCRAFT Vi2000 WITH SPIDERCORE

$45,995 | www.soundcraft.com

Behringers latest V1.12 irmware for the X Air Series mixers lets
you add hands-on, tactile control of your mix using the X-Touch
control surfaces. You can hook up an X Air mixer to the X-Touch
via MIDI or the built-in Ethernet port. X Air is already compatible
with iPad and Android tablets for wireless remote control, but
theres nothing quite like real faders. he controller provides nine
moving faders with LED scribble strips, eight rotary encoders, FX
send/return with parameter controls, assignment and adjustment
of Mute Group/DCAs and AutoMix channels. You also get Gate/
EQ/Dynamics and transport controls for the two-track USB
player/recorder on XR16 and XR12 models. X-Touch can also act
as a DAW control surface via Mackie Control and HUI protocols.

Soundcrats Vi2000 combines the unique Vistonics-based control

surface with Soundcrat SpiderCore an integrated DSP and
I/O engine based on Studer technology. SpiderCore is a 40-bit,
loating-point DSP engine that mixes FPGA and DSP technology
to maximise I/O routing and DSP mixing capability. he Vi2000
is conigurable up to 48 mic line inputs and 16 line outputs, using
combinations of 16-channel XLR modules in four rear-mounted
slots. he total I/O count of the console is 246 in and 246 out if you
use the expansion slots. Dante integration is taken care of with a
built-in 64x64-channel Dante interface. Further audio networking
potential is provided by the optical MADI interface. Soundcrat has
managed to pack all this into an impressively compact frame-size
only 1.15m wide, with 16 input faders and eight output faders.

Australis:
(02) 9698 4444 or www.australismusic.com.au

Jands:
(02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au

db TECHNOLOGIES VIO LINE ARRAY

www.dbtechnologies.com

L-ACOUSTICS DEEPENS LINE UP

www.l-acoustics.com

db Technologies is pushing further into larger sound

reinforcement applications with its new VIO L210 two-way active
line array system. Each box has two 10-inch woofers and a threeinch voice coil compression driver. Both 10-inch transducers sit
in a V formation and are sealed in a bass relex wooden enclosure.
he voice coils are made of aluminium-coated copper for longevity
and accurate transient response. he compression driver sports
a brand new waveguide to create a cylindrical wavefront thats
supposed to deliver very precise high-frequency directivity
control. he module is powered by a Class D Digipro G3 900W
amp. According to db Technologies, the eiciency of the VIO
L210 is such that you can hook up 10 modules on a unique 220V
line without afecting performance. Low end is taken care of by
the VIO S 318 active triple 18-inch bass relex, semi-horn loaded
subwoofer. he three Digipro G3 ampliiers provide 2700W to the
system, allowing 143dB SPL.

L-Acoustics new KS28 reference subwoofer and its ampliied

controller, the LA12X, have been unveiled at Prolight+Sound. he
new sub ofers extended bandwidth down to 25Hz and weighs
in at 79kg. All rigging is integrated into the box and it has been
designed for versatility and tight impact, from classical music to
EDM. he LA12X ampliied controller has 12kW of power (up
to 3300W per channel) and ofers an extra 3dB of SPL over the
SB28. With up to 3300W per channel, the LA12X is capable of
operating from 100 to 240V while ofering the highest tolerance
to unstable mains. Universal SMPS means you can take it around
the globe and not worry about it exploding, while boosted DSP
resources with AVB keeps the amp future-ready. he LA12X was
accompanied by the LA-RAK II, an updated touring rack, ofering
worldwide compatibility in one model. he new products are
available for order immediately and will begin shipping in May.

National Audio Systems:

(03) 8756 2600 or sales@nationalaudio.com.au
AT 24

Hills SVL:
(03) 9890 7477 or www.hillssvl.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

AKGS C7 CONDENSER HANDLES NOISE

$529 | www.akg.com
AKG tackled handling noise head on with its
new C7 reference vocal condenser microphone.
he mic features a mechano-pneumatic shock
absorption system with a rubber layer surrounding
the capsule to keep housing vibrations from being
transferred to the capsule. Apparently the company
searched high and low for the right rubber to meet
the spec, and inally found a patented material
with such strong absorptive properties that it
lands completely lat when dropped. he durably
designed C7 boasts an all-new supercardioid
capsule intended to handle extremely high SPL
and provide studio-quality sound on stage. he
supercardioid pattern has good feedback rejection,
and plosives are tamed with the mics grill, a
foam layer behind it, and a layer of mesh atop the
capsule.
Hills SVL:
(03) 9890 7477 or www.hillssvl.com.au

T
TURBOSOUND
LOOKS TO INSPIRE
F
From $1299 | www.music-group.com
T
Turbosounds new Inspire Series looks to take
discrete portable PA to the next level. he 600W
d
iP500 ($1299) is the baby of the trio, with the
a
active
column speaker and accompanying eightinch sub providing up to 180 coverage. he
1
1000W
iP1000 ($1599) features eight 2.75-inch
n
neodymium
drivers, a horn loaded super-tweeter,
and a dual eight-inch subwoofer. Its bigger sibling
the iP2000 ($2199), also 1000W, has 16 of the
same neodymium drivers and a 12-inch sub. Both
models are designed for 120 dispersion and have
Klark Teknik-powered DSP and ampliiers. All
three PAs allow audio streaming via Bluetooth, and
the onboard three-channel mixer can be remotecontrolled by an iPhone/iPad app.
Australis:
(02) 9698 4444 or www.australismusic.com.au

JBL EON ONE

~$1699 | www.jbl.com
Adding to the growing list of all-in-one PAs is JBLs
Eon One a linear-array system with Bluetooth
audio and a six-channel mixer. he Eon One
puts out a maximum 118dB SPL and is compact
enough to be carried by one person. he builtin six-channel mixer lets you connect mics and
instruments without carrying an additional desk
around. he mixer also has bass, treble and reverb
controls to provide a degree of sound-shaping. A
10-inch bass-relex subwoofer helps things out in
the low-end department. he unit includes two
spacers to optimise throw two spacers for long
throw live performances, or one spacer for more
intimate gatherings.
Jands:
(02) 9582 0909 or www.jands.com.au

BOOST YOUR IMAGE

Introducing the 3 Series Powered Studio Monitors, the first to
incorporate JBL's groundbreaking Image Control Waveguide. The microdynamics in reverb tails, and the subtleties of mic placement are clearly
revealed. A realistic soundstage creates the tangible sense that there is a
centre channel speaker. 3 Series broad, room-friendly sweet spot means
everyone in the room hears the same level of dimension and transparency.
And the sound stage is so realistic it creates a tangible sense of a center
channel. A broad, room-friendly sweet spot means everyone in the room
hears the same level of dimension and transparency in your music. Adopting
technology developed for our flagship M2 Master Reference Monitors, the 3
Series are surprisingly affordable, so you can hook up a pair and boost the
image in your studio.
Learn more at www.jands.com.au/jbl3series

'LVWULEXWHGE\

ZZZMDQGVFRPDX

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

AT 25

SMAART 8 SMARTENS UP LOOK

www.rationalacoustics.com

SHURE & YAMAHA GET ALONG

www.yamahaproaudio.com & www.shure.com

Many regard Rational Acousticss Smaart as the industry standard

for acoustic test and measurement sotware. he latest update
to version 8 ofers better control of the sotware environment
while making the measurement coniguration, control, and data
handling processes easier. Jamie Anderson, Rational Acoustics
CEO: Since the release of Smaart v7 in 2010 we have learned a
tremendous amount about what features are important to users
in a multi-measurement capable environment, and how they
integrate Smaart into the worklow of their daily audio engineering
tasks. With Smaart v8, users will be much better able to adapt
and expand Smaart to match their speciic applications. Key
new features include a new tab-based interface, multi-window
capability, hide/show interface control bars, broadband metering
for all input devices, Smaart-to-Smaart API remote control,
improved stability and security, better performance on the latest
operating systems, and native support for high-deinition displays.

Yamaha and Shure have announced that youll soon be able to

control and monitor Shures ULX-D Digital Wireless Systems using
Yamahas CL and QL Series consoles. he integration between
the two products lets you monitor battery life, RF reception and
strength, antenna status, frequency and audio level; while having
control over gain, mute and channel name assignment. Ken
Hiraoka, Yamaha Pro Audio Business Unit Director: hrough
continuing collaboration with Shure, the leading microphone
innovator, Yamaha CL/QL series consoles and Shure ULX-D
digital wireless systems come together with seamless integration
that contributes to enhanced operating eiciency and convenience.
Both Shure and Yamaha will continue to innovate in our respective
ields. Nick Wood, Category Director of Wireless Systems at
Shure comments: his integration means that ULX-D users can
optimise microphone gain settings from the mix position and
conidently monitor the status of wireless systems within the
context of the console interface. he V4.0 irmware update will be
available by the end of April.

Production Audio:
(03) 9264 8000 or www.pavt.com.au

Jands:
(02) 9582 0909 or www.jands.com.au

DIE, FEEDBACK!
US$99 | www.waves.com

DPAS NEW LINEAR D:FACTO

www.dpamicrophones.com

X-FDBK is a feedback destroyer plug-in from Waves. he irst

of its kind from the company, X-FDBK is designed to identify
precise problem frequencies and surgically notch them out. Hear
that, soundies? Your own, personal, virtual room-tuner! Livin the
dream. But the plug does need a bit of help. For it to do its thing,
you irst need to turn up the levels on your wedges or PA until they
start to feedback, then activate the plug-in, and wait a few seconds
until you hear the feedback disappear. he graphic frequency
spectrum shows you all the work its doing, and the degree to
which its cutting out the pesky frequencies. X-FDBK also allows
for human intervention you can compensate for overzealous
feedback destruction by tweaking the notch EQs manually. And
of course, to reap the beneits of your digital assistant, it requires a
console that can run plug-ins.

DPA Microphones has added a sibling to its d:facto Vocal

Microphone family, the d:facto Linear Vocal Microphone. Unlike
the original d:facto Vocal Microphone, which has a 3dB sot boost
at 12kHz, the new version is designed for linearity in frequency
response for soundies who like crating tone from a neutral
starting point. he new capsule has an isolation-optimised
supercardioid polar pattern and SPL handling up to 160dB. In
keeping with the modular capabilities of the d:facto range, the
capsule can be removed and replaced with any other d:facto
capsule to suit diferent recording or performance requirements.
DPA also unveiled the GM1600 Gooseneck microphone mount
for its d:screet omni miniature microphones. he new mount is
designed to never blemish or scratch an instrument, while giving
plenty of lexibility for optimal placement.

Sound & Music:

(03) 9555 8081 or www.sound-music.com

Amber Technology:
1800 251 367 or sales@ambertech.com.au

AT 26

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

SPOKEN HERE

personal monitor system

5+/2.''
+
''

&''2'017
&''2 '017

(
( 4

VOLUNTEE S PROFESSIONALS
Livemix was designed to be simple
enough for volunteers to use, but
deep enough to give professionals
all the tools they need for mix
perfection.
With features like 24 channels with
effects, dedicated Me knob, custom
channel naming, built-in ambient
microphones, color touchscreen and
MirrorMix remote mixing, Livemix
is the personal monitoring system
that helps musicians give their very
best to every performance.

24 channels with effects

2 discreet mixes per mixer
Touchscreen with custom names
Dedicated ME knob
Built-in ambient mics
MirrorMix remote mixing
Hands-free mixing with foot pedal
Rack output for wireless monitors

'LVWULEXWHGE\

2014, 2015 Digital Audio Labs. 2016 Digital Audio Labs. is a trademarks of Audinate Pty Ltd.

ZZZMDQGVFRPDX

WWW.DIGITALAUDIO.COM

REPORT

EVS NEW
X-LINE X2
DEBUTS AT
PORT FAIRY
Report: Preshan John

A folk festival is a nightmare draw for a

new PAs inauguration. heres something
about a combination of acoustic instruments
guitars, drums, percussion, banjos,
mandolins, iddles that instantly and
unforgivingly reveals a systems character.
Melbourne production company Powa
Productions was a key supplier at Port Fairy
Folk Festival for its 40th anniversary this year,
and took the chance to put its newly acquired
Electro-Voice X-Line X2 two-way mid/high line
array system and X12 subwoofer to the test on
the main stage.
Powa Productions has had a long relationship
with EV that started when AC/DC toured
Australia in 1998. Pat Kearney, Production
Manager, recalled beginning their connection
with EV via AC/DC. One of the partners in the
company was a sound engineer for AC/DC so
we grew with AC/DC tours in the late 1990s
and the 2000s. It presented a really valuable
product. Weve moved forward into the line
array ranges as EV has released them.
he X2 package is a really great system,
and a great step forward in EVs voicing. Its
continued the work it started with XLC/XLD/
XLE and taken it one step further to help
create some consistency across its package
purchases. As EV investors, or as a touring
engineer, you know that as you go from one
gig or town to the next, your system is going
to sound the same. Plus, youve got that same
consistency as you go from one cabinet size to
the next.
I feel like the X2 has got great dynamic
range its got more dynamic range than its

AT 28

WATCH THE VIDEO

Powa Productions Pat Kearney gives the lowdown on
EVs X-Line X2 inbetween sets at Port Fairy.
www.youtube.com/audiotechnologymag

predecessors. It feels more like a return to the XF

and XN X-Array, which I really loved. It has great
presence and truth through the midrange and feels
more responsive to your mix.
he X12, a dual-18 sub, is one of the highest
powered subs on the market at 4000W continuous
and 16,000W peak. EV has put in the hard yards in
its new anechoic chamber ine-tuning the voicing
of the subs. Its a very clean tone, and everyone
likes the punchiness of it, said Kearney. heres
much less of the wooiness that we hear across
other brands.
For production and rental companies, ease of
rigging is almost as important as a PAs sound. he
ability to ly the X-Line arrays quickly, easily, and
safely, is one of its greatest assets. EV has taken
a new approach designing the rigging method
for X1 and X2. hey both use the same rigging
system, although you wouldnt do combination
hangs of the two. Kearney: Its an interlocked
system you dont have any pins to lose or any

bits to get bent. Its very easy coming out of the

carts. You ly your irst half of the cart, spin it,
pick up the next cart, ly it straight as a lat hang
and put your degrees in as you go up. Minimum
fuss and nice and quick, both in and out. heres
a lot less juggling than with other products when
youre trying to get things into carts, especially on
uneven ground.
The X-Line rig didnt quite break a sweat at
Port Fairy, but Powa Productions has plenty
more gigs lined up for the system thatll see it
flex some muscle.
Kearney: Im really looking forward to putting
the PA out next summer on the Red Hot Summer
Tour. Its a great rock n roll event that has audience
sizes up to 5000 people in states all across Australia.
Well see some sites with throws of 80m, some with
100m, with varying shapes and sizes. he event
itself is a great one for the PA because you know itll
be light, itll be quick. We can get in and out really
quick and have a great, consistent-sounding PA.

Powa Productions: www.powa.com.au

Bosch: www.boschcommunications.com.au

TECH SPECS
X2-212/90
Size: 12-inch LF woofer/dual three-inch
HF compression drivers
Coverage: 90 Horizontal
Frequency Response: 52Hz 19kHz
Weight: 42.2kg
X12 SUB
Size: Dual 18-inch
Coverage: Omnidirectional
Frequency Response: 33 200Hz
Weight: 88.5kg

AT 29

SOFTWARE NEWS

NEW TRIO FROM BRAINWORX

www.plugin-alliance.com

CELEMONY CAPSTAN KILLS FLUTTER

US$4458 | www.celemony.com

Audio plug-in developer Brainworx has announced three new

plugs at MusikMesse 2016. he irst is the Brainworx Panoramic
EQ, with three parametric bell-curve ilters and all the usual
equalisation controls. he twist is its ability to boost or cut EQ at
discrete pan positions in the stereo ield. hat means you can select
what part of the stereo ield you want to afect allowing for some
pretty full-on lexibility in both mixing and mastering applications.
he new SPL EQ Ranger Plus difers from the original EQ Rangers
Vol. 1 by including 181 EQ modules, with a heap of genre-speciic
settings by Craig Bauer and Brainworx founder Dirk Ulrich.
hird is the new Acme Opticom XLA-3 compressor, designed as
a lavourful compressor that imparts a ton of harmonically rich
vibes onto whatever it processes. Brainworx says the XLA-3 is
capable of smooth LA-2A sounds with the additional beneits of
even-harmonic distortion when needed.

Capstan, Celemonys sotware solution for the removal of wow

and lutter, has received an update to Version 1.2 that now lets it
operate in higher resolution. With the free update, Capstan ofers
an optional High-Resolution Mode that increases the resolution of
the audio analysis fourfold, meaning lutter frequencies up to 14Hz
can be eliminated, while further increasing the accuracy of the
processing. Capstan is based on Celemonys patented DNA Direct
Note Access technology that enables detection of wow and lutter
from the music itself regardless of the medium (magnetic tape,
vinyl, etc). he sotware is used by classic labels and mastering and
restoration studios, broadcasters and archivists, making its mark
through the rescue of valuable historical recordings. For US$199,
Capstan can be licensed for ive days, while a permanent license
costs US$4458.
Electric Factory:
(03) 9474 1000 or www.elfa.com.au

EVENTIDES BOWIE VERB TRIBUTE

$249 | www.eventideaudio.com

FXPANSION GASES UP BFD3

www.fxpansion.com

Tverb is Eventides new plug-in made in collaboration with Tony

Visconti to mimic the sound of the title track of David Bowies
album, Heroes. Visconti famously recorded Bowies vocals in
Berlins Meistersaal with three microphones placed varying
distances from him, gated to open as he sang louder. Tverb
integrates three completely independent reverbs with compression
and selectable polar patterns on microphone 1 and adjustable
gates on microphones 2 and 3. "I have plug-ins that emulate
rooms but this concept, to have the set-up all on one page, I
never thought it was possible, commented Tony Visconti. he
three microphones are correct, the room is correct, and now that
it's in stereo, you're actually hearing something that I never got
around to doing when I was in Berlin. It's just great." he plug-in
includes presets created by Tony Visconti and other artists. Tverb
is available for AU, VST and Pro Tools AAX for Mac and PC at an
introductory price of $149.

FXpansion announces BFD Horsepower the latest addition to

its library of expansion packs for BFD3, this time focusing on a
selection of mix-ready, Americana-style drum sounds covering
everything from blues and alt-country to garage rock and folk.
Horsepowers stick and brush kits are presented in two distinct
processing styles alongside an unprocessed version. he result is a
total of six kits, created for instant usability and high levels of detail
for maximum playability with electronic drums. Horsepower was
created using a Gretsch USA Custom kit with three toms, Gretsch
snare (with snares on and of), Sabian hats, and Zildjian cymbals.
BFD3 is the third generation of FXpansions popular sotware
acoustic drum studio for Mac and Windows with 32- and 64-bit
support for AAX, AU, RTAS, and VST plug-in formats.

AT 30

Innovative Music:
(03) 9540 0658 or info@innovativemusic.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

The Next Stage in Live Sound Is Here

Discover VENUE | S6L
Get the groundbreaking performance you need to handle the most demanding live productionstoday and
in the future. The all-new VENUE | S6L offers the onboard plug-ins and Pro Tools recording you know and
love, but raises the bar with higher plug-in and track counts, modern touchscreen workflows, and exceptional
sound qu lity. nd it outp rforms ll oth r syst ms h nds down with unpr c d nt d proc ssing
capabilities to meet any challenge.
Experience the future of live soundvisit avid.com/S6L

VENUE | S6L on tour with Massive Attack

2016 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, the Avid logo, and Pro Tools are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Available from these Avid partners:

ZYNAPTIQ REVERB & MANGLE-MACHINE

www.zynaptiq.com

STUDIO ONE CONSOLE EMULATION

www.presonus.com

According to Zynaptiq, its new Adaptiverb is a relectionsless

reverb plug-in. he idea is that, unlike traditional acoustic room
modelling, using relections, Adaptiverb creates depth and
harmonic richness without obscuring the source or moving it
back. Some serious geekery has gone into this thing ray tracing
reverberation, adaptive similarity iltering, and a new AI technique
thats apparently similar to the technology enabling self-driving
cars to avoid collisions. Adaptiverb is designed to be a reverb that
creates lush spaces, smooth drones, and far-out textures, but still
stays out of the way. Another new addition, Wormhole, combines
an eccentric spectral warping section with a reverb and pitch/
frequency-shiting processor to create otherworldly sounds.
Zynaptiq reckons the plug-in is a great tool for sound designers,
ilm composers, and electronic musicians. Both Adaptiverb and
Wormhole support sampling rates up to 192k, and are available in
AAX, AU, RTAS, and VST formats for Windows and Mac OS X.

Presonuss substantial Studio One 3.2 update is free for all

current Studio One V3 users. he big ticket, Console Shaper, is
designed to recreate analogue mixer system topology, providing
control over drive, noise, and even crosstalk across multiple
channels. You can now remote control any number of tracks
from VCA Faders, while still retaining independent channel
control for ine tuning your mix. VCA Faders link with folder
tracks to keep things organised and you can automatically create
automation tracks for every FX, bus or VCA channel. Arrow
Tool has been made smarter by transforming into the range tool
when appropriate. You also get new Tab-to-Transient capabilities,
faster crossfade editing, new QuickZoom shortcuts, and the
function to drag n drop Instrument parts and immediately
bounce to audio. New Transport options are now easily
accessible. Double-click transport bar meters to quickly make
output FX adjustments. Stay in the zone with Play Start Marker
and instant looping of selections when editing.
Link Audio:
(03) 8373 4817 or info@linkaudio.com.au

iZOTOPE MOVES WITH MOBIUS FILTER

US$49 | www.izotope.com

AMPLITUBE DOES THE MESA BOOGIE

www.amplitube.com

According to iZotope, its Mobius Filter creates the sensation of

ininite movement through the perpetually rising or falling efects
that can be easily manipulated with a playful X/Y pad. Sounds
like a Risset Filter, and a lot of fun. Similar to the companys
recently released DDLY, Mobius Filter is designed for out-of-theordinary treatment of tracks. he plug-in can act as an alternative
to a langer or phaser to create sonic movement or motion. You
can even draw your own sweeps with the X/Y pad, making luid
adjustments to both centre frequency and resonance controls. It
might be just the thing to add some lair to a track thats bordering
on boring.

IK Multimedias AmpliTube MESA/Boogie for iPhone and iPad

lets you process your guitar or bass tone with some of Mesa
Engineerings instantly identiiable amps and cabs the tight
crunch of the Dual and Triple Rectiier, the sustain of the Mark
III and Mark IV, to the mid-gain tones of the TransAtlantic TA30. Each model received the tick of approval from the team at
Mesa. In addition to the ampliier models, the app also includes
six versatile stompboxes for more tone-shaping lexibility
Noise Filter, Metal Wah, Sustainer, Obsession (delay pedal),
Surfer (langer) and Monster Booster. heres also a single-track
recorder, built-in drummer, an optional four-track looper, tuner,
metronome, preset browsing system and more. AmpliTube
MESA/Boogie is now available from the App store.

Electric Factory:
(03) 9474 1000 or www.elfa.com.au

Sound & Music:

(03) 9555 8081 or www.sound-music.com

AT 32

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

Total Mix
Control.
StudioLive
AVB Mix System
StudioLive AVB Mix Systems combines one
or two StudioLive RM-series rack mixers,
a StudioLive CS18AI Ethernet/AVB control
surface, and the award-winning Capture
and Studio One 3 Artist for up to 64
channels of recording and total mix control.

an on-stage, rack-mount mixing system

and control it from front-of-house with 18
touch-sensitive, motorized faders. The
AVB Mix Systems also support Wi-Fi and
Ethernet networking, and personal monitor
control from iOS devices.

The StudioLive AVB Mix Systems are

scalable, fully recallable, networked over
AVB Ethernet, and tightly integrated with
the included software. Set up your I/O in

The CS18AI is a feature-packed touchsensitive moving fader control surface for

the StudioLive RM mixers and Studio One.
Get hands-on.

Available separately or
in multiple configurations:

StudioLive AVB 48AI Mix System

StudioLive AVB 64AI Mix System

StudioLive AVB 32AI Mix System

StudioLive AVB 16AI Mix System (notshown)

2016 All Rights Reserved, PreSonus Audio Electronics. StudioLive is a registered trademark of PreSonus Audio Electronics. Studio One is a registered trademark of PreSonus Software Ltd.

Proudly distributed in Australia by

P: 03 8373 4817
www.linkaudio.com.au

18 100mm, touch-sensitive
motorized faders
Dedicated Fat Channel and
FX control
16 high-resolution scribble
strips with pan indicators
Variable color Select buttons
Navigation with traditional
layers or with intuitive UC
Surface Filter DCA groups
Easy connection via one
Ethernet cable eliminating
the need for cumbersome
analog or digital snakes and
stage boxes

REVIEW

WAVES NX
Virtual Mix Room Plug-In
Review: Preshan John

Price: US$99
Sound & Music:
(03) 9555 8081 or
www.sound-music.com

Mixing with headphones can be a risky ordeal.

I remember when I irst tried producing
a song entirely in cans the track was bangin,
everything felt big and wide, the vocals cut through
like a knife. hen I chucked it on some speakers
and, to my dismay, the levels were all out of whack,
efects were overblown, and anything panned
centre was way too loud.
Waves new Nx plug-in is designed to marry the
paradigms of headphone and speaker monitoring
by maintaining the convenience and privacy of
headphones while rectifying the deceptive auditory
world they put you in. Namely, a dramatically wide
stereo image, unconventional amount of detail, lack
of crosstalk between let and right channels, and
the absence of any room relections mingling with
the direct sound before arriving at your eardrums.
Pop Nx onto your master bus and youll hear
the diference immediately. he stereo spread
narrows, the centre image sotens, and youre
transported into a world illed with pseudo-room
relections and artiicial depth. he overall efect is
the comparative blurriness youd get from hearing
AT 34

real speakers in a real room, and Nx manages to

present this quite naturally. here are plenty of
settings that let you tailor your virtual acoustic
environment. You can graphically adjust the virtual
speakers width and position, and even place them
behind your head. he Room Ambience controls
let you alter the amount of relections and trim
the centre level. he soundscape Nx creates is very
reminiscent of a binaural recording itll even
present 5.1 surround mixes on cans!
Head Tracking uses your computers builtin camera to follow your head movements for
enhanced realism. Waves has really committed
to this idea, even announcing a piece of hardware
called Head Tracker that clips onto your
headphones and pairs up with Nx to provide the
same efect.
Over a period of time, Nx lulls you into a sense
of spaciousness that really does feel like youre
monitoring in a room. In fact, it almost feels
of-putting when you bypass the plug-in ater an
extended mix session.
But does it improve your mixes? It depends.

Personally, Ive learnt over time how to

compensate for the anomalies imposed by
headphone mixing so I cant say Nx will
revolutionise my production quality. If youre not
a heavy headphone user, then itll scarcely make it
beyond your plug-in menu.
But if youre a laptop producer or engineer who
works primarily on headphones, then maybe Nx
will help provide that extra bit of objectivity in
levels judgment and stereo spread to improve your
mixing consistency.
Regardless of the regularity of your headphone
usage, Nx is still a great hearing aid to have tucked
in the toolbox, for whenever monitors arent in
reach. I reckon its a justiiable purchase even if
only as a quick mix-checking device. Head over to
waves.com, download the free 14-day demo, and
give it a whirl. At the very least, youll ind it rather
entertaining spinning the virtual speakers around
your head.

