Steve Hall Establishes Future Disc in Rural Oregon
Dec 30, 2008 3:29 PM, By Matt Gallagher
Most Popular
advertisement
Polls
TalkBack
AES N.Y. is coming up and we want to know what about your favorite New York recording story. E-mail us at mixeditorial@mixonline.com.
This Month in Mix
I was wondering if you could talk about the layout of your home facility—how you have it situated, and how it compares with your former Hollywood facility.
The room is just a little bit smaller than the room I had in Hollywood. When we saw this property there was a garage that was off to the side of the house that was already pretty much finished out. It had a 12-foot high ceiling and all kinds of stuff. So I took one look at that and said, “Man, this would make a great studio.” It’s about 26x24 feet, a pretty good-sized room. I had some serious electrical put in, and did some wall treatments. And I brought in several thousand dollars worth of acoustic material. I experimented around with it for a while, moving things around and getting everything into the right position, where I thought it sounded best. I did a lot of measurements and swept the monitors. It's actually turned out really well. I’ve been really happy with the results.
You didn’t have to modify the physical structure in any way.
No. It was basically just acoustic treatment—putting bass traps in the corners and treating the walls a little bit.
How much equipment did you bring up from Hollywood, and how much did you change?
Well, actually, most of it is stuff that I had brought up from Hollywood, and I’ve been offloading, over a period of time, a lot of stuff that I found I don’t need—old tape machines and things. I still have three ATR machines, which I almost never use anymore. Once in a while somebody will send me an analog master, but I’m dealing with mostly Pro Tools files now.
I [brought] all of the equalizers and compressors that were of value, I would say, from [Hollywood]. I’ve got Manley Massive Passives, a Sontec MES-430, a GML 9600. I’ve got a Crane Song HEDD 192 converter. I’ve got Manley Variable Mu and ELOP limiters. I’ve got an expensive Weiss collection—three equalizers, and I just made upgrades to their DS1 to MK 3, which has new software in it. I’ve got a Waves L2 and a few things like that, so that’s basically the complement of outboard gear.
As far as computer workstations, I’m still using the Sonic [Studio] HD systems. I’ve got two of those in the room so that when I’m dealing with higher sample rates or different sample rates, I basically use one for all my editing and playback, and come out and go to my analog equipment when I need it, or digital, or a combination of both, and into another Sonic HD system that works at 44.1 [kHz] for CD masters. That’s basically the signal path, for the most part.
I’m considering doing a full Pro Tools setup for playback because so many clients want to send up an edited Pro Tools session. And it would be more beneficial, I think, especially with all of the surround stuff that I do. That probably will happen early next year. I’ll see what transpires.
Did you retain a good percentage of your Hollywood clients?
I did for the most part. And I haven’t really even cracked the local market up here. I’ve been getting a lot of stuff coming across the border from Canada. Engineers like Brad Gilderman, Paul Klingberg and Mark Needham have been sending me a constant flow of stuff, so it’s been great. I’ve been doing more rock and pop stuff, and country, and less jazz than I was doing when I was in L.A., but I’ve still been doing projects for guys like Rick Braun. Fewer R&B projects, but still a few here and there.
When I was in Hollywood I was doing a lot of major label stuff, and that actually was dwindling down when we were moving out of there. But now I’m seeing tons of independents. I’d say probably 90 percent of my business now is [from] independent artists.
Mix’s December 2008 issue features a Q&A interview on the back page with Bob Ludwig, in which he addresses the ongoing loudness wars. Would you have any comment about that?
I’d love to not have to peg the meters every time you’ve got to master something. When I master, I turn it up until it starts to get annoying, and then I back it off a little bit, and that’s pretty much where I let it sit. Probably half the time somebody will call me up and want it louder even still, and I’m going, “Hey man, it’s annoying to listen to. It doesn’t do anything good for your product. It doesn’t make your music sound any better.” It’s an unfortunate thing that everybody wants everything loud.
And it was a whole different scene when we were making vinyl, because you didn’t have a block wall that you were limited to, as far as level on vinyl. You were basically limited by the amount of bottom and the amount of time that you were putting on the disc. And now we’re stuck with this block wall that digital has, and everybody’s trying to put 10 gallons of sound in a 5-gallon bucket. Unfortunately, that's the way it is. It would be great to see that change.
The whole routine of slamming music to make it as loud as you can in this digital format is sad because it takes the life, the excitement and the emotion out of music, and you’re left with something that’s hard and unpleasant to listen to for long periods of time.
How has mastering changed for you over the span of your 30-year career?
The mastering process is definitely more complex than it used to be. Back then I was using maybe one equalizer and a limiter to master vinyl, and even the early CDs that came out of that era. Now, instead of using one equalizer and one compressor to master, I might be using as many as five pieces of outboard equipment, and I may go through three different limiters or compressors that I go through. The whole purpose of that process is just to use a little bit of each one so that you’re not killing what’s left of this music. I try to leave my stuff sounding as big and dynamic as I can, even though we’re forced to make it as loud as possible. I use a little bit of salt and pepper from one and some other seasonings from another, and it helps out.
A lot of people now are using plug-ins and software programs. I haven’t broken down to that, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility for me to look into something like that in the near future. I’ve heard good things about the Universal Audio plug-ins and the Sonnox Oxfords, so we’ll see what happens.
Matt Gallagher is an assistant editor at Mix. Visit Future Disc Systems at www.futurediscsystems.com.
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
Modern Recording and Mixing
This 2-DVD set will show you how the best in the music industry set up a studio to make world-class records. Regardless of what gear you are using, the information you'll find here will allow you to take advantage of decades of expert knowledge. Order now $39.95
Mastering Cubase 4
Electronic Musician magazine and Thomson Course Technology PTR have joined forces again to create the second volume in their Personal Studio Series, Mastering Steinberg's Cubase(tm). Edited and produced by the staff of Electronic Musician, this special issue is not only a must-read for users of Cubase(tm) software, but it also delivers essential information for anyone recording/producing music in a personal-studio. Order now $12.95
Delivered straight to your inbox every other week, MixLine takes you straight into the studio, with new product announcements, industry news, upcoming events, recent recording/post projects and much more. 
AES 2009: Slate Pro Audio Trigger
Upgrading Studio A at Santa Barbara Sound