The New Console

This is what the wiring behind the console looked like as we started removing the old console!

A week later, after a lot of hard work by half a dozen people, the wiring was finished and the completed install looked great. If you happen to be in the recording business, you know that you can only tell the quality of an installation by looking behind the equipment! :)

Fortunately, this room looks great from the front too! The blue screen in the roll around cart, right next to my chair, is a digital audio editor. It's made by AMS-Neve, the same people who made the console. These two pieces work beautifully together.

As I write this Sunday evening, I actually can't wait to get to work and do my first session!

The picture below is from farther back in the room. it shows the desk where my clients sit, and the big screen projection TV. To the right of the console is the patchbay, loacated in an ugly brown rack. That will be replaced by some custom cabinatry work that ties in with the console.

If you would like to see more images of my studio at the Chicago Recording Company, here is the official web page!

2/23/00

The Logic 2 from Neve

Whew! Installing a new console makes loading Windows 2000 look like a piece of cake! We planned for months to make this installation go smoothly, and just about everything has gone wrong. Why is it the mere act of moving of a console 40 feet causes it to fail upon the next boot?

My new board will be an all digital AMS-Neve Logic 2. What you are seeing on the left is really a control surface, almost like a computer keyboard. No audio signals actually pass through the console. They are all routed through high quality AD/DA convertors. All the mixing of sounds and setting of levels is really no more than manipulating ones and zeros.

Now that's a PowerPC!

This is the rack of computing power associated with the console. Forty-eight convertors take the analog input signals and instantly convert them to better-than-CD quality data. This data is stored on twin 9 Gig hard disks, and routed through the console where it can be equalized, compressed, reverb, and spit back out - all in realtime!

While the console has only 24 physical faders, there are three additional layers of virtual depth for a total of 96 audio channels! (Can you tell I'm excited!)

Wednesday will be spent interfacing the new equipment with the old, Thursday will be for last minute fixes, and Friday will be testing, testing, testing...

All this audio processing power will enable me to produced richer sounding commercials that will envelope your aural senses, prompting you to jump in the car and rush to your nearest McDonalds for an Extra Value Meal. :)

2/21/00

Out with the old...

I apologize in advance for what will be a week of light postings on my part. My recording studio is receiving a new console and the installation will monopolize most of my time. Don't fret though, Ilona, Cletus, and Jeremy will still be here updating their sections!

The current board, show on the right, is an eight year old Sony MXP-3036 analog console. While it has served me well through thousands of sessions, the technology is rather outdated.

It will take an entire week to disconnect the old board, rework the wiring, install the new console, and test the hundreds of connections.

Do I cut the red wire, or the blue!

This photo on the left shows the complexity of wiring the console to all the other equipment in the facility. It doesn't normally look this messy; the wires have been pulled out of their housing and disconnected in preparation for the new board.

I will be documenting the process with my digital camera and if possible, I'll post more pictures as the process unfolds. If you have any curious questions, send them.