Headliner Magazine Issue 40

ISSUE 40 / DECEMBER 2021 SUPPORTING THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET UK £3.95 / USA $6.95 / CANADA $7.95

MAGAZINE / 40

COMING INTO SEASON

THE ZOMBIES BRYCE DESSNER

THE NATIONAL GUITARIST ON SCORING NEW CYRANO MOVIE

OLGA FITZROY

RENOWNED MIX ENGINEER TALKS COLDPLAY & THE CROWN

THE TESKEY BROTHERS

ON RECORDING THEIR NEW ORCHESTRAL LIVE ALBUM

“Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind.”

— Mick Jagger

©2020 QSC, LLC. All rights reserved. QSC and the QSC logo are registered trademarks of QSC, LLC in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries. Play Out Loud is a trademark of QSC, LLC. Artist: Printz Board. Photo by Mikel Darling.

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SUP P

IV E C EAT O CR

ING THE T R O

NITY MU M HEADLINER MAGAZINE

40 We end this year in similar fashion to how we started it – shrouded in uncertainty, peppered with question marks and with a growing number of plans once set in pen Tip-Ex’d out and replaced in pencil. After what had felt like a relatively sure and steady few months of progression on the path back to at least some semblance of normality, the planet has once again been nudged on its axis by the latest Covid mutation.

And while this naturally presents cause for concern, there is also a sense that we as an industry are far better prepared for what the coming weeks and months may hurl in our direction. Of course, on a human level, the vaccine rollout will hopefully ensure that even if we do see lockdown restrictions re-introduced to some extent, the duration of such conditions will be considerably less prohibitive than those experienced in late 2020 and early 2021. But as an industry, the music and pro audio sectors have demonstrated clearly what they can achieve in the face of untold adversity.

Both the recorded and live music industries now have real world experience of dealing with a pandemic. The innovation that has been seen in these areas over the past couple of years has been something to behold. Everyone from artists and record labels, to gear manufacturers and events companies

have been forced to diversify their respective approaches to their craft and have subsequently found new ways not only to operate but also to thrive.

There is no denying that this bump in the road will provide legitimate worries, particularly for those in the touring market, whose careers and incomes were dealt among the heaviest of blows. But we can also take heart from what has been accomplished by the industry when each of its various strands come together.

Throughout 2021, the team at Headliner have seen and heard firsthand just how resilient, determined and committed to overcoming these incredible challenges this corner of the world is. It’s been humbling and inspiring, and if we can carry this spirit into the new year, we may just be able to pick up where we left off in 2019.

Daniel Gumble Head of Music, Headliner HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

18 / MAXIM KOMOV 14/ ST. LUNDI 08 / SAMUEL JACK

30 / ROBERT GRACE

34/ THE TESKEY BROTHERS

22/ THE ZOMBIES 40 / VENUE FOCUS

44 / OLGA FITZROY

50 / BUSINESS

56 / PRO AUDIO 60 / KEN ‘POOCH’ VAN DRUTEN

52 / BRYCE DESSNER

68 / SUZY SHINN 64 / IMMERSIVE AUDIO 72 / CREATIVE HOUSE

86 / SIMON HONYWILL

78 / LANCE POWELL 82 / AUDIO PRODUCTION

122 / AUDIO NETWORKING 98 / SPOTLIGHT REVIEWS

90 / TECHNOLOGY 94 / EDUCATION

130 / DRUM & LACE AND IAN HULTQUIST 126/ SARAH REEVES

134 / LUKE SOLOMON

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SAMUEL JACK

Reel Life

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ASPIRING HEADLINER

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REEL LIFE

SAMUEL JACK This year has seen Olivia Rodrigo and Mimi Webb break through on TikTok, but the app securing singer-songwriter Samuel Jack’s big break was Instagram Reels – with his single, Feels Like Summer unexpectedly going viral – 18 months after releasing it. The UK artist describes what it’s like to suddenly have a song become the most used song on IG Reels in the US, which at its peak was uploaded over 10K times per day.

London-born Jack actually spent his formative years in Johannesburg with his film director father, who raised him on a musical diet of blues, Motown, soul and roots. His broad musical palette resulted in the different sounds later weaved into his album, Empty Pockets, Crowded Heart, which narrates struggles with inner demons, the turbulence of family and relationships, and the desire and want for something – or someone.

Motown,” he reflects. “I listen to all sorts of music, but there is something about blues, about soul, about gospel that just gets into my veins,” he explains. “The history of it all, the hurt, the pain, the joy, the sex. And when those emotions are delivered by a voice that really means it, I just feel like there can’t be a better way to express yourself.

“I’ve always been inspired by music of black origin, so blues, roots, soul, HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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SAMUEL JACK

Reel Life

music, it transpires that the first cassette he bought with his own money was actually The Spice Girls’ Wannabe.

“It’s that girl power, man! You know that was pop gold though. It doesn’t matter what musical background you come from, or how cool you might think your music taste is – that was a great pop record.”

“I was obsessed with BB King as a kid,” he adds. “Having said that, I loved Paul Simon. Graceland is one of my favourite albums of all time. But really, all the soul greats informed and shaped the type of music that I write now; I just chuck a bit of pop music in there as well with it.”

Despite his deep love for soul and blues HEADLINER MAGAZINE

Jack started writing poetry and music as he travelled the world in his late teens, and independently released his first EP in 2016. Three volumes of his Empty Pockets, Crowded Heart EP series plus a succession of singles followed, which allowed him to nurture a loyal grassroots fanbase.

There were hints of the success that would eventually follow – an invite to play Glastonbury, a tour as guest to Jack Savoretti – although behind the scenes, it was a struggle. He specifically remembers driving home from a gig in London to his caravan in the southwest, having barely made enough money to cover the cost of petrol.

His big break was to come earlier in 2021, when his song, Feels Like Summer took on a life of its own due to Instagram Reels. With over 15 million worldwide streams, the song became one of the first ever tracks to break out of Instagram Reels in America

before taking off on TikTok, then firing into the top 40 of Spotify’s Global Viral Chart and into a further 12 of Spotify’s national viral charts. Such was its success that Jack struck up a deal with Arista / Columbia Records off the back of it.

Inspired by reminiscing with a friend over a pint, he shares that the feelgood tune was written at a time when he felt he wasn’t where he wanted to be in terms of his musical career: “It was inspired by an old friend of mine – we were just reminiscing and saying, ‘Remember when we used to drive to the beach, steal my dad’s beer, go down there, get drunk and sleep in the car? Do you remember that girl that we all fancied at school?’ At that age, those summers felt like they lasted forever, and that you could just achieve anything, you could be anyone you wanted to be. We were young and free, and I thought that was a great idea for a song. I was just using summer as a way of showing that nostalgia off really.

ASPIRING HEADLINER

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SAMUEL JACK

Reel Life

“IT’S NICE TO GET A LITTLE BIT OF RECOGNITION AT THE END OF WHAT’S BEEN QUITE A LONG JOURNEY ALREADY, BUT I FEEL LIKE I’M STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN.”

“We’d been locked up for so long, and then we could celebrate being together again,” he furthers on the song’s remarkable – and delayed – success. “There’s a lot of nostalgia in the song – it’s about looking back on times gone by. I think it just arrived at the right time.”

Unbeknownst to Jack, the song would go on to not only climb the charts, but be featured in everything from Love Island to being used in videos by Sergio Ramos and Jamie Oliver.

“It’s absolute madness,” he laughs. “I released the song maybe 18 months before it started to gain traction – it’s not like I had any sort of attention on that song at the time. Now, it’s charted in the viral charts, songwriter charts and in all genre charts, and pretty much every chart there is in the world.

What’s most incredible about it is that there isn’t a corner of the world that is untouched. I’m talking Malta, Japan, all over Europe, North and now South America. The Nordics is where it originated – that’s where it all stemmed from for whatever reason.

“I was very much a working musician anyway, in that I was touring – I was doing stuff, but this is the sort of thing that puts you into a new echelon of audience,” he considers. “It’s been an absolute journey. I already had a fan base on Instagram, but Reels-wise, not really. It didn’t come from me, it came from someone else – those are the guys that lit the fire.”

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The song has been used on Reels by athletes, olympians, chefs and high profile people in fashion, health and beauty, and by people of all ages from all over the world; surely Jack has a few favourites?

“There’ve been some great ones actually,” he pauses, thinking. “It was nice to see Jamie Oliver and Tom Kerridge using it, just because I used to work in restaurants, so I’ve got a bit of a bond with chefs – it’s a very unique industry. I really liked seeing the breadth of it. We’d get videos of people skiing in the Alps, people in the Caribbean, dogs on surfboards, and people walking their bunny rabbits.

That was just awesome. It’s so nice to go, ‘Oh wow, this guy in New Zealand is parachuting and listening to Feels Like Summer at the same time.”

Although he admits they haven’t all been as good: “Some are bizarre,” he laughs, nodding. “One guy sent me one of himself just painting a door. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for people using it! But it’s been interesting what people choose to put the song to.”

November saw the viral song followed up by heartfelt track, Stay Like This, which Jack says he has “lots of feelings about.

“It’s not always easy to put these kinds of songs out into the ether. Have you ever been in a moment that

felt so sweet, so easy and you know it’s gonna pass but you’d kind of do anything for it to stay exactly the way it is?” he asks. “Well that’s Stay Like This.

It’s all those mornings you woke up with that person that made you feel special and lucky and loved, when there are no stars but that person makes you shine anyway. It’s a bit raw, it’s a bit real and it’s a bit like leaving the curtains of my complicated mind wide open on a busy street after dark!”

Jack is excited to finally announce his UK tour dates – “It’s been a long time coming!” – kicking off in Manchester in March 2022.

“I’m excited about cracking on and doing as much as I can,” he smiles at the prospect of performing live again. “It’s nice to get a little bit of recognition at the end of what’s been quite a long journey already, but I feel like I’m starting all over again, and I’ve got plans for plenty of stuff. This year’s been an absolute trip, and I know I’m getting closer and closer to being able to tell my story to a whole lot of new people.”

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ST. LUNDI

Musical Incursions

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MUSICAL INCURSIONS

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ST. LUNDI We’re often told in life to go with our guts, and rising star St. Lundi took this advice to something of an extreme when he one day left his remote island life off the South Coast of the UK, buying a one-way ticket to London with little money or plan. Some might interpret that as madness, but for this young man it has already led to collaborations with the likes of Kygo and Seeb. He released his first single in March 2020, yet his streams are already in HEADLINER MAGAZINE

the millions. Headliner chats with St. Lundi to get to the bottom of how a very spontaneous decision led to a burgeoning career in pop music.

“I’d always lived on Hayling Island, which is a small island of about 15,000 people,” St. Lundi says (or Archie Langley in real life). “It’s connected to the mainland but you can see the Isle of Wight from there.

Imagine if you were walking to France, you’d go through there. I lived

there my whole life until I was 21. And then I made a dash to London to do music, and I’ve been here ever since.”

You often hear the argument these days that, thanks to the ubiquitous nature of the internet, you can have a music career anywhere as long as you have a broadband connection.

But you’d perhaps be stretching that argument quite a bit with someone living on a tiny island at the literal bottom of the United Kingdom

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St. Lundi found his love for music by learning acoustic guitar, and began cutting his teeth playing small gigs around nearby Portsmouth. However, he found life on the island isolating, and adding to this, his huge desire to go and play music in a big city led to a quite fateful decision.

“I’d always dreamed of doing music in London, and I wasn’t in the best mental state on the island,” St. Lundi says. “It was the 31st of May 2017, 9:30pm. And I just thought, ‘I’m going to go to London’.

I had a job and a car on the island. I said to my grandparents [who he was living with] that I was popping out to the shop for half an hour, because I knew they wouldn’t let me go otherwise. I jumped onto a train to London.

The following night I played an open mic in Shepherds Bush and I met a group of Australians who said, ‘Come back to ours’ when I told them I had nowhere to stay.

“It’s not something I’d ever advise someone to do, running away from home in the middle of the night with no money. I know it’s dangerous. I just wanted it enough and I got very lucky at the same time.”

It’s important to note this isn’t some overly-romantic success story – St. Lundi did not have a bedroom of his own for his first 18 months in the capital, and it took a full two years of plugging away until a record deal was reached. It all paid off in a big way after a chance introduction to Norwegian dance music star Kygo saw them collaborate on To Die For, launching St. Lundi into the Billboard Dance charts.

This swiftly led to another big dance breakthrough with more Norwegians, EDM act Seeb – St. Lundi’s work with them on Colourblind garnering even more success for this young man.

“AS I WAS WRITING THIS SONG, I JUST HAD A GUT FEELING, AND ANYONE THAT KNOWS ME, KNOWS THAT I FOLLOW MY GUT.”

Speaking to St. Lundi, he’s on the eve of releasing his latest single, Nights Like This – a slice of folky piano-pop with HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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ST. LUNDI

Musical Incursions

subtle EDM touches. It’s yet another example of him listening to his gut when it has something important to say.

“As soon as I wrote it, I messaged my team saying, ‘I think I’ve written something quite special’, which isn’t something that I often say. As I was writing this song, I just had a gut feeling, and anyone that knows me, knows that I follow my gut. I just had this instant feeling that it was going to be a big part of my career.”

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

What a powerful gut indeed, as it appeared to predict the song would break one million streams in only three months since releasing in September. What a wonderful one-way train ticket story St. Lundi’s career is so far, one Headliner is keen to follow as he continues to write it.

STLUNDI.COM

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MAXIM KOMOV

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

Eastern Soul

ENGINEER

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EASTERN SOUL

MAXIM KOMOV Moscow-based mix and mastering engineer, producer and sound designer Maxim Komov tells Headliner how the Russian studio and recording industry has evolved in recent years, his approach to music production, and how he uses oeksound’s soothe and spiff plugins throughout his process…

It’s been quite the busy year for Komov, having worked with his usual range of well-known Russian artists and bands – including Thomas Mraz, Bicycles for Afghanistan and Hardcore Café – as well as with Mongolian pop girl group The Wasabies.

“I’ve also collaborated with some great songwriters,” he tells Headliner.

“I worked with a production duo called Sunny From The Moon on some big opening ceremonies that happened in Sochi and Kazan, two big cities in Russia. We composed and recorded the music for these events, and there were a lot of local pop artists involved.”

While the majority of Komov’s most recent mixing and production work has been on the pop rock side, he admits that his musical influence is quite broad. He grew up listening to and playing in rock and metal bands, and quickly developed an ear for more experimental styles like Norwegian jazz.

“I enjoy working with artists and bands who implement elements of jazz, R&B and organic hip-hop into their sound,” he reveals. “These new soul artists are very popular in Russia at the moment. More experimental styles – with their broad palette of sounds – often force you to investigate deeper into how the music is made.

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MAXIM KOMOV

Eastern Soul

“The recording industry in Russia is quite young compared to that of Britain or America, although I think it’s constantly evolving and developing. In the ‘90s there were maybe five or six big studios where you could actually record your music. Independent artists didn’t stand a chance because it was of course too expensive, but things have changed very fast. Now we’ve seen an explosion of music creators who work remotely on just their laptops.

They might record some drums in their living room and then go to a different

room in a different city to record vocals. The dynamic has completely changed. To be honest, I would like to work with others more often, because I think collaboration is what keeps you constantly moving forward. I’m often mixing for up to 18 hours a day, so I’d like to spend maybe two days a week just collaborating with great, inspired artists.”

of compressors and preamps and a pair of Quested V2108 monitors.

For studio recording, mixing and arranging, his DAW of choice is Cubase, “because it’s very convenient, and can go quite deep with MIDI and things like orchestration”. For particularly large mixing projects, he also employs Reaper for its accessibility and flexibility.

When it comes to his setup, Komov uses his MacBook with an RME Fireface digital interface, along with a collection

“I WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH OTHERS MORE OFTEN, BECAUSE I THINK COLLABORATION IS WHAT KEEPS YOU CONSTANTLY MOVING FORWARD.”

Cleaning Up Komov has also recently been incorporating oeksound’s soothe and spiff plugins into his workflow: “spiff is actually my favourite for moving things deeper into the soundstage,” he explains. “You can use it to reduce the amount of attack, and move things away from the listener. It provides an interesting perspective, letting you control the positioning of instruments without using reverb and while still keeping the instruments dry.

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“I’m mostly using spiff on live drums to control the attack and sustain, and I like using the dry/wet slider to keep on top of things. With soothe on the other hand, I’m basically always putting it on vocals, using the slow attack setting to tame the tonal part of the vocal and the high-mids while keeping the transients punchy in that region. It’s also super helpful for cleaning up cymbals and high-hats from the snare microphones.

“I’m in the middle of producing and recording two albums in different

studios around Moscow – there are two or three great facilities where I find myself the most,” he concludes.

“I always just try to keep myself busy, and keep things moving all the time!”

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THE ZOMBIES

Coming into Season

THE ZOMBIES

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COMING INTO SEASON There’s something of a shared history between Headliner and legendary UK psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll outfit the Zombies. Our HQ, it transpires, is located above the very same 600-year-old St. Albans pub that founding members, singer Colin Blunstone and keyboard player Rod Argent, spent much of their formative years getting the band together and building a local following around the city.

Photographer: Alex Lake

“You’re not actually in the pub where we first met when we were 15, but the one you’re in is the pub we always used to drink in,” Argent remembers fondly as we join the pair over a Zoom call from our studio above said legendary watering hole.

“I remember St. Albans so well because we all went to school there and it was the main meeting point for the band - I remember many nights in that pub, but not many details,” laughs Blunstone. “I just remember lots of laughter. People who start groups obviously love music, but there’s also the attraction of drinking lots of beer and meeting lots of girls. For guys of 15 and 16, that’s often why they form a band.”

The pair are in great spirits, and understandably so. The band have been enjoying something of a renaissance of late, despite having been making music consistently over the past two decades, following a period of inactivity as the Zombies after their late ‘60s flourish. Having long been a far bigger live draw overseas – particularly in the US – than in the UK, they are currently preparing to embark on their first tour on home territory for many years in 2022, while in 2019 they were inducted into the legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Roxy Music, Radiohead, The Cure and Def Leppard. All of which we’ll come to shortly. But back to St. Albans…

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THE ZOMBIES

Coming into Season

Image: Payley Photography

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RISE OF THE ZOMBIES Things could have been very different for the Zombies. As with most bands, there’s a degree of chance in how the right personalities came by one another at just the right place and time.