STUDIO FOCUS

M
Half a million dollars worth of vintage
synths tucked away in a back alley shed
near Melbournes CBD might be some peoples
idea of heaven.
For Byron Scullin and Robin Fox, its that and
much more.
Welcome to MESS, the Melbourne Electronic
Sound Studio where, Robin enthusiastically states,
you can get your hands on the entire history of
electronic music.
MESS is a not-for-proit organisation birthed by
these two guys who share a passion for nostalgic
music machinery. he inventory is nothing short of
impressive name a synth brand from yesteryear
and youll doubtless ind a well-preserved model
sitting on the shelves.
he philosophy behind building a coveted
collection like this is to make the signature sounds
of the 50s, 60s and 70s accessible to everyday
musos. For $220, you can purchase a one-year
membership at MESS which gives you access to
the space as oten as you like (with an entry fee
of $40 per four-hour visit). Bring your laptop and
interface, grab a synth from the shelf, set up on a
workbench, and inject some vintage vibes into your
tunes. Or, you can simply spend your four hours
patching leads on a gargantuan, limited edition
Moog System 55 (MESS has two of those) or
custom-built Transaudio modular synth. You wont
be judged.
But where did all this gear come from? Good
question. Itd take more than a lifetime for any one
person to acquire a room full of synths with this
kind of desirability, which is why theyve come from
several sources some from donors whod rather
have their synths played than nestled in a cabinet at
home, others from educational institutions, others
from the manufacturers themselves, and many from
Byron and Robs own collections.
AT 36

BUCHLA Byron: Buchla synths are

quasi-scientific and almost mystical. The
oscillator knobs are deliberately wonky so
you can wiggle them for a litle tremolo. The
idea with a Buchla is you almost cant make
traditional music with it. If you try to, youll
send yourself insane.
Robin: The thing that modular synthesists
seem to be really interested in is this slightly
generative, slightly random, not-quite-surewhats-gonna-happen, chaotic aspect.

TRIADEX MUSE Robin: This was touted

as one of the first artificial intelligence
sequencers ever built. If you read the manual
to the Triadex Muse, they start o by saying
you cant make current music with this; you
can only make the music of the future. At that
time, there was this really utopian, almost
science-ction relationship to the sound of
music which was saying this is literally the
future of music.

MOOG SERIES 55 MODULAR Byron: The

Moog 55 is essentially a big mono synth.
Moog has only made 55 of these reissues and
we have access to two of these in the MESS
collection. When Moog rst started creating
modular synths, they were a la carte systems.
But later on down the track Moog started to
produce pre-designed modular systems, and
thats what the 55 is. With the way Moog designed its synthesizers, the 55 was designed
for accuracy. If you go to this machine with
intent, youll get the sound youre looking for.

Byron: In some ways, what were about here

is trying to give people the full experience of
electronic music. Everyones using laptops, theres
all this sotware out there; but if youve got ive
grand in your back pocket, are you going to buy
an old mono synth, that probably needs a lot of
maintenance, or are you going to buy a gang of
plug-ins thatll give you such amazing functionality?
he problem is, they give you so much functionality
that it can be really hard to penetrate beyond
presets and the vast array of options.
In here, the idea is that you sit down with one of
these old machines and come face-to-face with the
people who designed them and their ideas about
how electronic sound should be produced. With
all these machines, you start from zero. Whichever
way you get to the sound, its your experience, its
your journey that you go on.
From the quirky Buchla to the straight-laced
Moog, MESS is the gourmet kitchen for the
electronic music chef de cuisine. You can whip
up virtually any concoction of other-worldly
sounds with the extraordinary variety at your
disposal. While there are too many to mention in
two pages, heres the lowdown on some of MESSs
most prized possessions.
AT 37

FEATURE

Violent Soho are more at home than

ever on Waco. The second album since
returning to their roots sees the band
continue their loyal relationship with
producer Bryce Moorhead.
Feature: Mark Davie
Photos: Luke Henery

Artist: Violent Soho

Album: Waco

AT 38

For a while there, Violent Soho was like a

smartphone in the hands of a confused
gorilla hurston Moores label Ecstatic Peace! to
be precise. It could sense there was something
valuable inside, but rather than deferring to the
owner for the unlock code, it just kept smashing it
on the loor.
Inevitably, things started to crack. Rather than
producing a rare jewel, the extreme pressure
precipitated a inal collapse, ater one too many
beatings.
Before Ecstatic Peace! came on the scene, the
Mansield bands irst EP went down well. Locally
produced by Bryce Moorhead, it netted them a
number of strong support slots. A locally made
album followed this time produced by manager
Dean Dirt, and recorded and mixed by Moorhead
and Sloth with songs strong enough to attract
the attention of the Sonic Youth frontman.
When Ecstatic Peace! picked the band up, rather
than trusting the band to keep growing, a hold was
placed on Violent Sohos discography. he label
decided it would be prudent to re-record seven out
of 10 songs with Gil Norton and rehash them as a
self-titled debut.
Ater 18 months, the band were let with no
money, and no label. Oddly, while the album didnt
do well enough Stateside, and despite it already
having mostly been heard back home, the rehash
still managed to get an ARIA nod. Go igure. It
even surprised the band. Guitarist James Tidswell
was on his way out of the door holding a Maccas
application form when he got the call about it.
Looking back, it seemed like a misstep. Since
returning to their Brisbane base, the band has
released two more albums under the I Oh You
label, Hungry Ghost and the new one, Waco, which
climbed to No. 1. Both have been produced,
recorded and mixed by Bryce Moorhead picking
up from where the band let of before the US
adventure and the band couldnt be happier.
Its always kind of scared me to think of going
anywhere else, said singer and main songwriter
Luke Boerdam about working with Moorhead.
Ive been locked out of studios before for a
producers only mix session. F**k you! Am I
not part of the mixing process? Either we can
do it together, or you can kick me out and well
send 400 emails back and forth. Its stupid. I want
to work with the engineer, I want to work with
the producer. Bryce has an amazing amount of
patience to listen to my bullshit for a few months
and help mould it into something.
ZERO INTERFERENCE

Exactly what makes a fruitful, long-lasting artist/

producer relationship is hard to pin down. It
seems to be as contingent on the producers
understanding of how the band wants to work as
it is on results. Boerdam put it this way: We tried
other studios but didnt get that same dynamic.
We still got results and made records Im proud of,
but the songs Im most proud of are ones recorded
with Bryce. heres something natural about how
he produces audio which just sits well with our
band. Well just sit and chip away at inding the

guitar sound that slots into the song, without

needing any processing.
Sometimes I make the ugliest vocal sound, but
the way Bryce produces makes it it in naturally.
When we recorded with Gil Norton he put this
monstrosity of a mic in front of me which some
company had sent him for a demo. Im used to
singing into something basic but I said Id give it a
go. I hated it. I remember asking Gil if we could put
up room mics; a bit of delay let and right is what
Bryce does. He just said wed add it later. He wanted
me in a vocal booth, and I was saying, Cant we
record in an open room with high ceilings? Again,
he just said wed add the reverb later. I know thats
not right, Ive done this a million times before!
Weve tried so many diferent techniques and we
know what works. [See Room for Vocals sidebar].
Moorhead currently works out of he Shed
studios, but he also used to engineer at a studio
called Zero Interference, where the name doubled
as a policy aspiration. Moorhead said it stemmed
from being in a band where the person recording
you is telling you how your music is supposed to
sound. I just wanted to be someone who was more
of a facilitator and help translate their ideas into
something that was listenable.
Hed heard exactly that sort of negative
interference when Violent Soho came to him
with demos recorded by another engineer who
obviously thought Violent Soho was this really
heavy, tough semi-metal sounding band, said
Moorhead. It was all scooped guitars, whereas this
bands the antithesis of scooped guitars. Midrange
is good for these guys. Its got to have rough edges,
the performance has to be a little bit ragged and a
translation of what theyd be like live.
Boerdam says rather than trying to put his
stamp on a songs direction, Moorhead tries to ilter
Boerdams blubbering on about song inluences
and visions into something meaningful. He wont
interfere with you or the creative process, said
Boerdam. Youll be in the middle of coming up
with a new idea or song, and hell just watch you.
But when he hears something thats really of, hell
tell you its not working.
WRITE TIME

Boerdam writes and demos all of Violent Sohos

songs at home. Hungry Ghost was mostly demoed
in GarageBand, with an old Avid MBox plugged
into a venerable Apple MacBook. In the last couple
of years hes upgraded the MacBook, and moved
on from Garageband to Logic. he MBox has been
replaced by an Apogee Duet interface, and hes
plumped for a Shure SM7B vocal mic.
I usually plug guitars straight into the interface
and program some s**t computer drums, said
Boerdam. I use the EZ Drummer library, but
always have the same four go-to rhythm patterns.
he coolest part is you can just drag and drop parts
and totally rearrange stuf.
With Boerdams growing home studio, he admits
hes also gotten into the audio engineering side and
dissecting how engineers and producers put colour
into a bands sound. He doesnt have any desire to
take over from Moorhead though. I respect the

Sometimes I make the

ugliest vocal sound, but
the way Bryce produces
makes it fit in naturally.
When we recorded with
Gil Norton he put this
monstrosity of a mic in
front of me which some
company had sent him
for a demo. I hated it

BASS-IC PACKAGE
Luke Henery changes his bass amp set up for
each song, but normally it will include a DI and
an amp. Sometimes two amp lines, he said. For
Hungry Ghost I had a clean amp, a dirty amp, a
DI line and a sub line running a separate 15-inch
cab. This time its a bit more straight forward. Im
playing a bit cleaner on some of these songs using
a slightly overdriven Fender Super Bassman. It
still has heaps of headroom so I can get those low
notes when I need them. Ive been liking the MXR
Bass DI, but we havent tracked with that yet. Our
sound guys got an Avalon preamp and I oten borrow that for my DI.
Playing live, I normally use an 80s Peavey T-20
P-bass-style guitar. Then Ive got a Black Widow
by the brand Acoustic, which is a bass made by
Semie Moseley. Its from the old Mosrite amp
company and they only made two guitars a
six-string guitar version and a bass version. Its
got a rosewood fretboard and is a bit deeper and
bit darker than my T-20, which is maple. Ive also
got a reissue Gibson Grabber, but it hasnt made
it on this record. Its rad, you can slide the pickup
towards the bridge to brighten it up or to the neck
to make it a bit bassier.
I like to keep my sound in the mids most of the
time, then in big moments I drop real low to probably 40-50Hz. I like it a bit scooped in the lowmids so its not so muddy, but then underneath it
is a real subby, hip-hop bass sound. I oten tune
my bass down a whole step.
I love using the Rode K2 on bass, said Moorhead.
Because it can handle around 150dB SPL before
it distorts. It just seems like the best application
for that mic, because the top end helps.
AT 39

WHATS UNDER
YOUR DRUMBRELLA
Moorhead: Drum tuning is prety important
to me, particularly geting the snares long
overtones in tune with the song. Here in the shed
weve got the Drumbrella, so Ill get a guitarist to
play in time and Ill hop on the drums and work out
what note ts with what theyre playing.
The Drumbella is a way of making the snare
fater. Depending on where youve got it tuned,
it might be 180Hz or 200Hz you can nd the
particular height where that resonant note in the
snare is being reinforced.
Ive also got to check the toms arent being
compromised by the Drumbrella. Sometimes the
lower you go with the Drumbrella, the fater everything sounds. Which can make puting mics in as
overheads a bit tricky! With Violent Soho I tend
to close-mic the cymbals which means I can get
the Drumbrella lower if I need to. It seems to help
bring denition to everything and help localise
busy cymbal hits.
I mostly run close mics and a couple of room
mics, lately ribbons, back about four metres. I
think one is an RCA 77DX. Its the one that has a
litle knob you can turn that puts up a litle shield
behind the ribbon and turns it into cardioid. I run
that as the mid mic with a litle Reslo ribbon as
a side for a mid-side conguration. That Reslo
ribbon mic is insanely bassy, it largely rolls o the
top end.
Ive usually got Beyer M201s top and botom on
his snare and Sennheiser MD421s on the top of
the toms. I put a couple of AKG C414s on the cymbals, and weve got an old Rode Classic overhead
that we put one of those RK7 capsules in and it
sounds so much beter.
Ive been using an AKG D112 in the kick drum hole
and running a Shure Beta 98 around the other
side on the bater head. Its a litle more modernsounding, and gets that high click denition of
the kick drum. When Im mixing, I usually roll o
a lot of the botom end and either get the whole
kit from the kick or just duck it when the snares
being hit.
AT 40

dudes around me that have been doing this stuf

for 20 to 30 years and recorded hundreds of bands,
he said. Also, Id rather be sitting in my room
writing songs than tuning vocals for 14 hours in
the studio.
he band had toured some of the songs on
Hungry Ghost for two years, whereas all of Wacos
tunes were fresh of Boerdams demos. We usually
ind the longer we work on a song as a band, the
better and easier it is to record. I never realised
how beneicial touring was; having a year or two
to mull it over, get an understanding of the songs
natural dynamics and have a vision for it. hat said,
as a songwriter Ive learned what makes a Soho
song. Ill add certain elements and nuances that
counterbalances not touring for a few years.
hats not to say he can necessarily churn out the
hits on demand. Boerdams songwriting process
has no ixed timeline. With the TV on in the
background, hell rif on ideas, pulling old ones of
the shelf and storing new ones away hoping one
day theyll ind their companion pieces. heres no
point rushing songwriting, he said. Writing to a
due date does nothing but turn out horrible songs.
Its not a natural it, its not the best a song can
be. My one pet gripe is I cant stand boring, long
sections that have no purpose, yet go for ages.
THE BEST VERSION OF YOU

he band spent two weeks in pre-production

with Moorhead to inalise arrangements. Unless
we listen back and think that somethings
not working, said bass player, Luke Henery,
everything is normally sorted out in pre-

production. hen its just about getting a good

performance and making sure our tones are right.
Bryce is known for bringing out the best
version of a band. He gets you in the room, makes
sure youre tight, gets everything miked up and
sounding awesome. hen hell make you keep
playing it until you give him the best take. Hes got
an amazing ear and he inds the little nuances in
the way youre playing, which sometimes get lost
from demo to album. You played it exactly the
same but for some reason it doesnt have the same
energy. Bryce inds out why and helps bring it out.
It might be a little harmonic that youre accidentally
hitting because youre holding your inger down on
the G-string. It was a mistake, but he wants you to
keep doing it.
he band has igured out what works best
for them in the studio, preferring to capture the
bass and drums together, with Boerdam laying
down a guitar guide track at the same time. hey
dont record everything at once because theyve
found its usually too hard to get proper isolation
and to get the guitar tones the way we like it,
said Henery. Wed always end up re-amping or
something anyway. Ater tracking bass and drums
it gives Luke time to sit there and work out his
guitar parts. He really lourishes in the studio, like
its what he was meant to do. We always give him
space in the studio because typically something
awesome happens.
Moorhead concurred: Luke Boerdam is the
guy whos got the vision for the song, so its
important we have a lot of time for him to realise
that vision. Moorhead said early on they tried

DIRECT GUITARS

playing everything live, then overdubbing guitar

parts again. hese days, they prefer to cut to the
chase. he guys are so good at playing their
instruments now that its just more eicient to get
straight to it and get the drums and bass down,
then have a lot more time to experiment with
guitar parts and sounds.
ANTHEM FOR A NEW SOUND

he irst song released from Waco was the punky

anthem Like Soda. Its pre-chorus build-up, I dont
mind/I dont care/Ill just say whatever, has shades
of he Pixies and Blink 182 and instinctively feels
like the lead up to a classic Drop-D chorus, balls
deep in low-end extension. Instead, it crunches
away in the midrange; all energy, less extension. It
was a surprising choice to lead of with, even more
so in retrospect, given the rest of the album is full
of prototypical big Violent Soho choruses.
Like Soda isnt a full picture of what the record
is like, especially from an audio engineering
perspective, said Boerdam. But weve been a band
for 10 years so wed rather just drop music that
we feel right about at the time. Rather than think
about some larger marketing scheme or plan for
the record.
hat song was actually a bit of a nightmare
to work out because of the tempo changes, said
Moorhead. he demo tempo change was even
greater and the guys were really attached to how
it sounded, but it didnt work. It just seemed
like lots of little bits jumbled together. We tried
heaps of things to get it to work while keeping
the original intent of the song. here wasnt

Boerdams go-to guitar is a custom job made by

Tim Brennan, who runs a shop called Tym Guitars
in Brisbane. I wanted a really dark Gibson sound
really simple and straight to the point but I
hate Les Paul Junior bodies and dont like the necks,
said Boerdam. I call it The Mongrel. Its a Strat neck
with a black Tele body and all Gibson hardware. This
guy in Adelaide, Mick Brierley, makes these P90
throwback pickups and you can choose how hot he
winds them. The only way I can get it to be clean is if
I lightly pluck it.
That goes through a Fender Twin on about six. Ive
never ever got a gain sound Im happy with besides
that guitar. Its wound so hot, as soon as you hit an
MXR Distortion Plus through an amp, its awesome.
In the studio Im using a Twin Deluxe for that super
bright, a litle bit glassy, clean sound, then I have a
really dull amp to back it up in the chorus. Thats an
early 80s Marshall JCM800. I use two amps live,
because I cant stand it when you hit a distortion
pedal in a chorus and it sucks all the volume. I used
to have modded Boss DS1s with boosts in them
that kind of worked. As soon as I started using two
amps it was like I was in heaven.
We thought a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectier was
going to be a magic bullet and it wasnt, said Moorhead. It was one of those things where you think
a real expensive guitar or amp has got to be what
all those other bands are using to get that magic
sound. But its not.
Ive also been mucking around with an 80s Vox
AC30, continued Boerdam.
The Vox has got a natural dark, broken-up sound.
Theres a lot of drop-D chords in the choruses, so
Im overlaying higher-pitched power chords higher

up the neck to colour the chorus. The Vox is really

nailing that role, its poking right through the mix
without any additional EQ.
We usually end up sticking with one guitar panned
let and right and then for a chorus only adding that
shimmer up the neck. Its an unspoken rule that it
has to be dierent because youre only muddying
up a mix if youre layering too much. Were playing
in that drop-D key a lot, so we cant layer without it
sounding like some sort of nu-metal band!
The lighter we keep it, the beter. Its just making
sure we dial in the right gain setings. I currently
use the MXR Distortion Plus, but Ive also got a Tym
Guitar Special. Ive always irted with the classic
Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer. The saturation has
something about it that serves a particular function. I could see myself jumping over at some point
and cheating on my MXR.
To record guitars, Moorhead usually opted for one
Beyer M201. I just put a mic up as close as I can,
centred on the cone, detailed Moorhead. I know
from testing speakers with a measurement mic
thats how you get a full botom end without any
notches from oor bounce. I know thats not what
a lot of other people would do, but I dont want
any notes to be lost. Then I also run a room mic
and blend that in. I DI everything, especially dirty
guitars, because thats where the strum is.
Mostly I just capture it the way I think its going to
need to be in the mix. We spent a lot of time making
sure the distorted sound is good and I put the mic
in a good place using the right mic and preamp. We
have eight home-built Neve 1290 preamps which
are great for guitars and vocals.

AT 41

My one pet gripe is I cant stand

boring, long sections that have no
purpose yet go for ages

ROOM FOR VOCALS

When Boerdam was young and nave, he used to
hit the whisky before a vocal take. He thought it
was a great idea, until the day he lost his voice.
These days Ive got way more control in my
voice, said Boerdam. Bryce and I are extremely
particular about vocal takes; we do a lot. I wish
I could say I did them in one take. Sometimes
I have, but the reality is its a load of comping;
geting the right delivery on each line and making
sure we build up a really honest performance.
One song I recorded 20 to 30 takes and just
couldnt get what I did on the demo. We literally
had to pull over a demo vocal. Theres something
about hiting record for a demo. Youre thinking,
well this is just a demo so who cares. With that
who cares your voice loosens up for an awesome
vocal performance. Then when youre in the
studio its all opposite and rigid.
The biggest thing is learning to relax. The more
I try to nail it, the more I end up screwing it. Its
tough and really time-consuming. I like it when the
vocals are done and I can work on the cool guitar
stu.
Moorheads vocal recording technique, which
Boerdam alluded to when working with Norton,
is something Moorhead used to do all the time
in my old studio which had a big, wide room with
prety high ceilings. I didnt learn under anyone
or do any SAE courses. I didnt have much gear in
high school, just a four-track cassete recorder. I
didnt have a reverb unit, but I did have reverb in
my room. It seems more authentic to actually use
the sound of the room the artist is performing in.
On a few songs I tried mixing in a really lush
reverb on the vocals and there was something not
quite right about it. As soon as we put that room
sound on it changed, it was Violent Soho!
I used to space Rode NT5s on the ground three
or four metres away and a couple of metres
apart. A lot of times Ill delay those room mics by
a really obvious amount like 60ms, so you get a
bit of a slap-back delay.
With Luke weve been using a Shure SM7, it
doesnt overload when he screams and the top
end without the boost is perfect for his voice. He
can tend to be a litle bit sibilant.

AT 42

any deliberate decision to change the way the

bass sounded, it was just the puzzle the song
presented. he verse was supposed to be the
biggest, ballsiest part of the song.
We usually have a sot/loud dynamic where
the pre-chorus cuts out then jumps to the chorus,
said Boerdam. his feels more like it glides in. I
struggled with that song from demos right through
to mixing. here was a change of thinking required,
like having to accept this chorus is more of a slowpaced chorus, not loud and abrasive with a bunch
of Yeah, Yeah, Yeah squeals. I realised its got some
charm to it, when you hit that chorus it slows and
makes sense. It doesnt need that heavy Soho rif to
drag it down, it just lows.
It turned out to be an inspired decision,
fans even going so far as to petition for it as a
replacement national anthem. It also speaks
to the place Violent Soho occupies a fulltime Australian band, with the backing of an

independent label bent on trying to represent

exactly who the band is. hat is, they can release
what they feel good about, not something that its
into a labels marketing plan.
When youre younger and land your irst
record deal, you think things like that matter
more than they actually do, said Boerdam. How
much money the label is putting into marketing
or whatever, especially back when the internet
didnt rule everything. Before you got to that stage,
however, none of it mattered. he Golden Rule was
to have good songs that are honest and people can
connect with. he music always has to come irst.
Its a lesson to keep learning again and again.
DROPPING THE BIG CHORUS

Beyond Like Soda, Waco holds its fair share of

powerful, low-end moments. he single Viceroy
is deep and ballsy, Moorhead talks about how he
keeps those moments powerful without losing

punch. In a lot of the heavy parts of their songs,

therell be a really constant kick drum which can be
quite tricky, said Moorhead. Its trying to control
the decay of that kick drum and make it punchy
enough that its not just lapping around and taking
away space from the bass guitar.
I mix all in-the-box using UAD plug-ins. I
usually send kick from an AKG D112 and Beyer
M88 to a group thats got the legacy UAD Fairchild
plug-in on it. It has this little knob down the
bottom you can turn that seems to afect the attack
of it. I back that of a little bit and it just seems
perfect for making each kick poke through. Getting
that kick drum hitting the right place is important.
Ill also bus all the instruments to a group and
have all the vocals going to the master bus, then Ill
put a parallel compressor on that instrument group.
When it comes up to a heavy part of the song, Ill
automate the uncompressed bus down a little and
push up the compressed bus so it jumps and starts
pumping a bit, but the vocals dont get modulated
by the compressor.
While Moorhead and Violent Soho know how
to create powerful punk rock, as Like Soda shows,
there are plenty of diverse moments on Waco
that make it more than a couple of singles. Waco
has already hit No. 1 on the ARIA album charts,
numbers to support the feeling this is an Aussie
album well worth listening to. To be honest,
signed of Henery, theyre songs Ill always be
proud of. Undoubtedly, Ill end up playing house
parties around Australia. Makes no diference to
me man, as long as I can still turn my amp up!
AT 43

FEATURE

WILD SOUNDS:

MIXING THE REVENANT

Alejandro Irritu didnt take home back-to-back Best
Director Oscars by taking it easy. The Revenant was
filmed on location in the winter wilderness, and that
production sound made it all the way into the final mix.
Story: Mark Davie

AT 44

Alejandro Irritu has a nose for unique

birds, and an ear it seems.
He co-wrote and directed Birdman or (he
Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), about a mentally
ill action movie star-cum-theatre aspirant who
couldnt shake the Tyler Durden-esque birdman
that haunted his consciousness. It won him a Best
Director Academy Award. Recently he won the
same Oscar for he Revenant, making him the irst
director in 65 years to go back-to-back.
Jon Taylor who with Frank Montano made up
the re-recording mixer team behind both projects
knows Irritus taste for rare birds all too well.
here was a scene from he Revenant with bird
sounds, said Taylor, making pains to point out
they were, really interesting sounding birds. And
Alejandro says, what are those birds? Did you
wake up in the morning and put a microphone out
the window to record those? hey do not belong in
my movie. Every single sound has to be unique to
my ilm. hat was the approach every single day, it
was a lot of work.
hat quest for uniqueness has set Irritu
apart. It wouldnt appear that diicult to stand out
amongst the swathe of blockbuster superhero licks,
but it requires an incredible amount of work when
youre also trying to preserve original performances
and the location sound as much as possible. Times
that by a diiculty factor of a thousand because
the ilm location wasnt a studio backlot but the
wilderness of Argentina, Canada and Mexico.
For all those pieces to work, it wasnt just
Alejandro demanding it, but the team had to
double down and work out exactly how they would
use mono sound literally captured in the wild and
make it the bedrock of an expansively ilmed epic.
One of the major concerns early on was whether
Tom Hardys dialogue would be intelligible enough.
At least this time he wasnt wearing a Bane mask.
Alejandro was consigned to ADR-ing Hardys
performance if he absolutely had to, but the
entire team were pushing to keep it. Why would
you change such an unbelievable performance?
questioned Taylor. You dont get it all, but it was so
compelling, so authentic and so maniacal the way
he talks, that it works. During a break in another
ilm, Taylor spent 12 days pre-dubbing dialogue
the editors had cut together, striving for clarity and
intelligibility, especially on Hardys takes.
SETTING THE TONE

In many ways, those 12 days set the tone for the

entire mix in two speciic ways. First, they doubled
down on their commitment to using as much of
Chris Duesterdieks production sound as possible.
He mostly covered everyone with the shotgun, and
for the most part there was very excellent coverage,
said Taylor. Boom voices are the preferable
source because it sounds more real. If were having
problems with clarity from the boom, well try to
use consonants or syllables from the lavalier to
enhance intelligibility. Secondly, the rawness of the
he Revenants harsh winter setting was brought
out in the dialogue. Re-recording mixers generally
have a sound they go for, explained Taylor.
Alejandros incredibly picky about the quality of

dialogue, it has to feel raw. When theyre yelling at

you, it has to feel like dogs barking. Normally youd
reel that stuf in and not let it sound so aggressive,
but in this case it has to come at you and make you
feel threatened in some way. ITS REALLY IMPORTANT
FOR THOSE ELEMENTS TO COME OUT, SO I DONT USE A TON
OF COMPRESSION, I USE A LOT OF EQ AND LITTLE VOLUME
GRAPHS TO GET CLARITY. Its as raw as possible with it

still sounding like people talking to each other in

the movies, not like a TV show.
At the end of the day, there were only a few
pieces that had to be re-looped because there was
a lot of dialogue getting panned in the mix and he
didnt have the separation he needed. However,
ADR was mostly used to re-loop the American
Indian dialogue, and only to ensure they had
highly accurate readings of the Arikara and Pawnee
language. On the set they may not have been
totally accurate, explained Taylor. Alejandro was
very demanding of that. hey ended up having
three or four professional interpreters and culture
consultants come in and read through the lines
with the actors again. Duesterdiek logged every
microphone he used so the ADR team could match
every mic exactly. Surprisingly, a high percentage
of Leonardo Di Caprios grunts, which made up
most of his onscreen audio, were from the original
production sound taken while he was crawling
around on the ground.
While Taylor had the job of bringing clarity to the
vocals, he was somewhat hamstrung by Alejandros
insistence on raw reality and that nothing be
cleaned right out of the dialogue track. Whatevers
there is there, said Taylor. When theyre at the
river, a lot of the sound youre hearing is production
sound supported by backgrounds. his is a fully
immersive ilm, whereas the production sound is
generally mono. If I pan it to the let, then all that
natural noise is just in the let. If the people are
speaking in the centre, then all of the natural noise
is in the centre. hat had to be supported with many
diferent tracks in the background.
DIVIDE & CONQUER

Taylor and Montano mix together, but the typical

division of duties sees Taylor take care of the
dialogue and music cues, while Montano manages
most of everything else like sound efects and
ambiences. he irst thing they do before pulling
up any sessions is watch the ilm in its current
state. Even though weve read the script, and ideas
have been conveyed, said Montano, once you
watch the movie you see where the challenges are
going to be. here was so much unique camera
work, with 360-degree shots and moving from
location to location that we knew once we got into
the body of the ilm it would have to emulate the
location, camera movements and transitions. On
his irst viewing, Taylor noticed one main thing, a
conspicuous lack of music. When I saw the irst
cut of this ilm I saw four music cues that came to
about six minutes of music, he recalled. I saw it
before Frankie and came back to tell him, Youd
better buy some new tennis shoes, because Ill be
done ater the dialogues pre-dubbed and youll be
working your arse of.

