April 2013
WELCOME
April 2013 Editor’s Note: It’s Television, Not Broadcast
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Tom Kenny
I am a big fan of the HBO series Game of Thrones. I’ve read the five books, and I’ve watched from the beginning, live on Sunday nights (okay, I have relied on my DVR and On Demand occasionally). The subject matter might not appeal to all, but damn, you can’t argue with the story, the acting, the production values, the sheer epic nature and scope. It’s like putting out 10 feature length films in a single television season….
ON THE COVER
The Big Picture: Dallas Audio Post Opens Dolby Stage
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Tom Kenny
Roy Machado has a good thing going in Dallas. He arrived from Atlanta back in the mid-1980s to study music at the world-renowned University of North Texas, and today he is the owner/president/creative director of the biggest, baddest post house in town, with all-new facilities, including the region’s first Dolby-approved dub stage, and work coming in from across the country….
FEATURES
The Flaming Lips: Found Sounds Become Musical Foundation for ‘The Terror’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
When The Flaming Lips need a little jolt, they simply turn things upside down, or inside out. It not always easy for an already out-there group to find somewhere to go, to keep the record-making process exciting for 30-plus years. But these guys keep raising the bar on radical reinvention, for listeners and for themselves. The latest stage in the band’s evolution is The Terror, an album of songs inspired by specific sounds….
John Roesch: Foley Artist Honored for a Lifetime of ‘Breaking the Rules’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Matt Hurwitz
A Foley artist on more than 400 motion pictures, Roesch recently received the MPSE’s Career Achievement Award at the 2013 Golden Reel Awards, the first Foley artist so honored. “I guess they felt I had the right stuff,” he says with his usual deadpan, from his home base in Bldg. 68 on the Warner Bros. lot….
The ‘Revolution’ Will Be Televised
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Matt Hurwitz
Life is full of noise, most of it produced by all things electric. But what does a world without electricity sound like? Fans of NBC’s Revolution hear it every week—though they have to use their electric televisions to find out….
MUSIC
Paramore Comes Back Rockin’ on New Album
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Blair Jackson
In the three-and-a-half years since Paramore’s Brand New Eyes was released and sold more than a million copies worldwide, the Tennessee-based alt-pop/rock band has survived a difficult change in personnel with the departure of founding members Josh and Zac Farro, and the three remaining core musicians—singer Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and bassist Jeremy Davis—have gone through some serious soul searching and musical exploration. …
Classic Track: Elvis Presley, ‘Burning Love’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
By the 1970s, the deal had been sealed on many aspects of Elvis Presley’s brilliant career. His formative Sun years were behind him, as were his days as a teen idol. Though he was still revered by legions of fans and fellow musicians, one had a sense that the King was considered past his prime. Case in point: NARAS presented him with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1971, when Presley was only 36 years old….
Benedictine Nuns Top the Charts: Recording ‘Advent at Ephesus’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Blair Jackson
One of the surprise hits of the last holiday season was a recording by a group of cloistered monastic nuns singing religious songs and Gregorian chants dating back to the Middle Ages, in Latin and English, a cappella, in the chapel of their priory in the hills of rural northwest Missouri. Advent at Ephesus, by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, topped Billboard’s Classical Music chart for a month, made it into the Top 10 of the Contemporary Christian and Gospel charts, and was a big seller for both Barnes & Noble and Amazon. “Rumor has it we actually outsold Taylor Swift during the Christmas season,” says Glenn Rosenstein, who produced the 16-song CD for the sacred music label De Montfort Music, distributed by Decca/Universal. With sales at over 100,000 in just a few months, it’s an impressive accomplishment. It was also quite a challenge to record….
Nick Drake Honored Live on ‘Way to Blue’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
“People have suggested I do a tribute album for years, but I didn’t want to do the usual kind of tribute, where all the tracks are recorded separately,” explains Joe Boyd, who produced two of the late singer/songwriter Nick Drake’s albums. …
Michael Gallant Trio, ‘Completely’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Matt Gallagher
For his debut album, pianist/keyboardist Michael Gallant (gallantmusic.com) collaborated with bassist Linda Oh and drummer Chris Infusino on 10 tracks (including nine original songs) that meld melodic, propulsive jazz piano-trio improvisation with a gritty, forceful rock ’n’ roll attitude….
Beth Hart’s ‘Bang Bang Boom Boom’
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
Kevin Shirley handpicked a band for roots singer/songwriter Beth Hart before tracking her new solo album Bang Bang Boom Boom in Revolver Recordings (Thousand Oaks, Calif., revolverrecordings.com). …
LIVE
SFJAZZ Center: A High-Tech Home for Jazz Music in San Francisco
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Matt Gallagher
Billed as a “sanctuary for jazz,” the SFJAZZ Center (sfjazz.org), located only blocks from San Francisco’s City Hall, received national press coverage and rave reviews when it opened on January 23, 2013, with a gala star-studded concert emceed by Bill Cosby. Purpose-built from the ground up for presenting jazz, SFJAZZ Center is the culmination of a vision developed by the SFJAZZ organization, which for 30 years presented the SFJAZZ Festival in rented venues. SFJAZZ founder Randall Kline says the new center is “the first freestanding building for jazz in the country.”…
Lindsey Stirling Live
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
Lindsey Stirling almost never stops moving. Uniquely combining her own virtuosa violin playing with live keys and drums, and prerecorded tracks, the America’s Got Talent finalist dances almost continuously as she plays….