For Blunstone, Argent and the original Zombies line-up, this was very much the case – not just in how they came to form the band, but in the roles they would adopt within it.

“Rod went to a gig with his cousin Jim Rodford. Who was in the big band of the time, The Bluetones, who were fantastic,” Blunstone recalls, the velvety tones and gentle delivery that HEADLINER MAGAZINE

helped define such hits as Time Of The Season still instantly recognisable in his speaking voice. “When Rod saw them, he said he knew he had to start a band. So, he started to talk to friends about putting a band together. There was a folk club at St. Albans school and he thought the best guitarist in the club was someone he didn’t know called Paul Atkinson. He asked him if he wanted to be in a band and Paul said sure.

“The school also had an army core, and the drummer with the best snare action was Hugh Grundy, so Rod

approached him and he said yes, too.

And Hugh had only ever been in the marching band, he’d never played a drum kit, so a lot of this was down to chance! Hugh had a friend who lived in the next street called Paul Arnold who was making a bass guitar in woodwork. He’d never played one, but he was making one and that got Paul into the band. As for me, at my school we sat in alphabetical order and I, Blunstone, sat next to Arnold! Paul said to me, ‘You have a guitar don’t you’? I said yes.”

COVER STORY

With the very first iteration of the band now in place, the Zombies arranged their inaugural rehearsal, albeit with a drummer who’d only ever played the snare and a bassist whose primary engagement with his instrument had been conducted over a woodwork bench. Still, there was sufficient talent within the group to convince Blunstone they may be on to something special.

“Jim managed to get all The Bluetones equipment for us to practice on,” he continues. “We did that practice with me as rhythm guitarist and Rod as lead singer.

But we only played instrumentals, so we didn’t get to hear Rod sing.

During a break, he went over to this broken-down piano and played Nut Rocker by Bee Bumble and the Stingers, which is a rock ‘n’ roll take on a classical piece. You have to be fairly accomplished to be able to play that, and Rod was only 15 but it was incredible. I went over to him and said, ‘You should play keyboard in the band’. Rod said, ‘No, it has to be a rock ‘n’ roll band

with three guitars’. It was left like that, but as we were leaving, I was playing to myself in the corner of the room a little bit of a Ricky Nelson song called It’s Late and Rod came over and said, ‘If you’ll be the lead singer, I’ll play keyboards’. And essentially, that was the Zombies.

We just had to learn our instruments and learn to write songs!”

After that first rehearsal, the band set about refining their musicianship and songwriting chops with a vigour and intensity that would stand them in great stead for their initial shows.

Sequestered away in their practice space for months before their debut gig, they gave themselves the best possible chance of connecting with audiences when finally taking to the stage. Before long, they were spearheading a local live scene of rock’n’roll bands that quickly connected beyond the confines of the city.

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Argent with a smile and a warmth that feels disarmingly familiar. “We had a 30W amp that the whole band went through, including vocals. We did a couple of gigs like that and then Colin got us a gig playing at the local rugby club one night and we had a 20-minute slot in the interval. There were only about 20-30 people there, but they loved it and booked us again. Before we knew it we were headlining, and within a year they built a marquee on the side and we were playing to over 400 people, which we couldn’t believe.

“We built this great scene and we ended up playing in a competition which we won by beating The Bluetones, and that was rough justice because for many years when Jim was playing with us, he said to Colin, ’The first time I saw you play your first rehearsal I thought ‘no chance’’!

“We rehearsed for months before our first gig with some very rudimentary equipment,” says

“ROD CAME OVER AND SAID, ‘IF YOU’LL BE THE LEAD SINGER, I’LL PLAY KEYBOARDS’.

AND ESSENTIALLY, THAT WAS THE ZOMBIES. WE JUST HAD TO LEARN OUR INSTRUMENTS AND LEARN TO WRITE SONGS!”

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THE ZOMBIES

Coming into Season

UK vs US The momentum that had been built on the live circuit soon started to translate into hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Singles like She’s Not There and Time Of The Season from the albums Begin Here (1965) and Odyssey And Oracle (1968), respectively, proved popular at the time but would continue to grow in stature and earn the band new followers over time. This was particularly true in the US, where even during decades of relative inactivity between the ‘70s and the ‘00s, appetite for their music would escalate. And since the return of the Zombies in their current form just over 20 years ago, they have enjoyed bona fide legendary status.

In their homeland, perhaps on account of their Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction or the ubiquity of those aforementioned hits in the world of film, TV and advertising, their oeuvre has only now become the subject of significant revision. So why has it taken them so long to attain the kind of affection they have received in the US in their native UK? “I’m sure there are many subtle reasons, but one is that when we first signed to Decca Records… [Blunstone pauses]. You have to remember we were 18 years old and very naïve.

We went into their offices and were shown into the press department and had a 20 minute conversation that went somewhere along the lines of, ‘We need an image – what’s your image going to be’? And there was this very contrived image of us put together as being… I’m almost loath to go into detail, but it was very childish. People want their bands to be a bit roguish, like the Stones.

Bad boys. We were presented in a very different way after a very short conversation, and it was also combined with some really bad photos. Which still turn up 50 years later! So image-wise, we were destroyed in the UK.” HEADLINER MAGAZINE

“WE’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE AND PLAY NEW MATERIAL, AND THAT’S ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE’VE ACHIEVED SUCH LONGEVITY.”

“We hated it at the time,” Argent states. “We said, ‘What’s all this about’? It was crazy, but we were stuck with it. But not in America or a lot of other places.”

“In America we skipped all that,” Blunstone continues. “By the time we went to America we’d had six months in the business, which of course is only the beginning of your education, but we knew enough to steer clear of all that rubbish, and by then we had some slightly better photos, it was only in the UK we suffered from this publicity machine that was put behind us.”

There is, of course, far more to their success in the US than a more appropriate PR campaign. The band’s presence on the live circuit has undoubtedly shaken any perception of them as ‘one hit wonders’, while their management, they explain, has been crucial in helping navigate the US market.

“We’ve been together in this incarnation for 21 years and we’ve grown,” Argent elaborates. “When we first went back to America, we had a great agent who was doing things the right way for us and he eventually

became our manager. We now play to really big audiences in America.

We’re in a completely different ballpark.”

Rightly resentful of any ‘one hit wonder’ tag, another key factor in this late career resurgence is their approach to playing live. Unlike some bands of a similar vintage, every setlist is liberally peppered with new material, rather than simply turning up to deliver greatest hits sets.

“We’ve always wanted to write and play new material, and that’s one of the main reasons we’ve achieved such longevity,” says Blunstone. “We play the hits but we always play new material. And that goes down as well as the classics, which makes us a little bit different from a lot of bands from the ‘60s who are still playing.”

“That two hours on stage is still fantastic,” beams Argent. “That’s why we do it. We have the privilege of being at this ancient age but feeling like we are 18 years old when we’re on stage. I don’t think there is another profession that gives you that.”

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Image: Payley Photography

COVER STORY

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THE ZOMBIES

Coming into Season

Photographer: Maggie Clarke

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THE FUTURE At the time of our conversation, it is release day for the 50th anniversary edition of Blunstone’s debut solo album, One Year. Recorded at Abbey Road, the album comes packed with unreleased demos and as yet unheard material.

In addition to gearing up for their 2022 tour, which will take in the US, Canada, the UK and other parts of Europe, Blunstone and Argent are currently working on a set of new material, which they hope may see the light of day next year.

“It’s been unreal looking back at the record,” Blunstone says. “It was a wonderful experience and brought us back to Abbey Road where we recorded Odyssey And Oracle; we were in Studio 3 with Peter Vince in the engineer chair. There are some amazing arrangements, the string tracks are breath-taking. We recently found some demos from the sessions that I couldn’t remember - three reel-to-reel tapes of my demos. So we’ve added those to the anniversary release. I’m really looking forward to people hearing them with just a shade of apprehension!”

“We just did a livestream from Abbey Road and people loved the new material,” Argent smiles. “We did five songs for the first time, and we thought, ‘What are we doing?’ when we first started – they hadn’t even been road tested. But we have to excite ourselves, because we are in our mid-70s, so you want to look back and know you gave it your best shot and were fulfilling yourself.

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“Our last album, to our amazement, made the Billboard Top 100 in the US. It’s never going to be Adele or anything like that, but we had a call

from Billboard while we were on tour, and they said, ‘We just want to let you know for the first time as the Zombies in 50 years you have an album in the Top 100’. We could not believe it. I remember going on stage that night thinking, ‘Shit, this is absolutely fantastic!”

Over half a century into their career, next year may well prove to be one of the most pivotal in the band’s history.

And UK audiences may well see for themselves that there’s plenty of life in the Zombies yet.

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ROBERT GRACE

Breaking The Silence

by ALIC E ds

BREAKING THE SILENCE

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ROBERT GRACE Irish singer-songwriter Robert Grace’s recent hit, Fake Fine garnered him tens of millions of plays on Spotify, millions of YouTube views, and 1.8 million TikTok followers. He opens up about the serious message behind the song, and being inspired by everything from toxic relationships to pining for vampires in new tracks, Break the Silence and Beautiful Nightmare.

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ARTIST

Fake Fine went platinum in Ireland and spent five weeks at No 1 on both the Irish Homegrown charts and the Shazam Ireland Charts. You’re known for your straightforward, yet tongue in cheek lyrics that often tackle issues many people experience, but rarely talk about openly. Has it always been important to you to push these boundaries in your songwriting?

That song changed everything for me and was probably the most raw song that I had. There’s a lot of stuff in it that is pretty to the point, and it connected with people. It’s funny because it’s only in the last two years that I have actually started to write songs that were genuinely about me. Most of the time I was just writing a song in a writing session, and usually writing for someone else. Now there’s a lot more of a personal element to everything I make, and I feel like the songs that are more personal are the songs that connect with people.

I have a lot of mental health-related songs, and it’s weird, because I started to write them by accident. I was just writing a song, and I’d be in the middle of it and think, ‘Okay, maybe I’m not okay,’ or, ‘maybe there’s a few things that I need to address here’.

For a long time, I pushed things to the side or just hid things away, or tried to cover them up in some way. Writing songs actually helped me figure out

what was wrong with me – well, not wrong – but what was going on in my own head. Luckily enough, it ended up helping other people, which is the main thing that I want from my music.

If one person feels better after listening to one of my songs, I’ve achieved what I wanted.

Alongside Dermot Kennedy and Niall Horan, you were the third Irish male solo act to have a top 20 hit in your native country last year. Has that sunk in yet?

Everyone in the world knows who Dermot Kennedy and Niall Horan are… no one knows who I am [laughs].

I mean, not no one, but you know what I mean? What’s weird about that situation is to be included in a group of people who the whole world knows, and here I am alongside them just getting started! It’s a massive compliment and I’m grateful to everyone who supported me. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’m on a list with those two people…

Break the Silence paints a picture of a toxic relationship coming to an end, and its aftermath. Was this one of your songs about you, or someone else?

All the songs I do now stem from a personal experience. I’m married though, and we’ve been together for about eight years, so it’s been a long time since I was in that scenario!

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But there were situations when I was younger that would have been similar, and I know a lot of my friends have been in situations like that. So I take stuff from myself, and some facts from other people that I know, or it could be inspiration from movies that I’ve watched, and I build a story around all that information. I love doing that as well, it’s like writing a story.

Recent track, Beautiful Nightmare has an entirely different vibe. What events inspired this song?

This one is funny – well, not funny in that way – but it was written with production duo, PhD. Myself, and one of my good friends, Ryan Mac (he’s an artist and a songwriter as well) had a writing session and said, ‘What if we wrote a song where you’re in love with a vampire?’ So they keep turning people into vampires, but they’re just stringing you along – they’re making you do all the dirty work, and you’re hypnotised by them, and all you want to do is for them to turn you into a vampire. That’s the story we had in our head, but obviously the main story is about being in love with someone who makes you feel like they want you, but they throw you to the side. One minute they act like they love you, and the next minute, they couldn’t care less. So that’s the actual message, but we had this cool idea to bring vampires into it.

“THAT SONG CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME AND WAS PROBABLY THE MOST RAW SONG THAT I HAD.”

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ROBERT GRACE

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

Breaking The Silence

ARTIST

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“I FEEL LIKE I’M IN THE MUSIC, AND THAT’S WHAT GENELECS DO.”

You’ve been working in your home studio a lot recently – especially during lockdown – and anyone visiting your Instagram or TikTok pages can see you have a keen and creative interest in music production. What are your key pieces of studio kit?

I’ve had my Genelec 8030 monitors for about 10 years, and they’re still like the day I got them. I love the bass; they do have some pump in them! I love them for listening to any kind of music, actually. When I was at University of Limerick in Ireland, they had Genelecs in every studio. This university has top class studios, so I knew I had to get

Genelecs because they’re obviously the best. I used them in the studio there, and I was like, ‘Jesus, these are incredible!’ It’s mad because for a long time, I just thought speakers were speakers; I didn’t really understand the difference in quality and drivers and all that kind of stuff, until you try the top end stuff. Once you do that, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m in the music’, and that’s what Genelecs do.

They really put you in this spectrum of the sound you’re listening to; they’re a super high quality speaker.

never had to fix them. They’ve been literally in freezing cold sometimes, like when I had a studio up at my parents house in the shed – there’s no heating in there, and no insulation or anything. They would be in all sorts of temperatures and still work absolutely perfectly. They’re just beast speakers!

If anyone is going for speakers and they have the money, I’d recommend getting Genelecs – they’re super good.

INSTA: @ROBERTGRACEMUSIC GENELEC.COM

Plus, I’ve had them for about 10 years, and there’s not a bother – I’ve HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

THE TESKEY BROTHERS

The Christmas Blues

BY ALICE DS

THE CHRISTMAS BLUES

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THE TESKEY BROTHERS Josh Teskey can really wail. The lead singer of blues rock band, The Teskey Brothers is a man possessed by the holy spirit of Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett, sent here to deliver us from mediocre vocals. Despite invoking the old school sounds of a bygone era, this group isn’t from the Deep South, but is one of Australia’s best kept secrets – for now…

Formed by brothers Josh (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Sam Teskey (lead guitarist) from Melbourne – later joined by Brendon Love on bass and Liam Gough on drums – The Teskey Brothers went from busking on the streets, to eventually releasing their self produced and released debut album Half Mile Harvest.

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THE TESKEY BROTHERS

The Christmas Blues

Josh took his early inspiration from soul singers Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder, while Sam’s ears pricked to the psychedelic sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Eric Clapton and The Allman Brothers Band, which would go on to inform The Teskey Brothers’ sound – although Josh shares that they didn’t start writing songs until later in life.

“When I was about 12 years old, me and Sam would be on a couple of guitars, wailing across the marketplace and always loving that rhythm and blues sound,” he reflects on their early busking days. “I have been singing like this since I was a kid. We’d be screaming across marketplaces in this bluesy kind of fashion, playing some crazy Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, blowing some harmonica and singing in the way I did, with Sam wailing away on guitar. But it was a different matter to actually start writing songs in that style. Then the four of us basically played constantly, every weekend for close to 10 years before we even recorded anything.”

Since their impressive debut album, the band have expertly crafted their signature bluesy sound, and the world outside of Australia has finally started to take notice of The Teskey Brothers, usually noting their astonishment that they hadn’t heard of them sooner, and praising them for reincarnating the sounds of the ‘60s soul greats.

“We never expected to see much from this kind of old style,” Teskey admits.

“We didn’t think it was ever going to be a popular genre or a style of music that people would really get behind. We’ve realised over the years that there’s a real place for it and a real love for this classic sort of sound, and it’s really beautiful to see. I feel a lot of love for the world for having a place for that still. Rhythm and blues has been here, and it seems like it’s gonna stay here – it’s a timeless sort of music that is in HEADLINER MAGAZINE

people’s hearts, and it fills my heart to keep that alive in the world.”

Teskey is here today to talk about the band’s new album, Live At Hamer Hall, recorded last December midpandemic to an empty room. The group’s songs were reimagined by arranger Jamie Messenger and performed live onstage at the iconic Melbourne venue with Orchestra Victoria, led by conductor Nicholas Buc, and streamed live to fans across the world on YouTube. The 50-minute performance features hits from the band’s two critically acclaimed albums Run Home Slow and Half Mile Harvest, and includes two original Teskey Brothers Christmas songs, Dreaming Of A Christmas With You and Highway Home For Christmas.

“For the set list, we’ve tried to pick the more melodic pieces that we thought would suit an orchestra,” he explains, adding that impressively, the album was recorded live. “It was magic as far as the band syncing with the orchestra, having no audience in the crowd and just focusing on the music and singing in this beautiful room. There’s a beautiful thing about performing live and the energy of people, and I

love that, but there is something about having that pressure off you with no audience where you’re just focusing on your musical performance…” he trails off at the memory.

He’s comparing Live At Hamer Hall to the band’s 2020 live album, Live At The Forum, where the audience are a key part of capturing the electricity of the evening.

“It captures the energy,” he agrees, “and you can hear the way we’re feeding off the energy – it feels so fed by the adrenaline of the night. When you listen back to a recording, we were rushing things and I had blown my voice a little bit; I’m screaming and husking away,” he laughs good naturedly. “I’m going 110% the whole way through because you’re just feeling that beautiful energy, but when you do something like this in Hamer Hall to an empty room, there’s a real sensitivity about it. You can imagine that every one of these notes is echoing through that empty hall. When you listen to this recording, you can hear a pin drop in there. It’s a really beautiful musical performance, not fed by any adrenaline of performing to an audience.”

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“WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THIS RECORDING, YOU CAN HEAR A PIN DROP IN THERE.”

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THE TESKEY BROTHERS

The Christmas Blues

The two Christmas tracks on the album are bluesy Teskey Brothers songs through and through, tapping into themes of spending time with loved ones. Teskey’s personal favourite Christmas songs are Otis Redding’s version of White Christmas – “that’s a ripper” – and a more obscure choice from fellow Australian Paul Kelly in his song, How to Make Gravy.