Alejandros very aware

of lowering things in
order to hear dialogue
clearly. He doesnt like
that; he knows its a
Hollywood trick

Taylor says, even though Alejandro is also a

composer, theres never much music in his ilms:
Birdman had the most music of all of them put
together. In Babel there was 22 minutes of score
across a two and a half hour ilm. Biutiful was
about the same, and 21 Grams had even less than
that. Over time, quite a bit of music was added to
the ilm before Alejandro pared it back again on
the inal dub stage. Truth is, said Taylor. THERES
A LOT OF MUSIC IN THIS MOVIE BUT YOU DONT NOTICE IT
BECAUSE THE GOAL WAS TO MAKE SURE THE NATURE NEVER
WENT AWAY. MUSIC WAS TO NEVER TAKE OVER NATURE; IT
WAS OFTEN TREATED LIKE AN AMBIENCE.

Once the edited post-production recordings

started making their way down the chain, Taylor
and Montano started piecing all the elements
together and working on the mix to get separation,
depth of ield and movement. Montano: he
wind separate from the trees, tree leaves separate
from multiple layers of water, and layers of speciic
ambient sounds we can build depth with in the
distance, close, behind you, on the side of you. All
that is separated and managed, ready for the inal
mix, so when ilmmakers come in we can really
isolate and manipulate everything. he tracks
have either been recorded and cut from an archive
library or are fresh recordings that Sound Designer
Jon Title and his team of editors sync to picture.
By the time it gets to the Hitchcock heatre, the
characters and locations have either run through
Alejandro or Stephen Mirrione, the picture editor,
said Montano. If you see it, you may or may not
hear it, but it has to be available. Once we open
up the size of the spaces, thats really where the
shaping occurs.
We listen to it against the inal music track,
the production dialogue and ADR, building it up
to see how much we can get away with, and how
much really its with what Alejandro is trying to
say with the ilm. he ilm oten slips between two
feels raw reality and ethereal dreams tracing
the arc of the wounded main character Hugh Glass
as he slips in and out of consciousness. he realtime
raw feeling of being there is oten self-explanatory
as it tracks the change in terrain from location to
location. hen theres mixing the emotional content
like the ethereal lashback dream sequences, but
also incorporating real sounds that are efective
even though they might not be indigenous to the
AT 45

TRACKING THE WILD LIFE

Its a rare event to find Production Sound Mixer, Chris
Duesterdiek, in the more controlled conditions of
a studio. In the case of The Revenant, impossible.
Every day was shot on location in the Canadian
wilderness, between the months of September and
April, which included the dead of Winter. Most of the
film was shot well away from the production trucks,
sometimes many miles down goat trails and across
rivers where ATVs and snowmobiles couldnt reach.
We had to go mobile and fit a cart-based location
package into bags, said Duesterdiek. Whether it
was sleds or backpacks, our team of three had to
figure out how to be sound sherpas.
The film was entirely shot in available light, which
meant a lot of lming in Magic Hour (shortly ater
sunrise or before sunset) when the light is most
diffused. Duesterdiek: Wed be there all day long,
then once the sun set and we were losing light, theyd
continue to lm with torches and get a litle more
experimental. We started our day in the dark and
ended it in the dark. It ended up being longer days
than a studio shoot.
Duesterdiek is Canadian, so the Winter had less
shock value than others on the crew. Mostly, he said,
youve got to know how to dress for it: Youve got
to have wicking layers because you can get sweaty
hauling the gear in, then you can sit in one spot all day
geting punished by the cold.
SOUND SHERPAS BABY
The sound team had to reduce their kit in terms of
size and mobility, but not in options. Duesterdiek
recorded the dialogue onto a Sound Devices 664 he
dubbed his sound baby because he wore it for most
AT 46

of the lm. Only about one third was recorded on a

soundcard at locations that were easier to get to.
They carried their usual mic arsenal: mostly Sanken
Cos-11D for lavaliers, a Schoeps CMIT shotgun boom
microphone, a Pearl MS mic for ambiences, Schoeps
CMC641, and Sanken CUB boundary microphones.
They also carried a secondary recorder, a Zaxcom
Deva 5.8, exclusively to capture 7.1 ambiences with a
Holophone H2 Pro 7.1 mic.
On the bag, I had the capability of recording up to
nine wires, the boom, and the MS stereo mic, said
Duesterdiek. For example, the scene where theyre
at the grave site, I would be 100t o in the bush in
one direction and string out an MS stereo mic an
extra couple of hundred feet past where I was. I got
lucky on a couple of days; once I had it up in some
trees and got a dialogue between two ravens for
hours. You never know what nature is going to do
until you press record. Other times it would capture
wind in trees and scrub brush, trees creaking.
As well as his primary role of capturing sound during
the takes, Duesterdiek always tries to make use of
any downtime, including his lunch hours, to build a
library of eld recordings for the editorial team.
The team would record a 7.1 ambience at every location, then hunt for individual sounds specic to the
scene. Duesterdiek: We did a lot of water recording,
with the 7.1 mic, but found we could get more beef
with the stereo mic. We would stick it in air pockets
under ice sheets on the rivers and get really interesting sounds. There were so many dierent types of
water running rivers, creeks and streams. Same
with snow, it has its own character dry and pow-

dery, hard and crunchy, wet, deep I would record

individual footsteps with spaces in between using
the same leather moccasins and footwear.
Hed also try and capture multiple perspectives
of the same ambience to match the cameras eld
of view. When we were down by the river lming
scenes of Glass's healing montage, they were shooting lots of dierent directions. Id go down at lunch
and get as many dierent directions as I could a
wider one, tighter perspective, or closer to the river
with water rushing over rocks.
BOOM BALLET
While Duesterdiek took his lunch hour o to try and
match a few perspectives, boom operator Charlie
OShea was doing that dance full time. They used a
lot of wide lenses on this shoot, explained Duesterdiek. In one shot they could capture the entire mountains and background, then swing around and bring
it within inches of an actors face. As long as Charlie
matched that perspective, it would sound wide, then
when they swung it around, he could get into the
breath and crunchiness of the beard at times. That
reinforced the image, which is our whole job.
Charlie and I collaborate; he doesnt tell me how to
mix and I dont tell him how to boom. I might ask for
more meat of certain elements, but Ill leave it up to
him how he wants to accomplish that. The camera
is constantly moving, so hes going in and out with
the lens, moving through trees, extending the pole
and bringing it back in to get around branches, going
from underneath, up top, from the side. It was like
watching a ballet with the camera, which is what an
experienced boom operator brings to the table. I

Whenever you
walk down the
street and hear a
dog bark, you get
on edge, so we
keep that in some
of the dialogue for
that reason

PAIRING UP
Jon Taylor and Frank Montano formed an official mixing partnership
three years ago. A couple of years prior to that, theyd worked on Fast
Five together, but since making it official theyve been working solidly
out of the Hitchcock Theatre at Universal and not looked back. As well
as the timing being right, our sensibilities and work ethic match, said
Taylor. Were happy-go-lucky kind of guys and work really hard.
Its truly a good match, added Montano. Weve both had multiple
partners over long careers. Just like a band, we finally found the
person we wanted to work with. The reality is you spend more time
working with each other than with our own wives.
Theres 60 years of mixing and about 250 films between them
and Taylor has been a re-recording mixer on every one of Irritus
feature films except his first Amores Perros yet theyre learning
every day and continually striving to the ultimate goal, which is no
stone let unturned.

cant tell him to change a footstep in his ballet.

Early on, Duesterdiek heard some issues with
the intelligibility of Tom Hardys character. At
the end of the day, he said. Its a creative choice
between the performer and director. Sometimes
I may mention it to the director at the start of a
shoot, other times Ill not mention it at all, which
was the case on The Revenant. Alejandro seemed
to be liking it and Tom certainly made a choice to
perform it that way. Technically we were recording exactly what he was choosing to do.

location, like a cricket chirping away in the middle

of the winter wilderness. hat cricket sound is
derived from when Glass goes into some of the
dream sequences and is seeing his son, Hawk, said
Montano. Its his signature post life surreal sound,
and it follows, to a degree, any confrontation he had.
In the inal scene, where theyre talking before
they throw down and ight, its in the music and not
used as an efect. he cricket is really prevalent and
acts as a catalyst to let you know its about to hit
the fan. TO MAKE A STATEMENT WITH IT WE HAD TO PLAY
IT 20DB LOUDER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. IF YOU DIDNT
PLAY IT LOUD, YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS A CRICKET
IN THE SNOWY WOODS, WHICH WOULD BE COMPLETELY
INACCURATE, THERES NO SUCH THING! YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT

COLD SNAP
While the camera department had some
mechanisms freeze over, and video playback
scrambled to keep their rig running, the sound
gear managed to handle the cold. 12 years ago,
Duesterdiek lmed The Snow Walker up in
Canada's far north: That taught me a lot about
what to prepare for in the Winter, like keeping
your bateries warm and having many extra
bateries and cables. When it gets too cold your
cables can break. We had certain cables made
with looser insulation wraps on them, would coil
XLR cable in very large loops, and carry triples
of any smaller timecode and auxiliary component connector cables. There comes a time,
when its -30 degrees, that something is going
to snap, and you cant just go buy another one.
Some bateries went down, but we had extras,
and the main components worked seamlessly.
It was quite a trip, but Im not going to rush out
and do another one right away. I can check that
o the list for a while.

AS IF ITS A PIECE OF NARRATION.

MOVEMENT & COLOUR

One of the hallmarks of he Revenant is Irritus

embrace of movement. Its a journeyman ilm,
which means youre constantly on the move as you
track Glass from location to location. here are also
some incredibly dynamic scenes like the opening
battle sequence where the camera changes direction
in an instant as it picks up characters in full light.
his particular movie was all about the movement,
said Montano. Tracking the camera, the location,
depth of ield. hose things make it feel like youre
part of those scenes; inside the ilm rather than
outside of it. hey all take a life of their own.
hat was the edict, there was always a point of
view. Whether its Leos breaths in his struggle, the
point of view of nature, the point of view of travels.
here was always a point of view; a narrative to
every sound and every scene, no matter what that
sound may be.
Alejandro thinks of it like a spotlight, where
everything has its 15 seconds of fame, said

Taylor. Basically, everything gets a little bit of a

magnifying glass.
hat process of drawing the viewers attention
isnt unique to Alejandros ilms. Its standard
practise for re-recording mixers to move sounds
out of the way into diferent surround channels,
dig a little hole in the music, and use level, space,
equalisation and reverb to make sure a sound has
the presence it needs.
However, the challenge with Alejandros ilms is
his disinclination to be polite, preferring to shoot
for accuracy rather than ease. One of the hardest
scenes to mix, said Taylor, was the tavern scene
towards the end of the movie where Henry and
Fitz are holding a conversation: It was one of
those scenes where you cant be polite just because
theyre talking. Youve got 50 people in that room
a bunch of drunks, prostitutes, violin players.
Alejandros very aware of lowering things in order
to hear dialogue clearly. He doesnt like that; he
knows its a Hollywood trick. Everything has to
be constructed to feel natural. Having a nice bed
of walla that everyone can it into, and then have
the callouts, the laughs, the dropping of drinks,
or the violin players all happening. Its immersive,
so all of these things have to come from diferent
speakers. It seemed like a small scene, but there
were four days in that scene, just in inal mixing.
Keeping it authentic was the goal, nothing
so out of place that it took you away from the
experience. It had to be completely immersive
so youre part of the movie rather than watching
the movie but that was always a moving
target. WE FOUND THE DYNAMIC RANGE IN THIS MOVIE
COULD GO FROM SOMETHING EXTREMELY LARGE TO AN
INTIMATE MOMENT SHORTLY THEREAFTER AND REALLY
BRING THE AUDIENCE IN.

AT 47

HITCHCOCK THEATRE
Taylor and Montano primarily work on a large Harrison MPC4-D console. They also have an integration
of Avid Artist Mix work surfaces and some JL Cooper
panners. The main reverbs used on the film were
Altiverb, Phoenix Reverb, and a Lexicon 480L on the
dialogue. Taylor: One day Alejandro said, Mr. Taylor
youve had this box for every movie weve done.
And for all the next ones too, I replied. Another tool
the pair find useful are subharmonic simulators.
The biggest tool in their arsenal though is the
second identical stage matched in gear, not in
size. If Frankie is hung up on a scene, or vice versa,
explained Taylor. I can go on the other stage and
pre-mix on the same console. Get all the automation correct and spend time refining things, then
shit that automation back over to the Hitchcock in
seconds where we can work together again. We get
twice as much time to work on things. It eliminates
what we refer to as monitor hog.
AT 48

he bear attack had three phases to it. Between

the attacks you hear all the forest life still going
about daily business, the wind and trees. hen
mama bear would come back and have another go.
heres always a ine line between hyper reality and
realism though. For instance, the bear never vocally
overpowered Leo, you always heard his angst
and battle to survive. In this movie, things that
happened on a real visceral level and had extreme
dynamic shits had a real emotional impact. he
audience is always on edge; man versus nature,
then the struggle turned to man versus man.
here are no rules, because its what works
emotionally. In the dialogue, you dont want that
painful 3kHz, but its a little bit of a dog barking
at you. Whenever you walk down the street and
hear a dog bark, you get on edge, so we keep that
in some of the dialogue for that reason. You dont
know why, but youre a little scared all of a sudden.
In this case, there werent very many music
pieces that were elevated. HOWEVER, EVEN IF YOU TAKE
A BEAUTIFUL SCORE THAT HAS LUSH STRINGS AND PLAY
IT 8DB LOUDER THAN IT SHOULD BE PLAYED, ITS GOING TO
AFFECT YOU DIFFERENTLY. YOU FEEL OPPRESSED SOMEHOW.

conines of Hitchcock heatre. It wasnt a straight

line, said Montano. here was always something
to experiment with. A piece of audio that needed to
say something. here was nothing we could cruise
through. But its a post-production sound mixers
dream to work on something so visually interesting
and epic that theres no choice other than to
sonically follow and emulate.
Im just going to throw out numbers, said
Taylor. But on our irst playback of a reel, we may
have 100 notes, second playback we may still have
100 notes, third 75, fourth 50, ith 25.
Next thing you know, youve worked through every
reel and then you watch the whole movie. hen
itll come down to ive notes. Eventually he let this
movie with zero notes, which is proof hes getting
everything he wants out of the ilm.
Its a really good feeling going through this
journey similar to Hugh Glass in many ways
and come out the other side where everybody has
a huge smile on their face. Sometimes this job is
easy, and sometimes its a lot of really hard work.
hose are the ones we prefer best, being pushed by
someone as creative as Alejandro.

THEYRE NOT TRICKS, THEYRE JUST WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE

TO GET THE EMOTION YOURE LOOKING FOR.

JOURNEYMEN OF SOUND

Alejandro gave a great analogy on one of our last

days, said Taylor. He said, Making this movie is
like freehand rock climbing. You get to the middle
of the mountain and you cant go down. You have
to go up to survive.
he Revenant had its challenges that were felt
all the way from the wild to the relatively cosy

Own he Revenant on Digital HD on May 4 and

on Blu-ray and DVD on May 18.

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FEATURE

O
E
R
E
ST
S
S
A
L
C
R
E
T
S
MA
Multi-Grammy winning classical engineer
Tony Faulkner dishes on the development
of a secret RDE microphone prototype,
stereo techniques for different occasions
and recording Beethovens 9th at the Sydney
Opera House.
Interview: Greg Simmons

AT 50

AudioTechnology: What brings you to

Australia, Tony?
Tony Faulkner: Im here to inalise work Ive been
doing with Rde on some new microphone models.
I worked for quite a long time with Peter Freedman
[Rde founder] on the NTR ribbon, and Ive always
had a fascination with valve omnis like Neumanns
M50. Rde saw it as a challenge to come up with a
microphone that had similar characteristics the
characteristics that most of us like about those old
microphones but without the grief associated
with using them.
AT: Such as?
TF: Well heres the price of replacement tubes
if they go wrong. Also, the power supplies are a
pain in the neck and so are the connectors those
old Tuchel connectors and things like them dont
last; you only have to stand on them once or tug on
them once and they fail. Modern microphones are
much more sensible for a practical engineer. Leave
the vintage microphones for the collectors.
AT: As part of the process of inalising the work
on these new microphones, youre using them to
record a concert at the Sydney Opera House. What
are you recording?
TF: Its Beethovens 9th Symphony, which, for a lot
of people, is the greatest symphony ever written.
It has inspired so many people, and the message
in the words and in the poetry is just Well, its a
great work.
AT: Who are the performers?
TF: Its an orchestra called Anima Eterna Brugge,
from Flanders, Belgium. hey perform on period
instruments and try to recreate an authentic
experience, as it would have been performed
when the pieces were composed. he conductor
is Jos van Immerseel, and there are soloists from
Norway, Sweden, Australia, America and Flanders.
he Australian Brandenburg Choir is performing
choral duties. Its a musical United Nations!
Apparently if you translate the conductors name
from the old Flemish, immer means forever and
seel means spirit or soul. If you then translate
that into Latin you end up with Anima Eterna
Eternal Spirit which is a nice little play on words,
but also very appropriate because there is an eternal
spirit in the Beethoven piece were recording tonight.
AT: What microphones are you using to record it?
TF: he main mics for this recording are the
prototype tube mics the temporary working title
is the TFM50 but thats just an internal bit of a laugh!
AT: Are they like the classic M50s with the
diaphragm mounted on a sphere?
TF: Yep, so the efect of the sphere is that theyre
omnidirectional at the lowest frequencies
probably 15 to 20 Hertz but as you go up in
frequency they become more directional; theyre
cardioid-ish somewhere around 1kHz, and then
they go hypercardioid above that. hat means they
have reach.
AT: So an instrument that is further away but
on axis, such as a clarinet in an orchestra, will be
captured with roughly the same tonal balance as
an instrument that is closer but of-axis, such as
the irst violin?
TF: Yes. My understanding is that the original

M50 was designed to be a single omnidirectional

microphone to stick over a conductors head
that would cover the whole orchestra in a typical
German broadcast studio. hats quite a nice way
to work. It means you dont have to put lots of
mics out and mix them. Of course, back in the
days when the original M50 came out they didnt
have consoles like we have now, so the idea of just
sticking up one stand with one microphone on it
was a very elegant and easy way to work.
AT: Youre using two
TF: hats because were in stereo!
AT: Of course! Youve placed them about a metre
behind the conductor. How far apart are they?
TF: I have a starting point of 67cm; that gives
fairly decent in-phase coherent information from
the centre of the image and gives a wide enough
ambience that it sounds believable on its own. As
it turns out, the main pair are forward of where the
soloists are, so they also capture a believable stereo
image of the soloists that doesnt become unstable. I
quite like that idea.
AT: Youve got spot mics on the soloists as well.
TF: Yes. he soloists words wouldnt be quite clear
enough in the main pair for people who are used
to listening to CDs of Beethovens 9th, so weve got
some spot mics to cope.
AT: Well come back to the spot mics shortly.
Youve started with a pair of TFM50s, 67cm apart,
somewhere behind the conductor. How high up
are they?
TF: I would guess theyre about 3m.
AT: Do you place them relative to where the
conductors head is?
TF: Yes, Im terribly empirical. Its my background:
my earliest recordings were all of Renaissance
polyphony, so MY IDEAL RECORDING APPROACH IS TO
JUST HAVE A PAIR OF MICROPHONES ON A STAND BEHIND
THE CONDUCTOR AND PUT IT UP UNTIL IT SOUNDS NICE.

AT: Efectively treating the conductor as the

balance engineer?
TF: Yes. hats the conductors job; the conductor
is really the balance engineer. Quite a lot of
conductors, particularly the older style ones, dont
like the idea of someone sitting in a control room
pushing faders up and down because they feel
thats their job. If they decide they want the violas

A guy who wrote a book

on microphone
techniques referred to
the two bidirectionals as
the Faulkner Technique.
The first I knew of it was
when the book came out

to sound a certain volume to make a particular

texture, they dont want someone else sitting in a
control room pushing up a fader and thinking, Oh
gosh, the violas arent loud enough, turn them up!
If you use something simple, like a main pair, then
you tend to keep the conductors of your back.
I like to have a main pair doing the bulk of the
work. he main pair might not be the complete
inished article I use spot mics to ill in whats
missing but musically its got to be balanced and
its got to have some perspective. Also, its got to
have some bottom end, which the TFM50s have
really got. Its like a train going past!
AT: hey sounded pretty big to me!
TF: Yes, indeed. heyve got the sphere behind the
diaphragm, theyve got the tube circuit, theyve got
a custom-made Rde transformer, they produce
a big sound and theyre reliable because theyre a
modern design. I used them for some recordings
late last year with the London Philharmonic and
with the European Union Chamber Orchestra and
I was very happy with the results, so when Peter
invited me here to record this concert with them I
couldnt possibly turn it down.
AT: You mentioned illing in the missing parts with
spot mics, and I noticed quite a few on the stage.
What are you using?
TF: Its quite an eccentric set up. heyre all
ribbons, all NTRs. hey are wonderful. Im a great
AT 51

Ive always had a fascination with valve

omnis like Neumanns M50. RDE saw it as a
challenge to come up with a microphone that
had similar characteristics but without the
grief associated with using them

very helpfully because he knew what was possible

using the existing cabling.
AT: Youre known for a couple of speciic
microphone techniques that youre not using on
this recording. One of those is two forward-facing
bidirectional microphones spaced 20cm apart.
Its oten referred to as the Faulkner Technique.
What do you call it?
TF: I call it a phased array. One of my best
friends when I was a student was a guy called
Granville Cooper who worked on background
radar for a living, and loved recording on the side.
I TOLD HIM ABOUT THIS FUNNY TECHNIQUE ID USED WITH
A COUPLE OF FIGURE-OF-EIGHTS ABOUT A FOOT OR SO
APART, AND THAT IT WORKED FOR STEREO. AFTER TAKING A
LISTEN HE SAID, THIS IS AMAZING. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS

ribbon fan; I have a collection of Coles, RCAs,

Beyers, Royers and Rdes, and I love them all.
But the Rde NTR is a lot cleaner and brighter
than most, and appears to have more bandwidth
without sounding EQd and it has reach. Its
quite dry as a spot microphone, which is what you
want, but it doesnt sound ugly like a lot of small
diaphragm cardioids that sort of screech at you.
AT: Where are you using them?
TF: Ive got one for each of the four soloists,
and theres a pair for the choir and a pair for the
woodwind.
AT: I also noticed a couple over the string sections.
TF: heyre safety mics. heres a couple of them
lurking around in case we need them, because
this is a live concert. If this was a recording
session I could say, Oh guys, can we take a short
break while I put out a couple of more mics? but
when youre in a public concert theres no doing
that, so you put out a few other things in case you
need them.
AT: Because youve only got one chance to
capture it.
TF: Yes. And the music is the most important
thing. Its all very well saying, lets do it with
just two mics, as we talked about earlier, but if it
isnt working then its not doing the music or the
performers any favours. With a concert youre
limited to where you can put microphones; you
dont have complete free rein because theres an
audience there. Say I wanted to put microphones
in the front row of the audience a few people
might be upset!
AT: Unless you could hang them from the ceiling.
TF: Yes. Actually, weve got two thinking mans
reverb mics hanging from the ceiling for this
recording. THEY ARE ALSO PROTOTYPES FROM RDE
OMNIS. THEY LOOK REMARKABLY LIKE NT5S WITH OMNI
CAPSULES, BUT THESE ARE REVISED CAPSULES AND
ELECTRONICS AND THEYVE GOT A FLAT BLACK FINISH,
WHICH IS NICE FOR TELEVISION.

AT: hey are end-address microphones and yet

you have them pointed upwards, vertically. hat
shouldnt make any diference with an omni, in
theory, but in practice most omnis become a bit
duller of axis.
TF: Yeah. Bizarre, isnt it? Most people think
Im an idiot when I do that sort of thing but its
particularly useful if youre in a dead hall. Quite
a lot of modern concert halls have got a short
AT 52

reverb time, maybe 0.7s or 0.8s, and that makes

it quite hard to make a big string sound. When
the producer or somebody says they want to
hear more strings, they dont really want to hear
individual players shrieking on the E string, they
just want a bigger sound. hat oten means more
reverb. For example, I did a cycle of Vaughan
Williams symphonies with the BBC Orchestra
and Sir Andrew Davis; they wanted a lusher string
sound in the slow movements so I twisted the
M50 outriggers back to front.
AT: So they were pointing at the back of the hall
instead of at the strings?
TF: Yes. You still get the same weight coming
from the strings but its more blended and
smoother, and its more efective than turning on
some kind of reverb box. heres less detail from
individual players, but if its a slow movement
of a Vaughan Williams symphony thats the sort
of sound you want. It wouldnt work for a inale
because when the brass gets going its going to
sound like an echo return!
AT: What did you think of the prototype
microphones in that thinking mans reverb
coniguration?
TF: Im very impressed with them, and I can use
more of them than I had expected to. Sometimes,
if you use some particular single diaphragm
omni pencil mics for this purpose, you cant add
enough because it starts sounding phasey, but
these prototypes from Rde seem very coherent
with each other as a pair. hey will give us a lot of
control over the reverberation time, which is what
we want when were recording a concert and we
dont know how big the audience will be or how
much they will afect the venues reverb time.
AT: On the topic of sounding phasey, how far
apart are they?
TF: For me, outriggers would be typically 1.8m
either side of the conductor and in line with the
main rig.In an ideal world, one would like to
be able to adjust the spacing until it sounded
appropriately de-correlated, but in the real world
they end up rather loosely set up as deined
by holes in the ceiling or anchor-points on the
lighting rig for dropping cables. In the case of
this recording we used the existing cable cradles
that the concert hall had hanging from above, so
it was a bit empirical. Jason Blackwell [Sydney
Opera House recording engineer] sorted it out

IS, DONT YOU? ITS A PHASED ARRAY.

