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The Federal Audio Blog Facts, opinions and pro audio bullshit from Cris Stevens. This blog is to help share pro audio ideas and random stuff I find interesting. PLEASE NOTE: if you own the copyright for any of the content on here and are unhappy with...

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Nick DiDia: Return to LaCueva

Nick DiDia started working studios in Philadelphia in 1985, and went on to engineer or produce some of the most important albums of the late 20th century - from Pearl Jam to Rage Against the Machine & Stone Temple Pilots.

In 2001 he received his first Grammy Award as engineer on Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising, and went on to record several more albums with Springsteen (Devils and Dust/Magic/Working on a Dream).

In 2010 he relocated to Byron Bay Australia, where he continued to engineer albums for Springsteen (High Hopes) and Pearl Jam (Lightning Bolt) as well as produce albums for Kasey Chambers (Bittersweet) The Waif's (Beautiful You) and many others.

We first checked in with famed producer & mix engineer Nick DiDia back in 2016 when he took delivery of ADAM A7X monitors for his new studio facility ‘LaCueva’ (a joint venture with Australian rock artist Bernard Fanning just outside beautiful Byron Bay).

In the ensuing time Nick has bolstered his insanely prolific output with everything from Bernard Fanning’s ‘Civil Dusk’ & ‘Brutal Dawn’ records (both #2 on ARIA charts) to ‘Live’ a country bluegrass release by ARIA-nominated The Wilson Pickers.

Currently Nick is finishing mixes on the full-length record coming from rockers WAAX, hot on the heels of producing Australian legend Russell Morris’ latest album ‘Black and Blue Heart’.

ADAM A7Xs have figured prominently on all projects at LaCueva, a homely creative space set in the hills above the beach. Packed with a huge array of vintage and premium gear, Nick couldn’t be happier with the A7Xs, both in terms of sound & workflow.

“The Adams are sounding great - everyone comments on how they sound and I’ve occasionally been asked if there’s a sub playing along with them.”

“The quality of the recording is very important to me - although I try not to let that interfere with the artists performance - so it’s all about getting sounds quickly and without too much fuss. But if you’re using the right gear, in the right way, in the right room, it’s usually great. Unless you want it to sound Lo fi which happens every now and then.”

In terms of mixing the low end Nick believes its about getting the balance right.

“Often the best rock records have the best bass parts so you want to hear (and feel) the bass. Often it’s about clearing out the low end of other instruments to make room.

And now it’s even more important, with computer and iPhone speakers, to make sure you can hear the melodic content of the bass and low end.

I use the Adams and a pair of headphones and occasionally an old iMac to check mixes - and the car of course.”

Balancing the modern tech at LaCueva (SSL desk & Antelope digital clocking sit alongside the ADAM monitors) is an ever-growing collection of tone-drenching outboard gear & amps.

“I’ve got a 5e3 Tweed Deluxe coming from my good friend Rondo at the Tweed Speed Shop in Florida - incredible Tweed Deluxe replica that’ll be a great addition to my other vintage Tube amps.

“ …and a new “old” 2 inch MCI tape machine - mainly for tape transfers at this point but it will be incorporated into the main studio eventually.

Upcoming releases recorded at LACueva include LA band Dirty Honey & Byron locals PLTS

http://www.nickdidia.com/

http://www.lacuevarecording.com/

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Carl Cox & Christopher Coe: El Rancho Studios & Awesome Sound Wave

Primo DJ & EDM superstar Carl Cox has been busy since we last spoke in 2018. He’s finished construction of his studio, “El Rancho” and launched a new label venture “Awesome Sound Wave” with artist/producer Christopher Coe (of Digital Primate fame).

With a focus on Techno artists that perform live, Awesome Sound Wave finds its home in Carl’s ADAM-equipped studio in Melbourne, Australia.

El Rancho has soffit-mounted S3H for midfield monitoring, a natural progression for long-time S3X-H user Carl. With twelve months of studio refining & development under their belt, the production team couldn’t be happier.

“We are really happy with these, we flick between these and the (Main Monitor) Augspurgers and are getting great results. The Adams help us hear detail in the top end and to get a different perspective on the mix … they have some depth too that allows us to judge how we are doing with the bottom end. It is a nice combination!” says Christopher.