“You’ve gotta walk a tightrope of how deep into Christmas you go,” he says of avoiding Christmas cliches.

“I wanted Dreaming Of A Christmas With You to be a Christmas song, but I wanted it to be a beautiful bit of poetry, and for it to lyrically make sense. It’s a love song about separation leading up to Christmas.

It’s very Australian themed, to be honest. The Murray River separates the two bits of land here, and there was a real hardcore border between these two communities that were separated by that river during covid.

I wanted to make it like a love song, but with some Christmas themes in there.”

Highway Home For Christmas was written by Gough, which has a more psychedelic flair to it.

“That’s his sort of world,” Teskey acknowledges. “The Teskey Brothers’ songs are a real mix of the different individual members. It’s an almost psychedelic, freaky kind of song, but it’s got a little Christmas theme to it. We’ve got a real appreciation for Otis Reading and Stax Records where they did these songs with a little touch of Christmas about them, like a couple of sleigh bells or something like that, but they are these beautiful songs, and we wanted to do something in our style.”

Headliner wonders if Teskey has seen the viral videos circulating the internet of people reacting to his stripped back performance of Rain for A Colors Show (watch it immediately; we’ll wait) – one HEADLINER MAGAZINE

viewer succinctly summing up his raw vocal performance with the words, “When Thor gets the Soul Stone”.

“I’ve seen a couple of them,” he admits, smiling modestly. “I’ve had a really good time watching a couple of these. We did this in this funky little warehouse in Berlin and I did that in front of that mic after back-to-back shows. I got up early in the morning and did that session, and I was really rough around the edges and really husky because I’d been gigging and singing every night. So it was really raw, but I guess it actually came out kind of cool because of that. That’s probably one of the biggest videos that we’ve ever done. I had no idea when I was doing it how widely viewed that video was going to be!”

The Teskey Brothers are taking the orchestra on tour in Australia starting in January 2022, and Teskey looks

forward to the day the band will perform in the UK again.

“We can’t wait to be back,” he says.

“I love being in the UK. I can’t wait to be back over there having a nice room temperature ale in one of those beautiful pubs.”

For now, it’s only covid-related restrictions standing between the band taking their show on the road and them finding inevitable widespread global recognition. In the meantime, don’t ever let that man clear his throat.

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L-ACOUSTICS

Immersive Instincts

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VENUE FOCUS

This year’s Jazz à La Villette festival in France saw L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Hyperreal Sound technology bring new audio dimensions to proceedings. Headliner hears from Emmanuelle Corbeau, deputy head of the AV department at the Philharmonie de Paris, which managed the deployment of L-ISA at the Cité de la Musique’s Salle des Concerts, about what the technology brought to the performances and how it enhanced the experience for audiences.

Every year, thousands of jazz fans come together at The Parc de la Villette in the French capital for Jazz à La Villette. Featuring some of the most prominent contemporary artists making jazz music today, the festival also celebrates the genre’s heritage. Cité de la Musique, one of two buildings comprising the

Philharmonie de Paris, served as one of the key venues for the festival.

“I have been fascinated by sound spatialisation for as long as I can remember, but initially working as an in-ear monitor engineer did not offer much opportunity to play with that technology, apart from looking into some binaural research available at the time,” said Corbeau.

“When I joined the Philharmonie de Paris in 2015 as their front of house engineer, it opened up a new world of possibilities in spatialised sound for me.”

Having experienced L-ISA in the form of demo sessions at tradeshows and, Corbeau first signed up to a dedicated spatialised sound course with the CFPTS (Centre de Formation Professionnel de Technique de Spectacle), where she was given

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a general overview of spatialised technologies, with L-Acoustics’ Etienne Corteel teaching the L-ISA section. She then experienced her first live show in L-ISA at the Cité de la Musique in 2019, leading the entire project with support from L-Acoustics.

She and the team from the Philharmonie then went on to explore the potential of L-ISA technology by attending a training session led

by L-Acoustics head of application projects, Arnaud Delorme. The opportunity to put her training into practice then presented itself with this year’s Jazz à La Villette festival.

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L-ACOUSTICS

Immersive Instincts

“ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS ABOUT L-ISA IS THAT IT LITERALLY ENVELOPS THE PERSON IN A 3D SOUNDSCAPE, SO YOU FEEL AS IF THE MUSIC IS NOT JUST IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU’RE SURROUNDED BY IT.”

The Philharmonie has L-Acoustics K2 and Kara systems permanently installed in both of its venues, meaning that Corbeau was able to use the Kara cabinets in Cité de la Musique, complementing them with additional cabinets from rental and installation specialist Audiolive to deliver a full L-ISA Scene system. These additional cabinets were used as ‘spatial fills’, a new feature from L-Acoustics that creates a virtual replica of the Scene System, where crosscoverage cannot be physically achieved, then using gain/ delay-based algorithms for positioning audio objects. This is designed to improve object separation, coverage and level consistency.

With just one day to set everything up for the event, Delorme assisted Corbeau with the design element in advance.

“Although the training I’ve had meant that I was able to handle the setup myself, it was a nice feeling to know I had a ‘safety net’ in case of any issues,” she added.

“The L-Acoustics team is always ready to support shows, especially with L-ISA, but to be honest, my job was easy here,” Delorme commented. “Emmanuelle handled it beautifully, from design to mix, thanks to her talent and to the intuitive nature of L-ISA which makes it easy to switch from a classic stereo configuration to immersive.”

The final configuration for the oval-shaped Concert Hall featured a main L-ISA Scene system of five hangs of eight Kara, evenly distributed across the front of the stage, with two hangs of two A10 (one Wide, one Focus) for outfill. Eight stacks of one Kiva II provided spatial fills, evenly spaced across the front of the stage, with six facing directly forward with the two outer Kiva II angled towards the side seating. Surrounds were covered by four 115XT, spaced evenly around the auditorium above the balcony level.

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Corbeau assisted visiting audio engineers while also working as FOH mix engineer for some of the acts.

“I mixed two very different performances – one was a jazz quartet with a very natural sound, the other was a performance with a lot of energy, so a lot of SPL was needed,” she elaborated. “A major advantage for both is that object-based mixing is so much easier for the brain to process, compared to stereo, and provides a much more pleasant listening experience.

“One of the most beautiful things about L-ISA is that it literally envelops the person in a 3D soundscape, so you feel as if the music is not just in front of you, you’re surrounded by it,” Corbeau continued. “Both the technical director at Philharmonie de Paris and the technical manager of the venue told me that it was much easier for them to hear the nuances between different instruments, so they could go deeper into the sound layers and really appreciate the full scale of the musical performance.”

Commenting after the Jazz à La Villette festival, Corbeau said that she is already looking forward to her next opportunity to take on a show with object-based audio.

“It was such a great experience using L-ISA for Jazz à La Villette that I find it difficult going back to mixing stereo,” she concluded. “I truly think it’s worth learning this new language of object-based mixing, as it’s the future of sound.”

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OLGA FITZROY

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

Recording Royalty

ENGINEER

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RECORDING ROYALTY

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OLGA FITZROY During her career as a renowned recording and mixing engineer, Olga FitzRoy has become accustomed to working with music royalty, including Hans Zimmer, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Muse. Here, she reflects on assisting Sir George Martin on the last ever Beatles recording for the 2006 album, Love, working on the latest season of The Crown, and reveals the legendary Neve desks that shape the sound of her work.

Photography: Hannah Woodall & Chrissy Jones

From your perspective as an executive director of the Music Producer’s Guild (MPG), how much work has gone into the organisation’s recent push to increase diversity?

Everyone recognises that it’s important.

It’s madness for a trade body that represents members to only represent a small subsection of its members. I think it actually puts people off if they think we’re only there to represent older white men who’ve been established in a certain part of the industry. We are here to represent everybody that works in recording, such as engineers, producers, people from all different backgrounds, people working in all different genres. It’s really important that that goes all the way to board level – that we have all sorts of different

people from different backgrounds running the MPG. There definitely has been a perception that the MPG is an old white man’s club; I hope that we’ve been able to change that over the past few years, and certainly all of the board really wants to increase diversity. We know we still have a lot of work to do in increasing ethnic diversity, both in our membership and at board level, but again, it’s something that we’re aware of, and we’re working on it. We’ve appointed two new representatives to sit on the UK Music diversity task force – both women of colour who’ve been working in the music industry who are hugely respected. We’re really glad that they’re helping us on that mission.

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OLGA FITZROY

Recording Royalty

Photographer: Blake Ezra

Tell us about your work as the engineer on Coldplay’s Ghost Stories – which went straight to the top of iTunes charts in 72 countries.

That was probably my first big job after I went freelance. The band was doing a lot of writing, and some of it was in Guy Berryman’s house, so they were quite low-key demo sessions.

Rather than booking a big studio and going, ‘Right, we’re gonna make an album’, it felt quite organic that they were writing and recording demos.

At the same time, they were fitting out one of their studios and I was helping with building the studio and doing some recording, and that escalated into a whole big album project. I was booked for a few weeks and it ended up being for the best part of a year.

Coldplay are very experienced; they’ve made a lot of records and they know what they want in terms of sound, so it’s more about trying to achieve their vision quickly. One of the things that we often did was to do sound checks with some of their crew on the weekend, so when the band came in everything was ready and sounding really good rather than the drummer having to hit the drums for hours while you get a snare sound right. We tried to keep all of the soundcheck stuff outside of the band’s creative time so that they could just use their time to write and play together.

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One of your many highlights was assisting Sir George Martin on the last ever Beatles recording for the 2006 album, Love. What are your memories of this special project?

We recorded a string arrangement that Sir George had written for an early demo of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and it was just an acoustic guitar demo that George put these new strings on to, and Giles (his son) was producing. We set up a string quartet in the hall and it felt really special because all the musicians had known George a long time – everyone at AIR knew George when I first started – he’d still come into the studio and he’d know everybody’s names. It felt really nice to be able to do a session with him, and he actually conducted the string session. He was quite elderly at this point, but the minute the music started and he started conducting, about 20 years just disappeared.

He was a much younger man when he was conducting. There’s a lot of love and appreciation for him and everything that he’s done for music from the musicians. It felt like a really special moment.

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Photographer: Blake Ezra

A recent show you worked on was season four of The Crown as the score engineer and mixer, following your work on season three. What goes into a project like this?

I’m not a big royalist, but I got obsessed with seasons one and two, so I was really excited to work on the subsequent seasons! I worked with the composer Martin Phipps, and I was really chuffed when he asked me to record and mix The Crown for him. He does a lot of stuff himself and he’s very technical. He writes in Logic, and he will do premixing in Logic as well as a lot of the cues. Martin and I came up with a process for mixing where we would work really collaboratively. So rather than him mix a demo,

send it off, and then we start again from scratch in Pro Tools, to reinvent the wheel, I would actually mix in his Logic setup and convert his mixes to 5.1. Sometimes they wouldn’t need an awful lot doing to them, sometimes there was quite a lot that needed doing, and sometimes he wanted more of a pop approach to mixing, so it was quite varied. Basically I would take over from where he left off and expand on that, which isn’t a way that I normally work. More often, I might just take stems from composers and start afresh, but this is a different way of working and it seemed to work really well.

HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

Recording Royalty

OLGA FITZROY

Photography: Hannah Woodall & Chrissy Jones

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“IT’S STILL THE BEST-SOUNDING CONSOLE THAT I’VE EVER WORKED ON.”

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“DURING THE HORN BITS IN SOME OF THE SCENES, THERE’S NOT AN AWFUL LOT ELSE GOING ON, SO YOU REALLY NEED THE CONSOLE TO BE COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT AND NOT ADD ANY NOISE.”

In 2013 you joined the roster at AIR Management; AIR being home to the 88R and the famous AIR Montserrat console. Which do you prefer?

The console in Studio One – the custom Neve that is from (I believe), 1979.

George Martin was involved in the design of the EQ and it’s got the AIR Montserrat mic pres. To me, it’s still the best-sounding console that I’ve ever worked on. They’re the best sounding mic pres – even rough mixes on that desk sound good. If I take them away to another room, it’s hard to get that same sound, even if the balance might not be quite right. The actual sound of it is just amazing, and on a few occasions, I am lucky enough to get to mix on it. I did a jazz score a couple of years ago and at the end of the day they needed some mixes as well. I had the balance up on the desk and just ran off my monitoring mixes, and that’s what was used in the score. It’s just so satisfying to be able to use that desk in that way. That’s definitely my favourite, and it’s quite transparent, so there isn’t much added noise – it’s a very open

sound. The EQs are really nice, so it’s almost like it’s not really adding very much, and that’s what you want. You want a really transparent sound.

It feels like I’ve been spoiled by being able to use that desk so much, because I have worked in that room an awful lot. That’s kind of my benchmark, and I’m often like, ‘Other desks aren’t quite as good’. I’ve just been spoiled by it; I wish every desk was like that desk!

Do you find one Neve desk more suitable for film score work, compared to working on an album or a single?

The AIR Montserrat is obviously amazing, but it is limited in its capabilities as to the amount of channels that it’s got. So for bigger score sessions, the 88R in the hall is perfect, particularly when you’ve got a bunch of different elements and you need to mix multiple stems at the same time. They’ve both got their place. We did a Doctor Who session a couple of years back that was a James Bondstyle kind of score, and we recorded it

live with a band using booths and an orchestra in the live area, so you really do need the capabilities of the 88R. We used the 88R for The Crown as we did quite a lot in the hall.

The last thing you want on any session is for the desk to get in the way; you just want it to work and sound transparent.

It’s got really good mic pres, especially for some of the music for The Crown, because some bits are quite exposed – during the horn bits in some of the scenes, there’s not an awful lot else going on, so you really need the console to be completely transparent and not add any noise or anything.

So you can hear the amazing horn playing and the amazing acoustics of the hall.

OLGAFITZROY.COM AMS-NEVE.COM

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‘Another Step Forward’

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‘ANOTHER STEP FORWARD’ German pro audio giant d&b Group has acquired UK-based AV, lighting and media (AVLM) business White Light, in a move designed to further strengthen its d&b solutions business.

installation, maintenance and managed services’, d&b solutions marks a significant development for the company, as it looks to expand its offering beyond manufacturing.

Launched in May of this year to offer ‘end-to-end expertise to customers in the areas of system planning,

The announcement of this new division also came with the news that d&b had acquired its long-time sales

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partner, multidisciplinary AV provider SFL Group. The acquisition of White Light will now send further ripples through the pro audio market and prompt questions on what exactly this new operation means for the industry.

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“WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY SHARE THE BELIEF IN THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF D&B AND WE ARE CONVINCED THAT WHITE LIGHT WILL CONTRIBUTE IMMENSELY TO ITS IMPLEMENTATION AND GROWTH.”

“White Light is a strategic addition to the d&b Group,” said d&b CEO Amnon Harman. “Their technology and expertise significantly increases d&b solutions’ capabilities to offer complete and flexible audio, video, lighting and XR solutions. Driven by accelerated market trends during the pandemic, this is another step forward in d&b’s strategic transition. d&b solutions will become a premium one-stop-shop for the AVLM needs of our customers in the UK.” A key focus for d&b solutions is White Light’s SmartStage technology, which has been in development since 2017.

SmartStage is an immersive video environment that uses XR technology to replace the traditional green screen element of a virtual studio.

This technology, paired with d&b Soundscape, is likely to present significant opportunities for the company in the immersive experience space.

“We are proud to join the d&b Group and expand their d&b solutions business,” said Bryan Raven, managing director, White Light.

“We wholeheartedly share the belief in the strategic direction of d&b and we are convinced that White Light will contribute immensely to its implementation and growth. Besides first-class technology and services we also share the same values, which will help us to drive our common goals forward. We look forward to working together to provide customers with

the best possible technology solutions, across a whole range of verticals.”

Harman added: “The d&b Group is committed to providing transformational life experiences to our customers. This means being able to think, consult, design and deliver across the full entertainment technology ecosystem. The people, technology and services that White Light bring to the table will be instrumental in ensuring that d&b Group is able to meet the needs of our customers and achieve this vision.”

DBAUDIO.COM

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BRYCE DESSNER

Scoring Cyrano With The National

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“THE SONGS OCCUPY AN INTERESTING PLACE, ESPECIALLY FOR A MODERN AUDIENCE.”

The National, one of the most lauded bands around, are often described as ‘left-field’ and ‘alternative’, but after the band’s Dessner brothers worked with Taylor Swift last year, and we now see them scoring a major new movie, Cyrano, surely the band is reaching the next transcendent level? We talk to Bryce Dessner about working on this huge production that stars Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett with his brother Aaron, and the news that the film’s soundtrack will also feature the latest single from The National.

Originating in Cincinnati, Ohio, The National have always written what Dessner describes as “dark rock songs” since their inception, so he agrees that all their subsequent success can correctly be described as “pinch yourself” moments.

Whether that be the Grammy nomination and widespread critical acclaim for 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me (though such acclaim is very typical for any album they release), headlining both The Royal Albert Hall and The O2 Arena in the UK, Dessner confides that these are moments that

the band would have struggled to foresee in their early days. And they keep coming – In 2020, long-term fan of the band Taylor Swift requested to work with both Dessner brothers on her folklore and evermore albums, and the Dessners are now scoring Cyrano, a big-budget production that will undoubtedly rack up huge numbers.

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BRYCE DESSNER

Scoring Cyrano With The National

Not that Dessner is any stranger to film – he’s worked on some very significant projects such as the Oscar-winning The Revenant alongside Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto, and Netflix’s The Two Popes. He’s speaking to us from southern France, which feels apt considering the parisian setting of Cyrano’s source material, the play Cyrano de Bergerac.

“Cyrano was originally being developed by Erica Schmidt, who wrote the screenplay for the movie,” Dessner says, his speaking voice quite identical to that of his twin brother, Aaron. “Erica Schmidt is a theatre director and a great writer, and she’s married to Peter Dinklage. They’re big National fans. Erica had this idea to adapt the play, with Peter in mind to play Cyrano de Bergerac himself, and the songs could replace what would have been these long letters and monologues by Cyrano. So the songs occupy an interesting place, especially for a modern audience.”