AT: Right, he was drawing an analogy with

using an array of side-by-side antennas to
increase directionality and focus in broadcast
and radar applications, also called a phased
array. So as a microphone array it should work
well at longer distances?
TF: Yes. he main thing that interested me about
it apart from the fact that it gives you useful
stereo is that if youre in a place with a rather
oppressive or overwhelming acoustic that youd
prefer to have less of, the null of the igure-ofeight pattern gets rid of relections from the
ceiling, loor and sides.
AT: When did you come up with that approach?
TF: he irst time I used it in anger was in early
1981 at St Jude-on-the-Hill in Hampstead,
London. Its a huge acoustic a beautiful
acoustic but with a very long reverb time, and
I was trying to record Monteverdi trios with a
small consort of strings. It was beautiful music,
but whatever I did it sounded like I was in the Taj
Mahal. hats lovely if thats what you want, but
it wasnt of commercial viability. In desperation
I tried crossed igure-of-eights but it was still too
wet, and I tried moving in closer but then it was
too wide. So I thought, lets have a go at this, Ive
got nothing to lose, and it sounded lovely. It works
very well with the Rde NTRs, by the way.
AT: So you were just trying to solve a problem?
TF: Yep. Its a problem solver for someone like me
who is always on the road. I dont usually have
the luxury of working in a studio or hall with
controlled acoustics. I could be in a church or in
a works canteen, all sorts of places, and its nice to
have techniques that can help you get rid of too
much acoustic.
About ive years ago somebody wanted me
to go and record four hands piano, Schuberts
hree Marches Militaires, in a small chapel near
Bordeaux. Lovely job to have, and lovely wine
around there, but THE CHAPELS REVERB WAS ABOUT
4.8S LONG WITHOUT AN AUDIENCE IN THE ROOM. WITH
FOUR HANDS ON A PIANO PLAYING THREE MARCHES
MILITAIRES IT JUST SOUNDED RIDICULOUS; LIKE ID GOT
A REVERB FOR CHRISTMAS AND WAS PUTTING IT ON
EVERYTHING! I ended up using a pair of ribbons,
and found a local recording studio that lent
me some of those semi-circular things to place
behind microphones for getting rid of the room

Faulkner Phased Array

using two forward-facing
bidirectional microphones
Front

Diaphragms

Rear

20cm centre-to-centre

Faulkner 4-way Phased Array using

central cardioids with flanking omnis
41cm
67cm

sound if youre recording in a bedroom or similar. It looked bizarre but it

worked, and it sounded lovely.
AT: Im assuming the chapel sounded ine with an audience in it?
TF: It did indeed. We had an audience on the last day for the concert and
they added a lot of absorption. With 120 people in there the reverb time
came down to something much more manageable.
AT: You played me a lovely recording you did with that method just recently.
TF: Yes, Voice Trio, an English group of three young ladies. hat was
recorded in a small stone lepers chapel, about 4m x 5m x 5m and with quite
a slappy reverberant quality.
AT: A rough stone inish?
TF: No, quite shiny and harsh; but it sounded beautiful to them when they
were singing, which was the main reason we were there. As a problem solver
I recorded it with a pair of NTRs in a phased array. Im very pleased with it,
and so are they. But there are quite a few orthodox people who would certify
me for using such a funny microphone technique!
AT: If they knew what you did!
TF: Yeah! If they dont know it doesnt matter, does it?
AT: heres another technique that has been attributed to you, using two
omnis and two cardioids on the same stereo bar.
TF: he four-way phased array all mounted on a wide stereo bar, 66.7cm
apart for the omnis on the outside with a pair of cardioids in between.
AT: How do you conigure the cardioids?
TF: I started out with ORTF and subsequently NOS, but those spacings
didnt work in the array because I wanted it to deliver reach. KEEPING THE
ANGLE BETWEEN THE MICS AT 90, AS FOR NOS, I TRIED DIVIDING MY 66.7CM OMNI
SPACING BY THE GOLDEN RATIO NUMBER OF 1.618 AND ARRIVED AT 41.2CM, AND THERE IT
HAS STUCK!

AT: I doubt anyone is going to fuss over those fractions of millimeters!

TF: heyre starting points. Setting the spacings and angles in stone with
a microscope is not the best idea because much in sound and stereo is
about time as well as distance, and the speed of sound varies with altitude,

AT 53

temperature, etc., which afects the time and

phase relationship between microphones. Halls
sound diferent depending on the time of day, the
temperature, the humidity, and so on. WATFORD
TOWN HALL, FOR EXAMPLE, USED TO BE KNOWN FOR
SOUNDING DIFFERENT IN THE AFTERNOON THAN IN THE
MORNING, AND ENGINEERS WOULD MOVE THEIR MICS UP
IN THE AFTERNOON TO FIND MORE SENSE OF SPACE.

AT: When do you use the four-way array?

TF: I do a lot of work for video companies where
Ive got to record an orchestra but Ive only got
half an hour to set up, so Ill stick one stand
up with a crossbar on it and four mics Rde
NT6s or whatever and that will give me the
whole orchestra. hats really quite handy because
most of my colleagues would stick out at least 15
microphones, sometimes up to 50 on a symphony
orchestra in a place like the Barbican. Everybody
is pleased to see me if I just stick one stand up
and run one multiway cable and do it all in less
than 10 minutes.
AT: And where do you place that?
TF: About a metre or so behind and above the
conductor. he omnis are usually a bit too fat and
puddingy and the cardioids are usually a bit too
thin and scratchy, so youve got a choice. Blend it all
together when you get home.
here are other people who use four-way arrays,
and I must give them credit. heres a guy called
Huw homas at BBC Wales. I had a job at St Davids
Hall in Cardif and the BBC was covering the same
concert. I put up my mics and one of their guys
said, Huw, youve got to come out here; this guys a
nutter like you! He had a similar concept except he
was using four omnis. A bit diferent but he did it
for the same reason he wanted the sound that he
liked from his omnis, but he wanted it to reach in
a bit further rather than just being the front desks
and everybody else sounding a bit up and out. Even
though theyre omnis, you still get the forward gain
because theyre in an array. he late Onno Scholze
from Philips also had a concept of four omnis in a
row, slightly wider spacing, but still using arrival
time diferences phase diferences to help
your hearing sort out what is going on.
Engineers who use four-way arrays for recording
live concerts are quite enthusiastic about it. heyre
the same as me; oten they walk into a place and
theyve got very little time to set up. Lets say its the
Messiah; the concerts sold out, theres nowhere on
stage to put microphones and you havent got time
to hang anything. Well, youve got to do something!
he four-way array is a good solution. It doesnt
function at its best with close recordings, but it is
not intended to do so.
AT: Ive seen arguments on forums over what
the Faulkner Technique is. Some argue that it
is the two bidirectionals, others argue that it is
the four mics on the bar. You call both of them
phased arrays.
TF: Yes, I do. By the way, I never called either of
them the Faulkner Technique. A guy who wrote
a book on microphone techniques referred to the
two bidirectionals as the Faulkner Technique. he
irst I knew of it was when the book came out.
AT 54

AT: You may as well embrace it!

TF: Of course!
AT: We started this interview talking about
your development work with Rde and using its
prototype microphones to record tonights concert.
I think it would be appropriate to end this interview
by asking how your involvement with Rde began?
TF: My irst connection with Rde was via the
NT6 omnis. I was having problems with the mics
I normally use and had sent them back to be ixed.
Out of the blue a job came up to record a concert,
and it required a four-way array with relatively small
microphones. I asked around to ind out if the NT6s
were any good; I did not know much about Rde at
that time except they were not overpriced and many
of my musician friends loved them for their home
studios. I ended up buying four NT6s plus two omni
capsules, and shock, horror I liked them!
When I got my other mics back I did a doubleblind shootout and found the NT6 with omni
capsule to be at least a match for my other mics,
and a very ine mic in its own right. It is more

omni than some of the more expensive mics and

has more bass extension than some of them as
well, which is good for me. I contacted Rde to tell
them what I thought about the NT6, and the rest
is history.
Ive worked with Rde on numerous concepts
and prototypes since then. I like the companys
attitude to quality, enthusiasm for innovation,
and most especially lack of bullshit. When I
irst started using Rde mics some snobs turned
their noses up or thought I had lost it, but thank
goodness there is no problem like that any more.
I never leave home without at least a pair of Rde
mics in my kit except when I came to Sydney this
time, of course, because I knew in advance there
would be some here for me to record this concert.
Anima Eterna Brugge & he Australian
Brandenburg Choir: Beethovens Symphony No. 9 at
the Sydney Opera House is on DVD and Blu-ray at
Store.Rode.com

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FEATURE

Orchestrating The
King s Recoronation

Elvis doesnt need orchestral backing, but Priscilla

Presley reckons it would have been a dream come
true for The King. AT talked to the team that made
that dream a reality by using the best of old and
new technology to draw two worlds together.
Feature: Paul Tingen

AT 56

On irst hearing it, the concept of releasing

an album of original Elvis recordings with
new orchestra overdubs seems a dreadful idea. he
legacies of quite a few great musicians whove
kicked the bucket have been soiled by ill-judged
albums of material reworked ater their passing.
Witness much-derided releases like Hendrixs
Crash Landing, Jef Buckleys Songs To No-One
1991-92, and Michael Jacksons Michael.
Accusations of skulduggery and grave-robbery are
always a risk with posthumous releases, and
defacing some of he Kings greatest recordings
with schmaltzy Hollywood strings seems an
obvious act of gluttonous desecration.
However, as we all know but keep forgetting, irst
impressions can be deceptive. Even on irst listen,
its clear If I Can Dream credited to Elvis Presley
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra sounds
downright spectacular. he opener, the up-tempo
Burning Love, starts with the orchestra in mono,
then pans out to stereo, like a period movie starting
in black and white and then fading into full-colour,
and continues to rock along for another three
minutes, with a remarkably in-your-face and tightsounding orchestra playing perfectly in time with
the band. Nothing syrupy about these strings. he
band and orchestra wonderfully complement Elviss
vocal, which sounds as if it was recorded yesterday,
not in 1972.
he rest of the album contains similar highpoints, including classic tracks like Love Me
Tender (1956), Fever (1960), and Bridge Over
Troubled Water (1976), with old and new
ingredients seamlessly blended in larger-than-life
panoramas. If there is dissonance, its that some
of the orchestral arrangements are overblown
(You Lost hat Loving Feeling) while some of the
songs are, to modern ears at least, dated and/or of
dubious quality. he melody of Its Now Or Never,
for example, has the efect on this writer of the
proverbial ingernails scratching the blackboard.
But obviously, the makers of If I Can Dream can
hardly be blamed for this.
THE DREAM A REALITY

So what happened? How did an artistically and

morally dubious idea turn into an artistic triumph,
as well as a commercial success? Elviss 80th
birthday present sold more than a million copies
in the UK, and has gone platinum in Australia.
It turns out these feats are not only due to the
apparent good taste and great technical skills of
the makers, but also to the fact that some of those
involved had direct links to Elvis.
he participation and public endorsement of
Elviss ex-wife Priscilla Presley, who executive
produced If I Can Dream and called it a dream
come true for Elvis, has been widely covered. But
the very irst seeds for the project were planted
by Don Reedman, an Australian producer and
composer who moved to the UK in 1969, and soon
aterwards found himself working for Carlin Music,
the publishing company of the legendary Freddy
Bienstock. At the time every song pitched to Elvis
had to go through Bienstock, and Reedman was
amongst those at the company tasked with inding

Elvis songs. One of the songs he unearthed was

Clive Westlakes Its A Matter Of Time, which was
released in 1972 as a double A-side single with
Burning Love.
I never got to know Elvis personally, recalled
Reedman, but I knew many of the people around
him. I was part of inding songs for Elvis to sing,
demoing them in the way we thought he wanted
to record them. Elvis picked the ones he liked, and
usually went along with the direction of the demos,
but when we got the inal recordings back, it always
really hit us: this is Elvis Presley! He just had a
phenomenal voice. However, I oten felt many of
his songs were underproduced, largely because
of budgetary restraints, and could do with much
bigger accompaniments and orchestrations.
Elviss phenomenal voice always stayed with
me, and I long wanted to give something back to
it in terms of record production. Retain the spirit
and feel of the original recordings, but build on
that by putting a full symphony orchestra behind
him on the right songs. My vision was to create a
new, fresh Elvis album, that would showcase Elviss
amazing vocal scope; from rock n roll, to gospel,
to rhythm n blues, to operatic ballads, and so on.
It took a long time for me to convince people to
do this. hanks to the latest development in digital
audio technology, and the amazing knowledge of
the people we worked with, I think we managed to
make a much better record than could have been
made even ive years ago.

lot of spill and many of his vocals were recorded

with reverb all over them. For all those reasons we
had to embrace what was there, and the challenge
of seamlessly mixing the old with the new kept
growing. We really didnt want it to sound like
a 1968 recording patched together with a 2014
orchestra. he connection to the original music,
and the way it coexisted with the new recordings
was absolutely crucial to the artistic success of the
project. It became a very emotional project, and an
enormous technically forensic project.
HITTING THE BEATLES STUDIO

Reedman and Patricks irst step was to take stock

of the Pro Tools sessions with the original Elvis
recordings, edit them, strip them of what they
didnt need, create tempo maps, sometimes altering
the structure to make space for the orchestral
arrangement, and then commission orchestral
arrangements from the likes of Nick Ingman,
Robin Smith, and Steve Sidwell. he two producers
also began adding new material, like drums, bass,
guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals, recorded by
Pete Schwier. he next call they made was to Peter
Cobbin, another Australian, who moved to the UK
in 1995 and as Abbey Road Studios Director of
Engineering has worked on scores of householdname orchestral, ilm score, and pop projects, and
won two Grammies for his contributions to the
Lord Of he Rings soundtrack albums.

FROM 3-TRACK TO NOW

Reedmans co-producer was Nick Patrick, a British

Grammy Award-winning engineer, mixer, arranger
and producer, who started out working with world
music acts in the 1980s, but who has increasingly
become involved in classical music crossover
projects this century. From his Shine Studios in
South-West England, he explained, he whole
thing started as a symphonic album project. hat
has diferent connotations for diferent people, but
for us it was always clear that it wasnt just going
to be an orchestral backing with Elviss voice on
top. WE COULDNT JUST DO A WHOLESALE REMAKE AND

On Burning Love she did

400 tiny edits on the new
drums alone to make them
fit exactly with the
original drum track!

REPLACE THE EXISTING BACKING TRACKS. THAT WOULD

DRAW THE SOUL OF OUT HIM. WE KNEW WE HAD TO
REIMAGINE THE ORIGINAL BACKING TRACKS TO RETAIN THE
SPIRIT OF WHAT MADE HIM SOUND GREAT.

Once we received the original multi-tracks

from Sony, transferred lat into Pro Tools sessions,
it became clearer what exactly it was about the
backing tracks that made Elvis sound so good.
We likened what we aimed to do to restoring the
Sistine Chapel. We would have to strip away parts
only to rebuild them using the same materials
made in our time. As this idea unfolded in practice,
it became a bigger and bigger task. One issue
was we had material dating from 1956 to 1972,
ranging from three-track to 16-track. hat shit in
technology had an enormous impact on the way
records sounded.
Also, none of the songs had been recorded
to click track, and the changes in tempo could
occasionally be quite extreme. Elvis was also always
in the room with the musicians, so there was a

Cobbin agreed to get involved, and booked the

irst orchestral recording session on December
10, 2013 to record strings on four songs: Bridge
Over Troubled Water, Love Me Tender, Youve Lost
hat Loving Feeling, and Burning Love. Unusually,
but explaining a lot about the direct and tight
orchestral sound, the session took place in the
smaller Abbey Road Studio 2, also known as he
Beatles studio, and not in Studio 1, Abbey Roads
normal venue for orchestral sessions. It was not the
only unusual thing about the orchestral sessions for
the Elvis project.
I called Don a few times to ask what they
wanted and whether they wanted the orchestra to
sound modern or not, remembered Cobbin. I
suggested the idea of creating a sound thats nice
and full, but also authentic to the period of the
tunes they were working on. Don and Nick liked
that idea. I decided to record in Studio 2, which
gives a dryer, warmer, more intimate sound than
AT 57

BURNING
LOVE SCREEN SHOTS
Comments by Kirsty Whalley
The (blue) original tracks are arranged at the top of
the session, along with the Abbey Road Studio 2 monitor
mix and an old original mix. The original tracks are also
scattered through the rest of the session where they are
being used as part of the main mix. The blue tracks here are
not part of the mix but monitored as a separate external
source.
The original backing vocals, new backing vocals, backing
vocals combined, and original drums in green/yellow. You
can see the new drum comps with tons of edits.

The connection to the

original music, and the way
it coexisted with the new
recordings was absolutely
crucial. It became a very
emotional project, and an
enormous technically
forensic project

All the new heavily-edited drum comps in brown-green,

plus the drum bus tracks, tambourine, and original guitars
Original piano, orchestra tracks in green, this is orchestra
pass one; low strings.
In red is the orchestra pass two; high strings. As this was
a very rhythmic track they were recorded separately to allow
for more flexibility when editing for tightness.
This is an additional orchestral pass with high and low
strings playing together, used as an additional sweetener to
the other orchestral passes.

AT 58

[left] Kirsty Whalley and Peter Cobbin at the Penthouse

mix suite in Abbey Road. [above] The Abbey Road session
recording setup.

the full-blown large symphonic sound of Studio 1.

I ALSO DECIDED TO RECORD THE ORCHESTRA WITH
PERIOD MICROPHONES, MOSTLY VALVE CONDENSERS AND
RIBBONS [SUCH AS NEUMANN M47, M50, KM54, KM56, U67,
AKG C12, STC COLES 4038, AND MORE], INCLUDING AN OLD
AND VERY RARE RIBBON MIC; THE EMI RM-1B, MADE BY
ALAN BLUMLEIN IN THE 1930S. I used the latter for the
beginning of Burning Love. I then added a little
bit of a convolution reverb of Studio 1 made with
the Sony DRE-S777. his allowed me to control
the amount of bloom added to the orchestra. I
recorded the orchestra to a click taken from Nicks
tempo map and in separate orchestral sections,
partly because Studio 2 is a smaller room and
partly because we wanted to have separation
between the strings and the brass.
Creating an orchestra sound that wasnt
unnaturally big and sounded appropriate for Elviss
voice was the irst step. At this stage I was getting
more details of the kind of album Don and Nick
were envisioning, and realised they were also
adding drums and bass and other instrumentation.
Because of my experience working on the Beatles
Anthology and Yellow Submarine Songtrack albums,
and with Yoko Ono on some of John Lennons
catalogue, I suggested we go deeper into restoring,
renovating, and editing Elviss voice and the
original backing tracks. hats when I ofered to get
Kirsty involved, who is an expert in these things.

MATCHING TEMPO WITH TIMELESSNESS

Kirsty Whalley a Guildford University

Tonmeister graduate who now works as a freelance
editor, engineer and mixer and has collaborated
extensively with Cobbin began work on the
original Elvis recordings in her suite at Abbey
Road. I did some research and laid the Pro Tools
sessions out in such a way that we could instantly
listen to all the original tracks and mixes and
reference them, she noted. It made it easier for us
to make decisions on what to use and not use. I also
did a lot of audio restoration work. he sessions
were of variable quality, not only because they came
from such a wide time period, but also because

some of the tracks had been recorded live.

I removed a lot of tape hiss using iZotopes RX
Denoiser plug-in, and I tried to tidy up as much
of the spill as I could. I spent the most time on the
lead and backing vocals, because they would be
in front of the inal mixes and needed to be really
clean. here was quite a lot of spectral repair to do
on pops and clicks using RX, and dropouts and
level drops I needed to correct. I also did a tiny bit
of overall tuning adjustment, but the lead vocal was
really in tune with a wonderful feel. he songs that
needed the most attention were the ballads, like
Love Me Tender, and Cant Help But Falling In Love,
because the lead vocal in them is very exposed. IN
SOME CASES I USED ZYNAPTIC UNVEIL TO DRY UP THE MONO
REVERB ON THE LEAD VOCALS SO WE COULD REPLACE THE
REVERB WITH A SIMILAR PLATE REVERB, BUT IN STEREO.

Cobbin added that Whalley and he also used

an SPL Transient Designer and the old hardware
Behringer Denoiser SNR2000 during the
restoration process, inding they could never use
one tool for even a whole section of a song. here
was no one preset or technique that would always
work; we could use one tool for one line then had
to use another for the next line. We were trying to
restore Elviss voice to the most pristine condition
we could and use efects they would have used at
the time. However much work that was, the editing
was even more challenging because of the natural
luctuations in tempo and accents from people
playing 40 years ago.
We tried using only the original drums, but
they werent wide and large enough to match the
big orchestral sound. We tried using just the new
drums, but they didnt always it with the sound
and feel of the vocals in quite the same way. We
tried using new and old drums together, but of
course, the new drums didnt quite match the
groove and feel of something played 40-50 years
ago. EVENTUALLY WE DECIDED TO EDIT THE NEW STEREO
DRUM KIT TO FIT THE OLD ONE, TO GET A REALLY GOOD
GROOVE AND FEEL WITH SPACE AND WARMTH TO THE
SOUND. IT BECAME THE BLUEPRINT OF HOW WE DID ALL
THE RHYTHM TRACKS, BUT MAKING IT FIT WASNT EASY. ON

BURNING LOVE, FOR EXAMPLE, SHE DID 400 TINY EDITS ON

THE NEW DRUMS ALONE TO MAKE THEM FIT EXACTLY WITH
THE ORIGINAL DRUM TRACK! We did the same editing

process with many other instruments and the

backing vocals.
here was a lovely ebb and low to the rhythm
sections Elvis had, so where possible we gave
preference to the original feel, but sometimes for
timing reasons or to it a new arrangement we
worked the other way around. Sometimes wed have
to edit the orchestra and/or other new recordings
to it what we already had. It was a process of going
round the houses, one way or the other, to work out
what sounded best. he editing process was oten
two steps forward and one step back. Wed initially
recorded a diferent arrangement of Fever, then
ater Michael Bubl was conirmed to sing on it, we
changed the arrangement to suit his voice and the
key he likes to sing in.
HEARING THINGS ANEW

According to Cobbin and Whalley, they took

the restoration and editing process further than
had been foreseen, and Cobbin also did some
inal mixes at he Penthouse mix suite at Abbey
Road, to present what they had done in the best
light possible. Patrick and Reedman, delighted
by the results, in turn presented the results to
Priscilla Presley and Sony, who could not believe
what they were hearing. he rest of the album
continued on the same basis. Patrick, Reedman,
and Schwier recorded more overdubs at RAK
Studios, he Bunker in London, and Patricks
Shine Studios. hen there was a second orchestral
session in April 2014, followed by further editing
and mixing sessions conducted by Whalley and
Cobbin at Abbey Road over the summer. Ater all
that, there was even more recording and another
two month mix period at Shine with Patrick,
Reedman and Schwier.
One of the inal hurdles was determining how
modern the album should sound. Cobbin: Kirstys
studio then at Abbey Road was state of the
art, with similar gear as he Penthouse. It gave
AT 59

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us a great sense of compatibility, and meant I didnt need

to keep printing mix bounces. We could simply send our
work to each other using the studios network. I was going
through the rooms Neve DFC Gemini desk, but had
an analogue mix bus chain with a Manley Variable Mu
limiter/compressor, Chandler EMI TG12345 Curve Bender
EQ (which I helped design), and a Massenburg 8200 EQ.
THESE DAYS WE LISTEN TO THINGS IN MORE DETAIL, BRIGHTER
AND WITH MORE COMPRESSION. WHEN WE MIXED THROUGH THIS
MASTERING CHAIN SOMETIMES ALL SORTS OF UNWANTED NOISES
WED NEVER HEARD CAME TO THE FORE AGAIN. KIRSTY HAD TO
DO MORE CLEANUP WORK, AND I HAD TO ADJUST MY MIX. It was

akin with the process of making the album, which was a

constant working and reworking.
he whole recording and editing process took a long
time, added Patrick. We just kept chipping away at it
until it fell into place. We mixed about ive tracks at he
Penthouse with Peter Cobbin, but that studio was too
expensive for us to work in for a prolonged period of time.
Ater 10 days Don, Pete Schwier and I reconvened at my
studio, and there was a period of recording additional
overdubs, tinkering with the drums sound, and so on. All
the things that are part of inishing of a record. he inal
mixing process was cumulative, chipping away things bit
by bit. I HAVE A 32-CHANNEL, 64-INPUT NEVE GENESYS DESK AND
PRO TOOLS HD, THE USUAL STUFF; BUT WE USED THE DESK PURELY
AS A BIG SUMMING BUS, WITH EVERYTHING SET TO ZERO. ALL THE
MIXING AND PROCESSING WAS DONE INSIDE OF PRO TOOLS, WHICH
MEANT THAT WE COULD SWITCH BETWEEN TRACKS INSTANTLY.

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AT 60

dynamicmusic.com.au

Jochum van der Saag also did some sound design

and the inal mix of Fever, and we tried to improve Peter
Cobbins mix of Burning Love but couldnt as it already
sounded great.
We tend to remember records from the past as larger
than life, but that oten bears little relation to reality. his
album fulils those larger-than-life memories of what those
old records sounded like. You hear its not the original, but
think its not that diferent either. However, if you were to
compare the two diferent versions of a song side by side,
the diference is shocking. he other reason the record
sounds contemporary is because there is no disconnect
between the vocal and the music. It sounds like one, as if
Elvis had been there with us during the sessions.
In listening to If I Can Dream it is possible, for a
moment, to imagine that Elvis is still alive ater all.

FEATURE

Sometimes the only way to learn something new is by

giving it a crack. The Hilltop Hoods mix all their regular
albums, so why not tackle an orchestral one?
Story: Mark Davie

AT 62

An entire class of Silicon Valley unicorns

exist to try and solve the Hilltop Hoods
problem. Namely, cutting down the mountain of
progress-tracking emails that plagues every
project teams inbox. Somehow I dont think
taking on the task of personally answering every
email concern is high on their list of solutions,
yet its efectively the role DJ Debris chose to
occupy on their latest album Drinking from the
Sun/Walking Under Stars: Restrung.
his is the second time the hip hop group
has restrung existing material with an
infusion of orchestral arrangements. heir
virgin efort was mixed by Chris hompson,
their own live engineer and ABC live recording
legend, whos recorded and mixed WASO and
other symphony orchestras around Australia.
he three Hoods Debris, and MCs Sufa and
Pressure backseat drove the process with
hundreds of dot pointed emails listing minute
changes. his time, they thought it might be
easier to mix it themselves.
he Hilltop Hoods are no strangers to DIY, in
fact, they seek it out. hey started their own record
label, Golden Era, with the intention of releasing
their own material while opening up that same
support infrastructure to some talented friends as
a side bonus. However, some of those friends didnt
have management, and they were still training
up an operations manager. he downside of that
particular DIY efort was loads of paperwork and a
desk job theyd always been trying to avoid.
heyve never let the ugly side of DIY keep them
down though. Golden Era soon got on its feet and
let the Hoods get back to music with some A&R on
the side. Likewise, Debris has mixed most of the
groups regular output since day one and has always
embraced the opportunity to learn something new.
Last time we talked to Debris (Issue 88) hed just
inished their sixth album, Drinking from the Sun. It
was the irst time hed recorded and mixed a string
quartet, but with some friendly advice and hired
mics, he simply got on with it.

Thats the rule of mixing.

