March 2006
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Technology
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| Benchmark Media ADC1 A/D Converter |
We've been waiting more than two years for Benchmark to release its half-rack companion to the DAC1 2-channel digital-to-analog reference converter,...
BY BARRY RUDOLPH |
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| EastWest Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs |
The EastWest Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs (EWQLSC) virtual instrument will change any preconceived ideas you may have about what sampled choirs can...
BY ROBERT BROCK |
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| Josephson C617SET Condenser Microphone |
Founded by David Josephson in 1989, Josephson Engineering is a boutique mic shop. Unfortunately, most engineers have never used Josephson mics —...
BY KEVIN BECKA |
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| Snapshot Product Reviews |
E-MU PM5 PRECISION MONITORS Powered Near-Field Speakers After decades of creating high-end sampling, synthesis and pro recording gear, E-mu Systems unveiled...
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| Sony Sound Forge Digital Audio Workstation |
Throughout years of working on films, television and videogames, I have used a variety of audio software and have to come to rely on one often-overlooked...
BY MICHEL HENEIN |
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| Soundelux E47C Cardioid Condenser Mic |
Large-diaphragm condenser microphones such as the Telefunken ELAM 251, AKG C-12 and Neumann U47 are practically legendary: They captured many of the...
BY BARRY RUDOLPH |
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| Steinberg Hypersonic 2 Multitimbral Synth |
Multitimbral “workstation” synthesizers were once fixtures in nearly every project studio. But in the new world of software synths, they're...
BY JIM AIKIN |
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| Tools of the Trade |
LUCID GENX192 STUDIO MASTER CLOCK Having a split personality is usually considered a bad thing, but not in the case of the latest clock from Lucid (
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| Upgrades and Updates |
Apogee Electronics (www.apogeedigital.com) has standardized its Rosetta 800 line at 192k sample...
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Live Mix
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| Don Pearson, 1942-2006 |
Don Pearson passed away during a routine medical procedure on January 9, 2006. In 1978, Pearson co-founded Ultra Sound with Howard Danchik and went on...
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| FixIt |
Front-of-house engineer Daniel Nygaard is currently on the road with The Perishers, who fill the opening slots for the current Sarah McLachlan, Tracy...
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| INXS |
It's not surprising that INXS would pull out all the stops for their Switched On tour. It's the band's first outing since a reality television show netted...
By David John Farinella |
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| New Sound Reinforcement Products |
PEAVEY VERSARRAY VersArray marks Peavey's (www.peavey.com) debut into the high-end line array market....
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| News |
The Adamson M15 monitors are now in full production, with the first run pre-ordered by several of the company's European Partners; more speakers are...
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| Now Playing |
Kathleen Edwards Sound Company: PA Plus Productions (Toronto)FOH Engineer/Console: Charlie “Sciff” Ferguson (also tour manager)/Midas H3000...
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| On the Road |
Mitch Lerner The Barefoot Servants joined Mix, Electronic Musician, Remix and Intel to celebrate EM's 20th anniversary at the annual NAMM Advertiser...
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| When iPods Take the Stage |
Chicago-based rock band Midstates recently “hired” an Apple iPod (with video capability) as the group's sixth member while on tour with Wheatus...
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Recording Notes
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| AFTER KATRINA |
Last summer's two horrific Gulf of Mexico hurricanes — Katrina and Rita — destroyed countless lives and caused unimaginable damage to both...
By Blair Jackson |
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| Back Water Blues |
Another worthy CD to come out of the Katrina tragedy is Our New Orleans 2005 on Nonesuch Records. It's chock-full of stirring performances by a wide...
Blair Jackson |
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| PRODUCER ROY THOMAS BAKER LIGHTS UP THE DARKNESS |
The members of British heavy rock band The Darkness don't take themselves too seriously. With tongue somewhere near cheek, they say that their concerns...
By Paul Tingen |
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| THE POINTER SISTERS' “YES WE CAN CAN” |
When the Pointer Sisters burst onto the national scene with “Yes We Can Can” in mid-1973, they seemed completely different from any other...