The IridiumLive Label
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Matt Gallagher
The Iridium jazz club in Midtown Manhattan presented Les Paul every Monday night over the final 12 years of Paul’s life, among other artists. Following Paul’s passing in August 2009, the club continued honoring his legacy with Les Paul Mondays, featuring top guitarists performing with the in-house Les Paul Trio. …
All Access: Soundgarden
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Photos and Text By Steve Jennings
In the midst of their ongoing intimate-theater tour supporting their King Animal release, Soundgarden stopped by in early March for two sold-out nights at the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif. Full monitor and front-of-house control systems were provided by Rat Sound; local venues supplied the P.A. system….
Soundgarden 2013 Tour Gallery
Apr 3, 2013 1:54 PM
Mix magazine brings you exclusive photos from photographer Steve Jennings of Soundgarden’s appearance at the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif. in early March 2013….
MIX REGIONAL: SOUTHWEST U.S.
Shifting Sands at Stepbridge
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
A studio of choice for Oscar-winners and up-and-comers, Stepbridge (Santa Fe, N.M., stepbridge.com) has been providing music/audio services since 1989. In 2006, the studio Tim Stroh originally built from three adobe casitas was sold to musician/engineer Edgard Rivera, who has seen his business through some big moments, and big changes….
The Saltmine Studio Oasis
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Tom Kenny
About 30 seconds into a conversation with Don Salter it’s clear that this guy knows old-school—the vintage discrete 36-channel custom Neve with an additional 12-channel discrete Melbourne; the restored and revered SSL 6064 E/G+ from Ben Grosse’s The Mix Room; David Foster’s SSL 4056 G Plus….
MixTips: Luca Pretolesi
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix
Producers and artists working in electronic dance music must get a good laugh out of the fact that the United States just now seemed to “discover” the genre. Luca Pretolesi, who is credited with popularizing house music in Italy 20 years ago and producing pioneering work in EDM, is a true international producer/artist now making his home in Las Vegas, his space known as Studio DMI. Look for his work soon on the new Snoop Lion record, or take a listen to Steve Aoki, Tiesto, Bruno Mars, Major Lazer, Diplo, Cypress Hill and hundreds of others….
The Joint: Bringing Hard Rock to Residencies
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Lori Kennedy
Las Vegas is chock-full of music residencies. There’s been Celine Dion, Elton John, Boyz II Men, Rod Stewart, Garth Brooks and CeeLo Green, to name a few, as well as scores of DJs—including Kaskade, deadmau5, and the newly confirmed Tiësto—peppering the strip. (Word has it that Britney Spears is close to signing a deal to set up shop in Sin City, too.) But the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has carved out a place where you can rock ’n’ roll all night (and, well, party ev-er-y day, if you’re so inclined)….
Southwest U.S. News & Notes
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, By The Mix Editors
>Senegalese artists Daaja J Family, led by Faada Freddy and N Dongo D (pictured), were in Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Studio Y, working with up-and-coming in-house engineer Mark Gray on a new album project. …
TECH
New Products April 2013
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By The Mix Editors
Unlike conventional enhancers, the Noveltech Vocal Enhancer (plugin-alliance.com, $99.99) dynamically boosts the desired characteristics in audio recordings, rather than statically boosting set frequencies. The GUI offers two parameters for basic operation with an additional 2-band filter section for fine-tuning. The Noveltech Vocal Enhancer plug-in is available for a host of popular professional audio formats, including AU, AAX, RTAS, TDM, Venue, and VST….
Three Compliance Metering Plug-ins
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Brandon Hickey
Several years back, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), composed of engineers from around the globe, issued recommendation ITU-R BS.1770, which described a new style of loudness metering that would measure long-term average loudness in a clear, simple and easily repeatable way. The European Broadcasting Union used this metering method in the creation of its new broadcasting standard outlined in a document titled: R.128. On December 13, 2011, the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation (C.A.L.M.) Act was signed into law in the United States. This law mandated the FCC to recognize and enforce the ATSC’s interpretation of ITU-R BS.1770, which is a standard titled A/85….
Sound Devices 664 Field Mixer
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Brandon Hickey
Sound Devices creates portable recording products that are sturdy, rugged and loaded with connectors, switches and functions. With all features offered in a small, portable and lightweight frame, each of the company’s releases seems to instantly fill a role as a new standard in field recording. The new 664 production sound mixer combines features from two of their most popular products, the 552 production sound mixer and the 788T production recorder; it supports SD cards or CompactFlash drives….
Waves Non-Linear Summer
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Michael Cooper
Oh, how I love plug-ins these days. The latest crop of analog emulators impresses me more than ever. Waves ups the ante with Non-Linear Summer (NLS), a bundle that virtually Xeroxes the sounds of three classic consoles owned by studio luminaries: Mark “Spike” Stent’s SSL 4000G, Mike Hedges’ EMI TG12345 and a custom-made Neve 5116 in the clutches of Yoad Nevo. The bundle comprises two constituent plug-ins, NLS Channel and NLS Buss, which respectively model the three consoles’ input channels and master buses. Within each plug-in instance, you select which of the three consoles you wish to summon….
Mix Guides: Portable Recorders
TECH COLUMNS
Robair Report: Managing Risk
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Gino Robair
The old saw that “routine is the enemy of art” seems to be at odds with modern recording technology. Musicians work hard to find the right balance of predictability and surprise, yet the tools we use to capture inspiration require a high level of inflexibility. While those of us who work both sides of the studio glass try to balance the logical with the creative, it can be challenging to keep the tools from determining the finished product rather than the other way around….
TechTalk: AAA: Avid Apple Anticipation
Apr 1, 2013 9:00 AM, Mix, By Kevin Becka
If any of the numerous rumors I’ve heard are true, April should be the month when Apple releases its long-awaited MacPro tower upgrade and Avid launches Pro Tools 11. Both companies can rest assured that pro users will treat the releases as a barometer of just how tuned in they are to our needs and how the changes will affect our wallets. …