Every action has a reaction,
but its tenfold when you
mix two genres that are
foreign to each other

INDIVIDUAL APPROACH

Debris hasnt quite made the leap from recording

a string quartet to a full orchestra, but he did have
a few ideas for how it should be done ater the
irst restrung album. We got Neville Clark, our
mastering engineer, to record it, said Debris. Last
time we recorded everything in sections. his time
we spot miked everything, so we had 40 stems
of orchestra. It gave us more ability to remove
something and not have spill afect the mix. Last
time, if someone was out of tune or we didnt like
that part of the arrangement, you could clearly hear
them in the background.
Clarke also had a Decca Tree in place [see
sidebar] but it was only used on the two singles.
Both were written late in the process and only
featured string sections. We chopped and changed
the arrangement for those ater the fact, said
Debris. We took a bit of a hip hop approach to it,
treating them like samples at times and chopping
parts to make them it the beat.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra were contracted
again, as was local composer and arranger Jamie
Messenger. Its a hometown pride thing, said
Debris, and obviously the most logistically
sensible option. We had a great experience with
them last time. heir facility, Grainger Studio, is

a surprisingly nice acoustic space, considering its

on Hindley Street. Imagine a studio in the middle
of Kings Cross, and you get the idea; its amazing
the sound doesnt come in. Neville Clark has a
great relationship with the orchestra, as does
Jamie, so it was a natural synergy for us to work
with them again.
For the tour though, the Hilltop Hoods are
engaging the major symphony orchestras from
each city. I cant imagine what the lights would
cost if we toured with the ASO, mused Debris.
Considering their cellos and basses take up a
seat as well. We used to tour with a quartet years
ago, and the amount of times youd hear over the
intercom, Paging Mr Cello, could you please put
your hand up if youre onboard. hey havent got a
scan of the ticket coming onboard and cant igure
out whether to take the luggage of for Mr Cello!
CLICKING INTO THE GROOVE

Before anything can be recorded, Messenger has

to compose the arrangements. We went in with
the attitude of not simply adding an orchestra to
an old song, said Debris. We wanted to take the
songs somewhere new and for it to be consistent
across the two albums. Debris broke down each
of the songs into somewhere between ive to eight
stems, allowing Messenger to pull out conlicting
parts or replace them with orchestral score.
We just go back and forth if he needs anything
else, said Debris. Like a tambourine removed
from the drum stem. For me, the hardest
part of the process was listening to Sibelius
Casio keyboarding-sounding General MIDI
implementation of virtual instruments. It made it
hard to envision the end product.
Hip hop is dead in the water without groove,
but coordinating an extra 40 players so they
interpret a songs groove can be elusive. Do you
send the orchestra a click, a beat, or nothing at
all and just let the conductor take the lead? Even
ater this session, the Hoods didnt feel as though
they nailed it.

AT 63

STRINGING PIECES TOGETHER

Neville Clark, mastering engineer/location
recorder and general jack of all audio trades, from
Disk Edits in Adelaide, assisted the Hilltop Hoods
by recording the orchestra for the album.
Typically Clark would rely on his Decca Tree to
capture the orchestra blend, with only a handful
of spot mics. This time, the Hilltop Hoods wanted
more control over the nal balance, so Clark
individually miked all 30-odd instrument as well as
puting up his tree. In the end, I think it made their
mix job easier, said Clark. Last time round we had
mics on sections, so if somebody was out in that
group it was very hard to massage or hide that.
A standard Decca Tree usually comprises three
omnis (Oktava MC012), but Clark likes to augment
that arrangement by replacing the front omni with
an MS Sennheiser MKH30/40 pair to give him
more options in the mix.
The biggest decision is how high you go, which
determines how much of the room sound you capture. Granger Studios isnt that exciting and not
the quietest of spaces so I dont want a lot of room
and tend to have it lower. Theres carpet on the
oor anyway, though we did have some of the players on risers and the percussion on rm boards.
I probably put it about three metres high. If I did
a full orchestra at the Town Hall, where I want to
capture more of the space, itd probably be about
3.5-4m. In some rooms you can reach a point where
you feel very close to the orchestra, and only a
relatively small movement of 300mm will make
the room sound take over. Its like being on the
edge of a cli.
Clark had a couple of experienced operators

AT 64

wrangling mics for

him; Mick Jackson
from Festival Centre,
and Gab Agostino.
They used DPA (4099,
4061 & 4021) clip-ons
on all of the strings,
Sennheiser MD441
dynamics on stands
for the brass, and a mix
of both approaches
on woodwinds. They
placed Octava MC012
mics on stands for a
lot of the percussion, and AKG C414 on timpanis,
while others were velcro wrapped to particular
instruments, like the bell sounds.
If youre going to use a spot mic, you really need
it close, said Clark. Which is why we arrived at
clip-ons. Traditionally you could spot mic a section
from 1.5m away, because youre only using it to add
colour to your main microphone capture.
Clark used his Merging Technologies Pyramix
system with two Hapi converters at the front end;
connected via Ravenna Audio over IP. He also has
a custom headphone rack that can deliver around
50 sends to the players. Debris supplied stereo
reference tracks with the bed on one side and click
on the other, but the orchestra members were
only hearing the click. To prevent any stray click or
bed tracks bleeding into the space, Clark supplied
fresh in-ear buds with one side snipped o.
Part of Clarks role was to prepare the tracks for
the mix by naming and sorting the takes. However,

there were still a couple of translation issues at

rst. Id labelled the timpanis Timp L and Timp R,
explained Clark, but Baz panned them hard let
and right in the mix. We had to put them back in
the right place. The guys really tried to respect the
layout of the orchestra, and the mix reects that.
Youve got all the bright strings predominantly on
the let, winds in the centre, percussion behind
that, and basses and brasses to the right.
We talked a lot about reverb choices, because
with close mics you have to articially add a
sense of space. Ive done a few recordings, where
you have a lovely space to work in and it sounds
natural. When you bring it back to the studio, its
an accurate representation, but nine times out of
10 thats a prety uninteresting recording for the
listener when they get it on a home hi-. Youve got
to work it a litle bit. Its like stage makeup, it goes
on prety thick and bright because it needs to be
seen from a long way away.

(Far left) The session for

Cosby Sweater: Restrung
shows the number of
orchestral tracks Debris
had to try and fit into his
mix. (This page) Debris'
orchestral mix bus chain,
with Waves Vocal Rider
to help with overall
automation, and the final
Lexicon Chamber reverb.

Debris: One of the things we said we werent

going to do, but did, was record them to click track.
Everybody interprets a click diferently, whether
they play in front of it or behind it.
Hip hop generally has a laggy swagger to it. ON A
LOT OF THE TRACKS I HAD TO MOVE THE ENTIRE ORCHESTRA
TO THE RIGHT BY EIGHT OR NINE MILLISECONDS TO GET
THEM INTO THE GROOVE. hen there are tracks where
we have a late kick drum and every third snare is
staggered. Even though we tempo mapped the click
track, it didnt quite capture that feel, so we had to
go in and lex edit those tracks. It got to the point of
blisters on the mouse hand; we even brought in our
friend and producer, One Above, to help. he ASO
nailed what they had to play to, its just that we had
to mould it to the syncopation of our beat.
I spent a good three or four days preparing for
the recording. I ended up folding the mix, minus
vocals, into the let channel in mono with the
click on the right. hat way, on the day we could
have the balance of choosing between the two. We
ended up giving the conductor a mix of both, but
the orchestra got the click. hey had no idea what
they were playing to a lot of the time, which has its
pro and cons. It can be good because theyre not
interpreting how they swing to it. If I had to do
it again, it would at least be to the rhythm of the
sampled drum.

MAKING ROOM

Flex editing the orchestra into the groove required

a lot of grunt work, but once everything was in
time Debris still had to work out how to mix
40 new stems into sessions that were already up
around 120 tracks.
he struggle with hip hop is theres not much
room, said Debris. Every snare hits at basically
the same volume. We dont limit it, but theres
already a very full mix and youre trying to
introduce something that goes from quiet and
dynamic to super loud. Trying to ind a middle

ground where that its into a mix is diicult. When

you turn one element up it causes a reaction; you
turn the violin section up and the vocals disappear,
turn the bassline up and the whole mix seems
muddy. hats the rule of mixing. Every action has
a reaction, but its tenfold when you mix two genres
that are foreign to each other.
We tried to set up a general starting template
with buses and plug-ins. However, its really hard
to ind a middle ground that covers something as
dynamic as an orchestra some tracks have longer
melancholy notes and others more pizzicato stabby
parts I had to revisit it several times.
I had separate EQs and automation on each
channel, but most of the general reverb and
compression was done at the master bus. We
changed the reverb halfway in from a Space
Designer convolution reverb to a Lexicon. Its
amazing how much one parameter on a master
bus of an orchestra can change how everything
sits. THERE WERE ALSO OCCASIONS WHEN I WANTED A
CRESCENDO TO PUNCH THROUGH THE MIX, BUT AS I TURNED

just because it brings up the noise loor. Amazing

things happen in an orchestra. When you listen
to every stem you can hear all the footsteps and
every breath and snile. All that stuf gets hidden
when you play it as a whole, but when you start
compressing it comes up through the loor.
I ended up using the Waves Vocal Rider plug-in
to automatically manage the automation of the
main orchestra bus. Its not ideal because its geared
towards vocals, but I couldnt ind another plug-in
that could do that. I had it on a very slow response
to contain things like the RMS volume of slowly
rising crescendos. I tried that approach instead of
whacking a compressor on it when it gets loud.
he choice of compressor is important too.
You dont want to dirty up the sound with a PSP
Vintage Warmer when youve got an amazing
orchestra playing perfectly miked, 100-year old
instruments. Its a balance between maintaining the
integrity of the sound and leaving the dynamics,
but also having enough volume to compete with a
brickwall of a track that already exists.

IT UP THE COMPRESSOR ON THE BUS WAS CATCHING IT.

IN THAT CASE, I HAD A MIRRORED BUS WITH A HIGHER
THRESHOLD. I always learn as I go.

Neville was a huge help in getting on the right

path, because hes recorded and mixed a number
of orchestra sessions. Because hes such a kind man
I had to tell him to be brutally honest and tell me
what he would do better. hose things youre not
really considering when youre struggling for breath
under hundreds of stems, like EQ on the reverb.
Initially, I just had a lat convolution verb.
He sent through an example that had a great
space about it. WE ACTUALLY HAD A SIMILAR REVERB
APPLIED, WITH THE SAME PRE-DELAY SETTINGS, BUT
MINE WAS SOUNDING MUDDY. AS SOON AS I PULLED OUT
THAT 200-240HZ WOOL IT OPENED UP THE WHOLE MIX. Its
always stuf I learnt 20 years ago at SAE that I
conveniently forget.
I tried to avoid compression where possible,

YOUVE STILL GOT MAIL

Debris approach to the email problem didnt

exactly pan out. here were orders of magnitude
more emails going back and forth, he said. I was
surprised we didnt shut down Gmails servers!
We were keeping one song to one thread, and one
of them got to 200 entries before we even got to
the mix. Its a lot to wade through. Its good to
have other peoples feedback; because its easy to
get yourself locked in a cage and lose perspective
on what youre doing. Long story short, I think
we could do this another 10 times and learn a lot
each time.
Im sure if we check back in during the next
restrung album, Debris will be clipping on DPA
mics to violins and commandeering the recording.
Ater all, theres always something new to learn.

AT 65

FEATURE

While carrying her first child, the ever-changing

Sarah Blasko riffed on love and her childhood in
the synth pop-laden Eternal Return her first
album recorded in an Aussie studio.
Feature: Paul Tingen
Photos: Jess Chapnik & Natalie van den Dungen

AT 66

Its too early for a number of reasons

to call Sarah Blasko Australias Bowie,
but her restless creative spirit is at least kindred of
the master of reinvention. Blaskos most recent
solo efort, Eternal Return, sees the artist remodel
her output once again. Blasko says the album is
totally about love the most eternal and
unchanging of subjects and a return to feelings
she experienced at a young age. She has given
shape to these themes in ways that make Eternal
Return a radical departure from her previous
album, which was a departure from the one
before, which diverged from the one before
that you get the idea.
Heres a brief ield guide charting Blaskos
kaleidoscopic discography. Her 2004 debut he
Overture & the Underscore put her on the map as
one of Australias most important new artists of the
decade. Its guitar-driven, folk-meets-electronica
pop was recorded in LA with help from fellow
Australian songwriter Robert F Cranny. What he
Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have, again made with
Cranny, was recorded in New Zealand and won
an ARIA for Best Pop Release, a coup considering
it featured what can best
be described as Baroque
Chamber Pop. Fast forward
a bit and Blasko headed to
Sweden to record As Day
Follows Night with Swedish
producer, and Peter Bjorn
and John bassist, Bjorn
Yttling. It featured more
melancholic chamber pop,
this time piano-driven and
jazz-inluenced. It earned
Blasko a Best Female
Artist ARIA Award. hen
there was an ambitious
self-produced orchestral
album, I Awake, recorded
in Bulgaria and in Sweden.
As quickly as she
picked up the orchestra,
Blasko dumped it for analogue synths and a drum
machine. Made with producer Burke Reid
best-known for working with guitar acts like he
Drones, Dan Kelly and Jack Ladder Eternal
Return happens to be the irst album Blasko has
recorded in her native land of Australia, at he
Grove Studios an hour north of Sydney. Over
Skype Blasko explained that the roots of Eternal
Returns direction can be found in her branching
out into other compositional ventures, such as an
experimental collaborative album called Emergence
made with composer Nick Wales in conjunction
with the Sydney Dance Company; and writing
the music for Brendan Cowells feature ilm debut
Ruben Guthrie. Composing music for Del Kathryn
Bartons animated short he Nightingale and the
Rose was particularly instrumental in pushing
Blasko towards using synths.
I started writing the music for a new album on
piano like I had done for the previous two, but I
was just repeating myself, recalled Blasko. hen I
bought a Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08 and

grew to love the sounds and the feel of playing it. It

felt refreshing ater two essentially acoustic albums.
I used the Prophet on a couple of ilm projects,
Del Kathryn Bartons ilm being one of them. Its
based on a book by Oscar Wilde and there was a
real aggressiveness and intensity to the visuals and
the story, which really suited synthesizers. Playing
an analogue synth is like plugging a guitar into an
ampliier, it has a very powerful feeling to it! So my
ilm score was just voice and synthesizers. Ater that
I kept going on that trajectory!
OPENING THE ENVELOPE

Blaskos trajectory took her deep into the

mysterious and unpredictable world of analogue
synthesizers, which require both musical and
technical adroitness to operate. However, about
the irst thing Blasko said aware that the
interview was for AudioTechnology was I
have to warn you, I am not very technical. his,
however, is a bit of a red herring, for not only did
she clearly reach a high degree of proiciency in
operating all those pesky buttons that can litter
the surface of analogue synths, but she is also
quite adept at using the
Pro Tools system she
has at her house. Plus,
on previous albums
she has accumulated
drum programming
and engineering credits.
Clearly, Blasko is no
technophobe or Luddite.
Ive had to delve more
deeply into Pro Tools
than just using it as a
tape recorder because
of the ilm music I was
doing last year, Blasko
admitted. It makes
sense to be able to do
more at home than to
continue taking things
into commercial studios. I
got myself a bit more equipment; one of those API
lunchboxes with some Neve mic preamps, which
go into a Pro Tools Mbox. I also have a couple of
reasonable microphones, I think theyre made by
Rde. I am terrible at remembering gear names,
particularly the numbers. But I suppose I am kind
of nerdy in that I like to get a good result when
recording at home, and oten end up keeping stuf
Ive recorded there.
Blasko recounted the irst creative steps of
Eternal Return, which began with demos at her
home studio mostly using her Prophet 08. Ater
doing that for a while I thought that it would be a
great idea if I wrote songs with some friends Ive
been playing music with for 10 years. We know
each others likes, and yet have never written
songs together. I invited them to go away for a
week, and all we brought was my Prophet 08, a
Korg MS20, a Rhythm Ace drum machine and a
drum machine on an iPad. We recorded straight
into an iPhone because I didnt want to labour
over the demos. Ater a while we had 20 or 30

Peoples songs are a

little bit like their
children. If you think
theyre being a bit too
lazy as a parent, or
too strict, you have to
be very careful how
you comment on them

songs that were loosely inished, which is when I

started working with Burke.
HATES A STRONG WORD

Blaskos invitees were guitarist Ben Fletcher,

composer Nick Wales, and keyboardist David
Hunt. Her invitation to Burke Reid to produce the
new album was a little counterintuitive, not only
because Reid is known for working with guitar
bands, but also because Blasko had produced
her previous album herself and seemed perfectly
capable of continuing along these lines. Regardless,
Blasko wanted to be directed. Initially, Sarah
thought it would be a weird match but that it had
good potential, so she trialled Burke on two songs,
Only One and Say What You Want. I liked his
enthusiasm, his passion for music, she found. Hes
not an egotist and hes happy to change direction
at any point. Working at Grove Studios, where hes
mostly based, really suited me because it wasnt far
from home and I was pregnant.
It wasnt all roses. In an interview with a British
newspaper Sarah said, I really hated Burke a few
times! Blasko clariied what she meant: Hate is
deinitely a strong word. Im not sure its an entirely
accurate description, but there were times when I
found he was pushing me to pull apart the songs
and that can be really painful for someone whos
constructed them. Its why I wanted to work with
a producer, but theres nowhere to hide when
someone is in that role asking you to question
what you hear in your head. I knew it was making
the songs stronger in many ways. I had to let
go and trust him, which is diicult when you
havent worked with someone before. I was also
occasionally grumpy at him sheerly out of fatigue
because we worked such long hours oten from
11am until 3am. But it was a hell of lot of fun.
he man in question laughed when confronted
with the hate quote, and commented, here
were some points where I was used to working in
a certain way, and she wanted to know why. Im
not a very confrontational sort of person, and in
these scenarios it was a matter of trying to keep
the show running and making sure everyones
opinions got heard. At times, my job as a producer
is to do some pushing, and sometimes I may say
a few things that are diicult to hear for an artist,
like, thats good, but maybe it could be better.
Peoples songs are a little bit like their children. If
you think theyre being a bit too lazy as a parent,
or too strict, you have to be very careful how you
comment on them. You may get a few on the chin,
but thats what youre called in to do as a producer!
Ultimately you develop a mutual trust, knowing
that youre all looking to make sure an album
becomes the best it can be.
he mutual trust and occasional bit of friction
that are part of Reids modus operandi as a producer
have deinitely stood his career in good stead. His
band Gerling was nominated for an ARIA award
three times. Following this he cut his engineering
teeth at Big Jesus Burger studio in Sydney, getting
lunches for people and eating humble pie! While
there, he blufed his way into engineering and
producing he Mess Halls Devils Elbow, which won
AT 67

Its why I wanted to work

with a producer, but theres
nowhere to hide when
someone is in that role
asking you to question
what you hear in your head

an Australian Music Prize. From there Reid went

on to engineer, mix, and/or produce albums by Jack
Ladder, he Drones, Liam Finn, DZ Deathrays,
Courtney Barnett, and many more.
Reid currently divides his time between Canada
and Australia, but spends most of his working
life at he Grove Studios, which was bought by
producer/ex-BJB co-owner Scott Horscrot a couple
of years ago. Despite featuring the accoutrements of
a holiday resort, its apparently possible to get solid
work done there.
Convening at the studio in late 2014 were
drummer Laurence Pike, bassist Donny
Bent, David Hunt, and guitarist Jim Moginie,
occasionally aided by Reid on rhythm guitar and
Matt Keegan on saxophones. Blasko stated, We
used a host of authentic, aged synths. Donny didnt
only play bass, but also brought his collection
of vintage synths, which included a Prophet 5, a
Moog, a string keyboard called a Stradivarius, an
Arp, and many more, plus I brought my Prophet
08 and Korg MS20. Donny, David and I played
them. We had a synth station laid out of about 12
synths, and late at night wed have synth time. We
were all a bit delirious and would play melodic lines
over what we already had.
Reid added, As we got more into the album it
became increasingly apparent that guitars werent
going to be a feature, so the guitars we did use
were very sparse, efect-laden and soundscape-like,
rather than purposeful notes. Youre not going to
write guitar tabs from those guitar parts! he focus
was on the drums, bass, synths, and her vocals.
AT 68

ETERNAL, NOT RETRO

he synths used in the making of Eternal Return

all date from the 1970s and 1980s no sot
synths were involved which gives the album an
80s sheen, with echoes of anything from Donna
Summer to Gary Numan to Depeche Mode to
Sot Cell.
Despite the references to the 70s and 80s,
Blasko and Reid emphasised that Eternal Return
is not a retro album. Reid elaborated, Im not big
on trying to go for retro sounds. Youre always
inluenced by tones and ideas from the past, but
they are usually just starting points. We werent
saying to each other, lets make it sound 80s. We
were just using synths that are associated with
that period. Once the general atmosphere of a
song started to take shape, we didnt think about
whether the sounds we used belonged to a certain
genre or time period, we just went with what
sounded best to us.
he discussions were purely about what each
song needed. Turn on a synth, create a sound,
play until it sounds cool, and then record that.
he starting point in the studio was Laurence
playing to a click or a loop. Getting the tempos
exactly right was incredibly important for these
songs and helpful for worklow because we were
mostly building the tracks up brick by brick. Wed
occasionally record drums and bass together,
but wed always record alongside a guide vocal.
Laurence, and sometimes Donny, would put down
a rough outline for most of the songs, and then wed
change tones and microphones for the drums and

bass of each song. If it worked, it stayed, if it didnt,

wed redo it.
Reid tried to record the instruments as he
wanted them to sound, using plenty of Studio
1s outboard on the way in. He went for a fairly
standard drum recording setup, experimenting
by adding some odd microphones. Id have an
SM57 on the snare, and a Sennheiser 421 or AKG
D12 on the kick, or maybe a Rde Classic tube.
Sometimes Id put an SM7 above the kick, just over
the lip between the snare and the loor tom. I ind
that this gets me a great overall mono kit sound
that Ill saturate/distort/compress and add in with
the other mics to lesh the sound out. I recorded
the cymbals separately, and would remove them
during the actual drum recording, so they werent
resonating along. Laurence also played in a really
small room next to the control room, so I put up
diferent mics and compressed them to bring out
the odd tones. We also had a few drum machines,
like the Roland TR808 and 909, here and there, but
we always triggered them by hand and added them
to the live drums.
I recorded Donnys bass through a DI and an
Ampeg SVT amp, sent to a Distressor or an 1176
and an old Evans Echopet rackmount delay unit
which also has a spring reverb in it. he distortion
you hear on the bass mostly comes from the Evans.
We also oten doubled the bass guitar with some
keyboard bass from a Moog. he keyboards
which also included a Roland Juno 6, Mellotron,
MicroKorg and Nord Lead were DId through a
Chandler Germanium. Very occasionally wed send

SINGING TO YOUR BABY

I bought a Dave Smith

Instruments Prophet 08
it felt refreshing after two
essentially acoustic albums

a keyboard through an amp for some room sound

and air. I oten used the Ensoniq DP4 on the synths,
which is an 80s multi-efects unit I like for its
simplicity. Id cycle through the presets and quickly
ind something to give it the right tone and vibe.
David also played piano on the album.
Sometimes we used the Nord piano EQd
strongly with efects because it it better in the
track. When we used the upright at he Grove
we liked the sound of it with the dampener on.
Id record it with a stereo pair of condensers like
Josephson E22s or Neumann U47s if I wanted
something very detailed. I tend to mic uprights
from behind, if possible. I like the sound of the
soundboard behind the piano, as opposed to the
top where the hammers are. I might also take the
bottom front soundboard of, where the foot pedals
are and place an additional mono microphone
there. Its where the strings cross over, so it will pick
up the highs and lows. Depending, of course, on
how creaky the foot pedals are!

Reid: I usually have an SM57 and a Royer

pointed at the guitar ampliier, but because we
were using so many guitar pedals, getting pristine
guitar tones and the exact guitar mics and mic
placements were not that important. Only two
or three songs have minimal guitars. he twangy
guitar sound at the beginning of Luxurious is
actually a bass, played high up and going into my
Guyatone Tube Tremolo pedal, DIed and split
into the Evans Delay and a plate in the Grove
cellar. We usually used Neve 1064 mic pres on the
guitar, bass and drum mics, though I also used
some Quad Eights on the drums, because theyre
a bit faster than Neves.
I recorded Sarahs vocals with a Neumann U47,
going through a Brent Averill 1073 mic pre and
then a Distressor. Generally Sarah did not want
the vocals too treated, so we kept it fairly safe. I
dont like to record vocals with EQ, so I just had a
hi-pass to get some of the rumble out. Sarah is very
particular about the efects on her vocals, so while
I might have had a reverb for her to sing to, I didnt
record it. Any vocal efect would have been applied
by David Wrench during the inal mix. he reason
I dont generally EQ vocals is for safety. If you add
too much high end, you can struggle with sibilance
later. Also, if youre recording vocals in stages with
weeks or months between sessions, it makes it
easier to drop in and match the sounds.
I do mess around a lot with the vocal
microphone position, distance and angle.
Depending on the singer and the way they sing,

you can get a lot of mouth noise and sibilance. I

look at the proile of the singer, and watch whether
their head angles up or straight or down, and try
to ind the best-sounding spot for the mic; oten
just above or below the mouth and on an angle. I
put the mic either the distance of a ist or an open
hand away. Sarah moves around a lot, most singers
do, especially if they have a big, strong voice. I try
to ind a position where I wont lose all the vocal
sound even if they go of-axis. In Sarahs case I
positioned the mic straight at her, just above the
mouth, and about a ist way. If its a slower song
with a lot of focus on the vocals, I oten place the
mic even closer, so you can use the proximity efect
to ill out the vocal sound. Normally you dont want
that much bottom end in faster-paced songs.
he lead vocals were all overdubbed towards
the end of the recording sessions, around March
2015 when Blasko was reaching the third trimester
of her pregnancy. his made singing physically
diicult for her, recalled Reid. Apparently
Blasko was at times literally gasping for breath
and regularly had to stop, which meant that the
vocal overdubs took a long time. Ater having
spent several months distilling the sounds of her
childhood onto a record, time and a new kind of
childhood were catching up with Blasko. She was
changing yet again.

AT 69

FEATURE

GUY SEBASTIAN
ALL THE RIGHT REGIONS
Guy glad hands the bush, keeping Mum, Nan
and the kids all happy.
Story: Christopher Holder

It doesnt take long to be won over by the

considerable charms of Guy Sebastian. Im
not sure who was more sceptical, me (who still
recalls the reality TV shock of Idol) or my 12
year-old daughter (who is instantly suspicious of
any of her fathers music recommendations). But a
few minutes into the gig and both of us were eating
out of the palm of Guys hand.
Im not saying anything that tens of thousands
of fans who locked to last years arena shows
dont already know Guy Sebastian is the
consummate showman.
Hes also a nice guy. Not content with playing the
big arenas in the big cities, this year hes hit the road
playing a regional theatre tour, much to the joy of
his multi-generational fanbase.
Guys FOH engineer is Anatole Day, hes been with
Guy since the Memphis tour in 2008; when he came
on board manning monitors. Initially, he too was
a little lukewarm: Until I found out I was working
with Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn and the rest of the
original Stax musicians, and seeing how natural Guy
was with them he belonged in that company.
KEEP TRUCKIN

A big tour comes with big baggage six semi

trailers in the case of last years arena tour
while a regional tour needed to be more nimble.
Amazingly, Anatole and the crew managed to
shoehorn the whole production into a 12-tonner.
A couple of the dates required some rental PA to
supplement what was in the truck but mostly the
combination of 8 x L-Acoustics ARCS and 8 x
SB218s powered by LA8 amps did the trick.
he ARCS are lexible, explains Anatole.
AT 70

Ground stacking a PA inevitably means its

a lot louder at the front than the back, but Ill
occasionally stack the subs three high to lit the
ARCS up from the audience a little more, then
lip the boxes upside down, that way I get 40
downward coverage for the front rows, and with
20 dispersion upwards I can still hit the back row.

TRAVELLING LIGHT
Everything you see here jams into a 12-tonne
truck (well, okay, maybe not everything the
musos might object). Space saving measures
include the exclusive use of in-ears, using
projectors instead of LED walls, and maybe
leaving half a dozen guitars at home.

NOW & SENN

he microphone package is all Sennheiser.