“Quality of sound is vital.. we purposefully designed and built the room first to be as  flat as possible in the low end but to retain some life in the upper mids and tops as we didn't want a deadened studio room, that just leads to problems in the end I believe.

“So, Justin Tressider, our acoustic designer designed a room that dealt with the low end really effectively and allowed for nice diffusion of tops without direct reflections and any weird phase issues.. it really is an amazing sounding room! So, in short, it is so important that we spent a lot of time, effort and money on making sure we could hear as true a sound as possible without it being boring!”

Christopher says low-end detail is crucial when mixing, and the S-Art tweeter in the S3H helps define the higher frequencies.

Carl & Christopher have recently added a set of ADAM T5V’s to the monitor line-up.

“We have just started using them as near fields… our room was set up for midfield monitoring but I felt it would be nice to get back into some near field mixing and hear how we go..

“I like them, they are fairly flat … I am enjoying hearing close up the mid range detail. I think now between the three systems we have a solid reference combination”

“Now we really know the room, it is great to have the monitoring options we have … the ADAMS allow us to hear so much detail.”

Christopher is looking forward to a busy year ahead for Awesome Sound Wave…

“Mat Playford's brilliant album Solar is coming up at the start of July followed by Saytek's album Improvisations in August, then we’ve got a brilliant live artist and producer Julien Chaptal releasing his album in October and another amazing album from Australian live artist David Haberfeld (AKA Honeysmack) ... and so much more in the works…"

Busy times ahead!

Pics: Sophie Howarth

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Woodstock Studios - Melbourne

Woodstock Studios, established in 1994, was originally conceived and constructed by Australian musical icon Joe Camilleri. Since then some of Australia's finest artists including Paul Kelly, The John Butler Trio, Augie March, The Black Sorrows, Kingswood, Julia Stone, Saskwatch, Husky and The Cat Empire have worked there.

In 2014 producer/engineer Richard Stolz acquired the business and began the lengthy process of refurbishing the design and layout. Part of this included installation of the studio's centrepiece, a fully restored Neve 8014 console fitted with 1066 modules.

Another phase was enhancing the acoustics and monitoring for which Stolz brought in legendary studio designer George Augspurger who added subtle touches throughout to tighten and improve on the existing acoustic design.

Augspurger, who is responsible for designing some of the world’s most celebrated recording facilities (most notably LA's Sunset Sound), was pleased to receive the original plans which enabled him to configure a specifically tailored ‘acoustic cloud design.' The series of hanging acoustic panels feature timber frames constructed of beautiful river red gum throughout the studio. Further treatments to the surrounding walls and additional bass trapping completed the upgrade.

Sonically, the changes add greater depth, clarity and detail - as well as a wider stereo image that in turn presents a faithful translation from ‘record and mix monitoring’ to real world listening environments.  

The Neve 8014 - favoured by producers that include Daniel Lanois and Vance Powell - was originally commissioned by Channel 9, Bendigo Street, Melbourne in 1970, for its then mono news room signal path requirements. In the mid-nineties a friend of Stolz's, Jamie Durrant, had been searching for decommissioned vintage classics when he was informed of the Neve in Channel 9's storage. After successfully acquiring the console it was then moved to Durrant's rural studio in North-East Victoria.

In 2013 Stolz purchased the console from Durrant and enlisted Rob Squire at Pro Harmonic for a complete ‘as-new’ restoration. Over a period of months Squire went about recapping the entire console and its two power supplies with original specification capacitors. The work included cleaning, testing and restoring every switch, fader, connector and circuit board within the console; as well as returning the Neve’s monitoring section to stereo, after its mono broadcast configuration.

“The work, detail and creativity Rob brought to the console was phenomenal,” says Stolz. “Just seeing the board in Rob’s workshop was one thing, it honestly looked new in comparison to how I remembered. But after being stepped through the restoration work he’d completed based on our discussions, and then of course hearing the results… well that made for one of those days you simply don't forget.”

