ISSUE #20
SUP
TIVE CO
PORT
THE CR
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MAGAZINE
UNI T Y
HARLOTS Grime in Georgian London
GILES MARTIN Remixing Sgt. Pepper 50 years on
ISSUE 20 | RRP $6.95 USA/$7.95 CANADA
BRUNO MARS 24K Magic World Tour
STEVE AOKI
T H E
D R O P
Z O N E
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#20 From the Editor
“The underlying foundation of music is that it does evolve, and it does transform...” Steve Aoki
Wise words (above) from our Issue 20 cover star, Steve Aoki. What he also tells us is that to stay relative, you have to follow your passion and your gut - not musical trends. And he should know. Although a household name in the world of electronic music production and performance, Aoki is much, much more than that. His story is an inspiring one; at 19, a passion for collecting vinyl and writing fanzines led to him starting up his own label which, 20 years later, has grown into quite the empire, and has been responsible for launching the careers of dozens of well known artists from all kinds of genres. He’s also just about to drop a new record, Kolony, a unique, hip hop fuelled project which sees him ditch the Aoki DNA in favour of across the board collaboration, where every track counts. We also sit down with Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios to talk Sgt. Pepper - he was recently given the daunting task of remixing the seminal Beatles record, 50 years after its release, from the original masters. It’s the first time these tapes have been accessed since, and wow, what a job he’s done with them. Epic. Also inside, we head to Paris to go behind the scenes with Bruno Mars’ incredibly hard-working touring team. Never before have we witnessed such a meticulous, rehearsed show, with seriously well-oiled production chops to boot. And what about Doc Brown’s first rap record in 10 years, Stemma? It’s a thumping return for the Hackney-born artist, and it’s been put together superbly by producer and Headliner pal, Alex ‘Cores’ Hayes. While Adam Protz headed to London for the mesmerising Hans Zimmer show at Wembley Arena (what a production that was, too), I was in North London with Holli Dempsey talking about her latest project, Harlots - a whore’s eye view of Georgian London, no less..! We also spoke to Rael Jones, the man responsible for Harlots’ challenging, yet quite superb music score. All this and much more inside - we hope you enjoy the issue. Paul Watson Editor
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HEADLINER | ISSUE #20
CONTACT Paul Watson paul@headlinerhub.com +44(0)7952-839296
Graham Kirk graham@gkirkmedia. com +44(0)7872-461938
Artwork Eimear O’Connor Jolien Hordijk
Contributors Adam Protz, Rhona Lavis, Henry Sarmiento, Jon Tessier, Jade Perry, Robert the Roadie
Contents #20 Cover Story
P28 / Steve Aoki 06
THE LEGION OF SONGWRITERS
Adam Protz reflects on the art of songwriting: how many people does it really take to write a hit?
08
SONIC VISTA INSIGHTS
Dutch songstress, Lizzie V, talks new music, pro-audio, and the power of singing in the shower.
10
POCKET-SIZED RECORDING
We go lawnmower searching with a Lectrosonics PDR recorder and DPA 4061 mic.
12
GILES MARTIN
Sgt. Pepper is 50, and this gent invited us to Abbey Road to hear the remixed masterpiece.
16
HOLLI DEMPSEY
It’s all about Harlots: the edgy new TV series about Georgian London’s working girls.
18
RAEL JONES
This talented composer reveals why grime and electronica were key elements in scoring Harlots.
20
DOC BROWN
We review Stemma, the first album from this smart London-born rapper in 10 years.
22
MIKE STEVENS
When he’s not touring with mega-bands, this fella is making hit records in his garden.
26
INTRODUCING LOLA
JH Audio founder, Jerry Harvey, has designed what he thinks may be the best IEM on the market.
28
COVER STORY: STEVE AOKI
He started a label at 19 out of his apartment, which is now a force to be reckoned with; and his production and DJ skills have taken him to the top of his game both on the road and in the studio. We chat about Aoki’s new record, Kolony, which is a stripped back, yet epic sounding hip hop collaboration.
HEADLINER | ISSUE #20
32
BRUNO MARS
It’s off to Paris to see arguably the most impressive touring production of 2017 so far.
36
ROLL OUT THE BARREL
An acoustic guitar made out of bog oak and whiskey barrels? Meet the ‘Lowden x Bushmills’.
38
AMERICA’S CUP
We go backstage as the most prestigious event on the sporting calendar descends on Bermuda.
40
HANS ZIMMER
The composer extraordinaire delivers a mind-blowing live set at London’s Wembley Arena.
42
PUZZLE MAKER STUDIOS
Jade Perry heads to Bath to meet two audio enthusiasts who have built a studio from scratch.
46
DIDI TALKS AUDIO-TECHNICA
Artist and producer, Lauren Deakin Davies (aka DIDI), tests out some cool headphones.
48
PENGUIN CAFE
Their music is smart, folky, contemporary, classical, and with a penguin-like twist.
50
SAM FELDT
This Dutch DJ is climbing the ladder quickly, and building himself a global reputation.
52
INSIDE WINDMILL LANE STUDIOS
We descend on Dublin, and discover that music education is just as important as rock & roll.
56
LABEL ON A MISSION
Brendon Heinst explains why recording in high resolution is the only way forward.
58
RADIOHEAD IN DUBLIN
In the week leading up to Glasto, we descend on Ireland’s capital for a show to remember.
SPITFIRE AUDIO
Comment Adam Protz
The Legion of Songwriters Words Adam Protz Everyone and their dog knows that behind 99% of pop songs is a team of writers. That goes for whether the artist is writing the song (with assistance, obviously), or whether they’re the mouthpiece of the song. Musicians performing songs written by behind-the-scenes staff is nothing new, but with The Chainsmokers having up to eight names listed on a track, and even bands like Linkin Park getting hired help, are things beginning to get out of hand? A stereotype of older generations is their complaint that modern musicians never write their own songs anymore; and while younger people often scoff at this, it is a little understandable when considering these are the people who got to live in a time of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. And for bands like The Beatles in the ‘60s - aside from super-producer, Sir George Martin, making creative suggestions on instrumentation the notion of having an outsider come in to write the songs was unthinkable. Of course, in the ‘50s, everyone was performing covers of songs by the likes of Gershwin. But it was a different phenomenon — singers were picking and choosing songs that were already known and popular. There wasn’t some secretive group writing these hits. This, however, became a fixture in the ‘70s, with a genre known as motown. From the outset of the Motown label, the songwriting trio, Holland-Dozier-Holland, were responsible for a huge number of the genre’s best known hits, including Baby Love and Stop! In The Name Of Love. It was the beginnings of the conveyor belt sensation in which new acts kept appearing to perform these songs being constantly written. Of course, nothing like it is now since The X Factor hit our screens, but it was the start. Early Madonna albums, right at the beginning of the 1980s,were co-written, but the clear difference being that albums such as Like A Virgin had a maximum of two people writing the song. And Madonna was usually one of them. This sensibly carried on for most of the ‘90s, until we entered a new era of pop stars and celebrity. Songs like (You Drive Me) Crazy by Britney Spears
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had a four-strong team behind them. It was at this time that a curious phenomenon of several of the chart’s biggest hits originating in Sweden began. No-one is quite sure why it happened in this particular country, but songwriters like Max Martin stumbled upon a formula, with which they found enormous success, finding the magic that fuelled the success of Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears. And it’s still working for him now — he co-wrote I Kissed a Girl with Katy Perry, and Blank Space with Taylor Swift. Max Martin now holds the third greatest number one singles record behind, guess who, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. So if it’s being going on all this time, why is it an issue? Simply because one could argue it’s becoming a parody of itself. Take Ed Sheeran, as an example. He’s always been billed as a singer-songwriter, the ‘one man and his guitar’ charm. And yet, his recent ultra-hit, Shape Of You, required six people to make it happen. I struggle to imagine how six people in a room can result in a great song — I’m reminded of the saying, ‘too many cooks spoil the broth.’ But friends who’ve sat in on these sessions have told me you would often hear things like, ‘what rhymes with this?’ It can only be slightly formulaic. Yet more controversial was the recent news that Linkin Park, a band who used to blend heavy guitars, screaming, and rapping, did a massive about-face, and hired Justin Bieber’s writing team to assist them in writing a pop record. The results are… not the best, shall we say. I’m not for a second saying that every pop singer should be exclusively writing their own stuff. Many great pop artists’ offering to the world is their vocal prowess, dancing, charisma, and of course, let’s not forget their looks (arguably the prerequisite). But let’s have some common sense come back, surely? Seven people writing a song, in my opinion, is ludicrous - and here’s hoping it doesn’t last. But for the time being, that Lennon-McCartney partnership is seeming a more distant memory than ever.
“Seven people writing a song, in my opinion, is ludicrous - and let’s hope it doesn’t last. But for the time being, that LennonMcCartney partnership is seeming a more distant memory than ever.”
Sonic Vista Insights Lizzy V
LIZZY V: SINGING IN THE SHOWER Our friends at Sonic Vista Studios in Ibiza caught up with Lizzy V, a very cool 20 year old singer-songwriter from Holland with a passion for audio, and an attitude as refreshing as her sound.
You performed out in LA recently... Yeah I played at the Winter NAMM show it’s a place with an awesome vibe. I met a lot of awesome people that really made my heart smile. I performed at the Taylor booth and the Koch booth, and I met with Dan Page from DiGiGrid - those guys have some really great audio interfaces. I also went to Steven Slate - his products are the future, in my opinion; and it was also at NAMM that I got some Jerry Harvey in-ear monitors, which has opened up a complete new world to me, and helps me to perform better. What’s your full live setup, then? I’m pretty basic all round, to be honest! When I write music, I usually come up with a melody in the shower - and I always record my shower sessions! I then take my guitar and search for the chords that will go with the melody. So on stage, I use my Sennheiser e835 handheld mic, and my Taylor guitar; and then the audio is sent to my trusted [ JH Audio] Angies. They’re fantastic. How do you define a good song? A good song makes me want to sing along with it instantly. I really love happy music, too; a song that can make me move, but also bring a smile
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from ear to ear is definitely the one! Tell us about your two singles... Faces and Out of Time (both mixed by Henry at Sonic Vista) are songs from my heart. We recorded them with my band in a studio in Holland. Faces is a happy and catchy song - most people will see it as a love song - but to me, it’s definitely not a love song! It’s a song about the world that’s changing in a way that saying hi to each other on the street was something that was completely normal years ago, and is now becoming a very unusual thing. Out of Time is about getting older in life. People always tend to say that getting older isn’t fun, but I think it’s really not that bad at all [smiles]. How has your music evolved? Well, I started out at just 10 years old, and I began to write songs in my native language. They were very calm, and played with a piano instead of guitar, which I use prominently now. They were songs about unanswered love. That was the basic theme. Right now, I love to write up-tempo songs about all kind of things except love. Of course, when you listen to them, you might hear some sort of love story, but it’s about the deeper layer.
Music is about creating happiness. Nobody in this world can live without it. It takes away people’s pain, and I think that is beautiful. Do you have a big team behind you? I do, and I think that’s extremely important in the music industry today. As well as the guys at Sonic Vista, of course, I have some amazing people on my team with pure hearts and souls. My manager, Roberto Boer, is a great guy, and he really looks after me. I could not wish for a better person. Also, we have a PR and video team, plus my all important vocal coaches: Dave Stroud, Robin van Beek, and Lana Wolf. They’re vital to me! So what happens next for Lizzy V? I think now that my songs and performances have found an international audience, I will be travelling and visiting several continents. How great is that?! Also, a continuous release of new music singles with videos for my fans worldwide is where I want to be at - plus, there is some really exciting news to come, so watch this space..! @sonicvista www.sonicvistastudios.com www.lizzyv.com
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Pocket-Sized Recording PDR & 4061
Micro-sized recording kit is becoming more and more popular, be it for specific location recording or just top-quality audio capture in general. With both these factors in mind, I get hold of the extremely miniature PDR HD recorder from Lectrosonics, and DPA’s tiny 4061 omni microphone, and set about putting them to the test. To monitor the results, I’m using my trusted set of custom JH Audio Layla IEMs.
It’s a very sunny day in St. Albans,
POCKET-SIZED RECORDING: LECTROSONICS PDR & DPA 4061 PUT TO THE TEST Review by Paul Watson
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some 20 miles north of London. Why mention this? Well, when the sun shines at all in the UK, we tend to get over excited; as temperatures rise to the blistering mid-60s, we search for sunscreen, shorts, and t-shirts – and if it’s a weekend, we tend to do a spot of gardening, too, just because we can. Today is a Saturday – I’ve found a garden, a gardener, and an interviewee, a lawnmower, a strimmer, and even a leaf blower. Perfect. So, the idea is, before I get to recording any instruments, I’ll do some general audio capture tests. Reporters that don’t have photographic memories, or the ability to deliver quick and flawless shorthand, mainly use dictaphones to get their interviews nailed – and if you’re out on location (at a festival, in a field, for example), there’s really only so much a windshield on a little mic stuck into your Olympus device will do, especially in tricky, raucous conditions. It’s gusty today, too, which helps; and I’m very interested to see how good this audio kit is at delivering in difficult environments. So, Laylas firmly in the ears, PDR and dB meter in hand, and 4061 attached to my forehead (no, you’re not getting a selfie), I make my way into the expansive garden to start testing. The PDR is very simple to use – and although there are several recording options laid out in easy to navigate menus, today, I’ve decided to record in HD mono mode to keep everything simple. So, I press record, and am immediately amazed how good the signal is in my ears – a perfect, clean, and right in your face vocal reproduction. I begin chatting to my interviewee at about four feet, and I am equally impressed at how his voice feels just as close, despite the mic being on my head, not his. Safe to say, the capture is excellent, but I’m sheltered from the wind, and the only
Pocket-Sized Recording PDR & 4061
“I try a couple of go-to EQs, but frankly, it sounds much better straight from the source.”
other noise is that provided by mother nature herself. So I step into a more open space. At this point, with quite a breeze in the air, my gardener friend joins us, sporting a Flymo Revolution 2500 strimmer in hand, and turns it on. My dB meter is showing a 90-91dB reading at six feet (it was 70dB a minute ago), and it’s still picking both of our voices up really clearly. I take
earpieces in, but the test is the audio capture, which I decide to head indoors to scrutinise. I have to say, the results are staggering. I expect a difference from my normal recordings, of course, with this quite extravagant setup, but it’s the way the mic is concentrated on our voices over the din in the background that is really taking me aback. This is all being recorded on micro SD card, by
“When I mic up the acoustic guitar, I realise how superb the preamp is in the PDR...” the mic off my forehead and position it between us – OK, a little less volume, as one would expect, but actually, it’s still very easy to hear our conversation, and the quality is bang on. With mic back on head, we try the gardener’s Bosch leaf blower. This is reading at 97.2dB, and I can literally feel the force of the thing as we talk, to give you an idea how close I’m standing to it – but still, there are zero issues with audio capture. That’s pretty remarkable, isn’t it? I try moving the mic to my chest – like you’d wear a lapel – and I’m still getting pretty much the same vocal clarity and separation - ultimately, it’s capturing our voices. Bearing in mind spoken word is supposedly 72-73dB, and a trade show floor is [allegedly] 83-84dB, these results are really encouraging. I take the mic off once more, and again, I hold it between me and my interviewee – we’re about six feet apart, and the gardener is 10 feet to our left, with his lawnmower on. The dB reading is hovering between 86dB and 88dB, and I’m still comfortable carrying out my interview. Part of this, of course, is having amazing referencing
the way – in broadcast Wave format, and a single AA battery gives you six hours of life. I can vouch for that latter bit, too, as I estimate the total use by the end of this experiment was around three hours, and it had plenty of juice left in it.