Unsurprisingly, given Anatole struck a deal with
Sennheiser a few years back to guarantee he was
delivering the kind of sound Guy was asking for:
Occasionally Id be caught short on corporate
gigs. Id send in the technical rider and everyone
was okay, but then Id arrive and ind some of the
gear wasnt up to scratch. I knew I had to at least
guarantee Guys sound for those gigs. I put together
a 2U road case with two Sennheiser 2050 wireless
mic channels (SKM2000 handhelds and Neumann
KK205 capsules) and two stereo sets of G3 in-ear
monitors. hat way, whatever the circumstances I
had Guys sound covered.
Most of the wireless is the new 9000 Series.
Eight channels covers Guy, BVs and guitar packs.
Four additional channels of 2000 Series wireless
takes care of backups. he wireless is rock solid,
observes Anatole. Every gig, Justin our monitor
engineer, starts scanning as soon as he can. Hell
do that throughout soundcheck right up until the
show kicks of. You never know what the hundreds
of mobile phones in the audience might do to your
clean spectrum. But we also know the 9000 series
will ind the best chunk of spectrum and has never
missed a beat.

SWART BE WITH YOU

Anatole likes his tagteam mic combos. Here
he has a Sennheiser e903 and an e906 on the
Swart Space Tone combo. Anatole will blend
the tone to taste.

JUST FOR KICKS

The drums are kited out with 900 Series Sennheiser mics
12 channels in all. There are a couple of exceptions: an e602
sits out of the kick drum shell complementing the e901 inside
the drum, and a pair of MK4 large diaphragm condensers take
care of underhead duties.

KEYS OF LIFE
Any synth head would be happy with this particular quartet of keys:
Nord Stage, Korg Kronos, Access Virus Ti Polar, and a Dave Smith
Prophet 12.

DESK FLEX
Anatole Day: Im not one of those guys who demands a Digico
or an Avid or Midas. In fact, when Im working on a console I
quickly become its biggest fan as I appreciate the things it
does well I had that experience recently with a Soundcrat
Vi3000. I get the fact that sometimes you need a certain
mixer for a certain sound, or you might have all your secret
sauces on an iLok thats got to plug into a Prole, but oten
the demanding engineers are just a bit insecure about working
on something they dont know so well. I decided early in my
career that I wouldnt be fussy. Sure, you need the humility to
ask the production supplier to give you a quick guided tour if
youre a litle rusty on the mixer, then you just get on with it.

DOOMSDAY REDUNDANCY
The show has playback coming out of Logic running on a Mac Mini.
The bands guitarist has some basic Play, Stop and Next control over
the playback via a small display on stage. The Mac Mini is connected
to a MOTU Ultralite Mk3 interface spiting out three stereo pairs of
tracks (precussion, instruments and BVs), a mono click and a 1kHz
tone for syncing with a Radial SW8 switcher. Heres how it works:
For the sake of redundancy theres a mirror Mac Mini synced with
the A system. Once David the guitarist hits play, both instances of
Logic spark up, through two MOTU Ultralites and then into the Radial
Doomsday device the SW8 Auto Switcher. The SW8 will pass
System A audio for as long as it registers the 1k tone. If the tone
stops it seamlessly switches to the System B audio.
We test it every day, notes Anatole, and it truly is seamless. You
simply cant hear it making the switch.
AT 71

REGULARS

PC Audio
Money tight? Why not explore
some of the best PC freeware
plug-ins around.
Column: Martin Walker

It never ceases to amaze me just how many

really useful and high quality freeware audio
plug-ins are out there for PC owners. Its about time
I honed in on some of the best around. Most of
these are fairly new releases that rapidly caught my
eye, but Ive also thrown in a few oldies but
goodies. If youve missed them thus far then you
need to explore their excellence for yourself.
IGNITE AMPS

www.igniteamps.com
Ignite Amps builds custom guitar amps and efects
to order, but also provides an accurate real time
virtual simulation of them before building the real
hardware! With this core business in mind, it also
ofers a range of freeware virtual guitar amp plugins, which have a great reputation with guitarists.
However, what recently drew me to its website
was the PTEq-X, a surprisingly comprehensive
Pulteq-style EQ plug-in, released only recently.
Unlike some of the Pultec freebies out there, this
one performs the simultaneous low-end boost/
attenuation trick correctly, giving you that handy
EQ curve that can be so useful for kick drums
and other bass instruments. he model performs
similar magic when adding air with its high shelf
option. It also includes an extremely comprehensive
MQ5 mid-range section ofering two peaks and
one dip option over a wide choice of frequencies,
a third HL3C section containing low cut and high
cut ilters, and even a choice of options that model
the subtle second/third harmonic efects of four
diferent ECC tubes!

and a separate output stage ofering three optional

saturation modes with variable drive to add further
analogue mojo. A particularly useful feature is the
Auto-gain mode that preserves subjective loudness
as you alter the EQ curve.
I was so impressed with this plug-in that I
upgraded to its 30 Gentlemans Edition. It adds
a further Japanese EQ lavour, more versatile
high-pass ilter, a new low-pass ilter, several more
output stage options, very handy tilt ilter and a
spectrum analyser displaying the current EQ curve
and its real-time audio response. Wunderbar!
RAZ AUDIO F1 FILTERBOX

www.razaudio.com
A new name to me, Raz Audio only produces its
free plug-ins in Windows 32-bit format though
they work ine for me inside 64-bit Reaper using
its built-in bridge, and in other applications
using jBridge. Its latest March 2016 ofering is F1
FilterBox: a multimode ilter with low, high and
band pass options in both 12dB and 24dB/octave
formats, with frequency and resonance modulated
via an integrated LFO (either free-running or
tempo-synced to your DAW), or driven by an
envelope follower. hese three modulator modes
can also be run in parallel for more complex
results, and the F1 Filterbox X/Y pad display
of freq/resonance and other controls are easily
automate-able from your DAW. F1 FilterBox is
an easy to use and versatile efect for those with
electro tendencies, although it would beneit from
input and output level controls to more easily avoid
overloads at high resonance settings.

TDR VOS SLICK EQ

www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-vos-slickeq
Another very clever business model is employed by
Tokyo Dawn Records: its small range of boutique
plug-ins available both as very capable free versions
and tantalisingly more upmarket Gentlemans
Editions, which contain lots more features. I use
its VOS Slick EQ a lot in my own mixes. Its three
band semi-parametric design ofers four distinct
modes (American, British, German, Soviet), each
with diferent shapes for its shelving/peaking
low and high bands and the boost/cut curves of
its mid band, plus a handy high-pass ilter for
removing subsonic mud. heres also a musical EQ
Sat harmonic contribution afecting EQ boosts,
AT 72

GLITCH MACHINES FRACTURE

glitchmachines.com/downloads/fracture
If you want to morph your sounds in more radical
directions, I can certainly recommend this classic.
Featuring a bufer efect, along with a multimode
ilter, three LFOs and a delay, this really does
live up to its claims of creating robotic artefacts
and abstract musical malfunctions. Essentially
it records a small portion of your input signal
and loops this a number of times before starting
again, but under the long-term control of an LFO
(tempo-sync is once again a handy option). he
multi-mode ilter and delay modules provide LFO
modulation of their parameters, and you can re-

order all three modules in search of diferent sonic

results. Fracture is now up to version 1.2 and with
over 100 presets from famous sound designers to
get you started this creative powerhouse will truly
warp your incoming audio in fresh and oten jawdropping ways. Even if you input a steady sine wave
signal and hit the random button youll be amazed
at many of the sounds that emerge!
SGA1566 VINTAGE TUBE PRE

www.shatteredglassaudio.com/product.php?id=104
Apparently this two-stage 12AX7 tube design is
simulated in real time using a high performance
circuit simulator, with a two-band Baxandall-style
EQ stage that can be placed at either end of the tube
circuitry. he results range from added warmth and
overdrive, to out and out saturation. While I found
you do need to switch to its higher oversampling
and CPU settings to get best results, its a great
way to add some character and dirt to your tracks.
One favourite setting of mine was to use lower
gain settings combined with high output levels,
delivering some lovely second harmonic distortion
along with some extra warmth and snap from the
plug-ins Baxandall EQ. SGA has now released a
MkII version with various enhancements for just
US$29.99, but the original remains freeware.
KLANGHELM MJUCJR

klanghelm.com/MJUCjr.php
MCUCjr is a colourful variable-mu compressor
with real character yet easy to use controls. Its a
junior version of the fully-featured MJUC, which
spent two years in R&D yet retails at a remarkably
low 24. Junior has just two main controls in
charge of compression and make-up gain, along
with a three-way switch for fast, slow or auto
timing; while setup is made easy via the large gain
reduction meter. Notwithstanding, once you listen
to the results youll realise theres actually a lot
going on under the hood, with two tube gain stages
and an interstage transformer simulation with
variable slew rate. Results range from the natural,
dense compression of early vari-mu designs to a
more forward-sounding output associated with
1960s models; with plenty of desirable harmonic
contributions. I loved this compressors attitude;
from its punch and snap on drum loops, to the
pumping at more extreme settings.

Free & Easy

AUDIOTECHNOLOGY: THE MONTHLY APP

The AudioTechnology App is made just for tablets. All the

latest news, reviews, features, columns and tutorials every
month for next to nothing. Stay tuned for more news at
audiotechnology.com.au or like us on Facebook.

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AT
T 73
3

REGULARS

Apple Notes
More ways than one to skin OS X.
Column: Brad Watts

hree years is a long time in technology. Its at

about the three-year mark where youd
seriously look at replacing any workstation
computer either sell it on or relegate it to lesser
tasks and ship in a more powerful unit that can
keep up with the endless progress of sotware.
With this in mind, it seems odd we are yet to
see a new Mac Pro from Apple. he Late 2013
Mac Pro has possibly reached its replacement
date. Its not that the currently available Mac Pro
isnt capable of keeping up with the workload and
applications it was assigned nearly three years ago
it most certainly is. he question remains; whats
next? Will Apple release a better Mac Pro? Or, will
Apple coerce its customers into buying bigger and
better Retina-endowed iMacs. Surely its obvious
theres a need for a discreet desktop machine.
Lately there have been whispers of a new Mac
Pro, with reports of unearthed code within Apples
latest operating system, El Capitan, for an as yet
unannounced machine. But will that machine
appear in time for your next upgrade, and will it
fall victim to the same three-month delivery times
as the irst trashcan Mac Pro?
he thing is, theres a lot of stuf that isnt so fun
with the 2013 Mac Pro. Firstly, the price. he Mac
Pro is an expensive option in any language. With a
base-level machine youre forking out $6500. hats
with 16GB of RAM and a chunky 3.5GHz six-core
Xeon processor. heres also no space for additional
hard drives within the unit; youre stuck with
hanging drive cases of the machine via USB 3 or
hunderbolt.Whats more, optioning up the internal
PCIe lash storage to what I consider a minimum
of 1TB adds another $1280 to the price tag. While
were talking minimum specs, lets look at RAM.
For 32GB enough to handle audio applications
and video side-projects Apple asks an additional
$640. So far were looking at AU$8419.
HACK A MAC

here are cheaper options. First up, you could build

your own Mac. As is fairly common knowledge
these days, you can run OS X on a suitable PC
motherboard using an Intel CPU. Lets do some
quick sums to see how that approach checks out.
Youll spend $350 on a suitable motherboard (Id
AT 74

recommend the Gigabyte brand) that includes

hunderbolt 2 (although make sure youre ready
for a learning curve to get this working seamlessly).
Motherboards are available with hunderbolt 3,
but this is unsupported by OS X thus far stick
with hunderbolt 2 or avoid it if you can. 32GB
of DDR4 RAM, lets say $350. Processor? Why
not an Intel Core i7-4790K at $550. hese things
run at 4GHz and 4.4GHz in turbo mode. heyre
very quick. Storage? Lets go with an Intel 750
1.2TB PCIe SSD for$1299. For projects youll need
separate hard drives;two 960GB SSDs at $490 each.
Youll also need a graphics card.If youre working
with video, something grunty like a Geforce
GTX 980 Ti at about a grand. If youre not fussed
about video editing you could spend as little as
$150 on an Nvidia card that would support three
monitors;the Nvidia GT 740 will do the trick.
Dont forget a quality case and power supply.
Have a look at the Be Quiet! Silent Base range
beautifully designed and quiet cases for about
$140 in which you can it multiple hard drives, all
with tool free mounting and rubber decoupling. Oh,
that power supply. Again, see the Be Quiet! range
a 600W unit will set you back $100. A BlueRay
drive (with DVD-R and CD-R compatibility) for
backing up and loading sample libraries $100. All
up youre spending $4119 add a grand if youre
ater strong GPU performance.
Not bad for a machine with more drive space,
and a faster processor than Apple can provide
with all the added joy of everything being
contained in the one unit. Granted, youre not
getting workstation components, but youre
still getting the speed at half the price! he other
advantage is you can upgrade parts of the machine
over time unlike a Mac, in most instances
(which Ill get to shortly). All you need to do is
some homework on the coniguration. here are
some excellent sites from which to glean this info,
with step-by-step instructions.
UPGRADE YOUR OWN MAC

All this DIY tomfoolery may not be a sport youre

keen to be involved in, in which case, consider
upgrading an older model Mac Pro. hese
machines ofer the space required for multiple hard

drives, can be upgraded to 64GB of RAM, and

include audio-centric accoutrements such as optical
drives (although they dont ofer hunderbolt). You
could go back as far as 2010 in model release dates.
Ebay is bursting with Xeon processor upgrade kits
for many of the older design Mac Pros. Its simply a
case of swapping your existing processor tray for a
faster CPU tray. Prices range from $450 through to
$2000, but if it means you dont have to swap your
entire machine out and go through the chore of
reinstalling countless plug-ins and sample libraries,
then this sounds like a sensible option.
Apple machines will always be the pricier option,
but that doesnt mean you have to upgrade your
Mac, or buy a Mac at all to be running OS X. At the
end of the day there are more ways than one to run
our favourite operating system. How you choose
to do that will inevitably be a trade-of between
downtime considerations, your tenacity, and
available funds.

{ Godzilla - 1954 }

What will you create?

Introducing the new F8 MultiTrack Field Recorder.
With 8 mic-pres, 10 tracks, and rock-solid Time Code.
The next iconic sound is closer than you think.

The new Zoom F8

Hollywood sound. Within reach.

Were Zoom. And Were For Creators.

REVIEW

SHURE KSM8 DUALDYNE

Handheld Dynamic Microphone
Shure has torn apart its dynamic microphone
concept to add in another diaphragm; and two
is definitely better than one.
Review: Mark Woods

NEED TO KNOW

Whether its in ALL CAPS, longwinded

technical jargon truncated into an acronym,
or simply a made up, authoritatively-stamped name
like TransMotik, marketing phraseology is
mostly designed to disguise the fact that Company
As product does exactly the same thing as
Company B, C and Ds.
Shures new epithet, Dualdyne, actually means
something. Firstly, it comes from a distinguished
lineage of corporate milestones that started with
the irst Unidyne directional microphone in 1939
and evolved into the Unidyne III; identifying the
dynamic diaphragm assembly inside your bog
standard SM58. Secondly, its not just a description
slapped on one small piece of a product to give
it a bit of leverage in the marketplace; Dualdyne
is the core reason Shures new KSM8 the irst
handheld dual diaphragm dynamic microphone
is a product.
Everyone loves simple, strong dynamic mics
but theres always been a few areas ripe for
improvement: theyre boomy up close, thin at a
distance and nasty of-axis for starters. Ive been
winding the bottom end of SM58s for around 40
years and the prospect of a Shure-made dynamic
handheld with controlled proximity efect and a
decent of-axis response is, well, exciting. Shures
KSM8 is a new type of microphone designed to
address those issues, and live sound will never be
the same again.

PRICE
$949
CONTACT
Jands:
(02) 9582 0909 or
info@jands.com.au

AT 76

PROS
Seductive sound quality
Innovative proximity
eect control
Consistent sound across
polar patern & at any
distance
Timeless look

CONS
A bit expensive

SUMMARY
Shures new dual diaphragm KSM8 dynamic handheld sits in a long lineage of
unidirectional microphone invention. Adding a second diaphragm, and going from
Unidyne to Dualdyne, has given Shure complete control over proximity eect and
consistency in polar patern and mic tone. You may not need that handheld condenser
any longer.

DUAL DIAPHRAGM TECH

Shure Product Manager, John Born, was one of the
small development team that worked on the KSM8
project. He said the idea for the KSM8 came out of
what Shure had learnt while building the KSM9 handheld condenser: We knew from the KSM9 that if we
could get a second diaphragm into the cartridge, we
could use it as part of the acoustic network to control
proximity effect. It had never been done on a dynamic
due to the physicality of trying to make it fit. Theres
all these parts in the way coil, air cavity, pole piece
to put a second diaphragm in the spot, you have to
break everything in the process.
Such a design would also allow Shure to get rid of the
presence peak thats a byproduct of making a single
diaphragm mic directional. Born cites two reasons
for its existence. One, you need the peak to offset
the proximity effect when you get right up on the microphone, so its not muddy. Secondly, physics make
it hard to get rid of it even if you wanted to.
When confronted with the task of developing a dual
diaphragm dynamic, Shures engineering team stipulated they couldnt be beholden to any existing parts
or processes they literally started out with nothing. What they ended up with was a unique design.
Born: When you make a microphone directional,
you allow sound to strike the front and back of the
diaphragm. You delay the sound that goes through
the back of the cartridge and time align it to achieve
rejection. With the KSM8, in addition to the resistance delay we also have a diaphragm which delivers
proximity effect control. As the source gets closer to
the microphone, the second diaphragm starts seeing
that low frequency energy more, and starts blocking
that energy from building up as the source gets

OLD YET NEW

Shure has put a lot of efort into the KSM8, inside

and out. Its an old look that comes of new; shiny
(black version withstanding) yet practical. he
aluminium body is inished in brushed nickel
reminiscent of the old Unidyne models, but it looks
lashy and modern on stage, especially under lights.
he slotted collar and Shure insignias are similarly
retro but the silver grille is too inely machined for
the 1950s. Its too nice to substitute in as a hammer,
like one might an SM58, but it feels strong and the
hardened grille, lined with a layer of spit-blocking
hydrophobic foam, has no give in it at all. he silver
version I was reviewing had started to develop
fade marks where the mic clip grips the body and
a couple of little scratches from use, so they may
develop some patina over time.
he attention to aesthetics continues under the
grille too. he capsule housing the diaphragms

closer and lower. At 0Hz, it basically tricks the front

diaphragm into thinking the capsule is sealed and the
mic is omnidirectional.
Omni-directional microphones dont have proximity
effect, so we reap the benefits of that. But we do it in
a way where we dont actually sacrice polar patern.
As you creep up into the audio band at 20Hz, it starts
becoming more cardioid to a point where the second
diaphragm is transparent to high frequencies. The
KSM8 is pure cardioid right down to 100Hz without
any electronics or a crossover band-pass network.
Theres no xed crossover frequency point where
the diaphragm becomes invisible, its conditional on
the distance between the source and the microphone. Its based on both the Inverse Square Law
whereas a source gets closer, it gets louder and
on frequency explained Born. A single diaphragm
microphone goes almost bi-directional in its low end
response as you get close to the source; thats what
causes the proximity eect. At further distances,
a single-diaphragm microphone exhibits its purest
patern.
The second diaphragm breaks that, rendering a
more stable patern at varying distances. In the
acoustic chamber, you can run tests at dierent distances and see the patern control and frequency response maintain its consistency. We play a balancing
act between maintaining good patern control and
subjectively realising the proximity eect benets of
omni-directional paterns.
The KSM8 was seven years in the making, but Born
says six years of that was spent xing everything
they broke in the process of trying to t a second diaphragm into a dynamic mic. Born: Thats where the

looks like a little rocket and even though youd never

see it in use, the disc sitting above the diaphragm
proudly sports the shiny Shure logo. he shape of
the KSM8 body lairs towards the top, similar to
family-mate KSM9, and even though its slightly
wider it still conveniently its in a regular Shure clip.
At 330gm its 10 percent heavier than a 58 but its
well balanced and feels just right in the hand.
CONTROLLED DYNAMICS

he dual-diaphragm is not there for its looks

however, its there to solve problems. Proximity
efect is probably the biggest one and it afects all
directional mics. I love my SM58s and keep coming
back to them, but when singers are right up on the
mic the low frequencies overload and you have to
ilter them out. he high-mid presence peak is builtin, partly to try and cut through the mush but it adds
harshness and colouration. he physical layout of
the two diaphragms in the KSM8 allows it to behave

reverse air ow comes into play. We had to connect

everything the resistance network, the pneumatic
shockmount, the specically-sized air cavity to get
the correct tune up back together using four tubes
which wrap around the cartridge.
During alpha testing I had 20 units comprising sawno SM58 handles connected to a 3D printed part
that wed glued a 3D printed cartridge into. We put
some foam around it and glued on some machined
grilles. It wasnt shockmounted, but acoustically it
was there. We literally had a piece of cardboard on it
for a frequency tune up issue if you dropped it, it
would have exploded.
I took the 20 samples out to users James Taylor, a
couple of festival gigs, some broadcasters, a couple
of local guys and some small venues and asked
them to put it on a background vocal, not touch it or
take it out of the stand and tell me if it sounded good.
Its not like anything else on the market, its super at
and doesnt trigger compression and EQ in the way
other dynamics do. I also wanted to make sure gain
before feedback was going to be okay, because the
KSM8 is a really textbook cardioid, whereas an SM58
is kind of super cardioid. 19 out of 20 people said it
was like nothing else theyve ever heard.
Were relishing this one for now. We denitely dont
have anything else in the works yet. We learnt a ton
about dynamic mics in the process the leverage
we have, what makes dynamic microphones tick,
how we can tweak, modify, change and replace parts.
We had to go back through the lab note books and
re-learn how the Unidyne III worked, strip it down to
its core and build it back up. I think its the beginning
of some really cool dynamic microphones.

like an omni (no proximity efect) at very low

frequencies and gradually become cardioid around
100Hz. In use theres still some added lows right on
the mic but its well controlled and sounds natural
rather than boomy. he low-frequency response
is also extended and while some LF iltering may
still be needed for vocals it will only be a touch,
compared to what youre used to. Like all mics, it
will pop if provoked, but not unduly and according
to Shure, the dual-diaphragm design delivers a lower
level plosive than single-diaphragm designs.
he other beneit of controlling the polar
pattern to limit proximity efect is its efect on the
source as it moves away from the mic. Rather than
disappearing up the frequency spectrum into thin
air, the KSM8 retains clean and strong low-mids.
his extra clarity has allowed Shure to remove the
familiar presence peak built into most dynamic
vocal mics. he net efect is a mic that is essentially
lat, has an extended frequency response, maintains
AT 77

PROXIMITY OF DESIGN
Reducing proximity effect in dynamic microphones
isnt a new pursuit. Credit must be given to ElectroVoices Variable-D design found on mics like the
RE20 for providing the first solution in 1954 to
the problem. Rather than a second diaphragm, it
spaces separate ports for high and low frequencies down the body of the microphone to control
the time at which each frequency range hits the
rear of the diaphragm. By manipulating the delay

its response over a greater range of distances, and

dramatically reduces proximity efect up close.
Basically, an entirely better microphone.
heres more. Microphones turn threedimensional sounds into two-dimensional outputs
and the accuracy of the sound arriving from the
rear and sides is a big part of why some mics sound
more natural than others. I mentioned that I love
my 58s, but not for drum vocals because the kit
sounds trashy in the drum vocal mic. If I use a mic
with a more accurate of-axis response the kit can
sound pretty good in the mic. Reinforcing acoustic
music requires mics with good of-axis response to
sound natural, but this hasnt been as important for
louder music, where everythings close miked. Yet,
as sound reinforcement systems have improved and
IEMs have become popular the focus has turned
towards higher quality microphones. he KSM8
has a pleasing SDC condenser like neutrality to its
of-axis response but it has a sharper cardioid pickup pattern and much greater rejection. he pick-up
pattern stretches evenly right across the top of the
mic and it still sounds good some way down the
side of the grille before dropping of sharply with
excellent rejection at the rear.
Shure won the handling noise battle ages ago
with its proprietary pneumatic shockmount
system. Its been tweaked for the KSM8 and joined
by the new Diaphragm Stabilization System
[patent-pending acronym alert - Ed] that gives
extra protection from plosives and knocks. If you
take the top of the KSM8 and tap the diaphragm
assembly directly, then tap on the body of the mic,
the diference in output levels is around 30dB and
quite astounding when you hear the diference as
an A/B comparison.
TESTING TIMES

My irst live show using the mic was with Toni

Childs at the heatre Royal. Her mixer Damien
Charles was interested in trying it so we set up both
the KSM8 and an SM58 at the FOH desk. First
impressions using it with a PA system were similar
to using a condenser mic at low-medium levels
the more natural, detailed response was noticeable
but at higher levels it wanted to get unstable earlier
than its single-diaphragm cousins. However, it
had an instantly appealing character and I wanted
to hear it in use. We invited Toni to compare the
two mics. She gave it a good test but concluded the
AT 78

of different frequencies, EVs Variable-D mics net

similar effects to Shures Dualdyne, namely that
proximity effect is reduced, beter control over
polar patern, and the source is tonally consistent
over dierent distances. Shure even tried a similar
approach with the SM53 and SM54 handheld
dynamics with rear entry ports halfway down the
microphone handle. You only needed one port
to be unobstructed for the microphone to work

regular SM58 was better suited to her voice and

used her radio mic with a 58 head for the show. I
hid my disappointment and used the KSM8 on the
support act, Kate Lucas. Straight away I was hooked
on the smoky, intimate tone it captured from her
voice and wanted to hear more.
Bealiba Blues and Cruze a few days later was
the perfect proving ground; 20 acts over two days
ranging from timid young acoustic performers
to old blues bands playing way too loud on stage.
he early acts were solo performers and small
groups, and the KSM8 had me from the irst act.
he bottom end is great; vocals were deep and rich
in a large diaphragm condenser sort of way. he
mid-range is lat so it doesnt hurt up loud and the
smooth high end made me think of ribbon mics
or a slightly dark SDC. I didnt notice any added
sibilance and only registered a few pops over the
weekend. Its of-axis response is condenser-like
too, but its a diferent type of sound and the pickup
pattern is much tighter than a condenser. Its got
terriic reach in front though; they can move
around, in and out and it all sounds on-axis and
neat. Its also great to be able to unplug the mic
either deliberately or accidentally without anything
going bang. here are good reasons for keeping
condensers conined to the studio but their sound
quality on vocals has drawn performers to use
them on live stages in recent years. he KSM8 may
reverse that trend.
From the FOH desk the KSM8 had a smooth,
natural character that made me want to turn it
up my highest compliment. I started to notice
the MCs SM58 was sounding harsh and boxy
compared to the artists when they spoke. here
were lots of mics on stage but I kept the KSM8
as the main vocal mic and it didnt miss for male,
female, breathy or strident. No channel EQ required
for any act and the HPF stayed in its box for most
of the day. A couple of voices had me rolling of just
a little lows but they were acts that would normally
require big cuts to the low frequencies.
he PA liked it too. I tune for the vocal mic
because its doing the hardest job, but oten end up
cutting around 2-5kHz to avoid too much vocal
bite at high levels. he KSM8 is so smooth the
PA can be tweaked latter for a sound thats crisp
rather than bitey, though it still cuts through when
it has too. here was a few times I was concerned it
wouldnt cut through the noise of louder bands, but

properly, but Shure never produced a similar

mic ater they went out of production. Likewise,
Electro-Voice has mostly limited the Variable-D
design to its larger, broadcast microphones, with
the bobble-headed RE16 handheld dynamic holding on as the lone exception. None of its newer line
of handheld dynamic mics carry the feature.

it held its own. I was similarly unsure what would

happen in the monitors at higher volumes on stage,
some singers always seem to want more, and more
again. hose that asked for more got a bit more,
nothing went wrong and they didnt ask again
cant ask for more than that. Id been thinking
Id still need an SM58 or Beta 58 for the loudest
of shows, but there wasnt a peep of feedback
all weekend and I got a great reaction from the
performers and audience alike. I tried to tell them it
was the mic but they wouldnt hear it.
SM58 V KSM8

I have been unfavourably comparing the SM58

to the KSM8 and I dont mean to be unkind.
he SM58 is the sound of rock and has been my
reference mic since the late 1970s tuning PAs
from the Corner Hotel to Madison Square Garden.
he comparison is valid because I reckon this is the
mic that replaces the SM58 for live vocals. It may
have taken years of development but the good folks
at Shure have made a better type of dynamic mic.
Its more than twice the price of a 58 so it wont be
an everyman product. Likely, the demand will start
from professional users and spread to vocalists who
carry their own mic, many of whom currently use
handheld condensers. he KSM8 is not quite as
easy to drive as a 58: at irst blush it may not seem
as stable and I suspect some amateur users will not
immediately hear its improvements over regular
dynamic mics because, like a sports car, it rewards
good drivers. For me, I wont be going back. I
already consider it my new vocal mic but have a
feeling it will take time to fully appreciate its exotic
character. I just want to use it for vocals but if I
had lots of them Id try them on guitar amps and
brass as well. hered be studio applications too, of
course; but thats for another time.
Dynamic microphones are relatively simple
objects with no circuitry and only the laws of
physics to shape the sound. Shure has reimagined the handheld dynamic microphone
and considering what its learned during the
KSM8 development process, expect to see other
inventive dynamic models in the future. Shure
has really pulled one out of the hat with its dualdiaphragm KSM8 Dualdyne and I agree that it
deserves to be held in the same regard as the
companys other major milestones. he future
starts now and its exciting.