The outboard and microphone collection at Woodstock comprises of both vintage and modern classics. Valve mics include an original Telefunken u48, Neumann u67, a pair of Neumann km56's, a pair of Sony c37a's, there a wide range of ribbon options including RCA, STC, Royer and Beyer.

In terms of outboard there's the AWA valve limiter, a pair of neve 2254 limiters, Altec 1576a, GML, SSL, Urei, Chandler, Mercury, Kush Audio and Quad 8.

There has been plenty of activity at Woodstock since its new makeover, both in recording and mixing. Recent projects include Caiti Baker, Paul Kelly, Dirt River Radio and Gretta Ziller. Upcoming projects include Skyscraper Stan and The Commission Flats; who are returning to embark on a new album. Julia Stone also returns for some mixing for an upcoming movie soundtrack.The latest addition is the UnFairchild from UTA. designed by producer Eric Valentine - an incredible recreation of the classic Fairchild 670.

For studio booking enquiries please email:

[email protected]

Ph: [phone]

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Airlock Studios

Interview with Ian Haug

Ian Haug is no stranger to studios. As a founding member of Australian band Powderfinger and now guitarist with iconic band The Church, Ian has spent a considerable amount of time in front of and behind the mixing board.

In 1998 Ian created Airlock Studios, a musician-focused recording studio in Brisbane.

Origins

What started as cassette dubbing quickly progressed to a Tascam 4-Track and evolved into a multi-room ADAT facility in a house in East Brisbane. The house was owned by Bruce Forbes of Brisbane 80s ska band Furious Turtles, and was situated only eleven blocks from the rehearsal space where “Vulture Street” would be written years later.

Cheap rent (it was the early nineties!) meant affordable studio time and the room became a hotbed of creativity in the Brisbane experimental underground music scene. Most of Powderfinger’s early b-sides were recorded there, as well as countless indie releases.

Ian relocated Airlock studios to its current location set in the natural surrounds of Camp Mountain on Brisbane’s North-Western fringe in 1998.

What was initially a shed became a tracking & control room then expanded to vocal booth and kitchen/bathroom facility. In 2012 Ian added a large live room to one side of the mix area and accommodation to create Airlock as it exists today.

Spaces

“We were lucky from the outset that the building had an uneven-shaped wall structure”, says Ian.

That paid dividends in the amount of sonic treatment needed in each recording space.

Both recording rooms are sparingly treated and retain a live dynamic character - the original room has a more ‘exciting’ character and the new room has a tighter, more focused sound (although the high ceiling allows room mic’ing to create a big live vibe).

“Moving a drum kit between the dead and live parts of the room gives us several sonic options.”

One of Ian’s goals for the new room was to have musicians be  able to play in a room together with amps tucked away and isolated in other rooms. This is part of Airlock’s focus on capturing musical performances.

“Sometimes people don’t seem to look at each other as much as they need to - it just depends on the personality of the band”

The room is long with a a drum ‘cavern’ at one end and a grand piano at the other - spacious enough to accomodate a large ensemble.

Natural light fills this and every other room at Airlock - a conscious decision from early in the planning stages.

“I’d spent a fair bit of time in studios - so I really wanted to be able to know what time of day it was. Going to into a dark studio for hour upon hour can be a trap and its not always a good thing” Ian says.

From the outset Airlock was designed with the musician in mind.  From the extensive vintage backline on hand to the natural surroundings, time at Airlock can be creative and focused without being clinical or character-less.

Airlock has always been a warm, inviting space highly conductive to creative work, and the renovations have accentuated that ambience rather than glossed over it.

“Even though its definitely not a corporate feel you feel like you could sit down on the couch without getting something stuck to your pants” Ian laughs.

“The most important thing is that if the band enjoys the process the chances of coming up with something that they're happy with are much more increased”

Chief engineer Yanto Browning agrees, “You want to make sure the bands are comfortable - that always helps with the vibe. So getting good headphone mixes, keeping sight lines open, having a studio with lots of toys to play with (amps, pedals, instruments, etc) is really important.”

A good day in the studio is “When you can get the sound that’s in someone’s head to come out of the speakers and really do justice to the song”.

Sounds

At the heart of Airlock’s recording process is their latest addition - an AMEK Media 51 desk, originally from Jumpstart Studios.