Get The Guitar
Now let’s try the mic with an acoustic guitar – outside. It’s here where I realise how superb the preamp is in this PDR. I tape the little 4061 to a mic stand, first over the sound hole, then on the 12th fret, a couple of feet back – and the results are quite beautiful (even when we turn the lawnmower back on!) Both recordings are warm and rich sounding through my Laylas, and as I move inside and listen back properly, I realise what an amazing mic this really is, and what a great little box the PDR is turning out to be. Getting the audio back into your DAW is also very simple: simply take out the micro SD card from the PDR, pop it into a USB card reader, and drag and drop from your Mac or PC. I do this straight into Reaper, and when I listen back
through headphones, monitors, even the computer speakers, I am astounded. The voice recordings are all crisp, and fabulous quality, and the guitar recordings are sublime. I try my go-to EQ on the guitars, but frankly, it sounds much better straight from the source. What a capsule this 4061 is. This makes me want to try more acoustic guitar recording with PDR in a more regular space, so I pull up a project in Reaper, put a little headphone mix together so I am getting click and track from the DAW, and simultaneously record direct into the PDR with the 4061. I record two acoustic guitar tracks to fill out the chorus of the song, then dump them into Reaper – and the results are fantastic. No EQ needed, no reverb needed, a real tickle of compression via the Waves SSL Channel, and that is it. I have to say this is a better sound than I get using my standard large diaphragm condenser mic into my audio interface. I know I will continue to dump audio into the DAW via the PDR over and over again, as it really does sound that good. The PDR has a fantastic 20Hz to 20kHz range, and its build quality is superb. It’s literally a pocket rocket. If you need time code sync, too – like so many will on professional location recordings – that’s no issue, there is a port for that; but for what I’ve just done, with my Laylas connected to its 3.5mm jack, it’s been an absolute breeze to use. Of course, this doesn’t come cheap – but if you want to capture genuine broadcast quality audio to sync with a homemade movie, or to make your YouTube educational videos, or just to have the most outrageous dictaphone on the planet like me, you could do a lot worse than fork out on this mind-blowing kit.
www.lectrosonics.com www.dpamicrophones.com
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Giles Martin
Remixing Sgt. Pepper
GILES MARTIN:
REMIXING SGT. PEPPER
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is without question one of the finest and most important records ever made. This year, the seminal work turned 50, and what better way to celebrate that than to dig into the archives and make it even better? I can see some of you raising an eyebrow or two, but after spending an afternoon with Giles Martin, the gent tasked with the job of bringing Pepper to life again, I’m confident that even the die-hard Beatles fans will think this was well worth doing.
“It is kind of mind-blowing to hear it like this, as it was meant to be heard...”
Words Paul Watson As Giles Martin offers me a seat in his studio, I almost immediately fall from it: “You have to lock it in here, I think,” Giles smiles, trying to demonstrate how to stabilise the chair in layman’s terms, from the identical one he is sitting on. Eventually, I am upright. What an entrance. Giles’ room boasts an Avid console, a cracking looking transparent record deck, and of course, his advanced monitoring setup. As
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I explain to him that I’ve been listening to Pepper on the way down, Giles decides the best thing for us to do is just take a listen to the new version. Exactly what I’d hoped! “The thing is,” Giles says, “when you’re given the task of remixing Sgt. Pepper, you kind of think, ‘oh shit’, because it’s not as though it’s a bad sounding record is it? But my dad and The Beatles made the album for mono; they bounced the [four-track] tapes
down so it was a mono, and spent a long time mixing the mono, but the stereo - which is what everyone hears - was all done very quickly. So what we were able to do was sync the four-tracks together. “Lovely Rita, for example - that’s bounced as three four-tracks; and on the stereo version you’ve just been listening to on your way here, everything is on the left hand side. But because we can go back to the original four-
Giles Martin
tracks, I thought if we could somehow ‘mono’ all the stereos, and bring the vocals into the middle, we could create more space, and a clearer picture of the record.” With that, Giles pulls up Pro Tools and begins playing his new mix of Lovely Rita – everything he says suddenly makes sense: it’s expansive, it’s richer, it’s wider... It’s quite breathtaking, in fact. “Another good example is Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, so let’s have a listen to that,” Giles continues. Oh, if we must! He first plays me the original stereo. “So organ, voice, and bass is what we hear – then there’s the mono [switches to the mono version in his Pro Tools session]. John never liked the sound of his own voice, so he stuck ADT (Artificial Double Tracking) on it, so as you can hear, the voice pops right up in a kind of cool way, so we thought we would do that, too. “But to avoid having bass on the right, keys on the right, and voice in the middle on a stereo, we thought if we just shot the keyboard so the hand of Paul is going across the speaker spectrum, put it on a better plate reverb, and then do ADT on the voice. I would go and make the tea while Sam [Okell, Giles’ mixing partner] would be doing this [mimics turning the Varispeed knob back and forth] to recreate the ADT - and we ended up with this [plays me the new mix] – so it’s really quite different...” Indeed it is. The piano at the beginning fills the room, and having John’s voice bang in the
middle of such a fantastic stereo image makes The Beatles come to life in a way no-one’s ever experienced. He follows this up with She’s Leaving Home – again, Giles switches between the mono, stereo, and the new mix, the latter of which is up a semi-tone from the original. “Paul wanted it Varisped, you see,” he explains, continuing to demonstrate the differences between the three mixes. “So it is kind of mind-blowing hearing it like this, as it was meant to be heard.” I concur – and some. It’s all so incredibly open and clear sounding, and the stereo imagery is just insane.
Inside The Mixes
As Giles pulls up Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!, perhaps the most epic sounding track of the lot, we start talking about the way The Beatles recorded Pepper, and how he and Sam Okell created their final mixes. “We don’t have any rules, that’s the thing,” Giles explains. “Whatever we think is right, we do, and that’s what The Beatles did. So we’d do the ADT, but at the same time, we’d look at adding a much more centralised EQ to get Ringo’s kick drum a bit better, and that would perhaps have to be a modern bit of equipment. In fact, bizarrely, it’s been a case of removing technology from the process than adding technology, because what you are hearing is generations of the tape recordings that they didn’t mix off – it’s not
Remixing Sgt. Pepper
been a bounce to bounce or a degradation of loss - and that always bothered my dad: they would always have to add more top to each generation, whereas we were going from the source material that they were recording on, so we were mixing with the tapes they were happy with the sound they recorded on, if that makes sense? “The point is, if you have a song, you should already know how it needs to sound from the beginning, and you should then be able to commit to that sound. The Beatles’ recordings sounded great because it was The Beatles, not because of the kit they had here. It was about committing to the performance. We still have that same kit here, of course, but there hasn’t been another Sgt. Pepper in the last 50 years, has there? [smiles]” The initial mix process only took two weeks, but a further six weeks were spent remixing those mixes. When Giles remixed The Beatles Number Ones album in a similar fashion, he admits he played it safe, but with Pepper, there were no boundaries, and more risks taken: “It was always about asking ourselves, ‘would The Beatles be happy with this?’,” Giles says. “We really tried to approach this with the band in mind: trying to imagine what they would have done if they were to remix it, and what bits they would have changed or enhanced. For example, in the mono version, the animals at the start of Good Morning Good Morning were much louder than in the stereo mix - our thinking was, ‘OK, John would have
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Giles Martin
Remixing Sgt. Pepper
been there, he obviously wanted them louder, so let’s make them louder’. And at the same time, we were thinking, ‘OK, we can now put the saxes in stereo and make the drums bigger, so it’s more aggressive than before - and John would have liked that’. So it could get complicated, but we just tried to do it justice, and make everything more audible in general.
Next Generation Pepper
And when you feast your ears on this, I’m sure you’ll hear for yourselves all the incredible dynamics and instrumentation which has been hidden away in the mixes for years until now, coming right to the forefront, as I have. It’s Pepper for the next generation. “Pepper as it’s never been heard before, yes, and how it deserves to be heard,” Giles says, adding that he has played it to several musical friends who are die-hard Beatles fans, and they have all approved. “I played it to Paul [McCartney], too, and he loved it; you kind of have to pin him down so he doesn’t move forward [laughs], but because I’m not re-envisaging Pepper with Sam, it’s basically just the record; it’s one of those albums where you get benefit from digging deeper, and you mentioned the stereo width – you’re right, you can bloody hear everything..!” As we listen to a few more tracks, I realise
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that just having The Beatles’ voices in the centre of the mix takes this album onto a whole other level, let alone the incredible array of ‘new’ sounds that have been brought to the heart of the tracks. Giles concurs, adding that this is really The Beatles being more direct, what they were all about. One track – for me, the ultimate Pepper track – that did get Giles thinking was A Day In The Life: “I did tinker with the idea of leaving John’s voice panned to the right, because that song is really all about his haunting vocal, but I didn’t in the end. It’s much more dynamic sounding, and you feel you are in the room with John; the key thing is John’s voice, and now it comes out of the Sgt. Pepper Reprise - you now want it to sound big, as that sounds rocking and raucous now. It’s so different, that reprise... It’s now a little angry fucker, whereas A Day In The Life is an expansive, haunting thing.” Giles is relieved The Beatles finished the song on that huge piano chord, though – as it nearly didn’t happen that way... “[smiles] I found the piano session from A Day In The Life, so when it was recorded, they recorded the orchestral crescendo, and there was no end chord,” Giles reveals. “They tried to record a hum to finish the record, and that’s interesting to listen to because it’s crap! Then I found the session of Mal [Evans, The Beatles
road manager], Paul, and John recording the pianos and doing all nine takes until the final chord. It was played on three pianos, and then the final four-track has a kind of distorted whirly in the bottom end as well.” You can enjoy this and many other never before heard extras on the new box set, including an excerpt of Paul and George talking about Penny Lane while recording. It’s all great stuff, and no-frills Beatles. “For some people, that bit doesn’t compute; they get overblown by technology and development, but the heartening or completely disheartening fact is that most of the sounds on records are the sounds of the people making them, not the sound of my dad or [The Beatles’ engineer] Geoff Emerick.” As Giles prepares to play me A Day In The Life, his Pro Tools decides to crash, and moments later, there’s a knock on the door, and it’s time to go. Dammit. I bid him farewell; what a gent he is, and what a job he’s done on the new Pepper. I beg every Headliner reader – Beatles fan or not – put your phone on silent, and listen to this record start to finish. As the sleeve notes will tell you, a splendid time is guaranteed for all. @mashupmartin www.abbeyroad.com
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Holli Dempsey
Harlots
WHORE BLIMEY..! You may know Holli Dempsey best for her portrayal of Vicky in Ricky Gervais’ heartwarming series, Derek – or perhaps as Vera in the 2016 Dad’s Army movie remake featuring Bill Nighy - but her latest role as Emily Lacey in TV period series Harlots has really tested her skills in front of the camera, as well as her modesty... Offering ‘a whore’s eye view’ on Georgian London, Harlots is bold, brash, and highly addictive. We sit down in a North London boozer to find out more. After spending half an hour with Holli, you feel like you’ve known her for years. That might sound cliché, but it’s actually true. What also becomes very obvious is, you need to have your wits about you: she is humble, charming, and very funny. “I remember going in for my Derek audition; that was an event,” Holli laughs, sipping on a cold Peroni. It’s two for one at Wetherspoons today – and every day, in fact. “The part of Vicky called for ‘a 19 year old chav’, and although I don’t particularly like
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that word, I knew I could probably pull it off! I decided to do the audition in character - and when Ricky [Gervais] clocked that, he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said, ‘a Kardashian’ – and that was when I first heard his screaming laugh! He said, ‘ok, ok, I’ve seen enough’, so I thought either I’d landed the job, or he would just steal the line and hire someone else! And that was it, really.” When Holli was working on Derek, she was also shooting the Dad’s Army movie, which meant lots of train journeys up and down
“It’s about time we told these fascinating, gory, brave stories...” the country. But I suppose life could have been worse... “[laughs] Yeah, definitely! It was a great experience – knackering, but great – and I learned so much from both roles,” Holli recalls. “Derek was a hilarious experience, as you can imagine; and with Dad’s Army, being part of a film with such an all-star cast was a real privilege.” Holli’s road into TV and film hasn’t been typical, which in my opinion, makes her who she is today. She doesn’t come from money,
Holli Dempsey
therefore didn’t graduate from a fancy college or university – ultimately, her education is from the university of life. And high five to that. “I never, ever had a plan B,” Holli says, with a shrug of the shoulders. “Failure was not an option, and I would encourage anyone trying to get into this business to think the same way. We’re not rich, I just got amazing support from my family; and it’s thanks to them and their support that I am where I am.”
Lady of the Night
Conversation turns to Holli’s most recent role as Emily Lacey in Harlots – a part she plays quite brilliantly. Though, as the name suggests, it’s not for the faint hearted..! Holli was in the opening scene of the now critically acclaimed series, working her magic on a lucky punter. “That was actually a body double, if I’m honest,” she says, laughing. “But yes, it’s raunchy, dirty... [pauses] but actually, the storylines are fantastic! And it’s been a real pleasure working with the whole team. I’m immensely proud of it because of the stories being told; set in Georgian London, it follows the trials, tribulations, laughter, and deceit of the girls who work London’s streets and brothels. “I actually can’t believe this show hasn’t been made before now. In most TV shows,
whores are underwritten, murdered early on, or just there to aid the male lead; in Harlots, the stories are told ‘from the whore’s eye view’, which is refreshingly original, and not without shock and hilarity. “My character, Emily Lacey, is also known as the ‘Duchess of Quim’! [laughs] In her young life, she would have been through more than we can even imagine, and this has toughened her. She believes early on that she is ‘too good’ for Mrs Wells’ place, so goes to find out if the grass is greener at Lydia Quigley’s house. “With Samantha Morton and Leslie Manville as our warring bawds, there isn’t time to be bored, as you’re whisked through London’s streets and brothels. There really is something for everyone!”
Storytelling
Harlots has also received rave reviews on both sides of the pond, being aired on ITV Encore in the UK and Hulu in the States. The last episode ends on a knife-edge, so surely we’re going to get a second series, Holli? “I bloody hope so! I think it really deserves one – there is so much still to say and to tell, and so many ways the characters can develop and evolve,” she says, clearly passionate about the project. “For a very long time, gangsters in films have been somewhat glorified and
Harlots
glamourised, despite murdering en masse and having years of blood on their hands; by this rule, I believe it’s about time we told these fascinating, gory, brave stories. “These women made and moved money around London, and helped build it into what it is today, but that isn’t widely known. The series takes inspiration from Harris’s List, a book written in the Georgian era cataloguing all the whores of London and rating their attributes.” Harlots also has a fantastic modern edge to it, which may sound strange considering it’s set in the 1700s – but there was a level of creative license to play with. “You’d never have had all those bright pinks and reds back in those days, but it really works, and adds to the feel of the production,” says Holli. “And the musical score is also fantastic; it shows how a very modern soundtrack can work with a period piece, and that takes talent.” As Holli’s mum appears, I ask her to join us – we sink a few Guinness together and put the world to rights before I leave this affable East End pair, at least three hours late for my next meeting. Thanks, ladies, it was a pleasure. @HolliDee
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Rael Jones
Scoring Harlots
RAEL JONES: SCORING HARLOTS
Rael Jones is no stranger to making music for TV and film; his long list of high-end credits include the hit TV series, Sherlock, the hit movie, Les Miserables, and most recently the Hollywood drama, My Cousin Rachel. Period TV drama, Harlots, however, brought new challenges, which meant many decisions had to be made on the fly. “It got to a point where I was basically doing an episode [of Harlots] per week, and that’s writing, recording, and mixing, so it was quite a lot of pressure,” opens Rael, adding that he tracked everything to picture. What’s great about Rael’s Harlots score is its ultra-modern feel, especially considering it’s a period series set in Georgian London. This is something he decided on from the get go. “The minute I saw it, and got a feel for it, I knew it had to go that way; and actually, as the series progressed, it got a lot darker, so the music had to head in that same direction,” he explains. “I could never have got away with some of the brighter tracks in the first three episodes by the time we got to episodes five and six. The show took a number of really
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dark turns, and I had to take the music there with it. It was a lot of fun to do, and it also meant I had to make very quick decisions, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But there was no room for error - if I didn’t finish each episode in time, it would have put the whole series out of kilter!” No pressure, then..! Thankfully, Rael did meet all his deadlines, and delivered what is an eclectic, energetic score with many dynamics: from the title music (which has just the right amount of mischief to get the viewer intrigued), to the authentic sounding harpsichords, and the low-end keyboard growls that hit the pit of your stomach. “You realise quickly that the first version is probably going to be ‘the one’ the whole
time,” Rael laughs. “The soundtrack needed to be in keeping with the rebelliousness of the women - and they’re empowered people, so we couldn’t just have piano and strings, or quartet and harpsichord, to be accurate to the period – it just wouldn’t have given us the punch we needed. Also, with the part breaks, the tenterhooks had to be reflected by the music also; it was interesting how each episode evolved, and the language changed throughout, too. “Some of the earlier bold grime and rock would never have fit by episodes four and five; it all got so serious and dark, and the frivolousness didn’t work with that – it was more about synths and ambience than a big bold colour at that stage.”
