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Roger
Waters and Nick Griffiths
On the go
with the D8B.
Former Pink Floyd
member Roger Waters has come up with an ideal solution for location recording
and song writing. With a little help from his co-producer Nick Griffiths,
Waters has assembled three identical compact recording rigs that can be
easily transported and assembled anywhere in the world he is working.
At the center of all
three rigs are a Mackie Digital 8Bus recording console and an Apple
Titanium Power Book running Logic Audio.
Nick Griffiths, who
has worked with Pink Floyd since the '80s, came up with the elegant solution
in response to Rogers earlier forays into transportable studios.
Nick, who likens his role in these situations to the "Red Adair"
of project studios, was frustrated by problems he often encountered setting
up sophisticated studios in Rogers homes around the world.
"When Roger was
in Barbados it could often be a problem to find technical people to set
up and sort out problems on-site," say Griffiths. "I wanted
a foolproof system that could be unpacked and set-up by anyone. Having
worked with Roger for years, I know his exact requirements. The Mackie
D8B was our first choice for a mixer because its a very powerful
tool, operates just like a traditional desk, has fully re-settable automation
and sounds fantastic. Mackie also provide tremendous support throughout
the world, which was essential."
Griffiths continued,
"When it came time to turn my ideas into reality, I turned to Spike
Burridge at Media Tools and Paul Ward from Oxford studio Systems."
Rogers three
identical rigs contain a varied selection of tools including Amek /Neve
RN9098 mic pre amps, Apogee 888 digital I/Os, Neve and DBX compressors.
For recording mediums there are CD burners, DAT machines and Glyph 18
and 80Gb hard drive systems. Keyboard control is via a custom-made fully
weighted classical keyboard from Manga Music, controlling a fully loaded
EMU E4, which contains complete orchestra and band set-ups.
With three identical
rigs it was essential that a simple form of synchronizing was found. "The
whole rig can be un-packed and set-up in minutes," says Ward. "All
the multi-cores and connections are numbered so set-up is simple. Roger
keeps all his projects on an Apple Titanium Power Book running Logic.
He just plugs his Mac into the slot, downloads his current work into the
Glyph trip and he is ready to go."
"We have three
Sony LCD monitors: two for the Power Book and one for the Mackie,"
he continues. "The Mackie does not need an external computer to run
the automation or re-call which considerably simplifies matters and keeps
everything current on the Mac."
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