Yanto explains: “It’s got 44 channels of Rupert Neve designed preamps which makes it great front end for tracking. It has surround options, though in it’s current configuration it’s set up for inline tracking/monitoring and stereo mix down”.

Airlock has a range of external preamps (of which the Quad Eights are a favourite go-to option), but Ian agrees that a lot of the tracking is done through the AMEK’s pres.

“Half the people who track here mix here as well - we like to encourage people to spread their mix out across this board because it sounds so good - whether its just mixing out to stems across the board or open every channel”

Hybrid analog/digital mixing like this is part of the Airlock workflow says Yanto:

“Most of the automation and fiddly processing (de-essing, side-chaining and detailed EQ) will happen in the box and the desk will be used as a big summing mixer with broad brush EQ applied in the analogue domain. I use hardware inserts in Pro Tools when using analogue compression, so any Pro Tools automation doesn’t affect the level going into the compressor. This seems to be the easiest way to maximise the benefits of analogue summing, but still be able to do recalls”.

Monitoring at Airlock is handled by a set of Joe Malone mains and in the near field ADAM S2Xs alongside the ubiquitous Yamaha NS10s.

“The S2Xs aren’t fatiguing over long days and they translate really well. They just make me confident that if what’s coming off the desk sounds good, it will sound good on other systems”. says Yanto.

Ian runs the S2X EQ flat and agrees they present detail without being fatiguing over long sessions. Mixes are checked on the NS10s and the main JLM monitors are kicked in for vibe or control room tracking, something which Ian favours for overdubbing.

Among the many artist who have tracked and/or mixed at Airlock are Jungle Giants, Art of Sleeping, Pete Murray, Karl S. Williams, The Medics, and Delta Goodrem. Ian is currently recording guitar overdubs at Airlock for a new release from The Church later this year.

Ian has assembled an array of great vintage amps and pedals over the years, including a Supro Spectator, some nice silver face Fenders, a rare Gretsch combo, various Marshalls & Oranges and a reissued Vase Tonesetter. A Wurlitzer 200 sits alongside a Hammond Organ and upright piano in the main tracking room.

Also at hand is an amazing Rogers drum kit in blue oyster from the sixties (legend has it that it was used by the Beach Boys on an Australian tour).

Federal Audio will be previewing ADAM Audio’s new ’S’ Series studio monitor range at Airlock Studios on June 14th. Come along and listen to some great speakers and check out one of Brisbane’s most loved music facilities!

[federalaudio-blog]

A Sharp Studios, Sydney

Featured Story on A Sharp, Sydney.

A Sharp Recording Studios has been called the oldest independent recording studio in Sydney, with music first being recorded in the early 1970's. It's been the home to many recordings over the years, and has remained an active studio since it was first opened over 40 years ago.

In late 2014 the studio was sold, totally gutted and refurbished, which involved a complete acoustic analysis, electrical re-installation and total equipment upgrade. It was a massive undertaking with the rebuild alone taking 4 months to complete with a full team working nearly 7 days a week.

For the A Sharp team, the design specification was simple; to build a ‘working living space’ with acoustics and great monitoring that Producers and Engineers could immediately trust, all within an environment that was conducive to working and recording for long periods. Artists and Producers often spend long hours in a studio, so the ‘space’ needed to be well thought out and comfortable.

Owner Richard Lake says “In the initial stages, we designed the control room acoustics for the Adam Audio S3x-H’s and our SSL AWS 948. Acoustician David Spargo, of Praxis Acoustics and lecturer at Sydney University, did a marvellous job and there’s not a Producer or Engineer that doesn’t come to A Sharp today and comment on how incredible the stereo image is. It’s also apparent very quickly that the Adam S3X-Hs are gentler on the ears, with ear fatigue being considerably less compared to other monitors when mixing for extensive periods”.

As well as the 24 channels of SSL Mic Pre's, A Sharp is constantly expanding it's equipment specifications - recently adding external mic preamps with currently 16 channels of Neve, Chandler and API to choose from.  

“We find that many freelance Producer Engineers are constantly trying new combinations during tracking, being surprised at the microphone collection and amount of outboard A Sharp has” says Richard.