Rael Jones
Rael works in the box using one Pro Tools and one Logic rig; the core of his studio setup is two RME Firefaces: a 400 on Pro Tools and a Fireface UCX on Logic, both of which he absolutely swears by. “I’ve often got two inputs on the UCX, and I’ll go optically into the 400, so I can send 5.1 or stereo into the Pro Tools computer, and it all works seamlessly,” Rael reveals. “What’s great about RME is you always know they’ll deliver; the preamps are very clean, and extremely quiet... But I admit I do have some pretty noisy analogue front-end going on, so they aren’t entirely silent! I have two Heritage Audio units to add some light and shade they give me that ruder, noisier harmonic distortion, so everything goes into Logic quite colourful and warmed up. It’s a nice chain.”
Sampling The Merchandise
Rael loves to sample sounds. One bizarre example was his decision to throw a couple of AKG C414s in his washing machine to create percussive noises. He’s never wanted to create a sample library, however - he leaves that to the guys at Spitfire Audio, another of his go-to audio brands. “I used the Spitfire Audio Percussion library throughout Harlots,” Rael says. “And I have never needed to touch any other timpani or marimba library anywhere else; the Spitfire Audio stuff is fantastic sounding orchestral percussion, perfect and really controllable.
“And on Harlots, the vast majority of sounds in that are really weird and bespoke, and made by me! There are also sounds that people might think are synth, or sound other worldly, but that is probably just the Spitfire [Audio] Celeste, but using close mics only, and sent through a comedy amount of plugins! [laughs] And that makes for a very interesting sound. “I’ll take that Celeste sound, do something to it, and it’s got extra harmonics and a bit of noise and character to it, you know? It’s more that it sounds like the closest thing to playing that instrument in a room you don’t want to record in... If that makes sense?! [smiles] “So we all do various types of sampling, but yes, Spitfire Audio do it very, very professionally! And you can’t really talk to somebody in music that doesn’t use some Spitfire Audio kit now, and that’s in quite a short space of time, really – the company is a massive deal now.” Other Spitfire Audio sounds prevalent on Harlots are the Spitfire Labs Soft Piano and, of course, the Spitfire Audio Harpsichord. “That Soft Piano is pretty simple, but it’s got such character in it,” Rael says. “And as for the harpsichord, it just sounds like the real thing, so that was a no-brainer. Ultimately, the amount of scope you have to work with within each individual instrument sample – that ability to manipulate sounds within sounds to make everything bespoke - is absolutely brilliant. It’s next level stuff.”
Scoring Harlots
Mixing It Up
For Harlots, Rael worked with his trusted Genelec 8040 monitors; in fact, he uses them on every single project he undertakes. “I’ve actually only ever had one pair of monitors in my life, which may sound odd, but if they work so well, why change them? And that’s my pair of [Genelec] 8040s,” he says. “The thing about Genelec is they only make great speakers; they sound fantastic, and they’re incredibly accurate. Also, they are entirely transparent, and you feel little to no fatigue even after using them for hours on end. It’s crucial that you can trust your monitors, and feel at ease around them. “It’s also multi-factoral for me: it’s both that you can really hear everything going on - all the detail, and clinical sounds - but there is also a ubiquitous reason; on [the movie] My Cousin Rachel, for example, if I was doing a demo with orchestral programming and mixing with dialogue, the guys in the cutting room would be listening to that on the exact same speakers, because everybody uses Genelecs in the cutting rooms – so it’s a really good reason to use them just translation wise; it’s about familiarity, and reliability, and they’ve never ever let me down.” We highly recommend you take a listen to the Harlots score - it’s an absolute belter. www.genelec.com www.spitfireaudio.com www.rme-audio.com
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Genres Neo-Classical
DOC BROWN: STEMMA
Doc Brown may be known best as a standup comedian, but it seems the time for joking around is over as he releases Stemma, his first album in 10 years. Perhaps recognised most from Live at the Apollo and the like, comedy was, in fact, something of a happy accident for this gentleman, for whom music was always his first love. Words Adam Protz Photograph Nicholas Sayers
Doc Brown (real name Ben Bailey Smith), had decided, upon leaving school, that he wished to be a professional rapper. He became prominent in the London battle rap scene, clashing with figures such as Sway and Lowkey. He even became musically involved with bigwig producer, Mark Ronson, and toured with him around 2007. He was also a member of the highly promising hip-hop outfit, Poisonous Poets. However, Brown never fully broke through as a rapper — no-one can blame him for his switch to comedy when the opportunity came knocking. So to say he has a musical point to prove would be an understatement. With that in mind, Homeward is a fittingly defiantsounding opener: a film score-esque opening sets the stage for an enormous beat, as Brown announces his arrival with lines like, “I had to speak because I wanted you to ride with me / I started thinking if I didn’t it would die with me”. Second number, Empires, opens with a spoken word tirade against our talent show culture, and later, a particularly savage bar: “funny how now I write jokes for a living / when the biggest clowns are straight-faced and bar-spitting.”
Lead single, Corruptible, is a real statement of intent — deep piano octaves, a synth line, and guitar create a vibe right before the drums lend an enormity of Queen proportions. In other words, it’s a very good beat, as Brown lets loose with multis and a sung chorus. Elsewhere, there are notable cameos from Mikill Pane, Matt Wills, and Example, and it’s a record where this level of variety somehow all fits together with ease. Ducking Out adds trap, Forever is straight up indierock, and Lights Out is as close as Stemma gets to grime, with a brilliantly catchy beat. On the whole, this is a UK rap album, and a very good one at that. As Stemma winds down, so does the music. Odd One Out harks back to UK garage, and So Surface provides a nice bluesy vibe. All in all, this is an album that proves Doc Brown’s point — he has plenty more to offer than just being a funny man.
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MIKE STEVENS: MELODY MAKER Whether he’s touring the globe as ELO’s guitarist or Take That’s Musical Director, or producing mega-artists such as Annie Lennox and Marc Almond, Mike Stevens is one serious sound man. A musician first, producer second (though listen to his studio work and you’d never know it), he is right at the top of his game. We made the journey from his West London kitchen to the bottom of his garden to find out more...
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W
HEN WE GET TO THE BOTTOM OF MIKE’S garden, I realise this ‘shed’ is no ordinary space: it’s a bespoke built, fully kitted out audio hub, full of guitars, keyboards, a great vocal booth, and plenty of high-end audio equipment. I take a seat on the sofa and ask him to tell me all about it. “I think it’s really all about being able to do things in smaller spaces,” opens Mike, giving me a quick tour of the studio. “Rather than getting 40 musicians in a room, it’s now much more piecing things together and having more control over the final sound; and that’s what both Annie [Lennox] and Marc [Almond] wanted the process to be. Neither of them wanted the big band and orchestra, it was more about thinking it all out – and that’s the way I do stuff, so it fitted perfectly.” Mike only met Marc Almond last year, but he had done a couple of albums for Annie Lennox, the last one being Nostalgia, her throwback album, which saw her record
some of her favourite songs of all time. “It was an album of cover versions that she loved, basically; that was all done here,” Mike continues. “Annie played most of the keys, too. She came in, recorded it, and then we built the tracks up – which is pretty much what we’ve done with Marc’s new album, too. Annie’s was very laid back, but Mark’s is in your face – a very ‘60s sounding record – so there was an association there. And they’re both covers albums.” The new Almond record is set to drop in September, and it’s a collection of what you might call alternative ‘60s covers: there’s a bit of Billy Fury, Scott Walker, Julie Driscoll – and as Mike plays me a snippet of a couple of tracks, it sounds really fantastic. “These new Macs with USB 3.1 – they’re the latest thing,” Mike tangents, leading me over to his new machine. “It’s literally a case of plugging the USB into this off the shelf monitor that had USB 3, and that’s it. It doesn’t need mains power, and the back of the monitor also has USB connectors,
Mike Stevens Melody Maker
“my prism sound orpheus always stays in the rack because it sounds so fantastic.” so, again, I can plug in here to the monitor hard drives, the mouse, anything; it’s like a one stop shop – bang, and off you go. It’s a more powerful system than my [Pro Tools] HD system – and it’s full of lovely Waves Audio kit!” Mike reveals that he has used his Pro Tools HD system for years, though he is considering mixing the Almond record on the new system. “I have also used Waves for years,” he says. “I have the full complement of Waves stuff here; in terms of go-tos, it’s always the H-Delay, the Kramer PIE, and I love to use the CLA-2A – and the whole CLA set, actually; there are some good drum and bass sets, which is good. I also have a few more gems: I use the Sound Imager, the PuigChild – oh, and I use RBass too; it adds a bit of bottom end to anything, watch...” Mike pulls up another of the Almond tracks with a ‘60s sounding bass guitar on it, dials in the RBass, and adds it to the instrument; he finds his frequency, and there’s your low end. “If you need a little low end, that’s what it does, quickly; it’s very simple, but actually it does it really well. I also love the Slate stuff, and, of course, the UAD stuff, but Waves do seem to have some very smart things going on.”
Sound Choices
In terms of outboard, Mike uses an Avalon and Focusrite unit – and that’s really about it. I spy a Mackie controller, which Mike tells me he uses ‘just for fader movement’ - so if he wants to record his automations on a lead vocal, he’ll use that, for example: “I used summing stuff before, but really there’s no reason for me to use that kit any more as there is so much stuff out there on offer; in
my opinion, you don’t need hardware analogue. So the Mackie is just to give me realtime interaction – to be a little old school!” In terms of audio interfaces, one unit which Mike will never get rid of is his trusted Prism Sound Orpheus: “Jody at Prism Sound actually worked for me in the early days, back in the early ‘90s; I used to live in Newport Pagnell, he was a young kid, and wanted to get into stuff, so worked for me, learned the ropes, and got hooked on it,” Mike recalls, with a smile. “And I have done stuff with Prism Sound over the years, particularly brain storming about bits of gear. It still really is the top stuff, to be honest with you – I am also intrigued to see what they’re doing now. “Other companies have started to eat into that [audio interface] market, but Prism Sound have stayed at the high-end, they didn’t delve into the murky end; they’ve kept themselves right up there, which I understand, and it’s a safe bet – you don’t want to bring out a cheap unit really when you’re right at the top, do you? “I’ve experimented with various audio interfaces, and I have the new [Universal Audio] Apollo unit, but Orpheus always stays in the rack because it sounds so fantastic, it really is as simple as that. I will still use this over the Apollo for a number of things, and it’s better sounding in terms of sonic quality than the Apollo – and when you consider how long the unit’s been around, it kind of says it all, doesn’t it? “And again, you can’t beat the [Prism Sound] EQ units, they sound fantastic; I will never not have that with me. It’s dialled in most of the time. I like to swap in and out [of interfaces],
but I think I’m going to rig the Orpheus up with my new Mac USB 3.1 setup – I think that will be a fantastic combination. Yes, various good bits of kit will always come and go, but the Prism Sound kit will never go.”
Mike The Musician
There is a serious collection of guitars in this room: I spy a Gibson SJ200 acoustic, for one. “Oh, most of my guitars are on the road or in lock up,” Mike laughs. What..? “The Martin Dreadnought is great for recording, also that’s a great little Taylor there [picks said guitar up] the best thing is, it’s signed to me by Paul McCartney! Also there are a nice couple of Gibson 175s in there, but the [Gibson] 330 I play with ELO stays on the road with them all the time. Oh, and that [1978] Telecaster is a great guitar, as is that ‘66 Strat, which I don’t tend to use on the road. The Levinsons acoustic handmade guitars are great, too.” I decide not to mention any of my guitars for fear of being laughed out of this place! So as talk has turned a little to live music, I decide to ask Mike what he considers his main role is in this business – it seems he wears a number of hats. “That’s a difficult one,” he says, leaning back in his chair, as I wonder if he would really miss one of those Gibsons, should it randomly go missing after I’ve left. “I started as a sax and clarinet player, and a bit of flute, too, but I guess really I call myself a Musical Director (MD). Within that, I play lots of keys and guitars, and I am confident on both those instruments, so I can play most things. Most of the bands I play in, I always bring a better keys and guitar player in, which means I can think about what I am
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“i honestly do not know how people sit in a studio for nine months a year..!”
doing - looking after the show, I like to have the overview – so I generally fill the middle slot. I also played with 10CC for 10 or so years, too; I was the main keyboard player with those guys, and I did vocals and a bit of guitar, whereas in Take That, I am 50-50 guitars and keys, and a bit of sax.” So multi-tasking doesn’t nearly cover it! Mike also has a long association with Gary Barlow, so does all his live solo projects with him: “If you’re working with someone like that in the band, you’ve got a point of call; communications are great, and it’s worked that way with Take That and his thing all along. With ELO, I just play guitar.” And let’s not forget Mike’s also grown into a really great producer; I ask him if it helps having such a musicality about him when it comes to cutting records and working with artists in the studio? In a word, yes. “Nowadays, even more so, absolutely; the days of loads of people are gone; it’s now more of a kind of cottage industry, and to be good at it,you have to be a musician,” he explains. “I have gone through phases – the live thing has taken over, as live became so popular, but I have always mixed it with producing over the last 20-30 years; if I did just one or the other it would be too boring – I don’t know how people sit in a studio 24-7 for nine months a year! “Natural light is also key, and I can walk around the park if I need to. Also, my room is a good size, and big studios can be daunting. Take Annie [Lennox], for example – she didn’t like the big studio atmosphere at all; the minute she went in, she felt intimidated and under pressure. So she loved the feel of the place here; sometimes we’d have a coffee and chat, and if we didn’t do anything, it didn’t matter – she didn’t feel pressured.”
Keeping It Simple
We chat a little about the early days of Mike’s recording career, which brings a smile to his face; one of his best setups, he says, was an E16, an XR300 [sync box] and an Atari 1080: “The Atari would handle all the MIDI, and you’d have an S3000 Akai sampler; and that was it – the vocals you’d build up on your 16-track, 24 Headliner
sample them, and then trigger them from the MIDI. It really was solid as a rock and worked perfectly,” Mike reflects. “After that, early days of computers were a nightmare, a very dark period there! Nobody could do anything! The amount of computers I got rid of, and studio disasters – ‘oh my god, it’s not there!’ – try telling an artist that! Not good, believe me!” Today, Mike’s workflow is centred around his two go-to mics: an AKG C414 and a Neumann TLM103: “They’re the big ones for me for pretty much everything; and from there, I go into my Avalon or Focusrite. I don’t EQ through it, but I add a little gentle compression on either or both, so I print with that before I go into my [Prism Sound] Orpheus or [UA] Apollo.” “I use a one mic combination these days, not two. Trevor Horn used to mono everything to give it its own space, and you get a much better mix as a result, as everything sits better. So I went back to the AKG C414 into the Focusrite, probably a bit more compression on the guitar than I would a vocal, and the standard 12th fret position, a couple of feet away from the guitar. For this [Marc Almond] album, because it’s so ‘60s, I simplified my mic choice. Everything was done using those two microphones.” The only thing Mike outsources is drums, and that’s just down to space: “Pretty much every drummer I know now has their own drum room! My brother did all the drums in Northampton for this record, then pinged them down to me, and I did all the strings here. I record three to four players at a time, and build up sections like that. It’s a great way to work.” It’s been a real treat speaking to Mike. He remains as humble as he is talented, be it out on the road or in his fantastic studio. And make sure you keep an eye out for the new Marc Almond album – from what I heard today, it’s going to be killer. www.prismsound.com www.waves.com
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With its tiny size and feather weight, the Lectrosonics SSM bodypack transmitter gives you the freedom of placement on your talent. Wig? Ankle? No problem. And the SSM never heats up, so it can even go against the skin. The patented, compandor-free Digital Hybrid Wireless® transmission gives you the freedom to choose your favorite lav or headset mic without concern for coloration. And Lectrosonics has always been famous for freedom from RF problems, with the SSM being no exception. Then there’s the ability to use a smartphone app for changing settings, the wide 75 Mhz (3-block) tuning bandwidth, and the choice of 25 or 50 mW RF power, right in the menu. Of course, you have the freedom to spend quite a bit more than the SSM on other minature bodypack transmitters, but why would you? Demo the Lectrosonics SSM and prepare to be amazed.