By Blair Jackson |
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Coast to Coast
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| L.A. GRAPEVINE |
After three years in a sort of active limbo, super-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have finally moved into the new, private headquarters for their...
by Heather Johnson |
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| NASHVILLE SKYLINE |
I got a phone call from a good buddy of mine, Bill Lloyd. Lloyd is a fine songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist (primarily guitar) and father of...
by Rick Clark |
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| NEW YORK METRO |
“MOCEAN WORKER MAKES IT BIG” may never be splashed across The New York Times Sunday “Styles” section, but a headline like that...
by David Weiss |
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Insider Audio
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| One Sine Wave at a Time |
Composers have long been fascinated with using electronic instruments to simulate real orchestras. And now, as music budgets for films and television...
BY PAUL D. LEHRMAN |
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Producer's Desk
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| Steve Epstein |
Steve Epstein has snared 13 Grammy Awards in a 30-plus-year career that has brought him into professional contact with many of the greatest musicians...
BY GARY ESKOW |
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Project Studio
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| Darren Rust's Skyland Studios |
Vocal and a cappella groups usually want a warm, clean, big and wide sound that comes through, even on layer upon layer of vocal tracks. But when you...
BY HEATHER JOHNSON |
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Tech's Files
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| Gettin' Into the Grooves |
Just as digital audio jump-started the vintage analog craze, club DJs have kept turntable and cartridge manufacturers in production. This month's focus...
BY EDDIE CILETTI |
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From the Editor
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| The NASCAR Studio |
Not too long ago, “studio computer” simply referred to a CPU/monitor/keyboard setup either built into an SSL or used as an outboard automation...
George Petersen Editorial Director |
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Feedback
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| Letters to Mix |
Editor's Note: Our December 2005 mastering feature (“The Big Squeeze”) generated a number of responses lamenting...
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Current/Industry News
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| ENGLAND AT VILLAGE |
Singer/songwriter Kyler England was at The Village Recording Studios laying down tracks for a new EP release with producer/engineer Richard Furch, who...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| INDUSTRY NEWS |
Propellerhead Software (Stockholm, Sweden) named Timothy Self to the newly created position of senior VP sales & marketing; he will be based out of the...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| MANILOW REMAKES HISTORY |
Barry Manilow completed sessions at Ocean Way (L.A.) for his new album, The Greatest Songs of the Fifties (CD/DualDisc). The album includes remakes of...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| MIX WEB EXTRAS |
Go beyond the printed page and log on to www.mixonline.com to get extra photos, text and sounds...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| NOTES FROM THE NET |
SOUNDEXCHANGE INKS DEAL WITH IODA IODA (www.iodalliance.com), the Independent Online Distribution...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| ON THE MOVE |
Who: Mike Pappas, Sennheiser USA senior applications engineer Main Responsibilities: use my extensive experience in the television and radio broadcast...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| PAUL HONORS JBL |
Guitar innovator Les Paul congratulated JBL on its 60th anniversary by autographing a JBL state-of-the-art Differential Drive transducer. A longtime...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| PEART ON ANATOMY OF DRUM SOLOS |
Brian Brodeur, founder and president of NewYorkDVD, a DVD development, design and authoring firm, has completed Neil Peart's Anatomy of a Drum Solo DVD,...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| SHURE MICS ON THE SOUNDSTAGE |
PBS's Soundstage, which began airing in 1974, is jointly produced by WTTW-TV, the Chicago-based affiliate of PBS, and HD Ready, a St. Charles, Ill. —...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| TEC DONATES |
Following the 21st Annual TEC Awards, the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio has announced that more than $40,000 has been contributed to hearing...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| THWAK! MOVES TO AVATAR STUDIOS |
Owner/producer/drummer Tony Verderosa's Thwak! — a company that specializes in artist placement, music licensing and original music for TV and...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| WIDGET POST EXPANDS |
Widget Post Production has acquired the 37,000-square-foot audio post facility formerly occupied by Warner Bros. and Goldwyn Sound at The Lot in Hollywood,...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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On the Cover
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| Saint Claire Recording |
In the studio business, it's not surprising to hear colleagues say that their co-workers are “like family,” but at the four-months-new Saint...
