Tony the product specialist visits SAE in Nashville for a desktop recording clinic called Hardware Nights, a part of Club Cubase with Steve Lamm, an avid Mackoid. Not only did we go over the Steinberg audio programs, but we delved into the world of MCU integration with all of the industry's top recording software.

Mackie Blog 5/22/06 – 5/26/06
Club Cubase – Hardware Nights
Tony Gavilanes <> Nashville, TN

This particular visit was specifically for an ongoing clinic at SAE (The School of Audio Engineers) called “Hardware Nights” for Club Cubase run by Steve Lamm. The club meets once a month with industry product specialists whose gear interfaces with Steinberg audio programs Nuendo and Cubase. Steve himself is an expert on these programs and was very excited for Mackie to show up at his club. In fact, SAE – where Club Cubase is held – has a number of pro studios and production rooms, most of which contain at least one piece of Mackie gear.

Touring the facility I noticed a production studio equipped with a HUI as their main board, after passing photos on their walls of other studios/rooms running D8Bs. Nearly every room contained an MCU and a Big Knob which had a student in front of perfecting their mix. The students who showed up to Club Cubase were all familiar with Mackie products, which was a pleasant surprise. All in all, I thing SAE was representing the Mackie gear to the n’th degree.
Steve was very enthusiastic as he took over the presentation when it came to our control surfaces. He delved into Cubase SX3 with fury. I learned things about the MCU that I had never known based on his broad knowledge of programming and the programs themselves. He had been able to create presets and maps for the MCU in the Steinberg Programs themselves. As he said, “Mackie Control Universal perfectly integrates into anything you would want to do in Steinberg, and here’s how…” I was impressed with his pace. He covered many facets of the program, controlling it all with the MCU.

Club Cubase “Hardware Nights” often has a regular attendance, as I found out afterward when they mentioned the traditional trip to the Blackstone Brewery. I recommend Club Cubase to anyone within the vicinity of Music Row in Nashville. Steve is a wealth of knowledge and I would even go so far to recommend the newsletter, even if you have no way of making it to the meetings. The club website is: www.clubcubasenashville.com

Posted by Mackie at 01:52 PM | Permalink

Mackie does rallies now, and you might just want us at your next event…

As a first time sponsor of the Old Snohomish Bike Show* this year (Sunday, May 21st ’06), we provided the PA and monitor systems for two music stages as well as the PA for a trophy announcement stage, and the event went off without a hitch!

First off, considering the fact that it was a bike rally, it should be mentioned that this affair brought a record-breaking 22,000+ attendees into Snohomish throughout the day, and several streets were simply layered in Harleys, customs, and other bikes of all kinds. This made for plenty of eye candy for us 12+ Mackoids as well as a great environment to put our stuff to the test!

As for the bands, Jude Bowerman was the main act on the A Stage. We ran Jude’s sound through the soon-to-be-released Onyx 32.4 mid-sized console with a full TAPCO J-2500-powered Mackie Precission Passive Tetrad system consisting of two S410 subs and one S408 top box per side. Monitors were SRM450s with an additional SWA1501 for the drummer. These guys rocked several streets worth of crowd with their full-on blues-explosion sound and Mackie-provided reinforcement.

Meanwhile, the B Stage rig was an Onyx 1640 sending out to Active mains, two SWA1801s and one SA1232z per side. The passive monitor system was also TAPCO-powered, feeding four C300zs plus an extra S218s for the drummer. Bridge and Cavernous Groove filled out the entire afternoon from noon to four on the B Stage. Both bands were definitely well received by the ever-shifting mob of bikers and show-goers alike.

For the trophy stage, we simply set up a good ol’ reliable 1202 VLZ Pro running through a couple of SA1521zs on heavy duty tripods. There was enough headroom in the system for the speakers, elevated as they were, to be clearly heard throughout the event locale.

As a final note, this 10th annual event was presented by ABATE Washington, Sky Valley Chapter and Quick Throttle Magazine. Sound crew was courtesy of True Tone Audio (thanks for making our systems sound great, guys!). And thanks to everyone else for helping out and/or being a part of the event!

…Especially the Twisted Chopper guy who, in exchange for a Mackie t-shirt, gave me an unlimited supply of energy drinks to make it through the day.

-Matt Redmon, Product Specialist

*Photos courtesy of Ryan Smith

Posted by Mackie at 08:29 AM | Permalink

I attended the AES PNW chapter meeting last night at Glenn Sound where I was both surprised and calmed to learn the likely future of our industry in regards to both digital archival as well as, primarily, acceptable means of delivery of finished audio to labels.

Independent and label-driven recordists worldwide are by and large done taking part in the proprietary battles, with the exception of a couple of late hangers-on. The battle has been that engineers everywhere are/were backing up and handing off music in so many different proprietary and/or short-lived (to now obsolete) forms that it’s become the challenge of the industry and its people to take upon itself finding a backup and deliverables means to use going forward that will have a longer shelf-life than, say, two years.