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Jerry Harvey
Introducing Lola
LOLA: THE ULTIMATE IEM? For two decades and more, Jerry Harvey has been designing and building standout earpieces for the professional touring market. Today, his IEMs are renowned by many as the best in the business; and although there’s an earpiece for everyone, so to speak, his latest offering, Lola, is perhaps his best yet. Headliner shoots the breeze with the in-ear pioneer himself. For anyone who hasn’t sat down with Jerry Harvey in his office (so, all of you), it’s worth noting that there is a whole area dedicated to design and innovation: it’s a corner of the room, full of components, materials, tools, testing instruments, and god knows what else; and it’s where Jerry thinks, ponders, tweaks, experiments, and has his audio lightbulb moments. “I like to sit there and tinker, basically, and play with things, and try to make things better versus trying to run a company,” Jerry smiles. “I’m not much for running the day to day business; for me, day to day is to try and bring
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“No earpiece on the planet is going to reproduce guitar like this one does.”
incremental improvements to the product.” Which is exactly what he’s done with Lola – and it all happened while working on another idea. “I was designing a multiple dynamic piece back in January, and around August time, I realised it had to go on the back burner because I had found something pretty special in the midrange,” Jerry explains. “So I started doing different configurations, and found out that the [ JH Audio] Layla high with the [ JH Audio] Rosie low, and these mids made a really, really smooth analogue sounding earpiece.”
A true hybrid, then. According to Jerry, everything from the kick drum to the bass guitar sounds like a really well tuned studio monitor system through Lola. “It’s been received so well because it’s the most natural sounding IEM on the market right now,” Jerry insists. “Because of the dynamic drivers and the mids, that midrange band being a speaker instead of a balanced armature gives it a warmth and a natural sound, especially with drums and guitars – anything that’s in that 200Hz - 3kHz range, which is pretty much all the mix except for the top end extension and sub down low -
Jerry Harvey
sounds analogue. “You can take a condenser microphone versus a dynamic microphone, and it’s going to have the same frequency response, but it’s going to have a different sound or tonality, and that’s what Lola has – it has a better tonality than any other in-ear monitor, because when I built the first in-ear monitor in 2005, the hybrid, we just used it for bass, and no-one has ever thought that the mids are where it shines the best, and that’s what I discovered.”
Just Give Slash A Call
The next step was to send a couple of beta units out; the initial feedback was very positive, so Jerry upped the ante a little, and decided to get a unit out to Slash (as you do). “I reached out to Slash because he loved the Roxanne, but he said his guitar didn’t sound
exactly like it did coming out of his amps, so we did four different crossover revisions [of Lola], and then we got it nailed, and he absolutely loved it,” Jerry says. “There really is no earpiece on the planet that is going to reproduce guitar like this one does, and that’s not the only thing it reproduces; it reproduces the whole frequency spectrum. “It goes down to 100Hz, but we’re talking really about that midband range, and the sympathetic distortion that those dynamic drivers give to it; it makes it sound like it’s a Marshall stack or a Vox amp, or whatever you’re playing out of. And even down to the snare drum tones, it just ‘works’, you know? You add a little bit of tight bottom end to it, and you have the top end extension of the Layla highs - which are probably the best highs in the IEM market - and you have a
Introducing Lola
wonderful little piece.” And the cherry on top, readers, is that Lola is more affordable than Layla or Roxanne. “Well, it cost me less to build it, so I wanted to pass that along to the end user,” Jerry reveals. “Everybody thinks it’s the best piece I’ve ever built, and they expected me to charge a higher price for it, but I really wanted to make it affordable, so anybody from an entry level to a professional can buy this piece and reap the benefits of its audio.” Nicely said, sir. JH Audio are shipping all their Lola pre-orders now. Head to their website below for more information on Lola. @jhaudio www.jhaudio.com
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Cover Story
_STEVE AOKI:
THE DROP ZONE
01 Headliner
World-renowned DJ and producer, STEVE AOKI, is about to release a brand new record, which comes with an interesting musical twist. Kolony is an inspired hip hop collaboration project where less is undoubtedly more when it comes to production. It’s about taking a step back from the traditional Aoki DNA, losing the drops, and making sure every track counts; and the sound of the album speaks for itself. Headliner investigates... Words Paul Watson Photographs Brian Ziff & Caesar Sebastian
S
teve Aoki may have one of the busiest musical minds on the planet. When he’s not in the studio, he’s on the road, and let’s not forget that he’s run his own record label for over two decades. And the guy’s still in his 30s! Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? “Well, it was 1996, I was 19, living in an apartment with three other guys, and we decided to turn that space into somewhere for live bands to come and perform,” Aoki tells me. “It then became so commonplace for bands to perform there, we found ourselves doing 20 shows a month, putting out shows in our living room which we called the pickle patch. We were also writing fanzines, reviewing 100 records per issue for free, as we just loved hearing new music.” Aoki was in bands himself at the time, so was playing a lot of music; he says he was very much immersed in his small musical world. But he was hungry for more, and that passion ultimately led to the creation of his own label, Dim Mak. “So the next outlet to enhance and promote this little scene was to put out the music,” Aoki explains. “This was the DIY hardcore scene that I was part of at the time. It’s not about promotion and money spent, it’s about putting out quality releases, and before I started my label, I was already a label junkie! “I would follow each release like a comfort collection: just like you might pick up every Wolverine or every X-Men, with a certain label, I would get every release, look at all the notes, get the limited edition vinyl cover, or whatever it might be. I was a collector, and I treated my label as such; every release had a special meaning, and I spent a lot of time on the artwork. I started off making vinyl, and I would sell it literally out of my backpack at shows; that’s how it started as an art project. But it definitely wasn’t a business. It was an outlet of the world that I very much believed in... It was my life.” Aoki’s musical journey would soon evolve – and quite dramatically. His label grew, and he was responsible for kickstarting a string of bands’ careers spanning a range of
genres, some of which began making some serious waves across the globe. “It started getting big pretty early, actually,” Aoki recalls. “Like The Kills, back in 2002, and Bloc Party in 2003; then later on we got Klaxons, then Gossip. Then we found ourselves putting out Battles, an instrumental avant garde band; and later, finding The Bloody Beetroots and MSTRKRFT, and then The Chainsmokers’ first releases. Carnage, Showtek... all these guys. And then it was into EDM world. And now it’s a fully fledged business; we have a whole floor of the building here at my HQ. There are 20 people running around in the other room, and we’ve put out almost 900 releases now, so...”
KOLONISATION
Conversation turns to Aoki’s new record, Kolony, which basically ‘came together’ when he was working on his massive Neon Future III project last year. “I am actually still working on that album - it will be three years by the time it comes out. But as I was putting it together, I opened up my session book to all my favourite artists that were available to work with me, and that’s when it all got pretty interesting,” Aoki says. “So I flew to Atlanta and I worked with Migos and Lil Yachty; when I was out there, I hung out with 2 Chainz, and met up with some other artists from Atlanta; and then I went out to LA and worked with I LoveMakonnen and Rich The Kid. We recently signed Bok Nero - an artist from Philly - and I was in Vegas, and I got 2 Chainz to come over and do something there. A lot was suddenly going on. “So what ended up happening was, all these songs seemed to have this very kind of dramatic sensibility in that they worked together; and the energy is totally different working with a hip hop singer, or with a band. It’s an energy, and it felt like, ‘wow, we’re like a colony’. It was as if we were a squad, all part of a togetherness, and feeding off that energy. That was the whole vibe.” Headliner 29 Headliner 02
“Ultimately, you have to follow your passion, your gut – not trends. Follow what drives you the most.” So what would eventually become Kolony the album first started out as an EP, and then grew, and grew, and grew. “Before I knew it, I had six, then seven, then 10 songs,” Aoki recalls, with a smile. “And I had some old acapellas, too. I did a record with Mase some two and a half years ago; I knew the production wasn’t right, so I changed that, and I added some of my friends on it to help me with the production. Now it’s this incredible song [on Kolony] that I can’t wait for people to hear. When you hear the drop – the instrumental drop – it’s nothing like you’ve ever heard before. And when Mase delivers his lines and his bars, it’s true authentic Mase. You hear the bad boy era – you know, Biggie, the whole hip hop thing - so there is a lot of dimension to the album. “We also have a great ballad - a sad song, which is a great way to close the album; and then there’s the big Kolony Anthem. When I was in Miami during Music Week, Nero was out there, and I said I wanted to get him on the 30 Headliner
album, as I wanted him to be represented. ‘You do the anthem,’ I told him. And then there’s the Wale collaboration; I haven’t worked with him for 10 years, so it was some time coming to do this song together. It’s just great to be able to finally put this together and see it through. It’s the sound of now – our US culture – and to add someone like Mase on there to give you that history, and that voice. Well, it’s fantastic.”
NO LIMITS
We chat a little about the 2017 IMS Report, and how the electronic music business is now a $7bn industry. I ask Aoki if he expects it to continue to grow, or whether it’s gone as far as it can. “Well, the last thing you want to put on an art form is a cap,” he says. “I never think about how far will it go, I think about how far will it transform, and evolve. The underlying foundation of music is that it does evolve and it does transform, and it doesn’t have a boundary.” Aoki’s roots are well and truly in live drums, live guitars, and recording in studios rather than inputting MIDI notes on a laptop; and because he comes from that world, he is able to use that experience to his musical advantage. “I only evolved into an electronic producer from high school, and during my 20s, but I have had this breadth of knowledge from different worlds,” Aoki reflects. “So it’s pretty organic for me to provide non-traditional ways to produce electronic music, and I think a lot of artists are doing that: trying different, non-conventional ways to do something unique. It expands our genre to be limitless.” I ask Aoki a little more about his label, and how the role of a label in general has changed since he started his in the mid-90s.
“The best part about my label nowadays is that it is an artist-driven label – you get a different kind of scope and attention that you’d get from a major label. This is where we wear both hats: I am an artist, and have been doing it over 20 years, and I care about what gets missed.” Aoki speaks a lot of sense. The label is his baby, after all – well, a young adult now, you could argue – and that’s something he should be very proud of. So how does an artist go about staying relevant in today’s game - is it about keeping an eye on trends, or staying fresh? “Ultimately, you have to follow your passion, your gut – not trends. Follow what drives you the most,” Aoki insists. “If you believe in your own sound and art in the way other people follow that release, you can create a future, a whole culture; and the culture itself will transcend everyone’s consciousness. “You could become the next Mannequin Challenge, and then your song, Black Beatles, is number one around the world without you even knowing it. Something you’re able to get behind, you know? And you can’t manufacture that, as there is no formula for it. Just believe what you’re doing. “If you’re going to follow a trend, you’re always going to be behind it, so you can’t think about that. Also, your network is going to be your outlet. People you work with are also going to be part of your movie, your story. My network right now is so broad - from working with Lady Antebellum to finishing a song with Migos and Lil Yachty - so I keep my spectrum wide open to all genres of music, and I am inspired by all people. “I don’t need to be educated in country music, but if someone does something that
elevates them in their world, I am curious and inquisitive. Be curious. Be inquisitive.”
PRODUCTION CHOPS
We chat a little about music creation. Aoki is big into his music technology, and he has several studios, so I ask him to tell us a little more about his production techniques and his core setup. “The core setup can be as simple as a MIDI keyboard and a laptop. I have a few MIDI keys I use, but my go-to and favourite is my Korg microKEY Air, because it’s so small, and you don’t need all the extra buttons or knobs at all, as you already have that in your DAW, which in my case is Ableton,” Aoki reveals. “All I need is the actual keyboard setup just to paint down notes, to be creative. I use the Korg to translate a lot of my ideas from the road, and a lot of my ideas come from there. It’s all really about my laptop and the microKEY. “With Kolony, it’s been a different process of producing a beat versus Neon Future; it’s more about less is more in Kolony. I am using less tracks, and making each track count; what you hear, every track, you hear it with delivery and strength to it. There may be bit more going on in the drums, but the synths and samples I use I want to sound strong and prominent – it’s as simple as that.” With Neon Future, songs would sometimes take up as many as 90 tracks, whereas with Kolony, Aoki is often using closer to 20 per song. That’s a pretty significant difference. “It is. And also, I am pumping up the vocals a lot more on Kolony. It’s a major force! [laughs] Also, with Kolony, I have changed some of my process, too, besides what I am talking about,” Aoki explains. How so? “Well, I have taken out drops on songs... I never thought I would have a song with no instrumental drop! For me, that is a big moment. But I want some of these songs to live in a world which is not necessarily about Steve Aoki; it might be about Migos, Lil Yachty, and Steve Aoki - three of us together. I didn’t want me to be the driving force of the songs,
“My network right now is so broad - from working with Lady Antebellum to finishing a song with Migos and Lil Yachty - so I keep my spectrum wide open to all genres of music, and I am inspired by all people.” I wanted three of us to live together, so I can’t override these songs with these drops. It was a big learning process finishing this album, and it’s been great fun to do.” It really sounds like Aoki has taken a proper step back with Kolony, almost overseeing the project, and jumping in when need be. It’s a team effort, right? “Oh, absolutely. And if I do a big EDM record with a hip hop artist - which I have done since day one, my very first song was with will.i.am in 2008 – then I want to make sure the Aoki DNA is strong, and people have to hear it. but in some of these songs, the DNA is in all of us, exactly what you’re saying, Paul – I don’t want to overpower anyone. It’s about that philosophy, and keeping that balance.” Aoki also has two professional recording studios, his main room in Las Vegas, and a second, slightly smaller facility in LA. “I always do my final mix downs in Vegas; I also work with Luca Pretolesi, who mixed and mastered Wonderland – he has mastered a few tracks on Future, but he didn’t touch Kolony this time,” Aoki explains. “But I always like to hear other people’s ears on it. I have my main Focal speakers in Vegas and LA to keep a consistency, and actually they are great in both rooms; it’s nice to have a speaker setup where you can have an accurate sensibility of what the sound is at in two different spaces. Then I have my Ocean Way speakers that I can blast, and make it feel like I’m in a club. And then I have my car speaker type speakers as final reference. Generally, Vegas is my finaliser, when I wrap everything up – but
I’m always going back and forth from there and Los Angeles.” According to Aoki, creation can happen anywhere, and I couldn’t agree more. “At the end of the day, especially with Kolony, you don’t need these finished songs, just an idea that resonates, that can lay down in an environment for an artist to really be creative,” he says. “That’s all you really need; you need all the textures and sounds for an artist to get into a headspace to get a flow, and when they can get the flow down, and I can start writing on top of that. I just need to lay down the foundations, that’s what I’ve learnt. I don’t want them to hear finished songs; we’ll finish those together. As long as we can connect at that level, we can get creative, and get those hooks.” Before I leave Aoki to get back to his team, I can’t help but ask him how on earth he manages to fit all of this into his day to day life. I mean, he was the highest grossing touring artist in the US just a few years back, and he also holds two Guinness World Records yet the creative side of his music has never suffered. “It’s about time management, really,” Aoki concludes. “I think I once spent a whole year where every day I worked on music! But I have endurance, so I can go 10, 12, 14 hours straight, and it’s not a problem for me. That’s why I like having studios wherever I live; and when you love what you do, you’re going do it a lot...” www.steveaoki.com www.korg.com
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BRUNO MARS LIVE @ ACCORHOTELS ARENA, PARIS
Words Paul Watson
BRUNO MARS DOESN’T NEED MUCH OF AN INTRODUCTION, BUT JUST IN CASE... Over the last five or so years, this hard working Hawaiian has evolved from talented performer to Grammy-winning global megastar – and after watching him do his thing at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris (formerly the Bercy) earlier this month, it’s easy to see why. The show oozes quality; and by that I mean not only Mars’ musicianship, showmanship, and songwriting skills; the production standards are also of truly epic proportions: the sonics, the visuals, and the set make this the ultimate live experience.