An array of Dynamics and EQ processors suit a variety of recording or mixing requirements. Choice units from Shadow Hills (Mastering Comp), Empirical Labs (Distressor, EL-Q), Manley (VoxBox, Massive Passive & Vari-Mu), Chandler (TG-1 Comp), Bricasti reverbs and lots of Neve make up just a slice of A Sharp’s full-to-bursting outboard racks. Get the full rundown here.

The studio boasts a 50m² live area and 2 adjoining Isolation booths - a combined  70m² being large enough to allow for an eclectic selection of work from bands, small ensembles to small choirs. The studio also has an Alex Steinbach Grand Piano (176cm).

“We regularly have it maintained and serviced - its a beautiful mellow sounding piano thats been featured on many recordings over the years. Its probably one in a hundred” says Richard.

“A favourite close mic technique for the piano at A Sharp is to use a stereo pair of matched Telefunken ELA M 260’s on ORTF high above the dampers. From there we’ll typically go into a pair of classic AMS Neve 1073’s or API 512V’s with a touch of compression from a 33609JD Neve Stereo at 1.5:1. That has proven very successful”.

Richard says A Sharp’s current studio work is 50/50 tracking and mixing.

“Many Producer/Engineers prefer to mixing here due to accurate monitoring from the Adam S3X-H’s in conjunction with an ergonomic control room workflow”.

“Being able to use both outboard hardware and extensive plugins on their projects is also a benefit. Being a freelancers’ studio, we’ve purchased extensive collections of plug-ins to cover the needs of everyone - even though we have the hardware in the racks!”.

“Even on the most restrictive of client budgets, Producer Engineers will try to book as much studio time as they are able to mix or at least checking mixes at A Sharp post tracking. All agree that having the budget to complete the mixing at A Sharp provides great results, which is echoed by those better-known National artists who insist upon it!”

A Sharp’s focus on providing a highly-resourced producer’s environment hasn’t detracted from their end-user satisfaction - artists who have recorded and/or mixed here include Ayla, Birds Of Tokyo, The Rumjacks, Dune Rats, Rose Tattoo, Screaming Jets, Toe To Toe, Mental As Anything and many more.

Federal Audio will be previewing ADAM Audio’s new ’S’ Series studio monitor range at A Sharp Studios on June 28th. Come along and listen to some great speakers and check out one of Sydney’s  most sophisticated music facilities!

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Federal Audio Visits: Free Energy Devices

Federal Audio Visits: Free Energy Devices

Recently Federal Audio had the pleasure to visit Richard Belkner's Sydney recording studio Free Energy Device.

He’d taken delivery of a Zahl AM1 desk from Germany and we wanted to see (and hear) it in action.

Entering Free Energy Devices is like walking into an Aladdin’s cave - packed with the right mix of vintage and cutting edge boutique studio gear, nestled in behind Newtown’s bustling King Street.

A long hallway takes us past both tracking rooms to the control room.

A floor-to-ceiling glass panel in the ‘live’ room and a large window behind the desk enable a clear view all the way through the studio from the mixing position - nice.

The first room has rotating wooden panels that allow adjustments to the reflective audio character of the space. Coupled with salvaged railway sleepers, trimmed log walls and 160-year-old wooden floorboards, this gives the room a deep warmth and is home to most of the drum tracking, horns and some strings.

The second room has a similar size but a more controlled sound. There’s a grand piano in one corner and a 1950’s Hammond B3 another. Check out The Morrison’s latest release for how this room sounds - the 7-piece bluegrass arrangements recorded live in the room sound pristine!

The Desk

The AM1 was a special order 7-month build and replaces Richard’s old Neve 8068 desk. As a previous user of Zahl’s 500 series EQ, Richard was keen to get that signature sound and transparency across all his channels. Coupled with the AM1’s insane routing, mid-side options & filters, the desk is a mixing tour-de-force - a full clean and spacious sound, helped no doubt by the monitor selection …The console allows Richard to hear even more of the luscious vintage vibe and tones of his outboard collection.

Hearing is believing …

The Monitor setup comprises a pair of Amphion One18s in the near field, a big pair of classic Duntechs for the main speakers and Grover Notting CR-1’s as mini’s.