X-LINE ADVANCE
Forward-thinking line-array design starts here.
The result of rigorous R&D, the introduction of the new
X-Line Advance family sees Electro-Voice push the
parameters of line-array performance to the next level.
X-Line Advance utilizes state-of-the-art EVengineered components and incorporates a
range of innovative new features, all of which
work together to surpass the capabilities of
other line arrays, and all in a signicantly
more compact, exible, and quickerto-set-up package.

KEY FEATURES:
An unprecedented performance-to-size ratio for installed and concert
sound applications.
Advanced audio quality and control via a host of new and exclusive EVengineered technologies, including next-generation Hydra plane-wave
generators, high-output transducers, and proprietary FIR-Drive optimization.
New-look EV industrial design and new Integrated Rigging System
combine streamlined appearance with faser setup.

The rst wave of X-Line Advance products includes two full-range elements
(X1-212/90 & X2-212/90) and the X12-128 the most powerful subwoofer
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Designed, engineered, and tested for ultimate reliability by Electro-Voice in the USA.
Learn more at: www.electrovoice.com/X-LineAdvance

Bosch Communication Systems:

1300 026 724 sales.communications@au.bosch.com

REVIEW

ALLEN & HEATH DLIVE

S5000 Control Surface &
DM32 Mixrack
Allen & Heaths dLive basically doubles everything the iLive
did
p

NEED TO KNOW

Review: Guy Harrison

CONTACT
TAG:
(02) 9519 0900 or
info@tag.com.au

AT 80

PROS
High 96k channel counts,
fully processed
Ergonomic drag n drop
customisation
Sounds & feels great
Price!

CONS
No iPad app yet

SUMMARY
Allen & Heath has developed a new core FPGA engine and the dLive is reaping the
rewards. Theres enough power on tap to handle almost any sized show, and its
custom conguration and drag n drop exibility means it can handle mega channel
counts without geting itself tangled. Its so easy to navigate, it even has an onboard
mix wizard to make sure you dont get lost.

I put this dLive system

through its paces in a
variety of scenarios from
rock shows to theatre
production and never
found it wanting

On paper, Allen & Heaths new lagship

digital console series, dLive, looks to be
tremendous value. It doubles the I/O processing
power of the iLive series, with 128 x 64 fully
processed I/O, and makes the leap into 96k
processing. All for the price of a 4WD, not a house.
Check it out for yourself, just hold up the price and
specs side by side and go crosseyed like youre
doing a magic eye. At irst it has the outline of a
garden variety tabby, then boom, out pops a
three-dimensional jungle cat! If the dLive can
deliver on sound and ergonomics as it has in price
and specs, it could be king of the jungle.
he dLive series comes in three console
variations: the S3000 is the most compact with 20
faders and a single touch screen; the S5000 supplied
for this review has 28 faders and dual touch
screens; and the big kahuna S7000 ups the fader
count to 36. An external screen can be connected
to all of the dLive consoles which will especially
please S3000 purchasers. Unlike analogue
replacement-style consoles, like the Qu series, these
are only control surfaces; the engine is contained in
the MixRack. Lets head down to the stage end to
take a peek at the brains behind the setup.

sample rate, and youre beginning to get the picture.

With latency quoted as 0.7ms and all buses timealigned, its streets ahead of the iLive and almost
twice as powerful as anything in its price range.
More I/O is available on the MixRack by way
of three ports which ofer a further 128 x 128
channels. Although full processing channels on
dLive are limited to 160 x 64 you can use the
tie line feature to route any of 800 inputs to 800
outputs without using any DSP. Connection to the
dLive surface is via A&Hs GigaACE protocol with
dual redundancy. A quick test unplugging revealed
that everything keeps rolling as youd expect.
Even when I ripped out both cables there was no
disruption to the audio, and the console came back
to life in seconds once Id reconnected them.
Every component in the dLive range has
the option of dual redundant power supplies.
houghtfully, these power supplies are identical
across the range so you could, for instance, have two
power supplies in the Mixrack and only one in the
control surface. If the control surface power supply
was to fail you could borrow one from the Mixrack
and the show goes on! here is also an ME port on
the Mixrack for A&Hs personal mixer system.

BRAIN NOT DEFINED BY RACK

CONFIGURABLE CONTROL

Despite there being three sizes of Mixrack in the

DM series 32 mic/line inputs by 16 line outputs,
48 x 24 and 64 x 32 there are no dummies in
the bunch. Each box has an identical mix engine,
regardless of physical size or I/O. To save on
cost, Allen & Heath has also developed the DX32
Expander, which adds additional I/O as either
mic/line or AES3 without the brains. Up to three
of those can be connected to the Mixrack or
control surface.
A&Hs engineers have been busy iddling with
the XCVI core processing unit. Its based on a new
FPGA chip with enough power to handle 128
input and 64 output channels with full processing,
alongside 16 stereo FX with dedicated returns. Add
to that a conigurable 64 bus architecture and 96k

he S5000 feels comfortable the minute you

sit (or stand) at it. It has a slightly curved front
armrest which gives it a cockpit feel. his is more
than just aesthetic as it places you closer to the
touch screens where a lot of your work is done.
he two screens serve separate functions; the let
controls inputs, and the right handles outputs and
FX. While the iLive had single channel stripstyle ergonomics, the dLive departs from this
by ofering loads of conigurable controls. he
stalwart essentials like gain, hi and lo-pass ilters
and parametric EQ surround the input screen
and get a permanent slice of screen real estate
to support their functions. Almost every other
control on the desk is custom conigurable.
here are six user assignable sot rotary controls

to the right of each touch screen with three banks

available. hese knobs can be conigured on
the ly with cleverly implemented drag n drop
functionality, and the right hand strip of the touch
screen follows your selection to indicate what
youre adjusting. You can even switch banks here
with a lick gesture on the touch screen you
know, just in case pressing the bank button is too
90s for ya! By default the knobs control the gate
and compressor, but you can just as easily change
it to FX or Monitor sends, or a dedicated control
of one of your 16 stereo FX units. he recurring
theme on this console is that there are many ways
to get at the same controls. For instance, the rotary
controls above each fader have four conigurable
banks as well as pan, gain and sends options.
What impressed me most was how quickly you
can conigure these controls on the ly. Say you
want control of modulation and delay time on an
FX unit for a particular song. You can bring those
controls to the six knobs beside the screen in an
instant and start tweaking. his same high speed
assigning can be achieved with fader layouts too.
he S5000 surface feels luid, almost as though it
doesnt matter where something is because you can
move it without a hassle. It changes the way you
mix and its really empowering.
PROCESSING LIBRARY

he onboard processing is equally lexible. On top

of the obligatory parametric EQ, each channel has
a library of compressor options for every input
and output. hese are modelled on some famous
analogue devices and cover both FET and opto
topologies. here are also 31-band graphic EQs
available on all outputs which dont pinch any DSP
processing from your 16 available stereo FX slots.
Allen & Heath has provided a wide variety of
onboard FX to ill the 16 DSP slots. Once again
there are some familiar looking GUIs that pay
homage to analogue counterparts. I did particularly
enjoy the ADT Double Tracking unit; add a little
tight plate or small room and a great rock vocal
AT 81

sound can be had in seconds! he library is also

intelligently laid out in categories, so inding the
appropriate FX is a quick process.
Another feature of the S5000 worthy of mention
is the listen function. When pressed, it lights up
sections of the touch screen in yellow. You can
choose any section to listen to in isolation, such as
a compressor side chain, EQ, gate, etc. Even an aux
send can be sent to your headphones in this way.
he output touchscreen also has a wealth of
control options and its here where coniguration
of the console, metering, stereo ganging and scene
control takes place. Once again its all very intuitive.
If youre really stuck on how to do anything, there is
a Help button which brings comic strip-like speech
bubbles to the touch screen explaining how each
part works. Scene control is also particularly well
implemented. Features like fade times (up to 20s)
between cues and dedicated Previous, Next and Go
buttons will keep the theatre fraternity satisied.
SUM DO HAVE EM

Over a fortnight of operation, I put this dLive

system through its paces in a variety of scenarios,
from rock shows to theatre production, and never
found it wanting. Operation is intuitive and luid
and the dLive is very much an if you can dream it,
itll do it console. Hell, you can even conigure it to
be a 60 mono send monitor desk!
AT 82

he dLives ergonomics are outstanding and

A&Hs engineers should be complimented on
striking a great balance between conigurability
and usability. It could so easily have gone wrong,
with this amount of customisation on ofer, but the
touch screen, drag n drop assignability, and clever
management of onscreen parameters means you
always feel in control.
he dLive sounds great too! he jump to 96k
and the power of the processing can be heard in
the reverb tails. In general, every move you make,
be it pan or EQ, feels rock solid and analogue in a
lot of ways. hat is, you dont feel like its stepping
through numbers as you move controls. he tactile
feel of the faders and sot rotaries are pleasant too,
gliding under your ingers yet providing enough
force to give great feedback. I spoke to a long term
iLive user who recently purchased a dLive and uses
it week in, week out for a regular gig in the same
venue. He said he was prepared for his mixes to
sound deeper with the dLive but was surprised by
how much wider they seemed too. I have to concur.
Im sure the dLive will ind its way into a lot of
venues. Its equally at home at FOH in a pub or club
as it is in a theatre or as the centrepiece of a large
festival stage.
Nowadays, Allen & Heath is owned by an
umbrella company called Audiotonix, which also
owns Calrec and Digico. While its reportedly

leaving the companies to operate as separate

entities, judging by A&Hs move into FPGA
processing there may be some collusion occurring.
Digicos promised Stealth Core 2 upgrades will
bolster its lower end SD9 range, but for now the
dLive will set the cat among the pigeons in big
console price-to-performance. At just over $40,000
retail for a digital package that includes 64/32
I/O fully processed at 96k, and the option to double
that I/O for $20,000 the dLive has to be heard
and driven to be believed!

PRICING
Control Surfaces
S3000: $24,999
S5000: $32,999
S7000: $35,999
Mixracks
DM32 (32/16): $13,999
DM48 (48/24): $15,999
DM64 (64/32): $17,999
Expander
DX32 Chassis (4 Module Slots): $3399
Input Modules (8 channels): $899
Output Modules (8 channels): $799

offer ends 31 may 2016

find a dealer: www.cmi.com.au/native-instruments-dealers

H BACK
ON DL806

SH BACK
ON DL1608

SH BACK
ON DL32R

iPads sold separately

Participating dealers VIC: Soundcorp (03) 9 9

at
und 1800 816 244 NSW: Turramurra Music
(02) 9449 8487, Belfield Music (02) 9642 4450 ACT: Better Music (02) 6282 3199 QLD: Brisbane Sound Group
(07) 3257 1040 WA: Kosmic (08) 9204 7577 Promotion ends 30 April 2016

AT 83

REVIEW

PRESONUS STUDIOLIVE CS18AI

Live & DAW Control Surface
Presonus has designed a control surface to
perform the double duties of live console and
DAW controller. We find out if the Studiolive
CS18AI can be the linchpin of Presonuss endto-end
utopia
to
end utopia.

METERING The meters can be ipped between input, output,

gain reduction and mix masters. The actual labelling refers to the
Fat Channel parameters, which is probably for the best. For a hint on
what the channel meters are telling you when in input or output mode:
theyre a dBFS peak meter and are the same as the Selected Channel
Level
Level meter to the right.
right

Review: Mark Davie

NEED TO KNOW

Presonus set itself a complex task when

designing the Studiolive CS18AI hardware
control surface. No bones about it, its much
easier to design console hardware and sotware at
the same time. hat way you can trade of
sotware features to meet hardware limitations,
or design the sotware around them. Presonus
didnt have that luxury, it was retroactively itting
a control surface to pre-built sotware. To take
matters to a whole other level, Presonus didnt
just have one sotware program to interface the
CS18AI to, it had two. he CS18AI performs two
functions: in a live situation it acts as the

PRICE
$2999
CONTACT
Link Audio:
(03) 8373 4817 or
info@linkaudio.com.au

AT 84

hardware front
end to Presonuss
RM series of stagebox mixers
and accompanying UC Surface
sotware, while doubling as a control surface for
Presonuss Studio One DAW.
Admittedly, Presonuss task wasnt as
diicult as it could have been. here were
some restrictions already built into the way
RM operated. he RM series I/O routing
presents much like a traditional analogue
board. You cant dynamically assign I/O to any
fader position its essentially one-to-one.

PROS
Completely integrated live to studio
system
Intuitive fader bank layout & colouring
Easily assign any Studio One plug-in
parameter to pot
AVB I/O makes it more than just a
control surface

his makes fader layers on the CS18AI

pretty straightforward. he top fader layer
represents channels 1-16 now and forevermore.
If you want to patch a bass next to your guitar,
youre going to have to physically get up and
wrangle XLRs at the stage box.
Presonus also deployed its de facto Fat
Channel as the input channel processing inside
the RM, which includes a gate, compressor,
limiter, high-pass ilter and EQ. Its the same
processing Presonus has put in its Studiolive
series of mixers for some time, so it has
experience building interfaces for it.

CONS
Knob & meter placement feels too
disconnected from channel names &
numbers
Minimal transport controls for Studio
One control
Inability to reassign I/O digitally limits
exibility of scene recall

SUMMARY
Presonus has done a good job of designing a control
surface that straddles the live and studio workows.
Its undoubtedly beter than mixing on an iPad, but
its best when used in combination with a screen of
some description.

IN THE STUDIOLIVE MOULD

he CS18AIs form factor is similar to Presonuss

other 16-channel Studiolive consoles. Its designed
to it neatly into a 19-inch rack by pulling of the
end cheeks and whacking some ears onto it. he
18 long-throw motorised faders (16 channel,
one lexi master and one master) feel good to the
touch and respond snappily when licking between
banks. he translucent, sot touch buttons all feel
responsive, and the coloured backlighting gives
a good indication of what mode youre currently
working in green for main mix, pink for efects
mixes, and yellow when dealing with aux mixes
and DCAs.
While the colour system helps you keep
track of the general state youre in, beyond
that point things get a little grey. Its the same
criticism I have of Presonuss UC Surface app;
most everything is presented in a grey and blue
palette that means you either have to know your
session inside out or do a lot of reading. At least
you dont have to scroll through faders on the
CS18AI, which is a big plus. Every input is going
to appear in exactly the same spot every time. But
that sort of uniformity doesnt help with the Fat
Channel sections: all the knobs are blue-topped,
all the labelling is the same colour, and theyre all
set out in a straight line. he irst few times I used
the CS18AI, I had to keep scanning through the
labelling to remember which knob to turn.
To me, having a mixing surface with real faders
isnt about nostalgia, its about speed. his lack of
colour is a real impediment to speed. Even Mackie
topped its knobs in diferent colours back in the
early 90s.
he reasoning behind the uniformity must be
because the knobs serve multiple functions. hey
can be switched to control preamp gains, and
can be deployed as parameter controllers for any
plug-in inside Studio One. If that is the case, then
at least putting colour into the physical labels of
each section would have made a diference; as those
labels are printed in ixed positions on the surface
anyway. he Studiolive knobs arent my favourite
they feel plasticky and a little small for my ingers.
he upside is that they feel solidly mounted and
have enough resistance to not slip away on you.
here is one less row of knobs on the CS18AI
compared to the Studiolive 16.4.2AI, but you do
gain an LED screen above each channel fader which
gives you feedback on channel naming, pan, etc.
LIVE MIXING

I used the CS18AI and RM16 stagebox combination

to mix a ive-piece band a couple of times during
the review. I connected the two directly via CAT5e
cable so I could use the AVB outputs on the rear of
the CS18AI. You can also use an AVB switch, which
I didnt have, but incorporating any non-AVB
switch or router will stop the control surfaces AVB
audio I/O working. Its also not an Ethercon port on
the rear, which suits the double act of hooking it up
in a studio. If youre planning on regularly rolling
out an ethernet cable for shows, Id recommend
stuing the console and RM stage box in rack

cases and building Ethercon patch panels at both

ends. It will give you a more secure connection to
your rack and reduce wear on the connectors that
matter those on the units.
Once the RM rack is ired up, pressing the
control surfaces UCNET button gives you the
option of linking to it. he reason you have to
select what system youre working on is because
the CS18AI automatically detects active instances
of Studio One on the network too, which are
selectable via a Sotware drop down menu.
I also plugged the provided wireless dongle into
the front of the RM and set up a wireless router so
I could also use my iPad for monitor tuning and
parameter manipulation.
Its a handy combination. While the CS18AI
can function standalone, I found it much easier to
name channels on the iPad, and I kept going back
to it during the show to adjust my channel EQ.
On the CS18AI, there are only four knobs for the
four-band EQ section. heyre set to control gain by
default, though you can select frequency and Q via
the touchscreen as well as watch a graphic of your
curve. Although the iPad does dynamically update
fader positions and meters, its current page doesnt
follow the channel youve selected on the CS18AI.
Its less painful than it sounds to ind the channel
and tweak it on the iPad, but a follow selected
channel feature would be handy at times.
he primary reasons to invest in the CS18AI
over just running an iPad are the faders and
mute buttons. Whenever Ive mixed on an iPad,
inevitably Ive double- or triple-pressed a mute
button at some stage. Each false positive caused me
to frantically press harder and faster, which only
made it worse. On the CS18AI, the mute and solo
buttons feel solid and responsive, and its easy to
assign any of the eight Mute Group buttons just
mute the channels you want grouped, then press
and hold one of the group buttons. You can also
toggle all mutes on and of.
Other than the channel naming, EQ, mixing
monitors and tweaking graphic EQs which are
all still easier on the iPad I found myself pretty
comfortable using the CS18AI by the second stint.
Once you get a handle on which colour represents
the mode youre in, youll stop accidentally
balancing FX levels when you think youre
manipulating an aux send.
he fader banks are pretty straightforward. As
well as four channel banks, there are the Returns
for your FX, talkback and tape returns, the Mix
Masters (which are the master sends for your
16 mix buses), Group Masters (which display
the iltered DCA groups) and a DAW button
for when youre controlling Studio One. In any
of the Master banks, when you press the Mix
button above any channel it will spill the channels
that make up that mix across the faders. I found
this far quicker than the iPad version. However,
pressing any other button from there will spit
you out into the Main Mix. If you want to return
to the previous bank you need to hit the same
Master button again. he FX engines each have
their own dedicated mute and mix select buttons,
which is helpful when you need to quickly knock

The CS18AI is really the

hardware embodiment of
the end-to-end system
Presonus has been trying
to build up over the last
decade

out a delay if your vocalist talks between songs.

heres also a large tap tempo button that you can
assign to one of your two delay engines.
You can assign any channel combination you
want to a custom DCA group, and UC Surface
will also automatically group input styles like
Instruments and Vocals into generic DCAs,
which is a neat little trick.
INS & OUTS

here are four inputs (two combo mic/line and two

-inch line inputs) and two (XLR) outputs on the
rear of the CS18AI, which you can access when
you have an active AVB connection between the
console and the RM stagebox. By default the irst
mic input is routed as a talkback input, and the
two line inputs as a stereo Digital Return. heres
nothing digital about them the pair comes up in
the same fader bank as your FX masters theyre
useful for handling analogue inputs from a phone
or computer. Unfortunately theres no processing
on this channel, which would have been useful as
the video feed I had to run through it needed a
little attention.
Although having the extra I/O at the desk was
useful, the quantity and routing seemed more
suited to when the CS18AI is being used as a
DAW controller.
Presonus has also updated the RMs irmware
to allow two stageboxes to be linked together over
an AVB network, meaning the system can have a
total of 64 inputs, plus the AVB I/O on the CS18AI
itself. It could allow users to host some serious I/O
at the FOH position if required as well as having
a 32-input stage rack. For now, the outputs are
limited to the original number on the master rack.
While this review isnt about the RM series of
stage mixers, they are really well put together. he
preamps and 96k conversion dont leave much
wanting, especially at this price point. Still, while
the four efects (two reverb and two delay) engines
present some reasonable sounding algorithms,
youre somewhat limited for choice and lexibility.
he main issue I have with the stageboxes is the
output pop at startup and shutdown. Youll want
to make sure you have your power up and power
down sequence in order.
he other issue I have with the system is the
slow response of scene recalls. It takes over a
AT 85

second to switch between scenes, making it useless

for in-show recall. What it would be useful for is
setting up scenes in an install situation; but without
the ability to re-route inputs to diferent faders, it
somewhat limits the lexibility of this approach.
If, for instance, you implemented the system in a
bio box at a school, some days it might get used
by an experienced operator to mix a full band and
multiple speakers, while another scenario might
be a teacher with little audio experience who only
needs to run a presentation. Setting up a scene with
only a PC input and mic routed to the irst two
faders would be ideal, but you cant re-route input
locations in the sotware. On the upside, you dont
need the CS18AI to be turned on for the iPad app
to run, so it still makes multiple setups easier than a
standard console.
CAPTURED & STUDIO BOUND

Following Presonuss breadcrumb trail from live

to the studio, I recorded the gigs I mixed using
the RMs Firewire 800 output into my Macbook
Pro, loaded with Presonuss free Capture 2 live
recording sotware. It was completely painless
both times. Before booting up Capture, its best to
make sure the UC Surface control sotware on your
computer is seeing the RM mixer on the network.
hat way it will automatically populate all the track
names in Capture from your UC Surface session.
Once thats done, you can disconnect the Wi-Fi or
ethernet link to the RM mixer and just continue on
with the Firewire connection.
If you keep the connection live, at the end of your
recording you can press a button to store the mixers
last settings efects, pans, levels, etc nondestructively. hen once you open the ile in Studio
One, not only are the tracks still there, but you can
pull up a starting point for your mix excellent!
If, for some reason, you cant connect UC
Surface on your Capture computer, dont worry,
Capture will still recognise the 16 or 32 audio
streams over Firewire, you just wont have the
channels automatically named for you. With the
new irmware, if you connect two RM stageboxes
you can record up to 64 inputs.
MIXING IN COMFORT

Back in the studio, once Id igured out which of my

routers was reliably sending signal over its ethernet
ports, setting up the CS18AI was an absolute
AT 86

doddle. All you have to remember is to press that

lovely green DAW button ater connecting via
UCNet, and youre of. Pulling up the Capture
session in Studio One, all of the channel names
were in place, some efects were routed, and the
Fat Channel settings and last fader positions were
stored I had a neat headstart.
Ater settling in with the session, I started to see
why Presonus stuck with the single line of pots.
Im not saying I like it, but in this mode they can
manipulate most parameters of any plug-in. You
can also easily assign any parameter from third
party plug-ins to the encoders and buttons in the
top row, via a GUI mirror of the hardware. You
just pick the knob or button you want to assign to,
wiggle the parameter on the plug-in, hit the arrow
at the top of the assign window and away you go.
Its one of the more obvious and easy systems Ive
come across. Once youve assigned a parameter, it
appears in the LCD below the encoder.
Below is a bit of a stretch, I guess; theres quite a
distance between pot and screen. Overall, I think
both modes would be better served if the row of
pots was just above the screens. Heck, I know its
unconventional, but the meter bridge could be
shited there too. It would better link the pots to
their channel names and numbers when tweaking
preamp gain in a live setting, and directly connect
the pots to plug-in parameters on the LCD screen
when used as a DAW controller.
While I found it useful to escape the screen and
adjust most plug-ins via the pots, oddly the Fat
Channel implementation is probably one of the
worst on the CS18AI. While in the surfaces live
mode you can at least access all the EQ controls via
the touchscreen, in DAW control mode you cant
even turn each band on or of. heres no other
recourse but to adjust the plug-in onscreen. I ended
up replacing all instances of the Fat Channel with
separate Pro EQ and Compressor instances. here
were other little niggles, like adjusting delay times
to get a slapback in sync on Studio Ones Analog
Delay plug-in. On your computer, you can hold
shit while adjusting the knob to get incremental
millisecond values, but theres no similar option
while turning the CS18AIs encoders.
he fader banks work as youd expect, you
can navigate to the channel inserts by hitting
the FX icon on the Home screen. Once opened,
you simply touch an insert to bring it up on the

encoders. It was handy having faders to mix on,

and if you can shell out for an AVB switch youll
be able to use the CS18AIs I/O for talkback, mic
inputs and monitor outputs.
One of my main bugbears was the simpliied
transport control. It only has four buttons play
and record, and two buttons marked as skip to
beginning and stop (which also pull triple duty
to allow skipping between markers, fast-forward
and rewind). In the absence of a jog wheel, it
should at least have buttons for each function. As
it is, you have to hit an option and shit button
to switch modes. It really sucks not having a
dedicated stop button.
FITTING IN

From a purely live mixing viewpoint, if youre

already invested in Presonus RM series and solely
mixing on an iPad is starting to frustrate you, then
the CS18AI is a no-brainer. If youre looking for
a 16- or 32-channel I/O digital mixing system,
then the CS18AI is up against some pretty healthy
competition in that price range. Yet if youre
ater a system you can expand to 64 channels at
some point, the economies of scale come back on
Presonus side. he selling points for the CS18AI
dont stop when the gig ends though.
While I had some issues with how the CS18AI is
laid out, Presonus has done a good job of delivering
a control surface that works with both its live and
studio recording sotware.
he CS18AI is really the hardware embodiment
of the end-to-end system Presonus has been
trying to build up over the last decade. Now,
with one system, you can mix a live show, record
it and mix the outcome on the same gear; with
sotware designed to speak the same language.
Its an impressive pathway and theres nothing
stopping you using an RM box and the CS18AI as
a dedicated recording setup either. hats a lot of
I/O with low latency outputs. To get this kind of
live to studio, end-to-end hardware and sotware
integration the only other purpose-built option
I can think of is an Avid S3L-X and Pro Tools
solution; which is aimed at a completely diferent
market and over three times the price.

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REVIEW

KORG MINILOGUE
Polyphonic Analogue Synth
Korgs Minilogue packs a lot of analogue punch
in a small package. Even its miniature OLED
display does more than youd think.
Review: Jason Hearn

NEED TO KNOW

LEVERAGING PERFORMANCE
Eschewing the traditional Pitch and
Modulation wheels, the primary (and
only) performance control is a diagonally oriented performance lever. While
it provides a unique look in use it has
substantial mechanical noise, a fair degree of lateral play and feels a touch too
heavily spring loaded, being particularly
resistant toward the extremes.