Bruno Mars is about to complete what has been a jam-packed, three-month European tour in which, front of house engineer, Chris Rabold, tells me, the team has barely been able to catch a breath. “We’ve been all over Europe, and we still have another month to go, and then that’ll be the end... of this part,” Rabold smiles, adding that the US is next – and there will probably be a couple of one-off shows and TV performances in between. I last saw Rabold in Pittsburgh at a Kenny Chesney concert, where I watched him keep entirely calm as the front of house cage almost took off during a wild rain storm. Today, we’re indoors, of course, so nothing to fear on that front. I spy a Clair PA system, and ask him to break it down for me (not literally, that would be madness). “Yeah, we have the flagship Clair offering - the Cohesion system – which is fantastic,” he explains. “We have our main hangs, side hangs, and our 270s – the far rear hangs. It’s not a huge rig, and Bruno was having trouble with the sub bass on the stage as a lot of it is flexiglass, so we don’t even have ground subs - yet it’s still a very punchy show.”
of snapshots – again, because it’s just so quick - and that capability really matters.” Rabold is running his SD7 at 96kHz: “Systems are so much better these days, so you definitely hear the improvement running at 96kHz; there is so much working against us on a daily basis, so any little thing we can do to improve the source helps. When you get into the shittier places, it can be a little harder to discern, as you’re essentially working in concrete barns, but why not use the 96kHz to add that extra level if you can?” Rabold has his SD7 pretty much maxed out – which he never deemed possible – which gives you an idea just how big this show is. He is also running Waves SoundGrid, using a handful of Waves EQ and FX plugins, and he has his trusted rack of outboard kit that he brings with him on every tour. His mic package is mainly Sennheiser for vocals, with some Shure, Telefunken, and AudioTechnica offerings, too. “I do love the good old AT-4050 on the guitar; it’s just one of my favourite live guitar microphones to use, as it sounds so great,” Rabold declares. And what about his working relationship with the artist?
“bruno will want 10 things in five seconds, and the digico is so fast with regards to that” His console for the Bruno tour is a DiGiCo SD7, which is the only desk that can accommodate the multitude of I/O required for a show like this: “There’s like, a million in and out, so the SD7 has been kind of a default for me for several years now,” Rabold smiles. “But the console is so fast, and everything is right there; it’s easy to program offline, and the speed at which you can move things around - particularly in the rehearsal period when things are changing – is fantastic. What’s also good about the SD7 is when you’re in promo, which is often a super-intense scrutinised process, Bruno will want 10 things in five seconds, and that desk is just so fast with regards to that. I also use quite a lot
“Bruno Mars is 10 times over the perfectionist of anyone I’ve ever worked with,” Rabold insists. Wow. “It’s great, as he keeps me on my toes, and this is definitely one of my favourite mixes in recent years, as he is so intense with it. This guy truly cares.” WITH THAT, I BID RABOLD FAREWELL
for now, and head to monitor position, to chat to Ramon Morales, who’s also on an SD7. “Input wise, it’s a ton of stuff, as it’s a pretty big band up there,” Morales explains, as I make my way under the stage to his console. “And output wise, it’s pretty extensive, too; when I went to redo my session structure, I had one channel left for DSP – I never thought I would get to this point, but we’re
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“we have bruno on jh16s - it’s his personal preference” here! We’re running at 96kHz, which takes up more DSP, but it makes such a huge difference, so I always want to work there.” The stage is fairly quiet, Morales says – there are a set of flown side-fills which he has for emergency, but they haven’t been on at all so far: “I’ve got 18 [Shure] TSM1000s which covers the entire band, and every tech has own mix, too; even the stage manager is on his own mix for calling out cues. Then there are the side-fills, a ton of FX sends, and some shout speakers. I have four layers on my console, and they’re all pretty full, so there is stuff going everywhere right now!” Although every artist brings new challenges, Morales cites Bruno Mars as the biggest challenge of all – and in a good way: “With Bruno, it’s definitely about focusing on getting the right mix, as opposed to ‘I can hear myself ’. It’s a balancing act of finding where to put what in the mix to make it work for him and the instruments he plays.” And this is where using JH Audio kit comes in, he continues: “We have Bruno on JH16s - it’s his personal preference. We tried him on Roxanne and JH16v2s, but we kept going back to the JH16; there is something about that piece that he really likes, and it’s working. I have my JH16s, too – it’s important I’m on the same as him – and the JH16v2s are what the rest of the band are on, and they’re fantastic. What JH Audio did was add a couple of high end drivers to where the JH16s were, I think... And I’m sure there is something else going on in there, too, that we obviously don’t know about!
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“Honestly, I am not sure what it is that does it with these ears, but it works so well; it all just gels, and the transition between him and the band between 16s and 16v2s is seamless – everyone is happy, and there is not much changing of settings between the shows at all. The JH Audio kit is always very good quality, and extremely reliable.” Morales has very little outboard beside his SD7 – Bruno’s vocal goes through an Avalon 737 for a little warmth, and aside from his Briscati M7 reverb and TC system 6000, which he spreads across different engines, he uses only the onboard effects from his DiGiCo. “I use some of the reverbs and the delays, and on certain inputs I have been using the dynamic EQs and compressor, and it’s working great. It’s a great combination.” I HEAD BACKSTAGE TO MEET JOEL FORMAN,
Bruno’s production manager of some six years. On arrival, he tells me these two Paris shows are 39 and 40 of the European stint, and there’s still two weeks to go. Christ, that’s a lot of performances! “It is,” he smiles, and offers me a seat. “I don’t know if it’s by design, or just the growth of the artist. He is a very loyal guy, or maybe I am a glutton for punishment? [laughs] But really, I just surround myself with the best people, which always helps.” Forman started out driving the tour bus ‘and doing pretty much everything, not really knowing anything’ with Columbus, Ohio-based band, OAR. He had a passion for partying, he says, with a smile, but that ultimately led to a
career in touring. “As the band grew, I grew, and it kind of made me realise that there is a different life out there if you want it,” he reflects. “I grew up in bands in school, never took it seriously enough, and quite honestly, I enjoyed a good time in my early 20s, and it was a fun thing to do. Now it’s become a full time job..!” According to Forman, Bruno Mars is very much in the moment all the time: “I think every artist’s tour evolves, but to his credit, he wants to get out there and see how it feels, so he always tweaks things to make it sound and look better; he still has notes for video, lights, sound, which the departments receive on a daily basis, because he thinks we should push to be better every show. It’s hard not to mirror that when he does it himself, and he is so passionate. Most of us know that he is the only one that will notice many of these tiny changes, but it doesn’t matter to him; if it can be better, change it.” A day in the life of a production manager... I retract the question before I finish asking it, as I know it’s a complex beast of a job. Joel lets out a sigh with a hint of a smile, reminds me he is also tour accountant, and says: “Europe is tough on me, as when I’m ready for bed, I have emails from LA, and, of course, there’s my family back home, too. But I get everyone in at 7am – it’s a little early for some, but I would rather have that extra time – and the stage is in place and rolling by 2-3pm. So our load in is two and a half hours. And we’re done by 1.30am each night.”
L-R: CHRIS RABOLD & RAMON MORALES AT THEIR SD7S
“not a building in the world is built for a $150k show, so it’s tough” “Being tour accountant and production manager doesn’t allow for much consistency in my day – now we are ending this stint, there is not so much day to day, but we might have a TV show, a one off show... And then it’s the US leg, so it’s integrating changes for the show in the US right now. Also, I’m planning South America, Mexico, Asia... Some of these shows are nine months away, but you have to work on budgets, see what’s possible, what fits in the plane, what can we use for this show or that show, what can’t we use. We have gear going out at some points to every continent.” Forman doesn’t claim to be the most handson production manager in the world, he is more about respecting everyone’s own discipline. For him, it’s about knowing what’s going on and making sure everyone is playing nicely in the sand box. “We are a 65-strong crew, we have 25 truck drivers, and about 100 local crew daily, so it takes its toll on people, and there are always pitfalls, especially over here in Europe,” Forman admits. “Every day has different challenges; today, we’re in a great building by European standards, but the past couple of shows we have had to make design concessions to fit for weight and trim height – those are the day to day struggles, and how to make a big show happen in really old buildings. Not a building in the world is built for a $150k show with 23 trucks, so it’s tough. “And over here it’s way tougher with this amount of trucks, especially as we never want to compromise. As a collective unit, my crew and me in general have far more experience in the US and North America than here, so it is definitely less comfortable in Europe.” The tour has been wildly successful so far, Forman confirms – but he looks at success in several ways, not all of which are measured: “A successful tour as far as me, the production manager, comes down to this: we’re 11 weeks in, and most people still like each other; we have our
moments, but we’re all good, and still willing to go for beer and supper with the guys next to us. That to me is a successful tour. “Then there’s me as the tour accountant, and that comes down to a balance sheet; but as far as what I expected it to be, Bruno is doing just fine. That’s measurable success, and the goal of all of us; no-one wants to be on a sinking ship, especially when the artist is busting his ass every night. We have to not break things, get the show up every day, and save money where we can. We had to go on sale with no design, not having any clue. We had no concept until week one of January, so to me it’s also a success in that we went from a napkin sketch to load in in about a month.” LIGHTING DESIGNER IS CORY FITZGERALD,
who has worked with Bruno Mars for seven years. “We had a lot of different discussions at the beginning, putting together references and looks that he wanted to see, working backwards through photos and images,” Fitzgerald explains. “And the biggest part of the lighting is his musicality, and how he wants the lighting and visuals to follow along with the music. He is a talented musician and a smart guy; he knows what he wants, and where to get it, so it’s a pretty interesting ride.” Bruno was very involved throughout the process, Fitzgerald reveals: “He’d sit down with me and we’d put together the band layout, and work out what entrances and exits he wanted to use. Then it was on to set lists, which kept changing – there were a few versions before he settled on one - but it was really all about putting the pieces together and walking through the show in terms of how each thing was going to look, and then we’d go from there.” Fitzgerald is a big fan of GLP lighting fixtures, which he has utilised plenty of on this tour: “Mark Ravenhill [GLP President] is a great guy, and I love his products; we use a bunch of GLP stuff. On this show, it’s the X4 Bar 20s,
and we have a lot of them! [smiles] They line the whole stage; they rim the edge, and they ultimately provide the power behind him. Basically, the whole floor package is GLP X4 Bar 20s, and they work fantastically well.” For Fitzgerald, it’s not only the brightness and the tilt functionality that impress him about the fixture – it’s much more surgical than that. “The homogenised lens is a seriously big deal, so you don’t see the LED chips; and the zoom functionality gives you that little extra to play with,” he explains. “Also, the power and the punch, and the overall look of them is perfect. And then there’s the size. It’s just 100 percent the right fixture for the job. What’s also nice is the pixelation, which can give you a bunch of effects, too. It’s about having plenty of options, so it’s versatility as well as quality – and the GLPs most definitely tick both those boxes.” I knew that Bruno Mars shows had a reputation for always being great, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to witness. Never before have I seen such a well organised, structured show – incredibly well put together. And it sounded incredible; Rabold’s mix was bang on the money, as were the band, all of whom could really move as well as play, which was particularly entertaining. And the light show? Nothing short of epic. As Fitzgerald says, it’s all about getting the lighting to follow the music, and it truly provided another dimension. As I make my way to the exit, all I keep asking myself is, how does Bruno Mars manage to deliver a vocal performance like that, night in, night out? What a talent this guy is. www.digico.biz www.jhaudio.com www.glp.de www.waves.com www.audio-technica.co.uk
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Roll Out The Barrel
Bushmills x Lowden
ROLL OUT THE BARREL
Alcohol and music have always had a pretty synonymous relationship, but this unique collaboration between Bushmills Irish Whiskey and Lowden Guitars is definitely worth shouting about. The two brands have joined forces to create a limited edition acoustic guitar made from whiskey barrels and ancient bog oak - and you can grab one for a mere £8.5k..! Words Paul Watson To me, a guitar is a very personal thing. Each one I’ve ever owned, I’ve always kept even the one my ex-girlfriend destroyed some 20 years ago is still sitting in the back of the garage gathering cobwebs. Why? Because they all hold memories, and they all bring something new to the table. The feel, the playability, or even something as trivial as the colour can affect how, and indeed what, you decide to play when you pick it up. Which brings me onto Lowden. When I heard they were building this epic sounding acoustic guitar, I immediately regressed to one of my old band’s first studio sessions up in the north of England. The place had this gorgeous Lowden acoustic, and at the time,
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we didn’t have a recordable acoustic to speak of - and being a guitarist, I couldn’t put the thing down. Not only did it look beautiful, it played even better, and it changed the way we approached our whole recording session, and thereafter, how I wrote songs. We played around with capo positions, open tunings, and ended up layering several tracks, learning in realtime how important an acoustic guitar could be in a recording and it most definitely changed the game for us, a bunch of 18 year old lads, at the time. So... If that model sounded good (a cedar over mahogany O10 custom, if memory serves me correctly!), what kind of a noise would a limited edition Lowden made of whiskey
barrels and ancient bog oak put out? These two iconic Northern Irish brands appear to have done something pretty damn special. Both are renowned for their quality craftsmanship and character, and the work that has gone into this ‘Bushmills x Lowden’ model is to celebrate those who pass their craft and legacy to the next generation. At the Old Bushmills Distillery, the Kane family has been coopering barrels for four generations, passing their specialist skills down through the years to ensure Bushmills delivers the same premium quality whiskey it began making some 400 years ago. Similarly, Lowden Guitars founder, George Lowden, has pioneered acoustic guitar building
Roll Out The Barrel
Bushmills x Lowden
A Barrel Of Laughs: George & Aaron Lowden with Bushmills’ Chris Cooper & Alistair Kane.
“The three woods in the guitar play an integral part in making the Bushmills x Lowden so unique.” techniques since 1974, selecting only the very best quality woods to make his instruments, and is passing his guitar making skills onto his sons, to ensure the Lowden legacy will live on for generations to come.
Under The Hood
The limited edition ‘Bushmills x Lowden’ F-50 guitar - of which only eight are available to buy - combines hundreds of years of cooper and luthier craftsmanship with three types of wood that are steeped in heritage and character. It was Mr. Lowden himself who selected Bushmills Irish Whiskey barrel wood for the 12th fret and back inlays, the bindings, rosette and head facings; ancient bog oak for the back and sides of the guitar; and sinker redwood for the soundboard. It took George and his sons more than 40 hours to design and build the first guitar in this limited range - other features of which include a cross symbol formed of a cooper’s hammer and luthier’s chisel, representing the coming together of these two crafts. On the back, two lines echo the staves found in a Bushmills Irish Whiskey barrel, and represent
the passing of skills from one generation to the next. Very nice indeed. George Lowden, whose high-end acoustic guitars have been used by some of the world’s leading artists, including Gary Lightbody, Ed Sheeran, and Eric Clapton, tells Headliner: “We scour the world for the best tonewoods, which are the real ‘stars’ of our guitars, determining how they sound, feel, and play, so my sons and I relished the opportunity to work with the coopers to select the best Bushmills Irish Whiskey barrel wood for the guitar. It was a great opportunity to see up close how the barrels are formed, and how they give the whiskey its colour and flavour. “The three woods used to create the guitar play an integral part in making the ‘Bushmills x Lowden’ so unique. Bushmills Irish Whiskey barrel wood is steeped in over 400 years of whiskey making heritage, and used throughout to perfectly complement the other tonewoods. “The back and sides are made up of ancient bog oak to offer a mellow, warm sound, and when paired with sinker redwood on the soundboard, it helps extract a clarity
and sparkle from each and every note the guitar produces.” Colum Egan, master distiller at Bushmills Irish Whiskey, adds: “Lowden Guitars are famous for their workmanship and quality, and we are proud to join forces with George and his sons on this exciting collaboration which celebrates how specialist hand-crafted skills are not bought, but perfected over time and passed from generation to generation. “At Bushmills, our coopers’ craft and skill are as fundamental to Irish whiskey making as the oak barrels they work with, ensuring we produce the same premium quality whiskey we began making over 400 years ago. It has been an honour to work with Lowden Guitars, who, like us, understand the important role wood has to play in making their guitars so unique.” Now all I need to work out is, how the hell do I blag myself one of these..? @LowdenGuitars www.lowdenguitars.com www.bushmills.com
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Networking
The America’s Cup
THE AMERICA’S CUP
The America’s Cup sailing race is the oldest trophy in international sport, dating back to 1851. And for the 35th edition, presented by Louis Vuitton, the location was Bermuda, as the event moved to the iconic Great Sound.
