tekmstr
09-23-2004, 11:43 AM
Hello all,
Tomorrow is delivery day for our ICON. We are an independent studio with a main tracking room that does primarily music recording and a second all digital suite for editing, mixing surround, etc.... Now I'm sure several of you will consider me crazy, but after much analysis, the ICON is going into our main room in place of a 30 year old NEVE 8048 console. For a number of years now, I've watched our clients (many of which are mainstream major artists, producers, and engineers) using only TWO faders on the NEVE most of the time, except during tracking dates, where only the Neve's MIC Pre's were in use and maybe a few of the groups....that's it! Not even headphone cues on the NEVE were used since we have numerous individual headphone mix stations for the players to setup their own headphone mixes...Ultimately, the key issue became the fact that a classic, vintage board requires a full-time tech and repeated upkeep...otherwise, as a major producer once told me...'vintage just becomes an old dinosaur'....since we can no longer afford a full-time tech and to keep pouring truly unknown amounts of money into our vintage friend, it became essential that we move forward in a new direction that would be dependable, easier to maintain, and forwarding looking....
I personally have been mixing in the PT box for several years, ever since PT-HD...and nearly all the clients that visit our facility do so as well...so why shouldn't I want to pick up some mixing business by having the ICON? People haven't mixed here for years, we had become ONLY a tracking facility...Besides, I'm not selling off the NEVE just yet...by racking up the MIC PRE's I keep everyone who has chosen to come here for tracking over the nearly 30 years we have been in business very happy and now I have to just maintain 32 vintage modules not over 200...see my point?
Well...I'll let you all know how things go over the next few weeks...we should be totally back on line by mid-October...there will be some in-house sessions before that, and small odds and ends...but all the PRE's and re-wiring won't be finished until October 10th...
Feel free to air out any ideas, suggestions, and thoughts as I venture into this...I'd love to hear from many of you. By the way, if I don't respond promptly to posts to this thread, please don't get offended. As you might expect, I'm a tad busy bringing my studio back on-line, and learning how to use the ICON....and try not to nail me toooooo hard about (sort of) retiring the old NEVE....
Just thought you all should know...yes....there are other music installations that are putting their money behind this technology...and by the way...we paid full-price and are not a pro audio equipment seller (except an occassional EBAY sale) or Digidesign PT dealer!
Regards,
Dom Camardella, owner/engineer
Santa Barbara Sound Design
33 West Haley Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
PS.. NEW web site, pictures, brochures etc...all in process...but you can see the old 70's lava lamp retro look of the pre ICON control room on-line...needless to say...we also renovated the control room to prepare for the ICON....
Tomorrow is delivery day for our ICON. We are an independent studio with a main tracking room that does primarily music recording and a second all digital suite for editing, mixing surround, etc.... Now I'm sure several of you will consider me crazy, but after much analysis, the ICON is going into our main room in place of a 30 year old NEVE 8048 console. For a number of years now, I've watched our clients (many of which are mainstream major artists, producers, and engineers) using only TWO faders on the NEVE most of the time, except during tracking dates, where only the Neve's MIC Pre's were in use and maybe a few of the groups....that's it! Not even headphone cues on the NEVE were used since we have numerous individual headphone mix stations for the players to setup their own headphone mixes...Ultimately, the key issue became the fact that a classic, vintage board requires a full-time tech and repeated upkeep...otherwise, as a major producer once told me...'vintage just becomes an old dinosaur'....since we can no longer afford a full-time tech and to keep pouring truly unknown amounts of money into our vintage friend, it became essential that we move forward in a new direction that would be dependable, easier to maintain, and forwarding looking....
I personally have been mixing in the PT box for several years, ever since PT-HD...and nearly all the clients that visit our facility do so as well...so why shouldn't I want to pick up some mixing business by having the ICON? People haven't mixed here for years, we had become ONLY a tracking facility...Besides, I'm not selling off the NEVE just yet...by racking up the MIC PRE's I keep everyone who has chosen to come here for tracking over the nearly 30 years we have been in business very happy and now I have to just maintain 32 vintage modules not over 200...see my point?
Well...I'll let you all know how things go over the next few weeks...we should be totally back on line by mid-October...there will be some in-house sessions before that, and small odds and ends...but all the PRE's and re-wiring won't be finished until October 10th...
Feel free to air out any ideas, suggestions, and thoughts as I venture into this...I'd love to hear from many of you. By the way, if I don't respond promptly to posts to this thread, please don't get offended. As you might expect, I'm a tad busy bringing my studio back on-line, and learning how to use the ICON....and try not to nail me toooooo hard about (sort of) retiring the old NEVE....
Just thought you all should know...yes....there are other music installations that are putting their money behind this technology...and by the way...we paid full-price and are not a pro audio equipment seller (except an occassional EBAY sale) or Digidesign PT dealer!
Regards,
Dom Camardella, owner/engineer
Santa Barbara Sound Design
33 West Haley Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
PS.. NEW web site, pictures, brochures etc...all in process...but you can see the old 70's lava lamp retro look of the pre ICON control room on-line...needless to say...we also renovated the control room to prepare for the ICON....