Indeed, the original play has been adapted many times before, so it was surely this new approach that would have

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piqued Dessner’s interest. He explains that Joe Wright (the director) is very deliberate about how he shoots movies: “We were in intense workshops and rehearsals with him all summer, working closely on refining lyrics. Then I went to Sicily, the baroque city of Noto where it was shot, and I was there on set rehearsing the actors and then developing the score before the film was shot near the architecture of Noto.

“So that definitely influenced the sound. On one side there’s all this folk music – we’re playing a lot of the guitars and some of the piano. And on the orchestral side, there are these really driving strings, especially in the cellos, plenty of woodwind – this whole baroque sound. But also some electronics, modular synths as well, that are built-in lower in the music to give it some grit that Joe really liked.”

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Photo: Graham MacIndoe

“They were involved from the beginning,” Dessner says. “They weren’t there in Sicily, but we would always be sending them things. One of the key songs was Every Letter, written for all three principal actors (Dinklage, Bennet and Harrison Jr.).

All three characters are falling in love with each other, having not met because of Cyrano’s letters, so it’s all about the power of the written word.

We spent a lot of time tweaking it and were working on it right up to the last minute.”

The National have already released a new single to tie in with the film, entitled Somebody Desperate, so I ask the question on the lips of many uber-fans of the band: are we building up to a new project or album from them?

“We’re definitely working on new music with The National,” Dessner says. “I don’t know when it will come out. But we’re pretty far along with

Photographer: Peter Hundert

And besides creating some of the score in one of the world’s beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Dessner also kept things close to home by collaborating with another member of The National — their lead singer Matt Berninger, co-writing the lyrics with his wife, Carin Besser.

the new music. So we’ll see. But Somebody Desperate is a standalone song for the movie.”

And as we peek behind the studio curtain, Dessner tells Headliner that he uses the Spitfire BBC Symphony Orchestra libraries a lot.

“Which are just phenomenal sounds!

I’m also using some of the London Contemporary Orchestra libraries – more extended techniques and more ambient sounds I find very useful for demos. In terms of gear, we were lucky that we have a studio that we built in upstate New York called Long Pond (now made famous by the Taylor Swift Disney+ documentary) where Aaron was. He recorded some of the percussion and some of our guitars were recorded there.

to ghost the guitar. It feels like this romantic acoustic sound, but with an electronic pulse behind it, giving it this more modern sound. So that was the modern Baroque feeling about it, something that we’re quite proud of.”

So with that said, off you go to listen to the Cyrano soundtrack, which includes the new National single, and get your local cinema’s Cyrano release date in your diary for this coming January, to get some baroque joy into your life.

INSTA: @THENATIONAL

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SHURE

Pro Audio’s Artistic Renaissance

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PROAUDIO’S ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE Shure VP of global sales, pro audio, Peter James has spoken exclusively to Headliner about how the company’s pro division has been serving the market of late, the trends shaping the industry, and how it has been helping to facilitate a “renaissance of artistic output and creativity”.

Few companies in the pro audio market could have been as well prepared for events of the past couple of years as Shure. For the past decade, the company has not just pivoted from its position as a leading manufacturer of trusty microphones, but completely reinvented itself as an all-round provider of high-end pro audio solutions. Its wireless technology has rendered it as a

major force in the world of integrated systems and the conferencing sector with products like Axient Digital, while the launch of products like TwinPlex, DuraPlex and Motiv microphones have seen Shure grow its visibility further still in the worlds of theatre, sport, broadcast and, perhaps most pertinently, remote work and connectivity.

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SHURE

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“If I look back to March 2020, we started off optimistic that we would slow down for a few months and come back in the summer,” says James. “Of course, we’re still feeling the effects of the pandemic today.

But as a company, we’ve continued to adapt to the changes and are always working with customers to understand their challenges and support them the best we can.

“For pro audio, it’s business as usual. Our focus is on supporting customers and everyone who uses our products - that hasn’t changed.

There are always challenges, and the unique needs of the creative industry are constant. Whilst Covid has had this huge impact on the HEADLINER MAGAZINE

industry, it hasn’t changed the reality of what we work with. There is still plenty of creative output and artistic expression, and we want to get that out there. There has been a renaissance of artistic output and creativity and we’ve had to find ways to help people get that out to the market.

“There have been lots of challenges; things that have blown my mind but demonstrate where we are at with customers,” he continues. “One that springs to mind was a project that involved one of our clients wanting to entertain a large group of people with a wine tasting event. Of course, that’s totally not Covid-safe, so how do you take a large group of

people, bring them together in a fun way and socially distance them while sharing wine? So, what we did was put people on a Ferris wheel in individual pods with the wine. But how do you make that engaging for people? Well, what we came up with was a solution whereby people could talk to one another in each cabin, and it became a well-fuelled entertainment experience that was also socially distanced. It was great to come up with creative ways to help people like that.

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“THERE HAS BEEN A RENAISSANCE OF ARTISTIC OUTPUT AND CREATIVITY AND WE’VE HAD TO FIND WAYS TO HELP PEOPLE GET THAT OUT TO THE MARKET.”

“We also worked with a US TV production to find a way to do script read-throughs. Again, how do you bring these famous people, who want to stay safe, together in a socially distanced way while collaborating? It’s about finding ways to be valuable.”

Despite the enormous challenges felt by the industry over the past couple of years, James has certainly found reasons to be optimistic for the future. Not least on account of how the industry has stood steadfast in its commitment to innovation and seeking creative solutions at times of adversity.

“It’s been amazing,” he says. “The most visible aspects of pro audio, such as live events, have endured really tough times and it’s something they’ll hopefully never experience again. But the sector is about entertainment, and the void left by the lack of mass gatherings has been filled with things like streaming in its various forms, and things like that depend heavily on products where Shure has been a leader for nearly a century now. We design, engineer and manufacture products for mission critical applications, and while the missions may have changed a little bit, the expectation that these products cannot fail still remains. And you could argue that the audience has got bigger. When you go to streaming, the potential audience is not 50,000 people in a stadium, it could be 5,000,000 people, so it’s even more critical in some respects.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the company has been focusing its efforts heavily on R&D of late. As remote content creation and consumption grows ever more sophisticated, so too does the need for increasingly innovative solutions.

“We’re always looking for new opportunities,” James states.

“Our releases over the past two years give an idea of where we are going. We launched TwinPlex back in 2019 and DuraPlex in 2020 to extend our range of subminiature microphones, we’ve added to our Axient Digital wireless series, first with the AD3 plug on transmitter and most recently the ADX5D dual channel portable receiver, enabling our most innovative wireless technology for new applications and users. We also extended our array microphone portfolio with the MXA710 and finally, our Motiv USB microphone family has been extended during the pandemic. That connects with a lot of what has exploded over the last couple of years.”

He continues: “As far as our portfolio is concerned, products like Motiv MV7 have been a huge success. But our strategy is unchanged. Our priority remains to continue strengthening relationships with customers and partners and understanding the needs of the markets we serve.”

So where does James see the biggest opportunities for Shure?

“There are many opportunities across the whole of our business,” he concludes. “Some have been accelerated

by Covid, and things like broadcast, content creation and With content creation solutions currently in greater demand gaming are all areas that have grown. The demand for than ever before, Shure is well positioned to service every content is huge, people are consuming content all the time, segment of this market. and there are various investments being made in production studios to be able to service the demand for content. We “Much of what the pro audio division focuses on connects also have a much more diverse portfolio now than we did a to entertainment and mass gatherings,” James elaborates. decade ago, and that’s something we can build upon. That “And while some of those artists haven’t toured, trade shows breadth opens lots of opportunities and things look good for were cancelled etc, streaming and hybrid events have the future right now.” filled some of that void, and that’s something we expect to continue. Ultimately it comes down to content creation SHURE.COM for remote consumption. That’s a component of every part of Shure’s business, but for pro audio we focus on live events, theatre and broadcast and film - each of those segments has moved forwards in providing more content and supporting content creation for remote and digital consumption.”

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KEN ‘POOCH’ VAN DRUTEN

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KEN ‘POOCH’ VAN DRUTEN Accomplished FOH engineer Pooch – who is currently on the road with ZZ Top – has worked with the likes of Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Kiss and many more over the course of his career. Here he discusses how IEMs are allowing for better front of house mixes, and offers some of his top tips and tricks for mixing live shows.

What projects have been keeping you busy recently? And when did you get your initial break working in live sound?

I’m out touring with ZZ Top at the moment; we’ve been on the road since July, so I feel very lucky that I’ve had a few months of work here. I was a producer and engineer in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. I was always a studio guy. The band that asked me to mix their live stuff was a band named Warrant, who had a hit record back then called Cherry Pie. After just one day working together in the studio, the lead singer asked if I would mix their live show, and so the next day I found myself mixing an arena show for 10,000 people.

I just fell in love with the instant gratification of live sound, with people giving you that constant feedback as you’re mixing.

You’ve been sharing live mixing masterclasses on your website; what kind of tips and tricks do you share through these tutorials?

I was very, very lucky – early on in my career when I moved to Los Angeles – to work with some of the best recording engineers in the world.

I always tell people that if you really want to be at the top of your game in this business, the first thing you should be studying is a bit of psychology, and how to get along with people.

I would say 80 percent of my job is communicating and understanding how to meet people’s needs. That has catapulted my career further than anything else.

I think the art of balance has been lost. We have several generations now that have grown up with MP3s and low resolution audio, who may not know what sounds good. And so I recommend that you study your artist’s music, and try to replicate what’s happening on the record. As a front of house engineer, my goal is to provide for my client a record quality mix with impact. With some of these recent pop acts, the vocals are just so compressed, so I feel like we as live HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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“I WOULD SAY 80 PERCENT OF MY JOB IS COMMUNICATING AND UNDERSTANDING HOW TO MEET PEOPLE’S NEEDS.”

sound engineers get an opportunity to back out of that a little bit, and provide dynamics for a crowd.

Dynamics in live sound are important. I used to love mixing Linkin Park – their whole thing is about making their verses super small and making their choruses have a giant impact on the downbeat. I would suck the crowd in by six or eight dB; you could physically see them almost leaning forward as if trying to listen more, and then on the downbeat of the chorus I’d hit them with a full roar 808 to push them back. That’s dynamics, and how you create emotion.

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You recently acquired a pair of Jolene in-ear monitors from JH Audio; do you prefer to mix shows on IEMs? I use my in-ears a lot. I did a Kid Rock record and a Linkin Park live record in my hotel room with just a laptop and an interface. And in all of those cases, I’ve used Jerry’s products. The Jolenes are super transparent. I’ve taken a mix that I’ve done on Jolenes and a laptop in my hotel room and put that on my favourite pair of speakers, and the translation was exact.

When it was time for me to upgrade, I had to consider which IEMs are best for mixing records. Kevin at JH was the one to recommend Jolene, and I

think he was absolutely right. They just provide an all-round great, balanced version of what’s happening.

I’ve probably spent 20 years of my career fighting incredibly loud guitar rigs. Now that people are on in-ears, they can use iso boxes or turn their amp sideways, etc. It’s just created a situation where we can provide way better front of house mixes.

KENPOOCH.COM JHAUDIO.COM

Destino, Ibiza with the d&b GSL System

N E X T X N O W

At home in the most demanding club applications, a d&b system brings market-leading software and hardware to every performance. Night after night, this easy-to-use audio toolkit helps bring dancefloors to life. And, as d&b works hand in hand with the industry on innovative, patented technologies, the boundaries of what’s possible evolve. So, in shaping what’s coming next, the now becomes even more exciting. More than a sound system.

See what’s possible at dbaudio.com/club

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CODA AUDIO

The Full Package

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THE FULL PACKAGE CODA Audio is revolutionising the immersive sound experience with the release of Space Hub, a comprehensive ecosystem that combines highperformance loudspeakers and a powerful next generation processor.

Headliner spoke to CODA managing director Svetly Alexandrov at the first trial of Sound Hub, Marseille’s Utopia Festival, to get the lowdown...

When did you first learn about Utopia Festival, and why did you feel it presented the best opportunity to debut Space Hub?

so in the summer things started to move, and now the festival has finally happened!

and doing the things that we love.

For me personally, this has been the most exciting part.

It was not so long ago when our marketing director Webby called me and told me about this festival, and that they wanted to use immersive audio. We were already working on the Space Hub immersive processor, and at that time it was in fact almost ready. I thought, ‘we can definitely do this’,

We were able to pull it off because of all the excellent, engaged people that were involved; people from Germany, England, and of course France. It’s the first event of this scale that’s taken place in a long time, and everyone in our industry has missed a lot in the last year and a half: seeing people, socialising,

I believe we were able to provide the best solution for this type of event, and I’ve been very excited to hear how the system performs. With things opening up and large events like this coming back, we needed to make sure that the whole venue was equipped with no compromise, high quality audio.

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The Full Package

“WE SEE SPACE HUB AS AN ECOSYSTEM WITH A NUMBER OF PARTS THAT COME TOGETHER TO CREATE A COMPLETE WORKFLOW.”

Tell us a bit about how Space Hub works and what you’re trying to achieve with it.

Space Hub is our new immersive processor, but an immersive experience is created with more than just the processor alone – it’s a complete system. In a multi-channel immersive system, the phase response of every loudspeaker must be 0° to ensure time coherence, improved localisation of sound sources and spatial stability.

When it comes to the speakers, with our DSFIR technology, we are able to linearise the phase response of the speakers from 50Hz up to 20KHz, with less than 12 milliseconds group delay.

When you ensure phase accuracy with no differences in timing between the various loudspeakers, the essential timing information is transmitted to the listener with perfect phase coherence and transient accuracy.

With linear-phase loudspeakers, you can create a true immersive space, precisely positioning sound sources wherever you want on the soundstage, and with the ability to move them without any phasing issues.

Testing our new technology at Utopia Festival was very important, because you can do a lot of R&D work and HEADLINER MAGAZINE

try to improve things, but the reality is how it performs in action. Another important thing is the learning aspect, because while we know everything about the technology, it’s vital to know how people will be working with it, and what they think they’ll need to work with it. So speaking to those people – engineers, composers, artists etc. – is a learning curve for all of us.

We have people from the software development and technical teams on hand to actively learn from the user, so we can all help each other to improve our knowledge.

It has been a long journey for us, because we’re not just viewing this as a standalone immersive processor. We see Space Hub as an ecosystem with

a number of parts that come together to create a complete workflow. One of those parts that is absolutely essential is System Optimiser, which we started creating around three years ago.

Then there is LINUS Control – another software and hardware element.

All three of these combine to create the seamless Space Hub workflow, and they all need each other to work smoothly.

It was important for us at CODA to make this a complete package: controlling the amplifiers, the ability to move sounds around the soundstage, and being able to simulate the whole thing.

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To what extent is Space Hub a future-proof system?

We always try to be the best in what we do, and it’s taken a long time to get there with Space Hub. On the hardware side we’ve specified a lot of inputs and outputs: 128 in and 128 out to be exact, which is massive. Each of these audio sources can be rendered to the outputs, and to do this you need a lot of processing power.

Space Hub utilises a CPU processor, which means the system can be upgraded very easily in the future – even in five years it will have enough

power to compete. Normally, such systems are based on DSP or FPGA, and while this is usually suitable for today’s needs, in two years time you may need some additional power or upgrades.

At the moment, the whole system runs on Dante, but we will start offering Milan integration very soon. And if in the future a new protocol comes along, we can easily upgrade and integrate, so the system is very flexible.

The software is of course a never ending story – we will continue to add features, but even as it is now, it

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performs excellently. I am really proud of it.

All that being said, people didn’t come to Utopia Festival because of the audio - they came to have fun. They were closed in their homes for such a long time, and now they can enjoy being free again. This is what they want: to party, and if we can help to make that party even better – better than they expected – then it makes me happy.

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SUZY SHINN

Punk Productions

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SUZY SHINN A trailblazing producer, engineer, songwriter and guitarist, Suzy Shinn has built up an insane discography since assisting on a Katy Perry session, working with the likes of Tom Morello, Weezer and Fall Out Boy. She even finds the time to tour with The Blossom. We talk about how she achieved this multifaceted career, and the big role Waves plugins play in it.

With Shinn on a call to us from Los Angeles, Headliner asks if we’re right to surmise from her discography and general vibe that she grew up as a pop-punk fan, and how crazy it must be to end up working with the likes of Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco?

“I love pop punk,” she says. “I grew up listening to the Warped Tour scene at the time — Blink 182 and those kinds of bands. My mum forced me to learn guitar. I didn’t want to at first, but then I fell in love with it. Then we got a MacBook, which was our inhouse computer in the dining room. It came with GarageBand, and I started

recording my own songs and little covers to put on MySpace. I ended up going to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, but I dropped out because I got an internship at a recording studio in L.A., and I’ve been here ever since.”

From there, Shinn seriously put the work in to climb the ladder of the music production world. She explains how aged just 18, she had tried “all the big fancy studios. But this random home studio in L.A. was the only place that said yes. I was just going to be out here for the summer and then go back to Berklee. But I was too broke, I couldn’t afford a plane ticket back! So I spent about a year doing six, seven days a week, up to 20 hours at the studio. And often it was cleaning toilets or getting food.”

Shinn has come a long way since then. And as you can perhaps sadly imagine, she’s had to overcome some sexist moments, for example musicians asking her to get them a coffee or to go and get the lead engineer, when she

was the lead engineer. Nonetheless, that big breakthrough moment did come.

“I got the call at 7pm to come in at 8pm,” she says. “Katy Perry wanted to record a song that she was working on.

I of course said yes, and the next thing you know Katy was asking if I wanted Taco Bell or if I wanted a Red Bull! She was a dream. Her voice – it’s exactly everything you would imagine. An insane voice and talent.”

Scroll through Shinn’s credits, and you’ll see one of her most successful working relationships has been with none other than Weezer — and while it’s been well documented that she’s the 26-yearold who produced their latest album, Van Weezer, she originally became known to the band after working as vocal producer on a song that was the result of a long and passionate fan campaign, a cover of Africa by Toto.