“BroaMan provided a staggering 35km of fibre for this specialist event.”
Photographs by Ricardo Pinto The America’s Cup is ultimately the coming together of the world’s best sailors battling it out on the fastest boats, in a bid to win the most ancient sporting accolade on the planet. So it’s a pretty big deal! This year, the event descended on beautiful Bermuda - an idyllic composition of 181 islands, totalling 21 square miles, with just 60,000 residents. As one might expect in a place with so many islands, water activities are the life-blood of Bermuda. So it’s the perfect destination. Local Bermuda Broadcasting Company (BBC) were appointed as the official broadcast partner, and they responded by creating an advanced fibre network between the America’s Cup Village at the Royal Naval Dockyard, the transmission, editing and news gathering hub, and their own studio back at base. They did this via a BroaMan advanced fibre network, which has not only enabled them to provide viewers and listeners with live coverage of all the racing over the five weeks
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via terrestrial TV and radio broadcasts over IP, but also to feed its web and social media platforms. This has included taking video and commentaries out on the water, from helicopters overhead and on shore. BBC constructed this by deploying a powerful pair of BroaMan Mux22 interfaces which connect the 35km distance between the two locations via a single duplex fibre. These hardware enablers allow them to provide connectivity of six video signals, plus a 100Mbit LAN switch, RS485 and 1Gb Ethernet. Patrick Singleton, CEO of Bermuda Broadcasting, admits his company’s appointment by the America’s Cup organisers had forced a substantial upgrade at the station, including new TV and radio transmitters, high-speed fibre-optic systems, and a fully digital workflow. “The America’s Cup is the greatest sporting event in Bermuda’s history, and we are pleased
to have been able to present this in beautiful, high definition.” But this looked unlikely when last year, a lightning strike damaged their playout and destroyed sensitive MCR automation equipment ahead of the Summer Olympics! Having competed in three Olympic Games himself, and now on the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission, he was quick to act: “We handle a lot of live sports, so we developed a mobile application to show this important sporting event, but that didn’t solve the problem of terrestrial broadcasting.” It showed just how far BBC had come since setting up 70 years ago, initially broadcasting AM radio before branching out into FM and terrestrial TV. When seeking the optimum solution for the America’s Cup coverage, Singleton became aware of the BroaMan platform, and its vast potential, after reading an interview
Networking
with their MD, Tine Helmle, on SVG Group’s online resource. In it, she discussed fibre solutions for professional broadcast. “Especially interesting for us was the fact that BroaMan had supplied a solution for the World Rowing Championships,” Singleton reveals. “And I could see they were especially good at delivering sporting events. I wanted to create a remote broadcast facility at one end of our country, and operate from a master control back at base; and BroaMan seemed like the perfect solution.” He then researched the brand, and met BroaMan representatives at the NAB Show. It had been the innovative app they had created after the lightning strike that had first aroused the interest of the America’s Cup organisers, and they had initially asked BBC to assist with their own app. “This was the catalyst, but we were then asked if we would handle their entire terrestrial broadcast feed so that the entire country could watch or listen to the races live on TV or radio – including all the spectators, from their boats beside the race course. “But then the organisers told us they wanted a physical presence in the America’s Cup Village, with DJs and live news, so the requirement changed. We needed to move to the [BroaMan] Mux22, as we were taking a large number of feeds direct from the America’s Cup OBs routed through the BroaMan platform.” In fact, the amount of data and number of UHF channels being transmitted was quite remarkable - a 35km long fall over redundant
fibre ring, with the HD-SDI signal entering the BroaMan domain and coming out over fibre to BBC’s main studios. Once the signals arrived at the main station, they were played out over the TV and FM transmitters.
Making Smart Decisions
They also send the signals to local cable companies, and their live produced TV race feed is also sent 14,000km by fibre to Asia where it’s recorded and stored. “Additionally, the event organisers asked us if we could pass through our equipment a special broadcast feed that they were producing to one of the cable companies for delivery to superyachts. This was only possible thanks to the flexibility of the BroaMan Mux22. “In one instance, we were doing some editing at the event village and had a 3Gb file; we thought it would take an age to send it back to base, but it went in seconds. With BroaMan, large files can be sent very quickly, and it went straight into our network storage. “The BroaMan technology has proved to be rock solid — it was German engineered, so it had to be good!” The ‘rock solid’ network was co-designed with UK-based consultant engineer, Mark Johnson, from TTFN TV, with the aid of their new transmitters. An earlier concept of a wireless and microwave technology solution was dismissed due to interference and the threat of large ship masts cutting the point to point link.
The America’s Cup
It had been Johnson’s idea to use an Ethernet Audio over IP network, using the 100 Mbit LAN and 1Gb switcher for file transfer and remote control. “The Telos Axia Livewire provided the AoIP sub-network, linking video to the NewTek IP Series Video Mix Engine,” he explains. Further expansion of BBC’s remote mobile facility included the acquisition of a LiveU LU500 video field unit for OB transmission, while the purchase of IP switchers has been a further benefit in their systematic upgrade. Patrick Singleton reflects on some further challenges: “The SFP transceiver modules also had to be right, which was difficult. In fact, the organisers tasked us with a lot more than we had initially expected: IP cameras for security, and monitoring the America’s Cup pit lane. But it’s been really fantastic operating all this through the BroaMan gear.” This exercise has marked a major step change for Bermuda Broadcasting Company: “Five weeks is a long deployment, and the BroaMan portable rack has been faultless, particularly considering we are operating in a tent that isn’t even air conditioned! We have been so impressed with it that we now feel the need to continue with it. We’ve been able to broadcast practically frame accurate, and our people are in awe of it. It’s shown how a legacy media company can really up its game.” @americascup www.broadcastmanufactur.com
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Show Review Hans Zimmer
HANS ZIMMER WEMBLEY ARENA LONDON
Remember when film music used to either be a background event, that the average cinema-goer would barely notice, or a niche genre only followed by avid fans and the composers themselves? In such circumstances, it often only needs the gusto of one musician to change that. Enter Hans Zimmer, the German composer who has grown the genre to the point where he is now able to perform at Coachella. Tonight, we find him at Wembley Arena. Words Adam Protz
Of course, Hans Zimmer hasn’t done this singlehandedly — but if you take a listen to some of the younger film composers nowadays, it’s safe to say there are quite a number of Zimmer-clones running around (remember that trombone motif that was copied again and again after Inception?). It’s an arena lacking in character to put it mildly, not the best suited for violins and French horns. But make no mistake; if you go to a Hans Zimmer concert, you are not attending a classical music concert. No-one in the orchestra is wearing a penguin suit, nobody is conducting, and Wembley’s attendees happily turn up in shorts on this scorching evening in June. For some orchestral purists, that might be the stuff of nightmares. But let me tell you — the Hans Zimmer live experience is fun, to a huge degree. As Hans and his huge ensemble open with his score for Angels & Demons, it’s instantly clear this mashup of strings, brass, choir, woodwind, and also drum kit, percussion and rock band are going to adequately fill the arena with sound, as well as anyone else possibly could (particularly on a night where Guns N’ Roses are at the London Stadium, and alt-J are at the O2 Arena; and there’s barely an empty seat in the house. The drums, band and orchestra sound huge, lending the music a real intensity that really reverberates through the bones. So it comes as no surprise, then, that the audio kit deployed by Brit Row for this production is of the highest quality: there are three DiGiCo mixing consoles running the show; an SD7 at front of house, operated by Colin Pink; another SD7 at monitors, with Gavin Temany in control; and also at monitor position, Jimmy Nicholson on his
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rackmount SD11i. While this rocked-up sound is very positive on the whole, there’s a few moments where an electric guitar plays along with some of the more melancholic themes — and in scores like The Lion King, it can take a little longer for your ears to tune into what’s happening. But speaking of that Hamlet-inspired, fuzzy animals epic, it’s announced off stage by the instantly recognisable ‘aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…’ from Circle of Life, as Lebo M dances onto the stage. Afterwards, Hans tells the audience the touching story of how Lebo M was a political refugee from South Africa in California, when the two originally worked together to create this magic.
“The Hans Zimmer live experience is fun, to a huge degree.” Taking us back to the early ‘90s, it’s a real highlight, and the King of Pride Rock theme sounds particularly spectacular. As you can imagine, a Hans Zimmer concert is all about the medleys. In the first half, we also hear Gladiator — arguably still his greatest work. Here, he blends The Battle, the stunning Elysium, and, of course, the ever popular credits song, Now We Are Free. It’s magnificent. And before the interval (which the band definitely needs), comes Pirates of the Caribbean. Hans slyly introduces it as ‘a cello concerto’, as cellist, Tina Guo, takes centre
stage, her combination of virtuosic prowess and sexual charisma stealing the show. Once everyone has sorted themselves out with popcorn, beer, and finished queuing for the toilets while whistling Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho, it’s time for the second half. It turns out to be a wonderfully mixed bag. Hans opens with a more mellow, marimba-led number, You’re So Cool, from one of his earlier films, True Romance. He then transports us back to 1979, as he reminds the crowd that once upon a time he played synths in The Buggles. That, of course, is the cue for The Buggles’ lead singer, Trevor Horn, to enter stage right, for an epic rendition of Video Killed the Radio Star. Tina Guo and the lead violinists nail the ‘oh-wah-ohs’. And, of course, we then return to that trademark intensity, as Hans and co. storm through Man of Steel, the excellent Wonder Woman theme, Interstellar, The Dark Knight and for the encore, Inception. The latter’s guitar theme was originally performed by rock legend, Johnny Marr; and tonight, it’s played by his son, Nile Marr, who doesn’t put a foot wrong. It’s a fantastically enjoyable evening, and one that attests to Hans Zimmer being far and away the biggest name in the music of film currently, with these world arena tours only cementing that further (although at least that gives his competition the chance to catch up while he’s away performing). To go to a gig and be taken from a battlefield in Germany, to the seas of the Caribbean, and then Gotham City... It doesn’t get much better than that, does it? @HansZimmer
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INSIDE PUZZLE MAKER STUDIOS I Andrea Succi and Danny McMahon are a musical force to be reckoned with. In three short years, they have gone from setting up a cramped recording studio in their band’s practice room to creating a pro recording space in the heart of Bristol. Jade Perry sits down with the lads to discuss their humble beginnings, processes and plans for the future.
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T’S A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY IN BRISTOL TODAY, and after getting horrendously lost (I had my satnav on car version, not walking), I finally arrive at Puzzle Maker Studios, built and co-owned by Andrea Succi and Danny McMahon. After being thrown together for a project on their first day at university, it almost seems like fate that Puzzle Maker Studios was born. Making my way through the hall, decorated in quotes from the likes of Bowie and Phil Collins, I’ve already got a really good feeling about this place. The studio’s conception came about in 2014 in what was the practice room for the guys’ band, Phoenix Club. “It was [originally] only one small room, and it was so cramped with all of our kit in there, but it worked well for about two years; then things took off, and we realised we needed a much bigger place,” Danny explains. The whole Puzzle Maker concept came from a final project at university, where he and Andrea did a joint dissertation. “Andrea was put in charge of looking after the business side of things, and I looked after the marketing and branding. We actually did our first ever project in Andrea’s toilet! [laughs] With ‘Drea mixing on his computer in his bedroom, we’d put his duvet and a blanket along the top, and then a blanket along the shower to stop the
reflections, and that was the vocal booth. It was like a greenhouse, it was so hot!” “That could have actually worked really well as a vocal booth,” adds Andrea. “A lot of people do that, because toilets have got really great acoustics.” Danny was introduced to the production world around the age of 18 while working with Paramount as a commercial songwriter, demoing for the likes of Taylor Swift, The Wanted, and Jay Sean; and Andrea got into engineering by watching Real World Studios’ Malcolm Migliari weave his magic making tracks for Phoenix Club. He immediately wanted to do the same, which began with a tiny mixer and two-in, two-out audio interface in his bedroom.
The Creative Process
“I started out by recording Danny doing covers on acoustic guitar just to practice EQing, compressing, and so on,” Andrea reveals. “Basically, everything I had been learning during studio recording at uni.” Eventually needing a more expansive setup, Malcolm Migliari kindly let the boys borrow some kit for a project – this turned out to be a massive learning experience: “We knew we wanted to do the best we could, but I think we were both quite surprised when it turned out to be as good as it was, considering the time, equipment,
Studio Profile Puzzle Maker Studios
“if you really love a specific genre of music, whether you realise it or not, you have studied it.” and knowledge that we had,” Andrea admits. “I think it’s partially due to the fact that our university didn’t host production courses at that time, and so many songwriters and musicians wanted to record their stuff, but very few people there did production. We were in the ideal environment at the time.” Deciding that they needed to set this up properly, they went in search of premises, with nothing quite cutting the mustard, until they stumbled across an advert for newly built offices and workshops. “We came in, and you could just see it straight away, it was perfect,” Andrea smiles. “The first thing we noticed was that there was a filled in window between the two rooms, and it just looked like the perfect space for a control room and a live room. We knocked the window through, and it was as if it was meant to be.” Nothing like a little divine intervention. The guys enlisted the help of a carpenter, and between the three of them, Puzzle Maker was born. “We sound proofed it all, did all the panelling, and built the whole thing from the ground up,” Danny says. “We knew what we wanted, and knew how to do it; ‘Drea read the most epic book on how to build a studio! [laughs]” “I designed it all,” adds Andrea. “I was following this book, and literally drawing it all out, measuring everything and making sure everything would be right. We already had equipment in the other studio so it was just a case of planning the space properly, making sure everything was where it should be, and getting the treatment to the highest possible standard.” Although they’ve only been up and running for a few years, the lads have already won themselves an award from the British & Irish
Modern Music Institute. “That’s where we went to university; the award is the Alumni Award, which was specified in entrepreneurship,” Danny explains. “They contacted us and said we should apply, so we thought we might as well give it a go, and then we had a call to say that we’d won! It looks good to have it in here, and we can use the whole ‘award-winning’ tag, as well.” So what goes on during a typical day in the award-winning Puzzle Maker studios, then, Danny? “Well, if a song doesn’t stand up by itself with a guitar or a piano and vocal then it’s not worth pursuing with hours of production. Once we have a definitive concept in mind, that’s when we move onto the production; this will always start with the drums, then the bass, then usually guitars after that. “Then we start the synth work and synth design, which is always a really time consuming process; after that, we move onto the vocals, and that’s near enough the recording process done; that’s when the hard work starts.” What the guys were careful not to do was set up a music factory where people come in, record, take their master, and leave. But isn’t that what happens in a recording studio? “Actually, most of the time that’s no good to anybody,” Danny insists. Okay... “Marketing what you’ve got is as important, if not more important in this day and age. If you’ve got a really cool record, it needs to be marketed right, and that’s where we bring in the artist development. We’ll always help set up EP launches, look into photography and music videos, and the defining of the brand or image. We will also come up with a plan that’s budget friendly.”
Clearly what the guys have here is passion in abundance, and they’ve created what sounds like a one stop shop, where all an artist’s needs are basically catered for. I ask them what kind of artists they get through their doors. “I used to have this notion that you shouldn’t specify yourself as genre specific,” says Danny. “But I think you fall into a place where you whittle down what you do well. If you’re passionate about something, it shows. We’re recording a country EP for a girl called Becky Lawrence at the moment, and I think that’s definitely come across in the music. It’s just something that we’re really passionate about and that we love.”