In conjunction with the control room’s great acoustics (by Michael Fronzek) the Amphions deliver a punchy, crystal clear image from all angles. Hearing the reverb decays from Free Energy’s Bricasti and Plate reverbs is just magic. The bottom end is astounding from such a small speaker, and a testament to the Finnish company’s design genius.

Aladdin’s Cave Outboard

Richard has accumulated a swathe of great outboard in the ten years he’s been running Free Energy Devices. A vintage Roland Space Echo sits alongside a Fulltone Tube Tape echo, an ancient Pye valve preamp/comp and rows of Ureis are racked next to a Chandler Zena and Buzzaudio SOC. Maag EQs make an appearance, as does a nice line of API preamps.

You can get the full rundown of the studio’s equipment here.

But that desk ….

All this outboard fits seamlessly with the Zahl’s superior routing matrix and their zero-click switching. The AM1 lends itself readily to musical manipulation with its send and return matrixes.

“You can’t make it click” Richard says of the routing - dubbing out drum, horn and vocal tracks with Free Energy’s three tape echoes.

Other notable features include the two band parametric EQs on the master return channels which is useful when you want to manipulate the returned reverb, for example. Zahl’s EQ is amazing too - as anyone who has used their 500 series will vouch for. More than just adjusting levels it's like another instrument.

The afore-mentioned Zero-Cross Switching (which minimises clicks), Insert ratio (which enables you to do parallel manipulation on every track) and mid-side processing make AM1 console playable like a musical instrument.

And because its not always about the gear ….

Richie B(elkner) has been operating Free Energy Device for ten years after training under the legendary Billy Field at Paradise Studios.

His clients include Sarah Blasko, Ian Moss, PVT, Jack Colewell, Sophie Lowe, Venus II, Heartpeople, Sally Seltmann, Thirsty Merc, Marcia Hines, Jack Ladder, Bertie Blackman, Flowertruck, Neil Finn and the ACO, Mike Nock, Julien Wilson and Eugene Ball to name a few.

The latest release from FED & Richard is Sarah Belkner’s album “But You Are, But It Has’. Check out the latest clip here.

http://www.zaehl-eq1.com/#

http://www.freeenergydevicestudios.com/

http://www.sarahbelkner.com/

http://www.themorrisonsband.com/

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Diigin’

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https://federalaudio.com.au/pages/win-a-t-shirt

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Nick DiDia

Interview & Story

Bernard Fanning’s third solo album “Civil Dusk” is due out on Friday August 5th, and producer Nick DiDia was once again at the controls recording and mixing. Nick DiDia produced Bernard’s stunningly successful debut record “Tea & Sympathy” and 2013’s “Departures” - both albums reaching number one on the charts. Of course you’ve already heard Nick’s work before on Powderfinger’s latter-era work and milestone records from Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Bruce Springsteen to name a few, but more on that later.

Federal Audio caught up with Nick at his new Byron Bay recording facility La Cueva (lah-quaver) to deliver some ADAM A7X monitors and talk about the new project and some of the studio techniques involved in its conception and delivery.

We kicked off the discussion with a question about NIck’s favourite three plug-ins for recording and mixing, and things got interesting from there.

“I think they’re all reverbs actually - the EMT250 and the spring BX20 (both from UAD). We had a real BX20 (pictured far left, below in original AKG catalog) at 301 in Byron Bay in the ceiling and I tried to buy from them when they closed but they weren’t selling it - its still somewhere in storage. But the next day it was released on the UAD. Its close enough”.

“I don’t use plugins probably nearly as much as most people do - just cos I have access to the real stuff”. Basically Nick commits sounds ‘to tape’.

“…and with the SSL any kind of EQing, filtering you have to do on the back end I just do on the boards”.