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Surely this was the most fun Shinn has ever had in a studio? You only have to watch the music video starring Weird Al Yankovic to get an idea.

“Rivers (Cuomo) and I did all the vocals,” she explains. “We first went in the studio and did Rosanna, the other Toto song! Everyone was like, ‘We want to hear Africa!’ And in true Weezer fashion, they’re like, ‘We’re gonna record Rosanna and give them almost Africa. But when we did do Africa, we were looking up YouTube videos, learning all the acapellas and hearing all the harmonies. So all the vocals and ad libs are exactly how Toto originally did them. That was a really fun record.”

Knowing Shinn is a big collaborator and user of Waves plugins, we discuss how she uses them. “I love Waves,” she confirms. “For all of my vocals, I use the SSL Channel all the time. Oh my HEADLINER MAGAZINE

god, the H Delay as well! For my go-to Waves plugins, the J37 Tape plugin is certainly one. I really love the CLA 2A because it’s super fast. The OneKnob Phatter and the Pumper are ones I use a lot too. The DeEsser is in my sessions all of the time. The PuigChild is a go-to for sure also.”

In terms of Waves plugins Shinn feels might not be as well known, she mentions Vocal Rider.

“I don’t see it being used that much when I go through other people’s sessions. And it’s so good! I remember sitting in a session mixing something and hearing Vocal Rider for the first time, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, why does it sound so good?’ Even the whole time with Vocal Rider doing most of the work — there was barely anything out on the channel. I think that’s overlooked.

“I really think the CLA Vocals are overlooked because on first glance, it’s one of the plugins that claims it can do everything. When seconds and minutes matter in a vocal session, it’s just perfect. I think that OneKnob Pumper is so fast and a little overlooked. I don’t see it in that many sessions and I think, ‘Yo, you should use that!’”

Like some of the huge rock bands she has collaborated with, Shinn is bulldozing her way through the music industry with impressive power. Do also check out The Blossom, the band she tours with, and her upcoming projects with even more uber-famous acts such as Tom Morello, The Wombats, and The Drums.

SUZYSHINN.COM WAVES.COM

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steinberg.net/backbone All specifications are subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2020 Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All rights reserved.

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HEADLINER MAGAZINE

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CREATIVE HOUSE The Morales brothers are an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist team that go by The Elev3n. From being mentored by Darkchild straight out of university to pulling all-night studio sessions with Celine Dion, the brothers’ journey has led them to starting up Creative House studio in L.A. Headliner takes a look inside.

“I guess you could say music is our birthright,” considers Matt Morales, thinking back to his upbringing alongside his brother, James, who together would go on to form The Elev3n.

“Our father has always been a gigging Latin percussionist and our mother is an incredible singer, so music was instilled in us since we were babies,” he reflects. “At home is where we really developed our passion for music – through osmosis from our parents. We were musicians

first – I play trumpet and a little bit of keys – and my brother is an incredible multi-instrumentalist who plays drums, saxophone and piano.

That laid the foundations in terms of our love for music and wanting to find out more, like, ‘How do you do this? How is this even made?’”

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“CELINE ALWAYS LIKES TO WORK WITH THE PRODUCERS THAT MAKE THE SONG, SO WE HAD TO FLY OUT TO VEGAS AND STAY AT THE PALMS.”

Despite their fascination with their father’s reel-to-reel tape machine and the music-making process, it didn’t occur to the brothers to pursue music production as a profession until later in life, when James, followed by Matt, attended Berklee College of Music on a scholarship to study Music Production & Engineering and Music Business. Their experiences proved invaluable, and would see them embark on a production career working with artists including Celine Dion, J.Lo, JoJo and Meghan Trainor.

“James was thrown in at probably the highest level, because back then Rodney was killing it! James heard early versions of huge pop songs from being in the studio with Rodney, like Déjà Vu for Beyoncé and Telephone for Lady Gaga. There’s nothing more valuable than being in the room and seeing how these records are made. Not a lot of people understand the process of what it takes and what goes into a song from start to finish, so it was really important for him to have that exposure and bring that into The Elev3n and what we do every day.”

“One of the amazing things about working with your brother is that we are there to serve the music and the artist’s vision,” he shares. “The biggest thing is that everyone leaves their ego outside the door: we come in as collaborators, and we’re here to make the best possible version of whatever song we’re working on that day. Because we have that understanding, we’ve grown so much making music together, which is rare, and I feel like not a lot of people can say that they were able to do that.”

The Elev3n was formed in 2011, with David Rodriguez and Dre Garcia completing the team (although it consists of just the Morales brothers now). Matt shares that a career highlight so far was working with Celine Dion:

During his time at university, James caught the attention of a producer named Rodney Jerkins (you’ll know him as Darkchild) – well known for his work with artists including Destiny’s Child, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Brandy and Monica, Britney Spears, and many more.

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“Being in the studio with her was probably one of the top three moments of our career,” he beams. “She’s such an amazing person, she’s so funny – she’s a goofball.

You would never expect it! A lot of the time with artists, you send them the song, they record it and then send you the files back. But Celine always likes to work with the producers that make the song, so we had to fly out to Vegas and stay at the Palms,” he grins, shrugging his shoulders.

PRODUCER

“We were in the studio till the wee hours of the night with Celine Dion. It was really cool because you learn that every artist is human. I’ll never forget, there was one moment in the studio where she was going through some takes and there was some second guessing on her part, and she was like, ‘I don’t know if I can really nail this one part’. I’m just like, ‘Holy crap. Celine Dion is saying ‘I don’t know about this one part’. At that point, like every great producer, you have to rally the team sometimes. I went on the talkback and I was like, ‘You’re Celine Dion, you can do this’, and she was like [here he adopts a decent impression of the Canadian songstress], ‘Oh my god, I’m Celine Dion. Yes, I can do this!’ – and she nailed the next take. I always remember that moment because it just goes to show, no matter who you are and how big you

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are, we all have vulnerable moments. We’re all not perfect all the time, so it’s just working through that. That’s one of the biggest processes in the creative world: how you work through the hiccups and the road bumps and navigate to the finish line.”

The Morales’ went on to open Creative House studio in L.A, which is built to host creatives that require sound stages, recording or broadcast facilities. One artist that has been welcomed through the studio’s doors a number of times is Jennifer Lopez – Creative House remixed her Cardi B / DJ Khaled collab, Dinero, and Stevie Mackey’s holiday album, The Most Wonderful Time, which J.Lo features on alongside JoJo.

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recording session, you can do it here. When we discovered RedNet’s Dante capabilities and the way you can route things, you can really build a super customisable set up with the hardware and software,” Matt explains. “So we said, ‘Let’s go for it’, and I’m so glad that we did that because of the nature of our business and all the different things we do. It’s such a workhorse – the Focusrite hardware is perfect for what we do.

Creative House is a modern production space, all natural light and exposed wooden ceiling beams, and its kit is just as impressive – having recently invested in a Focusrite Pro RedNet 16Line 64-in/64-out Pro Tools HD and dual Thunderbolt 3 audio interface and a Focusrite Pro MP8R eight channel remote controlled mic pre with dual PSUs. “We want Creative House to be a limitless place – no matter what you want to do, if you want to host a podcast, live stream, or have a HEADLINER MAGAZINE

“Usually we’re working with vocalists on the music side of things so it’s pretty easy using one or two channels, but with this setup we can probably do an orchestra in our space – not a big one, because it’s not that big!” he points out. “But what’s great is we are all able to jam out as a band and have all the musicians that we have coming into our sessions easily plug in. It’s really great in terms of being able to have as many routing options as possible and get super clean recordings.”

RedNet Control software has also been hugely beneficial for Creative House, allowing them to easily adapt to different tasks.

“It’s so customisable and robust,” he nods, “so we’ve got that set up for routing and live streaming –

we do a lot of Zoom sessions too, and a lot of people were using an audio bridge for that. The way we’ve been able to do it, we have different mixes going to Zoom, the control room, and different mixes in the live room going out to the vocalist. So it’s really cool that it can all be handled in the RedNet control software. Also the Pro MP8R is a great eight-channel mic pre – you’ve got only one cable: Ethernet, boom! Right into the 16Line. They’re super clean and everything just sounds great; I can’t think of anything else that would have made sense for us. We also just got the ISA One mic pre,” he adds, “and we’ve been having fun running bass through that as well. We’re always tinkering and tweaking with kit; it’s always fun to get new toys, right?”

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LANCE POWELL

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Serving the Song

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SERVING THE SONG

LANCE POWELL Grammy-nominated mix and recording engineer, Lance Powell, has worked with a vast and varied range of artists throughout his career to date, counting the likes of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Miguel, Wu Tang Clan, Liza Minelli, Charlie Puth and more among the clients he has serviced. Here, he tells Headliner about his approach to work in the studio, his proudest moments and the Merging Technologies kit that shapes his workflow…

“When I was a teenager I played guitar and made pretty pathetic attempts at starting bands,” says Powell of his path into studio recording. “I soon got my hands on a four-track Tascam Portastudio and was hooked. Eventually I landed at Platinum Sound Recording Studios working under owner/producer Jerry Wonda and chief engineer Serge Tsai. It was a school of hard knocks, but I grew a lot and it prepared me to take on anything (or anyone) in the industry.”

Such sentiments certainly ring true when perusing his list of credits, having worked across an incredibly diverse line-up of artists and genres.

His ability to crossover into so many styles is largely due to his commitment to facilitating the creativity of the client, as opposed to stamping his own mark on any given project.

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“I try to keep out of the way as much as possible,” he explains. “For recording sessions, I’ll get everything set up in advance and pay close attention to where headphone stations are placed, where spare floating mics are put and I’ll make sure line-ofsight is good between musicians and producers so it’s easy and enjoyable for the artist to be creative and spontaneous. When someone wants to record something, I don’t do mic shootouts and compare preamps, I call on my experience to decide how I’m going to capture something. Every time we are playing back, I’m subtly adjusting the rough mix and fixing issues while they come up, I don’t ever ‘leave things for later’ when I can avoid it.”

According to Powell, one of the most memorable projects he has worked on to date was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ 2019 double album Ghosteen.

“Ghosteen was one of my career highlights so far,” he says. “For the most part it was Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and myself in the room together.

Warren is just a non-stop stream of ideas. Nick is a brilliant songwriter and producer and never ceased to impress me with how he can retain his perspective when focusing on the finer details of a song and at the same time thinking about the overall project and its direction.

“I went about capturing the mood of these songs by doing just that capturing it. I never tried to stamp my mark or push things in a certain direction. It was all about setting up in a way that encourages creativity and experimentation and then sitting back, hitting record and letting Nick and Warren do their thing. With those guys you have to be on your toes - there are often very left-field requests being thrown at you, but when you just roll with it and don’t worry about breaking any ‘rules’ it’s amazing what can come out of a session.”

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“MERGING PRODUCTS DON’T GET TALKED ABOUT A LOT IN THE POP MUSIC WORLD, WHICH IS A SHAME BECAUSE IN MY OPINION THEY’RE A MASSIVE STEP UP FROM THE REGULAR PLAYERS YOU SEE EVERYWHERE.”

One of the most crucial tools in Powell’s audio arsenal is his Merging Technologies setup. As a long-time fan of the company’s kit, he believes it is only a matter of time until their technology becomes a staple of the studio sector.

“Merging products don’t get talked about a lot in the pop music world, which is a shame because in my opinion they’re a massive step up from the regular players you see everywhere,” says Powell. “When I decided to get rid of my outboard and focus on embracing ‘in the box’, mixing I spent time demoing a lot of gear but the Merging tech ticked all the boxes with no compromises in sound or build quality. And with the

AES67 format it uses to interface with the DAW, the option to easily expand in the future was appealing too. I love doing recording sessions on the go, so having a top-notch portable setup is really enticing. So 16 mic pres and 16 outputs in a single rack unit HAPI and full monitor controller in the Anubis routed together via a CAT5 cable?

I’ll take that any day over bunch of cascaded prosumer interfaces or a heavy rack of outboard pres!

“Also,” he concludes, “Dolby Atmos is here to stay and I think Merging is naturally going to become one of the leaders in that field, too.”

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LECTROSONICS

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

Recording Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison

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Walking into the Folsom Prison yard is an experience that location production sound mixer Donovan Murphy won’t ever forget…

“We were being escorted carrying film gear to the chapel – the one Johnny Cash sang about in Greystone Chapel,” Murphy points out. “It’s easy to lose track when you’re being ushered through gate after gate, bunching up in each space between the unlocking and locking procedures, so without warning, we were suddenly in the prison yard. The shock of it quickly turned into a spark of inspiration as I thought, ‘I’ve gotta record the ambient sounds’.”

Murphy was on set for the recording of Netflix film, Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison – a 2019 documentary starring Los Tigres del Norte, a group of Mexican-American brothers based in California who began their recording career in the early ‘70s. Their moniker arose when an immigration official called the boys “little tigers” (a nickname for kids) as they crossed the border.

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LECTROSONICS

Recording Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison

signed and approved. There were special background checks along with paperwork acknowledging that we’re voluntarily putting ourselves in an unpredictable environment. The one I remember the most was signing my acknowledgement that the prison does not negotiate in hostage situations!

The film documents the band’s request to perform at Folsom Prison, which was granted after two years of waiting. The group’s performance at the prison marked the first time a major act had performed there since Johnny Cash held his historic concert nearly half a century before.

Los Tigres made it a special show for the inmates, even bringing one of them on-stage to play the accordion during the Cash classic, Folsom Prison Blues.

“What I really love about filmmaking is the adventure,” says Murphy.

“Storytelling is what makes us human. It’s a dream to be given the opportunity to go inside of Folsom Prison and talk about Johnny Cash’s legacy. Folsom Prison is a unique place in that I want to think of it as a historical site, but it’s still very much a functioning prison. The inmate population has grown so they’ve built expansions over the last half century, but the original walls, prison cells, bunks and heavy iron doors are all still there. On one of the later filming days we were given a very short detour to see the cafeteria where Johnny Cash performed, and it’s almost like seeing a film set,” he enthuses.

“I hadn’t thought of this shoot as being any different from the tons of other documentaries I’ve worked on until I was given all of the paperwork that needed to be HEADLINER MAGAZINE

“There were restrictions on what we couldn’t wear and we had to turn over our cell phones and keys before we got to the first gate,” he elaborates. “Every piece of film equipment had to be photographed and cataloged as we entered at the start, and confirmed at the end of each day. With Lectrosonics I could trust having one wireless that I could rely on, and trust that the batteries were going to last all day.”

Luckily for him, Murphy’s Lectrosonics kit is as unflappable as he is, and gave him the confidence of knowing that he would capture all that was needed on filming days. His main rig revolves around the all-digital DSquared family, including the DCR822 compact dual-channel receiver, DBSMD bodypack transmitters, and a DPR plug-on transmitter for his boom mic. This is augmented by time-proven Digital Hybrid Wireless gear: an SRc receiver paired with SMV and SMQV transmitters.

Murphy’s D Squared system has changed the way he works for the better: “I was doing an outdoor event right near the state house in Sacramento,” he recalls. “I experimented with the 10-milliwatt setting on the DBSMDs, which was the lowest before the 2-milliwatt mode became available.

I walked a couple of blocks down the street, skyscrapers between me and the stage. The digital transmission worked so well that I didn’t need to go up to 25 milliwatts, let alone 50.”

Receivers in the D Squared lineup also apply precision filtering to squeeze narrower, and therefore more usable channels out of a given bandwidth of the available spectrum, a benefit Murphy says is becoming increasingly relevant to his work.

“Even in the middle of nowhere it’s getting more congested. Damn you, 5G,” he laughs. “If I go somewhere like San Francisco, I really notice it.

But with the wideband reception and surgical frequency scanning of the DCR822, I feel like I’m future-proof.”

Crucially, Lectrosonics gear is a hit with his clients: “The D Squared stuff has permanently changed how I do interviews and other work,” he concludes. “Lectrosonics allows me to pack the most functionality into the smallest rig possible. Everything runs smoother and quicker. Camera people notice. Producers notice.

There’s nothing else I’d rather have.”

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SIMON HONYWILL

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

Family Values

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SIMON HONYWILL Simon Honywill, live sound specialist and FOH engineer for artists and events such as Chris Rea, Goldfrapp, Katherine Jenkins, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and Glastonbury, has spoken to Headliner about the realities of touring through Covid, how Martin Audio has “saved him” during the pandemic and what he believes is the only sound system in the business that “sounds like music”.

We’ve heard lots about how the live music industry has been impacted by Covid over the past two years. How have things been for you personally?

Initially, and I imagine most people felt the same, I thought ‘Our industry won’t be affected by this, we survive everything’! Having done it for as long as I have, you’ve been through various historic phases of economic downturn and we always seem to pull through. But it quickly became apparent that this was different. I

quickly disappeared down a dark hole of depression because I was coming to terms with the fact that over 40 years in the industry stood for nothing.

I got quite angry about that, and I was unsure about what was going to happen.

Here we are two years down the line and it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to my career! It made me rethink the way that I work. I’m no spring chicken and the traditional

way of touring, driving hundreds of miles to do a one-day gig was really doing me in. What saved me was my relationship with Martin Audio and RG Jones. Dom Harter, the MD, had a conversation with me and said, “don’t worry, we’re going to look after you”, and they have. I’ve been incredibly lucky and I now have more financial security than I can ever remember having. And it’s all physically less taxing, which is brilliant.

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SIMON HONYWILL

Family Values

How are things progressing in the touring world at the moment?

I think audiences are still nervous. I get the feeling that people don’t want to commit and if you are in the business of trying to sell tickets to something, it’s a bit shaky. It’s much harder to sell a show and there are a lot of considerations around that. Things like travelling to the venu: what happens when you get there? Do you have to do a test? What if the person next to me starts sneezing during the gig? It’s scary in many ways, and really we’re making it up as we go along. There’s an element of just trying to make things happen.

“THERE IS A FEELING OF BELONGING. IT’S ALMOST LIKE A SECRET GANG – WE KNOW SOMETHING OTHER PEOPLE ARE BLIND TO.”

You mentioned that Martin Audio has helped you through the pandemic. Tell us about your connection to the brand...