In the analog days all you had to do was dig out your session notes and track sheets and it was all right there. Now, because of various archival shortcomings and unforeseen disappearances of formats and companies, AES and the industry are recognizing the growing difficulty of documenting those types of notes as functional and understandable metadata, as well as finding a file format or formats that will be around for a while in addition to being ultra-reliable in terms of data recovery.

What’s important to recognize is that Fortune 500 companies, not audiophiles (believe it or not), are the ones driving the data and archival industries. The bigger you are, the louder your dollars speak. Thus, it becomes important for us to take note of what formats their deliverables are being dumped onto, and what archival means they are using.

In short, three formats currently rise to the top of the list in regards to Fortune 500 archival. They are DLT, AIT, and LTO. We’re talking big business, government, hospitals, and very important data that needs, legally, to be reliably retrievable for a number of years (in terms of media shelf life).

Essentially, we need to corroborate our efforts and find something with the long-term industry stability that analog has/had… and it’s time to start having those discussions now.

So, although this is just the beginning and we certainly didn’t finalize any industry standards last night, we all need to keep an eye out for these big industry changes, because they will affect us all, all the way from the musician’s pocketbook to the mastering house and beyond.

-Matt Redmon, Product Specialist

Posted by Mackie at 09:47 AM | Permalink

RDM (Remote Digital Media) out of New York has been busy. Kevin Hartmann has told me he has just finished a grueling live recording project involving the Gorillaz in which he recorded and mixed several tracks. Integral gear he used for this project included HR624 monitors and, count 'em, 12 Onyx 800R 8 channel mic pre's. The 800R's can be found at every show this remote truck is parked out front of. Check them out and see for yourself how busy these guys are.

Remote Digital Media

Posted by Mackie at 10:03 AM | Permalink

It’s great to see an old friend do so well. As a 20 year old college student making tracks on the “classic” version of a 1604 VLZ Pro, contemporary R&B instrumentalist Brian Culbertson found incredible success: he stormed the Adult Contemporary charts with his entirely self-made Long Night Out . 13 years later Brian's popularity merits getting the cover of Music Connection magazine. If you’re looking for career pointers, the cover story “How He Became The Hottest Ticket in Jazz” is loaded with practical tips for making it and staying on top in this hard, hard biz.

According to Keyboard magazine, Brian and his bandmate father are still using Mackie mixers.

To hear the 33-year old’s latest, listen to It’s On Tonight .

Posted by Mackie at 11:27 AM | Permalink

Who is Greg Mackie’s favorite band? Hint: They’re from Oakland, California. 2nd hint: squeaky tight funk that’s impossible not to make you want to get your groove thang on. Lotsa Mackie mixers among the personal studios, sure, but what we most love about the band is, well, the level of musicianship. Hearing Rocco Prestia and David Garibaldi on bass and drums is like witnissing DaVinci paint the Sistine Chapel. You wonder if there’s a Supreme Being guiding the whole thing because its just a little too good to be made by mere humans.

Check them out live in concert and become an honorary citizen of Bump City.

Posted by Mackie at 06:29 PM | Permalink

Deke swears he always wears this hat while listening to "Rush" (iTunes free excerpt) —one of our favorite recorded Steve Vai performances. If you add it to your iPod playlist we suggest you park the car before playing it. Why? Makes you wanna wear a black knit cap just above your eyes, put pedal to the metal on a really loud '67 Mustang and drive it irresponsibly.

Steve rehearses his band with SRM350’s and an SWA1501 subwoofer, cranked. Now THAT’s pedal to the metal rehearsing.

Posted by Mackie at 04:29 PM | Permalink

Where would the film biz be without Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute? Check out the great films it has helped nurture, and we think you’ll agree it would be a lot less interesting. Sundance puts on a seminar once a year for up and coming composers co-sponsored by Mackie. Why we do that? It’s siimple: 1) Mackie was built mostly by up and coming musicians who kept buying the brand after ”making it.” 2) It’s a small way of saying “thank you!”

What will this year’s batch of composers be using? The tried and true 1604 VLZ Pro and the ever present HR824 .

Want to volunteer at a Sundance event?

Posted by Mackie at 03:46 PM | Permalink

If you think too much popular music sounds like it's being produced by people who sprinkle cocaine on their cornflakes, have a listen to Mackie users Damon & Naomi . These musicians are clearly not in a hurry. Like some of the best Pink Floyd, it’s thoughtful music for contemplating and—perish the thought in these overly busy times—relaxing. Check out some cuts from their 24•8 Bus-recorded and mixed "The Earth Is Blue" on iTunes. Here's an excerpt of one of our favorites, "Beautiful Close Double" from the same album.

Posted by Mackie at 11:41 AM | Permalink

Mackie Product Evangelist - Tony Gavilanes

Tony's Humble Beginnings

Now here's where the real important issues of technology are thrown into the socratic forum. Jeff explains how Tony grew from circumstances void of common evolutionary advancement to arise like a phoenix from the ice caps into a brave new world of Onyx mixers, Firewire option cards, and Podcasting. Come with us, on an outtake reel 100-million years in the making.

Posted by Mackie at 10:54 AM | Permalink