PRICE
Expect to pay $899
CONTACT
CMI: (03) 9315 2244 or
sales@cmi.com.au

AT 88

PROS
Gorgeous analogue sounds
Eight voice modes, lots of
sonic options
Lightweight but well-built
Mini-screen more than a
gimmick

CONS
Modulation matrix a litle
light on
Delay can get a bit noisy

SUMMARY
Korg has managed to pull of a miniature modern polyphonic analogue synth with
aplomb. Minilogue is light without being a lightweight and does gorgeous analogue
without being too regressive. While its modulation matrix lacks a litle exibility, a
litle motion sequence inventiveness can put you back on track.

NOTABLE KNOBS The slightly-rubberised nish on the knobs feels fantastic, and any wobble is avoided by their
chassis mounting. Theres also plenty
of space for chubby-ngered tweakers.
Many controls have a precise 1024 steps
of resolution, which is substantially
higher than many legendary vintage
synths. The resolution is essential for
accurate recall of patch memories and
to avoid stepping when swept. The largest knob controls VCF Cuto, and will
last the distance even in the roughest of
tweakers hands. Retro ip-switches are
reminiscent of your old, hi- tape deck
the ones that probably still work. In
short, the controls on this synth feel
professional.

ONBOARD OSCILLOSCOPE The highresolution OLED oscilloscope display,

albeit small, is legible at a wide range of
viewing angles. It displays the output of
the last voice triggered and is fascinating to watch. Far from a gimmick, for
sound design beginners to seasoned
synth heads exploring the architecture,
its value cant be underestimated. It
lends the whole process a scientic
bent, giving a visual result of your sound
design experiments.

MAX MINI-KEY Minilogue has the

same scaled-down keybed found on
Korgs recent MS20 Mini and ARP Odyssey. As a kid, as well as tinkling ivories
I was simultaneously playing the minikeys of a Casio CZ101. For me, adapting
to non-full-sized keys has never been
problematic. Since it is a poly synth,
Id rather three octaves of minikeys, in
preference to two octaves of full-sized
keys. Though it has a satisfying velocity
response, the keyboard lacks atertouch
and, unusually, any opportunity to modulate elements of the synth engine via
atertouch events incoming via MIDI.

Picking up the Minilogue box, I was afraid it

might be missing something like an
analogue synth. he ones in my rack are typically
more of a workout, but the Minilogue is
surprisingly light.
However, cruising through the factory presets
showed its a sonic heavyweight. Presets covered the
gamut of searing leads, sumptuous pads, wobbly
poly-key patches, relentless punchy bass sounds
and even some inventive percussive sequence
patches. It could be perfect for the Uber-riding
musician wanting to jam a real four-voice,
polyphonic analogue synth in their backpack.
VOICE A LA MODE

he Minilogue has eight voice modes and a Depth

control that adds functions speciic to each mode.
Poly mode gives four-voice polyphony with the
Depth control inverting chords in varying degrees.
In Duo mode, you get two-voice polyphony with
pairs of voices stacked and detunable by up to 50
cents. For those seeking ultra-fat basses and leads,
Unison mode is truly monstrous, stacking all voices
with up to 50 cents of detuning. You can access
additional sub-oscillators in Mono mode via the
Depth control. Chord mode stacks the voices in
various chord types selected via the Depth control.
hink instant, one-inger Detroit techno chords
stabs. Delay mode provides a note repeat delay
efect that reminds me of the note chase function of
my Roland D5.
Unusually, the arpeggiator has been
implemented as a separate voice mode.
Arpeggiators are typically independent of voice
allocation, allowing the sound character to remain
consistent regardless of whether or not its engaged.
If youve just rustled up a detuned bassline
patch in Unison mode and wish to arpeggiate
it, engaging Arp mode will lose that wonderful
detuning. DAW MIDI arpeggiation means it wont
be a showstopper, but its an issue to consider for
the laptop-free live band member. On the plus
side, beyond the typical Up/Down/Up & Down
variations, there are two Poly modes providing
polyphonic chord triggering in addition to a few
random modes. If you ind yourself searching for a
latch mode, oddly, it is missing.
Last of the modes unique to Minilogue is
the Sidechain mode, which is best explained by
example. Lets say youre holding down a three-note
chord with your right hand, triggering a fourth
note in the bass register ducks the volume of the
chord by the amount selected on the Depth control.

better reserved for a menu setting for example,

Velocity setting in the VCF have panel controls.
On the whole, considering its diminutive size,
Korg has excelled at inding the right balance of
hands-on control versus price. Even the typically
cumbersome act of naming a patch without
QWERTY keys is rapid and implemented sensibly.
ANATOMY OF A VOICE

Minilogues voice architecture comprises dual

VCOs, each ofering saw, triangle and square waves
with a waveshaping control speciic to each. he
Square wave waveshaper varies the duty cycle of
the waveform which, combined with the LFO,
provides pulse width modulation. With Triangle
and Sawtooth waveforms engaged, additional
harmonics are progressively introduced.
Both VCOs have four selectable octave pitch
settings as well as ine control over two octaves
in one-cent increments (1200 cents). he VCO
section also features oscillator cross modulation,
hard sync and ring modulation which can be
engaged in any combination. Vital for tonal
interest, VCO2 can be modulated by the second
envelope in tandem with cross modulation, sync
and ring modulation. Still, it does feel like an
opportunity was missed to create thick complicated
sounds at the VCO level. he (single) LFO can
only simultaneously modulate the wave shaping
for both VCOs by the same amount. Independent
modulation amounts would have been ideal!
Before hitting the VCF stage, the signal low
enters a mixer providing a means for balancing
VCO1, VCO2 and a noise generator. he VCF
low-pass ilter sports two- or four-pole lavours
that have a sweet and clean sound. Self-oscillation
is easily introduced with the resonance set above
70%. he VCF modulation controls include the
amount and polarity of the second envelope,
and hard stop settings for key-track and velocity
response. While the ilters wide range produces
plenty of textures, I did hanker for the added
thickness of a drive stage.
Post-VCF, the signal enters a digital delay
circuit with an auxiliary high-pass ilter. While
tweaking the rate in real-time invokes wild pitch
modulations that get caught in the feedback circuit,
I found the available delay rates a little short. With
higher feedback settings, there was a deinite onset
of rising background noise. I found myself mostly
using it to subtly add weight to sounds. Re-routing
the integrated high-pass ilter was very useful for
shelving subsonics and even providing band-pass
iltering in conjunction with the VCF.

MANUAL DRIVING

Minilogue passes any user-friendliness tests

with lying colours; no manual diving required.
he only part I found counter-intuitive was for
functions where youd normally be looking for
a Yes or Execute button. Instead, rotate the
Value encoder one step upward and the display
prompts Press Write to proceed. Dedicated Yes/
No buttons would have been easier. Also, some
common broad-stroke synth parameters, such
as the portamento rate, are menu items rather
than dedicated panel controls. Curiously, others

MODULATION MATRIX

In common with many modern analogue synths,

while the VCO, VCF and VCA are truly analogue,
the LFO and Envelope generators are generated
digitally. While tweaking Minilogue, particularly
with low VCF settings, I could occasionally hear
clicking artefacts. Initially I dismissed it as a byproduct of voice-stealing when playing parts too
complex for four voices, but it was also happening
with some mono synth patches. hankfully, a
irmware update laid the issue to rest. Apparently
AT 89

OLD BUT NEW LOOK Korg blends modern

chic and retro glory in Minilogues gracefullycurved, sandblasted aluminium front panel,
generous serve of solid, slightly-rubberised
pots, cheeky wooden back panel and gigworthy high impact plastic chassis. Those
eye-piercing blue LEDs are completely
absent. Korg opted for a gentle scheme of red
indicators and backlighting, instead.

MONO BLOCK While Minilogue has four

voices, the output is mono only. Personally,
this has never been a roadblock to enjoyment
of other mono-output synths in my collection,
and I actually prefer it in the studio. Others
may not feel the same way.

the designer had to strike a balance between

the fun of fast envelope stages and reducing this
subsequent artefact. Minilogues envelopes are still
lightning fast, making it a great candidate for sharp
basses, up-front leads and synth percussion.
Although Minilogue has the sound of a
heavyweight, its light on in the modulation matrix
department. It only has a single LFO, a dedicated
VCA envelope and a second assignable envelope.
What you see on the front panel is what you get,
there are no modulation surprises nestled within
the menus. he only modulation matrix possibility
I havent covered is the three diferent destinations
ofered by the LFO: VCO pitch, VCF cutof and
the VCO wave shape. he LFO has three basic
shapes with no sample-and-hold (noise) function;
however, it can either be free-running or synced to
MIDI clock.
he exception is the performance lever, which
can be linked to 29 destinations (found within
the menus). Only a single destination can be
selected at a time, excluding it from patch morph
tricks achieved by ganging multiple parameters.
heres also no means of specifying a modulation
range or polarity.
Its not as deep as a sound designer might hope
for, but considering the physical circuit paths
required to interact with VCO/VCF/VCA on an
analogue synth, those limitations are to be expected
at this price.

Length, which changes pattern lengths from the 16step default to non-binary lengths for polyrhythmic
experimentation. Step Resolution can be changed
from 1/16th to longer note divisions, extending the
maximum possible length beyond a single bar. Note
and Motion data can be cleared independently, and
Motion data tracks can be individually enabled or
disabled great for performance!
I prefer to consider the Motion sequence tracks
as four tempo-clocked envelopes or LFOs and
therefore a means of overcoming the modulation
matrix limitations. Motion sequencing any
parameter tied to a front panel control opens this
synth up to rich, rhythmically animated sounds.

IN THE RIGHT SEQUENCE

Ater getting a great rif into the step

sequencer, the natural instinct will be to play
single notes on the keyboard to transpose the rif
on the ly and follow chord changes. Unusually,
its not possible, limiting the usefulness of this
Minilogue hero-function.
My only other odd Minilogue moment was
when integrating an external MIDI controller
keyboard. he controllers mod wheel was mapped
to the noise amount! Even weirder, the sustain
pedal afected the octave of VCO1. It appears the
MIDI rulebook on the standards for continuous
controller assignments was misplaced!

Where Minilogue shines as an inspiration and

jamming tool is in its Note and Motion sequencing.
Rather than utilising a shared pool of sequences,
Korg has wisely opted to store sequence data local
to each patch.
With MIDI clock running from your DAW,
you can immediately start sequencing notes
on the fly by pressing Minilogues REC button
and they will play back quantised and looped.
Motion sequencing any four parameters is
equally accessible.
You can edit Note and Motion data like Step
AT 90

Minilogues envelopes are

lightning fast, making it a
great candidate for sharp
basses, up-front leads and
synth percussion

MINI WINNER

While its presentation is excellent, build quality

luxurious and sound quality superb, Minilogues
modulation matrix doesnt ofer the depth to make
it a go-to instrument for exotic sounds. However,
with inventive use of the Motion sequencing
function you can fake more modulation than what
is on ofer and push the unit further than youd
expect. All without having to crack the manual
its a very intuitive synth.
As a collector of vintage eight-voice poly synths
like the Oberheim Matrix 1000/6R and Roland
MKS80, I crave the sound of playing complex
analogue poly parts across two hands without fear
of premature voice stealing. With Minilogue, youll
ind yourself limited to simple chords and largely
single-handed phrases.
Nevertheless, the Minilogue delivers massive,
thick, detuned patches with ease. I found myself
gravitating largely toward the Unison, Duo and
Mono voice modes. he essential ingredients
required to introduce subtle diferences between
the VCOs and create thick ensemble poly patches
are missing. If anything, I found the four-voice Poly
mode best for less-weighty sounds, introducing
movement through cross modulation and sync.
For the money, there is a lot to like about the
Minilogue polyphonic analogue sound, beautiful
build and extensive hands on control. I have no
doubt it has all the charm required to win over
those looking to acquire their irst polyphonic
analogue synth.

HEAR MINILOGUE
IN ACTION
Listen to sounds generated using Korgs Minilogue and follow along with Jason as he crats a
nasty bass patch from scratch.

www.youtube.com/audiotechnologymag

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REVIEW

EAW REDLINE SERIES

Powered Speakers
EAWs Redline series are more than just
portable powered speakers, theyre chameleons
that can change their stripes for any job.

LIGHT WORK Theyre slightly bigger

and heavier than your average prosumer
speaker, but theyre denitely lighter
than they look. 24kg for the RL15 wont
present any problem for the professional road crew youd expect to see
delivering
speakers.
When
d li i these
h
k
Wh you
add the 18-inch RL18s sub-woofer, again
a fairly big box, at a comparatively
modest 37kg, it adds up to a very high
output-to-weight ratio.

Review: Mark Woods

NEED TO KNOW

ROAD READY The cabinets are made

of wood and nished in EAWs tough
Roadcoat surface. The perforated
steel grill feels strong, and the stylish
recessed handles work well. They look
much beter than your average powered
speaker.

PRICE
RL12: $5026
RL15: $5513
RL18s: $6895
Call for package pricing

AT 92

CONTACT
PAVT:
(03) 9264 8000 or sales@
productionaudio.com.au

PROS
Full sound even without subs
Convenient & versatile
operation
Good looks that dont atract
atention
Lightweight

CONS
Only one monitor angle

SUMMARY
EAWs Redline does more than most powered
speaker lines, but doesnt scream about it. With
good clarity and voicing straight out of the box, and
able to be manipulated via DSP and screwdriver
into most situations, Redline delivers on the
portable powered speaker promise.

he promise that a portable powered speaker

can go anywhere and do anything is one of
the audio industrys white lies. Handy, sure, but
great sound in any situation? I think not.
Lately, Ive been reviewing more speakers in this
open class that are getting closer to delivering on
this promise with high-end DSP, well-programmed
presets, or physically manipulable features. Still, its
still a tough promise to keep and not many include
all the necessary add-ons to excel. EAWs Redline
seems to have done just that.
MONITORING PERFORMANCE

One of the most compromising spots a powered

speaker can ind itself in is lying prone on the loor
posing as a monitor speaker. Sure, its got all the
right angles, but you didnt actually think it was
designed for that job, did you?
With a focus on the requirements of production
companies, Redline is designed to be lexible.
here are two full-range speakers in the range,
either a 12-inch (RL12) or 15-inch (RL15) LF
driver coupled with a 1.75-inch voice-coil HF
compression driver.
Powered speakers nominally designed for FOH
get used as loor monitors all the time and there
are always two problems; the bass boominess and
the horn throwing vertically. he low-end is easy
enough to ix with EQ and Redline gets preset
voicings for full-range, with sub, or monitor use.
he narrow beam of highs you get with the horn
on its side is a tougher problem and EAW has
addressed it by allowing the horn to be rotated. Its
quite easy; star-head screws release the grill and
Allen-key screws release the horn. Rotate and reconnect. As long as youve got the tools it only takes
5-10 minutes per box.
EAW goes one step further though. If you need
to lip the box over so the horn is pointing at you
from the other side of the box, the entire amp/
connections module can be moved to the other
angled rear panel so the connecting leads dont get
squashed against the loor. Unsurprisingly its a
slightly longer job than the previous one.
Inside the cabinet is not a place you oten go, but
either of these operations give you a good view of
the sizable cavity inside the cabinet, the electrical
components and the four luted bass ports. hese
bass ports are unusual and apparently the product
of painstaking development to achieve the right
length and exact placement.
he cabinets are deeper than most, look
substantial, and are very black. he EAW logo on
the front of the speaker is black. he red stripes
that give the series its name, as well as cover the
black grill screws, are magnetic and lit straight of
leaving a completely black proile. You can stick
them on the fridge so they dont get lost.
I irst got familiar with the RL15s as loor
monitors at the heatre Royal in Castlemaine, irst
for Courtney Barnett and a couple of days later for
Marlon Williams, both strong vocal acts. Better
suited to large stages than small, they stand quite
high in front of the acts and throw up at 45 degrees.
Set to the Monitor Preset my initial impression

with Courtneys regular Shure SM58 vocal mic was

the big clear volume; quite a smooth, thick sound,
and not too bright. Exploring full volume they
irst start to get edgy around 2-4kHz, right where
the mic is peaky, but theyre stable at high levels.
he next show had Marlon using a Shure KSM9;
looking for high volume out of a condenser mic
made for a good test. I ended up cutting a fair bit of
10kHz out of the graphic over that send but still got
a good high level for the show and everyone was
very happy with the way they worked. A strange
concern for me was the way the vertical panel with
the connections, power input and gain control were
presented to the audience at the front of the stage.
I had to trust that punters at the very front would
avoid the temptation to make any tweaks. You can
mute the LEDs to help deter anyone that wants to
be helpful.

POWER TRIP Driving the speakers

are 1000W LF and 250W HF Class D
amps. EAW uses several proprietary
processes, both physical and digital,
in its noble quest for transparency.
Redline DSP includes EAW Focusing
that concentrates on the speakers
impulse response and DynO that keeps
everything nice at maximum output.

STICK EM UP

Competent as they are as loor monitors they had

a diferent character when pointed at the audience
and its a more natural role for them. On a stand, or
pole-mounted on top of the subs, the RL15 looks
the part and sounds great. Surprisingly detailed and
coherent for this type of speaker, with a nice even
coverage across its nominal 90-degree horizontal
pattern, they have a touch of studio monitor about
them. he RL15 on its own is a full-range speaker
and the luted ports play a part in delivering deep,
tight low end. he HF driver is accurate with crisp
percussive transients but its not at all harsh even
at high levels. It combines seamlessly with the
full-sounding 15-inch woofer to produce a very
appealing sound that made me want to turn it up.
heyre loud but well-controlled; the limiter steps
in at just the right time, and even at the limit you
can stand quite close to them without having your
head shrieked of.
hen there are the subs. he RL15 full-range
cabs have a very strong bass response on their
own but adding the RL18s subs lits everything.
he RL15s dont have to work as hard so they
can deliver more mid/highs. he 18-inch woofer
with 1000W of power is a thumpin beast but
its well controlled and shares the RL15s tight,
fast response. It reaches down low with a stated
response of 30-160Hz. For party tricks, one sub
can be placed on top of another
and with the press of a couple of
buttons the DSP uses polarity,
cancellation and summation to
turn the subs into a cardioid array. I
know everyone is doing it, and you
need at least four subs if youve got
them on both sides of the stage, in
the normal manner. Nevertheless,
its still a good trick and it works,
with a noticeable reduction in
wooiness behind the speakers. he
cardioid stack looks kind of weird
with one speaker pointing backwards
but the control panel lights that end
up pointing at the audience are, again,
thoughtfully dimmable.

AT 93

My initial impression with

Courtneys regular Shure
SM58 vocal mic was the
big clear volume; quite a
smooth, thick sound, and
not too bright

READY TO ROLL

he RL15s, with or without the RL18s subs, are

ideal for music playback and would make a perfect
plug n play DJ rig. hough they are relatively
light for their size, and you could squeeze a
pair of RL15s in a large car or wagon at a pinch,
theyre better suited to being packed into easily
manageable roadcases for professional transport.
Once delivered, the system is as easy to set up as
possible. he RL15s need a decent speaker stand
for full health and safety compliance, but also
mount securely on a pole above the RL18s sub, if
the whole systems being used. Out of the box the
sound is disco-ready and if they need any EQ at all

it will be because of their environment. Controls

are kept to the essential low-frequency shapers,
with the Monitor setting trimming more than the
Main + Sub setting. Either of these settings makes
an efective HPF for reducing proximity efect if the
speakers are being used for voice only.
As FOH speakers the RL15s project with ease
and from the desk they sound bigger than they
are. Being a point source system you can get more
focused bite than the equivalent sized line-array
and this makes them a better choice for live bands.
Vocals can be pushed clear above the band and
the limiting does a good job of subtly controlling
the peaks at high volume. Running full-range on a
speaker stand the voicing sounds just right and the
low-end response is strong enough for some useful
kick and bass levels in a small room. With the
RL18s sub added, the system voicing is almost bass
heavy partly why it sounds so good for music
playback and some low-mid EQ trimming was
helpful with open mics. Adding the subs greatly
increases the amount of punchy, full low-end
available and I found I was running them lower
than the RL15 top box, even outdoors.

hese are professional speakers that are made to

work and theyre priced accordingly.
EAW makes lots of speakers; over 100 diferent
products split across 12 series covering everything
from festivals to installations. What it doesnt do is
make a lot of portable powered speakers. I reckon
its spotted an opportunity; a product for its time.
I couldnt decide if Redline was at the top of the
high-quality powered speaker market or the entry
level to the higher-quality, professional speaker
market it might be both.

FINAL CAT CALL

hese are catwalk speakers. he smooth sound, the

deliberately discreet looks; I kept thinking theyd
be perfect for one of those big, pumping fashion
shows. Or maybe a corporate product launch
with live performers, venues and music-based
installations and, of course, production companies.

minilogue takes analogue way into the future giving creative

musicians yet more new ways to express themselves.
Everything from the flexible four-voice routing, chassis-mounted,
rubber-coated knobs, 16-step sequencer right through to its
OLED display with oscillosc p
/korgaus

AT 94

/korgaustralia

Real-time analogue waveform display

TANGO TNG-200
Network based intercom
application

Real-time media network

FOR ANY

MEDIORNET

NETWORKS

INTELLIGENT

Digital wireless intercom

ACROBAT

FORMAT

www.riedel.net

MONITORING ESSENTIALS

X8, LIVE MONITOR - L-ACOUSTICS X SERIES

In creating the X Series, we brought all of the experience gained in designing the K2 to bear on a new series of reference coaxials.
Optimized design, ergonomics, acoustical performance and weight make the X Series the most advanced coaxials on the market. Four
distinct enclosures with format, bandwidth, SPL and coverage angles perfectly adapted to short throw rental or install applications, the
X Series offers studio monitor sound quality, compact design, consistent tonal balance, no minimum listening distance and exceptional
feedback rejection. www.l-acoustics.com

P: 1300 445 571 (1300 HILLS 1)

www.hills.com.au

SUBSCRIBE & WIN

Dynamic Mic worth $949
Shure, reverse engineered decades of Unidyne dynamic mic
development to squeeze a second diaphragm into the KSM8,
and for good reason. Shures Dualdyn capsule uses the second
diaphragm to virtually eliminate proximity effect and its
associated presence peak, while delivering an almost textbook
cardioid polar pattern. What does it all mean? A dynamic mic that
holds its incredibly flat, extended frequency response no matter
where you are on the mic. As Mark Woods put it in his review this
issue: Live sound will never be the same again.
Thanks to Jands, we have a fancy Nickel-plated version of
the KSM8 to give away. All you have to do is subscribe to
AudioTechnology and answer the following question:
How many diaphragms does the Shure KSM8 have?
[A] One

[C] Three

[B] Two

[D] Its infinitely recursive

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AT 97

REGULARS

Last Word
with

Michael Carnes,
Founder of Exponential Audio

Ater leaving Lexicon,

Michael started up
Exponential Audio, a
developer of plug-in
reverbs and eects.
Exponential Audios plugins are used by lots of top
music engineers, and the
development of surround,
and Atmos and Aurocompatible reverbs make
them a favourite for post
production.

AT 98

I spent 25 years at Lexicon.

I was hired in as a senior engineer. It was the early
days of workstations, and we made a monster called Opus.
We were in competition with companies like New England
Digital, Waveframe and AMS Audioile. All these hardware
based, hard disk-operating, editing and mixing systems. It was
bleeding edge. We were out front of the market and would beat
each other bloody. Opus, for its day talking the late 80s
was really amazing. For the low, low price of US$200,000 you
could get a 12x8 mixing console and a 12x8 editing system.
Anybodys laptop will do better than that now.
I worked on Opus operating system and automation system,
eventually managing the project for a couple of years. I begged
to be taken of it, and moved into the reverb world. he PCM80
was my irst.
I inished up our time in Massachusetts on the 960L, by then
I was Principal Engineer. hey asked us to move to Salt Lake
City, and from that point on I was the sole reverb developer
responsible for the IP. I did the PCM96, the 96 Surround, and
all those plug-ins. I had people to help with ports and testing,
but it was always a small group.
Its been years since Ive written one, but I could do a Lexicon
algorithm in my sleep. here were certain approaches to the
Lexicon sound. A lot of which came out of getting around the
artefacts that arose from trying to do a reverb with pathetic
hardware processors.
he issue you mostly encountered was room modes youd
set up a recirculating delay and various old tricks itll sing
like crazy if you dont actively manage it. My predecessor,
David Griesinger, came up with a lot of those tricks to
essentially keep it from getting nasty. hat was the Lexicon
sound; you could hear modulation, little pitch efects, all sorts
of other strange things going on.
For the generation that grew up mixing in the 80s and
90s, those artefacts became part of their sound. Almost to a
man, theyll say, hats natural, thats depth. Nothing could
be farther from the truth. You go into a real hall and it never
sounds anything like that.
I made a very conscious decision not to emulate the Lexicon
sound. Largely I had to be the Lexicon sound for a long time,
and while I did a number of things to reduce those artefacts,
it always had to sound that way. I knew there were better and
more natural ways to do things, but wasnt allowed to; you were
a defender of that sound. It was wonderful to not have to do
that any longer.
he right sound depends on when you started listening
to hit records. If it was the late 70s and early 80s, it was the
Lexicon 224, and theres never been anything better. If it was
the late 80s and early 90s, it was the 480L, nothing ever better.
he 960L still had the Lexicon sound but was a departure in a
number of ways. For people that started out on that, it was their
sound, but was a betrayal to anyone who worked on the older
stuf. People are very vocal about their tools.

here are some very successful, established mixers who keep

their ears fresh and are not bound by the way they did things
before, but its hard to escape that. You sit in your room with
your old box and dial up a few presets, youre done thinking
about it and move on.
here are a few people whove endeavoured to emulate
that Lexicon sound. Plug-ins like the LX480, and some from
Universal Audio. heres nothing creative there, and they
typically dont have the full lexibility of those boxes.
To the best of my knowledge, when I let Lexicon, there
really wasnt anybody to step in. Its largely stuck where I let
it. he old line goes, theres graveyards full of indispensable
people. Im not posing myself as indispensable, but I think
Harmans interests lie elsewhere. he studio business takes a
lot of attention, and when youre a huge multi-billion dollar
company, a bunch of whiny mixers in their studios are more
bother than theyre worth. Whiny mixers are the guys I like.
Modern reverbs are built on only a handful of architectures.
heres the convolution side, which has never been of any
interest to me. Ill give you the rant later. he other architecture,
algorithmic reverb, goes back to an old paper published by
Schroeder 40 years ago. Everybodys got a better way to do it
than the original paper, and he would be the irst to recognise
that. But if you look in the DNA, youll still ind parts of the
genome that hark back to that paper.
Its a ield with plenty of trade secrets. I have lots of my own
and anyone else in the business has theirs. Who knows, we may
have all igured out each others secrets. I think they all sound
diferent enough.
I have two diferent architectures that go in diferent
directions. he Phoenixverb architecture is designed to
be natural and unobtrusive. My background is in classical
composition. Ive spent an awful lot of time in concert halls
listening to chamber music and symphonies. I know what
a good room sounds like from listening to good and bad
attributes. he whole point of Phoenixverb was to be able to
completely lather the thing in reverb and not really notice it.
he dry sound gradually stages into the reverb in a way that it
feels in a place rather than reverb thats glued on.
R2 is not a Lexicon reverb, because I get there by diferent
means, but its intended to bring back a little of that. he tail is
more active, and if you crank things the right way youll hear
some pitch in the reverb tail and hear it modulate and swirl
around. hats what some people call depth. Its the farthest
thing from it you dont hear depth but it does have some
tasty business going on in the back side. Depending on the
material, it can be very lattering for a nylon string guitar or
singer, when you have a sparse mix and a standout solo you
want to drench.
Next issue, Michael gives us the rant on convolution reverb
and whats up with hardware vs sotware reverbs.

NEW AUDIX WIRELESS

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