In the early ‘00s I was working with RG Jones and desperately trying to find the right line array system for them. We tried everything! It got to a point where a button was about to be pushed on a purchase, and Rob Lingfield, who was a friend and was European sales director at the time said, “Don’t do that, you need to see and hear this”! So, we did a big classical show in Kent with the W8LC system and I thought, “That sounds like music”! None of the others do.

The thing I’ll always say to people is that it’s the only line array system that sounds like music should do. If you’re going to make a big loudspeaker, you can do any amount of clever stuff to manipulate the wavefronts. That’s all well and good, but if it doesn’t sound like music, it’s pointless. I was then introduced as an early adopter to the MLA system. When it was described to me, I said, “Nah, you can’t do that”!

As did many other people. And lo and behold, you could. I said to Rob I wanted to be in on this and that resulted in me being signed up as a product advocate and trainer for MLA systems. It’s still ahead of its time.

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What is it that separates Martin Audio from other brands in this field?

There is a vibe at that company that ends up in the DNA of the products.

MLA and wavefront precision, the technology behind those systems… I love the fact they took the idea of a line array and turned it on its head.

It’s not about what comes out of the speakers, it’s about what happens at people’s ears in the audience.

Other companies have now made poor attempts to emulate the same thing. But it’s a combination of all

kinds of things. Whatever you make a loudspeaker out of will affect what it sounds like, but it’s about the minds that come together to produce that.

It’s about creative thinking, people working together with a common purpose. While all of that stemmed from Dave Martin’s efforts back in the early ‘70s, where they are now is a fantastic story of taking a fundamental principle and applying it with ever more accessible and exciting technology.

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How has the company helped you in recent times?

There is a feeling of belonging. It’s almost like a secret gang – we know something other people are blind to.

We know about this stuff, and we use it because it gives us a nice, warm fuzzy feeling. While it might not be world-dominating in the way some European and American products are, you have a feeling of belonging to a group of people who appreciate audio in an aesthetic way that is special.

Also, this industry is notorious for making life difficult if you want to have a family. Martin Audio understands

that and there is a real sense of the customers, clients and the people who work for the company being a family.

And there is this feeling that people’s lives at home and the underlying foundations that allow them to achieve at work are also thought about. I spent my whole first 35 years and more just as a workaholic, and the industry doesn’t care about what goes on at home. That’s all different at Martin Audio. There is a wonderful feeling of being able to behave like a normal human being.

Has that sense been heightened by the pandemic, with people from all walks of life having been at home more with their families etc?

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sustainability of everything we do is something we need to take a long hard look at. I was hoping that we’d come out of the pandemic with new models for touring, but no. It’s all the same. Nobody wants to take a risk.

In 2014, Kate Bush did a month-long run at the Hammersmith Apollo and it occurred to me that an artist with her standing, anyone who is an arenasize attraction, could take that model and do it at five or six different places.

It strikes me as being a lot more manageable for everybody involved, and probably a lot more sustainable.

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Absolutely. It’s completely altered my perception of what home really means. In the past my home wasn’t much more than another hotel. It’s made me think about how the industry has got to grow up on the whole.

The people, their wellbeing and the HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

RIEDEL

Pushing The Limits

Photographer: Gray Lee Brame

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PUSHING THE LIMITS German wireless networking solutions giant, Riedel has revealed details of an expanded management structure, which will see the company organised into three different business units: the product division, managed technology, and Riedel networks. Lutz Rathmann, CEO of the managed technology unit, has spoken to Headliner about what the new structure means for the firm, and the benefits it will bring to the industry.

With Rathmann leading managed technology, Rik Hoerée has been installed as CEO of the new product division, with Michael Martens appointed CEO of the Riedel networks unit. The decision to restructure the leadership team is designed to allow Riedel´s Group CEO Thomas Riedel to focus on accelerating business development and expanding the company’s global partnerships and networks.

According to Rathmann, the new organisation will enable each division to play to its strengths, whilst being led by a unified vision from the leadership team.

“We have learned that by working more closely together we have opportunities to work from the same base and level each other’s business, but on the other hand each pillar has a lot of specialities,” Rathmann told Headliner. “For instance, managed technology works and thinks very differently to the product business, which must be very much planned ahead, with things like R&D needing to be precisely planned sometimes up to a year in advance.

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RIEDEL

Pushing The Limits

“WE REALLY TRY TO TAKE ON NEW ENVIRONMENTS AND GIVE NEW IDEAS TO PRODUCTIONS.”

“On the managed technology side of the business, we have to think very quickly and it’s more and more the case that we have short notice before we go into action; we often have to be really flexible to meet demands of the clients. So, there are differences in how we process things. We wanted to give more responsibility to each pillar, and by really gluing the top together with that circle of leadership we can have a central vision.”

In addition to helping drive Riedel’s continued growth, the new leadership structure will be pivotal in facilitating yet further innovation across the company.

This, Rathmann explains, is not only beneficial for the business, but also for its partners, clients and audiences.

“We really try to take on new environments and give new ideas to productions,” he explained. “We have experienced 30 years of seeing an event from every possible viewpoint – from the pure comms side, broadcasting, organisation, security – we know everything that is happening on most events in different verticals.

We really understand workflows on different levels, and we can bring our technology in to enhance those workflows. And we know how we can benefit the client.”

One recent example of how Riedel demonstrated its pioneering approach was with the 36th America’s Cup sailing event.

“The America’s Cup was all about bringing the event to the screen in a more exciting way than ever before,” Rathmann continued. “That was a good example of what we can do when responsible for the full approach to a project. We started in the boats and created a technical environment with 10 cameras on board with an intercom connected to that system, which created a RF network all over the regatta to the shoreside, so we had telemetry data, pictures and audio all in one ecosystem. This meant that we could offer a greater spectator experience. We always try to push the limits to create more innovative ideas for the future.”

Reflecting on the internal changes, Thomas Riedel concluded: “The last year has given us time to take a deep breath and reflect on our setup. We realised that we would have to change some things to sustain the rapid expansion of our business.

“These past few years our company has seen tremendous growth, and 2021 is no exception. Now is the right time to broaden the management team to support this dynamic upswing. This reorganisation is the foundation to master current and future challenges to our business and to continue our strong organic growth.”

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INTRODUCING THE NEWEST MEMBERS

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OLLO AUDIO

A Sound Education

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Keeping up to date with the latest developments in the rapidly changing worlds of music and pro audio can often be a somewhat daunting pursuit. Here, OLLO Audio co-founder and CEO Rok Gulič talks with accomplished record producer Adam Moseley (U2, Roxette, Rush, The Cure) and his former student Lawrence Biancardi – who is now a pro mastering engineer based in the UK – about the role of educators in the music industry...

RG: Is it important to establish a good relationship between mentor and student?

AM: Yes, it is. You should be able to work with each other, and like each other. When I was starting out I was helping my mentor at the time with anything that was needed. There was a friendship that I didn’t expect to be there. I think mentoring is an incredibly important part of anyone’s journey. It’s about giving back. We’re all making music, it should be fun. If it’s not fun, then you should be doing something else. The job is hard enough, so working with personalities you don’t enjoy working with every day, should not be a question.

RG: Lawrence, does your mentor play a role in building your confidence?

LB: Yes of course. When I first properly met Adam, I came to his studio and showed him a few tracks. I was thinking I was going to take over the world with my music. Adam was nice and pointed out things that are important. He inspired me to take notice and understand them. I think first someone has to plant that seed and show you what these things are in order for you to recognise them and develop an ear for them.

RG: Mentors need technical skills and people skills. Adam, how did you approach your own learning path?

AM: I realised pretty quickly the most important thing was: don’t screw up.

Learn as much as you can and put as much effort in as you can, because it was very competitive when I was starting out at the age of 20. I think one of the most important things for anyone entering our business to remember is to be politely persistent.

Sometimes students who couldn’t get in would turn up to the first class and ask if it’s at all possible to join. If they do that, they’re in. That’s the most important thing, to want in enough to actually turn up, even with low chances. Others might just send me loads of emails but never show up.

RG: Is it hard work or talent first?

AM: The same goes for engineering students and artists that you work with.

Some artists may not be that great but they nail a pop tune and they think they’re the best thing ever. With other artists, sometimes their insecurities

push them to do better and better.

In that respect, you need to find the balance between confidence with ego and enough self-checking to do better and to review. I really believe that if someone wants to do something, they can learn.

RG: Is being self-taught important?

LB: If you’re curious, I think you naturally put in the hard work. If you enjoy something you’re going to spend countless hours doing it and you’re not really going to think ‘someone owes me money for doing this’. It’s your passion, your hobby.

RG: How important is it to gain knowledge of the technology in order to stay relevant?

AM: Today you have to be aware of what came before. Everything is a progression. Sometimes technology HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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OLLO AUDIO

A Sound Education

takes a huge leap and sometimes it’s just small incremental changes.

You have to stay current. I worked with tape and later with MIDI and now I use plugins. It’s ever-evolving.

Technology is there to be a tool. You need an idea and a knowledge of how to use the tools available.

RG: With so much technology available, how do you select the right tools for the job?

LB: A lot of it is research, asking questions, trying out… Luckily we’re in a plugins era where it’s easy to try different things, replicas of hardware tools etc. There’s so much content online to help with exploring. I think that once you’ve used them and learned from your mistakes, you understand the nuances of the tools that you have, and after a while get a real grasp of them.

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RG: What are the first steps for a student to take in order to actually make a living in this industry?

AM: Realising no one is going to come and knock on your door saying ‘here’s this amazing opportunity that will save you for the rest of your life’. Every moment you have to create, network, and don’t expect to get paid. If you do it right, you’ll get paid later on in the journey. Constantly educate yourself and be the kind of person that people will want to work with. Earn that trust.

To do that you need to get experience by working. You can only work if you’re going out and you’re finding artists, offering to do a mix for a little money, and if they like it, nail the job for the full album. The big thing is: don’t expect to start where you want to land.

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MIPRO

MI-58 IEM System

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MI-58 IEM SYSTEM

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SPOTLIGHT

MIPRO Headliner recently got hold of MIPRO’s MI-58 Series to discover how useful this digital IEM system can be for personal and professional stage monitoring...

frequencies and check they were working before handing them to the relevant musicians. What I do know is that those that own MIPRO kit, swear by it!

This was my first experience of a MIPRO radio device, other than a couple of the UHF version IEMs turning up at the side of a festival stage with some of the acts I worked with earlier in the summer. In all the haste, I only got a minute to work out how to alter the

Firstly, a little about the 5.8GHz (5725 - 5850 MHz band) which is a licence-free ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) allocated band providing 150MHz of bandwidth. It’s one of the bandwidths your dual band WiFi router utilises; the one that while

noted for having a more localised coverage area than the 2.4GHz, transmits data at faster speeds.

Within the 5.8GHz band there’s scope for multiple high speed channels and within each channel are locks for multiple streams. This means there should be more than enough capacity for running as many sets as you require for most band and theatre applications, with a total of 64 IDs across all MIPRO 5.8GHz kit.

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100 MIPRO

MI-58 IEM System

TRANSMIT The system consists of the MI58R body-pack and the MI-58T transmitter. The transmitter is a half-U that can be rack mounted or paired and rack mounted with optional kits. Inputs to the transmitter are by way of a pair of analogue balanced line-in XLR or TRS jacks, while there are also a pair of loop out TRS jacks to daisy chain further devices. For the digital purists, there’s a Dante option – the MI-58TD. The transmitter seems well built, sturdy, and able to withstand a certain amount of abuse despite its light and compact footprint. Sample rate for the audio conversion is 24bit at 48kHz. Latency is fractionally over 2ms. Power is supplied via an external 12v PSU and the transmission power is limited to the European permissible standard of 25mW for PMSE equipment.

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The MI-58T’s front panel is actually a bit of a revelation compared to similar products in this price range.

For starters, the display is really easy to read even at a distance, especially in the dark, but just as easy under strong light. The OLED screen gives you left and right level readings, Group, Channel and ID settings along with AF input source, stereo/mono mode, RF on/off and lock on/off. There are also LED indicators to the left for each channel that indicate a low, good or peak level. Below this are independent level up or down controls for each channel.

To the left of the transmitter’s front panel is a monitor section equipped with both 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch jack sockets and a volume pot. I strongly advise making sure the volume is turned down before you plug in any headphones etc. as this is a pretty

potent headphone amp! On the far right is the menu select rotary with push to select. Next to this is the ACT button which is a means of syncing transmitter to receiver, which took a mere second every time I resynced settings, IDs etc. The ACT control system is also available from a web browser by daisy chaining multiple units together via a MIPRO MES-100. I personally would have preferred an RJ45 rather than the RJ11s on the back of this unit, as these days most engineers already run some form of Cat5e or Cat6 with a Cisco switch or two.

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RECEIVE The bodypack is light and compact. A fair proportion of the weight is the rechargeable 18500 Li-Ion battery – again a bit of a revelation at this price point. There are contact points on either side which allow it to be slotted into one of MIPRO’s handy charging caddies. It took around two hours to charge up, but it still had a little charge left when it went in. More impressive was how I was able to write a review, walk around my house, make lunch, miss numerous phone calls and as day turned to night, this pack was still going strong. I reckon I probably had a good six hours of listening, at which point the battery was still showing two bars – more than enough power for rehearsal, soundcheck and the gig. At one point I was trying to locate some boxes in my cellar, which is below huge slabs of Yorkshire flagstone, two floors, and a couple of walls away from the transmitter. I had the odd glitch while descending the brick wall enclosed staircase

to the cellar, but once underground I had surprisingly stable reception.

This system is also unaffected by other radio equipment in close proximity, something which can and has rendered other systems almost completely useless in a professional environment. To this end, I waved a selection of other radio transmitters next to this pack, imitating what a singer is very likely to do during a performance. I tried UHF kit on both channel 38 and the old licence-free channel 70 for those still carrying that trusty old faithful.

Nothing seemed to phase it, excuse the pun.

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MI-58 IEM System

“THIS RECEIVER STANDS UP IN ITS OWN RIGHT, AND IS NOT JUST A PIECE OF DIGITAL HARDWARE THAT’S BEEN OPTIMISED FOR USE WITH ITS OWN SET OF EARPIECES.”

BONUS TIME The combined system boasts an extended frequency response of 20Hz to 23kHz, which to appreciate would depend more on your age and what you plug into it at either end. However, any system that can provide more air to what can – in other systems – sound like a closed and claustrophobic environment, I very much welcome.

I kind of assumed the supplied in-ear buds were a bonus in this price range, so was pleasantly surprised when

they turned out to be quite reasonable. They have a similar design to the Sennheiser IE100 and 500s I looked at earlier this year, which all feature a single miniature transducer-style driver. If you don’t yet own your own set of custom moulds, then these are as good a place as any with which to start your IEM journey, and even if you do, these make a very useful backup.

CONCLUSION The most important thing is how do they sound, right?

It doesn’t really matter how cost-effective they are if the quality of sound isn’t up to par. Actually, I was very impressed – not only did they sound superior to many UHF systems in the same price range, but the tight, clean bass and crystal clear highs even from MIPRO’s included IEM buds put some far more expensive systems in the shade. Having a range of custom mould IEMs and generics to really put the MI-58R through its paces also proved that this receiver stands up in its own right, and is not just a piece of digital hardware that’s been optimised for use with its own set of earpieces.

It’s loud, I mean properly loud, and actually seems to favour multi-driver IEMs like my custom JH16s or the generic Roxannes, which in flat mode are superbly detailed and distortion and artifact free. I was genuinely impressed with not only the sound quality but the stability and performance level of the receiver unit; accidentally waving a UHF handheld mic against it had no effect at all.

Lastly, the build quality is pretty good, and for those who are buying it for their own personal use, and are more HEADLINER MAGAZINE

likely to look after it, this is a great device. When I did accidentally drop it, it was light enough that it didn’t pull out the set of moulds I was wearing at the time, which actually broke its fall inches from the floor. I then dropped it a second time, also accidentally, from waist height onto my living room laminated floor; not a mark on it!

I did notice that the plastic case is more of a shell in detachable sections via tiny screws. If these parts become, or are available as accessories in the same way as the rechargeable batteries and caddies, then the MIPRO MI-58 system could be a product well worth considering as hire stock. Honestly, it sounds that good!

We recently headed into the studio and let Headliner’s very own Grace McGuigan use the MI-58 while performing an original song – check out the video on the Headliner Hub YouTube channel.

MIPRO.COM

JOSHUA FAULKNER ON USING THE MUSIC MISSION “One day you could be recording a string section, the next you could be recording a Skepta vocal or a soprano. So having something as solid and easily portable as the Anubis interface, which sounds amazing every time, is priceless.”

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SOLID STATE LOGIC

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Fusion Violet EQ

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Fusion Violet EQ

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SPOTLIGHT

SOLID STATE LOGIC Solid State Logic’s new Fusion Violet EQ is a two-band minimum phaseshift shelving EQ from the critically acclaimed Fusion Stereo Analogue Colour processor. Being the first SSL analogue EQ design in more than 25 years, Headliner just had to see what all the fuss is about…

SSL’s Fusion Violet EQ is the latest plugin to emulate a big slice of the Fusion cake, and an emulation of the first analogue EQ circuitry we have seen from SSL for some time. Circuitry which also features as part of SSL’s equally respected UltraViolet 500 series stereo EQ module. What’s more, if you already subscribe to the SSL Complete Subscription Bundle, this new plugin won’t cost you a bean!

Firstly, for those not in the know, the ‘Fusion’ analogue hardware device is aimed squarely at the mastering industry, but has created somewhat of a stir among individuals who are looking to improve their skill set and try their hand and ears at mastering.

It brings together a number of circuits for which SSL is well known, like its signature Saturation, together with a couple of new ones like the Violet EQ.

MASTER STROKE Fusion Violet EQ is designed to emulate the minimum-phase shift shelving filters of the original hardware. Four selectable frequencies across two bands with complementary response curves help to add low end weight or gentle reduction of low frequencies if needed, and likewise in the high end to add air and crispness to a mix.