Hybrid All The Way
“I think if you really love a specific genre of music, whether you realise it or not, you’ve studied it,” Danny insists. “You’ve got to love it, and also understand it from both a commercial perspective and the client’s perspective. For me, that definitely becomes easier when I’m writing with the client. The first thing I ask whenever I’m writing for somebody is, ‘what’s important to you?’ There’s no point in writing about something that’s going to be irrelevant to the singer because they’re not going to be able to give it the emotion that they need to, to give the song its fullest. The song is only ever as good as your singer at the end of the day.” Moving more onto the tech side of the studio, Andrea tells me that he currently uses a hybrid system: “I can run up to 12 channels simultaneously, which, seeing as we layer instruments and mostly do multi-track recordings, tends to be fine.” he says. “Some of those channels are routed to a Soundcraft Spirit Live eight-channel
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desk, which is one of their legacy products now. Most of what I record will go through the desk because it gives you more flexibility as you can EQ things as the sound is coming in. It’s got inserts, so I’m running all sorts of outboard gear such as my DBX graphic EQ, Drawmer gates, and BSS compressors.” Some channels, however, will just go in straight digital, depending on what Andrea is recording and what he wants to do with it. He does seem to have aspirations to go fully analogue someday - and that’s not the most straightforward route in today’s industry. “By going and seeing what other people do, and especially working at Real World Studios, I saw that the analogue world was still very much present; and I also realised that if you know your way around an analogue console and you know how to record the analogue way, you are a better producer at the end of the day.” A fair point. Andrea notes that having working knowledge of analogue systems helps when working within the digital realm, too: “It became a lot easier to navigate Pro Tools, and when you work in the analogue domain, you’re a bit more involved in the process; you can hear the sound already as it’s going to be on the record, near enough mixed. Whereas when you’re working just with digital, you’re recording the sound source but you’re then going to have to mix it afterwards. I feel that the whole process is a lot easier if you achieve your sound as you’re going along. “When I finally went and really learnt on an analogue console, the main advantage was being able to pre-mix basically as you are recording. And that’s where being in this studio made a massive difference, as well, because we have two rooms, whereas before we only had the one room so I had to mix from my headphones.”
Listen Very Carefully
Handing me a chocolate tea (yes, that is a thing), Andrea tells me that he uses Audio Technica ATH-M30 headphones for a variety of studio applications; it’s a brand he has been a fan of for several years. “Before we moved into the new studio, I used to use them for tracking all the time, as I was in the same room as the instruments being recorded. I find they give me a true representation of the mix, and don’t colour the sound, which helps me get a good sound at the source. For that same reason, I find that they work really well when testing out final mixes and masters.” Now that he doesn’t need to use headphones for tracking, they are 44 Headliner
mainly allocated to referencing applications. “I have tried other headphones along the way, and even own several headphones by other brands, but I still find myself coming back to those A-Ts. They are very comfortable to wear, which is really important for engineers who have to spend a lot of time tracking or mixing on headphones. Again, this is when directly compared with other headphones I own in the same or even higher price range.”
Box Clever
Andrea always mixes in the box within Pro Tools: “It’s the easiest way of working for me; I also use Pro Tools for compression, EQ, and I use a lot of their standard plugins, because they work very well for me,” he explains. “As far as plugins go, Soundtoys make some great stuff for echo, reverb, distortion, tremolo, fades, filtering... All sorts, really. Also, Alliance have loads of brands within their library such as Brainworx and SPL, so we use those a lot. “Native Instruments is another big one which is for all of our virtual instruments, and then I also use the Waves Audio TrueVerb, which is a great reverb plugin, and suited to any use.” I look up and spy a puzzle piece on the wall, prompting me to ask where the idea for the branding came from. The title of a Phoenix Club song, apparently! “We had this song that people used to really like called Puzzle Maker. I remember writing the song lyrics and thinking that it could really mean anything,” Andrea reflects. “But in the context of the artist development, and putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, I thought it worked quite nicely.” Indeed it does. It seems these guys are at the beginning of a very exciting journey. So what are their hopes for the future? “I would like to get as many artist development-based label projects as possible so that we can continue to develop and inspire young artists; that is one of our ultimate goals,” Danny tells me, with a smile. On that note, I bid the lads farewell, still trying to work out whether or not that chocolate tea was spectacular, or, in fact, just hot chocolate. www.puzzlemakerstudios.co.uk www.audio-technica.co.uk www.soundcraft.co.uk
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DIDI TALKS AUDIO-TECHNICA Artist, producer, and mix engineer, DIDI, puts two pairs of Audio-Technica headphones through their paces in her studio, ‘The Den’. Photograph by CK Goldiing When I first tried out my Audio-Technica M70x, the first thing that came to mind was: this is a really great headphone. I am already a big fan of the brand’s M50x model - I have a couple of pairs in my studio, so whenever I’m working, the artist and I always have a true reference point – so I was looking forward to having a go to see the difference. There are two main points that I would like to make about the M70x, and that’s the ergonomics and the sound quality. I have been using the M50x for about two years now, and although I love them, the difference in sound quality when switching to the M70x is really noticeable; it seems to have a different presence to it, which really brings a lot more clarity to the audio that you are listening to, making it very good for monitoring in particular. I also really enjoyed listening to music on M70x as well, although something I do find is that it is a lot less bass-heavy than the M50x, so if you’re a consumer, or want to hear music through your phone or off your computer more than straight up mixing, you might prefer the M50x. But if you are listening under the pretence of a monitor mix, I feel like the M70x gives you a very clear and true sound. There seems to be a much wider frequency response, which really does give a whole lot more space to play with when you’re in the zone, mixing. Another difference is the open back headphone cup on the M70x - it definitely makes you feel like you are more naturally listening to music, although the lack of sound noise cancellation can sometimes be a little annoying if you are in a loud situation; saying that, M70x definitely gives you a better all round sense of what you are really listening to, and because of that enhanced frequency response, it makes everything that little bit more accurate. The audio quality is very good, and I also like the aesthetics - particularly the matt finish, which just makes M70x really nice to look at. In summary, I’ll probably continue to use my M50x when tracking, but when it comes to referencing, the M70x is on another level – it’s going to be great having both to work with in the studio, and they’re definitely going to be a useful tool for my overall workflow. www.audio-technica.co.uk
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Penguin Cafe
A Sea Of Unknown
A SEA OF UNKNOWN
It’s an overcast but warm day as I step off the train in North London, but thankfully, the home of Arthur Jeffes, the head of Penguin Cafe (quirky makers of folky, contemporary classical music), isn’t a long walk. On arrival, the bearded, friendly multi-instrumentalist and composer invites me in.
“I’m always conscious of going too far into experimenting, or too far into bubble bath music..!”
Words Adam Protz It’s a stunning London town house that Arthur Jeffes lives in — with a huge number of keyboard instruments taking up most of the space on the ground floor. A few unopened boxes indicate his recent move. He makes himself an espresso, and I gratefully receive my tea, and we decide to go to his upstairs patio, as it’s a nice day. “The last couple of weeks, we’ve been in America,” Arthur tells me, as his dog placidly circles us on the balcony. “We did an album launch in New York at Le Poisson Rouge, and we were able to be there because Princeton University commissioned us to do a rework of a Cole Porter ballet. So it was a nice contrast, doing a jazz ballet, and then playing at Le Poisson Rouge.” If you’re not familiar with Penguin Cafe, there’s actually a good chance you’ve heard the music of their former iteration, Penguin Cafe Orchestra (we’ll explain this for you shortly) in several adverts over the years. “My Dad, Simon Jeffes, started the original band in the ‘70s, which was the Penguin Cafe
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Orchestra,” Arthur reveals. “So I grew up with that being the touchstone of all music for me.” The original group was a chamber orchestra with the mission statement of writing and performing chamber orchestral music that could be enjoyed by anyone, academic or not — hence landing advert syncs for pieces such as Perpetuum Mobile and Telephone and Rubber Band. Arthur tells me that he only did the first piano exam while at school, struggling with the regimented ways of UK music education, and his dyslexia made it difficult to read music. But despite avoiding it, he did eventually go to study music at Goldsmiths University in London, after initially doing archaeology and anthropology. While at university, Arthur slightly struggled with the idea of intellectualising music, with students urged to mainly listen to ‘serious’ modern composers. “It’s interesting because that was my dad’s whole thing,” Arthur says. “He loved
Stockhausen, Cage, and Boulez. But he felt you could be that kind of musician and composer, but still make it so it sounds good to a kid who hasn’t been educated in all of that.” Where does he stand in the intellectual versus enjoyable music argument in the classical world, then? “[pauses] If you can take interesting ideas, and present them in a way that people might think it was easy to create, even when it wasn’t — to get people to engage with it emotionally, as well as intellectually. If you just do it intellectually, I don’t think you’re doing the full job.” Penguin Cafe Orchestra had a large output of albums, and toured extensively for 24 years, until Simon Jeffes tragically died in 1997. “10 years after my dad died, I got together with his old musicians, and we played some gigs at Union Chapel,” Arthur tells me. “They all sold out immediately, and there was still a real hunger for the Penguins’ stuff! Then I was asked to do a few other events, and the
Penguin Cafe
best thing I could think of was to do a few of my dad’s tunes. Each time I played, I’d end up adding another person — sometimes I’d need an extra cellist, or a violin player, and it just snowballed from there.” And now we have Penguin Cafe — a 12-strong chamber band. None of the original PCO are in this line-up, however, Arthur does always perform a selection of his father’s songs at performances, alongside his own compositions. His own music has now spawned three albums, with latest album. The Imperfect Sea, being recently released. I ask Arthur how separate he feels Penguin Cafe and PCO are, considering the very close titles, and the consistency of the album artwork — which, without fail, has always featured a human body with a penguin head. “Well, that’s all done by my mum,” Arthur replies, when I mention the artwork. “My dad had a fever dream involving penguins and animal-headed people. My mum’s a stone sculptor now, but was a painter back then, and would just listen to what he was saying and paint it. And because there are no lyrics, I love the idea of the music coming from this imaginary world, with the pictures being the window into that world. So Penguin Cafe is just based on the idea of Penguin Cafe Orchestra.” On the latest record, Penguin Cafe have used a much more ambient and electronic approach to the music. Perhaps not surprising, considering they recently signed with London
label, Erased Tapes Records, home of some of the world’s premier ambient, modern classical artists such as A Winged Victory for the Sullen. The new album was, however, already mastered prior to the group putting pen to paper on the record deal. “I’ve always liked Nils (Frahm), and the Hauschka kind of vibe,” Arthur says. “So it is a newer sound compared to our previous two records. But I’m always conscious of going too far one way — too far into experimenting, or too far into bubble bath music, the other way!”
Studio Time
So with a foray into experimenting more in the studio, I ask Arthur about the process the band went about there. “Mostly, we used a Prism Sound Orpheus interface,” Arthur says. “It’s just the best A-D/D-A out there to my ears. We actually once did a straight test between the Orpheus, my Metric Halo 2882, and the Digidesign 192 HD2 Accel I had at the time — they were really different, and while I still love the Metric, the transparency on the Orpheus was just staggering. It’s become a bit of a mainstay for our workflow, to be honest. “Furthermore, we use bunch of DPA microphones, which are fantastic: a cross pair of 4015s for superb sounding piano recording, and a load of 4099s, which are brilliant for any string work. “We’re also using a Softube SSL 4000 Emulator, which is just a very nicely designed bit of kit. The EQ when compared with
A Sea Of Unknown
anything else is miles ahead to our ears. And the hardware is great — it goes in a bag with a laptop, and you get all that processing power.” Arthur also reveals how some of the ambience was created: “The real trick on this one was things like putting rocks inside the piano. Balancing it on a contact microphone, using a Fender amp while keeping the sustain pedal on. Different rocks give you different tonalities!” Now the track title on the new album, Now Nothing (Rock Music) finally makes sense to me! It’s a wonderful album, which takes Penguin Cafe to some places they’ve never been sonically, but still retains their folkyclassical character and penguin-themed artwork. With the album finished and released, 2017 mostly sees Penguin Cafe touring all over the world. And where would Arthur like to see this crazy journey take the group down the line? “I do quite like this classical-electro crossover that’s growing year on year,” he says. “I love how Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson are taking film scores and making them as much about music as the film. I’d be interested to take Penguins towards that.” Yes, he referred to his band as Penguins; you can’t ask for a better ending note than that! @thepenguincafe www.prismsound.com www.dpamicrophones.com
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Sam Feldt Going With The Flow
GOING WITH THE FLOW Sam Feldt’s imaginatively melodic
re-working of Robin S’ original house classic, Show Me Love, was a huge chart success in 2015, and since then he’s been relentlessly touring and putting out singles, playing all the biggest dance music festivals such as Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival. So what brings him to London? “I’m playing a show at Ministry [of Sound],” Sam says in a light Dutch accent. “It’s going to be a special Dolby Atmos live show, so there’s a few things to sort out for that.” Dolby Atmos is the surround sound experience provided by audio giant, Dolby. I notice on the flyer that only Sam is utilising this technology, so his set certainly should be the biggest treat of the night, just before Kungs comes on to headline. When I ask what he’s been up to, I get a firm reminder of the jet-setting lifestyle of the contemporary DJ/producer: “I came straight from Amsterdam, where I did four shows; we’ve just had a big bank holiday there,” Sam says. “The weekend before, I was in Rome, and Ireland, basically touring Europe, but also working on my album, which is going to drop in October; it’s going to be a double album.” Besides the one EP, Sam has gone for the tried and tested route of releasing single after single after single, the norm in our SoundCloud and Spotify musical culture, particularly for those working in dance music. With that being said, a double album is a little different from a dance musician, so I ask how that came about. “I’ve just put too much of my music on the shelf recently,” Sam says. “I just want to give it to my fans, and not keep it for myself. We started off with the idea of doing a six-track EP which became ten tracks, which turned into fourteen tracks, which became eighteen!” Sam also has the cycle of the Earth in mind for this double release.
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With melodic house becoming one of the dominant sounds in dance music, a number of DJs have been carving out a superstar status, not the least of which being Dutch firebrand, Sam Feldt. Adam Protz reports.
“Another thing we’re doing is separating the album into two parts, one called Sunrise and one called Sunset,” he says. “It stands for the fact that my music can be enjoyed at any time of day. The first part will be very chill, summery, more typical Sam Feldt kind of music. The Sunset part will be more club-oriented, ‘watching the stars’ kind of emotions.”
SHOW ME LOVE
With a father who’s always played in bands, Sam got straight into the mix at 11 years old, already making music and sending his tracks to anyone who would listen. He says this music is ‘in his blood’, and describes this early period as ‘making loads of music in my bedroom, and trying to get booked in clubs.’ After little success, it was curiously when he changed his stage name to Sam Feldt that he was quickly signed to Spinnin’ Records and released the huge Show Me Love rework. “Since then, the last three years have been a crazy, crazy ride,” Sam says. I’m keen to know how the Show Me Love single came about. “One day, I was browsing YouTube, pretty bored,” Sam recalls. “I stumbled upon this vocal by Kimberly Anne, who ended up doing the vocals for Show Me Love. I was just immediately captivated by her voice, and had to do something with it. So I got in touch with her and got the stems for the vocals, and within a few days, we had the first version.” Sam’s version totally transforms the song from a relatively dark house song released in the early ‘90s, to an uplifting, starkly more melodic song. “I think if you come out with a new version of a song that’s so popular, that’s been done so many times, you kind of have to,” Sam says. “I said to myself, ‘if I’m going to do this, I want to do it right.’ I didn’t want to use any of the original elements of the song; I wanted to change the
melodies, and have a different vibe. I wanted it to be much more emotional and heartfelt than your typical Show Me Love club remix.” Conversation turns briefly to Sam’s go-to recording setup. “My home studio setup is fairly simple,” he admits. “I use a [Focusrite] Scarlett interface, and I use two KRK Rocket speakers, which is basically what I’ve been using from the very start of my career. I do feel that if you change the hardware you use, you can lose your flow and sound quite a bit. “I think what’s most important is the creative ideas. I don’t have a console, I just work from my laptop, on FL Studio. For VSTs, it really depends — I’m a big fan of Omnisphere. For pianos, I’m using TruePianos, Kontakt, and the Korg M1 plugin.” So with that double album dropping in October, there will be quite a few singles dropping in preparation for the big date. “Sunrise to Sunset is going to be all about Sam Feldt being the score and soundtrack to your day,” Sam says, a very cleverly thought out little moniker for the album. “I recently played Ultra Music Festival, and I’ve got Tomorrowland coming up, and the Ibiza season is filling up really nicely, too.” Before I bid Sam farewell, I ask him where he’d like to see himself in five years’ time. “Honestly? I don’t know where I’m gonna be in 12 months,” Sam smiles. “It’s hard to project yourself into the future like that, when everything in the present is always changing so quickly. “You just have to go with the flow. The main thing I hope to be doing is to still be releasing good music, and playing cool shows! If I can continue doing that, it will all work itself out.”