“I actually do like the (AMPEX ATR-102) tape machine plugin - Ive just been throwing that on mixes (over the main bus) but just on playback - for a long time now I basically do my mix and then do a gained-up faux-mastering mix just so when people listen so they don’t go “ahh its not loud enough!”. I’ve been liking that a lot. There’s one song where I tweaked a preset called “High Input One Inch” which made it the track super-FM-radio-exciting but kind of wrong at the same time (laughs) - Leon (Zervos - mastering engineer at 301) came back to me saying ‘there’s some kind of 14k thing thats…just …I had to get rid of some of it’. He might have to but some of that back in - its just not quite as exciting without it. We had one (a real AMPEX ATR-102) at 301 and we’d always use it for mixing or for ‘slap’ especially. Typically that would be the ‘slap’ machine, and then we’d mix to either a half-inch Studer or a one-inch modified 102. Tape machines are still great, its the tape thats not so great. I think its gotten better but unfortunately we went though a period of time where the new tapes were wildly inconsistent. The guys at Blackbird in Nashville did some crazy shootout that involved tape machines and Pro Tools and different converters and the result was that if you record to tape, overdubbed on tape and mixed from tape it was definitely different - you could hear the difference. If at any time you went to pro tools - you basically lost whatever you would have gained. In the old days we would track to tape put it in pro tools then print stuff back to tape - at this point the benefit is almost nil. Everyone confuses tape with being some sort of perfect medium - it never was, but everyone liked the way it sounded. The greatest thing about tape is the workflow - but you can still do that with pro tools. If you’re a producer you can do that - when you meet with the band you say ‘this is how we’re going to make the record’ and usually most people are into it. At the same time you do have the flexibility”.

When it comes to vocal chains, Nick says on this record they were more experimental.

“Typically its either the best, most expensive Mic you’ve got, or its the SM7. Bernie has a Groove Tube mic and I have a Sound Deluxe U95. I was working on a project record and they sent a prototype (U95) to try out and we ended up using it on the record (Pearl Jam’s No Code) - if you look in the insert you can see a picture of it. They wanted to send me a brand new one but said ‘no thanks’ (laughs) - I knew that one sounded really good! Then I’ll typically use a Pultec and LA2A if available or the (Tube Tech) CL1B. Brendan O’Brien’s* theory is that you never use the same thing in as you do on the way out - so we would typically use the Tube Tech stuff recording and the LA2A & Pultec coming out. At the  end of the day by the time the vocal hits the record it s been through 16 transformers!” In here (La Cueva) I use the summit  MPC100A preamp - I didn't really use the SSL preamp much and we had the neves on the piano. I have a UA 610 too.

If you’ve got a great vocalist they can sing into anything and its gonna be ok”.

What about Guitar cabs?

“Traditionally on guitar cabs its been a SM57 on one speaker and Neumann KM86 (figure 8) on another. I blend it with the 57 to make a mono track. There’s a story that Motown during the 70s replaced all their old tube mic and replaced them with those Mics (KM86). That Stevie Wonder stuff during the 70s was all that mic - drums, vocals, everything. And Ive used it on everything - Sounds great on acoustic guitars, sounds great on electrics - depending on how loud it is - it takes a lot - sounds great on drum overheads, on vocals”.

And how did Nick like the ADAM A7X monitors?

“They’re great. we checked three sets of speakers and they were the fourth and those were the first ones where Bernie and I were like “Oh thats how its supposed to sound like” and so far everything I’ve taken out of here sounds really good”.

Nick also used the Antelope Audio Pure2 as the main clock and the A/D converter from the master bus on the SSL AWS900 and for monitoring. In terms of hearing the main outs “It made a huge difference”.

“I don’t think you’d notice it if you were mixing in-the-box but if you’re mixing analog out-of-the-box … you can hear whats coming out of the board - what playback is. We used to always check it with tapes and it was usually a little better - it smoothed it out in a good way. But I found that anything (digital) I’d used up to this point you switch between the console and tape and the image folds in - and that (Pure2) was the first thing I’ve heard where it doesn't do it.

“I actually listened to other mixes I had done of the same stuff and I had the same experience where the old mix was here (centered) and the new mix just went (makes wide stereo hands). I tried the Burl and the Prism and a bunch of different stuff - but if you have to switch between them twice to hear the difference, then the difference is negligible. But this (Pure2) was so much of a difference for me”.

Bernard Fanning’s Civil Dusk is out August 5.