The frequency selection is stepped; the low band offering 30Hz, 50Hz 70Hz and 90Hz and the high band 8kHz, 12kHz, 16kHz and 20kHz. The Gain pot is centred and offers ±9dB of cut and boost. The curves are extremely smooth and musical, perfect in fact for shopping the low end to make sure your mix makes the transition from iPods to dancefloors seamlessly. The high shelving was just right for putting back what compression can often reduce.

When mastering it is often the low and high ends which require the most attention and likewise, good ears and as much experience as you can bring to bear. I remember many years ago

sitting in on a mastering session and feeling slightly in the dark as to what was actually going on. I must confess that I struggled to hear the nuances and subtleties of the changes being made and it was only at the end of the session when the two-track tape was compared to the test pressing from the freshly cut acetate that all became clear. I remember the engineer smiling at me and saying “you have to really train your ears to do this job”, followed by “if it was easy, everyone would be doing it; milk two sugars!”

MIXING THE MAGIC In today’s topsy-turvy world, I have found putting a high quality EQ on my master bus and adding that little extra to the highs and lows allows me to work at lower overall levels for longer periods of time. It’s a little bit like turning on the loudness button on your ‘70s and ‘80s Hi-Fi amp or receiver, but without the colouration and with far more transparency.

However, it’s not unusual to find certain mix engineers using similar shelving EQs across the master bus, partly because of that tendency in HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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Fusion Violet EQ

“THIS PLUGIN IS EVERY BIT A QUALITY SSL PRODUCT. IT’S CLEAN, MUSICAL AND UTTERLY TRANSPARENT.”

mastering but also because modern production and mixing often uses larger processing chains that focus more heavily on detail in the midrange. This is very likely to be a contributory factor as to why what was essentially a great analogue mastering tool in SSL’s Fusion has found its way into mix rooms and production studios.

Of course, you no longer have to make that kind of investment or provide the associated rack space to have this little slice of magic at your disposal. I think it speaks volumes that SSL isn’t the only company offering emulations of its historic analogue products. Either way, it is still bringing innovative and beautifully sounding products to the market.

I really love this simple, straightforward and utterly transparent EQ plugin.

As well as being a useful tool for the master bus, I’ve also found it perfect for sweetening samples and loops. In fact, anything that doesn’t need bell or notch filters. A very useful button is the Eco button, bottom right, which switches the EQ into low latency mode – very handy for tracking and mixing.

And as with all SSL plugins, you have input and output trims for easy gain HEADLINER MAGAZINE

staging together with comprehensive metering.

For additional tone shaping there’s a high pass filter and a FAT button which adds dimension and weight without adding additional bass, and sounds like harmonic saturation. Again, very musical and just gives added definition to kick drum and bass material without any level change. I think it should be called the sweet spot button!

SSL provides useful presets to get you started, including a selection from producers Adrian Hall, Sean Divine and Wes Clarke. There are the usual A/B save and compare features as well as undo/redo. You can also recall presets you make in one DAW with one format in another: Fusion Violet EQ is available for PC and Mac in 64bit AAX, VST, VST3 and AU formats.

CONCLUSION I like a lot of things about the Fusion Violet EQ, but then I really like the original Fusion hardware. I’ve also been lucky enough to have a hands-on with the UltraViolet 500 series module and that has two additional bands of comprehensive

EQ control. The plugin has some very useful additions, especially the FAT button, and is every bit a quality SSL product. It’s clean, musical and utterly transparent. Make sure to take full advantage of the 14-day free trial which is available for any of the SSL plugin ranges.

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UNITING YOUR AUDIENCE FOR 50 YEARS

Infinite Possibilities and Wobbly Goodness

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INFINITE POSSIBILITIES AND WOBBLY GOODNESS

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SPOTLIGHT

Eventide Audio has long been at the very forefront of several aspects of the music and audio industry at large, including guitar and effects pedals, plugins, rackmount, broadcast and more.

Headliner endeavoured to see if they are still delivering the goods for pedal enthusiasts by having a lot of fun with a choice selection of their pedals, by seeing if they could complement two analogue synthesizers from Modal Electronics, the Argon8 and Cobalt8.

Eventide was one of the world’s first companies to manufacture digital audio processors, and its products are mainstays in sound recording and reproduction, postproduction, and broadcast studios.

And considering they were founded in the basement of a New York City studio, it’s wonderful to see them as

a hugely popular and established international brand.

So for this little experiment, Headliner opted for three of their flagship products: The Blackhole Reverb, UltraTap Pedal and MicroPitch Delay.

The Blackhole Reverb is already quite a name, not only in physical form, but it is very popular as a software plugin also. It is billed as an ‘otherwordly reverb’. This description certainly seems to suggest that those wanting ethereal and ambient textures are in the right place. It boasts five presets and many more available from Eventide’s website.

The Predelay, Feedback and Gravity buttons are enough to whet the appetite.

The UltraTap pedal is a different prospect, offering tape delays,

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reverb, modulation and more, so fittingly described as ‘a multiverse of tone.’ It has onboard LFOs and envelopes, and the lovingly titled ‘Slurm’ control for smearing and slurring taps together to create unique reverbs and choruses. On top of all this, you can control feedback, the spread/distance between taps, and ‘chop’ for expressive modultations.

And completing the trio is the Micropitch Delay, a lovely little red pedal, an iconic sound of Eventide’s that originated in the H910 and H949 Harmonizers, and later popularised with the H3000. It has positive envelope and negative envelope modulation sources, and can achieve subtle tone fattening, lush stereo widening, rich detuned delays, thick modulation, and tempo-synced special effects.

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Infinite Possibilities and Wobbly Goodness

“THERE’S ALMOST A DANGER OF FEELING LIKE MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY IN INTERSTELLAR.”

Being something of a reverb-head myself, I can’t resist first plugging in the Blackhole pedal. Once going, any fears that ‘as big as the cosmos’ just being overblown marketing gimmickry are quickly dismissed. You really can achieve the metaphysical almost as soon as the TS cable is plugged in. The Cobalt8’s pads gain even more warmth and charm rapidly.

But let’s not get carried away; as with the right settings, subtle and small verbs work beautifully as well, if you are simply seeking to add the right splash of colour and smaller spaciousness to your chosen instrument. But the fun really begins when you crank up the Mix, Gravity and Size buttons. The cosmos is an accurate reference point, as the word infinite keeps springing to mind when twiddling with them.

There’s almost a danger of feeling like Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar. Especially when you can HEADLINER MAGAZINE

easily achieve that Hans Zimmeresque synth hugeness with this little box at hand.

So with a giant green tick plastered onto the Blackhole, it’s time to add some delay to proceedings. And also reverb, modulation and a hell of a lot more. Enter the UltraTap. There’s many examples of how these quirky combinations of effects with delay can achieve fairly majestic results with synths (think Nils Frahm and Sigur Rós), but can the UltraTap do such business?

Well if you like things to be tastefully quirky, then my goodness, yes it can.

The word infinite almost immediately springs to mind once more, as you can keep the delays hanging around to an almost ghostly extent. And with the modulation capabilities, that classic detuned quality of old synthesizers that sounds bad on paper but so many people adore goes off absolutely brilliantly here.

And as mentioned earlier, there’s so much power in the user’s hands in terms of controlling the delay.

The Taps and Length buttons keep the power within reach. Delay is a notoriously difficult beast after all. With that said, though, the Feedback switch is where the spontaneous joy occurs, especially if you change it vigorously.

Last one to try is the little red box that is the MicroPitch Delay.

It’s almost unthinkable that this diminutive bit of gear, as attractive as it may be, is seeking to emulate the H910 and H949 Harmonizers of yesteryear. But we’re once again shown that you don’t always need giant racks to achieve great sounds. One of the Argon8’s preset sounds is a gorgeously quirky, staccato synth with a ping pong quality, and the MicroPitch compliments it wonderfully.

SPOTLIGHT

This sound in particular is so ripe for pitch shifting, and an enormous amount of fun is had with it. In fact, as the pedal has dual pitch shifting options, the possibilities are pretty endless. The stabby-synth pops and soars even when I’ve hardly touched the MicroPitch. That could be down to the luscious stereo widening within the pedal, the richly detuned delays, or any other multitude of things this

pedal is able to do. Delay pedals are so often one-note and disappointing, but this little red machine is, once again, cosmic in its scope.

Eventide are keen to point out these aren’t just guitar pedals, and nor does this review want to give the impression they’re only great for keyboards either. Try them out with anything and you’ll almost certainly

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be deeply impressed. It turns out you don’t need the wealth of Branson or Bezos to be launched into space, just get one of these effects pedals instead.

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HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

UltraVox

REVIEW

112 LEAPWING AUDIO

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UltraVox is another well thought out idea from Leapwing that brings together the key processing components of vocal recording and mixing in one plugin. There are four unique algorithms: Compression, Gate, Harmonics and Air, with each one represented by just a single control. The Compression and Gate for example are set by a threshold dB value and the algorithm does the rest, including auto gain levelling, so it’s really easy to hear in real-time the result of the amount of compression you apply.

Gating a recording – especially something as dynamic and varied as a vocal – can be quite tricky, so

some engineers leave this process for the mix stage. I was interested to find out how easy it was to use the Gate feature of this plugin in my DAW and record through it. With many interfaces you can set up different routing for the performer from within the interface, which includes reverb at near zero latency while the engineer can monitor the processed audio being recorded by the DAW. However, I used it in Logic in low latency mode and the plugin didn’t seem to introduce any noticeable latency at all. The obvious benefit here is a single plugin that’s not only a useful mix tool, but that can also provide a really quick, low latency, great sounding vocal processing chain for recording.

With UltraVox, spending a couple of minutes setting the Compression and Gate thresholds while you sing through it, then saving that using the save preset option in the preset menu, leaves you with a very simple low latency solution ready to go every time the inspiration takes you.

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LEAPWING AUDIO Over the past year or so, Headliner has taken a close look at the entire Leapwing product range, of which we’re big lovers and users. So, when we heard of a new plugin from Leapwing aimed at simplifying the vocal processing chain, we were all ears.

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What was interesting was that the Compression and Gate seemed to work in harmony, as if they knew what was vocal and what wasn’t, almost like a look-ahead feature without the latency. Of course it still lets through finger clicking, foot tapping and sharp intakes of breath, but background breathing and headphone bleed were gone, making it easier and quicker to edit out later while keeping your vocal performances intact.

ONE STOP SHOP When it comes to mixing, the algorithms again work their clever magic. When dialling in compression from the single threshold control -60 dB to 0 dB, it has program-dependent fast attack and slow release times, and seems to have the perfect ratio and gain make-up depending on the nature of the vocal track. How it works is of course Leapwing’s own closely guarded secret, but what it does is balanced and always musical. As you reduce the compression level HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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LEAPWING AUDIO UltraVox

“HERE IS A SINGLE PLUGIN THAT’S NOT ONLY A USEFUL MIX TOOL, BUT THAT CAN ALSO PROVIDE A REALLY QUICK, LOW LATENCY, GREAT SOUNDING VOCAL PROCESSING CHAIN FOR RECORDING.”

threshold, the voice comes forward and warms up. As you continue, it starts to move back again but still maintains its integrity and detail.

The Gate, also with variable program dependent attack and release times, is really easy to apply in the mix process and is admirably suited to further processing of vocal recordings.

I picked a couple of recordings that I knew were littered with headphone and foot tapping, as well as preparation noises, lip licking and breathing etc. and I could precisely remove them with just a single level control, almost as if UltraVox has a listen-and-learn feature.

Now to the two great inclusions that really make this plugin somewhat of a gem. The first is Harmonics, which HEADINER MAGAZINE

is again just as at home on the front end and in some ways has a kind of vintage vibe about it when applied; by blending in a varying amount of second and third order harmonics you can really increase the depth and presence of your vocal. Again, this is a feature you can use to enhance the recording as well as mixing, and in some cases can make an ordinary mic/pre interface sound far more than the sum of its parts.

Finally there’s Air, a custom curve boost around 12kHz which adds a crisp sparkle to proceedings without causing any enhancement to possible sibilance. Again a really nice touch if you’re singing enclosed by baffles and want to just open up a little space around the vocal.

Leapwing has created a number of really useful presets from which to get up and running, and the preset menu also features a save preset option so you can easily store and recall user presets for your own way of working.

There’s the usual undo/redo buttons available to skip back and forth over the last change and an A/B feature to compare different quick stored preset edits in detail. There’s an overall bypass button that maintains the plugin latency to compare processed audio with unprocessed. As with all Leapwing plugins, there’s an ‘In’ slider on the left for controlling signal level into the plugin, and on the right, the ‘Out’ slider to allow gain staging in your DAW.

SPOTLIGHT

ONE STOP SHOP As a recording tool for songwriters and musicians, this is a really clever plugin that offers a straightforward quick and easy solution for optimising your vocal input signal path without introducing unworkable latency or without the need for any real expertise as a recording engineer. However, in an age when workflow is of growing importance, I can see UltraVox being equally important and trusted by busy professionals. At no point while I was playing with UltraVox did I dial in

a setting that actually made a vocal sound anything other than a better version of itself, and all with a high degree of transparency.

As a mix tool, Leapwing has come up with a really excellent time saving product in UltraVox that takes the faff out of trying to build the perfect vocal mix chain. What I can also tell you is that UltraVox does all the obvious things extremely well, and if you haven’t yet tried any of Leapwing’s excellent plugins, start with this one!

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UltraVox is available for PC and Mac in AAX-Native, VST, VST3 and AU formats.

You can download a fully functioning copy now on a free 30-day trial, and it is also currently on special offer direct from Leapwing.

LEAPWINGAUDIO.COM

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GENELEC

8341A & GLM 4 Calibration Kit

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8341A & GLM 4 CALIBRATION KIT

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SPOTLIGHT

GENELEC Genelec describes its 8341A as a point source monitor with the perfect blend of size and performance. Headliner recently got hold of a pair, along with a GLM 4 Calibration Kit, to find out how they perform in a less than ideal acoustic environment...

Recently, a courier delivered to my house the largest Peli case I’ve ever seen. In it were a pair of Genelec 8341As and a GLM Calibration Kit. We have a pair of these in the Headliner London studio and while they’re hugely impressive, nothing quite beats the anticipation of using a new product in your own space.

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8341A & GLM 4 Calibration Kit

SETUP I was keen to press these into action and at the same time get the huge Peli case off the living room floor.

After carefully removing my trusty monitors of 14 years, I hooked the Genelec 8341As to the mains and my SSL SiX using a couple of XLRs – nothing! It dawned on me that I might need to set up the 8341As using either the dip switches on the back or, as I needed to try it out anyway, the GLM software.

Connecting the GLM Adapter requires mere common sense and simply connects to your computer via a supplied USB cable. Each speaker has both digital AES, EBU input and thru connections as well as analogue inputs. There’s a euro mains socket, two RG45s and a whole bunch of dip

switches: more on these later. I daisychained the speakers to the GLM Adapter with a couple of Cat5 cables and searched for Genelec GLM software in my web browser.

be any confusion as to which is left and which is right.

After entering my email and answering a simple question as to which speaker model I wanted to set up, I was sent straight to the GLM V4 download page, with the option for Mac or Windows. The download and installation took seconds, and I was really chuffed to bits when I heard the strange swishing sound as I dragged each speaker into position on a grid, which represents how your speakers are positioned within your space – confirmation that I was on the right track. Each sound is played through one speaker at a time, so there can’t

Essentially, you’re setting up what Genelec refers to as a Smart Active Monitoring (SAM) layout of the system, which in this case is – in its simplest form – with just a left and right monitor. However, the same could also be done for a multiple surround or immersive multi-monitor system. When you’re happy with the layout and its included speakers you can save it as a preset group. If you have a main monitoring system with a sub, this could be one group, and your near/midfield 8341As like mine could be your second group. Genelec makes controlling and switching between groups easy with the GLM software.

side of your stereo spectrum being corner locked. The overall separation of the stereo field was excellent, but I’m more inclined to put this down to a really excellent set of speakers and not just a clever piece of software.

target you’re searching for, and then store that as a preset. That ability to move work from room to room while retaining a greater degree of consistency has got to be of huge benefit to music professionals.

If I could find the room to move my speakers I would, but it’s systems like this that make it possible to continue to create, mix and produce in the face of adversity. I’m sure most musicians would rather have a great tool to more accurately produce good results, even if they have to work in an attic so as not to disturb other household members!

You also have the ability to set various listening positions. For example, you could have the engineer’s and producer’s chairs as well as the band couch, with the software’s ability to precisely calculate distances for each monitor together with its own unique calibration to represent the best possible sound at any given location.

Phase alignment between subs and monitors can also be calculated for any listening position. You can of course keep the calibration mic plugged in permanently which then acts as a handy SPL meter. Also, having an onscreen remote volume control and dim button is very useful if your interface is racked up.

CALIBRATION The GLM 4 program simply prompts you to place the mic supplied as part of the kit at ear height in your listening position. The handy little mic clip fitted perfectly to my camera stand, so I used that as my means of mic positioning. When all was set up and ready, I clicked on the calibrate icon and the system sent a loud sweeping tone to each speaker in sequence, bringing up a frequency response chart for each, the filter sum to be applied and the resulting corrected response. Each time, you’re prompted to confirm and the filter is applied to the monitor speaker in question.

Having recently looked at alternative room correction software, I wasn’t surprised to see how wildly different the responses were from left to right speaker. My little mix room is a bit limited on space so the left speaker is almost corner locked which isn’t ideal. I really liked that the speakers negated that enhanced effect of one HEADLINER MAGAZINE

GLM 4 also allows you to customise your frequency response further. For example, you’ve been working in a particular room with a characteristic sound that you want to replicate in your home studio or mix room.

No problem – you can tweak the response to more closely mirror the

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THE MONITORS In recent years I’ve had the luxury of hearing and working with Genelec monitors, and it’s become apparent that these are tools designed to get the best out of your creative input – to give the clearest picture sonically and the best possible results whatever the genre and environment.

On the back of the monitor is a bank of dip switches that allow a certain amount of tweaking without setting up the GLM Adapter, although it really is a must to initially set up and calibrate your system. If, like me, you have limited space and it’s desirable to remove the mic, cabling and

controller from your workspace, you can store your calibration directly to the monitor by setting the memory switch to on: the monitor loads the stored GLM setting every time you power it up. Without GLM you can also select which digital channel you want to pick up from the AES/ EBU input, either A (left, odd number) or B (right, even number). You can select both, at which point the input signal is summed and attenuated to compensate for the increase in level.