By Barbara Schultz |
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General
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| ‘LOST SESSIONS’ FOUND |
Garth Brooks' recent Walmart-only release, The Lost Sessions, was mastered at Independent Mastering in Nashville. Sessions was mastered from an ATR 1-inch...
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| AVATAR HOSTS FAGEN |
Even an artist as credentialed as Steely Dan vocalist/keyboardist Donald Fagen can get starstruck. Fagen was busy in Avatar's (New York City) Studio...
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| Big House Sound |
In about two weeks, Austin-based Big House Sound (www.bighousesound.com) will begin one of...
BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| COOL SPINS |
Various Artists I Believe to My Soul Rhino/Worksong/Hear Music As mentioned elsewhere in “Recording Notes,” a handful of great CDs have been...
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| FM RECORDERS GOES PUBLIC |
Hidden away in a large, unmarked warehouse on the Oakland/Emeryville, Calif., border, hit production team Denzil Foster and Tommy McElroy have busily...
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| Game Audio Integration |
Most audio professionals started their careers with little more than a love of music, film, radio and/or television. This generated the passion to create,...
By Alexander Brandon |
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| Game Characters Speak Up! |
It wasn't so long ago that speaking roles in videogames comprised a few repetitive words, a grunt or maybe an oomph for effect. But as games have become...
BY HEATHER JOHNSON |
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| HYBRID MONITOR MIXING |
Monitor engineers have a tricky task at hand. It's hard enough to please everyone onstage, and as stage monitoring continues to evolve, the majority...
By Mark Frink |
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| IT'S FINAL FOR ‘IDOL’ |
Engineer Don Budd of Final Mix Studios in Campbell, Calif., recorded a new song for American Idol finalist Nikki McKibbin's forthcoming release, using...
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| MAYER AT EDDIE'S ATTIC |
John Mayer stopped by ZAC Recording (Atlanta) to listen to live tracks recorded by his front-of-house engineer, Chad Franscoviak, during a three-night...
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| MIDI IN SESSION |
By 1999, MIDI was, if not dead, certainly an obsolete and uninteresting technology. Today, it's hotter than ever. What changed? Virtual instruments came...
By Jim Aikin |
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| OIART ADDS GAME DEVELOPMENT |
The Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (www.oiart.ca) is the first audio education program...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| Pro Meets M.I. |
Despite the show's glitz and packed aisles of music wannabes, NAMM has always been a fairly conservative organization. Yet the annual winter convention's...
By the Mix Staff |
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| Sound Design for Motocross Games |
On a dry, sunny day just outside of Phoenix, pro motocross drivers speed through the wide-open desert, doing crazy jumps and otherwise kicking up a lot...
BY HEATHER JOHNSON |
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| Sound Effects for ‘King Kong, the Game’ |
Serious gamers will be the first to tell you that not every great action movie can be successfully turned into a videogame. Indeed, for every successful...
BY BLAIR JACKSON |
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| TAKING A CRITICAL LISTEN |
One of the few audio schools that offers a master's degree in Sound Recording Technology, the Music Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell...
COMPILED BY SARAH BENZULY |
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| THE COMPLETE COMPUTER-BASED DAW |
Twenty-five years ago, an IBM PC with its 64k RAM and 4.77MHz speed would have set you back $6,000. Today, that same price could buy a very nice setup,...
By George Petersen |
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| The Musical World of ‘The Godfather’ Game |
One of the most eagerly anticipated videogame releases this spring is The Godfather: The Game, based on Mario Puzo's famous book and Francis Coppola's...
BY BLAIR JACKSON |
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| TRACK SHEET |
NORTHWEST At Nettleingham Audio (Vancouver, WA) engineer Kevin Nettleingham mastered releases for Portland-area artists John and Jose Troncoso, Dealer,...
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| Violent Femmes |
An American cult band since the 1980s, the Violent Femmes are reasserting their claim to coolness with the recent release of Permanent Record: The Very...
by Steve Jennings |
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| What's in a Name? |
Our vote for the hottest buzzwords of 2005 goes to “64-bit processing” and “PCI Express (PCIe).” However, these latest developments...
Kevin Becka |
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