*- in 1990 Nick began work as Brendan O’Brien's engineer, and together they worked for nearly 20 years on a multitude of seminal rock and roll albums by the era's most influential bands including Pearl Jam (Vs/Vitology/No Code/Yield/Backspacer) Rage Against The Machine (Evil Empire/Battle of Los Angeles) and Stone Temple Pilots (Core/Purple/Tiny Music/No 4 and ShangriLaDeDa). Check out the links below.

Pre-order Bernard Fanning’s ‘Civil Dusk’ here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/civil-dusk/id1125024470?ls=1&app=itunes

http://www.nickdidia.com/ http://www.bernardfanning.com/ https://www.discogs.com/artist/252438-Nick-Didia https://federalaudio.com.au/collections/adam-audio-pro/products/adam-audio-a7x

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Records We Love

“Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires”

Surely in the running for the prize for the longest album title of all time, “Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires” is a landmark dub classic and a high-water mark for the genre. Its probably the best of all Scientists’ themed records, and a great place to start investigating his back catalog.

The mood is dark and heavy, it plays just like a classic horror movie - the atmosphere is tense and the pacing relentless (at a short and sharp 37:37 minutes, no less). Which doesn’t mean you can’t get down to these riddims - they’re a driving force!

Recorded in 1981 at Channel One Studios in Jamaica by Scientist backed by the Roots Radics band, its ten tracks make for one heavy listening session. Famously it was featured on Grand Theft Auto 3 as the music of a fictitious Reggae radio station, but Scientist was never paid for the use.

Sonically its a tour-de-force of the organic dub stylings, pre- the advent of the heavier electronic dancehall influences on later 80s dub. Scientist mixed the record at King Tubby’s studio and features vocals from Wayne Jarrett, Michael Prophe & Johnny Osbourne.

The drum tracks are monster - the sounds are crackling and dry until the huge spring reverbs kick in. The Toms sound as dead as the horror-show characters on the cover (not in a bad way, either). Heads up for the diggers out there - this album has samples. From the blood-curdling horror vocals to the occasional drum hit one-shot, have your MPC at the ready (*-Federal Audio in no way condones or seeks to encourage copyright violations. Samples are for personal use only, any unauthorised distribution for sale or otherwise is strictly prohibited, etc).

Dubs abound and there’s heavy use of the mixing board - EQ filtering, drop-out mutes and huge throws to spring reverbs (working overtime on just about everything across the mix as you’d expect). Stand-out tracks include ‘Ghost of Frankenstein’ (all smooth lovers vocals courtesy of Michael Prophet from ‘Sweet Loving’ and driving shanks accented by phased-out wobble) and ‘The Voodoo Curse’ (scary bong-burble intro giving way to Flabba Holt’s filtered bass - this track is a lesson in minimalist dub riddem reworking).

Of special note is the sleeve artwork. Created by London-based Greensleeves record label designer Tony McDermott, it is one of a long line of Scientist’s themed records. Organic and handmade, it shares a rough & ready outlook with the music. Tony McDermott’s work is playful and cartoon-like with detail packed into every corner.

Read an interview with Tony here. Check out this great read on Jamaican Dub sleeve art.

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A little ‘behind the scenes’ action from a Carl Cox video we’re currently working on

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A very dazed and confused (well, jet lagged) me with the ever cool, Anssi from Amphion Loudspeakers. Frankfurt #Musikmesse2015

Of course, Amphion is available in Australia and New Zealand through (you guessed it) Federal Audio

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Tobias Lindell, the man behind Lindell Audio, at Frankfurt #Musikmesse2015

Lindell Audio is available in Australia the Federal Audio

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Marek, the man from Bettermaker, at Frankfurt #Musikmesse2015

Bettermaker is available in Australia through Federal Audio

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Federal Audio is very pleased to announce that we are now representing Amphion here in Australia. Amphion design and manufactures loudspeakers in Finland, which are characterized by highly resolved and natural reproduction. Precise driver integration ensures world class imaging and phase coherance. Controlled dispersion helps achieving more stable results in variety of room acoustics. Amphion are currently available direct from Federal Audio and will be available through a specialised dealer network that will be announced shortly. In the meantime if you wish to demo Amphion, please contact Federal Audio here: http://federalaudio.com.au/pages/contact-us