Two of the dip switches on the back panel deal with a varying amount of attenuation depending on the

combination, another turns on and off the front casing LED indicator if it’s a distraction, and another the ISS power saving function – the activation time of which is an hour. A further four switches deal with various EQ tweaks to help reduce common problems associated with monitor placement. Having said that, why anyone would struggle trying to set up these monitors without GLM is beyond me. It was so incredibly quick and painless, and in my case with not particularly ideal monitor placement, it would have been impossible to get the great results I did.

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120 GENELEC

8341A & GLM 4 Calibration Kit

“THEY SOUND INCREDIBLE EVEN WITH LESS THAN OPTIMAL PLACEMENT, AND ACHIEVE TIGHT, PUNCHY LOWS THAT I’VE STRUGGLED TO GET RIGHT IN MIXES FOR SOME TIME.”

CONCLUSION There are defining moments in your life when the penny drops, so to speak, and you wonder why it took so long to realise that you could have been producing great work quicker and far sooner if you’d only listened to those already in the know. The set-up of the Genelec 8341As with the GLM V4 software is one such special moment.

They sound incredible even with less than optimal placement, and achieve tight, punchy lows that I’ve struggled to get right in mixes for some time. There’s

HEADLINER MAGAZINE

beautiful detail and separation in the midrange and air and sparkle without harshness or jarring. I spent pretty much the whole day listening to music again and really enjoyed it. In fact I was blown away. It’s not often you bring something new into your own work environment that shines so brightly.

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OPTOCORE

Core Values

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CORE VALUES Optocore North America recently provided a vast fiber optic audio network for the new $85 million Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, the San Diego Symphony’s, state-of-the-art venue. Headliner takes a look at how the project came together...

Based in San Diego Bay, and boasting 13,000 sq ft of performance space, Rady Shell is officially the first permanent year-round waterfront concert and events venue in the US to be operated by a symphony orchestra.

Among the key requirements for the venue, which was designed to be one of the most acoustically

impressive outdoor concert venues in the US, was the incorporation of an expanded fiber network that would facilitate the recording of every show and rehearsal for archival purposes. As a result, this required the modification of Optocore devices in order to enable new levels of connectivity with the venue’s DiGiCo mixing consoles.

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OPTOCORE

Core Values

This aspect of the project was handled

by Solotech, supervised by business development manager and senior engineer, Aaron Beck, with the company providing and integrating all of the audio components in the 10,000-capacity venue.

The approach adopted by Solotech was based on previous projects, such as designing and building sophisticated systems around the Optocore solutions for Cirque Du Soleil’s Las Vegas residencies and the National Arts Center, Ottawa, to accommodate the expansive channel counts and data required. For Rady Shell, 2GB Optocore networks - capable of up to 1,024 channels and 24 network nodes - were incorporated into the outdoor concert hall.

The facility features two Optocore rings running in parallel - one for the DiGiCo consoles and their SD racks at the stage inputs, the other solely for Optocore units carrying the PA inputs and distribution, including tie lines between locations and stems from the stage racks for recording purposes.

The DiGiCo network is made up of SD consoles at FOH and monitors and three SD racks that can be deployed as needed.

Each system is centred around an Optocore AutoRouter that actively monitors each fiber connection. Once a rack or console is connected to a remote patch point, the AutoRouter

reconfigures the network matrix to maintain a redundant star topology to all active nodes.

interconnect is, Stage Right and one in a separate building at the rear of the audience for delay speakers.

This is designed to make sure all active devices always have full connectivity and the techs onsite don’t have to concern themselves with jumper cables or manually connecting patch bays.

Replacing the typical analogue tie lines between locations, Optocore’s AD/DA converters are used to fill any other audio requirements and distribute them around the venue, with the cross network interconnect predominantly utilising the X6R-TP hardware versions.

“Optocore allowed us the flexibility required with the overall design of the system,” Beck explained. “It is very easy to add or remove devices with the Route 66 AutoRouter as the system changes. Each show can have different configurations and requirements, but with Optocore it is very easy to change how the system performs.”

Each SD rack contains a local Optocore DD4MR-FX which takes a split from the FOH system’s main inputs and routes them for archiving and recording purposes. Each of the DD4MR’s MADI BNC ports can transmit or receive up to 64 channels at 48 kHz or 32 channels at 96 kHz. Meanwhile, the main FOH console feeds the Optocore network via another DD4MR, with 64 MADI I/O at 96 kHz available to capture the highest quality audio without interference or signal loss.

Optocore is used to distribute the main mixes from FOH to the system processors. The processed signals are then loaded back onto the Optocore network and sent to the three amp rooms at Stage Left, where the main

Further system connectivity is provided by a pair of Optocore X6R-FX8MI/8LOs in the monitor rack and at the stage manager’s desk.

Built into a grass hill at the rear of the audience is Building B, which houses a video control room. From here, an X6R and amplifiers feed the delay/surround speakers with further functionality to output 128 MADI I/O on fiber via two DD2FR-FXs. Another component of the Optocore system and how it interconnects everything is an X6R-FX-IC422 unit in the central equipment room. This device connects to the ClearCom Delta frame that provides the facility’s intercom. With ClearCom’s development partnership with Optocore, digital intercom and control can be passed right over the network like any other audio channel through a specifically designed I/O card for the X6Rs. “The system sounds fantastic and keeping everything at 96K was a must from the system design,” Beck said.

“The use of fiber optic cabling between buildings also helped overcome the large distances as the site is very spread out.”

The Shell will host up to 110 events a year by the San Diego Symphony and other organisations. On days when concerts are not scheduled, up to 85 percent of the park will be open to the public.

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SARAH REEVES

More The Merrier

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Nashville-based singer-songwriter Sarah Reeves has enjoyed much musical success since she broke onto the scene in 2006, and released her debut EP Sweet Sweet Sound in 2009. This year, however, saw her start working on the next chapter of her music, as well as her first official Christmas album More The Merrier, echoing the traditional, nostalgic sound of Christmases past…

The arrival and onset of the global pandemic served as somewhat of a reset for Reeves, who, like many, used it as her chance to hone her vocal production skills in her home studio.

“When everything was shut down, I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials and relearned how to do all that,” she reveals. “I didn’t really write a tonne of lyrics or words, but I did create a lot of music which was different for me, and I really enjoyed it.”

Reeves explains that she loves recording vocals through her Shure SM7, and then comping and editing in Pro Tools. She’s also a big fan of Waves plugins, particularly CLA Vocals.

So why did she feel like now was the ideal time to put out a brand new Christmas record?

“Christmas is my favourite holiday, and I’ve always wanted to make a big Christmas project,” she tells Headliner. “The Christmas songs that I have done in the past are more in line with my genre and my brand, which is more on the modern pop side. When it came to Christmas at home, we would have a vinyl record player and listen to old records from the likes of Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby. As soon as the weather starts turning a little bit colder, and when I think of Christmas music, I think of the classic, traditional sound of those same

records. I’ve always said that if I was to make a real Christmas project, that’s the sound that I want, because it’s nostalgic and it brings me to that cosy, magical place that we all feel and love around Christmas time when we listen to those old classics.

“And so in April, I went into the studio and started writing, because I knew I didn’t want it to be all covers. I wanted to do some originals. But even with the originals, I wanted them to still sound like they came out of the ‘40s, so I went about finding the right partners and writers and

producers who understood that sound, and maybe even had a little bit of background in jazz.”

The first song Reeves wrote for the album was the title track More The Merrier, and she instantly decided to use this as the theme around which to build the record, especially considering the restricted Christmas of 2020: “This year there’s just a different kind of excitement and readiness in the air for Christmas.”

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More The Merrier

“THIS WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER RECORDING EXPERIENCE THAT I’VE HAD.”

had,” she continues. “With modern music, everything is of course done on a computer through programs, and that’s how I’ve done a lot of my past albums. But with this, I wanted that real live feeling, and so we actually rented out this studio in Nashville called Masterfonics which has got a huge mixing board and an amazing grand piano and a whole bunch of incredible instruments. We had some professional jazz musicians come in and they just nailed it completely. It was so magical.

We got what we needed and went back and did some post production and edits, and it was actually pretty HEADLINER MAGAZINE

easy. Everything came together and it all just flowed super effortlessly.”

While Reeves loves to co-write, collaborating ideas with like-minded producers and artists (“it’s just more fun that way”), she usually starts off her musical ideas on her own, and those ideas often begin with a melody. And with over a million monthly listeners on Spotify and at the time of writing nearly 13 million streams on her track Heart On My Sleeve, it’s clear that she’s no stranger to writing catchy melodies that stick.

“I just always want to make music that’s honest,” she trails off. “When it comes to my personality, I’m driven by authenticity, so whatever I’m feeling in the moment is usually what’s going to come out. Through my music, I just want to help people, and give them hope.”

Pertinently enough, that’s exactly what this time of year is about. Check out More The Merrier on all streaming platforms now for your own small slice of Christmas joy.

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Scoring Netflix’s Night Teeth

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The film industry is known for being pretty brutal, so why not team up with your spouse to go against some of its notorious bloodsuckers? Drum & Lace (the artist name of Sofia Hultquist) and her husband Ian Hultquist, while brilliant composers in their own right on solo projects, also often work together to sink their teeth into film projects. In fact, directors often specifically ask for the pair of them. Headliner speaks with the Hultquists about their steady come-up in the industry and their very exciting work on the vampire flick Netflix dropped for Halloween, Night Teeth.

It’s mildly amusing that, considering we’re here to discuss a vampire movie, both Hultquists are telling Headliner they are relieved the weather in Los Angeles is overcast and not as sunny as usual. “We’re not heat people,” Ian says. “I sometimes feel like my whole head and sinus situation just gets completely devastated every time it’s 90 degrees!”

Sofia is originally Italian, but moved to the States to study at the worldfamous Berklee College of Music, where Ian also attended (he is American). When Headliner asks

them about their time there, they give an almost dystopian impression reminiscent of Squid Game.

“Berklee has this wonderful but also cruel way of judging people’s musical skills on a scale of one to eight for some reason,” they say. “You take all these tests, and they give you a number. All the people that get sevens or eights are infamous on campus because they’re these incredible jazz heads and prodigies that are already on tour with the biggest acts in the world.”

And the pair both explain that, despite scoring at the other end of the scale in some of the tests, they came through this experience unscathed, while also developing their almost exclusively electronic approach to scoring films.

Despite the fact that, Ian explains, “a lot of Berklee’s teaching is very oldschool, pen and paper, and skills such as conducting.

“It’s funny because all I want as a film scoring goal is to record an orchestra at AIR Studios,” Ian says, speaking of the famous London studios founded

by Sir George Martin. “But when we were starting off, it was a case of what was available to us. We were using Ableton Live as our software

“IT’S A REALLY FUN MOVIE THAT TAKES PLACE OVER THE COURSE OF A NIGHT; IT’S ALSO A VERY FRESH SPIN ON THE VAMPIRE GENRE. ”

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for a while, which is very electronicbased. We always had synths around because of the bands we were in. And if this meant the entire score is based on synths with a few strings layered in, then that’s what it ended up being.”

It’s safe to say landing this big Netflix project didn’t come out of nowhere after the pair graduated from Berklee — they have been steadily building up quite the CV, for example together scoring all three seasons of Apple TV’s Dickinson, I Know What You Did Last Summer for Amazon Prime, and At The Heart Of Gold for HBO. If you’re wondering where to start with their film discography, look no further than Night Teeth: one of those rare film scores which is an excellent listen without the film accompanying it. Sofia and Ian’s signature synth sounds pulse with menace while also lending an enormous slickness to the film’s Los Angeles setting and vampiric characters, starring such names as Alfie Allen of Game Of Thrones fame, Megan Fox, and a brilliant lead performance from Jorge Lendeborg Jr. “It’s a really fun movie that takes place over the course of a night,” Sofia says.

“And it’s also a very fresh spin on the vampire genre. These vampires are the social elites of L.A, and then you throw into the mix this happy-golucky student who is moonlighting as a chauffeur and has to drive these two strong-willed women around for the night. If you’re looking for some deep and existential plotline then this probably isn’t it for you, it’s just a really good time!”

“From the very first conversation I had with Adam Randolph, the director, he wanted the score to feel like a long mixtape where the score could dive in and out of source tracks,” Ian explains. “It would have some bigger cinematic moments, but always be moving and evolving and have a groove to it – to feel like a producer is putting it together.”

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DRUM & LACE AND IAN HULTQUIST

“Adam’s musical inclinations were definitely in line with what we like to do,” Sofia says. “He would mention old school hip-hop, jungle and drum and bass from the UK, so we knew where his ears were at. But we knew that he wanted an updated version of it, which is what we were also really excited to do.”

In terms of how they achieved such a brilliant sound for Night Teeth,

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Scoring Netflix’s Night Teeth

Sofia kicks off the studio conversation straight in with Valhalla Room.

“That is a definite staple plugin! And from Soundtoys, we used a lot of Tremolator on this project, and we always use Decapitator too.”

“A great thing we did with that was tuning some Spitfire strings down an octave through a Tremolator patch Sofia made – you can hear that in

the track Victor,” Ian says. “We both use UAD Apollos as our interfaces,” he adds.

“And we use a tonne of Spitfire Audio,” Sofia says. “Whether it’s a mockup or for the final product, there’s always at least chamber strings or a piano from Spitfire in there. I love the Woodwind Evolutions.”

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“And I absolutely love the Ólafur Arnalds libraries,” Ian adds. “Plus, they’ve been super supportive – we’ve done masterclasses for them and have been part of some of their events.”

has a great pair of headphones or speakers to do its stunning score full justice.

DRUMANDLACEMUSIC.COM IANHULTQUIST.COM

If you’re needing a fun, Friday night film to stick on Netflix, Night Teeth is just that. But make sure your viewing device HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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LUKE SOLOMON

Get Your Freak On

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commission a remix, the remix is usually based on where you perceive the record going, or what you want it to become. As artists, that was something that we were always very much in control of. For one reason or another, Azuli Records – who were controlling the record at the time – got a remix done without our consent.

This was the Vandalism remix that came out in Australia. We discovered that it suddenly became this huge thing, and it was out of our control.

It was essentially a record that just changed the beats on the bassline, and we got a lot of interest around that particular version of the record.

London-based DJ and producer, Luke Solomon has been steadily releasing dance records since the ‘90s, and is behind well-respected house labels, Classic, which he co-founded with Chicago house legend Derrick Carter in 1995, and Music for Freaks, co-run with Justin Harris since 1999. He reflects on the “accidental” mainstream success of production duo, Freaks, and why the experience led him to dig himself back underground.

A gig with Carter led to the two of you becoming friends, after which Classic Recordings was born. What were your aims for the label?

I think we were on a mission to rule the world as we were living that life – both as DJs. We said, ‘Let’s start a label! What are we gonna call it?’

Loads of people were like, ‘You can’t call your record label Classic’, and we were all bravado. We were just doing what we wanted...the confidence of youth! We started a record label with no intention other than putting out music that we loved and having a vehicle for our own music and vehicle for our friends’ music. It turned into

something far greater than we ever imagined. We always treated it like, ‘These are great records, let’s put them out. Do we both love them? Yes. Let’s put them out’. That was always the mantra for us, and 25 years later, it still carries that flag.

Running alongside this was the growth of production duo, Freaks.

What’s the story behind the remix of The Creeps and its subsequent mainstream success?

I have a weird attachment to that record, and a lot of people don’t understand it. But I guess that explains a lot! Freaks was a vehicle for myself and Justin to release music.

The Creeps then ended up as a top 10 record. That was an interesting accident that turned us into a bit more of a grown up enterprise of like, ‘Okay, do we follow this up with more pop versions of dance music?’

That was the point where we realised that it wasn’t necessarily where we wanted to be.

Then Ministry of Sound picked that version of the record and they got a topline done, which we weren’t into, so we decided to go in and write the topline on the record, because as writers it would have been in our interests, financially, to do that. We did that and then the rest became the record that it became, which was not necessarily the record we set out to make. Azuli went out of business. and we never really saw any of the money that came from that, bar MCPS and PPL, but not royalties. So unfortunately it’s a bit tarnished, but what I did realise during all of that was that becoming a pop act was not for me, especially when it was being a pop act that happened in a way that was not really how we intended it to happen. It wasn’t under our watch and with our creativity. Making music should never be, ‘Let’s go write a hit’, because you can put yourself into a very difficult creative space.

The pressure was on us after that record to make more hits, and we were not those people. The outcome of that was for me to go and dig myself back into a hole underground and start again in a different thought process, to where I’m at now, which is having success with records like Honey Dijon’s record, Not About You.

I think the problem with it all was the way that it came about. Normally if you put a record out and you HEADLINERMAGAZINE.NET

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Get Your Freak On

“CUBASE HAS ENABLED ME TO PUT MY STAMP ON DANCE MUSIC IN MY OWN WAY.”

So much has changed within the music industry since you founded Freaks in the ‘90s. Is there any music production technology you have stuck with throughout?

I came across some floppy disks this week and I was thinking about this because I’ve always been a Cubase user – that’s what I started on, and that’s what I learned on. We were running Cubase on an Atari; that was the beginning of Freaks. I have gone through every single version of Cubase as it got bigger and better HEADLINER MAGAZINE

and as the workflow expanded and changed – plus you have the array of soft synths. I’m completely up to date and am using Cubase 11 now. When I’m using Cubase and then start to show people the things that Cubase does, everyone’s suddenly like, ‘Oh wow, I can’t do this in Logic, Pro Tools or Ableton’. Now we’re in a place where from a writing perspective, I have the ability to be able to warp and change the tempo of music.

I’m working on a secret project now where we can listen to it at 110 BPM

or 120 BPM if we like, so you just move everything, and it’s great. I do a huge amount of vocal tracking, so there are a lot of things that make it really easy for me to work quickly when producing. Cubase has enabled me to put my stamp on dance music in my own way, which is a great thing.

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