@SamFeldtMusic
Photo: Paul Gärtner | Design: Bertil Mark
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Studio Profile
Windmill Lane
TOINSIDEEDUCATE IS TO INNOVATE DUBLIN’S WINDMILL LANE STUDIOS In 1978, Windmill Lane was opened by renowned engineer, Brian Masterson; it’s also where U2 recorded much of their early work. After relocating to Ringsend Road in the late ‘80s, it remained one of Ireland’s best loved studios. Then in 2009, the ante was upped; Pulse College took the helm, bringing with them an expertise in music education. Today, this inspiring space is a truly sensational creative musical hub. “Achtung Baby was mixed here, but to what extent, I don’t know,” says Niall McMonagle, Windmill Lane’s main engineer, as we make our way into Studio One. “But I think All That You Can’t Leave Behind was the last time U2 were here recording; they used Studio One and Studio Two downstairs. [U2 drummer] Larry [Mullen Jr.] is quite a fan of the room downstairs, apparently.” We’ve been talking about the early days of Windmill Lane, of course – the U2 days, and how the facility has evolved considerably in
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recent years. And it is a true evolution, which is rare for a big studio. So often nowadays you see the legendary places shut their doors for various financial reasons, but since Pulse College got its hands on the place in 2009 and began upgrading the facility, it’s really been a case of onwards and upwards - and some. “Yeah, the college is on the floor below – there are lots of project rooms, and there is a degree in Music Production, a new degree in Audio Music Technology, which starts in September, and a Masters in Scoring for Film
“Film scoring is still a big business at Windmill Lane.” & Visual Media,” Niall tells me. “It was up for an award recently at the Irish Education Awards; we didn’t win, unfortunately, but we’re definitely right up there, you know?” Indeed. So the commercial studio is still a major element of the work carried out at Windmill Lane – Ed Sheeran, The Script, and Kodaline have all been recent customers - but the guys train a lot of students here, too; and in terms of the company side of things, Niall says education is the main thrust of it all. “Before we took over here, we had a
Studio Profile
smaller studio up on Camden Street, which is now Camden Recording, and that place has recently gone through a refurb, and looks great,” Niall reveals. “And it’s busy again, too, which is good to see. So when we took over here, we expanded the college and the studio side of things; and there really is always something going on.”
Smart Thinking
Niall tells me a quick tale of how there was once a period when visitors kept knocking on the Windmill Lane door, asking if they could come in and have a look at the place. ‘No’ was the answer most of the time, but it did get the team thinking. “It got to the point that if nothing was happening inside, we would just say, ‘come on in’,” Niall smiles. “It was hard to get people to leave sometimes, I can tell you, especially big U2 fans. I mean, we’re here every day, so we get used to it, but people were coming in and being totally mind-blown by the place. So we formalised it, and offered tours. Smart idea. Current Windmill Lane owners are Pulse College co-founders, Tony Perry, Aidan Alcock, and Naomi Moore: “They started off doing basic MIDI programs in Tony’s mother’s house - that was 20-30 years ago,” Niall explains. “And then they started doing City of Guilds Diplomas in Audio Technology, and ran that for years and years; and that’s the one that Pulse College became known for. And U2’s last I don’t know
how many engineers have come through this program. Then, since we moved here, we’ve expanded it to degrees in Film Production, and Games Development, and Animation as well. It’s become absolutely massive.” As if by magic, as Niall finishes that sentence, Tony Perry appears at the door with his daughter, Lara. After Niall makes an introduction, I ask Tony about life since the 2009 acquisition. “Well, we were very close with the original owners; Brian Masterson was one of guys who originally set it up, and we had trained all of their staff for many, many years before,” Tony explains. “And I’d done a couple of sessions here as an engineer and producer, too, so when the opportunity came, we had to go for it. “We were in competition with Windmill Lane [at the time], and we were taking a lot of their clients. I suppose that and the decline of the big studios in general at that time, they didn’t quite know what to do. They were the older generation, and we thought we would be in a position to maximise that with education, the corporate gigs, and The Windmill Lane sessions, which Niall has been involved with.” I turn to Niall, and he explains them for me: “We started an Internet-based series that then got broadcast on Irish TV here called the Windmill Lane Sessions. For about the last 18 months to two years, we’ve run it; a band plays live, they do an interview with one of the national newspapers, and out it would go,” he explains. “I do a lot of that, and we’re
Windmill Lane
currently in the process of upgrading that first evolution. We shot the pilot for a new version of that a couple of weeks ago, and that’s what I’m doing as my main project now. It’s great, because I am much more hands-on, and it feels like more of a project of my own.” Sounds great. I immediately invite myself along to one, once they’re up and running,
On Location
Tony tells me he’s just got back from BNR Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, where students record a 110-piece orchestra as part of their Pulse College Masters degree in Scoring for Film & Visual Media. Wow. “Yeah, it’s their final piece, before they do their thesis,” Tony says. “And they get trained with John Williams’ orchestrator, Conrad Pope, out there, too. [James Bond composer] David Arnold is also involved; he did a masterclass for us here at Windmill Lane. “In London or LA, you can find 110 good players, but not in many other places. Here in Ireland, we could get 70, but for Star Wars or Indiana Jones – all those great John Williams pieces, you need 100-110, and you can get that in Bulgaria, affordably.” And what about the audio engineering side of things – is it a case of starting from scratch, or is there a level of knowledge required to get in, so to speak? “Oh, we go through the lot. This is a mic. This is a lead. Seriously,” Niall says, smiling. “We believe they need to be cutting edge on
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Studio Profile
Windmill Lane
“The Genelecs in studio one are beautiful and detailed; big, crisp, and very precise...” Pro Tools and Logic, but really, our thinking is that you have to be confident and competent on analogue kit, too.” “Exactly that,” Tony concurs. “If a client comes in, if I was to mix in Pro Tools, it would sound different than if I used stems on the Neve desk, and that’s because of the imperfections of the desk, and how it widens the image. “Some of this gear is nearly as old as me! [both laugh] They never really got better than the 1176, and even the reverbs – the external ones sound different, and the reason why is they’re dedicated chips. In the next iteration of Pro Tools, when they’re using dedicated chips as well as CPU, then we’ll start hearing reverbs come into their own.”
Kick Ass Monitoring
The Neve in Studio One is a 1980, and in addition to their NS10s, there are a big pair of Genelecs embedded into the wall, which have apparently been there for 20 years. “Yeah, they were installed in the mid to late ‘90s, I would say; they are beautiful and detailed, big, crisp, and very precise,” Tony reveals. “Actually, they have a set of those
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Genelecs in BNR studios too, along with an SSL Duality – the sound there is sublime.” “And when Brian Masterson comes in, he takes all the other speakers down, and only works on the Genelecs,” Niall adds. “And he has them sounding amazing right away. I start on NS10s, and build up to the Genelecs, but he is straight in, bang. Incredible.” Film scoring is still a big business at Windmill Lane – the last one done here was Sing Street, directed by John Carney. It was mixed at a smaller studio called Cauldron, however. How come? “Well, we don’t get a lot of the mixing projects anymore; we still get some, but I suppose you don’t always need to mix on a giant Neve anymore, do you?” Niall says. “The Neve is used a lot for summing; just set them at zero and run it back through. Not even the EQ, because you’d only have to recall that, wouldn’t you?” adds Tony, with a smile. I take a short tour of the floor below, and am in admiration at the various editing pods and suites that Pulse College have installed within these legendary studio walls. “These are mainly all the audio pods, and some film,” Niall explains, as we move from
room to room. “We have another campus for games, animation, and film down on Cable Street, and we’re also in partnership with Griffith College – they have a big campus up on Portobello, with a Student Union and there are bars and accommodation there.” There’s a session going on in Studio Two, but we pop our heads in to take a look at the room that Larry Mullen likes so much – it’s another Genelec space, too. As is Studio Three, I discover, as we wander in there: a really nice little mix room complete with Genelec 8040s set up for 5.1 surround. As I make my way to the exit – albeit reluctantly – I remind Niall that I will be back for one of these new and improved Windmill Lane Sessions. As seems standard in terms of Irish hospitality, he welcomes me back any time. He may live to regret that... @WindmillLaneRec www.windmilllanerecording.com www.genelec.com www.pulsecollege.com
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Made in Denmark
Brendon Heinst
TRPTK
LABEL ON A MISSION Utrecht-based audio engineer, Brendon Heinst, is the co-founder of a quite unique record label, TRPTK, whose main focus is to generate high resolution recordings for their eclectic artist roster. We decide to find out more about the process.
The TRPTK label was founded in November 2014, almost by accident, Brendon tells Headliner: “Originally we had planned on just making a sample CD of what you could do with DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) recordings – that was in March of 2014 - and then by September, we came up with the idea of forming a label, and bringing young artists in to record in very high resolution,” Brendon explains. “We’re not business guys, we just really love what we do; and there is a staggering amount of shit going on these days [in studios], even though the technology
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available lends itself to high res audio - most cheapish audio interfaces can do 96kHz or even 192kHz nowadays. I know a couple of places who do massive productions, and it ends up at 16-bit, 44.1kHz. Horrible.” One major project of late has been recording Paper Motion’s album, which claims to boast ‘sounds from outer space’; and that was all down to recording it in hi res. “The band are from the east of The Netherlands, so they’re very down to earth guys; we wanted to start doing pop music in DXD, and they were very keen to try doing this,” Brendon continues. “Not a lot of artists
“Merging has this extremely open sound, with little to no filtering...” want to go in that direction, as auto correction tools like Melodyne and Auto-Tune don’t work in that resolution. They came in to do an EP, and that turned into an album, basically.” Pre-production was pretty extensive, and was carried out largely by Brendon’s label partner, Luuk Meijssen. “Luuk spent 18 months working on their sound to create songs out of what were their sketches, and they got a whole album out of that,” he explains. “They came up with an extremely spacious sound that they were really after, and it works perfectly with DXD, as dry sounds become so punchy, and they match
Brendon Heinst
very well with the enveloping feel that a lot of high resolution recordings can give the listener.”
Nerding Out
Brendon, in his own words, is ‘the nerd of the label’ - he does some production, but only on classical and jazz projects, and Luuk does the creative production on all the pop records: “Luuk really knows how pop music should sound, and I’m about the engineering and the mastering, really. The technical side of things is very important; I engineered the Paper Motion record, although the whole sound concept came from Luuk. What’s nice is, at TRPTK, the artists we work with really understand what high res audio is all about.” Brendon has been a true advocate of Merging Technologies for several years now, and the manufacturer’s equipment is at the core of the TRPTK recording process. “I started out renting the dCS converters, then I bought a couple of [Merging Technologies] Sphynx 2 converters that could do DXD from another label in The Netherlands, and I just fell in love with the sound,” Brendon tells us. “Merging has this extremely open sound, and you can really hear little to no filtering going on - and that is what we really appreciate.” At present, it’s the pair of Sphynx 2s that are at the helm, but the guys are in the process of upgrading to a full Ravenna based studio with a Merging Hapi and Horus system.
“That is the goal, and we are almost there,” smiles Brendon. “It’s perfect for us, because Luuk and I work in tandem a lot, so having the flexibility of having a couple of DAWs in the studio and a couple of monitoring systems, and being able to seamlessly switch between them is just fantastic. Also, take the Paper Motion project as an example: we ran 32 channels of DXD, and then 24 channels back into the recording room for monitoring. If you did that with the old Quad AES system of dCS, you would just have a ton of AES cables hanging down - and the cost of that is incredible!” So for Brendon and Luuk, it’s three factors: the sonics, the flexibility, and the efficiency. “Yes, because we’re trying to run a business, too, so efficiency is key. Before, with the dCS units, we’d spend half a day setting up for recording sessions, whereas with Ravenna we used the Horus converters on a couple of projects as well, and it’s just amazing – you walk into the room, and 30 minutes later, you have everything set up. And of course you can save all your mic pre amp settings into your unit – that’s just perfect. So having a couple of boxes that can sort an entire workflow is quite something; and Merging is great at making these all in one things that work so very well and extremely efficiently. “The studio is run 24-7; most of the week, Luuk works from 9am to 6pm, and I work the evenings, or vice versa; having this stuff that won’t break down and is so quick is not only
TRPTK
very important but also terribly handy, as well. And, of course, recording onto Pyramix is fantastic, too – it’s totally rock solid.” Everything at TRPTK’s studio is done in the box, and Brendon wouldn’t have it any other way. “The issue with consoles is the noise will keep on building up,” he says. “When I used dCS, I did use a custom mixer built specifically for me, and that had a signal to noise ratio above 120dB - then it’s interesting to mix out of the box - but with what we have, DXD sound is so good, it doesn’t make sense to use a console. “A little noise is natural, of course; you can’t stop people breathing in a concert hall, can you? [smiles] But we care about the timing, as we as humans are so very sensitive to timing; look at our prehistoric brain: it doesn’t care how a lion sounds, but it does care where the thing is, and whether it’s ready to bite you! So the timing information is more important in the music than the tonal qualities in that sense, and many outboard components add a slowness to the sound that we don’t like.” And with new investment and management onboard, TRPTK is aiming for big things: “It’s an exciting time for us for sure; and we hope to get the Ravenna kit in just in time for all of our July studio projects. Fingers crossed!” www.trptk.com www.merging.com
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Radiohead 3Arena, Dublin
RADIOHEAD IN DUBLIN It’s been 20 years since I last saw
Radiohead. That was during the OK Computer tour of ‘97, at Wembley Arena. I was blown away then, and this time, I’m at Dublin’s 3Arena, and from what I have heard about this tour, it could be somewhat of a life-changing experience. As Thom Yorke says to the warm Irish crowd just a few songs in: “We never expected this all these years later, but here we are, so...” That kind of says it all. It’s a rock band whose humble, almost bashful attitude to their success is as inspiring as the songs they pen. The set runs for more than two hours, and is as eclectic as it is sensational. It begins calmly with the piano-led Daydreaming, which sets the tone nicely; and two further numbers from A Moon Shaped Pool follow: Desert Island Disk, and then the drum and bass-fuelled Ful Stop – a real belter of a song. Soon after, we are treated to classic numbers, Airbag, and then My Iron Lung, and I realise once again just how diverse and full of quality this band’s catalogue really is. It also staggers me to discover that they’re putting this wall of sound out without any sampling or playback whatsoever – it’s 100% live, without a click track in sight. After a particularly beautiful rendition of Let Down, the show gets a little darker and alternative – but this is not a bad thing. Bloom, Idioteque, and Bodysnatchers send the crowd into a frenzy; and
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as the last chord of 2 + 2 = 5 strikes, they take a bow and head off stage... for now. A minute later, the boys are back, as the truly beautiful No Surprises rings out - Jonny Greenwood getting melodic on his trademark glock - the place absolutely erupts. For me, it’s the highlight... until the very next track: “We wrote this around the time of OK
“As the truly beautiful No Surprises rings out, the place absolutely erupts...” Computer, but only released it a little while ago,” Yorke announces (or words to that effect), and the band perform a quite breathtaking rendition of I Promise – a track I realise I’ve heard on the radio very recently, and only now understand why. But wait... Next up is Paranoid Android. For me, songs don’t get any better than this. I remember vividly when this six-minute masterpiece made it to number two in the UK Singles Chart (try and imagine that in today’s industry!), and the performance is raw, powerful, and remarkably
tear-jerking. It brings back a bucketful of personal memories, as great music has a habit of doing. So where do you go from there? Well, before the boys leave the stage for a second time, we dip back into A Moon Shaped Pool, with a great performance of Present Tense, before regressing to the year 2000 with Kid A’s Everything In Its Right Place. This is mesmerising stuff. The lights go down – and no more than 30 seconds later, they’re back up again. Radiohead aren’t finished just yet. As they return for what has to be the final time tonight, we hear Lotus Flower, from 2011’s perhaps less well known album, The King of Limbs, before one of my all time favourites fills the arena: Fake Plastic Trees from The Bends. I assume this has to be the last song, but of course, we’re in Dublin, so it wouldn’t be right not to end on How To Disappear Completely: “I walk through walls, I float down the Liffey,” sings Thom Yorke, with a little smile. He’s paying testament to Dublin’s River Liffey, of course, which runs alongside the 3Arena. This line gets the biggest cheer of the night, and rightly so. This was an epic performance from what has to be the greatest live rock and roll band on the planet. Look out for our full Radiohead production profile in the next issue of Headliner.
@Radiohead
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